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Hartlepool RNLI volunteers were paged on Oct 20, 2021, at 4.32 p.m. to assist an 11 metre fishing boat with three people on board that had suffered mechanical failure two miles off Blackhall, County Durham and had been taken under tow by the 'HMS Explorer'. The all weather lifeboat 'Betty Huntbatch' launched at 4.50 p.m. and was alongside the vessel within a few minutes as it was then approximately 1,5 miles off Hartlepool where the tow was handed over to the RNLI boat. The vessel was towed to Hartlepool Marina where a team from Hartlepool Coastguard Rescue were waiting to assist. Report with photo: https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2021/october/20/royal-navy-assist-hartlepool-rnli-to-tow-fishing-boat

Ocean Residences, based in Malta, will have their residence ship called NJORD constructed by Meyer. The ship is to be 290 meters long and equipped with 118 apartments. An oceanographic and atmospheric laboratory with high-quality technical equipment is also to be set up on board the M / Y NJORD. These include drones and a telescope. Scientists and experts are supposed to collect data on environmental, marine and air conditions and create new maps of the ocean floor while traveling around the globe. All collected data should be made available to the general public. Ocean Residences originally planned to have this ship built by Brodosplit and the Norwegian Kleven shipyard Images: https://www.cruisedeck.de/meyer-werft-sichert-sich-neubau-auftrag-von-ocean-residences/

In port

Beached at Chittagong 21.10.21

Under tow of the tug 'Zion' the barge 'Julie B' left the St. Simons Sound in the morning of Oct 20 with a double payload of the 'Golden Ray' on board, totaling more than 6,000 metric tons. The barge with Section 3 and Section 6 of the wreck was bound for the Modern American Recycling Services in Gibson and should arrive at MARS within 10 days. Both sections were transferred onto the 'Julie B' earlier this month in a complex operation that involved the 'VB 10,000' which switched each section from a dry dock barge to the 'Julie B's deck. The barge has spent the past two weeks at Mayor's Point Terminal on the East River, where crews have spent the time sea fastening each section for secure transit on the ocean-borne voyage. The Julie B departed Mayor's Point Terminal before dawn, having passed inspection with the Coast Guard and finding a favorable window of weather from there to the Louisiana Gulf Coast. She passed through the St. Simons Sound and into open waters at about 9 a.m. Meanwhile, salvage masters with the T&T Salvage are focused on the slow, steady raising of the last remaining section from the St. Simons Sound. Anticipating heavy damage to the submerged port side of Section 4, crews have concentrated on lightening the load inside the 4,090-metric-ton chunk of steel, while the crane ship painstakingly raises it ever closer to entirely clearing the water line. Engineers and salvage masters were hoping to safely raise the section high enough to get a first glimpse of the underside in more than two years and assess the damage. The degree of damage may warrant further reinforcement of the holding cradle on the dry deck barge that will ultimately haul it from the sound. A Fuchs crane has spent the last three days plucking vehicles and decking from inside the section's cargo hold. The section hangs suspended in the towering arches of the 'VB 10,000', which slowly lifts it by sturdy polymer connecting straps. That first look at the damage could come as early as the night of Oct 21 or the morning of Oct 22.

Gypsies from the poorest country in the EU - Bulgaria, have attempted to board unnamed motor vessel at Port of Burgas outer anchorage, Maritime.bg reported. The information has been confirmed by the authorities in the country. The regional governor of Burgas has appointed an urgent investigation into the so-called first piracy act in the Bulgaria's European waters. According to Maritime.bg, the attackers were not caught after their approach to the ship was detected by local services. An unknown number of gypsies are said to have sailed in a speedboat and had a ladder to board the unnamed motor vessel, under cover of the night ten days ago. A few years ago, the Libyan GNMT accused Bulgaria of supporting a "purely pirate act" when, under unknown and highly dubious circumstances, the company lost control of motor tanker BADR. The case unfolded again near Burgas. Report in Bulgarian: https://www.maritime.bg/75948-2/

The Israel-Palestine conflict has crept into the maritime sector. The two Israeli ports Ashdod and Ashkelon had to be closed after rocket attacks on port infrastructure as well as other port complexes in the region. Vital Israeli port infrastructures in the Ashdod and Ashkelon area were hit in spite of the air defense system iron dome. The port of Ashdod siffered widespread damage. The cargo ships 'Mona' (IMO: 9101534) and 'Ahmet Onel' (IMO: 8420361), were nearly hit by rockets. In a separate incident, the military wing of Hamas - the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade - has declared that they have bombed an Israeli Gas Platform off Gaza, which has been continuing to burn ever since.

A body was found in the sea in the morning of Oct 19, 2021 amid tragic circumstances. The Largs lifeboat was called ou, while the 'Argyle', which serves the Wemyss Bay to Rothesay route, also assisted. A 74-year-old man was found in the water near Port Bannatyne on Bute shortly after 9 a.m. Police attended along with partners from HM Coastguard and the RNLI. The death was being treated as unexplained, though there were no apparent suspicious circumstances. A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal in due course. The lifeboat returned at 10.45 a.m. and was made ready for service once again.

A man who allegedly trespassed onto the 'Arcadia' docked in Tyne has been charged by police. He was seen acting suspiciously at the port in North Shields before boarding on Oct 18, 2021. Shortly after 8.30 p.m. police officers received a report of the trespassing incident. The suspect was later found at the back of the vessel by the team of officers who had been tasked with locating him. The ship had arrived at the port of Tyne on Oct 16.

On June 8, 2021, the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC RESOLUTION (IMO 9880685) was docked out at the Norwegian Ulstein shipyard. Full article + photo gallery: https://www.cruisedeck.de/national-geographic-resolution-ausgedockt/

On May 6, 2021, at 10 a.m. a trawler newbuilding caught fire in Thyborøn. The 'L 120-Linette' was ablaze at the shipyard quay. The fire brigade, police and the lifeboat 'Martha Lerche' of the DSRS were on site. Bundles of flames shot out of the ship, and there was heavy smoke development. The fire had started in the cargo hold when insulation material went alight. Not until May 7 at 2 a.m. the emergency services managed to extinguish the flames on the vessel. The temperatures inside the ship were extremely high. The construction of the trawler began in 2020. Alfred Fisker Hansen and Tommy Svart had ordered the trawler in Vestværft design. The hull was built in Poland and then towed to Thyborøn where it was completed at the Thyborøn Skibs & Motor. The completion in June should now be obsolete. The predecessor ship of the same name is to go to Sweden. The new building is 28.6 meters long and 8.7 meters wide with a planned crew of eight with one trainee. Report with photo and video: https://www.tvmidtvest.dk/lemvig/skib-i-flammer-paa-havnen-i-thyboroen-politiet-opfordrer-til-at-lukke-vinduer-og-doere