On the night of May 10, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that a migrant boat was in difficulty off the coast of Portel and depolyed the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist, which launches its rescue boat to reach the site, where it recovered 36 people. Several people still on board the boat refused the assistance offered by French means and continued their journey under appropriate surveillance. The shipwrecked people were dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken care of by the shore based rescue services and the border police.
News
CHRYSTAL ARCTIC
After the approach of a skiff on the 'Chrystal Arctic', a frigate operating with EUNAVFOR, responded to the report issued by the tanker that it was under attack, and apprehended the six suspected pirates on board the skiff. The frigate secured the pirates physical integrity due to the unsafe condition of their skiff and treated some of them with injuries of varied severity. The ATALANTA forces are gathering evidence and conducting an investigation into the incident in order for a proper assessment of the situation. According to EUNAVFOR, there could be two or more pirate action groups (PAGs) operating off the wider Somalia coastline, which includes the semi-autonomous Puntland region. Photos: https://twitter.com/EUNAVFOR/status/1789642649714012315
Walvis Bay
NAMPORT’s new container terminal will be officially inaugurated on 2 August, and normal operations are expected to start on it on 24 August. The new terminal, constructed at a cost of N$4 billion, is expected to increase container handling capacity from the current 355 000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to up to 1 005 000 TEUs. Firstly, there will be a shutdown on 17 August of container operations in the port to start relocations to the new terminal. The equipment to be relocated include rubber-tired gantries and mobile harbour cranes, while reach stackers, haulers and forklifts will move the containers.
Hanjin Subic Shipyard
The 300-hectare shipyard of Hanjin Philippines may be taken over by several shipping companies that would transform it into a major global port, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a chance interview recently. He said the shipyard could be a sprawling multipurpose mixed-use port facility that would be jointly operated by several players. This, he said, is one of the proposals received by Hanjin creditors for the development of the shipyard after Hanjin Philippines declared bankruptcy early this year. “It’s a good masterplan that has been proposed and it is targeted to be implemented this year,” Lopez said. He declined to name the companies but hinted that these include foreign players. Another source said creditors are in negotiations with an American and a Japanese company. Officially, Hanjin has fully shut down just this month, ending the last of its remaining maintenance operations, sources said. As of this writing, the creditors have not made any official announcement yet regarding the final plans for the shipyard.
FD ATHINA
In the morningof May 11, 2024, the Port Authority of Argosaronic was informed by the Master of the 'Flying Dolphin Athina', that after the arrival in the port of Piraeus, en route from the ports of Aegina and Agistrio, there was a vibration on the port side side of the ship. The ship was to run a route from the port of Piraeus to the ports of Aegina and Agistrio, while the passengers were forwarded to their destinations by the company. The Argosaroniko Port Station of the 1st Port Department of the Central Port Authority of Piraeus prohibited the sailing of the ship until the repair of the damage and the presentation of a certificate of class maintenance of class by monitoring classification society.
MSC ARIES
After weeks of being held in Iran and promises that the crew of the seized 'MSC Aries' would be released, the governments of Portugal, India, and Pakistan confirmed that the first seven crewmembers have finally left the ship. Iran last week had said all crew members would be free to leave if the captain joined them. Next it was reported the crew would be released when their contractual obligations are completed. Portugal as the flag state of the containership confirmed that seven of the 24 crew members still aboard the vessel had departed. The first release consisted of five Indian nationals, one Filipino, and one Estonian, who was the sole European Union citizen on board. The Portuguese government welcomes this development, for which it had strongly advocated for. Nonetheless, it reiterated to the Iranian Government that international law required the immediate release of the remaining crew members and of the shipitself. 'Portugal will continue to make every effort to ensure that these international obligations are fully met,” the Portuguese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. India’s embassy in Iran confirmed that its five citizens have departed Iran and were making their way home to India. Previously, they had arranged for the sole cadet, a female, to travel home to India, where she arrived on April 19, six days after the vessel was seized. The consulate previously said that it had been able to arrange a visit to the crew and that they were in good health. They continued to call for the immediate release of the additional 11 Indian citizens aboard the vessel. The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said that its one crew member was expected to arrive back in the Philippines on May 10 and were working for the release of the three remaining Filipinos aboard the ship. The vessel also has crew members from Russia and Pakistan. Iran had promised the Pakistan Foreign Ministry that it would repatriate its crewmembers while it was planning for a state visit to the country. However, there was no word on when these crewmembers might be released.Iran reiterated its assertion that the ship broke international maritime law. They accused the vessel of turning off its AIS transmissions while in Iranian territorial waters and endangering the safety of navigation. The official position was that the vessel was detained under judicial review. The seizure is widely seen as a retaliatory move against Israel coming shortly before Iran unleashed missiles and drones targeting Israel. The 'MSC Aries' is operating under a long-term charter to MSC but is owned by affiliates of Zodiac Maritime in which Eyal Ofer is the lead investor.
Visakhapatnam
With further development to its existing solid European products, Ocean Network Express (ONE) has announced the launch of a new direct service, the Indian Ocean Service 3 (IO3), which covers South East India, Mediterranean, and North Europe. The new product will offer new port coverage and boost reliability to a wider range of direct port call options to ONE’s valued customers. It will also further expand ONE’s already comprehensive service offerings and allow its clients to enjoy greater choice while bringing efficiency and additional values to the supply chain. The first sailing of the loop is now expected to start from 26th October 2019. IO3: Indian Ocean Service 3 Rotation: Visakhapatnam – Krishnapatnam – Chennai – Tuticorin – Colombo – Cochin – Damietta – Piraeus – Rotterdam – London Gateway – Hamburg – Antwerp – Le Havre – Damietta – Jeddah – Colombo – Visakhapatnam (Fixed day weekly service, 63-day rotation)
Callao
APM Terminals has become the first Peruvian port to introduce a customer platform that logs, streamlines and coordinate General Cargo operations in the port of Callao. During the pilot phase, the platform, which was developed together with maritime and customs agents, enabled users to complete transactions 67% faster and operations were completed 12% faster. APM Terminals Callao invested nearly USD 1 million in the implementation of MOST, a new state-of-the-art platform that can be used by maritime agents, customs agencies and carriers, among others. MOST can be used to register cargo and view real-time information, make online payments and generate authorizations for the loading and unloading of all types of General Cargo, from anywhere, anytime. The platform is a clear milestone in the efficient management of port logistics using world-class technology.
CARNIVAL VENEZIA
On May 10, a crew member of the 'Carnival Venecia' went overboard during standard emergency drills which were being conducted on the ship in the port of St. Thomas, Virgin Island. The crew member was not involved in the drill, but was was engaged in maintenance at the hull when he slipped and fell into the water. The officers swiftly responded to the situation and launched a rescue operation. A rescue boat was deployed to reach the man in the water. The crew member was retrieved successfully from the water and boarded the cruise ship with no serious injuries. The cruise ship activities were not disrupted, and the ship continued its voyage to San Juan on May 11.
Rio de Janeiro
ICTSI subsidiary ICTSI Americas BV has acquired 100% of the shares of Libra Terminal Rio S.A. (Libra Rio) to run the Terminal de Contêineres 1 (T1Rio) container terminal in the Port of Rio, Brazil. Libra Rio holds the concession rights to operate, manage and develop T1Rio and was acquired by ICTSI from Boreal Empreendimentos e Participações SA. The deal to take over the port container terminal concession was disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange, reported Manila Standard. ICTSI said: “The parties will work to sign a share purchase agreement in due course.” Concession until 2048
Limassol
Two and a half years after taking over the operations of the Multi-Purpose and the New Cruise Terminals at the Limassol port, DP World Limassol on Wednesday presented the upgrades and investments in infrastructure and equipment. The company said that it had acquired brand-new equipment in January 2019 as part of an ongoing upgrade of the Limassol port infrastructure. The new machinery was put into operation in March 2019, following intensive training of staff and has contributed to speeding up operations at the Multi-purpose port terminal. More specifically, the new equipment includes: A new, high-tech LHM 420 mobile harbour crane, with maximum lifting capacity of 144 tons and radius of 54 metres enhancing the efficient handling and transportation of bulk cargo, general cargo, containers, oil and gas.