A major police incident was reported aboard the 'Nave Andromeda' in the English Channel involving stowaways as a 5 mile zone established was off the Isle of Wight on Oct 25, 2020. The Hampshire Police was dealing with the incident on the ship. A Coast Guard helicopter was monitoring the vessel which was due to dock in Southampton earlier, but has now dropped anchor. The ship had radioed a Mayday alert at 9 a.m. after at least half a dozen stowaways who had been hiding on the ship appeared.
News
LADY ALARA
Casualty
A crew member of the 'Lady Alara', which was berthed at Providence, Rhode Island, fell into a cargo hold in the evening of Oct 24, 2020. The man was seriously injured, having suffered multiple traumatic injuries to the head and back. The Providence Fire Fighters responded and recovered him from cargo hold using tower ladder. He was then taken to the Rhode Island Hospital for treatmet. The bulk carrier had arrived from Izmir with a cargo of cement at 11.30 a.m.
ECLIPSE
Misc. for ports and Vessels
An outbreak of the corona virus was reported aboard the 'Eclipse' which is berthed at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg. Upon the arrival from Gibraltar on Sep 30, 2020, the master had reported, that the crew was healthy. Short after the yacht was docked, this turned out to be wrong. Two crew members were tested positive, and they were quarantined with weak symptoms. Meanwhile the isolation could be lifted again.
RO VISION
Casualty
On Oct 24, 2020, around 6 p.m. a seven-meter-long aluminum workboat capsized off the island of Stokka in the Alstenfjord in Nordland. A wave pushed it on its side not far from Tingvoll in front of Sandnessjøen Airport in Alstahaug with a 90 degree heel. The skipper of the boat which was used for the aquaculture industry was locked in the wheelhouse because he could no longer open the door against the water pressure, but was still able to make a Mayday call. At the same time, the air bubble in the wheelhouse saved the boat from sinking. The ferry ‘Tenna’ and the pilot boat from Sandnessjøen as well as the ambulance boat ‘Eyr Ytterholmen men with diving crews from the fire brigade in Sandnessjøen hurried to the scene of the accident. The ‘Ro Vision’, which was nearby enroute from Tromsø to Nordskaget, launched its MOB boat, the crew of which was able to break open the door and rescue the man. He was shocked, but otherwise unharmed, and was later taken aboard the ambulance boat to Sandnessjøen and cared for at Helgeland Hospital. The lifebaot ‘Odd Fellow III’ took care of the work boat and secured it until it could be recovered. The accident occurred in good weather. The boat was probably so heavily loaded that it took over water and then overturned. Norwegian report with photo: https://www.nrk.no/nordland/ble-innesperret-i-styrhuset-da-bat-gikk-rundt-1.15214364#
Paramaribo
Misc. for ports and Vessels
The Maritime Authority of Suriname has issued the following 2 Notices to Mariners: 1. "From September 5, 2020 to January 6, 2021, the Noble Sam Croft drillship will conduct exploration drillings off the coast of Suriname at the drilling location 07 ° 23 "401 N - 55 ° 55" 264 W (WGS 84). For safety reasons the shipping should keep a safe distance of 1000 (one thousand) metres from thenNoble Sam Croft. The Offshore Support Vessels (OSV) that will assist during the operations are: Southern Tide, States Tide and Polaris. Please note: • Communication is through VHF, all international channels 13, 16, 69, 72. • There is a SAFETY ZONE of 1000 (one thousand) metres from the drilling site. • The Noble Sam Croft is not maneuverable and will display the relevant characters. All ships should take notice of the above mentioned." 2. "The drillship Maersk Developer will conduct exploration drilling of the Coast of Suriname from September 19th till December 3rd, 2020 at the drilling location 07° 21’.270 N – 055° 33’.247 W (WGS 84). For safety reasons vessels should keep a safe distance of 1000 (one thousand) meters from the drillship. The Offshore Support Vessels (OSV) that will assist during the operations are MV Bourbon Topaz, MV Gerard Tide, MV Felton Tide and MV National Energy Explorer. Please note: • Communication is through the VHF channels 16 and 77. • There is a SAFETY ZONE of 1000 (one thousand) meters from the drilling site. • Maersk Developer is not maneuverable and will display the relevant characters. All ships should take notice of the above mentioned."
C3 RUBICON
Casualty
The 'C 3 Rubicon' suffered an engine failure on Oct 24, 2020, around 7 a.m. in the Western Dardanelles in the waters of Kumkale after completing the transit of the Dardanelles in western direction en route from Istanbul to Izmir. The tug 'Kurtarma 3' was called to assit by Coastal Safety, and the vessel was towed to the northern Bozcaada anchorage where it anchored at 12.30 p.m. The crew managed to fix problem and restart the engine, and the ship resumed the voyage on Oct 25 at noon.
Beirut
Misc. for ports and Vessels
The Lebanese army on Sep 3 found a further 4.35 tonnes of the explosive ammonium nitrate a month after 2,750 tonnes of the substance exploded in the harbour and destroyed large parts of the city. The explosive substance was found in a warehouse immediately outside one of the entrances to the port, and engineers from the army took care of it. Simultaneously with the new discovery, it emerged that the outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab told the head of the investigation of the catastrophic explosion that he knew of the existence of the large amount of ammonium nitrate at the port before the explosion. 25 suspects have been arrested so far, including the port's chief of staff Hassan Koraytem and customs chief Badri Daher. Among the others arrested were also three Syrian workers who carried out welding work at the warehouse, where the huge amount of ammonium nitrate was stored, on the day the explosion took place. Up to 200 were killed and about 6,500 injured in the blast, causing damage to a double-digit billion.
