Traffic on the Solent will face a month of disruption after an underwater object has damaged the propellers of the 'St. Faith', forcing the company to operate a revised timetable for up to four weeks, starting March 11, 2024, on the Fishbourne-Portsmouth route. Repairs will be carried out as quickly as possible. Wightlink was contacting all customers affected by these changes, and their booking was to be moved to alternative sailings as close as possible to the original scheduled departures. Customers can then amend the time and date online if they wish or, if they prefer, may cancel their booking for a full refund.
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PONCE
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MSC KATYAYNI
The 'MSC Katyayni' suffered a failure of one of its auxiliary engines on Feb 29, 2024, en route from Altamira to Belgium, on the North Atlantic, and had to be taken in tow by the tug 'VB Hispania' (IMO:9476018). It was pulled into the Port of Vigo at 12.20 p.m. UTC and docked at the Guixar terminal to carry out commercial operations, which, once completed, allowed the ship to be transferred to the Transatlánticos dock on March 6 to repair the failure in the propulsion system. It was estimated that the container ship would be able to operate again in less than a week. Reports with photos: https://www.farodevigo.es/gran-vigo/2024/03/06/msc-katyayni-reparar-motores-descargar-99071821.html https://www.vigoe.es/vigo/maritima/el-portacontenedores-msc-katyayni-se-muda-al-muelle-de-trasatlanticos-para-su-reparacion/
MSC MUSICA
An 84-year-old passenger suffered a heart attack aboard the 'MSC Música' when it was sailing near Punta del Este on March 6, 2024. Navy personnel asked the Maritime Rescue Association (ADES) for assistance after 7 p.m., and the Ädes 30' proceeded to the vessel and carried out the medical evacuation of the stabilized patient 45 minutes after the alert. Once at the port, he was transferred in an ambulance to a healthcare center.
SEA-EYE 4
The 'Sea Eye ' has rescued 84 more people from distress on the morning of March 7. The so-called Libyan Coast Guard jeopardized the ongoing rescue and aimed weapons at the ship. At around 10 a.m., it had received an emergency call from Alarmphone, which informed the responsible authorities and the 'Sea Eye 4' about a call for help from a rubber boat. The crew located the boat within an hour. The operations management asked the Italian authorities to coordinate the maritime emergency. However, the Italian authorities insisted on Libya's jurisdiction, although they said they were unable to communicate with the Libyan authorities at the time. They asked operations manager Julie Schweickert to continue trying in Libya herself. However, this was unsuccessful. In the meantime, the crew of the lifeboat 'Mochara' provided the people on the dinghy with life jackets. Two people were rescued from the water by the lifeboat crew. A total of 84 people were evacuated to the 'Sea Eye 4'. During the evacuation, two ships belonging to the so-called Libyan Coast Guard approached at high speed. During the rescue, weapons targeted the crew of the lifeboat. “It cannot be the case that our rescue workers have to look down the barrel of a cannon during their humanitarian work. The brutal and reckless behavior of the so-called Libyan coast guard has nothing to do with sea rescue. Cooperation with these violent and armed militias must be stopped by the EU states before humanitarian aid workers are harmed,” demands Gorden Isler, chairman of Sea-Eye e.V. The joint medical team from German Doctors e.V. and Sea-Eye e.V. immediately began medical treatment and care for the rescued, among them many women and families with children. Four children were not even two years old. They had to provide a baby with oxygen for a short time, but were able to stabilize the children quickly. In the afternoon, the Italian authorities assigned the 'Sea Eye 4' to the port of Ancona, around 800 nautical miles away. The ship will take around four days to get there and will therefore ask the Italian authorities for a closer port.
HDMS KNUD RASMUSSEN
The 'Lauge Koch' and the sister 'Knud Rasmussen' have been banned from sailing in the Arctic due to engine problems. The 'Lauge Koch' has not left the dock in Nuuk since Feb 1, 2024, the 'Knud Rasmussen' is sidelined in Frederikshavn. The Defense Materiel and Procurement Agency has issued a total ban on sailing on both ships due to the same unidentified fault in the auxiliary engines following repeated breakdowns. The sailing ban compromises the Danish Defense Forces' enforcement of sovereignty in Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Both military experts and several Faroese and Greenlandic members of parliament are deeply concerned, as this is exactly the area where the Russians can come down on Great Britain unseen. Therefore, it is an important task in terms of defense that Denmark has in this case. As a temporary solution, the Defense Forces has withdrawn the 'Triton' from command in the Faroe Islands to Greenland in order to mitigate the consequences of the two other ships being idled in Nuuk. But before the ship took over the tasks, it also had technical problems and had to be repaired.
BRISAN
The 'Brisan' ran aground in the afternoon of March 7, 2024, en route from A Coruña at the entrance to the port of O Freixo, when it was heading to the dock and entering the A Misela channel. The longliner was heading to the Lago Abeijón de Outes shipyard to repair a breakdown. The entire crew that works on the fishing vessel was on board because it was planned that they would then head towards Gran Sol. The ship got stuck on the sandbank A Lomba da Misela with a list to port side. The 18 crew members have been evacuated by am auxiliary boat from the shipyard. The SAR vessel 'Salvamar Regulus' was also mobilized by the CCS Fisterra of Salvamento Marítimo and was evaluating the situation. At 1:38 a.m. the 'Brisan' was refloated at high tide by the 'Salvamar Regulus' and a boat, hired by the fishing vessel and the shipyard. It was safely anchored at a buoy at the shipyard. Reports with photos: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/somosmar/2024/03/08/palangrero-ribeira-quedo-varado-banco-arena-freixo/0003_202403B8C3996.htm https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1765812261707219195 https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1766021308788130192
WANG HAI
Beached at Gadani 01.03.24 Video: https://www.facebook.com/intractibleren/videos/1423420931595253?idorvanity=6884293942
QUARTZ
US Coast Guard and Virgin Islands SARunits rescued the three crew members of the sailing catamaran 'Quartz' near Horseshoe Reef, approximately six nautical miles southeast of Anegada, British Virgin Islands, on March 7, 2024. They were forced to abandon the vessel after it had struck rocks and began taking on water. At approximately 4:25 a.m., Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan received a Mayday VHF Channel 16 radio communication as well as a 406Mhz transmission from the EPIRB. The boaters relayed to watchstanders that they were planning to abandon the sailing vessel and embark the vessel’s dinghy. Watchstanders directed the launch of a 33-ft-boat of the Coast Guard Unit St. Thomas and an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter from the Air Station Borinquen to find the boaters, and they also notified Virgin Islands SAR authorities of the ongoing distress. Shortly thereafter, a Virgin Islands Search and Rescue marine unit arrived on-scene and recovered all three boaters from the dinghy. All three were wearing lifejackets when rescued and were then transported to Tortola, British Virgin Islands. where they were assisted by the Virgin Islands SAR and local authorities. No medical emergencies were reported. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3700057/coast-guard-virgin-islands-search-and-rescue-rescue-3-boaters-from-sinking-sail/
TRUE CONFIDENCE
Doctors from the Cuban brigade working in Djibouti treated the injured crew members of the 'True Confidence'. According to the Havana embassy here, members of the ship's crew were assisted by the Djiboutian government by providing a humanitarian rescue and assistance mission that involved Caribbean doctors, who provided emergency care to four injured people and operations on two others in the Peltier Hospital of the city. The Minister of Health, Ahmed Robleh Abdilleh, thanked the Cuban medical brigade for the effective cooperation. The remains of the seafarers who were killed in the missile attack were still inside the vessel, Department of Migrant Workers officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac said on March 8. The bodies were yet to be removed. A salvage tug has been contracted to tow the drifting bulk carrier to safety and was on its way. Report with photo: https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2024/03/08/medicos-cubanos-en-djibouti-atienden-heridos-de-buque-true-confidence/
RUBYMAR
According to the US, the anchor of the “Rubymar”, dragging on the bottom, probably severed a subsea cable that enables Internet and telecommunications services worldwide. According to current estimates, the damage caused to the cable running under the Red Sea was a result of the attack, the Defense Department in Washington said on March 7. The attack had forced the crew to anchor on Feb 18. Report with video: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/video/watch-rubymar-ship-sinks-red-081900799.html
JEANNE BARRET
Early in the morning of March 7, 2024, the CROSS Gris-Nez was notified that two boats were in difficulty off Ambleteuse. The CROSS Gris-Nez deplyoed the 'Seine' of the French Navy to assist. The crew noticed that both boats had engine failure, and the people on board the boats requested assistance. The CROSS Gris-Nez deployed the 'Jeanne Barret', on patrol in the same area to assist one of the two boats. The crew of the Jeanne Barret began the recovery of the 19 people on board, who were dropped off at the dock in Boulogne-sur-Mer. At the same time, the 'Seine ' recovered the 62 people from the second boat, who were dropped off in Calais. The castaways were subsequently taken care of by land authorities.
ICON OF THE SEAS
The 'Icon of the Seas' has rescued 14 people from a precarious boat in the Caribbean between Cozumel and western Cuba on March 3, 2024, at around 3:00 p.m. The crew detected a point in the open sea, which was an inflatable boat that had 14 people aboard, who had been adrift for eight days. The boat turned around, and the cruise ship pulled up as close as it could to them and stopped. Then deployed a small zodiac-type rescue boat to investigate and took all migrants on board in several trips. The The crew provided them with medical attention, and was working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard. The migrants were dropped off in Roatan on March 4. Report with video: https://www.foxweather.com/lifestyle/cruise-ship-rescues-14-stranded-sea
PEN DUICK VI
During the start of the fourth and final leg of the Ocean Globe Race in Punta del Este on March 5, 2024, the “Pen Duick VI”, skippered by Marie Tabarly and previously victorious on the Cape Horn leg, lost a crew member overboard. The incident happened just 17 minutes after the yachts crossed the starting line of the fourth leg of the race, about 1,25 nautical miles from the starting line and 0,4 nautical miles from the coast, in southwesterly winds with gusts of up to 25 knots and waves of three to four meters. Immediate rescue measures could be initiated just a few moments after the distress signal. The “Pen Duick VI” stopped, and within five minutes, with the help of the MOB, the crew member was able to be taken back on board. The fourth leg of the Ocean Globe Race takes the fleet from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Cowes, where the yachts are expected on April 9/10.
HDMS LAUGE KOCH
The 'Lauge Koch' and the sister 'Knud Rasmussen' have been banned from sailing in the Arctic due to engine problems. The 'Lauge Koch' has not left the dock in Nuuk since Feb 1, 2024, the 'Knud Rasmussen' is sidelined in Frederikshavn. The Defense Materiel and Procurement Agency has issued a total ban on sailing on both ships due to the same unidentified fault in the auxiliary engines following repeated breakdowns. The sailing ban compromises the Danish Defense Forces' enforcement of sovereignty in Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Both military experts and several Faroese and Greenlandic members of parliament are deeply concerned, as this is exactly the area where the Russians can come down on Great Britain unseen. Therefore, it is an important task in terms of defense that Denmark has in this case. As a temporary solution, the Defense Forces has withdrawn the 'Triton' from command in the Faroe Islands to Greenland in order to mitigate the consequences of the two other ships being idled in Nuuk. But before the ship took over the tasks, it also had technical problems and had to be repaired.
FRENCH NAVY
Early in the morning of March 7, 2024, the CROSS Gris-Nez was notified that two boats were in difficulty off Ambleteuse. The CROSS Gris-Nez deplyoed the 'Seine' to assist. The crew noticed that both boats had engine failure, and the people on board the boats requested assistance. The CROSS Gris-Nez deployed the patrol boat 'Jeanne Barret', on patrol in the same area to assist one of the two boats. The crew of the Jeanne Barret began the recovery of the 19 people on board, who were dropped off at the dock in Boulogne-sur-Mer. At the same time, the 'Seine ' recovered the 62 people from the second boat, who were dropped off in Calais. The castaways were subsequently taken care of by land authorities.