Between 10:00 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. (Sanaa time) on April 29, 2024, Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) and three UAVs from Yemen into the Red Sea towards the 'Cyclades. Initial reports indicate there were no injuries and the vessel continued on its way. Earlier, at 7:49 a.m., U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully engaged and destroyed one Houthi launched airborne unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on a flight path towards the USS 'Philippine Sea' and USS 'Laboon' in the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damages reported by U.S., coalition, or merchant vessels.
News
CG ANACAPA
The crew of the USCGC 'Anacapa' held a decommissioning ceremony for the cutter in Port Angeles, Washington, on April 26, 2024. Rear Adm. Charles Fosse, commander, Coast Guard 13th District, presided over the ceremony honoring the 34 years of service of the 'Anacapa' and its crews provided to the nation. Commissioned in 1990, the 'Anacapa' was one of 49 Island-class cutters built in Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana and was originally homeported in Petersburg, Alaska for more than three decades. While homeported in Port Angeles, the Anacapa successfully conducted numerous missions. Notably, in August 2022, the 'Anacapa' rescued three people from a disabled sailboat and conducted an overnight tow of the vessel. In April 2023, the Anacapa responded and assisted in the safe evacuation of 600 passengers, after the ferry 'Walla Walla' grounded in the Rich Passage. Following the decommissioning ceremony, the 'Anacapa' will transit to the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland, and will be placed in the Cutter Transition Division. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3759112/us-coast-guard-cutter-anacapa-decommissioned-after-34-years-of-service/
Sines
The Portuguese government announced an investment of 547 million euros in the expansion of the Port of Sines in the southwest of the country and an agreement to extend its concession from 2029 to 2049. The agreement was reached last week between Portugal and PSA Singapore for the completion of the 3rd phase of expansion of Terminal XXI, so as to greatly increase its capacity and give another 20 years of operations in Portugal to PSA Singapore. The Sines port, 58 nautical miles south of Lisbon, is one of the major European ports and the great hub port of the Iberian-Atlantic front.
Barcelona
BEST terminal in the Port of Barcelona has recently increased its storage and connection capacity for refrigerated containers, from 1,600 connection points up to 2,750, an increase of 70%, making it one of the terminals with the most connections for refrigerated containers in the whole of the Mediterranean area.
CYCLADES
Between 10:00 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. (Sanaa time) on April 29, 2024, Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) and three UAVs from Yemen into the Red Sea towards the 'Cyclades', en route from Djibouti to Jeddah, 54 nautical miles west of the Yemeni port of Mocha. The ship was slightly damaged due to a nearby explosion. Initial reports indicated there were no injuries and the vessel continued on its way. A Houthi Armed Forces spokesperson said the bulker was targeted for having called the Israeli port of Eliat on April 21. Earlier, at 7:49 a.m., U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully engaged and destroyed one Houthi launched airborne unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on a flight path towards the USS 'Philippine Sea' and USS 'Laboon' in the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damages reported by U.S., coalition, or merchant vessels.
DALI
The Baltimore Port Authority on April 29 closed the deepest, temporary channel to the port to date after just a few days. This was done to get ready to remove the bridge section that lies across the bow of the 'Dali', and subsequently also remove the container ship itself. The goal is that the 'Dali' has been removed by May 10 at the latest, and the entire entrance to the harbour is cleared before the end of May. Before the salvors can remove the bridge section that lies across the bow of the vessel, it is necessary to remove 180 containers from the ship. Of these, 140 have now been removed, but the last ones were expected to be the most difficult. Once the bridge section is removed, the 'Dali' can be towed away. Around May 15, the plan is to reopen the temporary channel with a water depth of 35 feet again and which was briefly opened to allow some of the ships that have been locked up in the port since the accident. A single container ship, the feeder 'MSC Passion III', also managed to slip into the port with 1,000 containers on board, unload and leave the port again before the temporary channel was closed again.
Rotterdam
APM Terminals Maasvlakte II’s new rail service between its Rotterdam terminal and Venlo, a key logistics hub on the Dutch-German border is proving popular. Following the success of the initial five-times-per-week service, plans are already in place to scale this up to 14 times per week over the coming weeks.
Genova
A 24-hour national labour strike is planned on Jul 24, in all Italian ports and all transportations. The planned strike is subject to confirmation in the coming days.
CG JOSEPH DOYLE
The 'Joseph Doyle' repatriated 119 migrants to Dominican Republic on April 26, following two interdictions of unlawful, irregular migration attempts near Puerto Rico. The repatriated migrants were transferred to Dominican Republic Navy authorities at San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. The second interdiction occurred on April 25, after the aircrew of a Customs and Border Protection multi-role enforcement aircraft sighted a 30-foot makeshift vessel taking part in an unlawful maritime migration voyage, approximately 30 nautical miles northwest of Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico. A responding Customs and Border Protection marine unit interdicted the suspect vessel while the 'Joseph Doyle' arrived on scene and embarked 66 migrants, 63 who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and three who claimed to be Haitian nationals. The first interdiction occurred on April 24, when a Customs and Border Protection Marine unit stopped a 30-foot makeshift vessel taking part in an unlawful maritime migration voyage, approximately four nautical miles north of Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders diverted the 'Joseph Doyle', which arrived on scene and embarked 58 migrants, 56 who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and two who claimed to be Haitian nationals.
EUNAVFOR WARSHIP
On the morning of April 29, the 'Virginio Fasan' reported downing a drone from Yemen. The frigate had recently arrived in the region to take over as the flagship of EU NAVFOR Aspides. While German, Denmark, and Belgium have withdrawn their vessels, Italy has sent a new frigate, which took over as the new flagship of the operation. Italy's Duilio had been leading the operation. The drone was about three miles away when it was downed, as they believed it was heading for an unnamed merchant ship that they were escorting. A missile exploded in the water in the vicinity of the escorted vessel, causing only minor superficial damage.
Churchill
Canada’s arctic port of Churchill is set to resume its first grain shipments since 2015 after a group backed by investor Prem Watsa stepped in last year to buy the facility and a related rail line linking the northern town with the rest of Manitoba. The 88-year-old port on the shores of Hudson’s Bay will resume operations in the next few months, reducing by several days the shipping time to deliver grains to Europe and the Middle East across the Atlantic Ocean.
King Abdullah Port
In the largest commercial operation of its kind in the history of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah Port has received 28 state-of-the-art Liebherr cranes to start the expansion of the container terminals. The latter was decided through a MoU signed with National Container Terminal on the day the port was officially inaugurated in the presence of the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman last February. The new cranes include 20 gantry cranes and 8 ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, which are the largest of their kind, with an outreach of 70 m (25 rows) and a safe working load of 65 t. The cranes that were supplied in this deal will join their operational counterparts in the port. They are the largest cranes exported by Liebherr and can serve mega container ships easily and seamlessly.