The Spanish flagged Fishing vessel 'Hermanos Gonzalez' requested assistance after it went adrift due to mechanical problems in El Arenal with two crew members on board on April 18, 2024. The CCS Palma of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the 'Salvamar Libertas' to assist. It took the ship in tow and safely pulled it to Palma.
News
JOHN P BOBO
The USNS '2nd Lt. John P. Bobo (T-AK 3008)' which was deployed to support the mission of building a pier to deliver aid to starving residents in Gaza, was forced to turn back on April 11, 2024, after it suffered a fire in its engine room, while in transit to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The crew evacuated the area and used portable extinguishers to put out the fire. The ship had to return to Jacksonville, Florida, using just one engine for further assessments. The incident came as the Pentagon's self-imposed deadline of having the pier operational and delivering the needed aid by May rapidly approached. When the Pentagon first announced the plan to use the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, platform to construct the pier that would serve as a way to quickly deliver large amounts of aid to war-torn Gaza in early March, it was hoped the pier would be operational in the next 60 days. Shortly after that announcement, a group of five Army ships left for the Mediterranean, followed by the m/v 'Roy P. Benavidez', a military sealift command vessel that was carrying heavy equipment and material needed to construct a temporary pier. In late March, the Navy said that it would deploy Naval Beach Group 1 along with the Bobo and the USNS '1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez'. The unit and the ships would bring enough watercraft and equipment to operate a huge floating dock three miles off the coast of Gaza that would serve as the off-load point for aid. One of the Army Landing Craft Utility ships, the 'Wilson Wharf', seems to be stuck in Tenerife, the Army's Logistics Support Vessel 'General Frank S. Besson' spent a week in the Azores before finally making it to the Navy's base at Souda Bay, which may indicate the ship had an engineering issue.
Sydney
Australia’s biggest port operator DP World is telling dock workers that 200 jobs will be made redundant in Sydney and Melbourne as the company grapples with stalled union negotiations and growing commercial pressures. DP World Australia’s chief operating officer Andrew Adam told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that the company had no choice but to shed 200 staff – 100 in Melbourne (on top of 50 stevedores who will leave the business this week) and 100 in Sydney. About 1800 stevedores work at the company. “It’s a decision not taken lightly, but we’ve lost volume and market share since last year,” Mr Adam said.
Manzanillo
The Mexican government is upgrading the Port of Manzanillo, one of the country’s main Pacific Ocean ports, with four new terminals. The terminals will include a specialized container facility with capacity to handle 1.75 million TEUs per year, another for agricultural bulk, one more for mineral bulk and one specialized for hydrocarbons.
SALVAMAR ALPHERATZ
The charter boat 'Santa Rita' suffered engine problems near the port of Los Cristianos on April 18. The 'Salvamar Alpheratz' was mobilized by the CCS Tenerife of Salvamento Marítimo to assist. It took the boat in tow and safely pulled it to port.
RNLI LIFEBOAT 13-03
Three fishermen were rescued after their vessel sank off Devon's coast on April 16, 2024. RNLI teams from Exmouth and Torbay were requiested at 9.32 p.m. by the HM Coastguard after having received an urgent mayday call, stating: "fishing vessel sinking". This report was quickly followed by a 999 call confirming that all three crew had taken to the vessel's life raft. Within 12 minutes, both the 'R & J Welburn' from Exmouth and Torbay's Severn Class all-weather lifeboat were on their way to the scene. Additionally, an HM Coastguard's rescue helicopter was also tasked to join the effort. The HM Coastguard secured the location of the sunken vessel using its emergency positioning beacon, pinpointing it roughly 14 miles northeast from Berry Head. The Exmouth's crew were the first to arrive on the scene and recovered all three fishermen from their life raft. Despite being cold, none required further medical assistance. All three casualties were then safely transferred to the waiting Torbay lifeboat and brought back to Brixham, where they were met and collected by their waiting families. Report with photos: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/three-fishermen-forced-life-raft-140714624.html
Tanger-Med
Nippon Express France, S.A.S. (hereinafter, “NEF”), a subsidiary of Nippon Express Co., Ltd., has opened a Tanger Med Logistics Center in the Moroccan port of Tanger Med, and this Center began operations on Wednesday, June 26, as NEF’s second location in Morocco.
Sohar
US-based McDermott International has received a contract to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for the Sohar LNG Bunkering Project in Oman. The project has an aim of establishing Oman as a regional LNG bunkering hub capable of supplying LNG as a fuel to marine vessels. Under the deal, awarded by Total Oman E&P Development B.V. in partnership with Oman Oil Company S.O.A.C., the scope of work during the FEED phase includes fully defining the onshore mid-scale LNG facilities and preparing a competitive tender for the engineering, procurement, supply, construction and commissioning phase.
SALVAMAR REGULUS
The boat 'Bismarck II' was adrift in Os Brullos due to an engine failure on April 18, 2024. The 'Salvamar Regulus' was mobilized by the CCS Fisterra of Salvamento Marítimo to assist. It took the boat in tow and sefely pulled it to Porto do Son.
SCOT PIONEER
A leaked radio exchange between an the captain of the 'Scot Pioneer' and the French Coastguard exposed France's infuriating response to the small boats crisis. The captain was outraged after he spotted French navy vessels, including a warship, guiding the traffickers' boats around his ship towards Britain and blocked the 'Scot Pioneer' from entering Dunkirk harbour. The captain begins his protest by radioing the French coastguard with the words: 'I would like to report what is an illegal operation in your waters. This morning we witnessed a French government vessel and a French navy warship escort a boat-load of illegal immigrants across the Channel to the midway point where they handed them over to another [Border Force] ship out of Dover. It has now arrived there. Now I have the French warship passing under my stern, passing another boat-load of immigrants across the Channel. There is also another [French] vessel to the west of us which is escorting a third boat of migrants." In response, the Coastguard informed him that there was an 'arrangement' between the London and Paris governments for the French navy to escort migrant boats towards Britain.
Basrah Offshore Oil Terminal
July 16: A fire at Iraq’s southern Basra offshore oil export terminal briefly halted crude loading operations on Tuesday but was put out and loading resumed, Iraqi oil officials said. The fire occurred in a residential section of the terminal accommodating workers and did not directly damage oil infrastructure, a port official and sources in the Basra Oil Company said. “Fire erupted at around 5 am (0200 GMT) and it was put out in two hours. We had to halt crude loading operations for three hours for safety issues,” said a port official who was speaking from the Basra port. Basra port has restored full operations with no stoppage at the oil exports jetties, said a statement from the state-run Basra Oil Company. Four workers suffered minor injuries, it added.
Jiangyin
Norwegian shipping and tank terminal company Odfjell SE has finalized the sale of its stake in Odfjell Terminals Jiangyin (OTJ), China. The indirect 55% equity interest in OTJ has been sold by Odfjell Terminals Asia Holding to Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) for a price of about USD 46 million.