A man was injured on board the "Utopia of the Seas" off the coast of Belle-Île-en-Mer on May 11, 2024. At 4.21 p.m., emergency services were alerted to assist the injured worker on the new cruise ship off the coast of South Brittany. The ship, which was built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, has been undergoing sea trials since May 7 to start cruises this summer. The CROSS Etel coordinated the response, and a Dragon 25 helicopter hoisted the injured person, who was dropped off at the Vannes hospital center at 6:33 p.m.
News
FD ATHINA
In the morningof May 11, 2024, the Port Authority of Argosaronic was informed by the Master of the 'Flying Dolphin Athina', that after the arrival in the port of Piraeus, en route from the ports of Aegina and Agistrio, there was a vibration on the port side side of the ship. The ship was to run a route from the port of Piraeus to the ports of Aegina and Agistrio, while the passengers were forwarded to their destinations by the company. The Argosaroniko Port Station of the 1st Port Department of the Central Port Authority of Piraeus prohibited the sailing of the ship until the repair of the damage and the presentation of a certificate of class maintenance of class by monitoring classification society.
Houston
Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI) announced a series of projects, totaling over $170 million of capital investment, that will increase efficiency, add product liquidity, and enhance blending capabilities at its Pasadena and Galena Park terminals, part of its best-in-class refined products storage hub on the Houston Ship Channel. In response to growing customer demand, KMI’s liquids terminal platform now boasts 10 ship docks, 38 barge spots, 20 inbound pipelines providing connectivity to 10 regional refineries and chemical plants, 15 outbound pipelines, 14 cross-channel lines, and approximately 43 million barrels of storage on the Houston Ship Channel, North America’s leading port for energy exports.
Takoradi
Expansion works on the Takoradi Port have started with the construction of a multipurpose on-dock Atlantic Container Terminal. The project will see the port basin being dredged to create a 16-metre depth and land reclamation for the building of five new berths to hold bigger capacity vessels. A visit to the Takoradi Port in the Western Region revealed that the contractors were casting the foundation stones for the quay wall to herald the expansion project at the port. The project, being developed by Ibistek Ghana Limited at a cost of $475 million, marks the first time a wholly owned Ghanaian firm has been engaged in port development in the country. The Atlantic terminal, which will be the major development in the history of the Takoradi port when completed, will have a cargo holding space of one million twenty-footer equivalent units (TEUs), an upscale from the average container traffic of about 55,000 TEUs a year.
WARSHIP 4
The USS 'Hershel Williams' ran aground on soft bottom off the coast of Gabon on May 9, 2024. The vessel, assigned to the U.S. 6th Fleet and operating within the U.S. Naval Forces Africa area of operations, ran aground around 1 p.m. GMT shortly after departing from a routine port visit to Libreville. It managed to refloat again by approximately 5 p.m. GMT, taking advantage of the high tide. No injuries or major damage were reported, and the ship remained operational in the Gabon estuary just south of Libreville. The Navy started to conduct a comprehensive additional inspection of the ship to assess any potential damage that may have occurred during the grounding. Concurrently, an investigation into the causes of the incident was underway. The ship was in Gabon for the commencement of Obangame Express 2024, an annual multinational exercise aimed at enhancing maritime domain awareness and law enforcement capabilities, with a focus on exercises like visit, board, search, and seizure. The grounding could have raised questions about the ship’s ability to participate in planned activities, including the testing of a surface drone, though no immediate impact on the exercise schedule was indicated.
CARNIVAL VENEZIA
On May 10, a crew member of the 'Carnival Venecia' went overboard during standard emergency drills which were being conducted on the ship in the port of St. Thomas, Virgin Island. The crew member was not involved in the drill, but was was engaged in maintenance at the hull when he slipped and fell into the water. The officers swiftly responded to the situation and launched a rescue operation. A rescue boat was deployed to reach the man in the water. The crew member was retrieved successfully from the water and boarded the cruise ship with no serious injuries. The cruise ship activities were not disrupted, and the ship continued its voyage to San Juan on May 11.
Hamburg
Germany’s largest universal port remains on a growth course, achieving a distinct 4.1 percent advance to 69.4 million tons in seaborne cargo handling in the first half of 2019. Especially good growth trend in the general cargo segment, up 6.1 percent at 48.4 million tons, was the main contributor to the excellent figures for total and container handling. The total for bulk cargo handling was just 0.3 percent lower than for last year’s first half at 21.0 million tons. Germany’s largest universal port remains on a growth course, achieving a distinct 4.1 percent advance to 69.4 million tons in seaborne cargo handling in the first half of 2019. Especially good growth trend in the general cargo segment, up 6.1 percent at 48.4 million tons, was the main contributor to the excellent figures for total and container handling. The total for bulk cargo handling was just 0.3 percent lower than for last year’s first half at 21.0 million tons.
Sabetta
Icebreaker assistance and ice restrictions for ships entering the basin of Section No.1 at the Port of Sabetta, Yamal and access channel are canceled as of 00:00 Moscow time, August 6. The corresponding order was signed by the Port Harbourmaster Nikolay Nesterov. The order says that there is a possibility of separately floating ice floes, therefore masters of ships sailing in this water area of the Port of Sabetta and on approaches to the port are advised to exercise caution. Arctic Port of Sabetta is built on the western shore of the Gulf of Ob (Kara Sea) for transshipment of hydrocarbons from the South-Tambey gas condensate field on the Yamal peninsula to the Western Europe, South America and APR countries under Yamal LNG project. The project envisages the construction of an LNG plant capable of producing 16.5 million metric tonnes of LNG and 1.35 million tonnes of gas condensate annually
ABEILLE NORMANDIE
On the night of May 10, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that a migrant boat was in difficulty off the coast of Portel and depolyed the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist, which launches its rescue boat to reach the site, where it recovered 36 people. Several people still on board the boat refused the assistance offered by French means and continued their journey under appropriate surveillance. The shipwrecked people were dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken care of by the shore based rescue services and the border police.
CHRYSTAL ARCTIC
After the approach of a skiff on the 'Chrystal Arctic', a frigate operating with EUNAVFOR, responded to the report issued by the tanker that it was under attack, and apprehended the six suspected pirates on board the skiff. The frigate secured the pirates physical integrity due to the unsafe condition of their skiff and treated some of them with injuries of varied severity. The ATALANTA forces are gathering evidence and conducting an investigation into the incident in order for a proper assessment of the situation. According to EUNAVFOR, there could be two or more pirate action groups (PAGs) operating off the wider Somalia coastline, which includes the semi-autonomous Puntland region. Photos: https://twitter.com/EUNAVFOR/status/1789642649714012315
Monfalcone
ENCHANTED PRINCESS, the fifth in a line of six Royal Class ships built for Princess Cruises, was floated out on 6 August at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone.
Immingham
On August 1, ABP announced new customers for the Port of Immingham this week: The port welcomed the first vessel in a new contract with customers Top Blue and The Fuel Trading Company. The new deal is expected to bring an extra 30,000 tonnes per year through the Port of Immingham – the largest Port by tonnage in the UK. The cargo being delivered is Prilled Urea which is a key part of the mixture for the AdBlue market.