Two U.S. Coast Guard cutters returned a combined 92 migrants on April 24, 2024, following four separate interdictions of unlawful, irregular migration attempts over the weekend. The 'Isaac Mayo' transferred 40 people to the Bahamas, following two interdictions of migration attempts on April 19. The first of the two interdictions occurred on the morning when watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Miami received notification from Border Patrol and CBP Air and Marine Operations crews that Miami-Dade Police were on-scene with a migrant venture in Biscayne Bay. The second interdiction occurred Friday night when watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Key West received notification from Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations crews of a migrant venture south of Key Largo, Florida. The crew of the 'William Trump' repatriated 52 people to Cuba, following two migration attempts on April 19, 2024 and April 21, 2024. The first of the two interdictions occurred on the morning of April 19, when watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Key West received notification from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office of a migrant venture south of Boot Key. The second interdiction occurred on April 21 during the night hours, when watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Key West received notification from the Coast Guard Cutter 'Willow' of a migrant venture south of Marathon, Florida. Once aboard the Coast Guard cutter, all migrants received food, water, shelter, and basic medical attention.
News
CG PELICAN
The 'Pelican' interdicted a lancha and seized 350 pounds of illegally caught fish in federal waters off southern Texas on April 25, 2024, in coordination with Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi watch standers, and Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi aircrews. The patrol boat located and stopped four Mexican fishermen engaged in illegal fishing north of the Maritime Boundary Line. After interdicting the lanchas, Coast Guard personnel seized 350 pounds of red snapper, along with fishing gear and highflyers on board the vessels. They detained the men, brought them ashore and transferred the detainees to U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel for further processing. The seized fish will be split and donated to the Harte Institute to support Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing research and Sea Turtle Inc. to help feed and rehabilitate turtles. Report with photos: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3694110/coast-guard-interdicts-lancha-crew-seizes-350-pounds-of-illegally-caught-fish-o/
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.
CG WINSLOW GRIESSER
The 'Heriberto Hernandez' repatriated 38 migrants to the Dominican Republic on April 24, 2024, following two interdictions of unlawful, irregular migration attempts near Puerto Rico. The repatriated migrants were transferred to Dominican Republic authorities during a rendezvous with a Dominican Republic Navy vessel just off the Dominican Republic. Two other interdicted migrants remained in U.S. custody facing criminal immigration charges in the U.S. District Court of Puerto Rico. During the interdiction on April 21, a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew sighted a 20-foot grossly overloaded makeshift vessel, approximately 45 nautical miles northeast of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the 'Heriberto Hernandez' to intercept the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the crew embarked 13 migrants, who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals. During an interdiction on April 22, the aircrew of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft sighted a 30-foot grossly overloaded makeshift vessel, approximately 31 nautical miles west of Ricon, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan diverted the 'Winslow Griesser' to intercept the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the crew embarked 31 migrants, of which 27 claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and four claimed to be Haitians. https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3755880/coast-guard-repatriates-38-migrants-to-dominican-republic-following-2-interdict/
CG SEA OTTER
The 'Sea Otter' was among the units responding to a fire that started on the Oceanside Pier in San Diego on the afternoon of April 25, 2024. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center received notification from the Oceanside Fire Department of a fire on the pier, that was reported to have originated from a vacant restaurant. The 'Sea Otter' was in the area, and the crew began responding to the fire with the use of pumps and hoses. Members of the California Fire Department and San Diego Sheriff’s Department also arrived to assist with response efforts. There have been no reported injuries. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3756773/coast-guard-partner-agencies-respond-to-pier-fire-near-oceanside/
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.
CG HERIBERTO HERNAND
The 'Heriberto Hernandez' repatriated 38 migrants to the Dominican Republic on April 24, 2024, following two interdictions of unlawful, irregular migration attempts near Puerto Rico. The repatriated migrants were transferred to Dominican Republic authorities during a rendezvous with a Dominican Republic Navy vessel just off the Dominican Republic. Two other interdicted migrants remained in U.S. custody facing criminal immigration charges in the U.S. District Court of Puerto Rico. During the interdiction on April 21, a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew sighted a 20-foot grossly overloaded makeshift vessel, approximately 45 nautical miles northeast of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the 'Heriberto Hernandez' to intercept the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the crew embarked 13 migrants, who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals. During an interdiction on April 22, the aircrew of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft sighted a 30-foot grossly overloaded makeshift vessel, approximately 31 nautical miles west of Ricon, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan diverted the 'Winslow Griesser' to intercept the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the crew embarked 31 migrants, of which 27 claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and four claimed to be Haitians. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3755880/coast-guard-repatriates-38-migrants-to-dominican-republic-following-2-interdict/
SALVAMAR ALGENIB
The motor boat 'Las Palomas' (MMSI: 224271690) with two crew members on board suffered an engine failure on April 25 and asked for assistance about 14 nautical miles from Garrucha. The CCS Almería of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the 'Salvamar Algenib', which took the pleasure boat in tow and safely pulled it to Garrucha. Report with photos: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1783492593738821689
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.