On the evening of May 6, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that a migrant boat was in difficulty off the coast of Gravelines and deployed the 'Ridens' to assist, which launches its rescue boat to reach the site. The crew recovered 22 people. Several people still present on board the migrant boat refused the assistance offered by French means and continued their journey under appropriate surveillance. The castaways recovered by the Ridens were then dropped off at the port of Dunkirk. Once at the dock, were are taken care of by the land emergency services and the border police.
News
ALEXIS
The 'Alexis', which had run aground following an engine failure in front of the Haydarpasa breakwater, was refloated, and ship traffic in the Bosphorus was reopened in both directions on May 8. The vessel was towed to Ahirkapi anchorage and was stationary in pos. 40° 58.73' N 028° 57.40' E as of May 9.
Dover
British unions and politicians were on the other end after the country's largest ferry company - P&O Ferries - on March 17, 2022, fired 800 employees without notice, and put security guards to remove the fired from the ferries. In the morning of March 18, the ferries were still not sailing, and according to announcements from the shipping company on Twitter, they will not do so for the rest of the day. DFDS, which competes with P&O Ferries on the route between Dover and Calais, announced on March 17 that they were largely able to transfer the travelers who are currently unable to sail with P&O Ferries. The unions have called for large demonstrations in Dover, Liverpool and Hull on March 18, while the fired crew members are already taking action on the ferries. It was uncertain whether some of the fired were still on board the ferries. Not only the unions that are furious over the dismissals, but also politicians from both major parties condemned in sharp terms the methods used. P&O Ferries, owned by DP World in the United Arab Emirates, in the morning of March 17 ordered all the company's ferries into port, where the crews had to wait for an important announcement from the company. The announcement took the form of a Zoom meeting, where a representative of the management in a recorded feature announced that 800 employees had been fired with immediate effect and that as a result they would have to leave the ferries immediately. The vacancies will be taken over by foreign employees, subject to other agreements. According to the fired crew members, the new crew members were already present in the ports, where they were waiting in buses. Security guards were also waiting at the port. The guards were tasked with removing the fired employees from the ferries. In addition to the affected ferries on the Dover-Calais route, P&O operates ferry routes from Hull to Rotterdam, Liverpool to Dublin and Cairnryan to Larne in Northern Ireland.
Kiel
The Port of Kiel has launched a three-step plan that puts the port's 'Blue Port' concept into concrete terms, as a framework of its effort to completely reduce all of its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030. "The port will be climate-neutral by the end of this decade," noted Dr. Dirk Claus, Managing Director of Port of Kiel. The port's three-step plan envisages covering 60% of the energy requirements of ships calling at Kiel with green electricity as early as next year. This figure is expected to reach 80-90% by 2025, before climate neutrality is achieved for all activities of the German port in 2030, through a range of measures to supply port facilities with 100% climate-neutral green electricity that have already been implemented. The port is also planning to further decrease nitrogen oxides emissions. According to an environmental report, the Port of Kiel already avoided more than 6,200 tonnes of CO2 in 2020, while almost 18,800 tonnes were still emitted. The energy demand at the terminals has already been sustainably reduced by switching to economical LED technology and increasing energy efficiency, while photovoltaic systems provide around 290,000-kilowatt hours of solar energy every year. The port in the Baltic is also gradually converting its own vehicle fleet to electric drive and offers incentives to customers to promote the decarbonisation process. Moreover, the port has invested in on-shore power to reduce emissions. After the first system for shore-side power supply was connected to Norwegenkai in 2019, a second larger one was commissioned at Ostseekai in June, earlier this year. In the meantime, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is funding the establishment of a digital test field in the port to make the processes at the freight terminals even more efficient. Operational processes will therefore be optimised and made more sustainable on the basis of a 5G campus network. In this way, climate-neutral growth in port handling is expected to be supported by innovative information technology (IT). Measures towards zero emissions by 2030 in the German port also include electrification of the vehicle fleet, such as industrial trucks, digitalisation of operational processes for increased efficiency, as well as tariff-based environmental discount as an incentive for climate-friendly transformation.
THUNDER
On May 9 2024, at noon, the Port Authority of Paros was informed that the 'Thunder', during the docking process at the port of Parikia, Paros, suffered a malfunction of the ramp, resulting in the inability to disembark and embark passengers and vehicles. The ship came from the port of Ios on a scheduled route to the ports of Mykonos, Syros and Piraeus. With the care of the ship-owning company, the ramp was disengaged with the assistance of a heavy-duty vehicle, and then the safe disembarkation of the passengers and vehicles was completed. On board were 259 passengers and 35 crew members. The disembarked passengers and vehicles destined for the ports of Mykonos and Syros were transferred to the 'Super Express' in order to be forwarded to their final destinations. The Port Authority of Paros banned the 'Thunder' from sailing. After the presentation of a certificate of class maintenance by the monitoring classification society, the departure was granted for a single voyage the port of Piraeus with 237 passengers on board.
SARAH M
The 'Sarah M' was lingering off Spain awaiting orders after the vessel was denied entry into Greenore on April 30, 2024, for a scheduled export voyage. An animal activist group used the sanctions against Russia and the fact that the ship had recently switched to the Russian classification society to get the ship barred from the trade she has been involved in for a few years. The 'Sarah M' didn’t dock at Greenore, it turned around and scuttled away empty shortly after Farming Ireland sent off a bunch of emails to various authorities. sHe eft Irish waters, turned east into international waters, and then dropped anchor. Ethical Farming Ireland spotted in the records that the vessel, despite operating since 2019 as the 'Sarah M', in March 2024 switched flags from Panama to Antigua and Barbuda. It also moved from the Polish class society to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. That provided the opening for the activists who quickly highlighted to the Irish authorities that the April 2023 EU sanctions imposed on Russia included a provision to block any vessel in the Russian class from EU ports. The ship was due to reach Greenore to export 2,000 young bulls. The vessel has had past problems with the authorities. Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the past revoked the operation license of the 'Sarah M' for breaches of regulations before being re-granted. In late 2019, the vessel made a trip for its prior owner, Beirut Shipping Company, but then suddenly changed ownership to DMS Lines, also in Lebanon. Media reports were that the prior owner had its license revoked because of a low-performance rating. The Agricultural authority opted to remain silent on the latest incident. The 'Sarah M' arrived on May 7 off Cartagena with the AIS signal showing it was waiting for orders.
Chittagong
FBCCI would like CTG port’s capacity increased After completion of some development projects like Bangabandhu Industrial City a s nd other economic zones of the country within years, the pressure on Chittagong Port will increase several times. Against this backdrop, the capacity of the port needs to be increased to cope with increasing demand As the economy recovers from the Covid, leading business leaders of the country have emphasized on increasing the capacity of Chittagong Port to cope with increasing export and import in the coming days. President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Jasim Uddin made the remarks at the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Thursday afternoon, according to a press release. He said that Bangladesh will become a member of developed economies by 2041 as set by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the capacity and service of the Chittagong Port need to be improved like the developed countries. He u rged the standing committee to find short, medium and long the problems regarding the Chittagong Port.term solutions by identifying After completion of some development projects like Bangabandhu Industrial City and other economic zones of the country with in years, the pressure on Chittagong Port will increase several times. Against this backdrop, the capacity of the port needs to be increased to cope with increasing demands, said FBCCI boss. "If the capacity of Chittagong port is increased, it will be poss ible to reduce the cost of doing business in the country by at least 5%. At the same time, the interest of foreign entrepreneurs to invest in this country will also increase," he said. "At present, the speed of cargo vehicles on the Dhaka hour. If this speed Chittagong highway is 40 kilometres per d is doubled, the competitiveness of the export sector will increase by 6%," FBCCI boss further said. FBCCI vice-president Amin Helaly said that some more ports would be opened in the future. “If we can work according to the plan, the progress of the count utilizing the potential of these ports,” he said. FBCCI vicery can be further accelerated by president Habib Ullah Dawn alleged that importing vehicles through Chittagong port would cost double the fare as compared to Mongla port. He remarked that different fares in diff Standing Committee Directorinerent ports in the same country is unreasonable. Charge AM Mahbub Chowdhury said the profit of Chittagong port has increased several times in the last few years. Despite being a nonprofit service organization, it was taking increase the amount of profit, he added. steps to increase the tariff again to The Chairman of the committee Dr Pervez Shazzad Aktar called for not increasing the tariff in order to create a business friendly environment. He said most tariffs have to be paid in dollars. If tariff increases, the cost of also increase. foreign exchange will Moreover, foreign ship owners can also increase the fare in this opportunity. In that case, there will be fear of an increase in the price of imported goods. In the open discussion, the members of the standing committe port and customs officials to speed up the import hoped for the cooperation of the export activities.
Haimen
Fifth X-Bow cruise ship for SunStone Ships US-based SunStone Ships are having innovative Infinity class expedition cruise ships with X-Bow built in China, and things are happening in quick succession: The GREG MORTIMER (IMO 9834648), which was completed in 2019, was followed by the OCEAN EXPLORER (IMO 9883194) in July 2021 and the OCEAN VICTORY (IMO 9868869) in October 2021, which will also be followed this year by the SYLVIA EARLE (IMO 9872327). On November 9, 2021, the fifth Infinity class ship was already launched at China Merchants Heavy Industries in Haimen: the OCEAN ODYSSEY (IMO 9880673). Like the OCEAN EXPLORER that has already been delivered, she is intended for the charterer Vantage Travel and is scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter 2022. The further ships of this class currently under construction are the OCEAN ALBATROS and OCEAN DISCOVERER. Full article + images: https://www.cruisedeck.de/stapellauf-der-ocean-odyssey/
NORWEGIAN ENCORE
The FBI has arrested a Norwegian cruise ship worker in Alaska after he allegedly stabbed three people with medical scissors aboard the 'Norwegian Encore'. The suspect, identified as Ntando Sogoni, 35, from South Africa, was recently hired by Norwegian and boarded the ship in Seattle on May 5, 2024. The ship left that day for a weeklong, round-trip excursion to Alaska with stops including Glacier Bay National Park and Victoria, British Columbia. On May 6, Ntando Sogoni, was working on the ship when other ship employees observed the defendant attempting to deploy a lifeboat. Sogoni was contacted by ship security and escorted to the ship’s medical center for an assessment. Upon arrival, Sogoni physically attacked a security guard and a male nurse inside an examination room and proceeded to enter another examination room where a woman, a U.S. citizen, was being examined. He grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed the woman multiple times in the arm, hand and face. He also stabbed two security guards who intervened, one in the head and one in the back and shoulders. Sogoni was detained in the ship’s jail, and arrested by the FBI on May 7 in Juneau, Alaska. He is now facing a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon within maritime and territorial jurisdiction.
MITRA BAHARI IX
On May 5, 2024, the crew of the KM 'Mitra Bahari IX' was successfully evacuated after the ship sank due to a leak in the hull. The 16 crew members were picked up by the passing 'Bratan' five nautical miles from Balikpapan. The distance between the MBS 'Bratan' and the KM 'Mitra Bahari IX' was around 23 miles. The castaways were transferred onto ships of the Balikpapan Harbour Master and Port Authority (KSOP) ships. The ship was loaded with approximately 1,900 tons of fertilizer and sank en route from Gresik, East Java, to Central Kalimantan, in the waters of Tanjung Puting, West Kotawaring. Before, the captain of the KM 'Mitra Bahari' had tried to ground the ship in Tanjung Puting waters. This attempt failed because the ship suddenly suffered a blackout. Report with photo: https://www.prokal.co/kalimantan-timur/1774633537/kapal-bawa-pupuk-tenggelam-16-abk-berhasil-dievakuasi
Papenburg
On November 18, the first steel cut for the SILVER NOVA for Silversea Cruises was celebrated at the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, and the construction phase officially began. The SILVER NOVA will be hybrid driven: LNG is to be used as the main fuel, fuel cells and batteries are to be used in ports so that the ship can stay there without emissions. The SILVER NOVA will be measured with approx. 54,700 gross tons and designed for 728 passengers. Delivery is planned for summer 2023. Full article + image: https://www.cruisedeck.de/bau-der-silver-nova-hat-begonnen/
Saint Nazaire
Fourth Edge class ship under construction. The first steel cut for the CELEBRITY ASCENT was celebrated on November 17, 2021 at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint Nazaire, France. It is already the fourth Edge class ship for Celebrity Cruises – after the CELEBRITY EDGE, CELEBRITY APEX and CELEBRITY BEYOND. The ships are each 306 meters long and measured with approx. 130,000 gross tons. A special feature of these cruise ships is the so-called Magic Carpet, a vertically movable deck on the starboard side. The CELEBRITY ASCENT is expected to be completed by the second half of 2023. Full article: https://www.cruisedeck.de/erster-stahlschnitt-fuer-celebrity-ascent/