In the night of May 19, 2024, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed by the departmental directorate of public security that a boat with migrants on board had set sail in the Gravelines sector. The CROSS Gris-Nez mobilized the 'Ridens' to relocate and verify the situation. The 56 boat people were recovered by the 'Ridens' and then dropped at the port of Calais, where they were taken care of by the land emergency services and the border police.
News
RIA DE ALDAN
The 'Ría de Aldán' was in collision with the trawler 'Canaima' (IMO: 7123485) about 240 miles from Punta Pitt, on the island of San Cristóbal, on May 15, 2024. The 'Caanaima' capsized and sank, and the biologist Faustino Riveiro Cabrera, a 53-year-old Venezuelan national with a family in Vigo, was missing. The Ecuadorian Navy investigates the accident. The crew of the 'Canaima' jumped into an auxiliary boat, but Faustino, at the last moment returned to the longliner when it finally sank in a matter of minutes. The 'Ría de Aldán' rescued the castaway and searched for the missing inspector along with the 'Tunapesca', which was also in the area. The Ecuadorian Navy deployed the coast guard vessel 'San Cristóbal' and has requested support from other vessels that were nearby. The 'Ría de Aldá' had suffered a small crack in the bow bulb. Report with video: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/somosmar/2024/05/17/desapareceun-biologo-hijo-vigueses-naufragio-atunero-proximo-galapagos/00031715956306038255900.htm
Mumbai
Mumbai Port’s decision to raise the draft level to 10.3 metres and 11 metres to dock vessels at BPX and BPS respectively, subject to low tides being over 60 cm has been welcomed by maritime fraternity. This has avoided the waiting period for the vessels arriving with deep drafts till the tide is favorable for berthing. At times, such vessels had to arrange for discharging the import cargo for reducing the draft in stream and only subsequently berth at BPX/BPS.
Halifax
PSA International Pte Ltd (PSA) has completed the acquisition of Halterm Container Terminal (“Halterm”) in the Port of Halifax, Canada, from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners,a fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, following formal approval by the relevant regulatory authorities. Halterm is the only container terminal in Eastern Canada that can serve mega container vessels.
RHONE FRENCH WARSHIP
In the night of May 18, 2024, the CROSS Gris Nez was informed by the Calais port captaincy that a migrant boat was at sea in the Calais sector and deployed the 'Rhône' to check the situation on site. Once in the area, various people on the boat requested assistance and the 'Rhône' successively recovered 15 people. Other people still on board the boat refused the assistance offered by French means. The castaways were dropped off at the port of Calais, where they were taken care of by the land emergency services and the border police.
M.V. LOMONOSOV
on May 13, 2024, a fire broke out on the upper deck of the 'Lomonosov' in the Arkhangelsk region (Russian Federation). The upper deck of the ship, covering an area of 936 square meters, was on fire. The ship is currently under repair. Efforts were being made to extinguish the fire using 12 fire vehicles with 42 fire fighters working at the scene. There were no people inside the ship. The Northwestern Transport Prosecutor's Office announced to carry out an inspection. The ship had already caught fire in May 2023 in the engine compartment on the lower deck while the ship was in dry dock at the Arkhangelsk repair and maintenance base.
Salalah
The Port of Salalah, Oman’s major regional gateway port and transshipment hub on the Arabian Sea, set another record in productivity with a delivering 412.97 Port Moves per Hour (PMPH) on vessel Cap San Tainaro handling 3,820 moves in a port stay of 9.25 hours. This is the highest productivity delivered by any port in the region till date.
Rijeka
The Croatian government said it would help a troubled shipyard owned by Uljanik, the country’s largest shipbuilder, resume production. The government, which owns a 25% stake in Uljanik, said in March that it would not back a proposed restructuring plan for the group due to the financial burden it would place on the state. However, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that the government was willing to support 3.Maj, which is located in the northern Adriatic port of Rijeka and is one of the group’s two shipyards, because it did not have as big a debt burden. “Unlike Uljanik, the 3.Maj is not an overly indebted company and there is an interest in the construction of new ships,” Plenkovic told a televised press conference after a government meeting. He said the government expected 3.Maj to draft a plan for its future operations.
CANAIMA
The fishing vessel 'Ría de Aldán' (IMO: 9476238) was in collision with the 'Canaima' about 240 miles from Punta Pitt, on the island of San Cristóbal, on May 15, 2024. The 'Caanaima' capsized and sank, and the biologist Faustino Riveiro Cabrera, a 53-year-old Venezuelan national with a family in Vigo, was missing. The Ecuadorian Navy investigates the accident. The crew of the 'Canaima' jumped into an auxiliary boat, but Faustino, at the last moment returned to the longliner when it finally sank in a matter of minutes. The 'Ría de Aldán' rescued the castaway and searched for the missing inspector along with the 'Tunapesca', which was also in the area. The Ecuadorian Navy deployed the coast guard vessel 'San Cristóbal' and has requested support from other vessels that were nearby. The 'Ría de Aldá' had suffered a small crack in the bow bulb. Report with video: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/somosmar/2024/05/17/desapareceun-biologo-hijo-vigueses-naufragio-atunero-proximo-galapagos/00031715956306038255900.htm
WIND
On May 18, 2024, shortly after midnight, the 'Wind', en route with a cargo of oil from Novorossyisk to China, was attacked 98 miles south of Al Hudaydah. The Captain of the vessel confirmed that the vessel had been struck by an unknown object and suffered slight damage. However, the crew and vessel were safe and continued sailing for the next port call. On May 12-13, the tanker had passed through the Suez Canal, and the last AIS signal was received when it was in the middle of the Red Sea. The attack damaged the propulsion and steering. However, the crew managed to fix the propulsion and steering and continued sailing under its power. Ambrey stated that the steering gear was ablaze, but another steering unit of the vessel was functional. The 'Wind' is a Dark Fleet tanker, her alias in Venezuela was “King”. The vessel which is now registered in Panama, in 2022 was registered in Comoros. She returned to the Panama register in 2023 after having left the Panama flag in 2021.
Taranto
This is the 22nd marine port in Yilport Holding’s portfolio, and its first terminal in Italy. The company, ranked 12th among international container terminal operators by Drewry, targets to be ranked among the top 10 by 2025. Chairman Robert Yuksel Yildirim made the following remarks at the signing ceremony: “We have a strong presence in the Mediterranean. We are in Malta and operate seven ports between Spain and Portugal. Being able to enter Italy and work here in Taranto is like filling in the missing piece of a puzzle that we are building globally. The infrastructure was there but there was no one to take care of it. Our intention is to create another success story in Taranto. From today until the end of this year, we will be fixing cranes to ramp up business, visiting potential customers, and promote the container terminal. The project also aims to cooperate with local operators to improve cargo and ro-ro traffic.”
Venice
Palma de Mallorca, Marseille, Barcelona are a few of the European ports that the President of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority, Pino Musolino, has sent a letter to in recent days, inviting his colleagues to meet in Venice to discuss the economic and environmental impact of the cruise industry and to draw up guidelines for a new sustainable approach to maritime tourism. The ports mentioned above have already accepted and other replies are expected in the coming days. A date will soon be set for a seminar on the issues, to be held in the Venice area.