The US Coast Guard has decommissioned the 'Orcas (WPB1327)' during a ceremony in Coos Bay, Oregon, on April 23, 2024. Rear Adm. Charles Fosse, the commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District, presided over the ceremony honoring the 35 years of service Orcas and its crews provided to the nation. Commissioned on April 14, 1989, the 'Orcas' was the 27th Island-Class cutter to join the fleet. The 'Orcas' has been stationed in Coos Bay, Oregon, since 1989 and was the 6th Coast Guard cutter to be stationed in Coos Bay since 1935, being used as a multi-mission platform that conducted operations to support SAR response, marine environmental protection, and national defense, from training allied nation maritime forces, conducting the largest-ever cocaine seizure in the history of the Pacific Northwest, and saving countless lives and hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property on the Pacific Ocean. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3752989/coast-guard-cutter-orcas-decommissioned-after-35-years-of-service-in-coos-bay-o/
News
XIN RONG HAI 1
On the evening of April 22, 2024, the 'Xin Rong Hai 1' allided with a guard pier under the Jiujiang Bridge on the G240 National Highway in South China's Guangdong Province. The ship, carrying over 4,900 tonnes of rolled steel, was sailing from Fuzhou, Fujian Province, to the city of Heshan, Guangdong, when it hit the base of a pillar of the Jiujiang Bridge at 9:20 p.m. The cargo hold started taking on water. The ship later ran aground and finally sank at around 11:40 p.m. There were a total of 11 crew members on board, seven of whom were rescued and four missing. As of 9:00 a.m. on April 23, the local government had coordinated maritime, fishery and social rescue forces in dispatching 32 vessels and more than 400 personnel to participate in SAR efforts. Experts quickly conducted a preliminary assessment of the bridge and found no obvious damage to the main structure. However, there were abrasions on the pillar -- requiring further safety assessments. After preliminary investigations, the accident was determined to have been caused by operating error resulting from flood. Traffic police have implemented traffic control for both directions of the Jiujiang Bridge on the G240 National Highway from 6 a.m. on April 23 to 6 a.m. on April 24. The maritime department has implemented navigation control, with all vessels prohibited from entering the three-kilometer water area upstream and downstream of the bridge, except for emergency rescue boats. Passing vessels were advised to detour. Reports with photos: https://english.news.cn/20240423/dee1d7dccf6948ff9245836174c7ca46/c.html https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202404/23/WS6627586ba31082fc043c3822.html
Recife
An accident occurred with a ship loader at the sugar terminal in the port of Recife on April 19, 2024. The loader collapsed. and a part of the machine fell into the cargo hold of a ship that was docked at the port to load raw sugar. No one was injured. Experts were assessing the situation. and there was no timeline yet for repairs. The collapsed ship loader was the only one at the terminal, run by Sindacucar. There were currently three vessels waiting to load 71,000 metric tons of raw sugar at the port. The buyers of the sugar were Louis Dreyfus, Tate & Lyle and ASR, destined for the United States and Portugal. The port was evaluating ways to complete loading of the currently docked vessel, as well as alternatives to loading any other vessels.
Alang
At the Alang ship recycling yard on the Bhavnagar coast, Gujarat, the Shree Ram Vessel Scrap Pvt Ltd. (SRVSPL), filed a police complaint alleging a loss of Rs 45 lakh worth of equipment stolen from the 'DV Erica', which had been brought in from Abu Dhabi for dismantling. According to the complaint filed with Alang Marine police station, the theft was believed to have occurred on March 23, 2024, at around 5 a.m. The ship was anchored in the designated waiting area at the outer anchorage after having been towed from Abu Dhabi. When workers boarded the ship for inspection on the morning, they discovered signs of a break-in. Two ropes were found dangling from the stern of the ship, suggesting the thieves used them to climb aboard.
CG WINSLOW GRIESSER
The 'Winslow Griesser' interdicted an unlawful migration voyage in the Mona Passage on April 19, 2024. Coast Guard watchtanders at Sector San Juan received notification on the morning from the aircrew of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations multi-role enforcement aircraft, reporting the sighting of a suspected migrant vessel, approximately 55 nautical miles northwest of Puerto Rico. Watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter to interdict the suspect vessel. Once on scene, the crew deployed their over-the-horizon small boat and stopped the 20-foot go-fast vessel that was carrying eight people and multiple cockfighting roosters. The migrants claimed to have departed from Dominican Republic on a voyage to Puerto Rico, however, they experienced engine malfunctions which forced them to return to Dominican Republic before being interdicted. Working in coordination with the Dominican Republic Navy, cutter Winslow Griesser’s crew took the migrant vessel in tow and rendezvoused with a Dominican Republic Navy vessel, who embarked and received custody of the migrants. Further investigation efforts by Dominican Republic Navy and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) revealed three of the alleged migrants were U.S. citizens with active U.S. warrants. Following the interdiction, Dominican Republic Navy authorities detained three U.S. citizens, who were affiliated with a criminal gang and wanted in connection with a July 2020 shooting at a residential community in Puerto Rico in which four people were killed. The suspects were taken under the custody of the Dominican Republic 'Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas (DNCD) (United States Marshals Service Dominican Republic Foreign Field Office Fugitive Investigative Unit). United States Marshals Service Puerto Rico Fugitive Task Force for the District of Puerto Rico are coordinating the deportation of the three suspects. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3751974/coast-guard-interdiction-leads-to-the-apprehension-of-3-wanted-us-citizens/
NIEUW STATENDAM
The 'Nieuww Statendam', en route from Rotterdam to Funchal, requested the medical evacuation of a passenger with a possible stroke on April 23, 2024, about 91 nautical miles from A Coruña. The CCS Finisterre of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR helicopter Helimer 402. The patient was hoisted and taken Alvedro, where an ambulance was waiting for further transport to hospital.
Port au Prince
On April 4, 2024, the containerm/v 'Magalie' ((IMO: 7413892)) was hijacked by members of the 5 Seconds gang in the Varreux terminal neighborhood at Port-au-Prince. The gang members took all crew members hostage and stole one-sixth of the cargo, which included rice, Haiti's main staple food. On April 8, Haiti's National Police stormed the ship and engaged in a five-hour gunfight. The operation resulted in the injury of two officers and an unspecified number of gang members being killed. The vessel was retrieved safely, and Haiti's Port Authority assisted in transporting the onboard personnel. The status of the crew members was unknown. The ship was pulled away from the shore by a tug. Gangs have frequently attacked Port-au-Prince's waterfront operations, causing disruptions to the supply and relief flow. Last month, vandals destroyed the Varreux Power Plant and briefly took over and looted the Caribbean Port Services (CPS), the biggest container terminal in the country. The UN's Famine Early Warning System Network states that the terminal's waterside activities may remain closed for several weeks.
Montevideo
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SHAKESPEARE BAY
On April 4, 2024, at 1.10 a.m. the 'Shakespeare Bay' was boarded by three men, armend with long knives and special tools, in Kuala Tanjung Port in pos. 3° 22.31' N 99° 28.22' E. The perpetrators stole engine spares. he crew was not injured.
COSTA DIADEMA
A passenger was medevaced from the 'Costa Diadema', en route from Malaga to Barcelona, on April 23, 2024, about 14.3 nautical miles from Peñon de Ifach. The ship had requested assistance after a passenger was suffering from respiratory problems. The CCS Valencia of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR helicopter Helimer 215, which hoisted the patient and took him to the Denia Firefighters heliport for further transfer to the hospital.
Kaliningrad
Ukraine's military intelligence directorate, the GUR, has claimed responsibility for a serious fire aboard the Russian corvette 'Serpukhov' at the port of Kaliningrad, a Buyan-M class vessel. GUR provided what appeared to be a schematic of the vessel's internal spaces, and a brief video of an incendiary device going off. The agency said that the 'Serpukhov' sustained substantial damage from the fire, with its means of communication and automation were completely destroyed. The Buyan class is designed for coastal operations and are heavily armed for their size, carrying up to eight Kalibr or Oniks antiship missiles and up to eight surface-to-air missiles. This was a deep strike behind the Russian lines. The agency's drones have hit Russian oil refineries up to 750 miles away from Ukraine's borders, and have taken approximately 14 percent of Russia's refining capacity offline. The latest strike - a claimed attack on a product pipeline - allegedly disabled all product tanker loadings at the occupied port of Azov. The GUR has also mounted a successful campaign against the Russian Black Sea Fleet, damaging or destroying a claimed one-third of its force and confining the rest to the relative safety of Novorossiysk. The sister ship 'Velykyi' Ustyug was likely damaged by a Ukrainian drone early in the Russian invasion. In June 2022 the 'Ustyug' was photographed in tow to a shipyard, showing signs of fragmentation damage along her port side. Report with video: https://maritime-executive.com/article/ukrainian-spy-agency-claims-it-lit-a-fire-on-a-russian-corvette
Itaqui
Brazil: Agriculture Officers Strike Federal agriculture officers decided to start the strike next Monday (22), which will directly affect trading involving perishable products and may cause delays in berthing and unberthing ships. Federal Revenue tax auditors also announced that they will intensify the general strike that has been ongoing since November last year, as reported in our previous newsletters. Next week, from the 22nd to the 26th of January, there will be no cargo clearance at the ports and airports of São Paulo and Bahia. This means that goods release services will be affected at Viracopos airport, the Port of Santos, Salvador customs (from the 23rd) and Guarulhos Airport. During the period, only perishable, live and dangerous cargo will be released at the sites, in addition to medicines and food, as they are considered essential. It is important to highlight that the import and export of goods of animal and plant origin require the consent and inspection of agricultural officers. The category's national union (Anffa Sindical) informed that the release of certificates and goods at ports, in this case, will respect the last day of the deadline set out in the rules of the Ministry of Agriculture. It is worth remembering that in the last meeting held on December 27th with Sindifisco Nacional, minister Fernando Haddad and the special secretary of Revenue, Robinson Barreirinhas, stated that they did not plan to make changes to the proposal presented for the payment of the efficiency bonus in 2024 , which motivated the continuation of the strike. The Superior Courts have already pacified the understanding that the strike movement cannot interrupt essential public services. Therefore, the functioning of the productive activity of shipowners/importers/exporters cannot be delayed by the Customs Inspectors' strike. Customs clearance must continue, regardless of the tax auditors' strike. The Judiciary has been intervening effectively on a case-by-case basis, in order to avoid the harmful effects of the Federal Revenue auditors' strike and maintain the regular activity of taxpayers at Brazilian customs. The strike could affect the port and customs sector. Our team is closely monitoring the situation in the North/Northeast ports and will inform you of any updates.