Houthi rebels on May 27, 2024, claimed attacks onto the tanker 'Largo Desert' in the Indian Ocean and the “MSC Michela” and referred to an attack in the Red Sea against the tanker “Minerva Lisa”. A spokesman did not give details of the results or the weapons used. The 'Largo Desert' was en route from Durban to Beira, and the 'Minerva Lisa' was located in the Red Sea earlier in the day. The 'MSC Michela' was en route from Valencia to Suape.
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HUMANITY 1
On the morning of May 27, the crew of the “Humanity 1” was informed by the civil emergency hotline Alarmphone about a boat in distress in international waters off the Libyan coast. The “Humanity 1” set course for the last known position of the boat and found it at midday. It was a completely overcrowded inflatable boat with 82 people on board, which was unable to maneuver and was floating on the open sea without any rescue equipment. The crew immediately initiated rescue measures and took the people on board the “Humanity 1”. During the first rescue, Alarmphone also reported to the crew a second marine emergency in the immediate vicinity. A short time later, the crew of the rescue ship discovered a small, overcrowded plastic boat with 18 people on board. The “Humanity 1” also took these survivors on board. About half of those rescued were minors, including several small children and babies. The majority of the minors were unaccompanied. Numerous women, including several pregnant women, were also among the survivors. Several people were suffering from severe seasickness and skin burns. The Italian authorities assigned the ship to the port of Livorno, almost 1,200 kilometers from the rescue site, which means at least three days of sailing with an ETA as of May 30. The aid organization accused the authorities of “knowingly violating the survivors’ right to rapid disembarkation as enshrined in maritime law.” The captain therefore immediately asked the ItalianMRCC to assign a closer port.
Rio de Janeiro
The Mexican tank m/v ’Irmã Dulce’, 72900 dwt (IMO: 9548691), which was under construction at Estalairo Maua in Rio de Janeiro, suffered water ingress in the engine room and aft peak in the night of May 4, 2020. The stern came to rest on bthe bottom at a water depth of four to five meters. The accident was apparently caused by a leaking valve. In the afternoon of May 5 divers managed to stabilize the ship. It was the second of a series of four for Transpetro and was launched in 2014. The order for all three ships still under construction was later canceled. The Panamax had currently been 95% completed. Report with photo: https://splash247.com/near-complete-brazilian-tanker-newbuild-sinks-at-pier/ .
Port Elizabeth
On May 2, 2020, at 08.50 a.m. the NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew and EC Government Health EMS were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority to respond to rendezvous with a bulk carrier approaching Port Elizabeth from Cape Town to attend to a 52 year old Iraqi crew member onboard the ship suffering an emergency medical condition, not Covid-19 related. The sea rescue craft 'Spirit of Toft' was launched accompanied by an EMS rescue paramedic and rendezvoused with the ship seven miles East of Cape Recife. The EMS rescue paramedic and an NSRI rescue swimmer were transferred onto the ship and the patient was found to be in a critical condition. The paramedic took over emergency medical treatment from the ships medical crew and the patient, secured into a stokes basket stretcher, was transferred onto the sea rescue craft and the EMS paramedic and NSRI medics continued with medical care onboard the sea rescue craft while the patient was brought to the NSRI Port Elizabeth sea rescue base and in the care of paramedics he was transported to hospital by EMS ambulance. Despite extensive efforts by hospital medical staff the patient passed away.
LARGO DESERT
Houthi rebels on May 27, 2024, claimed attacks onto the 'Largo Desert' in the Indian Ocean and the container ship “MSC Michela” and referred to an attack in the Red Sea against the tanker “Minerva Lisa”. A spokesman did not give details of the results or the weapons used. The 'Largo Desert' was en route from Durban to Beira, and the 'Minerva Lisa' was located in the Red Sea earlier in the day. The 'MSC Michela' was en route from Valencia to Suape.
PREVELIS
In the afternoon of May 27, 2024, the Port Authority of Tzelepi was informed by the Master of the 'Prevelis' that before the ship's departure a malfunction occurred in the port sie anchor winch. The ship had a scheduled route from the port of Piraeus to the ports of Thira, Anafis, Kasos, Karpathos, Diaphanio, Halkis and Rhodes, with 117 passengers and vehicles on board. The Central Port Authority of Piraeus initially banned the ship from sailing. Upon the presentation of a certificate of class maintenance from the monitoring classification society it was allowed to continue sailing.
Libreville
22 and 36 nautical miles Northwest of Libreville the latest acts of piracy occurred in positions 00° 30.50’N 009°06.21’E and 00° 55.24N 009° 08 09E and involved two fishing trawlers named 'amerger II' and 'Amerger VIIÄ – the first taking place 20 nautical miles off Libreville and the second 36 n.miles off Libreville. Both incidents involved a single speedboat described as a skiff powered by three engines and having 13 pirates on board. The pirates were reported as being English-speakers which gives rise to suspicions of them being of Nigerian origin, despite this being some distance from Nigeria. The boarding of each trawler resulted in three of the crew from each vessel being kidnapped. The nationalities of those kidnapped are reported as three Indonesian, two Senegalese, and one South Korean.
Durban
On May 3, 2020, at 10.15 a.m. the NSRI Durban launched the sea rescue craft 'Alick Rennie' to transport a ShipsMed doctor to a bulk carrier at the outer anchorage off-shore of the Port of Durban. The Port Health Authorities had arranged for the doctor to take sample swabs from a crewman onboard the ship, which is due to enter Port, for Covid-19 laboratory testing prior to the ship being granted permission to enter Port. Observing all Covid-19 Department of Health and Port Health Authority safety regulations and protocols on arrival at the ship the doctor was transferred onto the ship and sample swabs were collected from the crewman. The doctor returned to the sea rescue craft accompanied by the samples that he had collected and he was brought into Durban Port without incident. Port Health Authorities evaluated the samples to determine safe passage for the ship to enter Port. The operation completed at 11.40 a.m.
FRENCH WARSHIP
The crew of the “Ventôse” boarded a Venezuelan fishing vessel 820 miles northeast of Martinique on May 27, 2024. 81 bales with 2,4 tons of cocaine were discovered on board. The operation was carried out on the basis of information transmitted by the General Directorate of Customs in association with the anti-narcotics office Ofast. After a relocation phase by its on-board Panther helicopter, the crew proceeded to board the ship. The crew members and the cargo were returned to the Venezuelan authorities at sea. This seventh seizure of the year 2024 brings the FAA's toll to more than 12 tons of narcotics. At the beginning of May, the 'Ventôse' and the Antilles-Guyane patrol boat 'La Résolue' intercepted two ships carrying dozens of bales of cocaine. Traffic on the rise
ELLORA
On May 27, 2024, at noon, the Port Authority of Milos was informed that the 'Ellora' with nine people on board had suffered a damage to the rudder 12 nautical miles northwest of Milos. The fishing vessel 'Konstantinos' immediatelycame to assist and assisted the yacht to reach the port of Adamanto upon Milos. The Milos Port Authority, which was conducting the preliminary investigation, baneed the yacht from sailing until the damage was repaired and a certificate of seaworthiness has been presented by the monitoring classification society.
Port Elizabeth
On April 30, 2020, at 11.15 a.m. the NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew were alerted by TNPA (Transnet National Ports Authority) requesting assistance to evacuate a Filipino crew member of a bunkering tanker at anchorage off-shore of the Port of Port Elizabeth. The man required transportation to a dentist as soon as possible and considering the Covid-19 lockdown the Port Health Authorities advised the tasking of NSRI to carry out the operation, taking into consideration that NSRI are well prepared for all Covid-19 Department of Health protocols, regulations and precautions. At 1 p.m. the sea rescue craft 'JLT Rescuer' was launched and rendezvoused with the tanker thre miles off Port Elizabeth in calm seas. The patient was transferred onto the sea rescue craft and he was brought to shore and transported to a dentist appointment by the ships agent. At 3.30 p.m. the patient returned to the Port of Port Elizabeth and he boarded our sea rescue craft JLT Rescuer and we transported him back to the ship and returned to base without incident.
Grenaa
After the gas explosion aboard the Danish dredger vessel ‘Grete Fighter‘, 582 gt (IMO: 7944762), on April 23 in the port of Grenå,the Grenaa Shipyard has not yet received a report from the Labor Inspectorate on the cause of the accident which was thought to be be due to gas emissions or diesel fumes. However, the yard has already chosen to tighten security in several areas. On April 28, a joint meeting was held where staff and management discussed what they could do to be 100 percent sure the accident cannot recur. It was decided to buy a lot of technical equipment to prevent such an explosion in the future, and some new procedures for this type of work will be intrduced. The two survivors of the accident were in critical condition.