The Indian Navy on Sunday intercepted a “suspect” cargo vessel, Nafis-I, with nine crew members, 170 nautical miles northwest of the Mumbai coast. The vessel, found to be carrying automatic weapons, is believed to have been smuggling contraband for a while. The ship was brought to Porbander, Gujarat, and the nine men on board are being interrogated. The Iranian-flagged vessel was earlier hijacked by pirates, but the Indian Navy is unable to confirm if the captured crew are pirates or the original crew. At the time of interception, there were five Yemenis, two Tanzanians, a Kenyan and a Somali. “The 500-tonne general cargo vessel was detected on August 12, 2011 at a distance of around 250 nautical miles off the coast by an Indian naval maritime reconnaissance aircraft on a surveillance mission in the east Arabian Sea. www.asianage.com/...

The "Grand Manan V" has to replace the "Adventure" again, as the new ferry had to be taken out of service due to electronic issues. The vessel made one trip from Grand Manan to Blacks Harbour on Aug 15, 2011, morning, but then the captain noticed the problems. The two bow thrusters failed one after the other as the ship docked. The ship will remain docked while the matter is investigated. The delivery of the 82-car ferry already had been delayed when it encountered mechanical problems during sea trials in Panama City, Florida, in June. The ferry overheated because of the failure of a pipe. It arrived in Blacks Harbour from the Eastern Shipbuilding Inc. yard in Panama City on July 26. Then the ferry underwent additional trials and provisioning and Coast Transport staff received extra training before the official launch. Now, the "Grand Manan V" will have to pick up the slack for the "Adventure" during the peak of tourist season.

On Aug 15 around 9 a.m. the tugs “Sangita” and “Malviya-VI” started to pull of the "Pavit", which had sunk 2.5 metres in the sand. Thus the salvors had to carry out ballast adjustment to keep the ship upright. For this, tey had 30 workers, in addition to the technical experts. Finally, the ship was turned 50 degrees towards the sea and pulled into deep water by 11.30 a.m. The ship was safe and upright, and the hull intact. But its machinery is inoperative. Two salvors were stationed on board as a safety measure. They will in particular monitor the stability of the ship during its voyage. The tanker which still contains about 20 tonnes of oil, was taken to Dighi port in Raigarh for surveys and repairs. A team of 30 officers of Titan Salvage and Great Offshore Ltd was involved in the operation.

On Aug 15, 2011, the "Vigdis Knutsen" berthed at the Oil Refinery Wilhelmshaven which is to be dismantled to carry the remaining contents of 90000 tons crude oil into a depot in South England. German report with photo: www.nwzonline.de/...

At a ceremony in Singapore today, the iconic protest vessel, the Rainbow Warrior II was transferred to Friendship, a Bangladesh based NGO which will refit it for use as a hospital ship. The Rainbow Warrior II first sailed for Greenpeace in 1989 and replaced the original Rainbow Warrior, after it was bombed and sunk by French Government agents, in Auckland harbour, in 1985. After 22 years of traversing the world's oceans in defence of the environment, the ship will be renamed as Rongdhonu, Bengali for Rainbow. The ship will serve the coastal belt of Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal delivering primary and secondary medical assistance to some of the most vulnerable communities of the world, communities that have little or no access to basic health care facilities. The Rongdhonu will also serve as an emergency medical ship around the region, enabling Friendship to bring medical aid to those areas which are already experiencing the effects of climate change.

Twenty-one crew members have been rescued from a racing yacht which capsized off the Irish coast on Monday, BBC News reports. The Rambler 100 was taking part in the Fastnet Race when it overturned about 12 miles from Baltimore in County Cork just after 18:30 BST. Sixteen crew members sitting on the hull of the vessel were airlifted to safety. Another five who were in a life raft were taken on board other yachts. The race began from the Isle of Wight on Sunday with 314 yachts taking part. The US-registered vessel is understood to have capsized between the Fastnet Rock and the Pantaenius Buoy. More to read at www.bbc.co.uk/new...

Sixty-seven thousand sheep are stranded at Port Adelaide after a live animal export ship broke down less than a day out to sea, 9MSN reports. The RSPCA is trying to get access to the Al Messilah which was bound for the Middle East but returned to Port Adelaide on Friday after the mechanical failure. The federal Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry confirmed the sheep had remained on board since the ship's return to Adelaide. But it said the breakdown had not affected the ventilation, feed and water systems. Department officials were working with the vessel's master and the exporter to maintain the welfare of the animals. More at news.ninemsn.com....

The Coast Guard medevaced a man from the "London Trader" 178 miles southeast of Galveston in the evening of Aug 14, 2011. Watchstanders at Sector Houston-Galveston received a report at approximately 8:54 p.m. that a male crewman aboard the tanker was experiencing extreme stomach pains. Coast Guard Air Station Houston launched a MH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter and Air Station Corpus Christi launched a HU-25 Falcon jet and crew to the scene at approximately 11:22 p.m. The crew hoisted the crewman off the London Trader and transported him to awaiting emergency medical services at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Report with video: www.d8externalaff...

07/2011 sold for scrapping to India

07/2011 sold for scrapping to India