The police have identified the body, which was found in the trawl of the trawler 'Kongsfjord' on April 12, 2024. On April 22 the police stated that it was Latvian Romans Solovjovs (38), who was found south-east of Svalbard. The next of kin have been notified. There was no final autopsy report, but the cause of death was stated to be drowning. The Havøy Kystfiske was grateful for the discovery of Solojovs and expressed their thanks for the efforts of the crew of the trawler for finding and bringing the deceased ashore. They hoped that this finding would give the police the answers they need to close the investigation, and bring some form of closure to the Solovjovs' family. Solovjovs was reported missing to the police following a report of a man overboard on the snow crab vessel "Hunter" off Svalbard on Jan 30, 2023. According to the accident report from February 2023, Solovjovs fell overboard while preparing the rails. Following the accident, the Accident Investigation Board notified the Norwegian Maritime Directorate of what they believed to be safety-critical conditions on board. As a result, the ship was detained in Tromsø until orders from the Norwegian Maritime Directorate were rectified. In that connection, all certificates were confiscated and declared invalid due to serious security discrepancies. The background was precisely the fatal accident. Owner Jøran Helde in Havøy Kystfiske, who owns the vessel, complained about this decision from the directorate. He then stated that the shipping company disagreed with a large number of findings in the audit report, and that it was therefore appealed. The case has not been finally decided. The ship remained docked in Ålesund. The shipping company had to pay half a million Norwegian crowns after it was discovered that the ship had too many foreign employees in the crew.
News
CP 311
The 'CP 311' rescued a single hand sailor of Spanish nationality who had set of with the 12-m-yacht 'Black Pit' on April 11, 2024, from Crete towards Sicily. After receiving an information on April 19 from the MRCC in Piraeus and acquiring a satellite signal indicating the possible presence of the yacht 110 miles from Cape Spartivento, about 200 km from the Calabrian coast, the Italian Coast Guard, coordinated by the Maritime Directorate of Reggio Calabria, started an SAR operation involving a plane taking off from Catania, the 'CP 311' from Roccella Jonica and two merchant ships, which diverted to the area to search the vessel. Amid very bad weather conditions, 40 knots of wind and worsening seas, the "Black Bit" was finally spotted disabled and adrift with a broken mast by the Coast Guard aircraft. The lone sailor managed to send out light signals to be identified. In the middle of the night, the 'CP 311' reached the yacht and took the man on board. After the initial treatment provided on board the patrol boat, the sailor was dropped off at the port of Roccella for further medical treatment. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XhKpXp-YDE
Singapore
Construction work on the second phase of the Tuas mega port began yesterday with the installation of the first concrete structure for the wharf. A total of 227 concrete structures or caissons, each weighing 13,000 tonnes, will be installed over the next eight years to construct the wharf, the largest in the mega port. Almost 400ha of land will be reclaimed for the second phase, which will have 21 container berths and be able to handle 21 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo annually. In April, the last of 221 caissons for the first phase of the mega-port project was installed. Last year, a consortium of three companies – Penta Ocean Construction, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Boskalis International – won a $1.46 billion contract to develop the second phase of the Tuas port.
Piraeus
A press report, dated Jul 3, states: The 24-hour strike by seamen on Jul 3, has left Greek ferries and other passenger boats tied up in port, stranding tourists and Greeks heading for vacation and leaving many islands cut off for the day. The PNO seamen?s union called Wednesday?s strike to demand salary increases as part of collective wage agreements. Dozens of inhabited Greek islands don?t have airports and are accessible only by sea. The passenger shipping business association SEEN, with which the seamen?s union had been negotiating, had expressed surprise when the strike was announced in late June, saying it offered a two percent wage increase for 2019 on top of a retroactive two percent increase for 2018. It said the offer, along with staff increases, was ?beyond our actual capabilities during a particularly difficult time? with 50% fuel cost increases.
KONGSFJORD
The police have identified the body, which was found in the trawl of the 'Kongsfjord'. On April 22 the police state dthat it was Latvian Romans Solovjovs (38), who was found south-east of Svalbard. The next of kin have been notified. There was no final autopsy report, but the cause of death was stated to be drowning. The Havøy Kystfiske was grateful for the discovery of Solojovs and expressed their thanks for the efforts of the crew of the trawler for finding and bringing the deceased ashore. They hoped that this finding would give the police the answers they need to close the investigation, and bring some form of closure to the Solovjovs' family. Solovjovs was reported missing to the police following a report of a man overboard on the snow crab vessel "Hunter" off Svalbard on Jan 30, 2023. According to the accident report from February 2023, Solovjovs fell overboard while preparing the rails. Following the accident, the Accident Investigation Board notified the Norwegian Maritime Directorate of what they believed to be safety-critical conditions on board. As a result, the ship was detained in Tromsø until orders from the Norwegian Maritime Directorate were rectified. In that connection, all certificates were confiscated and declared invalid due to serious security discrepancies. The background was precisely the fatal accident. Owner Jøran Helde in Havøy Kystfiske, who owns the vessel, complained about this decision from the directorate. He then stated that the shipping company disagreed with a large number of findings in the audit report, and that it was therefore appealed. The case has not been finally decided. The ship remained docked in Ålesund. The shipping company had to pay half a million Norwegian crowns after it was discovered that the ship had too many foreign employees in the crew.
MISSUNDE III
Due to the ongoing problems with the 'Missunde III', the prececessor ferry “Missunde II” returned to operation on the Schlei. The State Office for Coastal Protection, National Park and Marine Protection (LKN) had already sold the old ferry for a scrap value of 17,000 Euros. During test operations, various problems arose when using the new, significantly larger ferry. The authority has now bought back the old diesel ferry for around 50,000 Euros. Since last week it has been operating again on its old route between Kosel and Brodersby. 3.3 million Euros were spent on the new ferry with electric propulsion and solar cells on the roof. The new ferry was originally scheduled to start operating in April 2023. But the transfer from the shipyard in Derben initially failed due to delivery difficulties, then due to low water on the Elbe and finally due to flooding on the Schlei. A January opening date was canceled due to additional work on the jetties. The new start date was March 2024. But further problems arose during test sailings which have shown that some modifications were necessary to the ferry's cable guide. The ferry can no longer be docked when the wind is three to four Beaufort. While the old ship, which is 21 meters long, has a load capacity of 22.5 tons, the new, 34 meter long ferry can transport 45 tons. so it is almost twice as big. The rope is obviously under heavy strain due to the greater weight. In order to be able to catch the much larger new ferry even in stronger winds and guide it safely to the ramps, additional thicker bollards are required. In order to be able to ram this, a soil report is first required. In addition, another rope will be laid through the Schlei. and the “Missunde III” will also receive bow and stern thrusters. Two rows of dolphins on the route across the Schlei are intended to make maneuvering the ferry easier. To do this, the fairway will have to be narrowed.
Timaru
A massive container ship will return to Timaru on Sunday after the world’s largest logistics company confirmed weekly visits to the port. This follows a trial late in May when the 286.5 metre long and 40m wide, Rio de Janeiro’s berthing acted as a test run for similar sized ships to dock in Timaru after a $2.5 million project to widen the port’s inner breakwater entrance from 90m to 140m. PrimePort chief executive Phil Melhopt confirmed the 6pm Sunday call of the giant vessel and said it was another demonstration of the forward steps the port was taking. “Maersk shipping line have been very consistent since the Timaru container terminal started their operations in 2014 and will be calling in at Timaru again,” he said. “They have recently announced their Southern Star Rio Class will form part of their service into Timaru. They’re going to call here going forward.
Tanger-Med
APM Terminals second terminal in Morocco, MedPort Tangier was inaugurated this week. Part of the Tanger Med Port complex, it has an annual capacity of 5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalents). With this new capacity, Morocco is establishing itself as one of the most important transhipment locations in the world. Tanger Med Port is already ranked as the leading African port and is amongst the world’s top 50 container ports due to its prime location along key trade lanes and increasing cargo flows, to and from Africa. The construction of the state-of-the-art APM Terminals MedPort Tangier facility took two years and a total investment of USD 800m. This new transhipment terminal is designed, constructed and operated by APM Terminals, and will join existing hub facilities servicing Maersk and its partners. Built utilizing the latest technology, the terminal is set to be one of the most efficient and safest in the world.
IUVENTA
A court in Trapani has decided not to initiate a main trial against the accused crew of the 'Iuventa'. The trial, which has been ongoing since 2017 and was based on investigations, was dismissed. The sea rescuers were accused of human trafficking, which could have ended in long prison sentences. The termination of the proceedings became apparent after a hearing in February, at which the main witnesses could not remember their original statements. The charges were based on their previous statements, which alleged that the 'Iuventa' crew had worked with Libyan smuggling networks. These allegations were always denied by the defendants. After the hearing, the public prosecutor came to the conclusion that no crime had taken place and that the main witnesses were not credible. The ship, which was seized, is to be released.
HAVTIND
On the afternoon of April 22, 2024, at aroudn 4 p.m. there was smoke development on board the "Havtind", north of Shetland, from the battery on a truck. No one was injured. The crew extinguished the battery fire amd established contact with the British Coastguard. The trawler then headed towards Ålesund for further investigations.
Balboa
Balboa, Jul 4 -- Panama Canal Port Condition report for Jul 4. Projected backlog at 0001 hrs: Fifty-one vessels today, 47 tomorrow and 44 on Jul 6. There are 29 vessels arriving today, 30 tomorrow and 42 on Jul 6. There are 33 vessels scheduled for today and 33 for tomorrow. Estimated delays for vessels without reservation/non-booked: Northbound: All types of vessels, two days. Southbound: All types of vessels, one to two days
Point Samson
Nine vessels at anchor off Port Walcott, waiting to load iron ore