The Captain of the Port (COTP) established a second temporary alternate channel on the southwest side of the main channel near Hawkins Point in the vicinity of the Francis Scott Key Bridge for commercially essential vessels on April 2. The action was part of a phased approach to opening the main channel. The second temporary channel has been marked with government lighted aids to navigation and will be limited to transit at the discretion of the COTP and during daylight hours only. It has a controlling depth of 14 feet, a 280-foot horizontal clearance, and a vertical clearance of 124 feet. The current 2,000-yard safety zone around the Francis Scott Key Bridge remained in effect and is intended to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment. Members of the public may not enter the safety zone unless authorized by the COTP or designated representative. Those in the safety zone must comply with all lawful orders or directions given to them by the COTP or designated representative. The Unified Command’s operational priorities are ensuring the safety of the public and first responders, accountability of missing persons, safely restoring transportation infrastructure and commerce, protecting the environment, and supporting the investigation. Meanwhile divers have continued to survey underwater to create models of the scene for engineers to study to plan removal of the bridge. Multiple dive teams were operating 3D, multibeam, side-scan survey systems to get a better understanding of what they were dealing with. The divers have found the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sinking into the bottom of the Patapsco River. After a 200-ton section of the bridge was removed on March 31, the Key Bridge Response Unified Command — which includes the Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Transportation Authority, Maryland State Police, and officials representing the cargo ship’s owner and manager, had planned a similar operation for on April 1 that had to be postponed because of lightning. The National Weather Service forecasts a chance of severe thunderstorms around the Patapsco River and Baltimore Harbor on the night of April 2 and April 3. Reports with photos and video: https://www.keybridgeresponse2024.com/post/update-6-multimedia-release-unified-command-opens-second-temporary-alternate-channel-around-key-bri https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/04/02/key-bridge-wreckage-sinking-weather-delays/
News
DIAMOND XI
The Bridgeman Services Group has purchased the 'Ocean Diamond', which has been berthed in Gibraltar since March 18, 2024, after its arrival from Las Palmas, to serve as a floatel. The vessel is intended to provide accommodation for workers, the demand for which has been recently growing in sectors such as LNG, mining, and renewable energy. Following the acquisition, the ship was set to soon be renamed “Diamond XI." The ship is also to be refurbished and then will have be equipped with 350 beds in 150 cabins, catering, and entertainment. The ship will have a 200-seat auditorium, fitness facilities, offices, and around 45 workstations with the capacity to be customized for specific client assignments. The vessel will be open to charter anywhere in the world within the period of a few months. The company also has bought the ro-pax ferry “Isabelle' from the ferry operator Tallink in July 2023, which has now been renamed “Isabelle X” and is currently stationed in British Columbia, providing accommodation services for Woodfibre.
FERRAN
On Apriul 2, 2024, the 'Ferran' contacted the CCS Palma and requested towing assistance due to an engine breakdown 12 nautical miles east of Illa de l'Aire. The SAR boat 'Salvamar Antares' was mobilized to the scene, which took the ship in tow and safely pulled it to the port of Mahón.
SALVAMAR ENIF
On the morning of April 3, 2024, the CCS Tarifa of Salvamento Marítimo coordinated the rescue of two people aboard a precarious toy-type boat which was located 25 nauical miles east of Tarifa. They mobilized the SAR helicopeter Helimer 223 and the 'Salvamar Enif', which transported them to the port of Algeciras.
PACIFIC CHALLENGER
A crew member of the 'Pacific Challenger' went overboard from the fishing vessel and was reported missing on April 1, 2024, at 8.43 p.m. on about 11 kilometers off the Waimārama coast in Hawke's Bay. When the SAR operation started, it was quite misty with a bit of rain, but it has cleared up a lot with a long, gentle sort of swell and clear visibility in the morning of April 2. A mayday alert was being issued every half an hour to alert boaties about the missing person. The Rescue Coordination Centre of Maritime New Zealand mobilized rescue helicopters from Hastings, Gisborne, Auckland and Wellington to conduct searches over the water, and the Defence Force has also sent two NH90 helicopters. Three fishing vessels responded to the distress broadcasts and assisted too. The Coastguard Hawke's Bay provided a vessel and deployed a marker buoy to verify drift conditions in the water for search planning purposes. The coordination centre completed a drift modelling analysis and was continuing to assess conditions.
NORWEGIAN DAWN
Eight holidaymakers who did not make it back to the 'Norwegian Dawn' in time have traveled for 15 hours through six different countries to catch up with the ship, so far without success. The passengers showed up too late when the ship wanted to sail from São Tomé and Príncipe on March 27, 2024. The eight guests, who were on the island on a private tour, missed the final call to the ship and therefore did not make the departure time of 3:00 PM LT. The tour operator contacted the captain to report that the passengers were on their way, but would be late. The Harbour Master tried to call the ship, the captain refused the call. They sent emails to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the NCL customer service emergency number, and they said that the only way for them to get in touch with the ship was to send them e-mails, but they were not responding to the emails. Eventually the Sao Tome Coastguard loaded the eight passengers on a boat and took them to the anchored ship, but the captain told the Coastguard to take the passengers back to the island The group was left without their medication and incurred many additional costs, including not having credit cards to use in São Tomé and Príncipe. The passports of the stranded passengers were handed over to local port agents. The Norwegian Cruise Line was working with local authorities and was in contact with the stranded passengers. The group consisted of seven Americans and two Australians, four of which were elderly. One passenger had a heart condition, and another is a paraplegic. There was also a married couple from Delaware, and the wife was pregnant. The group of eight passengers traveled for hours through several countries to reach their ship in Gambia. However, the ship could not dock due to low tide. The group was trying to reach Daakar now, where the ship docked on April 2. Yet another passenger has been without heart medication for days and was very ill. Another passenger, who had been on a different tour, required acute care and was admitted to the São Tomé hospital, leaving her also stranded. The passenger's daughter in California was contacted to coordinate her return to North America. Report with photos: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13260825/Australians-left-stranded-Africa-cruise-ship.html
GEORGE ISLAND
On March 29, 2024, at 11.58 p.m. the 'Georg Island' was boarded wby three perpetrators, armed with knives, in pos. 1° 3.43' N 103° 29.33' E off Pulau Cula in the Strait of Singapore. No injuries were reported, and nothing was reported stolen.
SC MONTANA
The RCC of the Coast Guard of the Cayman Islands coordinated the response to the 'SC Montana', en route from Montego Bay, which was disabled in Cayman’s waters on April 2, 2024, due to an engine failure. The ship was drifting towards Little Cayman. Acting Governor Franz Manderson and Premier Hon Juliana O’Connor-Connolly met with members of the Cayman Islands Coast Guard and representatives of the Hazard Management Cayman Islands, the Department of Environment and other key stakeholders to discuss mitigation steps. The Coast Guard requested the assistance of vessels in the area to render assistance, and two bulk carriers, the 'Aruna Cihan' and 'Lefkes', have responded. Additionally, a local tug was in route from Grand Cayman. The crew on board still had generator power, and all mechanisms to slow the drift have been employed. The ship’s engines remained offline. The speed, however, has slowed from 1.2 knots on April 2 as of 8:15 p.m., to 1.1 knots as at 10:30 p.m.
EPIC BREEZE
On April 2, 2024, the 'Epic Breeze', en route from Bilbao, suffered technical problems six nautical miles nortwest of Punta Candelaria. The CCS Fisterra of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR vessel 'SAR Gavia', which escorted the ship until its arrival at the port of A Coruña, where it berthed at 10 p.m. UTC. Also the Helimer 402 helicopter was deployed as a precaution. Report with photo: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1775151024057069655
JAG LOK
En route from Aliağa to Ceyhan Port, the 'Jag Lok' suffered an engine failure at İzmir-Karaburun on Aug 4, 2022, and went adrift off Aliaga. The tug 'Sirapinar XVIII' was deployed to assist and pulled the tanker to Aliağa anchorage, where it dropped anchor on Aug 6. The departure permission of the vessel was cancelled by the Harbour Master. Photo: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZfJHj9XwAAyoof.jpg
TRUE CONFIDENCE
The tug 'Red Bull' was deployed to assist the 'True Confidence' after receiving notice of the attack on March 6 at around 6.30 p.m. The tug, stationed in the port of Aden, was ordinarily used for towing old vessels to Pakistan and India to be scrapped. The 'Red Bull' then scoured the area while communicating its position to the US Navy so that it didn’t mistakenly identify it as a hostile vessel. At around 1 a.m. on March 8, the crew spotted a light on the 'True Confidence'. Smoke was still billowing from the ship. The tug’s crew tackled the blaze and then used ropes with hooks to scale up the side of the vessel. The task was made harder by the barbed wire that lined the sides of the vessel at the deck level, presumably installed as a last line of defense against pirates. Parts of the ship were blisteringly hot because of the fire. The crew of the 'Red Bull' connected the tug to the damaged ship, but progress was hampered by a second attack. On the morning of March 9, four combat drones headed toward the 'True Confidence'. A French frigate that sailed nearby and its fighter jets destroyed the drones. The US Navy instructed the 'Red Bull' to switch off its tracking system while it was towing the vessel to safety. However, they only sailed around five miles before the engine of the 'Red Bull' suffered a serious malfunction, and fixing the problem would have required a specialist team. As the 'True Confidence' drifted toward Somalia at the speed of about 1-2 knots, the search for a replacement tug became more frantic. The tug 'Hercules' was found, butit was under US sanctions that cited its owners links to Iran. The owner of the 'True Confidence' received special permission from the US Office of Foreign Asset Control on March 12 to use the 'Hercules' in the salvage mission, owner True Confidence Shipping SA and operator Third January Maritime Ltd. said in a joint statement on March 21. The 'Hercules' was instructed to tow the 'True Confidence' to Djibouti. But weather conditions soon worsened and the choppy waters broke the tow line between the vessels. Once the ships were reconnected. they set off again for Djibouti. Yet as they neared the port limits they were told that the request for entry had been denied. Following the refusal by the Port of Djibouti to grant port of refuge, the tow has continued in a north-easterly direction away from the high risk area, with the intention of seeking refuge at the port of Duqm, the shipowner and operator said in a joint statement on March 20. The 'Hercules' and 'True Confidence' were still on their way to Duqm in Oman, which has dry dock facilities that are used for salvage and repairs. Once there, the agency that provided the ship’s crew will locate the remains of the seafarers for repatriation to the Philippines. There has been no pollution from the 'True Confidence' either from the initial attack or the subsequent salvage and tow to date.
HDMS IVER HUITFELDT
The "Iver Huitfeldt" experienced a radar failure and defective ammunition during drone attack in the Red Sea on March 9. A vital defense system failed when the frigate shot down four drones in the Red Sea, where the ship is deployed to fight attacks by the Houthi movement. A series of technical problems put the soldiers in danger during the attack, because for half an hour the frigate could not fire its only air defense missile. The problem was not new, but it has not been solved. Because the frigate's central defense system failed, the guns were put into service. But half of the shells detonated shortly after leaving the guns without being near enemy targets. The many defective grenades resulted in a high consumption of ammunition, which could have had fatal consequences. A very large consumption of ammunition seriously reduces the combat effectiveness and the survivability of the unit, Commander Sune Lund wrote on March 14. All grenades were over 30 years old and were retrofitted with radio fire tubes in 2005, which are unsuitable for actual combat. He underlined the criticality and unacceptable nature of sending a frigate into a hostile environment with ammunition consisting of unstable shells. He stated the clear opinion that the challenge has been known for years, without the necessary and urgent understanding that it is urgent to solve the problem. The Ministry of Defence's materiel and procurement agency recommended that the radar not be used to engage air targets in the future. Instead, the frigate was advised to use two smaller radars, which can only handle a single target at a time. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen was not aware of the incident and asked the chief of defense to give a more detailed account of the process.
KNOSSOS PALACE
In the evening of April 1, 2024, the Central Port Authority of Piraeus was informed by the Master of the 'Knossos Palace' about the injury of an 18 year old passenger due to a fall on board, while the ship was on a scheduled route to the ports of Milos and Heraklion, the victim required immediate medical attention. The ship returned to the port of Piraeus, where the injured woman was disembarked safely and picked up by an ambulance and taken to the Piraeus Zaneio General Hospital for further medical treatment. A preliminary investigation was carried out by the Port Authority.
NUEVO LUZ ALBA
The 'Nuevo Luz Alba' based in Santander, suffered an engine failure and went adrift with six crew members on board amid a strong storm about 15 nautical miles off the coast of Marin on March 28, 2024. The strong storm caused the diesel to overflow and stall the engine. The ship got assistance by the 'Salvamar Alioth' of Salvamento Marítimo at noon and was towed to Celeiro, where the crew started to repair the engine.
SALVAMAR MIMOSA
The sailing yacht 'Aisha' requested assistance on April 2, 2024, due to problems with the sails. She is disabled off Cales de Mallorca with two crew members on board. The CCS Palma of Salvamento Marítimo mobilizes the 'Salvamar Mimosa', which took the boat in tow and safely pulled it to Porto Colom. Photo: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1775191664212013272
SIYA
The 'Siya' suffered a fire in engine room and accommodation area at the Yalova shipyard on June 12 at 1. a.m. The crew along with the shipyard fire-fighters and the local fire brigade teams attended along with the SAR tug 'Nene Hatun' (IMO: 9675004), an ŞARK tug as well as other tugs. The fire was extinguished in the morning. The extent of damage and the cause of the fire was yet unknown. Video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1535923898256183296
FV BREIZ
Five people will appear from April 2, 2024, before the maritime court of Le Havre, after the sinking of the 'Breiz'. Among the defendants is the master of the SNSM boat responsible for towing. They are on trial for involuntary manslaughter, after the sinking of the trawler on Jan 14, 2021, off the coast of Lion-sur-Mer, which claimed the lives of three fishermen, after it got in distress off the coast of Nacre. On board were three sailors, including two brothers, from Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue and Cherbourg. When the trawler was towed by the SNSM boat, the fishing vessel sank very quickly with all its crew. The bodies of the three sailors were recovered the next day by divers from the wreck. A year after the tragedy, the Office of Investigation into Maritime Events (BEA Mer) released its investigation report. He blamed the rescuers and highlighted the lack of experience of the fishermen and the overload of the trawler at the time of the incident. However, a few months later, in November 2022, the five members of the SNSM who participated in the towing were placed in police custody as part of an investigation for manslaughter, which aroused a lot of emotion among the SNSM rescuers. In addition to the master of the SNSM boat from Ouistreham appearing before the court will be the co-owner of the trawler, a maritime expert and two agents from the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM) of Calvados. The penalties incurred are up to ten years of imprisonment.