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Beached at Aliaga 22.05.25 https://www.instagram.com/p/DKBd-JNIDtS/

On May 23, 205, there was a PAN PAN call of the 'Blue Trout' with four crew members on board, after it went adrift due to a mechanical failure and lack of wind seven nautical miles southwest of Matalascañas. The CCS Huelva of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR boat 'Salvamar Alkaid', which took the yacht in tow and safely pulled it to the port of Mazagón. Report with photos: https://x.com/salvamentogob/status/1925941283559776474

One of Scotland’s main cruise ports is set to experience its busiest year since records began. Greenock Ocean Terminal has 91 cruise liners booked into the Inverclyde town’s new dedicated pontoon across 2023 – a rise of over 25 per cent on last year. As many as 150,000 passengers and 38,000 crew members are expected to pass through the port over the course of this year. It’s more good news for the terminal in its second full season since Covid effectively closed down the cruise industry. Jim McSporran, Clydeport Port Director at Peel Ports said: “We’re extremely proud to be announcing a record cruise year for Greenock Ocean Terminal. “Welcoming cruise liners to Greenock is a hugely important aspect of our port offering and we’re delighted that we continue to attract and grow cruise numbers to the region. “This increase in tourism will benefit visitor attractions and businesses across Inverclyde and central Scotland, and we look forward to welcoming these visitors across the season.” “In an effort to showcase the port as the cruise gateway to the West Coast of Scotland, this year we are also investing in a promotional campaign to feature at the global cruise industry’s key annual gathering in the U.S.” Councillor Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, said: “The cruise sector here in Inverclyde continues to go from strength to strength and I’m delighted that this year is set to be the busiest yet with record numbers of ships and passengers, as well as a substantial number of crew visiting these shores. “It’s timely that with 2023 shaping up to be a bumper year for cruise calls that the finishing touches are being put on our new state-of-the-art Greenock cruise ship visitor centre which will provide our guests from around the world with a first class welcome to Inverclyde and the west coast of Scotland.

Thick black smoke was rising from burning containers at Iskenderun Port on Feb 6, 2023. The fire was caused by containers that toppled over during the powerful earthquake that struck southeast Turkey. ATurkish Coast Guard vessel was assisting efforts to extinguish the blaze.

The 'Isle of Mull' return was pushed back a little further. CalMac's expectation was to have the evacuation slides repaired and be ready to re- enter service by June 25. That represented a 10 day extension on the original plan, which would have seen her return by June 15. Due to the knock-on effect of delays to the 'Finlaggan's over-haul, that date was pushed back another four days to June 29. The ferry will be heading for dry-dock in Greenock on May 24, to have her new marine evacuation slides fitted. That gives five weeks to have the work done, to return just before the peak month of July. All those with affected bookings should be contacted by CalMac.

There were cancellations on the Red Funnel service of the 'Red Falcon' from East Cowes to Southampton service on the morning of May 22 due to a technical issue with the aft engine. The6 a.m. departure, the 7.30 a.m. departure from Southampton and the 9 a.m. departure from East Cowes, he 10.30 a.m. departure and the 1.30 p.m. departure from Southampton and the 12 p.m. departure and 3 p.m. departure from East Cowesg were cancelled. Red Funnel is already running a reduced timetable due to ongoing essential maintenance and engineering works. Its current two-ship service had been due to end on May 19 but will continue until at least June 8.

One person is was and two others were missing after a crane collapsed into the water on an Ashkelon pier latein the night of March 14, 2023. The collapse of the crane was caused by unusual weather and strong winds. The injured person was in moderate condition and is receiving treatment at Barzilai Medical Center. Attempts to contact two people who had been working on the site of the crane have been unsuccessful, leading police to believe that they were missing after falling into the sea. Extensive search and rescue efforts were commenced with the help of police diving units, the elite 669 Search and Rescue unit, the Israeli Navy and others. The body of a man of about 60 years of age was found on Beersheba Beach in Ashdod on March 15. The gas pier at the Rotenberg power plant in Ashkelon was damaged. The Electric Company formed a team to investigate the incident. Reports with photos: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-734237 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-734373

The Port of Kiel expects another good season in 2023, resulting in 218 cruise calls, said its MD Dirk Claus in the morning of Jan 17, 2023, as part of a presentation reflecting on last year's results. It follows 2022's record-breaking 244 calls, which saw the port handle over 2.24m passengers, 836,000 of those from cruise vessels. The number of calls in 2019 was 37% less by comparison, numbering 178, and passenger volumes 4.1% lower. 2020 had been forecast to become a record season for Kiel, with 200 calls and 880,000 passengers, but aspirations were dashed owing to the pandemic. This year, a number of larger vessels are scheduled to arrive at Kiel on multiple occasions making the gross tonnage of arriving ships similar to 2022. For 2023, the choice of routes and destinations approached from Kiel will be slightly broader. Moving into the future, Claus expects Kiel to settle on between 200 and 250 cruise calls annually. According to the port, last year’s promising results were the result of ‘intense planning’ with international cruise operators. While 11 calls were cancelled owing to the conflict in Ukraine and the resulting loss of St Petersburg from itineraries, nine were newly added as a result of rerouting by operators. Looking ahead, there will be a strong focus on greener shipping with Claus hoping that between 60 and 100 calls can be supplied with green shore power this year. He stated that Kiel will continue to look at strengthening shore power in line with its corporate sustainability strategy to lower carbon emissions. Work on the new Ostuferhafen shore power plant is expected to conclude towards the end of this year, resulting in Kiel being able to offer shoreside connectivity at all its ferry and cruise terminals from 2024. Along with this €17m investment, a further €2m will be invested to install solar arrays. The systems, which will be fitted on roofs at Kiel Port, are intended to cover up to 30% of the port's electricity requirements in the long term.  Kiel’s first call is expected to arrive April 7 with the river vessel 'Frederic Chopin'. The first cruise ship of the season, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 'Balmoral', will arrive a week later.  The largest ships to call will be 'MSC Euribia' and 'AIDAnova'. At the other end of the scale, the 'Ocean Majesty' will visit Kiel on six occasions while chartered to Hansa Touristik. The vessel, which celebrates its 57th anniversary this year, is popular with the German source market. One of its calls is scheduled to occur on June 18 during the Kieler Woche sailing festival which will run from June 17-25. Traditionally, this marks the peak of the cruise season with this year no exception: 22 calls are expected by Kiel at the same time as the event takes place. While the highest number of calls is expected between mid-April and the end of September as usual, some ships will continue to call later in the year. 'AIDAnova'’s last departure is scheduled for November 4 whilst December 20 will see Phoenix Reisen's 'Amera' arrive at Kiel as part of a pre-Christmas itinerary. The season will draw to a close a few days later with the 'Spirit of Discovery' on December 29. Costa-, AIDA-, MSC- and TUI Cruises will again be the port's largest cruise customers. The majority of calls account for turnarounds serving the German-speaking source markets, but a number of transit calls will also take place, P&O Cruises’ Britannia, Swiss Ruby, Holland America Line’s 'Nieuw Statendam' and Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 'Seven Seas Splendor' among them. As in previous years, the Ostuferhafen outside the city centre will be heavily utilised by MSC Cruises and most other cruise ships will arrive at the Ostseekai. 

The "Volodymyr Vorobyov" was detained in Tekirdag on May 8, 2025: Detained in Tekirdag with 47 deficiencies, seven of which being regarded a seriously and grounds for a detention: 1) Fire safety - Fixed fire exthinguishing installation Missing 2) Fire safety - Fire detection and alarm system' Not properly maintained 3) Fire safety - Remote Means of control (Machinery spaces) Inoperative 4) Life saving Appliances - Launching arrangements for survival craft Not properly maintained 5) Life saving Appliances - Emergency equipment for 2-way communications Batteries expires 6) Structural conditions - Steering gear Not properly maintained 7) Alarm - General alarm Inoperative. The vessel was released again on May 21 and headed to Altinova, where it arrived on May 22 for permanent repairs. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063576908591

The 'Carnival Splendor's crew have rescued four people, including two Australians, bloggers with a YouTube page called Sailing Barking Cat, stranded on the disabled catamaran 'LA Vita' off the coast of New Caledonia on May 22, 2025. The cruise ship was alerted by the MRCC in Noumea, of the boat's distress call at about midnight, After sailing the coast of Australia, the couple were heading to Fiji, with two French bulldogs and a mini husky in tow. Joined by another couple, a German and an Italian, they set off on May 14, but their engine failed and the mast broke in bad weather, leaving them adrift at sea at night. The cruise ship headed to the location and rescued them within five hours. They got food, water and medical assistance. The 'Carnival Splendor' had left Sydney on May 19 on an eight-day round trip cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The rescued sailors were dropped off in Noumea. Report with photos: https://www.9news.com.au/national/cruise-ship-rescues-four-people-and-three-dogs-from-boat-stranded-off-new-caledonia/b11c6b8f-0781-4cfc-a410-5475fde9206a https://7news.com.au/news/dream-sailing-trip-becomes-nightmare-at-sea-for-four-people-and-three-dogs-before-cruise-ships-comes-to-rescue--c-18779087

The fire at the Port of Iskenderun has finally been extinguished, Turkey's ministry of defense announced on Feb 7. It was the second time that the ministry has reported that the fire has been put out; after the previous announcement, the blaze resumed at scale, and firefighters managed to contain it later that night. Iskenderun's container terminal is still closed due to the severe structural damage, which forced the facility to halt all operations. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck southern Turkey on Feb 6 had a significant impact on the port, toppling stacks of containers and cracking pavement. The physical damage is severe enough that container lines were diverting vessels to other ports, like nearby Mersin. The quake also sparked a fire in the center of the terminal's container storage area. Turkey's coast guard deployed a vessel to apply water from the quayside, and the Turkish air force and army sent aircraft to drop fire retardant on the blaze. The fire spread despite these efforts, but was finally contained in the night of Feb 7. Report with video: https://maritime-executive.com/article/fire-at-port-of-iskenderun-extinguished-after-two-days

On Dec 1, 2022, at about 3 p.m. the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was informed that 15 empty containers at Keppel Terminal had fallen from the wharf into the water as a result of strong winds during a squall. There were no reported injuries and no immediate impact to port operations. The MPA deployed two patrol crafts to monitor and cordon off the affected area to facilitate recovery work by PSA Corporation Ltd. MPA’s Port Operations Control Centre has restricted all vessel movements in the vicinity of Keppel Terminal until the containers were recovered.