On May 14, 2024, at noon, the Port Authority of Ios was informed by teachers of the High School of Thira who were making a day trip from Thira to Ios, about an incident with six students suffering injuries on board the 'Dionisios Solomos'. The ship was on a scheduled route from Thira. The injuries were caused by a fall on the escalators while the ship docked in the port of Ios. A 14-year-old boy was taken to the Ios Health Center for first aid, from where he was discharged the same day. The students, after the end of their excursion to Ios, boarded another ship bound for Thera. A preliminary investigation was carried out by the Port Authority of Ios.
News
CGC PAUL CLARK
The US Coast Guard intercepted two separate boats packed with Cuban migrants trying to set foot in Florida aboard tiny vessels ill-suited for the high seas. The first boat was spotted about 12 miles south of the Marquesas Keys near Key West on May 10, 2024, with 15 Cubans on board. On May 12, authorities in Key West were tipped off by a good Samaritan that another boat with migrants was in the ocean about 26 miles south of Marathon. The Coast Guard Cutter 'Valiant' plucked eight Cubans from that boat and sent them home. The crew of the 'Paul Clark' repatriated 23 migrants to Cuba on May 14. Report with photo: https://nypost.com/2024/05/14/us-news/coast-guard-catches-23-cuban-migrants-headed-to-florida-and-sends-them-back-home/
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.
NORTH AMERICAN
On the morning of May 14, 2024, the 'North American' sank at a pier on the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a call at 07.30 a.m. after the crabber had partially sunk on the south side of the canal, east of the Ballard Bridge, with only the stern still protruding from the water.Responders from the Seattle Fire installed an oil containment boom around the vessel to prevent pollution, and a dive team started working on plugging vents and reducing the risk of fuel discharges. A second layer of boom has been deployed to further reduce the chance of a fuel slick escaping from the vessel, which can carry up to a maximum of 32,500 gallons of diesel, The actual amount aboard at the time of the sinking may be lower. The Global Diving and Salvage was the pollution response contractor for the incident, and its team will be removing the remaining petroleum on board and transferring it to storage tanks on shore. The Coast Guard is monitoring the progress of the response, and an investigation into the cause of the sinking is under way. Reports with photos: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3775064/coast-guard-other-agencies-respond-to-sunken-vessel-in-seattle/ https://maritime-executive.com/article/pioneering-crab-boat-f-v-north-american-sinks-at-the-pier
HAFNIA PACIFIC
On May 1, 2024, at 03.50 a.m. the 'Hafnia Pacific' was boarded by three perpetrators, who were armed with knives and machetes, at Belawan Anchorage in pos. 3° 55.10' N 98° 44.81' E. The crew was threatened by the intruders, who stole torch, walkie talkie and two fire hose nozzles and then fled the vessel. On May 5 the ship berthed in Port Klang.
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
CG VALIANT
The US Coast Guard intercepted two separate boats packed with Cuban migrants trying to set foot in Florida aboard tiny vessels ill-suited for the high seas. The first boat was spotted about 12 miles south of the Marquesas Keys near Key West on May 10, 2024, with 15 Cubans on board. On May 12, authorities in Key West were tipped off by a good Samaritan that another boat with migrants was in the ocean about 26 miles south of Marathon. The Coast Guard Cutter 'Valiant' plucked eight Cubans from that boat and sent them home. The crew of the 'Paul Clark' repatriated 23 migrants to Cuba on May 14. Report with photo: https://nypost.com/2024/05/14/us-news/coast-guard-catches-23-cuban-migrants-headed-to-florida-and-sends-them-back-home/
DALI
The 'Dali' had electrical problems the day before it left the Port of Baltimore when it was docked, according to a preliminary report released on May 14 by investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board. The 'Dali' experienced a blackout during in-port maintenance on March 25, the NTSB wrote in its report, when a crew member mistakenly closed an inline engine exhaust damper. The NTSB says it's still not clear how that incident relates to what happened early the following morning, when the 'Dali' lost power twice in the minutes before it crashed into one of the bridge's supports. The NTSB is still investigating the electrical configuration following the first in-port blackout and potential impacts on the events during the accident voyage. Investigators at the NTSB have analyzed samples of the fuel that was being burned at the time of the accident, as well as other fuel tanks on the vessel. But those results did not identify any concerns relating to the quality of the fuel. The NTSB is working with the Maryland Transportation Authority to assess its other bridges and to determine whether pier protection measures need to be improved. The MDTA is studying options for upgrades to the existing protection system around both spans of the Bay Bridge that connect Annapolis to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The NTSB investigation of all aspects of the accident is ongoing. Link to the report: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/DCA24MM031_PreliminaryReport%203.pdf
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.