In the morning of April 11, 2024, a fire broke out aboard the FGS 'Bayern' in a dock in the overseas port in Bremerhaven. The Bremerhaven fire department was alerted at around 10 a.m. The fire broke out when a unit was being put into operation and was extinguished by the crew. Three people were exposed to smoke, and one person was taken to the hospital. A total of around 22 fire and rescue service personnel were involved in the operation. The police have started an investigation into the cause of the fire. The fire brigade had already been called to the naval ship on MArch 31 because of a fire. There was a slight development of smoke below deck. The operational security service and the Navy personnel had initiated initial firefighting measures and were able to make thework easier for the fire brigade. One person suffered smoke inhalation but was able to continue working.
News
RUTH PARK
On April 2, 2024, the 'Ruth Park' suffered a mechanical fault that resulted in it unexpectedly heading to starboard and then to port side. The 'Ruth Park' was sailing along the Parramatta River near the Gladesville Bridge when the vessel lurched to starboard before moments later heading in the opposing direction. After ensuring the two passengers on board had disembarked safely at Barangaroo wharf on April 2, the ferry was removed from service. The incident came two days after the 'Lauren Jackson' suffered a problem with its steering indicators near Barangaroo wharf in Sydney’s CBD on March 31, requiring a system reset.The 'Ruth Park' was tied up at the Balmain shipyard. According to the operator Transdev, the 'Ruth Park' experienced a mechanical issue, together with the effects of wash created by another passing vessel. The issue was caused by a faulty component has been resolved, with the component replaced, and the vessel was due to return to service following successful sea trials. An investigation determined the incident was not the result of any steering failure.
SUKHOTHAI
The commander of the HTMS 'Sukhothai' said on April 9 that he will resign his commission from the navy, accepting responsibility for the corvette’s sinking. The Royal Thai Navy blamed the catastrophe on Captain Phichitchai Thueannadee’s “reckless” decision not to dock the corvette at the nearest port, as well as heavy waves and unforeseen punctures. The captain would be detained for 15 days but would not face a civil lawsuit. The corvette could resist wave heights of up to 2.5 metres. However, on Dec 18, 2022, the waves were unusually high, reaching up to six metres as the corvette traveled from the Sattahip Naval Base in Chon Buri to Chumphon province. Heavy waves destroyed the wave breaker in front of the corvette’s 76mm gun turret. The dislodged wave breaker also created a one-square-inch rupture in the vessel’s steel deck. An unnamed heavy and hard item also struck the gun turret, causing damage. The damaged turret also featured a hole that allowed water inside the vessel. An inspection also revealed two ruptures in the left gunwale, approximately five feet above the typical water level. The ruptures were produced by exterior and unidentified items, and had nothing to do with the corvette’s welded parts. The ruptures encompassed a total area of 80 square inches. The commander did not dock the vessel at the adjacent Bang Saphan port in Prachuap Khiri Khan province due to strong waves and a lack of tugboats to enable safe docking. He was unaware of the damages, and as a result, he decided to return the corvette back to Sattahip, despite the distance, in order to save the ship. The Royal Thai Navy investigation determined that his choice to return it to Sattahip was imprudent. The Bang Saphan police would examine criminal charges againsthim. Phichitchai apologized and stated that he and other crew aboard the corvette did their best to deal with the situation, which proved to be unmanageable. He stated that he opted to return the corvette to Sattahip because it was not listing at the moment, but weather conditions worsened later. Report with photos: https://www.chiangraitimes.com/news/navy-captain-of-sunken-navy-warship-resigns/#google_vignette
LILIANA X
On April 10, 2024, at around 6 p.m., the 'Liliana X' caught fire off the l’Île de Ré with three people on board, were able to take refuge on the tender of their catamaran, which had set sail from Sables-d’Olonne. The crew of a Guépard Yankee helicopter from the French Navy detachment base in La Rochelle located the boat, and the castaways were taken on board a fishing vessel before they were transferred to the lifeboat “SNS 741 Marie-Anne” from La Rochelle. The boat was towed back to the port and disembarked at the marina in La Rochelle. Report with photos: https://www.sudouest.fr/environnement/mer/un-catamaran-en-feu-au-large-de-l-ile-de-re-ses-trois-occupants-secourus-19287081.php
SALVAMAR MINTAKA
In the night before of April 9, 2024, the sailing yacht 'Amaretto' with four crew members on board ran aground in El Masnou. The CCS of Salvemento Marítimo in Barcelona mobilized the 'Salvamar Mintaka' to assist. It rescued the castaaways from the Sun Odyssey 43 yacht, which was hard aground on the rocks with a list to port side, and took them safely to the port of Barcelona. Report with photos: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1722753635380039732
DALI
The U.S. Navy's Supervisor of Diving and Salvage (SUPSALV) has released new sonar imagery of the wreckage of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, showing the full extent of the damage and the work that will be required to restore the main shipping channel. The depiction showed that the tangled wreckage has significantly reduced the navigable depth of the center of the federal channel, including areas where no wreckage is visible above the surface. As the USACE has warned before, the steel truss span disintegrated into a tangled mess when it hit the bottom, and its girders were visibly twisted together and embedded in the mud. It is a massive, cantilevered, mangled mess of wreckage that is contorted and making it extremely difficult to identify any kind of structural integrity. The 3D sonar survey was created by Navy salvage divers, who operated in darkness and near-zero visibility to assess the contours of the wreckage. The diagrams show two separate areas of focus for the Army Corps-led salvage team. The first is a "Limited Access Channel," a 35-foot-deep fairway that contractors will clear on the north side of the center span. This will be big enough to allow ro/ros, barges and government vessels to go through. Clearing that channel will resolve minor national-defense effects of the bridge collapse: Four Military Sealift Command cargo ships are currently on the landward side of the bridge and cannot get out; meanwhile, several larger Coast Guard cutters are due to call in Baltimore for repairs and cannot get in. The Limited Access Channel includes areas with significant underwater wreckage, which may be challenging to clear. However, it is also further away from the difficult operation to remove the 'Dali', which is entangled with a section of the bridge truss. The delicate task of cutting the 'Dali' free is just beginning. When the channel is restored, thousands of stevedores and others who depend on the Port of Baltimore will be able to get back to work. While the primary focus has been on containerized and ro/ro cargoes, Baltimore is also home to America's second-largest coal terminal, which has been shuttered by the channel closure. In its April outlook, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that U.S. coal exports will drop by fully a third this month and by 20 percent in May. The impact will reduce U.S. coal exports by six percent for the full year. Reports with photos: https://maritime-executive.com/article/new-sonar-data-shows-the-challenge-of-clearing-baltimore-bridge-s-wreckage https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/baltimore-bridge-collapse-1.7168668
LIBERTY OF THE SEAS
On April 9 the US Coast Guard has called off the search for a 20 year old American Levion Parker, who jumped off the 'Liberty of the Seas' on April 4 at 4 a.m. during drunken argument with his dad as it sailed off the coast of the Bahamas. The ship had set sail from Fort Lauderdale on a four-day Caribbean cruise on April 1 and was hours away from docking at Fort Lauderdale in Florida when the man was confronted by his father as he emerged from a hot tub packed with revelers. He said to his dad, 'I'll fix this right now,' and he jumped out the window on dec 11, 57 miles off Grand Inagua. The ship stopped and immediately started a search, but resumed its journey just before 9 a.m. when the US Coast Guard cutter 'Seneca' arrived at the spot. Report with photos: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13293251/Caribbean-Liberty-dad-Levion-Parker-argument-overboard.html
SALVAMAR ADHARA
On April 11 a cayuco was located in the vicinity of La Restinga (El Hierro). The CCS Tenerife of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the 'Salvamar Adhara', which escorted the boat to the port. There were 71 peodle aboard, among them one woman and several minors. The castaways were cared for by the health and safety teams, Report with photos: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1778387720269656168
IVNOSYS
On April 10, 2024, shortly before 10 a.m. the 'Ivnosys' caught fire on the Guadalquivir River two miles from Gelves after alliding with a high tension cable. The catamaran had left the Gelves dock bound for Isla Mínima shortly before 9:50 a.m. Its mast hit one of the high-tension cables that cross the river at the height of the Vega de Gelves.All eight people on board, six passengers, a skipper and a deckhand, jumped into the water to escape the flames and were rescued by a zodiac. Two have required health care on site without hospitalizing being necessary. Firefighters, rescue workers and police attended. To extinguish the fire, firefighters from the Mairena del Aljarafe, Santiponce and Sanlúcar La Mayor parks were working from the river bank, where the boat ran aground. The flames have completely destroyed the boat and it has been left semi-sunken. Firefighters have also worked to prevent the fire from reaching solid ground and approaching a nearby hayloft. In addition, a part of the municipality of Gelves has suffered a power outage due to this event, which was being recovered little by little through the work of Endesa technicians. The recent rains have caused the tidal coefficients to be significantly higher than usual. Reports with photos: https://www.gelves.es/es/actualidad/noticias/El-accidente-provocado-por-un-barco-al-chocar-con-un-cable-de-alta-tension-a-500-metros-de-Puerto-Gelves-provoca-un-apagon-en-todo-el-municipio/?urlBack= https://www.europapress.es/andalucia/sevilla-00357/noticia-catamaran-calcinado-gelves-sevilla-estaba-valorado-millon-euros-transportaba-turistas-20240410135937.htmls
ABDULLAH
The 23 Bangladeshi sailors of the 'Abdullah' offered Eid-ul-Fitr prayers on the hatch of the 'Abdullah', spreading tarpaulin, in the afternoon of April 10 with the permission of the pirates, officials of the owner of the ship, KSRM Group, and the Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association confirmed. The sailors were doing well, and there was also a lot of progress in their rescue process. Report with photo: https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/mv-abdullah-sailors-offer-eid-prayers-ship-826701
COSTA DA BARCA
On April 10, 2024, the 'Costa da Barca' got the fishing gear entangled in the propeller and was disabled and adrift 10 nautical miles northnorthwest of Cape Ortegal. The ship requested assistance, and the SAR vessel 'Salvamar Shaula' was mobilized by the CCS Fisterra of Salvamento Marítimo. It took the trawler in tow and safely pulled it to Cariño. Report with photo: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1778127799015879081
CG JOSEPH TEZANOS
On April 8 the US Coast Guard has repatriated 101 migrants back to the Dominican Republic after nabbing them on the high seas as they tried to make their way to American soil over the weekend. The 'Joseph Tezanos' had intercepted three different crafts with migrants during the weekend of April 6/7. The migrants were transferred to Dominican Republic authorities during two separate rendezvous with the Dominican Republic Navy vessel 'Capella' just off Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3734747/coast-guard-repatriates-101-migrants-to-dominican-republic-following-3-interdic/
MAERSK YORKTOWN
The USS 'Laboon' destroyed an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthi militants in Yemen on April 8, 2024, which was targeting the 'Maersk Yorktown' in the Gulf of Aden, which was being escorted by the U.S. Navy destroyer. It was determined the ABSM presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels in the region. There were no injuries or damage reported. Yemen’s Houthi militants confirmed that a missile shot down was targeting the AP Moller-Maersk ship. The group also claimed to have launched two more operations against MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company vessels nearby.
CUYAHOGA
The nvestigations into the fire on the 'Cuyahoga' in Ashtabula Harbor on March 15 were expected to move into a new phase next week, according to an Ashtabula Fire Department Invesigator. The Ashtabula Fire Department, the United States Coast Guard, and the National Transportation Safety Board all have jurisdiction in the case, as well as investigators from the ship's owners and insurance companies of all the entities involved.The vessel was docked for work at the time of the fire, with about two dozen workers doing repairs and another 15 crew members on board preparing to take the vessel to Erie for more work. At that time, a cargo hold caught fire. The first step after bringing the fire under control was to remove the 400,000 gallons of water and foam that were used to extinguish the fire.
ZAPOLYARYE
The 'Zapolyarye' sank in Murmansk on April 9, 2024. Rosprirodnadzor specialists conducted a thorough examination of the area where the ship has sunk in the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea. It had belonged to Vostok LLC, which is currently bankrupt. After the arrest, the ship was at the shipyard pier and probably sank due to its disrepair. Rosprirodnadzor took water samples both directly from the site of the shipwreck and five kilometers away for analysis. The contaminated area has already been treated with a sorbent, and oil booms have been installed around the vessel. The results of the study will make it possible to determine the level of threat to the environment and develop further measures. The North-Western Transport Prosecutor's Office, the Murmansk Investigation Department and the Western Interregional Transport Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia started an investigation into the incident. Report with photos: https://www.ecopravda.ru/rossiya/spetsialisty-rosprirodnadzora-vzyali-proby-na-meste-zatopleniya-sudna-v-murmanske/
DALI
Investigators in Baltimore were focusing on the electrical power system of the 'Dali' and its circuit breakers and have called in the ship’s builder, Hyundai Heavy Industries with a preliminary report on the accident set to be released in the first week of May. Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), gave members of Congress in Washington DC an update on April 10 into the ongoing investigation into the Dali’s allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month. “We have had the manufacturer of equipment in the engine room to look closely at the electrical power system. We’re continuing to look at that. We’ve asked for additional assistance from the manufacturer who returned from overseas this week with experts to look at the circuit breakers,” Homendy said. The voyager data recorder had showed that the power failed for just one minute and three seconds as the ship approached Baltimore’s largest bridge, and that the lead pilot tried to swing the 300 m long vessel clear of a collision by dropping its port anchor to pivot it away. The disabled ship ran into a support pillar and caused much of the bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River at roughly 1:30 a.m. on March 26. Just moments before, at 1:26 am, the pilot of the ship called for tugboat assistance, according to the voyage data recorder. At 1:27 a.m., the pilot made an order to drop the ship anchor. The US Coast Guard confirmed that the containership’s engines had undergone routine maintenance during its port stay. A Baltimore port worker told that the 'Dali' had serious power outages in the days before it lost propulsion Container Royalty, which tracks the tonnage on containerships coming in and out of Baltimore, told that the ship was suffering from power outages for two days prior to its departure, citing a number of reefers onboard that had been tripping circuit breakers. As of April 10, 34 containers have been moved from the bow of the ship out of more than 4,700 containers on board. The goal is to remove 178 of them in order to refloat the vessel. The US Army Corp of Engineers said some of the riverbed will need dredging in order to remove parts of the shattered bridge. Reports with photos: https://gcaptain.com/ntsb-chair-homendy-provides-update-on-dali-francis-scott-key-bridge-investigation/ https://safety4sea.com/baltimore-incident-update-ntsb-looks-into-electrical-failure-as-probable-cause/ https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/transportation/key-bridge-containers-removed-6TQT7RM5JJDRRBXZZAD2YTEPJE/
AURORA
On April 10, 2024, a passenger of the 'Aurora', en route from Southampton, UK, to Lisbon, needed to be medevaced off the Spanish coast. The CCS Vigo of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR vessel 'Salvamar Mirach', which rendezvoused with the ship east of the Islas Cíes and took the patient to the ferry dock in Vigo, where an ambulance was waiting for further transport to hospital. The ship berthed at the cruise terminal in Lisbon on April 11 at 8.20 a.m.
MANANNAN
Some passengers on the 'Manannan' were kept on board for more than three hours when the vessel docked after wind and tidal conditions in the River Mersey made it unsafe to disembark. The ferry arrived and docked in Liverpool on April 8, 2024, at about 09:45 a.m. BST. But letting the passengers off the vessel was paused by the ship's master after the conditions worsened, affecting the motion of the vessel next to the berth. However, the vessel left on its return journey to Douglas at 2:45 p.m.