On May 24, 2024, a fire broke out aboard the 'SPOB Jeanita' in the waters of Tanjung Uban, Bintan, in pos. 01°03'647" N 104°12'693" E. The Sea and Coast Guard Unit (KPLP) of the Directorate General of Sea Transportation, Ministry of Transportation, succeeded in evacuating the crew with the the Tanjung Uban PLP Base and extinguishing the fire. At 01.00 a.m. WIB the Captain of the KPLP KN patrol boat 'Rantos-P.210' was notified and departed from Tanjung Uban PLP Pangkalan Pier to the ship. At 02.30 WIB it reached the scene and immediately began extinguishing operations with assistance from the ships TB 'Transko Dara 3202' and TB 'Medelin Partner'. At 02.45 a.m. WIB, although the fire began to subside, the ship was still emitting clouds of smoke. At 03.30 a.m. the 'Rantos' began extinguishing fires in the ship's accommodation area and engine rooms using fire hoses. At 05.00 a.m. the KPLP Team cooled the ship to ensure the fire was completely extinguished. Report with photo and video: https://www.beritatrans.com/article/247214/Kebakaran-Kapal-SPOB-Jeanita-di-Perairan-Tanjung-Uban-Tim-KPLP-Berhasil-Padamkan-Api/.
News
YANNIS
A missile attack targeted the 'Yannis' southwest of the city of Hodeidah, off the coast of Yemen on May 23, 2024, without causing casualties or damage. The owner and operator is the Greek shipping company Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Limited. The ship was on his way from Novorossyisk to Mombasa and attacked 68 nautical miles (125 kilometers) off the coast of Hodeidah. The missile impacted the water in the vicinity of the ship. The ship and all crew are safe and heading to the next port of call.
Iskenderun
Thick black smoke was rising from burning containers at Iskenderun Port on Feb 6, 2023. The fire was caused by containers that toppled over during the powerful earthquake that struck southeast Turkey. ATurkish Coast Guard vessel was assisting efforts to extinguish the blaze.
Kerch
Russia's Ministry of Transport has set up a ferry service across the Kerch Strait to take over vehicle traffic, offsetting some of the impact of the damage to the Kerch Strait Bridge after a truck was blown up on the westbound road deck of the Kerch Strait Bridge on Oct 7 at about 6 a.m. Two spans of the westbound deck collapsed into the water, but the adjacent eastbound deck remained in place. The blast's timing coincided with the passage of a fuel train on the adjacent rail deck, and it ignited seven fuel tank cars, which burned for hours after the explosion. A Russian salvage diving team has arrived on the site and is completing an underwater survey of the damage, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said Sunday. An above-water inspection process is already under way. Traffic had partially resumed on the bridge by late Saturday, though restricted by the extent of the damage. Russia's Ministry of Transport said that it also resumed suburban commuter rail service over the rail track, though not heavy freight trains. Two ferries are already in operation to provide a bypass route, and eight separate parking lots have been set up for temporary storage for cars and trucks waiting to make the crossing. Two more ferries will join the effort on Monday, the Yeysh and Mriya.
BASILISK
The 'Basilisk', which had been attacked by pirates in pos. 01°16 S 051°07 E, between the Somali coast and the Seychelles, while the Basilisk was heading north , towards Jebel Alil, was freed the Spanish frigate 'Canarias', one of the warships from the European operation EUNAVFOR Atalanta, which was nearby and approached very quickly. The 'Canarias', returning from the Seychelles, arrived in the area on the evening of May 23. The soldiers boarded at night, sliding down ropes from the helicopter, using the fast-rope technique. The pirates had already left the ship before their arrival. The crew was found safe and sound, with the exception of one crew member who was injured in the attack. He was in stable condition and received medical treatment on board by the on-board medical team.
MAUI PRINCESS
On the afternoon of May 20, 2024, work has started to remove 2,500 gallons of fuel from the 'Maui Princess', after it ran aground on May 16 just off Lahaina in pos. 20° 51.97' N 156° 40.60' W. The process of getting fuel, batteries, hazardous materials, and other items off the vessel is expected to take a few days. After everything is removed a salvage contractor will begin work to try and move the ship back into deeper water. The boat broke from its mooring further offshore after a part failed. The Willoughby Consulting and Adjusting is leading the defueling effort. It will take a helicopter nine to 10 trips to remove most of the fuel. The ship is hard aground on w a shallow shelf of sand and rubble. The DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) is providing expertise and guidance for the removal operation to minimize any additional impacts to important hard substrate and living corals in the area. High surf along the West Maui coastline has made it unsafe for aquatic biologists to get in the water to assess any possible damage to marine habitats. It will take several days to remove the 2,500 gallons of fuel. In addition to the fuel, the salvage crews will remove batteries, hazardous materials and other items from the vessel. The Willoughby Consulting and Adjusting is leading the defueling effort with use of a helicopter. It will take the helicopter nine to 10 trips to remove most of the fuel. The DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources is providing guidance to minimize any impacts to the sea floor and living corals in the area. Report with photo: https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2024-05-23/maui-princess-undergoes-defueling-after-running-aground
Kiel
The Port of Kiel expects another good season in 2023, resulting in 218 cruise calls, said its MD Dirk Claus in the morning of Jan 17, 2023, as part of a presentation reflecting on last year's results. It follows 2022's record-breaking 244 calls, which saw the port handle over 2.24m passengers, 836,000 of those from cruise vessels. The number of calls in 2019 was 37% less by comparison, numbering 178, and passenger volumes 4.1% lower. 2020 had been forecast to become a record season for Kiel, with 200 calls and 880,000 passengers, but aspirations were dashed owing to the pandemic. This year, a number of larger vessels are scheduled to arrive at Kiel on multiple occasions making the gross tonnage of arriving ships similar to 2022. For 2023, the choice of routes and destinations approached from Kiel will be slightly broader. Moving into the future, Claus expects Kiel to settle on between 200 and 250 cruise calls annually. According to the port, last year’s promising results were the result of ‘intense planning’ with international cruise operators. While 11 calls were cancelled owing to the conflict in Ukraine and the resulting loss of St Petersburg from itineraries, nine were newly added as a result of rerouting by operators. Looking ahead, there will be a strong focus on greener shipping with Claus hoping that between 60 and 100 calls can be supplied with green shore power this year. He stated that Kiel will continue to look at strengthening shore power in line with its corporate sustainability strategy to lower carbon emissions. Work on the new Ostuferhafen shore power plant is expected to conclude towards the end of this year, resulting in Kiel being able to offer shoreside connectivity at all its ferry and cruise terminals from 2024. Along with this €17m investment, a further €2m will be invested to install solar arrays. The systems, which will be fitted on roofs at Kiel Port, are intended to cover up to 30% of the port's electricity requirements in the long term. Kiel’s first call is expected to arrive April 7 with the river vessel 'Frederic Chopin'. The first cruise ship of the season, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 'Balmoral', will arrive a week later. The largest ships to call will be 'MSC Euribia' and 'AIDAnova'. At the other end of the scale, the 'Ocean Majesty' will visit Kiel on six occasions while chartered to Hansa Touristik. The vessel, which celebrates its 57th anniversary this year, is popular with the German source market. One of its calls is scheduled to occur on June 18 during the Kieler Woche sailing festival which will run from June 17-25. Traditionally, this marks the peak of the cruise season with this year no exception: 22 calls are expected by Kiel at the same time as the event takes place. While the highest number of calls is expected between mid-April and the end of September as usual, some ships will continue to call later in the year. 'AIDAnova'’s last departure is scheduled for November 4 whilst December 20 will see Phoenix Reisen's 'Amera' arrive at Kiel as part of a pre-Christmas itinerary. The season will draw to a close a few days later with the 'Spirit of Discovery' on December 29. Costa-, AIDA-, MSC- and TUI Cruises will again be the port's largest cruise customers. The majority of calls account for turnarounds serving the German-speaking source markets, but a number of transit calls will also take place, P&O Cruises’ Britannia, Swiss Ruby, Holland America Line’s 'Nieuw Statendam' and Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 'Seven Seas Splendor' among them. As in previous years, the Ostuferhafen outside the city centre will be heavily utilised by MSC Cruises and most other cruise ships will arrive at the Ostseekai.
Kerch
The Crimean Bridge across Kerch Strait suffered an explosion and fire in the morning of Oct 8, 2022. Two spans of the motorway bridge collapsed and fell into the water, the railway bridge above the motorway witha cargo train including railway car tanks with fuel, was on fire. All bridge traffic was suspended. The Crimean Bridge was more than a Bridge, both for Russia and Ukraine. For Russia it was a symbol of the Russian “victory” and historical justice. For the Ukraine, it was a symbol of the Russian aggression and Crimea occupation. The navigation span of the Bridge is yet undamaged, and therefore, the Kerch Strait Channel remained navigable. The Kerch Strait Transit is from now on, however, a risky undertaking, so all ship owners are advised to calculate risks and probably, change their ships voyages, avoiding Azov sea calls.
RONGTAI 8
The 'Rong Tai 8', which ran aground on the Poklington Reef off Rossel Island in the Milne Bay Province in May 2023, has tilted to port seriously recently. People on Rossel Island have raised concern to the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) and the National Safety Authorityx (NMSA) to investigate and take action to remove the threat. The ship had on board diesel and fuel oil as well as fishing gears and stocks of fish, when it ran aground. New reports said, the ship may be spilling pollutants after it started to tilt. Rough seas have pushed it further up on the reef. Report with photo: https://www.postcourier.com.pg/abandoned-fishing-boat-polluting-the-reef-and-sea/
BASILISK
The forces of EUNAVFOR Atalanta responded to a privacy incident o nhte 'Basilisk', currently underway off the coast of Somalia on May 23, 2024. Two small craftshad come alongside the ship. The vessel’s last AIS signal was transmitted two days ago north of Madagascar. The indication was that the vessel was traveling from Porto Grande in Cape Verde where it departed on May 3 with an ETA at Khalifa on May 29. Atalanta is placing the ship as sailing approximately 380 nautical miles east of Mogadishu, Somalia, heading north. The UK Maritime Trade Organizations places the vessel approximately 420 nautical miles southeast of Merca, Somalia. There were unconfirmed reports that the crew was able to secure themselves in the vessel’s citadel. Atalanta reports one of its warships is in the vicinity and is first to respond.
Singapore
On Dec 1, 2022, at about 3 p.m. the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was informed that 15 empty containers at Keppel Terminal had fallen from the wharf into the water as a result of strong winds during a squall. There were no reported injuries and no immediate impact to port operations. The MPA deployed two patrol crafts to monitor and cordon off the affected area to facilitate recovery work by PSA Corporation Ltd. MPA’s Port Operations Control Centre has restricted all vessel movements in the vicinity of Keppel Terminal until the containers were recovered.
Odessa
For the fourth day in a row, Iranian-made drones attacked Odesa on Sep 26 in the morning, this time against military targets and without civilian casualties. On Sep 23, two civilians were killed during Russian drone attacks on the port city. On Sep 25, Odesa was attacked by three drones, one of which was reportedly shot down by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine has not officially identified the drones, but from the video footage below it appears, according to experts, that they are Iranian-produced Shakhed 136 drones.