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
News
GCL LEADER
On May 21, 2024, at 5.12 a.m. five perpetrators, armed with knives, boarded the 'GCL Leader' west of Pulau Cula in pos. 1° 2.8' N 103°39.7' E. An oiler was being restrained, and the intruders stole engine parts.
Vado Ligure
Terminal operator APM Terminals (APMT) has released a video of the final three ship-to-shore (STS) cranes arriving at the Vado Gateway terminal, which it hopes will be the next major logistics hub for the Mediterranean and Europe. The Vado Gateway terminal is scheduled to open on December 12, 2019, and will be built with a 700-meter deep-sea berth specifically to handle the latest Ultra Large Container Ships (ULCS), as well as an automated gate and stacking area. APMT announced the inauguration date in July 2019 – a story PTI reported on at the time. Located in the Vado Ligure Port Complex in the northwest of the country, it will be the first semi-automated port in Italy and be integrated with an already existing reefer terminal.
Hamburg
The Port of Hamburg, Germany’s largest universal port, saw its inland and hinterland cargo traffic grow by 12.1% – 2.57 million tons – in the first quarter of 2019, according to its latest financial results. The data also shows that, for the first quarter of 2019, the Port has handled 34,640 TEU – 20ft standard containers – an increase of 20% in comparison with the same period last year.
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
SADIE
On May 26, 2024, the US Coast Guard medevaced an injured crew member from the 'Sadie' near Chirikof Island, Alaska. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic command center received a medevac request on the evening from the captain of the tug for a 38-year-old man experiencing a head injury. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak hoisted the patient and transported him to awaiting emergency services in Kodiak.
Mumbai
The Government of Maharashtra, India, India has named the Virgin Hyperloop One – DP World Consortium as Original Project Proponent (OPP) for the Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop Project, making it the first hyperloop project in the world. In a statement, Virgin Hyperloop One described it as a “landmark announcement” for the building of the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop transportation system.
Balboa
Starting August 1 and until November 30, 2019, the Panama Canal will promote the implementation of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) annual recommendations on speed and maritime transit aimed at protecting cetaceans, which include whales, dolphins and other large aquatic mammals, during their nearby seasonal migration. With these measures, ships should proceed at a speed of not more than 10 knots in specified areas. Panama has monitored this requirement since December 1, 2014 when maritime traffic separation devices (TSS) were installed by both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean entry points to the Canal.
MARVEL 3
On May 21, 2024, at 6.14 a.m. a number of pirates aboard five small boats approached the 'Marvel 3' along with the scrap loaded barge 'Seronggong 8' off the Tompiok Utara Becon in pos. 1° 30.16' N 104° 31.37' E. The pirates stole scrap metals from the barge.
ALASKA VICTORY
On May 25, 2024, the US Coast Guard and Alaska Rescue Coordination Center teamed up to medevac a crew member from the 'Alaska Victory' 30 nautical miles southeast of Togiak, Alaska. Watchstanders at the 17th Coast Guard District received a relayed phone call from fishing vessel, requesting a medevac for a 42-year-old man experiencing a leg injury. The injured crew member was transferred ashore in Togiak by a local fisherman on a small boat. Once in Togiak, an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center transported the patient from Togiak to Anchorage where he was met by emergency medical services.
Mombasa
The new Lamu Port in Kenya took a big step towards completion yesterday with the announcement that its first of 22 berths is finished. According to the South Sudan and Ethiopia Transport Corridor Development Authority, the second and third berths will be completed by December 2020.
Montevideo
Shandong BaoMa Fisheries Group has shelved plans to build a port in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo that could accommodate 500 Chinese vessels, amid legal complications and strong opposition from local residents and environmental organisations. The US$200 million project, which included a free trade zone, shipyard and fish processing and freezing plants, on a private 28-hectare site in Punta Yeguas, a mostly rural area with a public park, required a change in the legal designation of the land.