The 23 crew members of the 'Abdullah' met their families on the afternoon of May 14 as the vessel reached the Chattogram Port. The crew members received a warm welcome when the vessel 'Jahan Moni-3', carrying them from Kutubdia in Cox's Bazar, reached New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT)-1. The crew members will go to their respective homes. Care was taken to send them to their destinations safely. New crew members took charge of the 'Abdullah' on May 14 and sailed for the United Arab Emirates. Report with photos: https://www.voanews.com/a/crew-members-reunited-with-families-at-chattogram-after-pirate-captivity/7613312.html
News
PILGRIM
Beached as Dead Vessel at Aliaga as Dunay 09.05.24 towed by Tug Horoz https://www.instagram.com/p/C7BBemRtdbX/?img_index=1
Iskenderun
Thick black smoke was rising from burning containers at Iskenderun Port on Feb 6, 2023. The fire was caused by containers that toppled over during the powerful earthquake that struck southeast Turkey. ATurkish Coast Guard vessel was assisting efforts to extinguish the blaze.
Kerch
Russia's Ministry of Transport has set up a ferry service across the Kerch Strait to take over vehicle traffic, offsetting some of the impact of the damage to the Kerch Strait Bridge after a truck was blown up on the westbound road deck of the Kerch Strait Bridge on Oct 7 at about 6 a.m. Two spans of the westbound deck collapsed into the water, but the adjacent eastbound deck remained in place. The blast's timing coincided with the passage of a fuel train on the adjacent rail deck, and it ignited seven fuel tank cars, which burned for hours after the explosion. A Russian salvage diving team has arrived on the site and is completing an underwater survey of the damage, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said Sunday. An above-water inspection process is already under way. Traffic had partially resumed on the bridge by late Saturday, though restricted by the extent of the damage. Russia's Ministry of Transport said that it also resumed suburban commuter rail service over the rail track, though not heavy freight trains. Two ferries are already in operation to provide a bypass route, and eight separate parking lots have been set up for temporary storage for cars and trucks waiting to make the crossing. Two more ferries will join the effort on Monday, the Yeysh and Mriya.
PESCADORE
Wanting for a fishing license for eight years, Samuel Deshayes, captain of the “Pescadore”, chose to block the gates of the port of Granville on May 15, 2024. With the fear of “losing everything” in the days to come, he decided to take a striking action. Since 6 a.m. the skipper was proclaiming his dismay under the watchful eye of the maritime gendarmerie, while apologizing to his colleagues for the inconvenience caused.
Kiel
The Port of Kiel expects another good season in 2023, resulting in 218 cruise calls, said its MD Dirk Claus in the morning of Jan 17, 2023, as part of a presentation reflecting on last year's results. It follows 2022's record-breaking 244 calls, which saw the port handle over 2.24m passengers, 836,000 of those from cruise vessels. The number of calls in 2019 was 37% less by comparison, numbering 178, and passenger volumes 4.1% lower. 2020 had been forecast to become a record season for Kiel, with 200 calls and 880,000 passengers, but aspirations were dashed owing to the pandemic. This year, a number of larger vessels are scheduled to arrive at Kiel on multiple occasions making the gross tonnage of arriving ships similar to 2022. For 2023, the choice of routes and destinations approached from Kiel will be slightly broader. Moving into the future, Claus expects Kiel to settle on between 200 and 250 cruise calls annually. According to the port, last year’s promising results were the result of ‘intense planning’ with international cruise operators. While 11 calls were cancelled owing to the conflict in Ukraine and the resulting loss of St Petersburg from itineraries, nine were newly added as a result of rerouting by operators. Looking ahead, there will be a strong focus on greener shipping with Claus hoping that between 60 and 100 calls can be supplied with green shore power this year. He stated that Kiel will continue to look at strengthening shore power in line with its corporate sustainability strategy to lower carbon emissions. Work on the new Ostuferhafen shore power plant is expected to conclude towards the end of this year, resulting in Kiel being able to offer shoreside connectivity at all its ferry and cruise terminals from 2024. Along with this €17m investment, a further €2m will be invested to install solar arrays. The systems, which will be fitted on roofs at Kiel Port, are intended to cover up to 30% of the port's electricity requirements in the long term. Kiel’s first call is expected to arrive April 7 with the river vessel 'Frederic Chopin'. The first cruise ship of the season, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 'Balmoral', will arrive a week later. The largest ships to call will be 'MSC Euribia' and 'AIDAnova'. At the other end of the scale, the 'Ocean Majesty' will visit Kiel on six occasions while chartered to Hansa Touristik. The vessel, which celebrates its 57th anniversary this year, is popular with the German source market. One of its calls is scheduled to occur on June 18 during the Kieler Woche sailing festival which will run from June 17-25. Traditionally, this marks the peak of the cruise season with this year no exception: 22 calls are expected by Kiel at the same time as the event takes place. While the highest number of calls is expected between mid-April and the end of September as usual, some ships will continue to call later in the year. 'AIDAnova'’s last departure is scheduled for November 4 whilst December 20 will see Phoenix Reisen's 'Amera' arrive at Kiel as part of a pre-Christmas itinerary. The season will draw to a close a few days later with the 'Spirit of Discovery' on December 29. Costa-, AIDA-, MSC- and TUI Cruises will again be the port's largest cruise customers. The majority of calls account for turnarounds serving the German-speaking source markets, but a number of transit calls will also take place, P&O Cruises’ Britannia, Swiss Ruby, Holland America Line’s 'Nieuw Statendam' and Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 'Seven Seas Splendor' among them. As in previous years, the Ostuferhafen outside the city centre will be heavily utilised by MSC Cruises and most other cruise ships will arrive at the Ostseekai.
Kerch
The Crimean Bridge across Kerch Strait suffered an explosion and fire in the morning of Oct 8, 2022. Two spans of the motorway bridge collapsed and fell into the water, the railway bridge above the motorway witha cargo train including railway car tanks with fuel, was on fire. All bridge traffic was suspended. The Crimean Bridge was more than a Bridge, both for Russia and Ukraine. For Russia it was a symbol of the Russian “victory” and historical justice. For the Ukraine, it was a symbol of the Russian aggression and Crimea occupation. The navigation span of the Bridge is yet undamaged, and therefore, the Kerch Strait Channel remained navigable. The Kerch Strait Transit is from now on, however, a risky undertaking, so all ship owners are advised to calculate risks and probably, change their ships voyages, avoiding Azov sea calls.
USAV JAMES LOUX
A combined effort between Cyprus, the UN, the United States and the United Kingdom is underway to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Departing from Larnaka port on May 15, 2024, the USAV 'James Loux'of the US Army, was en route to Gaza with a fresh shipment of aid for the population. Included on the aid ship is the first British humanitarian aid package for Gaza, which includes nearly 100 tonnes of materials, including 8,400 shelter coverage kits, as part of a £2 million aid package. The aid will be distributed within Gaza as soon as feasible. The pier built by the US Navy and Army will serve as a crucial entry point for aid, facilitating the delivery of international aid into Gaza. Report with photos: https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/humanitarian-aid-ship-en-route-to-gaza-expected-arrival-in-18-hours
DALI
Seven weeks after the allision with the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltomore, the crew of the 'Dali' is still trapped on the ship. Since the accident, the crew, comprising of 20 Indians and one Sri Lankan national, has been unable to disembark due to visa restrictions, lack of land passes and investigations by the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The living conditions are harsh on board. While meals and packages are brought to them, but morale declines. During the first weeks of the investigation, the FBI confiscated their cell phones, leaving them virtually without communication with the outside world. They were then given SIM cards and temporary mobile phones without data. In a statement on May 11, two seafarers' unions called for their phones to be promptly returned, stressing that the loss of communication with family members causes considerable hardship for crew members. According to the Synergy Marine, the 'Dali's management company based in Singapore, the crew was resisting well. “All their needs were met to the best of their ability. For example, shipments of Indian meals were delivered on board to relieve the pressure on the cooks. Hindu priests also visited them. Once the ship has been docked, it was estimated that the sailors will only be able to set foot on land in small groups, with heavy restrictions on their movements. The 'Dali' experienced two blackouts while moored in the Port of Baltimore a day before its allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and efforts to resolve those blackouts may have impacted the ship’s operations, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said in a congressional hearing on May 15. After the two in-port blackouts on March 25, the ship’s crew switched to a different transformer and set of breakers from those that had been in use for several months, according to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. That may have impacted the ship’s operations when it left the port a day later. Switching breakers is not unusual but may have affected operations the very next day. The comments, which add further context to the focus of the NTSB investigation, came during a hearing for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure reviewing and analyzing the federal response to the accident. On May 14, the NTSB had released a 24-page preliminary report detailing investigators’ early factual findings. The report found the 'Dali' was just three ships’ lengths from the bridge when it suffered a pair of electrical failures, which caused several pumps required for the ship’s propeller and rudder to stop working. The emergency generator activated but was not configured to power the ship. The NTSB report found that the Dali had experienced two blackouts a day earlier while still moored in the port. The NTSB is still investigating the electrical configuration following the first in-port blackout and potential impacts on the events during the accident voyage. The NTSB has been working closely with Hyundai, which manufactures the ship equipment, to try to replicate some of the electrical problems of that day and understand better what happened.
Singapore
On Dec 1, 2022, at about 3 p.m. the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was informed that 15 empty containers at Keppel Terminal had fallen from the wharf into the water as a result of strong winds during a squall. There were no reported injuries and no immediate impact to port operations. The MPA deployed two patrol crafts to monitor and cordon off the affected area to facilitate recovery work by PSA Corporation Ltd. MPA’s Port Operations Control Centre has restricted all vessel movements in the vicinity of Keppel Terminal until the containers were recovered.
Odessa
For the fourth day in a row, Iranian-made drones attacked Odesa on Sep 26 in the morning, this time against military targets and without civilian casualties. On Sep 23, two civilians were killed during Russian drone attacks on the port city. On Sep 25, Odesa was attacked by three drones, one of which was reportedly shot down by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine has not officially identified the drones, but from the video footage below it appears, according to experts, that they are Iranian-produced Shakhed 136 drones.