On June 4, 2024, the sailing yacht 'Windy' suffered a mechanical failure and was disabled and adrift in calm winds three nautical miles from Cabo Prior. The 'Salvamar Betelgeuse' was mobilized by the CCS Coruña to assist the sailboat, which was taken in tow along with its two crew members and safely pulled to the Marina Coruña. Video: https://x.com/i/status/1798002900029071771
News
FV BREIZ
On June 4 the court delivered its deliberations in the case of the sinking of the 'Breiz' off the coast of Port-en-Bessin, two months after the maritime court of Le Havre met from April 2 to 5, 2024. Among the defendants, the skipper of the SNSM boat of Ouistreham, Philippe Capdeville, who was tried for negligence and forgery in a ship's document. He was released. The court just accused him of negligence for an absence of alertness for 41 seconds when he did not respond to the 'Breiz'. This negligence did not cause the sinking of the ship and the death of the three sailors, ruled the court. He was also acquitted for the forgery. Philippe Capdeville did not wish to react at the end of the hearing. For his part, Bertrand Hudault, Channel North Sea general inspector at the SNSM, spoke of a relief for Philippe Capdeville after 3,5 years of pressure, and for all the SNSM volunteers: “We were all convinced that Philippe Capdeville had not made a mistake”. He also believes that this trial will “mark” a before and an after. This case questioned the “criminal liability of rescuers in intervention”. In particular, he requests a “mechanism to better legally protect SNSM volunteers”. An acquittal was also pronounced for the two officials of the DDTM (departmental directorate of territories and the Sea) and the maritime expert prosecuted for involuntary homicide. The court notably considered that there had been “no violation of a duty of care” on the part of the maritime expert, and that he “did not contribute to the realization of the danger”. Only the co-owner of the ship, François Leboucher – absent during the deliberations – was convicted. He received an 18-month suspended prison sentence. During a lengthy reasoning for its entire decision, the court explained that it considered that the co-owner was directly responsible for the facts. Particularly because he was aware of the non-compliant character of the crew. None of the sailors on board had the required diplomas, despite the exemption by Quentin Varin. The judges also mentioned the “non-compliance with the operating conditions of the ship”, in particular with the weight of the dredgers being far too much greater than they should be. He then failed to fulfill his “security obligation for which he must respond”. The prosecutor had requested a 12 -month suspended prison sentence and a two-year sailing ban against Philippe Capdeville, and a six months suspended prison sentence for the co-owner. The same sentence was required for the maritime expert who had submitted a report on the ship shortly before the tragedy. The magistrate also requested a penalty of €30,000 against his company. The prosecutor proposed a principle sentence for the two DDTM agents. The public prosecutor of Le Havre, Bruno Dieudonné, indicated that an appeal was “not excluded”. But that he had to “first analyze in more detail the motivation of the court”.
Beirut
The Lebanese army on Sep 3 found a further 4.35 tonnes of the explosive ammonium nitrate a month after 2,750 tonnes of the substance exploded in the harbour and destroyed large parts of the city. The explosive substance was found in a warehouse immediately outside one of the entrances to the port, and engineers from the army took care of it. Simultaneously with the new discovery, it emerged that the outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab told the head of the investigation of the catastrophic explosion that he knew of the existence of the large amount of ammonium nitrate at the port before the explosion. 25 suspects have been arrested so far, including the port's chief of staff Hassan Koraytem and customs chief Badri Daher. Among the others arrested were also three Syrian workers who carried out welding work at the warehouse, where the huge amount of ammonium nitrate was stored, on the day the explosion took place. Up to 200 were killed and about 6,500 injured in the blast, causing damage to a double-digit billion.
Kiel
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/NOK-Havarie-Frachter-fuhr-ohne-Lotsen,schleuse886.html
SALVAMAR MIZAR
On June 4 the CECOES was notified of a cayuco 14 nautical miles from the Playa de Santiago (Gomera). The CCS Tenerife of Salvamento Marítio mobilized the SAR helicopter Helimer 201 which located the boat, and the 'Salvamar Mizar', which rescued the 40 people on board, among them four minors and four women. The castaways were transferred to Los Cristianos (Tenerife). Report with photo: https://x.com/salvamentogob/status/1798019519224619340
IRVINE BAY
The 'Irvine Bay' was boarded by four perpetrators, armed wuth knives and iron bards, at Dumai Anchorage in pos. 1° 42 N 10° 101.29 E on May 25, 2024, at 2.10 a.m. No injuries to the crew were reported. The pirates stole engine spares of the ship.
Vladivostok
The typhoon Maysak crushed onto the port of Vladivostok on Sep 3, 2020, wreaking havoc at the Navy base and in the commercial port. A floating dock in the base broke off her moorings, drifted along the piers and hit berthed submarines and other ships. The amount of damage was yet unknown. The container terminal at the ommercial port was flooded. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=50&v=Yr8JHgunKNY&feature=emb_title
Kiel
An investigation was launched into the allision of the Panama flagged cargo m/v cargo m/v 'Else', 2449 gt ( IMO: 9006320 ), enroute from Klaipeda to Les Sables with a cargo of ammonnium nitrate, with the northern lock of the Kiel Canal in Kiel-Holtenau upon entering the lock on Aug 29 at 5 a.m. at the pier of the Lindenau Yard in Kiel-Friedrcrichsort. Usually ships stop about 800 meters off the locks on the Kiel Fjord to take a pilot on board, and may only proceed once he has embarked. The 'Else' had ordered a pilot but continued its voyage without reducing speed and crashed into the closed gate with about six knots. The gate was severely damaged, and inspections by divers were to start on Aug 31 to find out if the submerged tanks of it were damaged too. The lock was closed for shipping for the time being, leaving only one of four locks in Holtenau in operating condition. One gate is still under repair after having been hit by the container m/v 'Akacia' 2,5 years ago, another gate is under repair too. It was investigated if this could be used once the now damaged gate has been removed.
ARBUMASA XXIX
On the late morning of June 1, 2024, a crew members of the 'Arbumasa XXIX' was seriously injured when the ship was shifted inside the port of Mar de Plata, when releasing the moorings of the tug 'BR Tornado' that assisted the movement of the vessel. The 46-year-old man got his leg wrapped in a rope at ankle level, leaving him with an open fracture of his right lower extremity. The duty officer in charge of the operation decided to coordinate the movement of the vessel towards section 8 of breakwater 2; subsequently the victim was disembarked on a stretcher by the fire rescue of the Mar del Plata Prefecture and assisted by medical personnel from the company SERVISA. He was transferred to the Private Hospital of the Community (HPC), where a successful surgical intervention was carried out.
AAL MERKUR
The 'AAL Merkur' was boarded by three perpetrators, who were not armed, on May 29, 2024, at 7.20 p.m. at Phu My Anchorage in pos. 10° 12 N 10° 107.3 E. The alert duty crew noticed the perpetrator, shouted at him and raised the alarm, resulting in the person escaping empty-handed in a wooden boat along with two accomplices.
Andernach
Vorbeifahrt Rheinufer 56567 Neuwied-Feldkirchen (Fahr am Rhein) Gegenüber dem Industriehafen Andernach 26.08.2020 - Imperial Gas 79 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuTSSugJmIk&feature=youtu.be 26.08.2020 - MISSOURI Cargo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgkscB-aLoY 26.08.2020 - WSP14 Wasserschutzpolizei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjHD9XwE9X8 26.08.2020 - VOYAGE Tankschiff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m7xqvoroX8