Rescuers from the 'Humanity 1' found the lifeless body of a six-month-old baby in a migrant boat with 40 people on board on the morning of May 28. The infant was traveling with his mother and three-year-old older brother, from Guinea Conkary, aboard a boat en route to the European coast when they were picked up by the humanitarian ship.The mother, originally from Guinea Conakary, had boarded the boat from the city of Sfax. The 'Humanity 1' crew observed a minute of silence to pay tribute to this young victim. The body, as well as the mother and brother, were quickly evacuated by the Italian authorities to Lampedusa. On board the NGO ship are currently 183 migrants, including pregnant women, children and people suffering from burns caused by the fuel. The ship was heading Wednesday morning to the port of Livorno, allocated by the MRCC in Rome the day before with an ETA as of May 30. Report with photos: https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/57382/mediterranee--un-bebe-de-six-mois-retrouve-mort-dans-un-canot-de-migrants
News
RENAISSANCE
The Rescue 118 helicopter crew from the Irish Coast Guard sprang into action on the morning of May 28, 2024, after receiving a medevac request from the 'Renaissance' northwest of Tory Island, which was on an 11-day trip around Ireland and the UK, having departed Le Havre. The ship was sailing from Belfast to Killybegs when the medical situation arose. The patient was hoisted on a stretcher and transported directly to the Sligo University Hospital due to the adverse weather.
Beirut
The Port of Beirut (PoB) resumed partial operations on Aug 10 with the first two container ships berthing in the container terminal after the explosion which killed at least 160 persons, injured thousands and made hundred thousands homeless. Out of 16 cranes at the container terminal, 12 were currently operational. The port was gradually resuming operations to ensure the supply of all kinds of goods to citizens. Bassem Al Kaissi, the new Director of the PoB, said that the container terminal will be fully operational by Aug 14. Al Kaissi said that 420 containers were unloaded on Aug 10. The container terminal storage area has been cleaned up and restored to its state before the blast. The container terminal represents 80 percent of the overall cargo movement at the PoB. It is located one kilometer away from the blast epicenter. Container vessels can dock at quay number 16. Shipping movement at the PoB had already plunged by 75 percent due to the economic crisis and has reached 15 percent following the blast. Customs have opened offices in the PoB’s warehouse number 14 which was partially damaged. The customs have become able to carry out the inspection of merchandise- Customs duties are being temporarily paid at the Rafic Hariri International Airport. Tthe PoB is now handling only full containers as groupage consignment requires warehouses which don’t exist now. Amer Al Kaissi said groupage, which represents 15 percent of shipments at the PoB, will be diverted to the Port of Tripoli until the rebuilding of warehouses at the PoB is completed. The first two containerships to berth at the PoB after the blast were the 'Electra' (Gezairi Transport) and the 'Nicolas Delmas' (CMA CGM). The 'Electra', which was carrying 400 containers, was diverted to Tripoli where there was a license to operate but the company insisted to unload it in Beirut when it was told that the PoB has resumed operation. The CMA CGM Group and CEVA Logistics said they are fully operational and ensuring business continuity to serve their customers. The Group has redeployed its employees in its two back-up sites in Beirut Digital District and reinforced its presence in Tripoli. Part of CMA CGM’s vessels has been temporarily directed to Tripoli. Few shipping companies are authorized to operate in other ports such as Tripoli or Saida. BCTC, the Customs and the PoB’s authorities did their best to handle the clearing formalities despite the difficult working conditions. The general cargo area was fully operational on Aug 12 both for imports and exports. This includes wheat and other grains as well as construction steel bars. The cost of rebuilding the port is estimated at around $1 billion.
FV SANTA LUZIA HIRU
A crew member of the 'Santa Luzia Hiru' was injured in an accident on May 29, 2024, and needed to be medevaced in the Bay of Biscy. Salvamento Marítimo deployed the SAR boat 'Salvamar Rigel', which took the man off and transported him to the port of Gijón, where an ambulance was waiting.
SPARTA IV
On May 23, 2024, the 'Sparta IV', along with the corvette 'Orekhovo-Zuyevo', the landing ships 'Ivan Gren' and 'Aleksandr Ortakovskiy', the surveillance ship 'Kildin' and the fleet tanker 'Kama' were observed during the transit of the Baltic Sea. The Russian Navy was withdrawing units from the Mediterranean. On May 25 anbd May 26 NATO and Federal Police units were deployed to monitor the transit of the five Russian warships along with the freighter to Russian bases in Northern Europe. The missile corvette was relocated from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean in January 2021 and has to be overhauled after three years in Tartus. The convoy has been shadowed by several NATO ships since the start of May. In the North Sea, the Dutch corvette 'Holland' as well as the British patrol ship "Tyne" and the Belgian patrol boat "Castor". The convoy used the so-called Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the North Sea states, where an internationally agreed right of free passage applies. The "Kildin", the "Sparta IV" and the "Orekhovo-Zuevo" sailed through the Great Belt and the Fehmarn Belt into the Baltic Sea on May 25. Along German territorial waters, the Federal Police monitored the Russian ships with the "Bayreuth" and "Neustadt". The "Sparta IV" had loaded military supplies from Syria for Baltiysk, the military port of the Kaliningrad Oblast. For the heavy-lift ship, this is already the second trip with military supplies from Syria to Kaliningrad. The two landing ships and the tanker are still in the North Sea. They are expected to continue to their home port on the Kolafjord near Murmansk during the week. It is not known what the ships are loaded with. The reason for the units' long journey is the Russian Navy's lack of shipyard capacity in Syria. There are no docks for its units in the Mediterranean. Photos: https://x.com/kon_marine/status/1793650665740534179
DALI
The Unified Command has cleared a 400-foot-wide swath of the federal channel on May 20, permitting all pre-collapse, deep-draft commercial vessels transit of the Port of Baltimore. The Unified Command continued to clear wreckage from the bottom of the Patapsco River, in hopes to fully restore the Fort McHenry Federal Channel to its original 700-foot width and 50-foot depth by June 8-10. The continued work involves digging out the bottom cord of the “section four” truss seen in the water here, which will be cut into three sections to safely lift. Report with photos: https://abc45.com/news/nation-world/unified-command-continues-to-clear-wreckage-from-the-key-bridge-collapse-site
IVAN KALININ
On May 27,2024, the 'Ivan Kalinin' caught fire at the pier in the Zolotoy Rog Bay in the Kalinin area. The crew was evacuated independently, and no one was injured. Firefighters arrived at the scene seven minutes after the call. Thick black smoke was coming from the ship's refrigeration facilities. The firefighters were able to extinguish the open fire, which was raging in an area of about 20 square meters, and reconnaissance started using a thermal image camera. At 5:41 p.m. the fire was completely extinguished. Investigators from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations started establishing the cause of the fire. The Vanino Transport Prosecutor's Office organized an inspection of compliance with the requirements of the legislation on maritime safety, as well as compliance with the fire safety regime. Report with photo and video: https://www.newsvl.ru/accidents/2024/05/27/224111/#ixzz8bbK24xnV Vladivostok news on VL.RU
Kiel
The PORT OF KIEL has redesigned the port apron in Ostuferhafen, which is the freight and logistics centre on the fjord. Where once stood a grain silo, there is now an expanded pre-stacking and stand-by area of three hectares for trucks, trailers and pas-senger cars.The State Premier of Schleswig- Holstein, Daniel Günther, visited the Ostufer-hafen on 12th August to hand over the grant notice coming from the State Programme Economy for 5.44 million Euros: The project to redesign the port apron included dismantling three hall areas of the former grain silo, excavation and road works as well as drainage, lighting and security measures and the connection of the area to the infrastructure. Through the new and generous port apron it has been possible to merge formerly separated pre-stacking areas, shorten distances and gain more space for trucks, busses, trailers and passenger cars. Furthermore, IT solutions have been developed to accelerate the handling processes at the gate, which also allow truck drivers to reduce personal contact.Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director at the PORT OF KIEL: “Even under the current circumstances the Ostuferhafen operates in a reliable and safe way. The port of Kiel has proven its systemic importance regarding the transshipment of cross-border freight transport.”In the first seven months of the year 2.1 million tons of cargo have been tran-shipped via the Ostuferhafen (+ 1 %). Additional volumes have been transported by the ferries of the DFDS shipping company to the Baltic States or they have been delivered by the SCA-RoRo-freighters from Scandinavia. Not only general cargo and forest products are unloaded resp. transhipped in Ostuferhafen but also project and heavy cargo, scrap metal and agricul-tural products. The integrated passenger terminal to handle cruise vessels emphasizes the universal character of this port part.