The 'Xin Xin Shan' was arrested in Singapore on April 22, 2024, at 1.36 p.m. LT, on behalf of the law firms PDLegal LLC and DennisMathiew. The ship had arrived from St. Petersburg and was being held at the Eastern Anchorage. The arrest was likely to involve disputes over the payment of goods and services related to the vessel's operation. Its commercial controller is the Dalian Haida International Fleet in China.
News
COASTAL RENAISSANCE
The noon sailing of the 'Coastal Renaissance' on April 21, 2024, was delayed leaving Swartz Bay on Monday due to a medical emergency. Ambulance paramedics were called to assist the affected passenger. The delay lasted 54 minutes. No further details were available.
Sines
The Portuguese government announced an investment of 547 million euros in the expansion of the Port of Sines in the southwest of the country and an agreement to extend its concession from 2029 to 2049. The agreement was reached last week between Portugal and PSA Singapore for the completion of the 3rd phase of expansion of Terminal XXI, so as to greatly increase its capacity and give another 20 years of operations in Portugal to PSA Singapore. The Sines port, 58 nautical miles south of Lisbon, is one of the major European ports and the great hub port of the Iberian-Atlantic front.
Barcelona
BEST terminal in the Port of Barcelona has recently increased its storage and connection capacity for refrigerated containers, from 1,600 connection points up to 2,750, an increase of 70%, making it one of the terminals with the most connections for refrigerated containers in the whole of the Mediterranean area.
MFV OLIVIA GRACE
The Moelfre ALB was mobilized on April 21, 2024, at 12:35 p.m. to the 'Olivia Grace', whic hwas drifting approximately 12 miles North of Puffin Island towards the shipping lanes and following a Pan Pan urgency call from the Holyhead Coastguard. The lifeboat launched and was on scene within 25 minutes. Once on scene, it was discovered that the vessel's derricks were stuck in the down position and scallop dredges hanging approximately five meters beneath the surface. The ALB and crew stood by while the crew made several attempts to recover the fishing gear manually. Due to the sheer weight of the equipment, attempts to recover the dredges and stow the beams were unsuccessful. With the vessel in its current state and with the risk of fouling its gear on the seabed, towing to its home port of Porth Penrhyn was not feasible. The coxswain transferred a crew member to improve communications and requested that the vessel jettison the fishing gear and manually stow the large derricks. This request was denied as they didn't have the equipment onboard to cut or remove the wires from the winches or suitable equipment to mark the dredges for future recovery. As there was no immediate risk to life, and the vessel had full electrical power and all navigational aids for safety, it was deemed by Coxswain and Coastguard to be a commercial tow with specialist equipment required to remove the fishing gear and derricks. Following lengthy discussions between the Coastguard, Coxswain, and owners, it was agreed that the lifeboat would stand by and provide safety cover while commercial recovery options were discussed. If required, it would connect a tow should the situation change and the vessel drift into danger. Although there was no response from the coastguard's Pan Pan call, it was later discovered that the scalloper's sister vessel 'BS 89' was also working in the area. The owner later instructed the sister vessel to provide support and assistance. Once it arrived, they transferred some lifting equipment over with ropes and buoys to jettison the dredge. Following several hours of work, the fishing gear was lowered to the seabed. And the sister vessel connected a tow, while the crew of the trawler began work to manually recover the beams and derricks on their way back to Porth Penrhyn. Once safely underway, the Coastguard released the lifeboat and crew after eight hours at sea. Report with photos: https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2024/april/23/rnli-moelfre-eight-hours-at-sea-to-assist-fishing-vessel
Rotterdam
APM Terminals Maasvlakte II’s new rail service between its Rotterdam terminal and Venlo, a key logistics hub on the Dutch-German border is proving popular. Following the success of the initial five-times-per-week service, plans are already in place to scale this up to 14 times per week over the coming weeks.
Genova
A 24-hour national labour strike is planned on Jul 24, in all Italian ports and all transportations. The planned strike is subject to confirmation in the coming days.
ISLAND
Beached at Chittagong 23.04.24 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2044613189253699&set=pcb.10162965541533943
ABDULLAH
After an awful 31-day journey at the hands of Somali pirates, the 'Abdullah' with 23 crew members on board, and loaded with 55,000 tons of coal, arrived safely at the Al Hamriya Port in Dubai on April 22 at 4.30 p.m. Bangladesh time, bringing an end to the voyage, during which, on March 12, it was hijacked in the Indian Ocean while en route from Maputo to the United Arab Emirates. The Kabir Group, the parent company of SR Shipping and the owner of the 'Abdullah', verified the vessel’s safe arrival. After the hijack, the pirates reportedly demanded a ransom of $5 millionduring the early stages of negotiations for the crew’s release. The process entailed several discussions, with the ship’s owners, SR Shipping Limited, working relentlessly to ensure the crew’s safe return. The crew was ultimately released on April 13, and the ship began its journey to Al Hamriya Port, arriving there after eight days of navigation. Captain Mohammad Abdur Rashid stated that all 23 crew members were safe and sound. To crew members will fly back to Bangladesh, while the others will remain on board to await the end of the unloading procedure.
Churchill
Canada’s arctic port of Churchill is set to resume its first grain shipments since 2015 after a group backed by investor Prem Watsa stepped in last year to buy the facility and a related rail line linking the northern town with the rest of Manitoba. The 88-year-old port on the shores of Hudson’s Bay will resume operations in the next few months, reducing by several days the shipping time to deliver grains to Europe and the Middle East across the Atlantic Ocean.
King Abdullah Port
In the largest commercial operation of its kind in the history of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah Port has received 28 state-of-the-art Liebherr cranes to start the expansion of the container terminals. The latter was decided through a MoU signed with National Container Terminal on the day the port was officially inaugurated in the presence of the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman last February. The new cranes include 20 gantry cranes and 8 ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, which are the largest of their kind, with an outreach of 70 m (25 rows) and a safe working load of 65 t. The cranes that were supplied in this deal will join their operational counterparts in the port. They are the largest cranes exported by Liebherr and can serve mega container ships easily and seamlessly.