The 'Moby Orli' made it possible to tranship the 69 Bolivian passengers, among them 14 minors, who could not disembark in Barcelona from the 'MSC Armonia' and will be transported to a non-EU port by the Spanish authorities. The 'Moby Orli' has left the regular Livorno – Bastia route and reached Barcelona on April 4, 2024. The ferry will transport the Bolivian passengers back to a non-EU port. Without this prompt assistance from the 'Moby Orli', the 'MSC Armonia' would have remained stuck on the dock in Barcelona for another few days before being able to sail again. Once this mission has been completed, the ferry will return to its regular service for Moby between Tuscany and Corsica, where in the meantime it has been replaced by the 'Moby Kiss'. Before arriving in Barcelona, the authorities at the port of Tenerife had allowed the Bolivian citizens to disembark on Spanish territory, and only when the ship arrived on the Iberian peninsula did they encounter problems with their documentation.
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TT SPIRIT
The Oropouche West MP Dave Tancoo alleged that crew members of the 'TT Spirit' have been abandoned at sea with no means of relief, since the ship was drydocked aboard the heavy load carrier 'White Merlin' (IMO: 9670224) on the Port of Spain Anchorage for a prolonged period. Tancoo claimed that the technical crew of the ferry have been marooned at sea, on board their vessel which was hitched to the repair vessel 'White Marlin'. The Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago chairman Lyle Alexander said that the 'TT Spirit' was not being held for ransom. The repairs to the vessel have been completed while it was on drydock and it would be relaunched on April 4 to complete other minor repairs so it could return to the water after it underwent engine repairs with the shaft and parts on the jets of the engine being replaced. The emaining repairs were to be continued while the vessel is in the water, alongside the GSS Jetty in Port-of-Spain. All payments for the operations on the 'White Marlin' have been made to the ship’s agent.
ORIENTAL PEARL VI
The "Oriental Pearl VI", which had been sailing between Vladivostok and the port of Sokcho until Feb 7, 2024, commenced repairs in Yeosu on Feb 16, and was supposed to resume sailing on March 11. But the ship was delayed at the dock and did not resume the service, which started at the end of November 2023 by the South Korean shipping company JS Shipping, which faced management problems and owed the ferry crew two months' salary. The vessel operator had planned to attract new investors and inject operating funds into the project by the end of March, but this did not happen. Since April, the prospects for service on the route have become uncertain. The website of the Passenger Portal, which is responsible for selling tickets for the 'Oriental Pearl VI', states that the resumption of sailings is planned for April 22.
MSC ARMONIA
The 'MSC Armonia' which had stuck in Barcelona with around 1,500 passengers because some passengers had fake visas was able to continue its journey on April 4 at 1.30 p.m. after a two-day compulsory break. An agreement had previously been reached with the Spanish authorities regarding passengers without visas. The ship will arrive in Messina on April 6, but without the 69 passengers from Bolivia, who did not have valid Schengen visas. They have to wait in the transit area of the port of Barcelona for their situation to be clarified, accommodated on a ship provided by MSC for this period. They will probably be flown back to Bolivia at MSC's expense. An agency in South America had offered the passage and visas online and charged up to 9,200 Euros per person. This agency also canceled promised return tickets after the cruise ship left Brazil for Europe. However, the police did not rule out that the Bolivians actually wanted to get to Spain illegally.
AL MESSILAH
After the 'Al Messilah' docked in East London on April 2, 2024, the NSPCA has been site to screen all animals bound for the vessel which has been loading about 60,000 sheep, 1,500 cattle and 200 goats destined for slaughter in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The vessel was expected to leave East London harbour either late on April 5 or on April 6. The NSPCA has now confirmed that through veterinary laboratory testing together with visual examination, the presence of contagious ecthyma, an infectious dermatitis of sheep and goats, which is contagious to humans too, among the animals in the feedlot. The inspectors observed lesions on the lips of numerous sheep in the feedlot, which raised suspicions of contagious ecthyma. During the course of the disease, which lasts up to four weeks, affected animals can go off feed, lose condition and may develop serious secondary infections at the lesion sites. This posed a serious concern in terms of the welfare of the animals on board the 'Al Messilah', especially those who were not yet showing clinical signs, but who could suffer on the vessel during their three-week journey. Should this shipment be rejected by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the South African government has confirmed with the NSPCA that South Africa will not be able to accept the returning animals. The NSPCA has pulled animals from the feedlot that are displaying clinical signs, although the fate of those still to show clinical signs were a serious cause for concern.