On April 19, the Captain of the Port established the Fort Carroll Temporary Alternate Channel, which is on the northeast side of the main channel in the vicinity of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and will provide limited access for commercially essential vessels. The Fort Carroll Temporary Alternate Channel has a controlling depth of 20 feet, a 300-foot horizontal clearance, and a vertical clearance of 135 feet, and will facilitate additional commercially essential vessel traffic through the port of Baltimore. This action is part of a phased approach to opening the main channel. The third temporary channel is marked with government-lighted aids to navigation and will be limited to transit at the discretion of the COTP. It has a controlling depth of 20 feet, a 300-foot horizontal clearance, and a vertical clearance of 135 feet. The additional channel increases the types of vessels able to transit inbound and outbound the port of Baltimore and was estimated to facilitate approximately 15 % of pre-collapse commercial activity.
News
SUN PRINCESS
On April 19 the medical evacuation of a crew member of the 'Sun Princess', en route from Gibraltar to Cartagena, was carried out due to trauma off Vera. The CCS Cartagena of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR helicopter Helimer 215, which hoisted the victim and took him to the Cartagena cruise ship dock, where an ambulance was waiting for further transfer to the Santa Lucía Hospital.
Nhava Sheva
Middle East-India-Africa Express (MIAX) to start operations in October 2019 Hapag-Lloyd is expanding its African liner services and will offer its MIAX (Middle East-India-Africa Express) service starting in October 2019. It will include direct connections between the Arabian Gulf, India, Colombo (Sri Lanka), La Réunion, South Africa and West Africa.
Ngqura
South African state-run logistics company Transnet has suspended a number of employees for taking part in a lengthy go-slow campaign at the Ngqura Container Terminal in the Eastern Cape. The port said in a statement yesterday it had “suspended a number of employees at its Ngqura Container Terminal for engaging in an illegal industrial action.
GUARDAMAR URANIA
On April 20, 2024, a cayuco requested assitance and gave two positions, which were 15 miles apart. The RCC Tenerife of Salvemento Marítimo mobilized the SAR helicopter Helimer 206 and the 'Guardamar Urania' to assist. The SAR vessel rescued 45 people and disembarked 44 of them in La Restinga. The Helimer 206 medevaced one person who was in bad condition off El Hierro, who was transferred to hosptial. Photo: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1781657788822778289
SPARTA IV
The Russian army is building a new logistics chain for its own troops in Syria. The “Sparta IV” left Baltiysk on April 18, 2024, with high-quality military equipment on board. The ship was being escorted by the Russian Navy. The Russian army's supply service was launched when support for the regime in Damascus began in 2015. Until 2023, the supply ships with military equipment for Syria mostly sailed from the Black Sea to Tartus. Russia maintains the only naval base in the Mediterranean there. The Russian units stationed in Tartus are now being supplied with from the Baltic Sea. It is currently the safest route as there is no threat of attacks from Ukraine there. The route from the Baltic Sea to Tartus is, however, around 4,500 nautical miles long, which is is significantly longer than from the bases in the Black Sea. From Novorossiysk on the Black Sea to Tartus through the Bosphorus would be just 1,200 nautical miles. The “Sparta IV” has been sailing for the Russian military since 2021, transporting containers, general cargo and also heavy cargo. The Russian military supplies are then transported from Tartus. Two Russian naval ships have just brought military equipment from Tartus to Libya. The “Sparta IV” has already made trips with equipment for the Russian military from its home port of Novorossiysk to Tartus in 2022 and 2023. During this time, the vessel narrowly escaped an attack by Ukrainian drones in the Black Sea. This threat was probably also the reason why the ship is now being escorted by the Russian Navy on the Baltic Sea. On April 19 , the “Sparta IV” passed the Fehmarnbelt and the Great Belt. The frigate “Neustrashimiy” of the Baltic Fleet served as an escort, accompanying the freighter towards the Mediterranean. The federal police shadowed the Russian convoy with the “Neustadt”. Denmark pursued the course through the waters of the Great Belt and the Kattegat with a frigate and two patrol boats. The ship has been blocked from passing through the Kiel Canal since Feb 24, 2022, the start of the Russian war. The sanctions against Russian shipping companies on behalf of the state prohibit the passage through German waters. At the beginning of the war, Russia also had the landing ships “Minsk” and “Kaliningrad” from the Baltic Fleet in use on the route. They also commuted to Tartus from Kaliningrad and Sevastopol. The “Minsk” was severely damaged by Ukrainian cruise missiles at the Sevastopol naval base on Sep 13, 2023, during an overhaul in dock and is no longer operational. The “Kaliningrad” is currently still in operation in the Black Sea. However, she is not allowed to leave the Black Sea because Turkey has banned the passage of the Bosphorus under the rules of the Treaty of Montreaux.
Kiel
Maiden call by Marella Cruises in Kiel. In the early Tuesday morning (16th July) the cruise ship Marella Explorer (see also CruiseMapper) berthed in the port of Kiel with 2,000 mostly anglo-phone passengers on-board. The vessel follows an itinerary of 14 days leading it all across the Baltic Sea. It started in Newcastle on 13th July and will conclude its cruise in the same port on 27th July.
Tyne
The Port of Tyne has created a new baggage handling for Marella Cruises at its International Passenger Terminal, which is located in North Shields near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. The port has reconfigured 300 square metres of its terminal, creating space to process 1,000 bags as well as a marquee that functions as an undercover baggage handling facility. There are now also 382 additional parking spaces specifically for Marella Cruises’ guests. Marella Cruises’ customer will be able to drop off their luggage before heading straight to a dedicated car park. The baggage will be checked by security and loaded onto the ship, expediting the embarkation process.
SALVAMAR AL NAIR
A canoe was located on April 19 near Lanzarote. The 'Salvamar Al Nair' was mobilized to assist and has rescued 47 people of North African origin, including nine women and several minors. They were transferred to Arrecife and disembarked in Puerto de Naos.
London
All new ships for UK waters ordered from 2025 should be designed with zero-emission capable technologies, according to ambitious plans set out today by maritime minister Nusrat Ghani to cut pollution from the country’s maritime sector. The commitment is set out in the Clean Maritime Plan published today. The government is also looking at ways to incentivise the transition to zero-emission shipping and will consult on this next year. The plan also includes a £1m competition to find innovative ways to reduce maritime emissions and is published alongside a call for evidence to reduce emissions on UK waterways and domestic vessels.
Whittier
U.S. Coast Guard crews have given up the search for a 49-year-old Cordova man who went missing after an explosion and subsequent fire on a fixed barge at Delong Dock in Whittier, Alaska, shortly after midnight on Monday. The fire spread to the pier and then to the Anagalik, a 99-foot commercial fishing vessel that was initially reported to have two people aboard at the time of the explosion. Whittier Police Department personnel have since confirmed one of those two is safely aboard a different vessel en route to Whittier. The fire has now been extinguished, but the fishing vessel and barge sank in 85 feet of water at the pier with a potential maximum of 5,500 gallons of fuel oil aboard. The fishing vessel owners have contracted Global Diving and Salvage for clean-up and salvage efforts. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak has searched for the missing person by air, and crews aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Chandeleur and Coast Guard Auxiliary 336 searched nearby waters.