On May 8, 2024, a cayuco issued a distress call by mobil telephone south of Tenerife. It was located by a whale watching boat. The CCS Tenerife of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the 'Salvamar Menkalinan' and the 'Salvamar Alpheratz', which rescued the 52 people on board and transferred them to Los Cristianos. The canoe ended up sinking. Report with photos: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1788214298923135323
News
SALVAMAR IZAR
A rubber boat issued a distress call on May 9, 2024, about 20 nautical miles east of Fuerteventura. The CCS Las Palmas mobilized the 'Salvamar Izar', which rescued the 57 people on boardd and sights another boat from which 55 people were taken off. All castaways were transferred to Gran Tarajal, where they were taken care of by medical and security teams. Report with photos: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1788564140354588972
Singapore
Construction work on the second phase of the Tuas mega port began yesterday with the installation of the first concrete structure for the wharf. A total of 227 concrete structures or caissons, each weighing 13,000 tonnes, will be installed over the next eight years to construct the wharf, the largest in the mega port. Almost 400ha of land will be reclaimed for the second phase, which will have 21 container berths and be able to handle 21 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo annually. In April, the last of 221 caissons for the first phase of the mega-port project was installed. Last year, a consortium of three companies – Penta Ocean Construction, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Boskalis International – won a $1.46 billion contract to develop the second phase of the Tuas port.
Piraeus
A press report, dated Jul 3, states: The 24-hour strike by seamen on Jul 3, has left Greek ferries and other passenger boats tied up in port, stranding tourists and Greeks heading for vacation and leaving many islands cut off for the day. The PNO seamen?s union called Wednesday?s strike to demand salary increases as part of collective wage agreements. Dozens of inhabited Greek islands don?t have airports and are accessible only by sea. The passenger shipping business association SEEN, with which the seamen?s union had been negotiating, had expressed surprise when the strike was announced in late June, saying it offered a two percent wage increase for 2019 on top of a retroactive two percent increase for 2018. It said the offer, along with staff increases, was ?beyond our actual capabilities during a particularly difficult time? with 50% fuel cost increases.
MEIRA DA COSTA
The 'Meira da Costa' got the propeller fouled by its net and requestsed towing assistance on May 8, 2024, about 6.5 nautical miles south of Cabo Fisterra with seven crew members on board. The CCS Fisterra of Salvevamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR vessel 'Salvamar Régulus', which pulled the ship safely to Muros.
ELEEN SOFIA
The International Transport Workers Federation(ITF) along with Australian authorities was resolving the case involving crew mistreatment, wage theft, and poor living conditions aboard the 'Eleen Sofia'. The vessel was being closely monitored and frequently inspected by its Australian inspectorate. The ITF stated that the vessel changed its ownership in 2023. The vessel has a poor track record of living conditions onboard and also has a history of failing to pay the crew wages. A review record indicated that the vessel was detained for 10 days by the U.S. Coast Guard in New Orleans, in 2022 due to safety deficiencies. In April 2024, the ITF claimed to have discovered that the provisions aboard the ship had been depleted with no access to food for the crew. The crew argued that the ship owner had repeatedly failed to replenish provisions and provide better living conditions for them. The crew also alleged that while anchored at Bangladesh the ship reported no air conditioning in the crewmember's cabin area for over three months. The ITF also stated about the unresolved case regarding the disappearance and presumed death of the ship’s cook who went overboard when the ship was anchored in South China. In February 2024, the ITF became aware of the unpaid and overdue wages of the crew, when the vessel docked in Adelaide and later in Portland, Victoria. The ITF reported that its inspectorate was able to address the wage issues and lack of provision of the vessel at that time. However, the ship left Australia and visited other ports before returning to Mackay, where the same issues were identified by the Australian inspectorate. Currently, thr ITF along with the Australia Border Force and Local port Authorities in Queensland was working to ensure the remaining crew aboard the ship have access to decent, healthy living conditions with medical attention, shore leave, and possible repatriation despite the ship being under arrest. This assistance is provided to the crew while the issues of the ship were being addressed.
Timaru
A massive container ship will return to Timaru on Sunday after the world’s largest logistics company confirmed weekly visits to the port. This follows a trial late in May when the 286.5 metre long and 40m wide, Rio de Janeiro’s berthing acted as a test run for similar sized ships to dock in Timaru after a $2.5 million project to widen the port’s inner breakwater entrance from 90m to 140m. PrimePort chief executive Phil Melhopt confirmed the 6pm Sunday call of the giant vessel and said it was another demonstration of the forward steps the port was taking. “Maersk shipping line have been very consistent since the Timaru container terminal started their operations in 2014 and will be calling in at Timaru again,” he said. “They have recently announced their Southern Star Rio Class will form part of their service into Timaru. They’re going to call here going forward.
Tanger-Med
APM Terminals second terminal in Morocco, MedPort Tangier was inaugurated this week. Part of the Tanger Med Port complex, it has an annual capacity of 5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalents). With this new capacity, Morocco is establishing itself as one of the most important transhipment locations in the world. Tanger Med Port is already ranked as the leading African port and is amongst the world’s top 50 container ports due to its prime location along key trade lanes and increasing cargo flows, to and from Africa. The construction of the state-of-the-art APM Terminals MedPort Tangier facility took two years and a total investment of USD 800m. This new transhipment terminal is designed, constructed and operated by APM Terminals, and will join existing hub facilities servicing Maersk and its partners. Built utilizing the latest technology, the terminal is set to be one of the most efficient and safest in the world.
SALVAMAR BETELGEUSE
The pleasure boat 'Marian', with three crew members on board, requested assistance following a mechanical failure between Lorbé and Ares on MAy 8. The CCS A Coruña of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the 'Salvamar Betelgeuse', which took the boat in tow and safely pulled it to Miño (A Coruña).
Balboa
Balboa, Jul 4 -- Panama Canal Port Condition report for Jul 4. Projected backlog at 0001 hrs: Fifty-one vessels today, 47 tomorrow and 44 on Jul 6. There are 29 vessels arriving today, 30 tomorrow and 42 on Jul 6. There are 33 vessels scheduled for today and 33 for tomorrow. Estimated delays for vessels without reservation/non-booked: Northbound: All types of vessels, two days. Southbound: All types of vessels, one to two days
Point Samson
Nine vessels at anchor off Port Walcott, waiting to load iron ore