News

An Italian court has ordered six members of the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans to stand trial over a 2020 rescue operation involving 27 migrants stranded in the Mediterranean. This was the first time a criminal case against a sea rescue crew has moved to trial in Italy. In Aug 2020, the 'Maersk Etienne', now sailing as 'Keonamex Victory', rescued 27 people from a wooden boat about 70 nautical miles north of Libya, following instructions from the Maltese rescue authorities. The migrants had been attempting to reach Europe but were stranded when their vessel began sinking. Despite rescuing them, the 'Maersk Etienne' was not granted permission by Malta, Italy, or Libya to let the migrants disembark. As a result, they remained aboard the tanker for 38 days without access to proper care or facilities. The operator, Maersk Tankers, said the ship was not equipped to host that many people and urgently required assistance. The NGO ship 'Mare Jonio' was dispatched to provide help. The vessel had a doctor on board to offer basic medical attention. The migrants were transferred from the tanker onto the 'Mare Jonio' and then taken to Pozzallo, The talian prosecutors in Ragusa later accused six members of the NGO, including five men and one woman, of aiding illegal immigration. Those named in the case included the captain, a crew doctor, and Luca Casarini, one of the group’s founders and a well-known activist. They all said they were helping people in need and did nothing wrong. One of the main accusations from the prosecutors involved a payment of €125,000 (around $140,000) made by Maersk Tankers to Idra Social Shipping, the company that owns the 'Mare Jonio', a few months after the rescue. The authorities suggested that this was a financial transaction linked to the migrants’ transfer. According to Mediterranea Saving Humans, the payment was a transparent donation meant to cover operational costs. The lawyer Serena Romano, speaking on behalf of the NGO, said that no previous case against rescue crews in Italy had ever reached trial, stating that similar investigations had either been closed during the inquiry or dropped at the pre-trial stage. The court in Ragusa has scheduled the first hearing for Oct 21, 2025. Casarini said the trial would serve as an opportunity to examine the decisions made by authorities during the 38-day standoff.

On May 30, 2025, the 'Orange Frost' has been boarded by pirates off southern Nigeria, about 110 nautical miles south of the coast, between Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe..The ship had sailed from Douala on May 29 en route to Matadi, when it was boarded by a group of seven armed pirates. The perpetrators boarded the vessel with what appeared to be guns. The majority of the crew mustered in the citadel, with the exception of the two sailors. One of them was injured during the attack, and the other, the 2nd engineer, a Russian national, was kidnapped. They were able to monitor the incident as it unfolded using the vessel’s CCTV system. The perpetrators left the vessel and by May 31 MDAT-GoG was reporting the ship had been searched and confirmed no boarders remained aboard. An inspection of the vessel showed that the perpetrators also damaged some of the equipment on the bridge. Local authorities boarded the ship to assist the crew and were escorting the ship to a port of refuge. This is the second attack in this part of Nigeria's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in five weeks. The previous attack took place on April 22, also about 100 nautical miles south of the Brass area in the Niger Delta. The pirates boarded a ship but were unable to enter the citadel, where the entire crew had taken refuge. This was the 5h piracy incident in the area since the beginning of the year.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stated that Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that owned the #MSC Elsa 3# was expected to clarify on the contents of the hazardous cargo in the 13 of the 640 containers. An order dated May 27, issued by the Principal Bench of the tribunal in New Delhi pointed out that there were chances of serious impact to the marine and coastal environment affecting the biodiversity and water quality of the area as the sunken ship was carrying hazardous materials such as calcium carbide, oil and other undisclosed items. the incident violated the provisions under the Biodiversity Act, 2002; Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The order was issued after the tribunal took suo motu cognisance of the report titled Containers from sunken ship likely to drift towards Alappuzha, Kollam Coasts in 48 hours: INCOIS published in The Hindu. On account of wave, wind and current actions of the waters, these pollutants can travel to other coastal parts of the country, including Lakshadweep islands, affecting them. The impact on the Lakshadweep island will be severe as the island coastal water has high bio-diversity with corals. The Bench has asked the Member Secretaries of the Central Pollution Control Board, Lakshadweep Pollution Control Committee, Kerala State Pollution Control Board; Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; Director General, Indian Coast Guard: and Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) to submit their responses on the shipwreck one week before the next hearing on July 30. An expert team from Gujarat recovered a container that was washed ashore in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, on May 31. The container washed ashore at Vaniyakudi fishing village, about one km from Colachel. It was hauled up onto the shore by a team from Gujarat which also included experts from the Marine Engineering Resources Centre, Porbandar, and those from district fisheries department officials.

Salvamento Marítimo rescued 44 people aboard a small boat, which was sailing approximately 50 nautical miles off Lanzarote, on June 1. At around 7:00 a.m., the MRCC in Las Palmas received a phone call with a position at sea, with no other information. Later, another call indicated that it was a small boat, close to a ship. The 'Guardamar Polimnia' was moblilized, which shortly afterward received confirmation of the sighting of the small boat, 50 miles off Lanzarote, from the m/v 'Hyperion Ray,' which escorted it until the lifeboat arrived. Minutes before 11 a.m. its crew spotted the boat and proceeded minutes later to rescue the 44 people on board, all of them of sub-Saharan African origin and in apparent good health. The vessel arrived in Arrecife, at around 1:30 p.m.

The "Kola" broke down in May 2025 on its way to the Mediterranean. The ship was moored off Al Hoceima until May 22. Now it has to be towed back through the Baltic Sea to Kaliningrad. For days, NATO and German Federal Police units have been observing the Russian tug "Yevgeniy Churov" (IMO: 8406640), transiting the North Sea towards the Skagerrak at nine knots, and then on June 1 past Fehmarn and through the Kadet Trench into the Baltic Sea. The "Kola" was originally intended to supply Russian Navy units in the Mediterranean. Built in 1967, the "Kola" is one of the oldest active naval tankers in the world. Stationed in Kaliningrad with the Baltic Fleet, the ship, after 58 years of service, still serves the Russian Navy as a supply ship in Europe and the Mediterranean.

On May 30, 2025, at midday, the 'Norwegian Epic' broke away from the pier in Catania in strong winds. At the time of the accident, gusts of wind with speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour swept across the harbour. The sudden movement of the ship caused a woman to fall from the gangway into the water. Her husband immediately jumped after her, suffering a slight graze on his right leg. Both were promptly recovered by the crew present on the dock and entrusted to the paramedics, who transported them to the Garibaldi hospital for checks. The ship, pushed by the wind, leaned with its starboard side against the port side of the 'Northstar Glory', regularly moored at berth number 7. The impact caused no serious damage to the vessels. The port authority intervened immediately, mobilizing the 'CP 888' and 'CP B169' of the Coastguard, the fire brigade's vessels, the police jet skis and the technical-nautical services. The operations focused on containing the situation, preventing further damage and ensuring the safety of passengers and personnel on the dock. The pier suffered visible damage. Three bollards to which the ship was moored broke loose. Concrete slabs have shifted, and a crack ran along the edge. The area around the bollard was visibly damaged. Port operations were temporarily slowed to allow for safety checks and structural inspections at the pier. The 'Norwegian Epic' initially left the port with tug assistance after the incident and anchored off the coast of Catania. It did not return until the evening to pick up the passengers who had remained ashore. There were chaotic scenes as hundreds of people reboarded. The 'Norwegian Epic' was in the midst a 10-night round-trip sailing from Rome with scheduled stops in Naples, Florence and Cannes. Reports with photos and video: https://www.ilmeteo.it/notizie/catania-nave-da-crociera-rompe-gli-ormeggi-due-turisti-in-mare-paura-al-porto-145039 https://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/cronaca/catania-nave-rompe-ormeggi-turisti-salvati_98898105-202502k.shtml https://www.cataniatoday.it/cronaca/nave-crociera-rompe-ormeggi-porto-catania-feriti.html https://www.ragusaoggi.it/disastro-al-porto-nave-da-crociera-rompe-gli-ormeggi-passeggeri-finiscono-in-mare-a-catania-troppo-vento-alcuni-aerei-dirottati-a-comiso/ https://crew-center.com/norwegian-epic-breaks-free-moorings-italy-leaving-passengers-stranded

During the night of May 30 and on May 31, numerous migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. First, the departure of a boat was reported to the CROSS in the Fort-Mahon beach sector. The CROSS dispatched the patrol vessel 'Jeanne Barret' to locate and monitor it. Some of the occupants quickly requested to be rescued. The 'Jeanne Barret's operational rescue boat (EDO) then rescued 60 people. Several people did not wish to be rescued and remained on the precarious boat under the surveillance of the 'Jeanne Barret', which finally retrieved them a few minutes later. All 78 rescued people disembarked in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the early morning of May 31 and were taken into care by the land authorities. At the same time, the CROSS Gris-Nez also engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist another migrant boat in the Wimereux beach area. The tug monitored the boat until its engine failed, forcing all the migrants to request assistance, and recovered 61 migrants before being deployed on two other boat monitoring operations. In the absence of a request for assistance from them, the 'Abeille Normandie' was able to sail to Boulogne-sur-Mer to drop off the migrants. At the same time, the Dunkirk signal (59) reported another departure from the port. The 'Oyapock', already in the area monitoring another boat, noticed it was a taxi boat picking up more migrants on the beach at Grand-Fort Philippe .Leaving the Oyapock's initial surveillance zone, the taxi boat was relocated by the S-100 drone deployed by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which also engaged the PSP 'Cormoran', which began monitoring migrant boats entering the waters of the traffic separation scheme. On the early morning of May 31, the patrol boat picked up nine migrants requesting rescue. They were disembarked in Calais n the early afternoon. At midday, the 'SNS-067 - Mona Rigolet' from the Calais SNSM station was deployed by the CROSS to assist another boat off the coast of Dunkirk. Once in the area, the lifeboat began its surveillance and then assisted 36 people, who disembarked in Calais in the early afternoon. A total of 184 people were rescued and taken into care by government resources.

The 'Ron Jeremy', was located at a depth of almost 40 meters. The Coast Guard was working to stop a diesel spill. Cooperation was taking place with the Police Authority, on and below the surface. Divers from the Coast Guard and the Police were trying together to seal the parts of the ship where diesel was leaking and at the same time search for the crew member who was still missing. The Coast Guard vessel 'KBV 181' is currently involved in the operation. Additional resources are being added as needed. There are approximately five tons of diesel on board the wreck, of which a smaller amount has leaked into the water. There is currently no indication that the oil will reach land. Work at the scene is being complicated by the fact that the barge with timber still appears to be stuck in the tugboat, combined with bad weather on June 2. The owner of the cargo planned to transport it further.

Sold to Breakers as is Singapore 435 USD/TO

In a midnight rescue opration, the Indian Coast Guard Station Kakinada coordinated a life saving medical evacuation operation. from the 'SW BLY'. The 'ICGS 430' wass mobilized on May 30, 2025, at 01.10 a.m. after the captain had suffered a heart attack. The patient was disembarked and safely brought to shore. He was shifted to the Apollo Hospitals in Kakinada for further medical treatment. Report with photos: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indian-coast-guard-evacuates-heart-attack-stricken-captain-from-foreign-vessel-at-sea-101748700180286.html#google_vignette

The crew of the 'Martin I Soler', which connects Mallorca with Menorca and Barcelona, upon arriving in Ciutadella, encountered a locked cabin on the moprning of May 31, 2025. The crew was alerted because the guest who had spent the night in the cabin refused to leave despite repeated requests. When the door was opened, they crew discovered the lifeless body of a man. The deceased was a 58-year-old Spanish truck driver. An ambulance from Emergency Service 061 was immediately dispatched and could only confirm the man's death. The truck driver had apparently died several hours earlier.

An incident involving spy drones occurred in the North Sea, when seven suspected Russian drones followed the patrol vessel 'Potsdam' (IMO: 9830018) of the Federal German Police for three hours. The patrol boat's task in the North Sea was to monitor the Russian "Lauga" en route to Zeebrugge, where it berthed on May 28, 205. The 'Potsdam' was monitoring it about 140 kilometers north of the island of Borkum. The drones followed the vessel for almost three hours. Federal police officers on the patrol vessel were unable to identify the type of drone, they only recognized the green and red navigation lights. The police boat's resources were insufficient to take photographs of the drones at night. It was initially suspected that the drones had been launched from the Russian freighter, but there was no evidence of this. In order to find out more about the suspected spy drones from Russia, the police officers on the ship contacted the Federal Police Directorate in Bad Bramstedt. They asked the authorities in Belgium to inspect the Russian ship in the port of Zeebrugge, however, no evidence of drone technology was found on board. The "Lauga" left the port again the same day, en route to St. Petersburg in Russia, with an EA as of June 2.

During the night of May 30 and on May 31, numerous migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. First, the departure of a boat was reported to the CROSS in the Fort-Mahon beach sector. The CROSS dispatched the patrol vessel 'Jeanne Barret' to locate and monitor it. Some of the occupants quickly requested to be rescued. The 'Jeanne Barret's operational rescue boat (EDO) then rescued 60 people. Several people did not wish to be rescued and remained on the precarious boat under the surveillance of the 'Jeanne Barret', which finally retrieved them a few minutes later. All 78 rescued people disembarked in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the early morning of May 31 and were taken into care by the land authorities. At the same time, the CROSS Gris-Nez also engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist another migrant boat in the Wimereux beach area. The tug monitored the boat until its engine failed, forcing all the migrants to request assistance, and recovered 61 migrants before being deployed on two other boat monitoring operations. In the absence of a request for assistance from them, the 'Abeille Normandie' was able to sail to Boulogne-sur-Mer to drop off the migrants. At the same time, the Dunkirk signal (59) reported another departure from the port. The 'Oyapock', already in the area monitoring another boat, noticed it was a taxi boat picking up more migrants on the beach at Grand-Fort Philippe .Leaving the Oyapock's initial surveillance zone, the taxi boat was relocated by the S-100 drone deployed by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which also engaged the PSP 'Cormoran', which began monitoring migrant boats entering the waters of the traffic separation scheme. On the early morning of May 31, the patrol boat picked up nine migrants requesting rescue. They were disembarked in Calais n the early afternoon. At midday, the 'SNS-067 - Mona Rigolet' from the Calais SNSM station was deployed by the CROSS to assist another boat off the coast of Dunkirk. Once in the area, the lifeboat began its surveillance and then assisted 36 people, who disembarked in Calais in the early afternoon. A total of 184 people were rescued and taken into care by government resources.

During the night of May 30 and on May 31, numerous migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. First, the departure of a boat was reported to the CROSS in the Fort-Mahon beach sector. The CROSS dispatched the 'Jeanne Barret' to locate and monitor it. Some of the occupants quickly requested to be rescued. The 'Jeanne Barret's operational rescue boat (EDO) then rescued 60 people. Several people did not wish to be rescued and remained on the precarious boat under the surveillance of the 'Jeanne Barret', which finally retrieved them a few minutes later. All 78 rescued people disembarked in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the early morning of May 31 and were taken into care by the land authorities. At the same time, the CROSS Gris-Nez also engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist another migrant boat in the Wimereux beach area. The tug monitored the boat until its engine failed, forcing all the migrants to request assistance, and recovered 61 migrants before being deployed on two other boat monitoring operations. In the absence of a request for assistance from them, the 'Abeille Normandie' was able to sail to Boulogne-sur-Mer to drop off the migrants. At the same time, the Dunkirk signal (59) reported another departure from the port. The 'Oyapock', already in the area monitoring another boat, noticed it was a taxi boat picking up more migrants on the beach at Grand-Fort Philippe .Leaving the Oyapock's initial surveillance zone, the taxi boat was relocated by the S-100 drone deployed by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which also engaged the PSP 'Cormoran', which began monitoring migrant boats entering the waters of the traffic separation scheme. On the early morning of May 31, the patrol boat picked up nine migrants requesting rescue. They were disembarked in Calais n the early afternoon. At midday, the 'SNS-067 - Mona Rigolet' from the Calais SNSM station was deployed by the CROSS to assist another boat off the coast of Dunkirk. Once in the area, the lifeboat began its surveillance and then assisted 36 people, who disembarked in Calais in the early afternoon. A total of 184 people were rescued and taken into care by government resources.

The 'Isle of Cumbrae', serving on the route Largs-umbrae, suffered an issue with the aft ramp on June 2. As a consequence, the vessel is currently unavailable for service. All sailings of the 'Loch Shira' were operated as normal.

arrived Bhavnagar Anchorage 02.06.25

One month after the first attempt to sail to Gaza was stopped when the 'Consicence' was attacked, the activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition has launched a second attempt with the 'Barcarole', named 'Madleen' for Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman, which set out from the port of Catania on June 1, 2025, with the declared intent to challenge Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza as “a peaceful act of civil resistance. All the volunteers and crew aboard the Madleen are trained in nonviolence. They are sailing unarmed", as the group said in a statement, while understanding the risk of interception by Israeli naval forces. The Coalition says they put aboard an advanced tracking system which currently shows them sailing at 5.7 knots. As such, it would take them a week to complete the 1,000-nautical mile trip to Gaza. On board, are volunteers from multiple countries, among them a member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, climate justice activist Greta Thunberg, and according to some reports the Irish actor Liam Cunningham. The ship is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics. Report with photo: https://maritime-executive.com/article/ngo-launches-second-attempt-to-sail-to-gaza-without-its-damaged-ship

The public prosecutor's office is investigating misconduct by the captain of the 'Övelgönne' after the collision with a barge of the 'Hansa' on the Elbe River in Hamburg on Jan 20. She is accused of negotiating the right of way with the other ship while crossing the fairway. The captain is being investigated on suspicion of endangering shipping traffic in conjunction with negligent bodily harm in several cases. Whether charges will be filed remains unclear, as the public prosecutor's office has not yet made a final decision.

An incident involving spy drones occurred in the North Sea, when seven suspected Russian drones followed the 'Potsdam' for three hours. The patrol boat's task in the North Sea was to monitor the Russian freighter "Lauga" (IMO: 9111060) en route to Zeebrugge, where it berthed on May 28, 205. The 'Potsdam' was monitoring it about 140 kilometers north of the island of Borkum. The drones followed the vessel for almost three hours. Federal police officers on the patrol vessel were unable to identify the type of drone, they only recognized the green and red navigation lights. The police boat's resources were insufficient to take photographs of the drones at night. It was initially suspected that the drones had been launched from the Russian freighter, but there was no evidence of this. In order to find out more about the suspected spy drones from Russia, the police officers on the ship contacted the Federal Police Directorate in Bad Bramstedt. They asked the authorities in Belgium to inspect the Russian ship in the port of Zeebrugge, however, no evidence of drone technology was found on board. The "Lauga" left the port again the same day, en route to St. Petersburg in Russia, with an EA as of June 2.

During the night of May 30 and on May 31, numerous migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. First, the departure of a boat was reported to the CROSS in the Fort-Mahon beach sector. The CROSS dispatched the patrol vessel 'Jeanne Barret' to locate and monitor it. Some of the occupants quickly requested to be rescued. The 'Jeanne Barret's operational rescue boat (EDO) then rescued 60 people. Several people did not wish to be rescued and remained on the precarious boat under the surveillance of the 'Jeanne Barret', which finally retrieved them a few minutes later. All 78 rescued people disembarked in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the early morning of May 31 and were taken into care by the land authorities. At the same time, the CROSS Gris-Nez also engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist another migrant boat in the Wimereux beach area. The tug monitored the boat until its engine failed, forcing all the migrants to request assistance, and recovered 61 migrants before being deployed on two other boat monitoring operations. In the absence of a request for assistance from them, the 'Abeille Normandie' was able to sail to Boulogne-sur-Mer to drop off the migrants. At the same time, the Dunkirk signal (59) reported another departure from the port. The 'Oyapock', already in the area monitoring another boat, noticed it was a taxi boat picking up more migrants on the beach at Grand-Fort Philippe .Leaving the Oyapock's initial surveillance zone, the taxi boat was relocated by the S-100 drone deployed by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which also engaged the PSP 'Cormoran', which began monitoring migrant boats entering the waters of the traffic separation scheme. On the early morning of May 31, the patrol boat picked up nine migrants requesting rescue. They were disembarked in Calais n the early afternoon. At midday, the 'SNS-067 - Mona Rigolet' from the Calais SNSM station was deployed by the CROSS to assist another boat off the coast of Dunkirk. Once in the area, the lifeboat began its surveillance and then assisted 36 people, who disembarked in Calais in the early afternoon. A total of 184 people were rescued and taken into care by government resources.