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The 'Kuba' suffered a fire in the engine room, accommodation block and superstructure together with pertinent spaces at a Tuzla shipyard during its stay for a routine maintenance, which started on Jan 10, in the evening of Sep 19, 2023. The crew conducted initial fire extinguishing operation, assisted by a shipyard fire fighting team. Subsequently, the local fire brigade teams attended the scene. The fire was controlled and extinguished at midnight. The extent of damage and the cause of ther fire were unknown at this stage. A detailed technical inspection was tp be carried out by class surveyor together with owners representatives and shipyard engineers. H&M and P&I surveyors, along with class surveyors, will be attending on board.

The Superior Council for Scientific Investigations (CSIC) has assured that it was collaborating with the Civil Guard, responsible for investigations, in the investigation of the case of the Galician woman who disappeared from the 'Garcia Del Cid'. In addition, the CSIC has been in contact with the missing woman's family from the beginning to facilitate travel, accommodation and support For their part, relatives of the woman had criticized the "silence" of the institution and expressed their wish that "responsibility be cleared". The Civil Guard was going to deliver the proceedings of the case to the Valencia Court, and not to the Denia Court as expected, since it was not possible to determine exactly the place of events.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined India's MM Export for damages sustained to Haa Alifu atoll Dhidhdhoo lagoon wotj MVR 100 million, when the "Mutha Princess" and a barge carrying rock boulders capsized in the Dhidhdhoo lagoon on May 1, 2023. While the MM Export righted the barge easily, it took four days for the company to right the tug boat with the help of another tug dispatched from Malé. The EPA conducted an environmental impact assessment following the incident, and discovered severe damages to an area of 4,038 square meters of the lagoon. Under the Penalty and Liability Regulation of the EPA, the company received a fine of MVR 100,000,000, which stands as the highest prescribed penalty for environmental damage under the regulation. The EPA demanded the local agent of the vessels, HRS Infratech Private Limited to settle the fine within 30 days from the date of issuance. The exact calculated damage to the reef amounted to MVR 101,743,400; which however cannot be levied on the company since the regulation does not enforce fines above MVR 100 million. The EPA also has initiated legal proceedings, in collaboration with the Attorney General's Office, to obtain the specified sum. Report with photo: https://edition.mv/news/29263

The 'Eleftherios Venizelos' returned to the port of Piraeus in the early morning of Sep 21, 2023, in order to be inspected, due to a mechanical failure in its No. 2 electric engine, while the ship was sailing in the Saronic Gulf. The ferry had set sail from the port of Piraeus with 689 passengers on board en route to Chania. The Piraeus Port Authority initially prohibited its departure, while after an inspection and presenting a class maintenance certificate from the classifier, the ship was permitted to resume the voyage.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has censured the operators of two vessels involved in a fatal crew transfer accident off Brisbane for failing to ensure the crew had complete understanding of the evolution before carrying it out. In July 2021, the 'Formosabulk Clement', now sailing as 'Gaia I', had departed Taiwan, bound for Newcastle to load a cargo of coal. The COVID-19 pandemic was still in full swing, and the ship’s trade route for the last six months had provided no opportunities for crew change. 14 of the 25 seafarers on board had been on the ship for longer than the Maritime Labor Convention maximum of 11 months. At the time, the crew change rules varied between different states in Australia, and Queensland offered the best opportunities. To take advantage of this opening, the bulker’s manager, Formosa Plastics Marine Corporation (FPMC), arranged with its local shipping agents in Australia to set up a crew transfer off Brisbane. The arrangements would involve the ship calling at the port's anchorage to rendezvous with a harbor boat. 11 crewmembers were set to join the ship, and 15 were leaving. The vessel anchored about six miles east of Point Cartwright in the morning of Aug 9, 2021. The launch service provider, Pacific Tug, notified the ship that it would need to make two trips with its crew transfer vessel, the launch 'PT Transporter'. The weather and surface conditions were relatively rough at the open-water anchorage, rough enough that some of the oncoming crew members got sick during the ride out to the ship. The bulker yawed about its anchor between a range of headings throughout the day, sometimes leaving the starboard side transfer station exposed to wind and waves. The ship' used the main engine and the rudder to change the heading and create a lee each time the transfer vessel came alongside. The chief mate was to depart from the bulk carrier after supervising a series of crew transfers. At 6.30 p.m., after a break for the transfer launch, the operation for the chief mate to depart the bulk carrier started. The launch skipper called the master on the radio to request a lee. Language barriers prevented a good mutual understanding of the plan, and instead of waiting for the bulk carrier's master to change heading, the launch skipper maneuvered in to make a trial pass at the boarding area and assess the conditions. Unbeknownst to the launch skipper, who believed that the pass at the transfer area was just a dry run, the departing chief mate began climbing down the pilot ladder as the launch approached. At 6.38 p.m. a large wave rolled in and lifted the launch upwards, trapping the chief mate between the boat and the ship's hull. When the wave subsided, the chief mate fell into the sea. His lifevest inflated and kept him afloat, and the crew of the 'PT Transporter' quickly retrieved him. He was unconscious, and the crew administered CPR as the launch headed back in to shore to deliver him for medical care. He did not recover and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the pier. Soon after the accident, the Australian Maritime Safety Administration ordered the 'Formosabulk Clement' to be detained for deficient boarding arrangements, forcing the rest of the crew change operations to take place by helicopter. The vessel was held for four days, then allowed to continue on its voyage to Newcastle. The ATSB concluded that both the bulk carrier and the transfer launch operator had failed to communicate a clear plan and ensure mutual understanding. Neither operator had formulated a sufficiently detailed and clear procedure for communicating during transfers. The International Transport Workers' Federation took a different view. If quarantine rules had allowed a crew change at the intended destination in New South Wales, there would have been no need for the risk of a pilot-ladder transfer off Queensland.