Coast Guard cutters repatriated 136 migrants to the Dominican Republic between May 21 and May 27, following three separate interdictions of migration attempts near Puerto Rico. The first interdiction occurred on May 17, after the aircrew of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft sighted a 24-foot makeshift vessel taking part in an unlawful maritime migration voyage, approximately 52 nautical miles northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders diverted the 'Joseph Napier' which arrived on scene and embarked eight migrants who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals. The second interdiction occurred May 20, 2024, when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) marine units interdicted a grossly overloaded makeshift vessel, approximately two nautical miles west of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter 'Joseph Tezanos', which rendezvoused with CBP and a Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine units and embarked 68 migrants, 60 Dominican Republic and eight Haitian nationals. The last interdiction occurred on May 21, 2024, after the aircrew of a maritime patrol aircraft detected a 30-foot makeshift vessel, approximately 63 nautical miles north of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan diverted the Coast Guard Cutter 'Richard Dixon', which arrived on scene, stopped the migrant vessel and embarked 61 migrants, 59 Dominican Republic and two Haitian nationals. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3789058/coast-guard-repatriates-136-migrants-to-dominican-republic-following-3-separate/
News
SVITZER FOXTROT
On the morning of May 8, 2024, the crew of the FSRU 'Excellence' (IMO: 9252539), operating at the Moheshkhali Floating LNG off Bangladesh, spotted a capsized fishing vessel with seven fishermen clinging to the overturned hull. The Excelerate team coordinated a response with all available service vessels and tugs to rescue the fishermen in difficult conditions. Challenged by two-meter seas and winds up to 35 knots, all of them were safely recovered by the crew of the 'Svitzer Foxtrot' and subsequently transferred to a Bangladeshi Naval vessel.
Chittagong
Chittagong Port wants to construct new facility at Ananda Bazar, North Halishohor. It includes construction of breakwater for about 11km, dredging construction of a multi-purpose terminal and two container terminals. It is a project with a possible value above USD 2 Billion. After the decision of the government, PPPA communicated with ESG to nominate a suitable company for the project as a requirement of G2G PPP Policy of Bangladesh and they have nominated PSA Singapore.. Objective: To Provide a major gateway for the country's trade with the outside world Primary issue is the limiting factor in accommodating larger vessel sizes and so Chittagong Port Authority intends to construct the "Bay Terminal” to improve the quality of services and develop adequate facilities and decrease the pressure on the existing Chittagong Port. Enhance competitiveness of the country’s exports as prices of imported and exported commodities decrease as a result of shorter shipping time and lower shipping costs. Exporters would incur lower financial costs for their shipments due to the shorter processing and shipping time for their cargo.
CG JOSEPH NAPIER
Coast Guard cutters repatriated 136 migrants to the Dominican Republic between May 21 and May 27, following three separate interdictions of migration attempts near Puerto Rico. The first interdiction occurred on May 17, after the aircrew of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft sighted a 24-foot makeshift vessel taking part in an unlawful maritime migration voyage, approximately 52 nautical miles northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders diverted the 'Joseph Napier' which arrived on scene and embarked eight migrants who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals. The second interdiction occurred May 20, 2024, when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) marine units interdicted a grossly overloaded makeshift vessel, approximately two nautical miles west of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter 'Joseph Tezanos', which rendezvoused with CBP and a Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine units and embarked 68 migrants, 60 Dominican Republic and eight Haitian nationals. The last interdiction occurred on May 21, 2024, after the aircrew of a maritime patrol aircraft detected a 30-foot makeshift vessel, approximately 63 nautical miles north of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan diverted the Coast Guard Cutter 'Richard Dixon', which arrived on scene, stopped the migrant vessel and embarked 61 migrants, 59 Dominican Republic and two Haitian nationals. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3789058/coast-guard-repatriates-136-migrants-to-dominican-republic-following-3-separate/
ICON OF THE SEAS
The passenger from the 'Icon of Seas' has died after jumping 80 feet deep from the cruise ship on the first night of his week-long voyage on May 26, soon after it left Florida with 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members on board en route to Honduras on the morning of May 26. The crew had deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man and brought him back aboard, where he was pronounced deceased. Report with photos: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13467531/royal-carribbean-cruise-passenger-icon-seas-ship-jump.html
Chittagong
THE SUPER CYCLONE ‘AMPHAN’ (PRONUNCIATION: UM-PUN) (ECP: 926 HPA) OVER WEST CENTRAL BAY AND ADJOINING AREA MOVED NORTH- NORTHEASTWARDS AND NOW LIES OVER THE SAME AREA (LAT. 16.0°N, LONG. 86.7°E) AND WAS CENTRED AT 06 AM TODAY (19 MAY, 2020) ABOUT 890 KM SOUTHWEST OF CHATTOGRAM PORT, 840 KM SOUTHWEST OF COX’S BAZAR PORT, 785 KM SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF MONGLA PORT AND 775 KM SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF PAYRA PORT. IT IS LIKELY TO MOVE IN A NORTH-NORTHEASTERLY DIRECTION AND MAY CROSS BANGLADESH COAST BETWEEN KHULNA-CHATTOGRAM DURING LATE NIGHT 19 MAY 2020 TO AFTERNOON / EVENING 20 MAY 2020. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WIND SPEED WITHIN 90 KMS OF THE CYCLONE CENTRE IS ABOUT 225 KPH RISING TO 245 KPH IN GUSTS/ SQUALLS. SEA WILL REMAIN VERY HIGH NEAR THE CYCLONE CENTRE. MARITIME PORTS OF MONGLA AND PAYRA HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO KEEP HOISTED DANGER SIGNAL NUBMER SEVEN (R) SEVEN. COASTAL DISTRICTS OF SATKHIRA, KHULNA, BAGHERHAT, JHALOKATHI, PIROZPUR, BORGUNA, PATUAKHALI, BHOLA, BARISHAL, LAXMIPUR, CHANDPUR AND THEIR OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND CHARS WILL COME UNDER DANGER SIGNAL NUMBER SEVEN (R) SEVEN. MARITIME PORTS OF CHATTOGRAM AND COX’S BAZAR HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO KEEP HOISTED DANGER SIGNAL NUBMER SIX (R) SIX. COASTAL DISTRICTS OF NOAKHALI, FENI, CHATTOGRAM AND COX’S BAZAR THEIR OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND CHARS WILL COME UNDER DANGER SIGNAL NUMBER SIX (R) SIX. UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE VERY SEVERE CYCLONIC STORM “AMPHAN” AND THE NEW MOON PHASE, THE LOW-LYING AREAS OF THE COASTAL DISTRICTS OF SATKHIRA, KHULNA, BAGHERHAT, JHALOKATHI, PIROZPUR, BORGUNA, PATUAKHALI, BHOLA, BARISHAL, LAXMIPUR, CHANDPUR, NOAKHALI, FENI, CHATTOGRAM AND THEIR OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND CHARS ARE LIKELY TO BE INUNDATED BY STORM SURGE OF 4-5 FEET HEIGHT ABOVE NORMAL ASTRONOMICAL TIDE. THE COASTAL DISTRICTS OF SATKHIRA, KHULNA, BAGHERHAT, JHALOKATHI, PIROZPUR, BORGUNA, PATUAKHALI, BHOLA, BARISHAL, LAXMIPUR, CHANDPUR, NOAKHALI, FENI, CHATTOGRAM AND THEIR OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND CHARS ARE LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE WIND SPEED UP TO 140-160 KPH IN GUSTS/ SQUALLS WITH HEAVY TO VERY HEAVY FALLS DURING THE PASSAGE OF THE STORM. ALL FISHING BOATS AND TRAWLERS OVER NORTH BAY AND DEEP SEA HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AND WILL REMAIN IN SHELTER TILL FURTHER NOTICE.
Chittagong
Currently, more than 4,000 TEUs of import containers can be unloaded every day allowing vessels to complete loading and unloading goods at a faster rate, which helps reduce the vessels' stay time at jetties. Vessels' berth occupancy time that had reached 6-7 days last month came down to 3-4 days now, port officials said. The vessels' waiting time at the outer anchorage for getting berths has also dropped to 13-14 days from 16-18 days. Subsequently, the number of vessels waiting at the outer anchorage declined to 24 yesterday though the number hovered around 36 before the steps were taken. AIS Station -BDCGP
EXCELLENCE
On the morning of May 8, 2024, the crew of the FSRU 'Excellence', operating at the Moheshkhali Floating LNG off Bangladesh, spotted a capsized fishing vessel with seven fishermen clinging to the overturned hull. The Excelerate team coordinated a response with all available service vessels and tugs to rescue the fishermen in difficult conditions. Challenged by two-meter seas and winds up to 35 knots, all of them were safely recovered by the crew of the nearby tug 'Svitzer Foxtrot' (IMO: 9592525) and subsequently transferred to a Bangladeshi Naval vessel.
OCEAN VIKING
The 'Ocean Viking' has rescued 41 people off the coast of Libya, including two minors, who were on board a wooden boat in distress on May 28. When the SOS Méditerranée teams arrived, one person was hypothermic and several were suffering from fuel burns.The majority of the people were from Syria. The Italian maritime authorities have designated the port of Ancona to disembark the rescued people.
Varna
A global petition aiming to draw the attention of the general public to the problems of over 150 000 seafarers that cannot leave or cannot joint ship crews due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative belongs to the International Marittime Organization (IMO) Goodwill Maritime Ambassador for Bulgaria Capt. Andriyan Evtimov. The purpose is to have the document signed online by at least the same number of people as that of the blocked by the COVID-19 seafarers, and then send it to the IMO member-state governments with an appeal for immediate and urgent measures to facilitate the movement of seafaring personnel. Currently, only a few countries permit crewmember exchange in their ports, which has a direct negative impact on seafarers’ wellbeing, on the safety of navigation and the global supply chains. The petition, which can be accessed at www.seafarersmatter.com, draws to the attention of the governments that the maritime industry is the backbone of world trade and any continuation of the restrictive measures currently in place against the seafarers would lead to detrimental effect for the global economy. More than 90% of world trade takes place by sea and the seafarers are those who constantly and in personal deprivation carry out their mission ensuring the operation of the supply chains, including such for medical supplies to combat the pandemic. You can access the petition online at www.seafarersmatter.com
Chittagong
The Department of Shipping (DoS) has asked the shipping lines not to realise container detention charge on import and export shipments during the lockdown period, spurred by COVID-19 outbreak. The shipping lines are also advised not to impose any new or additional charges until May 5 when the 41-day shutdowns end. The department issued the advisory on Wednesday, which sparked resentment among the shipping agents in the country. Usually, containers get free time for 14 days after the common landing date and thereafter charged between $5 and $10 per day as detention charge until the importers return those to the port or off-docks. Associate director of Transmarine Logistics Ltd, the local agent of Yang Ming Line, Mohammad Ahsanuzzaman told the FE on Thursday most shipping lines operate their fleet on a leasing basis and pay for the rental daily. Due to the prolonged congestions at the Chittagong port, the containers now have to stay for 15 days at the outer anchorage and at berth, compared with a minimum of three to four days in recent past, he said. During the shutdown period, the containers are lying at the Chittagong port for several weeks when the designated free days expire. "The shipping lines will have to pay container rent besides the opportunity cost, but now the shipping department is asking us not to charge detention fee on importers, which is a mere cost recovery for the liners. This is not acceptable at all when you consider the impact of COVID-19 has on us," he said. "Shipping lines will incur huge financial losses if the order is implemented," said Mr Ahsanuzzaman. Chairman of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA) Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury told the FE on Thursday vessels are staying at the outer anchorage and berth for weeks and counting millions of taka as demurrage. Deptt order angers shipping agentsA few days back, shipping agents had requested the government to waive some charges like port dues, pilotage fees, berthing and unbreathing tariffs, quay gantry crane, loading or discharging the container, storage charges, container and non-CPA equipment, and store rent for containers at off-docks. "The government paid no heed to our appeal rather issued an order not to realise the detention charge," Mr Chowdhury said. He said the department issued the advisory in line with the measures taken in Indian ports. But the reality is there is no such congestions in Indian ports and vessels there enter and leave in time while at the Chittagong port an additional two weeks are required in ship handling, he said. After the shipping department's advisory, he wrote that the imposition or waiver of detention charge of containers depends on foreign principals. "The principals may not consider the waiving of the container detention charge unless the government waives or reduces port tariffs for vessels," he noted. AIS station, Chittagong