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For the first timesince the 'Golden Ray' capsized off the coast of Georgia, crew members and the owners were speaking publicly about the moments before the vessel listed and overturned. The public hearing, part of the investigation into why the vessel capsized, wraps up on Sep 22. Capt. Jonathan Tennant, the pilot who steered the ship out of the port at 1 a.m. on Sept. 8, 2019, recalled calm winds and good visibility. He said typically there were warning signs when something is wrong - alarms, the sound of crew members speaking rapidly in a native language, the engine room calling up. But none of that happened. "Everything was just as normal as it could be, until it capsized," Tennant said. Tennant told investigators the ship started leaning in a turn and started to over-rotate to starboard. He applied what's known as counter-rudder to reduce the rate of the turn, but it wasn't enough. He said the accident happened within seconds. "When I felt like I was losing control of the vessel, I reached behind me where I propped up the ship's radio and said to Jamie on the inbound, 'watch out, Jamie. I'm losing her,' in which time she capsized, I dropped the radio, held onto the gyro, the ship capsized, I tried to ease the rudder, still trying to drive the ship." Tennant said he had no context that the ship's rudder and propeller were already out of the water. "I was still like an airline pilot trying to drive the plane, trying to solve the problem until it flew into the ground," he said. The last person aboard, Junyong Kim, was rescued about about 36 hours after the accident. He gave a written testimony for the hearing. Kim, the first engineer on the ship, also said nothing seemed out of the ordinary until the ship turned sideways. Kim said that he was in the engine room, trying to protect himself and the second engineer. "I grabbed him not to fall down to the end of the engine room because the engine room was ... a bit long. And if he falls down to end, he could be injured. So, I try to grab him to not fall down to the end of this." Kim said the generator went out, the engine shut down, and the standby generator also went out. He described water rising, and the room becoming incredibly hot. Capt. John Reed of the US Coast Guard testified separately that the inside reached more than 150 degrees, with passageways becoming a "death trap." Kim said he and others eventually went into the water that had risen in the engine room to stay cool. Smoke was visible throughout the rescue mission, indicating fires on board. Rescuers had to bore through fireproof glass and navigate passageways that had become vertical drops to rescue the people in the engine room. "I keep thinking, why it happens to me. I think, if I have water, I could survive two days more," Kim said in his statement. Investigators asked about how the cars were loaded The Golden Ray was originally supposed to travel from Mexico to several ports in the US, ending in Wilmington, North Carolina. Hurricane Dorian slightly altered its plans. There was a delay leaving the port in Texas, after which the route changed to go to Jacksonville, Florida, before Brunswick, Georgia. Investigators asked Mike Mavrinac, operations manager for ship owner Hyundai Glovis, about those changes and any issues with loading or unloading cargo. Mavrinac said at the Port of Brunswick, "we did have some tighter space, and we added some additional cargo downstairs on the main deck, deck five." The Korean Maritime Safety Tribunal, one of the investigating entities, challenged Mavrinac about not having a final load plan provided to the vessel before departure. Mavrinac pushed back, saying the stevedore usually hands a handwritten plan to the crew, and that the crew uses that to account for the cargo present. The man in charge of creating a plan for loading and unloading, Sammy Maataki of Norton Lilly, said there was eventually less cargo loaded onto deck 12 and more vehicles loaded on deck five out of Brunswick. "Guessing lack of space. They ran out of space, so they put the remaining balance on five," Maataki said. A National Transportation Safety Board investigator asked whether Maataki considers difference in weight between the cars that are unloaded and the new ones brought on board. Maataki answered, "No, like I said, we receive a plan from Mexico reflecting the cargo to be discharged between the Gulf and the East Coast. And based off the space that's available at the port of load, we just place it in a way where it's an efficient load and discharge operation." A cause won't be determined for a while Jason Neiman, public affairs officer with the US Coast Guard, said the investigation is complex and, therefore, may take many months to complete.

At least 45 crew members of the 'Verdel' were isolated in a hotel in Puerto Madryn after being tested positive for coronavirus. They assured that they had no contact with the community. They also detailed that 11 of the 15 sailors who remained on board also tested positive for COVID-19.The ship had arrived on Sep 17 at dawn. Part of the crew said they had symptoms compatible with the coronavirus. For this reason, the ship anchored off the port and six crew members were swabbed. Five of them tested positive, but at that time they claimed that there were about 40 who had symptoms. On Sep 21 it was confirmed that at least 45 of the sailors were tested positive for coronavirus.

In port

The Maritime Authority of Suriname has issued the following 2 Notices to Mariners: 1. "From September 5, 2020 to January 6, 2021, the Noble Sam Croft drillship will conduct exploration drillings off the coast of Suriname at the drilling location 07 ° 23 "401 N - 55 ° 55" 264 W (WGS 84). For safety reasons the shipping should keep a safe distance of 1000 (one thousand) metres from thenNoble Sam Croft. The Offshore Support Vessels (OSV) that will assist during the operations are: Southern Tide, States Tide and Polaris. Please note: • Communication is through VHF, all international channels 13, 16, 69, 72. • There is a SAFETY ZONE of 1000 (one thousand) metres from the drilling site. • The Noble Sam Croft is not maneuverable and will display the relevant characters. All ships should take notice of the above mentioned." 2. "The drillship Maersk Developer will conduct exploration drilling of the Coast of Suriname from September 19th till December 3rd, 2020 at the drilling location 07° 21’.270 N – 055° 33’.247 W (WGS 84). For safety reasons vessels should keep a safe distance of 1000 (one thousand) meters from the drillship. The Offshore Support Vessels (OSV) that will assist during the operations are MV Bourbon Topaz, MV Gerard Tide, MV Felton Tide and MV National Energy Explorer. Please note: • Communication is through the VHF channels 16 and 77. • There is a SAFETY ZONE of 1000 (one thousand) meters from the drilling site. • Maersk Developer is not maneuverable and will display the relevant characters. All ships should take notice of the above mentioned."

On Sep 22, 2020, the AMSA banned the 'AC Sesoda' from Australian ports for deliberately underpaying its crew by more than AUD $118,000. They boarded the ship at Mourilyan on Sep 17 to investigate allegations about underpayment. During the investigation, evidence confirmed that a number of crew had only been paid half of their wages since October 2019. The ship’s master and Taiwanese operator, Sincere Industrial Corporation, attempted to conceal the underpayment from the inspectors by only producing a fabricated wage record. The AMSA detained the ship and the operator was directed to pay the outstanding wages. Since then, they received evidence that the crew had been paid the outstanding wages and a rectification action plan developed by the operator. The ship was released from detention and issued with a 12-month ban, prohibiting it from entering an Australian port. It was the fourth ship that we have banned this year for serious and breaches of the Maritime Labour Convention. Collectively, the seafarers on these four ships were underpaid in excess of $290,000, funds which were recovered through our actions.

arrived Gadani Anchorage 22.09.20

Ships

The Lebanese army on Sep 3 found a further 4.35 tonnes of the explosive ammonium nitrate a month after 2,750 tonnes of the substance exploded in the harbour and destroyed large parts of the city. The explosive substance was found in a warehouse immediately outside one of the entrances to the port, and engineers from the army took care of it. Simultaneously with the new discovery, it emerged that the outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab told the head of the investigation of the catastrophic explosion that he knew of the existence of the large amount of ammonium nitrate at the port before the explosion. 25 suspects have been arrested so far, including the port's chief of staff Hassan Koraytem and customs chief Badri Daher. Among the others arrested were also three Syrian workers who carried out welding work at the warehouse, where the huge amount of ammonium nitrate was stored, on the day the explosion took place. Up to 200 were killed and about 6,500 injured in the blast, causing damage to a double-digit billion.

The "Marcala l" arrived at the port of Mar del Plata on Sep 19, 2020, with a crew member suffering from symptoms compatible with Covid-19. The crew was transferred to the Valles hotel on Santiago del Estero and Luro streets, complying with the protocol as stipulated with the transfer by ambulance and pertinent measures. Once they were lodged at the hotel, they were swabbed and the results arrived on Sep 21, showing six positive tested crew members at the moment.

arrived Gadani Anchorage 21.09.20

Ships

The typhoon Maysak crushed onto the port of Vladivostok on Sep 3, 2020, wreaking havoc at the Navy base and in the commercial port. A floating dock in the base broke off her moorings, drifted along the piers and hit berthed submarines and other ships. The amount of damage was yet unknown. The container terminal at the ommercial port was flooded. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=50&v=Yr8JHgunKNY&feature=emb_title