In the night of May 26, 2024, the “Isla Santa Cruz” had to be abandoned by its crew when it began to sink for unknown reasons near Salinas, while the ship was towing a semi-submersible that had been seized with 169 packages of drugs 150 miles from the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). A rapid reaction team was immediately deployed to find the 12 crew members as well as the three people who had been captured in the semi-submersible, who were all rescued. During the SAR operation, the coordinating centers of Ecuador, the United States and Peru participated. In addition, two ships of the Ecuadorian Navy, an aircraft of the Colombian Armed Forces, a merchant ship and a fishing vessel were involved.
News
AYDOGAN
On May 27, 2024, at around 2 p.m. the 'Aydogan', en route from Gebze (Kocaeli) to Suez, suffered a rudder failure in front of Gallipoli during the transit of the Dardanelles Strait. Under the coordination of the Çanakkale VTS Center, the ship was moored at the Karanlık Liman Anchorage, assisted by a pilot and the tug 'Kurtarma 4' (IMO: 9335941). The ship resumed its voyage at 5.45 p.m. with an ETA as of May 30. Report with photo: https://x.com/kiyiemniyet/status/1795096592468374002
Rostock
On May 2, a HLC 295000 heavy load crane of Liebherr mounted on the deck of the 'Orion I' crashed in the Seaport of Rostock during a test when lifting a pontoon which was filled with 5.550 tons of water. The crane boom broke off, and parts fell onto the 'Orion I', which started to list to port side, and onto the quay edge. Heavy metal pieces flew around. Five people inside the crane's cabin were injured by the heave jerk. The fire brigade, ambulances and police attended with a large contingent. They tried to free the victims from the steel mesh. There were two serious and three minor injuries. A total of 120 people were on board the 'Orion I' who were now being evacuated and looked after. A rescue helicopter has landed. In addition, large amounts of oil leaked out, which the fire brigade has to collect before it got into the water. It is the second accident on the Liebherr site within a few months. In January, two loading cranes fell into the water during tests. The salvage then took several months. Reports with photos and video: https://www.nonstopnews.de/meldung/32916 https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/mecklenburg-vorpommern/Rostock-Erneutes-Unglueck-mit-Hafenkran,hafenkran156.html https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/panorama/id_87809036/rostock-krank-knickt-im-hafen-ab-fuenf-verletzte.html
Everett WA
The American destroyer USS 'Kidd' returned to Everett after nearly 50 crew members aboard were tested positive for coronavirus as of April 27, 2020. This was the second reported outbreak of COVID-19 aboard a US Navy vessel at sea. After concerns were raised about cases aboard the USS 'Theodore Roosevelt', one sailor assigned to that ship died from coronavirus complications. Roughly half the crew members on the USS 'Kidd' have been tested for the virus, and some have been evacuated. 45% of the ship have been tested for COVID-19, with 47 total positive results. Two Sailors have been medically evacuated. 15 sailors have been transferred to USS 'Makin Island (LHD 8)' for monitoring due to persistent symptoms. None were in the ICU or on ventilators. Sailors aboard the USS 'Kidd' were wearing PPE and N95 masks. Initial COVID-19 testing of sailors from the USS 'Theodore Roosevelt' were now complete, there are 955 active cases, along with 14 recovered cases. The USS 'Kidd' was on a counter narcotics mission' when ait was reported at least 18 crew had fallen ill with the virus.
CG MUNRO
The crew of the 'Munro (WMSL 755)' offloaded approximately 33,768 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated value of $468 million, on May 21, 2024, in San Diego. The offload was a result of eight separate suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions or events off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America by the Coast Guard Cutter in February and March. Reports with photos: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3788220/media-advisory-coast-guard-to-offload-approximately-33768-pounds-of-cocaine-in/ https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3789060/multimedia-release-coast-guard-crew-offloads-468-million-worth-of-cocaine-in-sa/
DALI
Crews working to restore the federal channel of debris from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge need more time before shipping traffic can be fully restored. The end of May had been the goal of state and federal officials, but on May 24 it was announced that work will conclude by June 10. The Army Corps of Engineers was pushing forward as quickly and safely as possible to reach 700 feet and ensuring we remove all wreckage to prevent any impact to future navigation, and continued to clear wreckage from the riverbed to restore the federal channel to its original 700-foot width and 50-foot depth. The remaining work involves digging out the bottom cord of the remaining truss of the collapsed structure and cutting it into three sections to lift and remove the wreckage. Only about one-third of this truss is visible above the water as it stretches down to the riverbed and sits buried in Patapsco River mud. Based on the latest dive surveys and engineer analyses conducted after the refloating the 'Dali', work to restore the federal channel is projected to conclude between June 8-10. The adjusted timing accounts for the complexity of the cutting and rigging required to lift portions of the large span, which is more complex than initially estimated. The salvage crews must dig out the bottom cord of this truss to access the areas needing to be cut. The revised timeline also accounts for safety measures and possible inclement weather. Thunderstorms were in the forecast through May 27. After the 'Dali' was towed away, a 400-foot-wide, 50-foot-deep channel into the Baltimore harbour opened on May 21 as the largest, and deepest, marine route into the Port of Baltimore to open since the Key Bridge collapsed. 24-hour commercial vessel traffic through the Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel had commenced on May 21. Deep-draft vessels, which must be accompanied by a Maryland pilot and two escort tugs, have priority in the 50- foot-deep channel, though shallower commercial ships can use the three existing alternate channels. As of May 27, about 500 commercial vessels have passed through temporary channels opened by Key Bridge Response Unified Command in the eight weeks since the collapse.
Marseille
The 'AIDAblu' made a brief stopover yesterday in Marseille on April 26, 2020, to embark several hundred crew members of one of his sisterships, the 'AIDAsol', which has been moored in the port for 1,5 months. The transfer took place to facilitate the repatriation of AIDA personnel via Germany. The 'AIDAblu' set sail again in the afternoon. At the same time, another cruise ship which had been berthed in Marseille since last month, the 'Europa 2' of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, set sail to also return to Germany, its arrival in Hamburg was scheduled for May 2. The Marseille areas now hosted six cruise ships, the 'Costa Smeralda', 'MSC Magnifica' and 'AIDAsol', 'Le Boréal', 'L’Austral' and 'Le Lyrial'. The repatriation operations of the international personnel of these ships was still in progress, in particular via flights chartered by the owners. This was particularly the case for the crew members of the 'MSC Magnifica', which arrived on April 20 and who also landed 4 tonnes of food surplus, donated to local associations to help the most disadvantaged.
SALVAMAR CAPELLA
On May 27, the fishing vessel 'Nuevo Avril', based in San Juan de La Arena, suffered water ingress and sank 14 nautical miles westnorthwest of Cabo Peñas. The SAR helicopter Helimer 222 was mobilized by the CCS Gijón of Salvamento Marítimo and has rescued the two crew members, who had abandoned ship onto the life raft, and has taken them to El Musel, where an ambulance was waiting. The 'Salvamar Capella' was also deployed to the area to rule out a contamination due to the sinking. No signs of contamination were detected. The raft, the radio beacon, lifebuoys and some boxes were recovered by the SAR boat.
San Diego
The number of coronavirus cases aboard the USS 'Kidd' rose to 64 as the Navy destroyer pulled into port at San Diego on April 28, 2020, to get medical care for the crew and to disinfect and decontaminate the ship. The 'Kidd' was the second Navy ship to have an outbreak of the disease while at sea, the other being the USS 'Theodore Roosevelt', an aircraft carrier that has been docked at Guam for a month and has more than 900 sailors with confirmed cases of COVID-19, but the entire crew has now been tested. The Navy has moved swiftly to get the 'Kidd''s crew ashore. That was a point of contention with the 'Roosevelt', whose skipper, Capt. Brett Crozier, felt compelled to write to several other commanders pleading for more urgent Navy action to protect his crew of nearly 5,000. Crozier was then relieved of command for what the Navy's top civilian official at the time, Thomas Modly, called poor judgment. Modly resigned several days later, and the Navy is now seeking higher-level approval to reverse his move and restore Crozier to command. The Navy said that 63% of the 'Kidd''s crew of more than 300 had been tested as of April 28. One sailor was medically evacuated to the United States on April 22 after experiencing shortness of breath. Fifteen were transferred to another ship with a medical facility for closer observation of symptoms. Sailors being removed from the 'Kidd' at San Diego will be isolated with twice-daily medical screenings. Crew members who have tested negative will enter quarantine for a period of observation, with military health professionals monitoring them for symptoms. Also, a small contingent of sailors who tested negative will remain on the ship for essential services and deep cleaning. The cleaning is expected to take two weeks. The destroyer had been off the Pacific coast of Central American doing counter-narcotics operations. The Navy said no deployed ships currently have known coronavirus cases aboard. 13 ships that previously had one or more active cases while in port have zero cases now.
Flensburg
The Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft shipyard a which had been operating at a loss for some time, filed for self-administered insolvency on April 24. The goal of the shipyard’s filing was to permit it to start afresh. The future of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in the medium term was in building Ro-Ro ferries, according to the message delivered by the management at a workers meeting on Sunday April 26. The move is specifically designed to allow the company to start from fresh without existing contractual obligations to customers and suppliers. Though an administrator will be brought in from outside the company, the company management will continue to control the business which is a different process to bankruptcy in German law. Investor Lars Windhorst is prepared to put money into the business through his Tennor Holding investment vehicle. Tennor Holding took 100% control of the yard in 2019. He has said, however, that the money should not be used on loss making contracts. The former majority owner Siem Industries is interested in contracting 4 further Ro-Ro ferries from the yard. Siem recently took delivery of LIEKUT, the eighth of a series of vessels built by FSG for the company to charter out. FSG had been making significant losses for a number of years. The Siem group acquired the company for a token €1 back in November 2014 after severe liquidity problems. Those losses massively increased in recent years, however, with the yard losing an eye watering €111m in 2018. The hugely increased losses were due in part to delivery delays with Irish Ferries 'W.B. Yeats' and the subsequent penalty payments made to Irish Continental Group (ICG). The agreed contract price to build the 'W.B. Yeats' is understood to have left little to no margin for the yard in the first place.