On June 3, 2024, the 'Eugene Maersk', en route from Tanger Med to Algeciras, has rescued 32 migrants of Maghreb origin from a boat that the crew located about 60 nautical miles from Arrecife. Once the container ship had anchored near Naos port, the crew of the SAR biat 'Salvamar Al Nair' (MMSI: 224944850) embarked them and transferred the castaways to Arrecife. Report with photos: https://x.com/salvamentogob/status/1797700452588429498
News
ARK PRESTIGE
On May 29, 2024, the Colombo Additional Magistrate Keminda Perera has issued a foreign travel ban to the Indian captain Raj Dev Yadev of the 'Ark Prestige', which caused an oil spill in Colombo. An investigation was started regarding a hydraulic oil leak from the ship, which was berthed at the dockyard jetty of Colombo Port, where the vessel had arrived for maintenance on April 20. The ban was to prevent him from leaving the country for one month. After considering a request made by the Colombo Port Police, the Magistrate who issued the ban on foreign travel has asked the police to forward the order to the Immigration Controller and inform the captain about the prohibition order. After considering the facts of the complaint, the Magistrate issued the relevant order to be effective for one month and ordered police to inform the court about the progress of the investigation.
Beirut
The Port of Beirut (PoB) resumed partial operations on Aug 10 with the first two container ships berthing in the container terminal after the explosion which killed at least 160 persons, injured thousands and made hundred thousands homeless. Out of 16 cranes at the container terminal, 12 were currently operational. The port was gradually resuming operations to ensure the supply of all kinds of goods to citizens. Bassem Al Kaissi, the new Director of the PoB, said that the container terminal will be fully operational by Aug 14. Al Kaissi said that 420 containers were unloaded on Aug 10. The container terminal storage area has been cleaned up and restored to its state before the blast. The container terminal represents 80 percent of the overall cargo movement at the PoB. It is located one kilometer away from the blast epicenter. Container vessels can dock at quay number 16. Shipping movement at the PoB had already plunged by 75 percent due to the economic crisis and has reached 15 percent following the blast. Customs have opened offices in the PoB’s warehouse number 14 which was partially damaged. The customs have become able to carry out the inspection of merchandise- Customs duties are being temporarily paid at the Rafic Hariri International Airport. Tthe PoB is now handling only full containers as groupage consignment requires warehouses which don’t exist now. Amer Al Kaissi said groupage, which represents 15 percent of shipments at the PoB, will be diverted to the Port of Tripoli until the rebuilding of warehouses at the PoB is completed. The first two containerships to berth at the PoB after the blast were the 'Electra' (Gezairi Transport) and the 'Nicolas Delmas' (CMA CGM). The 'Electra', which was carrying 400 containers, was diverted to Tripoli where there was a license to operate but the company insisted to unload it in Beirut when it was told that the PoB has resumed operation. The CMA CGM Group and CEVA Logistics said they are fully operational and ensuring business continuity to serve their customers. The Group has redeployed its employees in its two back-up sites in Beirut Digital District and reinforced its presence in Tripoli. Part of CMA CGM’s vessels has been temporarily directed to Tripoli. Few shipping companies are authorized to operate in other ports such as Tripoli or Saida. BCTC, the Customs and the PoB’s authorities did their best to handle the clearing formalities despite the difficult working conditions. The general cargo area was fully operational on Aug 12 both for imports and exports. This includes wheat and other grains as well as construction steel bars. The cost of rebuilding the port is estimated at around $1 billion.
ROLIN
Under pressure from Greece’s navy, traders of Russian oil have found a new place to switch cargoes of crude in the Mediterranean sea near the city of Nador at the eastern end of Morocco’s coast. Since May, Greece’s navy has been holding naval exercises in a location where the trade had been taking place in a attempt to deter it. The new location is close to the Spanish-run enclave Melilla, raising the prospect that Madrid might repeat steps it took to block similar activity 140 miles to the west, near its other enclave Ceuta. Those measures ultimately stopped the practice. The 'Rolin' was s receiving Urals crude from the smaller tanker 'Serendi' (IMO: 9296810). It was the first time that the STS transfer of the grade has taken place there. Two more Aframax-class ship, the 'Ocean AMZ' and 'Sea Fidelity' — have also arrived. All three loaded about 730,000 barrels of Urals from Russia’s Baltic sea port of Primorsk.
LUCERNE
On June 2, 2024, the 'Lucerne' assisted a fishing vessel with 17 people on board, which was taking on water three nautical miles off-shore of Duiker Island in Hout Bay and had issued a Mayday call. TheNSRI Hout Bay, Bakoven and Table Bay were activated to respond to base to prepare rescue craft to launch to assist. The 'Lucerne' diverted to assist, reached the vessel. It went aongside as a precaution until the fishing vessel managed to get the engine running again. As a precaution, the skipper headed his vessel away from land to give them added drift time, in case the engine conced out again. The crew had stemmed the ingress of water. The vessel was heading towards the port of Table Bay in up to four-metre swells, occasional rain and fair winds and rough seas. The NSRI Table Bay lifeboat 'DHL Deliverer' reached the vessel where, once on-scene, the 'Lucerne' was released to return to the fishing grounds. A towline was established to begin towing the fishing vessel towards the Port of Table Bay. The towline snapped due to chaffing but was quickly re-established. The ship was finally handed over to the waiting Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) tug 'Blue Jay', that brought the vessel to a berth in the port. The fishing company has initiated repairs.
ANTHEM OF THE SEAS
A 53 yar old crew member of the 'Anthem of the Seas' had to be medevaced off the coast of Ushant by helicopter on the morning of June 3, 2024, due to chest pain. Around 8 a.m. the medical evacuation operation was decided by the Maritime Medical Coordination Center when the ship was 38 nautical miles northwest of the island. The patient was airlifted aboard a Lanvéoc H160 helicopter at 9:18 a.m. and transferred to the Brest hospital center, where he was treated at 10:20 a.m.
CELEBRITY EQUINOX
A passenger of the 'Ecelebrity Equinox' lost consciosness and died in the cabin on the afternoon of June 1, 2024, while the ship was docked at the Port of Mykonos. The local port authority was immediately informed. The 81-year-old female passenger was pronounced dead by the ship's doctor. The Coast Guard report states that the passenger's body was to be transported to the cruise ship's final destination in Civitavecchia, where the ship is due to arrive on June 4. The Mykonos Port Authority conducted a preliminary investigation into the incident.
Kiel
The PORT OF KIEL has redesigned the port apron in Ostuferhafen, which is the freight and logistics centre on the fjord. Where once stood a grain silo, there is now an expanded pre-stacking and stand-by area of three hectares for trucks, trailers and pas-senger cars.The State Premier of Schleswig- Holstein, Daniel Günther, visited the Ostufer-hafen on 12th August to hand over the grant notice coming from the State Programme Economy for 5.44 million Euros: The project to redesign the port apron included dismantling three hall areas of the former grain silo, excavation and road works as well as drainage, lighting and security measures and the connection of the area to the infrastructure. Through the new and generous port apron it has been possible to merge formerly separated pre-stacking areas, shorten distances and gain more space for trucks, busses, trailers and passenger cars. Furthermore, IT solutions have been developed to accelerate the handling processes at the gate, which also allow truck drivers to reduce personal contact.Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director at the PORT OF KIEL: “Even under the current circumstances the Ostuferhafen operates in a reliable and safe way. The port of Kiel has proven its systemic importance regarding the transshipment of cross-border freight transport.”In the first seven months of the year 2.1 million tons of cargo have been tran-shipped via the Ostuferhafen (+ 1 %). Additional volumes have been transported by the ferries of the DFDS shipping company to the Baltic States or they have been delivered by the SCA-RoRo-freighters from Scandinavia. Not only general cargo and forest products are unloaded resp. transhipped in Ostuferhafen but also project and heavy cargo, scrap metal and agricul-tural products. The integrated passenger terminal to handle cruise vessels emphasizes the universal character of this port part.