The 'Crystal Coast', pushing a fuel barge, was the first vessel to move through the newly created temporary alternate channel in Baltimore following the collapse of the Key Bridge on April 1, 2024. The tug and barge were headed to Dover Air Force Base with jet fuel. The emergency passageway, which is 264 feet wide and 11 feet deep, was cleared on April 1 to allow essential vessels to pass along the Patapsco River around the mangled wreckage at the bridge disaster site. Report with Video: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/first-vessel-passes-temporary-alternate-123203976.html
News
FV BREIZ
Five people have been on trial in Le Havre since April 2 for the sinking of the 'Breiz'. On the first day of the trial, the shipowner was accused by the court regarding its responsibilities. The five people were tried for involuntary manslaughter and negligence. Questioned at the very end of the day after three other defendants who maintained their line of defense, the co-owner of the ship was confronted with his contradictions. “I didn't have absolute confidence in this boat,” the owner finally said, “but I didn't worry about anything anymore, I trusted Quentin.” On January 14, 2021, Quentin Varin, the master of the 'Breiz', called for help while scallop fishing off the coast of Port-en-Bessin. While the ship was towed by a boat from the SNSM of Ouistreham, the ship sank in the middle of the night, leading to the death of the skipper and his two sailors, brothers Jimmy and Steven Gibert, aged 19 and 26 years. With tears in his eyes, the owner of Breiz, who had sold 49% of the shares to Quentin Varin a few weeks before the tragedy, knew that the new boss did not have the necessary qualifications to run a shellfish company, and he was aware of the state of disrepair of his boat: "I have had a lot of damage in six years, the propeller, the gantry, leaks on the deck, an engine fire..." The owner invoked "zero profitability below 1.2 tonnes" per tide to explain the chronic overload of his trawler and the trips made by large time. Quentin Varin, 27, had been wrongly registered by the authorities as captain of the fishing boat without having the required certificates. The hearings of the two DDTM officials did not make clear why it had nevertheless been recorded. On the report from the Bureau of Investigation into Maritime Events (BEAmer), the action of the SNSM boat during the fatal towing was incriminated regarding the lack of vigilance by the crew of the SNSM boat, of whom five were sick, and three were sleeping, causing a delay of 46 seconds between the alert of the towed ship and the reaction of the lifeboat, and blamed too high speed and a dangerous route over shoals.
Portsmouth
Portsmouth International Port is set to welcome 150,000 cruise passengers each year following the completion of its multimillion-pound berth extension project, which has just been started in collaboration with construction firm Knights Brown. The renovation will include levelling out the cruise berth and building an additional dolphin. As a result, ships up to 255 metres in length will be able to safely and conveniently berth at the port.
Swinoujscie
The first cargo of liquified natural gas under the long-term contract between PGNiG and US LNG provider Cheniere Energy arrived at the President Lech Kaczyński LNG Terminal in Świnoujście. The long-term contract, which was signed in November of 2018, will total approximately 39 bcm of natural gas over the 24 year period of the agreement. The official reception ceremony of the first delivery at the LNG terminal in Świnoujście included representatives of the government of the Republic of Poland, local authorities, as well as executives from PGNiG and Cheniere Energy.
MSC ARMONIA
The 'MSC Armonia' was detained in the Port of Barcelona on April 3, 2024, due to problems with the visas of 69 Bolivian passengers. They did not have valid visas for entry into the Schengen area. The company has indicated that the documentats seemed appropriate at the time of boarding of the passengers in Brazil, but that the authorities of the Port of Barcelona have not considered it so.
OPEN ARMS
The "Jennifer" as well as the tugs "Open Arms" and "Ledra Dynamic" returned to Larnaca on April 2, 2024, after the death of seven employees of World Central Kitchen in the Gaza Strip in an airstrike. Only a barge carrying around 110 pallets of goods was unloaded in the Gaza Strip before the aid convoy was attacked on the mainland. The 'Jennifer' then set sail without having accomplished anything. The ship had around 250 tons of relief supplies on board. The aid organization immediately stopped its operations in the region in light of the fatal incident. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the attack on foreign aid workers in the Gaza Strip and spoke in a video message of a "tragic case of an accidental hit by our armed forces against innocent people in the Gaza Strip." The Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis and EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who met in Nicosia on the morning of April 2, strongly condemned the incident, but also pleaded that aid to the suffering population in the Gaza Strip should not suffer as a result. Report with photo: https://www.gmx.net/magazine/politik/tod-helfern-schiff-bringt-hilfsgueter-zurueck-zypern-39500376
Turku
Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku has cut the first piece of steel for Costa Cruises’ second LNG-powered ship, which will be named Costa Toscana and be delivered in October 2021. Using its new plasma cutter line, Meyer Turku marked the start of the ship production project during a traditional ceremony at its yard in Turku. Once complete, Costa Toscana will have dual-fuel hybrid engines and onboard LNG tanks to enable her to operate using LNG in port and at sea.
Fos-sur-Mer
The French port of Marseille Fos plans to spend over US$22 million to reduce air emissions by extending its shoreside electrical connections to every ferry, cruise ship and repair quay in the eastern harbour. The port has also introduced speed restrictions to reduce industrial air pollution. Already available on the Corsica ferry quays, the shore power network will be expanded in two phases to cover North Africa ferry quays and the ship repair hub by 2022 and the cruise terminal between 2022 and 2025. The zero-emissions investment, which is supported by national and regional government, recognises the need to maintain the port’s economic value while improving the city’s waterside air quality.
SHTANDART
The 'Shtandart' will not participate in the Escala a Castellón, after a stopover in Sète. The Escale à Sète has barely finished when Escale a Castellón, the next gathering of tall ships, already begins. Many ships present on the island set sail on April 1, 2024, for the maritime event which opens on April 5 in the port of Castellón de la Plana. If the Russian frigate, built according to the plans of the flagship of the fleet of Tsar Peter I, is not on the trip, it is because the organization ultimately opposed its participation, a decision taken by the Spanish municipality under pressure from the Ukrainian population based there. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the ship, which found refuge in the port of La Rochelle, has been at the heart of a geopolitical battle. For the #NoShandartInEurope collective, some of whose activists were present in Sète, welcoming the vessel contravenes European regulations put in place following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, the prefect of Hérault took the decision to prohibit the arrival of the ship for Stopover in Sète, forcing the crew to head towards Port-de-Bouc. But its captain Vladimir Martus has presented himself since the start of the conflict as a dissident to Putin and obtained authorization to participate in several gatherings. Vladimir Martus was asked not to fly the Russian flag out of respect for the Ukrainian people.
JENNIFER
The "Jennifer" as well as the tugs "Open Arms" and "Ledra Dynamic" returned to Larnaca on April 2, 2024, after the death of seven employees of World Central Kitchen in the Gaza Strip in an airstrike. Only a barge carrying around 110 pallets of goods was unloaded in the Gaza Strip before the aid convoy was attacked on the mainland. The 'Jennifer' then set sail without having accomplished anything. The ship had around 250 tons of relief supplies on board. The aid organization immediately stopped its operations in the region in light of the fatal incident. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the attack on foreign aid workers in the Gaza Strip and spoke in a video message of a "tragic case of an accidental hit by our armed forces against innocent people in the Gaza Strip." The Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis and EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who met in Nicosia on the morning of April 2, strongly condemned the incident, but also pleaded that aid to the suffering population in the Gaza Strip should not suffer as a result. Report with photo: https://www.gmx.net/magazine/politik/tod-helfern-schiff-bringt-hilfsgueter-zurueck-zypern-39500376
Manila
International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) recently took delivery of another new quay crane (QC) and eight new hybrid rubber-tired gantries (RTGs) for its flagship Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), establishing the terminal as having the largest fleet of modern container-handling equipment in the Philippines with 18 QCs and 58 RTGs. Manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (ZPMC), the QC is part of the five from ICTSI’s 2018 USD80-million capacity improvement program package. With a reach of up to 16 rows across twin, the new QC can service the largest feeder vessels calling the Philippines. It will be deployed at Berth 3.
Dubrovnik
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the City of Dubrovnik have partnered to introduce sustainable tourism management practices that will preserve the Croatian city’s cultural heritage. CLIA president and CEO Kelly Craighead and Dubrovnik’s Mayor Mato Franković signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which outlines plans to make Dubrovnik a model of sustainable tourism for the Adriatic region. All plans focus on investment, collaboration and best practices that will benefit both Dubrovnik’s residents and visitors. “Today’s agreement validates the work we have already done with Mayor Franković and formalises the cruise industry’s continued commitment to the City of Dubrovnik and its people,” said Craighead.