The captain of the 'Albiz', en route from Brest to Moerdijk, was medevaced in the night of May 11, 2024, about 60 kilometers northwest of Ushant. The 44-year-old man, who fell ill, was airlifted by an H160 helicopter from the French Navy in good conditions. The captain was dropped off at the Brest University Hospital at 12:18 a.m.
News
ABEILLE NORMANDIE
On the night of May 10, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that a migrant boat was in difficulty off the coast of Portel and depolyed the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist, which launches its rescue boat to reach the site, where it recovered 36 people. Several people still on board the boat refused the assistance offered by French means and continued their journey under appropriate surveillance. The shipwrecked people were dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken care of by the shore based rescue services and the border police.
Tallinn
Active construction is currently underway in the D-terminal of the Port of Tallinn being built by Nordecon, in order to open the first phase of construction of the renovated D-terminal to passengers within two months, the port says in a press release. A digital twin of the new D-Terminal building and the remodeled part which aims to make the building's life cycle more efficient was created in the BIM implementation model. The completion of the extension and reconstruction work of the port is scheduled for summer 2020.
Rostock
Marine battery supplier Corvus Energy is to install its lithium-ion battery storage systems onboard AIDA Cruises’ ships to reduce fossil fuel use and emissions. In a project that will also involve ABB and Siemens, Corvus will install and commission the battery storage systems on the first AIDA ship in 2020. The companies then plan to then use their findings from the pilot project to successfully fit battery systems onboard other vessels in the AIDA fleet. “Our goal is the emissions-neutral ship operation,” said Michael Thamm, group CEO of Costa Group and Carnival Asia.
UTOPIA OF THE SEAS
A man was injured on board the "Utopia of the Seas" off the coast of Belle-Île-en-Mer on May 11, 2024. At 4.21 p.m., emergency services were alerted to assist the injured worker on the new cruise ship off the coast of South Brittany. The ship, which was built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, has been undergoing sea trials since May 7 to start cruises this summer. The CROSS Etel coordinated the response, and a Dragon 25 helicopter hoisted the injured person, who was dropped off at the Vannes hospital center at 6:33 p.m.
FD ATHINA
In the morningof May 11, 2024, the Port Authority of Argosaronic was informed by the Master of the 'Flying Dolphin Athina', that after the arrival in the port of Piraeus, en route from the ports of Aegina and Agistrio, there was a vibration on the port side side of the ship. The ship was to run a route from the port of Piraeus to the ports of Aegina and Agistrio, while the passengers were forwarded to their destinations by the company. The Argosaroniko Port Station of the 1st Port Department of the Central Port Authority of Piraeus prohibited the sailing of the ship until the repair of the damage and the presentation of a certificate of class maintenance of class by monitoring classification society.
Rotterdam
The Port of Rotterdam Authority has reached an agreement with Sif Holding n.v. regarding the lease of 20 ha of port site and a 200-m stretch of deep-sea quay at Maasvlakte. Sif’s new lot lies adjacent to its existing port site, where the company already works on the assembly of foundations for offshore wind turbines, the company said in its release. Sif will be using the newly allocated site on behalf of clients active in the offshore wind power sector. The first project to be undertaken at the new site will be the logistics handling of all 94 monopiles (wind turbine foundations) destined for the offshore wind farm Borssele 1 + 2, commissioned by Deme Offshore.
Tangier
Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has concluded an agreement with long-term customer EUROGATE Tanger (EGT) in Morocco to upgrade four ZPMC ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, as part of the terminal’s expansion plans. With a quay length of 821 meters, a terminal area of 400,000 m2 and a water depth of up to 18 meters, the facility is well-equipped to handle the new generation of containerships. The terminal’s equipment fleet already includes several Kalmar machines, including rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs). Furthermore, Kalar will be responsible for the planning, engineering and execution of the entire project, which involves heightening the four STS cranes by 11 meters and extending the booms by six meters. The project with Kalmar will help the terminal serve mega-sized container vessels.
WARSHIP 4
The USS 'Hershel Williams' ran aground on soft bottom off the coast of Gabon on May 9, 2024. The vessel, assigned to the U.S. 6th Fleet and operating within the U.S. Naval Forces Africa area of operations, ran aground around 1 p.m. GMT shortly after departing from a routine port visit to Libreville. It managed to refloat again by approximately 5 p.m. GMT, taking advantage of the high tide. No injuries or major damage were reported, and the ship remained operational in the Gabon estuary just south of Libreville. The Navy started to conduct a comprehensive additional inspection of the ship to assess any potential damage that may have occurred during the grounding. Concurrently, an investigation into the causes of the incident was underway. The ship was in Gabon for the commencement of Obangame Express 2024, an annual multinational exercise aimed at enhancing maritime domain awareness and law enforcement capabilities, with a focus on exercises like visit, board, search, and seizure. The grounding could have raised questions about the ship’s ability to participate in planned activities, including the testing of a surface drone, though no immediate impact on the exercise schedule was indicated.
CARNIVAL VENEZIA
On May 10, a crew member of the 'Carnival Venecia' went overboard during standard emergency drills which were being conducted on the ship in the port of St. Thomas, Virgin Island. The crew member was not involved in the drill, but was was engaged in maintenance at the hull when he slipped and fell into the water. The officers swiftly responded to the situation and launched a rescue operation. A rescue boat was deployed to reach the man in the water. The crew member was retrieved successfully from the water and boarded the cruise ship with no serious injuries. The cruise ship activities were not disrupted, and the ship continued its voyage to San Juan on May 11.
Wismar
Genting Hong Kong (GHK) has officially secured funding for the construction and post-delivery financing of Dream Cruises’ two new Global Class ships. KfW IPEX-Bank will supply US$2.9 billion, with backing from the Federal Republic of Germany, Finnish export credit agency Finnvera, and the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. At an overall cost of €3.1 billion (US$3.4 billion), the two new vessels are currently being built at GHK-owned shipyard MV Werften in Germany for the fast-growing Asian cruise market. “We are very appreciative of KfW IPEX-Bank, the bank consortium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Finnvera for supporting GHK in the financing of the Global Class ships,” said Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chief executive of Genting Hong Kong.
Mogadishu
Qatar has established an investment partnership with Somalia to build a new port in the latter's country. The Ministry of Transport and Communications in Qatar said that the partnership between Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani) and Somalia will see the construction of the Hobyo Port in the Mudug region of central Somalia. Hobyo Port is expected to bring multiple economic benefits for Somalia. The port could create new business opportunities for the country by bolstering the commercial relationship with new markets in Africa and providing access to global markets, in addition to providing maritime services to vast areas in Somalia. The Hobyo Port is in proximity to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s most important sea crossing points. Hobyo is also important due to its location in the Mudug region, which links the south and north of the country.