On March 20, 2024, the 'New Leonidas', en route from Ust-Luga, encountered a small boat while sailing 160 nautical miles southeast of Salalah, Oman, in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel observed armed individuals aboard the boat, along with a ladder. The bulk carrier was followed for approximately 20 minutes by the small boat. The captain reported the people in the boat were armed. When the pirates approached, the armed guards on the bulker fired warning shots, forcing the pirates to retreat without retaliating. The bulk carrier continued on its way.
News
KAPITAN LOBANOV
The 'Kapitan Lobanov' sank off the coast of Kaliningrad near Pionersky on March 19 after being mistakenly struck by a Russian Navy missile. The surviving crew members were interrogated by the FSB at their hospital in Pionersk. Three crew members were killed and four injured crew members were recovered from the sea by another vessel. The missile that hit the trawler was fired during a Baltic Fleet exercise…Before the incident, the trawler’s crew members were about to go to bed when a rocket hit the captain’s cabin. The survivors were sent to a hospital in the city of Pionersk; one of the victims was in serious condition. The FSB officers asked the crew members not to talk about the incident…Another missile fell into fishing nets near the industrial vessel of the MRTK company, which was located not far from the trawler. It was not currently clear if the Black Sea Fleet or Coastal Missile Defense batteries were conducting an exercise in the Black Sea or if this was an errant engagement.
VASILIY TEPLOV
In the foremidday of March 18, 2024, the "Vasily Teplov", which is assigned to the port of Kamchatka as a floating base, suffered a fire at its berth at the concrete plant. The Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky fire brigade sent 40 fire fighters and 10 units to extinguish the fire. The fire had broken out in a cabin most likely due to a cigarette. The crew of 11 left the ship on their own. The four square meter fire was extinguished without difficulty within an hour. There were no injuries reported. Report with photo: https://kam24.ru/news/main/20240320/104537.html#.9eDJHb61.dpuf
PASCO RONI
The 'Pasco Roni', en route from Marcus Hook, Philadelphia to Livera, diverted to Bermuda on March 20, 2024, due to an accident which resulted in a crew member having his thumb severed. The RCC Bermuda received a telephone call from the management company of the tanker in a position 440 miles east of Bermuda. First aid was administered and the ship diverted to Bermuda. The tanker arrived off te coast in the morning. The casualty was transferred to the pilot/rescue boat 'St David' and transferred to a hospital.
KEOYOUNG SUN
At least nine people were killed when the 'Keoyound Sun' sank, South Korea's foreign ministry said on March 21. Two South Korean nationals were among the dead. The Japanese coastguard has rescued an Indonesian crew member, and that another member of the crew of 11 was still missing.
WARSHIP 007
On March 02, 2024, the ICGS 'Rajdoot' assisted the IFB 'Ajmeer-I' with eight crew members on board, after receiving a distress call almost 20 kilometers off the coast of Kundapura in Karnataka in the Arabian Sea. The Coast Guard ship was deployed to assist and established contact with the crew. A rescue team boarded the vessel and deployed pumps to dewater the vessel. After confirming the safety of the boat, it was handed over to the IFB 'Gold Fish' and was towed toward Gangolli Harbour, a major seaport in Karnataka. Report with photos: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/watch-how-coast-guard-rescued-8-from-flooded-boat-off-karnataka-coast-5278212
TAI AN
The 'Tai An', reported for fishing for toothfish illegally, arrived at the port of Ushuaia on March 20 with a cargo of 163 tons. The value can reach 4 million dollars. But, according to three competing companies, it was obtained by the firm PRODESUR S.A. without the corresponding permits. Antonio Cazorla, Undersecretary of Fisheries of the Nation, questioned about the case, had previously asked the Military Naval Prefecture to accompany the shoü to port and tale it in custody until records are taken of the fishing reports and the reliable volume. The case caused the resignation of two officials, one from the fishing area and another from the Foreign Ministry. It is suspected that there was influence peddling and specific requests so that the ship was not sanctioned and could market its cargo. This caused the resignation, first of all, of Julián Suárez who had been serving as national director of Fisheries Coordination and Inspection since 2020. He had to analyze the case and raise the request for sanctions for the company. But according to him, he received pressure from the Foreign Ministry not to do so. They had also asked him simultaneously to make a list of 50 layoffs. Suárez resigned and pointed out the pressure on a Foreign Ministry official named Pablo Ferrara. In the night of March 19, Ferrara presented his resignation to the Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, who is in Vietnam following the case remotely. From the Foreign Ministry they clarified to Clarín that Ferreyra does not have any family relationship with Mondino, as initially stated.
YAMILAH-III
The 'Yamilah III', en route from Fujairah to Yanbu, was attacked by Houthi militants approximately 109 nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s Nishtun in the Gulf of Aden on March 21, 2024. The master of the tanker reported sighting a small boat with four people on board, which was approaching the tanker. The small boat followed the tanker before beginning an approach. When it was at a close distance the armed security guards aboard the tanker fired warning shots. There was an exchange of small arms fire between the pirates and security guards. The pirate boat departed after the exchange of fire.
SPARTA IV
The Russian frigate 'Neustrashimy' has escorted a convoy, consisting of the 'URSA Major' and 'Sparta IV' from its own country in the Baltic Sea for the first time through the Fehmarnbelt and the Kadet Trench on March 21, 2024. These ships are said to be carrying large quantities of weapons and equipment from Syria. The deployment of the frigate to escort the two freighters on the Baltic Sea indicates high-quality weapons and equipment. Both freighters were loaded in a Syrian port in February and were supposed to enter the Black Sea through the Turkish straits. However, in view of the threat from Ukrainian drones, the freighters turned around and instead of taking the shorter route through the Bosphorus, chose the almost 9,000 nautical mile route around Europe into the Baltic Sea. The Russian freighters reached a position north of Skagen on MArch 20, where the 'Neustrashimy' was waiting and formed a convoy with the freighters. Weapons and radar systems were active. The Danish Navy sent a patrol boat and a naval home guard boat to escort the convoy through the Great Belt. At 11 a.m. the Belt Bridge near Korsör was passed. There were no violations. After leaving the Great Belt, the Russian convoy was accompanied at the entrance to the Fehmarnbelt in the afternoon by the mine diving boat “Rottweil” of the 3rd Minesweeper Squadron from Kiel and the two patrol ships “Bamberg” and “Neustadt”, with the “Bamberg” sailing ahead of the convoy and the “Neustadt” and “Rottweil” following behind. They passed through the construction site for the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel at a speed of 12 knots. The Russian ships adhered to traffic regulations. The “Sparta IV” and “URSA Major” belong to a shipping company in Novorossiysk. Both ships were visibly well loaded. On the “Sparta IV” there were numerous containers stacked on the deck. They would be an easy target for Ukrainian drones. Russian freighters do not have to provide any information about their cargo or purpose when transiting through Germany's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Federal Police did not have any reliable information about the cargo of the “Sparta IV” and “URSA Major”. However, the draft of the ships revealed that they were carrying heavy cargo. Both freighters have been on the US and EU sanctions lists since 2022. If they were to suffer an accident in German territorial waters, the federal police would arrest them immediately. Until the evening, the surveillance of the Russian ships went without any particular incidents. The ships were expected to leave the German EEZ around 11 p.m. with the same course. On board the frigate “Neustrashimy” is a helicopter specially equipped to defend against drones. The path of the two ships had been followed for weeks by NATO secret services and naval forces.
BLACKROSE
A Orissa High Court’s order was seeking information on the petitioner who had demanded a CBI enquiry into the sinking of the 'Black Rose'. At least two cases were filed in this connection which were disposed off by the Court earlier. However later, another petition was filed by an RTI activist Pradeep Pradhan seeking a CBI probe. The Shipping Corporation had written to the Union Home Ministry to allow a CBI probe in the sinking of the 'Black Rose'. When asked, the CBI had sought a No-Objection-Certificate (NOC) from the Odisha government to initiate a probe. Despite the Union Home Ministry’s letter seeking NOC from the Odisha government, the State government allegedly sat on the letter for years delaying the probe. It forced the RTI activist Pradhan to file another petition in the HC requesting the court to ask Odisha government to provide the NOC at the earliest. During the hearing, the Advocate General of the Odisha government raised several objections over Pradeep Pradhan himself. The Odisha government argued that Pradhan had a malicious intent and he also had multiple criminal cases pending against him. So, the court asked Pradhan to file an affidavit on all the allegations against him. The High Court has also directed to send the copy of the affidavit to the Paradip Port, the Central Government counsel appearing for the opposite party and the government advocate of Odisha government. The matter has been listed to be heard on March 19, 2024, when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted an affidavit with the High Court of Orissa. Report with photo: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/odisha-govt-reluctant-to-hand-over-black-rose-ship-sinking-probe-cbi-affidavit-885827
FGS HESSEN
On March 21 at 9 a.m. the 'Hessen', while providing close protection to a merchant vessel of EU interest in the Southern Red Sea, has destroyed a Houthi drone in the Red Sea, which targeted a civil towing association. It was destroyed with the ship's own helicopter. No further details were mentioned for operational reasons. The ship is tasked to protect merchant ships in the frame of the NATO mssion Aspides.
GENERAL FRANK BESSON
The 'General Frank S. Besson' from the 7th Transportation Brigade, 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, departed on, March 9, 2024, from the Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., en route to the Eastern Mediterranean to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea. The logistics support vessel carried the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies. The Navy will deploy 260 sailors and two U.S. Naval Ships from the West Coast to help build a temporary seaport to deliver aid into Gaza. About 1,000 U.S. troops will deploy a floating pier and a roughly 1,800-foot causeway off Gaza’s coast, where commercial vessels can dock and offload aid to be transported by smaller vessels and vehicles into Gaza. The operation will use a makeshift dock known as a Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, and include Navy and Army personnel. Four Army ships departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., carrying dozens of soldiers from the Army’s 7th Transportation Brigade. About 500 soldiers were expected to deploy to support the pier-building operations. They followed the USS 'Frank S. Besson' and will establish a roll-on, roll-off pier capability that allows ship-to-shore humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. The pier was expected to be fully operational in approximately 60 days, which will be able to facilitate the delivery of up to two million meals daily. Navy officials, on Marchc 20 said 260 sailors and the USNS 2nd Lt. 'John P. Bobo' and USNS '1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez' would be involved in the operation. It was not clear when the ships would be deployed, but the Navy would support the 60-day window. Report with photo: https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2024-03-20/2-usns-ships-260-sailors-gaza-13376025.html
ABDULLAH
Somali pirates who made their first contact with the vessel’s owner, SR Shipping, on March 20, held general talks about the ship and the crew members. They informed the company that all the crew members were safe and sound and will not be tortured. No ransom demands have been made yet for the 23 crew abducted on March 12. Commodore Mohammad Maqsood Alam, director general (DG) of the Department of Shipping, said: “We’ve got in touch with them and had positive talks about rescuing the hostages. We’ll soon make efforts to rescue the crew and the ship”. With reports earlier this week that international navies were willing to try and free the ship and its crew, the pirates have let it be known that they have fortified the 'Abdullah'. Anti-aircraft weaponry has been installed on the ship, as well at coastal positions nearby.
VILLA.NORES
At the end of January, the 'Villa Nores' arrived at the port of Vigo after it had spent three months fishing in NAFO (North Atlantic Fisheries Organization) waters. The scientific observer it had on board, as soon as he got off the ship, informed the fishing authorities of signs of severed shark fins on board. Community regulations prohibit cutting them off on board. This alert led to a very exhaustive inspection of the fishing vessel, as reported on March 20, 2024 by the Government Subdelegation in Pontevedra.Both personnel from that institution and officials sent from Madrid by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries participated from Jan 29 to 31, regarding the possible presence of a quenlla fin linked to sailors of Indonesian nationality, who would have cut off the shark's limbs for self-consumption. An administrative procedure has been opened against which the shipowner can still present allegations. During the inspection of the 'Villa Nores', 65 tons of frozen halibut that the fishing vessel had caught in excess of its quota in Newfoundland waters were also seized. This led to a sanction report for serious infringemen of the Sustainable Fishing Law. The surplus catches have been delivered to the Vigo Food Bank, which has industrial freezers to store the product correctly. In the coming days it will be distributed to other institutions, such as soup kitchens and charities, both in Pontevedra and the rest of Galicia, given that it is a large quantity of fish of 65,000 kilos. The 'Villa Nores' left Vigo again on March 6.
COASTAL CELEBRATION
On March 18, 2024, B.C. Ferries stated that it has decided against pursuing an insurance claim for engine problems on its three Coastal class ships and has opted instead to pay the estimated $8.5 million cost out of its contingency fund, which is in place for major incidents. Considering all the costs related to design, freight (air/sea), the rotors themselves and the work to exchange them, installing six rotors is about $1.4 million each, or approximately $8.5 million total. Initially the 'Coastal Renaissance' was sidelined on Aug. 17, 2023, and taken to Departure Bay in Nanaimo. The motor was subsequently sent to the U.S. for investigation and repair. A problem discovered with the ferry’s rotor prompted B.C. Ferries to investigate the other two Coastal vessels where they discovered similar problems. The ferries were equipped with motors which vibrated and were noisy when in dock. The decision was made to turn off the motors and restart them when departing for the next sailing. That doubled the number of starts for the engines and led to the need to replace the rotors. The company has decided to install variable-speed motors to avoid a similar engine problem in the future on all three Coastal class vessels. The 'Coastal Celebration' arrived in the Victoria Shipyard at the Esquimalt Graving Dock on March 6 and will stay there until April, while it is being repaired and going through refit. After that, the 'Coastal Inspiration' will take its turn for repair and refit. B.C. Ferries is putting on an extra 192 sailings through spring break, March 14 to April 2, which also covers the Easter weekend, March 28 to April 2. Of those additional sailings, 172 will run between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen
URSA MAJOR
The Russian frigate 'Neustrashimy' has escorted a convoy, consisting of the 'URSA Major' and 'Sparta IV' from its own country in the Baltic Sea for the first time through the Fehmarnbelt and the Kadet Trench on March 21, 2024. These ships are said to be carrying large quantities of weapons and equipment from Syria. The deployment of the frigate to escort the two freighters on the Baltic Sea indicates high-quality weapons and equipment. Both freighters were loaded in a Syrian port in February and were supposed to enter the Black Sea through the Turkish straits. However, in view of the threat from Ukrainian drones, the freighters turned around and instead of taking the shorter route through the Bosphorus, chose the almost 9,000 nautical mile route around Europe into the Baltic Sea. The Russian freighters reached a position north of Skagen on MArch 20, where the 'Neustrashimy' was waiting and formed a convoy with the freighters. Weapons and radar systems were active. The Danish Navy sent a patrol boat and a naval home guard boat to escort the convoy through the Great Belt. At 11 a.m. the Belt Bridge near Korsör was passed. There were no violations. After leaving the Great Belt, the Russian convoy was accompanied at the entrance to the Fehmarnbelt in the afternoon by the mine diving boat “Rottweil” of the 3rd Minesweeper Squadron from Kiel and the two patrol ships “Bamberg” and “Neustadt”, with the “Bamberg” sailing ahead of the convoy and the “Neustadt” and “Rottweil” following behind. They passed through the construction site for the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel at a speed of 12 knots. The Russian ships adhered to traffic regulations. The “Sparta IV” and “URSA Major” belong to a shipping company in Novorossiysk. Both ships were visibly well loaded. On the “Sparta IV” there were numerous containers stacked on the deck. They would be an easy target for Ukrainian drones. Russian freighters do not have to provide any information about their cargo or purpose when transiting through Germany's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Federal Police did not have any reliable information about the cargo of the “Sparta IV” and “URSA Major”. However, the draft of the ships revealed that they were carrying heavy cargo. Both freighters have been on the US and EU sanctions lists since 2022. If they were to suffer an accident in German territorial waters, the federal police would arrest them immediately. Until the evening, the surveillance of the Russian ships went without any particular incidents. The ships were expected to leave the German EEZ around 11 p.m. with the same course. On board the frigate “Neustrashimy” is a helicopter specially equipped to defend against drones. The path of the two ships had been followed for weeks by NATO secret services and naval forces.
ALANETT
The 'Alanett' allided with the berth no. 1 in the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on March 20, 2024, during the berthing manoever at 1 p.m. LT. Due to the hard impact, the hull was damaged at port side amidships, and sea water began to flow into the hold. The water ingress could be controlled. The Kamchatka Transport Prosecutor's Office began investigating the incident. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQwmQF4JK0U
GEO BARENTS
The 'Geo Barents' arrived in Marina di Carrara on March 20 with 249 migrants who were rescued off the coast of Libya. Of the migrants rescued, 80 were minors (63 males and 17 females, one of which was pregnant and one was the mother of an 11-month-old girl). After it had berthed at 6.20 a.m. UTC, it was detained for 20 days for not having observed the instructions of the so-called Libyan Coastguard on March 16 and having put the rescued people in danger. The captain of the 'Geo Barents' was accused of not having gone to the nearest safe port assigned. The infringement emerged following the specific checks that the Coast Guard and the Flying Squad carried out at the time of the disembarkation of the migrants: from the control of the logbook and through comparison with the data relating to the ship's movements recorded by the GPS, it was possible to verify how many migrants and in which areas they were rescued. The infringement alleged against the 'Geo Barents' falls within the second paragraph of decree no. 1/2023, requested by Minister Piantedosi and refers in this specific case to the choice of the captain not to comply with the requests of the SAR authority (zones for research and rescue at sea - Search and Rescue). The crime was allegedly committed in the waters off the coast of Libya.
AJMEER 1
On March 02, 2024, the ICGS 'Rajdoot' assisted the 'Ajmeer-I' with eight crew members on board, after receiving a distress call almost 20 kilometers off the coast of Kundapura in Karnataka in the Arabian Sea. The Coast Guard ship was deployed to assist and established contact with the crew. A rescue team boarded the vessel and deployed pumps to dewater the vessel. After confirming the safety of the boat, it was handed over to the IFB 'Gold Fish' and was towed toward Gangolli Harbour, a major seaport in Karnataka. Report with photos: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/watch-how-coast-guard-rescued-8-from-flooded-boat-off-karnataka-coast-5278212
IONA
A crew member of British nationality, aged 60, who showed symptoms of a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), was medevaced from the 'Iona' in the morning of March 20, 2024. The ship was sailing 163 nautical miles northwest of Madeira, when the alert was received at the MRSC Funchal, at around 6:28 a.m. The Urgent Patients Guidance Center Mar (CODU-Mar) was then contacted, which, through the information that pointed to signs stroke considered the need for immediate medevac. The Portuguese Navy coordinated the operation through the MRSC Funchal and in collaboration with the Guidance for Urgent Patients – Seafarers (CODU-MAR) and with the Regional Civil Protection Service (SRPC IP-RAM). After the alert, the ship moved to the port of Funchal, where the crew member disembarked at 4:25 a.m., and was transported to a hospital unit with the support of agents from the Local Command of the Maritime Police and the ambulance from the Maritime Association. Madeiran Volunteer Firefighters who were already on site.