In the port of Torre Annunziata, the 'AK Brigth' was inspected by the Carabinieri of the operational and radiomobile section of Castellammare di Stabia, who found 7,000 packs of contraband cigarettes. The ship was had a cargo of wheat and corn from Yuzhny on board and had docked in the port on April 18, 2024. The cigarettes wre of Serbian origin but probably destined for the Neapolitan black market. The captain of the ship, a 39-year-old Syrian from Tartus and three men aged 68, 57 and 58, were handcuffed. The latter had just taken 500 cartons of the load, 5000 packages, and stuffed them into a car. They were arrested for smuggling foreign tobacco. Reports with photos and video: https://www.fanpage.it/napoli/le-sigarette-dallucraina-a-napoli-nella-nave-cargo-insieme-al-grano-4-arresti-a-torre-annunziata/ https://www.ilmattino.it/napoli/area_metropolitana/torre_annunziata_nave_cargo_sigarette_arresto-8066959.html
News
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
Singapore
Construction work on the second phase of the Tuas mega port began yesterday with the installation of the first concrete structure for the wharf. A total of 227 concrete structures or caissons, each weighing 13,000 tonnes, will be installed over the next eight years to construct the wharf, the largest in the mega port. Almost 400ha of land will be reclaimed for the second phase, which will have 21 container berths and be able to handle 21 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo annually. In April, the last of 221 caissons for the first phase of the mega-port project was installed. Last year, a consortium of three companies – Penta Ocean Construction, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Boskalis International – won a $1.46 billion contract to develop the second phase of the Tuas port.
Piraeus
A press report, dated Jul 3, states: The 24-hour strike by seamen on Jul 3, has left Greek ferries and other passenger boats tied up in port, stranding tourists and Greeks heading for vacation and leaving many islands cut off for the day. The PNO seamen?s union called Wednesday?s strike to demand salary increases as part of collective wage agreements. Dozens of inhabited Greek islands don?t have airports and are accessible only by sea. The passenger shipping business association SEEN, with which the seamen?s union had been negotiating, had expressed surprise when the strike was announced in late June, saying it offered a two percent wage increase for 2019 on top of a retroactive two percent increase for 2018. It said the offer, along with staff increases, was ?beyond our actual capabilities during a particularly difficult time? with 50% fuel cost increases.
MT SAISNIL II
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was investigating 11 suspected oil thieves along with the Saisnil II', which was arrested by the Nigerian Navy, on April 202, 2024. The suspects and vessel were handed over to the Commission by the Nigerian Navy, NNS Beecroft, Apapa, Lagos. The vessel and the crew were intercepted and arrested on Feb 7 by naval officers. The suspects were allegedly involved in illegal oil bunkering and AIS infractions at the Abo Oilfield, Ogogoro Community, Ondo State. The suspects were to be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded by Commission’s operatives in its Lagos Command.
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.
Timaru
A massive container ship will return to Timaru on Sunday after the world’s largest logistics company confirmed weekly visits to the port. This follows a trial late in May when the 286.5 metre long and 40m wide, Rio de Janeiro’s berthing acted as a test run for similar sized ships to dock in Timaru after a $2.5 million project to widen the port’s inner breakwater entrance from 90m to 140m. PrimePort chief executive Phil Melhopt confirmed the 6pm Sunday call of the giant vessel and said it was another demonstration of the forward steps the port was taking. “Maersk shipping line have been very consistent since the Timaru container terminal started their operations in 2014 and will be calling in at Timaru again,” he said. “They have recently announced their Southern Star Rio Class will form part of their service into Timaru. They’re going to call here going forward.
Tanger-Med
APM Terminals second terminal in Morocco, MedPort Tangier was inaugurated this week. Part of the Tanger Med Port complex, it has an annual capacity of 5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalents). With this new capacity, Morocco is establishing itself as one of the most important transhipment locations in the world. Tanger Med Port is already ranked as the leading African port and is amongst the world’s top 50 container ports due to its prime location along key trade lanes and increasing cargo flows, to and from Africa. The construction of the state-of-the-art APM Terminals MedPort Tangier facility took two years and a total investment of USD 800m. This new transhipment terminal is designed, constructed and operated by APM Terminals, and will join existing hub facilities servicing Maersk and its partners. Built utilizing the latest technology, the terminal is set to be one of the most efficient and safest in the world.
DALI
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.
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.
Balboa
Balboa, Jul 4 -- Panama Canal Port Condition report for Jul 4. Projected backlog at 0001 hrs: Fifty-one vessels today, 47 tomorrow and 44 on Jul 6. There are 29 vessels arriving today, 30 tomorrow and 42 on Jul 6. There are 33 vessels scheduled for today and 33 for tomorrow. Estimated delays for vessels without reservation/non-booked: Northbound: All types of vessels, two days. Southbound: All types of vessels, one to two days
Point Samson
Nine vessels at anchor off Port Walcott, waiting to load iron ore