The passenger from the 'Icon of Seas' has died after jumping 80 feet deep from the cruise ship on the first night of his week-long voyage on May 26, soon after it left Florida with 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members on board en route to Honduras on the morning of May 26. The crew had deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man and brought him back aboard, where he was pronounced deceased. Report with photos: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13467531/royal-carribbean-cruise-passenger-icon-seas-ship-jump.html
News
PETREL
Magin Luis Caballero launched a £7m law suit after suffering life changing injuries when the 'Petrel' tipped over at Imperial dock in Leith on March 22, 2023. He is suing the US government over the incident in which more than 30 people were hurt with some of them sustaining life-changing injuries. Mr. Caballero, from Houston, Texas, worked as an assistant cook on the ship for US Navy contractor Oceaneering International. His lawyers claimed the US government were negligent and failed to provide a safe working environment for Mr Caballero. He is seeking $10 million for "mental anguish, pain and suffering, physical impairment and disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, past and future medical expenses, maintenance and cure, attorney's fees and loss of earnings." His legal claim was lodged at US District Court in Texas, but a judge ruled earlier this month the case should be heard in Florida where the 'Petrel' is currently docked. The lawsuit states: "On March 22, 2023, the Vessel was secured in a drydock in Leith, Edinburgh. But Defendant's agents and/or servants failed to properly secure the Vessel in drydock. Around 8.35 a.m., strong winds dislodged the Vessel from its holding, causing the Vessel to topple over. Mr Caballero was working in the galley. He was literally thrown across the galley when the Vessel dislodged from its holding, causing his body to smash into a table. He suffered serious, life-altering injuries. He was transported to the hospital. Mr Caballero was transported back to the United States weeks later. He has been unable to return to work. He continues to need serious, ongoing medical care. Nothing Mr Caballero did or failed to do on the occasion in question caused or in any way contributed to cause his injuries. To the contrary, these events were caused by the negligence of the Defendant or its agents and servants. Defendant had a non-delegable duty to provide Mr. Caballero with a reasonably safe place to work and a Vessel, crew, and equipment fit for its intended use. Defendant, directly or through its agents or servants, failed in that regard."
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.
OCEAN VIKING
The 'Ocean Viking' has rescued 41 people off the coast of Libya, including two minors, who were on board a wooden boat in distress on May 28. When the SOS Méditerranée teams arrived, one person was hypothermic and several were suffering from fuel burns.The majority of the people were from Syria. The Italian maritime authorities have designated the port of Ancona to disembark the rescued people.
LESLIE FRANK
On May 28, 2024, the 'Leslie Frank' suffered an engine failure about 3.5 nautical miles southwest of the port of Barbate with two crew members on board and requested assistance. The CCS Tarifa of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR boat 'Salvamar Enif', which took the yacht in tow and safely pulled it to the port of Barbate.
LAAX
The 'Laax', enroute from Vatika Bay to Imam Khomeini with 14 people on board, was hit by three missiles in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen on May 28. 2024, as it passed 33 nautical miles northwest of the port of Al Mukha (Mocka or Mocha),southwest of Hodeidah. The bulk carrier sustained some damage to one of the cargo holds and was taking on waterm developing a list. It was sailing in ballast after discharging the cargo of about 60,000 tons of soya beans at the port of Ceyhan on May 21. There were no injuries on board. A total of five missiles were launched from Yemen on that day. The ship was now sailing to a port nearby (possibly Djibouti) to assess the extent of the damage. The crew, consisting of 13 Filipinos and one Ukrainian, was safe.
SEIMEIMARU
On May 26, 2024, at around 11 p.m. the "Sei Mei Maru" ran aground with four crew members on board west of Nakajima, a remote island in the Kudako Channel belonging to Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture. The ship had left Ube Port in the Yamaguchi Prefecture at around 4 p.m. with a cargo of 1,530 tons of limestone en route to Kakogawa Port in the Hyogo Prefecture. The cause of the accident was unknown at this time, and the Matsuyama Coast Guard launched an investigation. Report with photo: https://crane1000.com/cargo-ship-seimei-maru-grounding-accident-west-of-nakajima-in-kudako-suido/
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.