News

Sold to Alang Breakers

The Director General of Shipping has issued a formal notice to the MSC Ship Management for gross negligence in salvage operations of the 'MSC Elsa 3' off the Kochi coast and imminent threat to the marine environment and the coast line. The progress made in this operation was grossly inadequate and continued to fall short of the timelines and operational commitments previously provided by the owners and salvors. Should the extraction of oil not commence within next 48 hours, the government shall be left with no alternative but examine all avenues against the ship owners and salvors under applicable Indian legislation for the continuing threat posed to Indian waters and the coastal environment, a notice said. Despite repeated instructions and coordination meetings, the response from salvors has been consistently delayed and insufficient. The lack of prompt action has resulted in a continued and serious risk to marine environment and coastline, particularly affecting Kerala’s coastal region. The local communities in the region have already suffered extensive loss of work and income due to the prolonged presence of the sunken vessel, floating debris, oil sheen and ongoing pollution risks. The salvors not only delayed the required diving support vessel and personnel, but also failed to file visa applications for saturation divers from 11 countries, even after the Indian government facilitated diplomatic support for their clearance. The vessel, which lies at the depth of 51 metres, requires saturation diving for oil recovery. However, only limited air diving has been conducted so far, insufficient for the safe and complete extraction of oil trapped in the tanks. Capping of vents was still being conducted at present. The extraction of oil, originally scheduled to commence around June 5, has not even begun as of this date. The Directorate General of Shipping placed the owners and salvors on formal notice that any further delay beyond the specified period will be treated as wilful and deliberate noncompliance, and the government shall proceed to exercise its full legal rights and remedies without further reference. A Division Bench of the High Court has directed the Vizhinjam Port Authority to detain another MSC vessel, the 'MSC Manasa F'. The directive came in response to a petition filed by the Cashew Export Promotion Council. The petition stated that the 'MSC Elsa 3' was supposed to reach Vizhinjam with a cashew cargo on board, alleging a loss of ₹6 crore due to the accident. The court ordered the detention of the 'MSC Manasa F' and that the ship will be released upon presentation of a demand draft of ₹6 crore to the court. The High Court will reconsider the petition on June 12 at 1:45 p.m..

FBCCI would like CTG port’s capacity increased After completion of some development projects like Bangabandhu Industrial City a s nd other economic zones of the country within years, the pressure on Chittagong Port will increase several times. Against this backdrop, the capacity of the port needs to be increased to cope with increasing demand As the economy recovers from the Covid, leading business leaders of the country have emphasized on increasing the capacity of Chittagong Port to cope with increasing export and import in the coming days. President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Jasim Uddin made the remarks at the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Thursday afternoon, according to a press release. He said that Bangladesh will become a member of developed economies by 2041 as set by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the capacity and service of the Chittagong Port need to be improved like the developed countries. He u rged the standing committee to find short, medium and long the problems regarding the Chittagong Port.term solutions by identifying After completion of some development projects like Bangabandhu Industrial City and other economic zones of the country with in years, the pressure on Chittagong Port will increase several times. Against this backdrop, the capacity of the port needs to be increased to cope with increasing demands, said FBCCI boss. "If the capacity of Chittagong port is increased, it will be poss ible to reduce the cost of doing business in the country by at least 5%. At the same time, the interest of foreign entrepreneurs to invest in this country will also increase," he said. "At present, the speed of cargo vehicles on the Dhaka hour. If this speed Chittagong highway is 40 kilometres per d is doubled, the competitiveness of the export sector will increase by 6%," FBCCI boss further said. FBCCI vice-president Amin Helaly said that some more ports would be opened in the future. “If we can work according to the plan, the progress of the count utilizing the potential of these ports,” he said. FBCCI vicery can be further accelerated by president Habib Ullah Dawn alleged that importing vehicles through Chittagong port would cost double the fare as compared to Mongla port. He remarked that different fares in diff Standing Committee Directorinerent ports in the same country is unreasonable. Charge AM Mahbub Chowdhury said the profit of Chittagong port has increased several times in the last few years. Despite being a nonprofit service organization, it was taking increase the amount of profit, he added. steps to increase the tariff again to The Chairman of the committee Dr Pervez Shazzad Aktar called for not increasing the tariff in order to create a business friendly environment. He said most tariffs have to be paid in dollars. If tariff increases, the cost of also increase. foreign exchange will Moreover, foreign ship owners can also increase the fare in this opportunity. In that case, there will be fear of an increase in the price of imported goods. In the open discussion, the members of the standing committe port and customs officials to speed up the import hoped for the cooperation of the export activities.

Fifth X-Bow cruise ship for SunStone Ships US-based SunStone Ships are having innovative Infinity class expedition cruise ships with X-Bow built in China, and things are happening in quick succession: The GREG MORTIMER (IMO 9834648), which was completed in 2019, was followed by the OCEAN EXPLORER (IMO 9883194) in July 2021 and the OCEAN VICTORY (IMO 9868869) in October 2021, which will also be followed this year by the SYLVIA EARLE (IMO 9872327). On November 9, 2021, the fifth Infinity class ship was already launched at China Merchants Heavy Industries in Haimen: the OCEAN ODYSSEY (IMO 9880673). Like the OCEAN EXPLORER that has already been delivered, she is intended for the charterer Vantage Travel and is scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter 2022. The further ships of this class currently under construction are the OCEAN ALBATROS and OCEAN DISCOVERER. Full article + images: https://www.cruisedeck.de/stapellauf-der-ocean-odyssey/

The first of three salvage teams arrived at the location of the 'Morning Midas' around 220 miles south of Adak Island, Alaska, on June 11. But, apart from watching the burning hull from the tug 'Gretchen Dunlap', there was little they can do. Operated by Fort Lauderdale-based Resolve Marine, the vessel was the first of three tugs due on scene as the Zodiac Maritime car carrier drifed northeast at about two nautical miles per hour. It will be several more days before the second tug arrives and more than a week until the third reaches the scene. As lithium-ion battery fires generate a range of toxic gases, the tug teams will have to remain to windward of the vessel. The fire could eventually burn itself out, allowing a tug or tugs to take the hulk in tow. A more likely scenario, however, is that burnt-out components within the vessel shift, causing a list, and eventually the car carrier sinks. The ship was laden with 3,048 cars including 70 fully electric cars and 861 hybrids. If the vessel sinks, there is a significant pollution risk. The 'Morning Midas' has more than 300 tonnes of marine gasoil on board, and about 1,500 tonnes or very low sulphur fuel oil in its tanks.

Beached at Gadani 06.06.25 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=689995550336054&set=a.155050113830603

On November 18, the first steel cut for the SILVER NOVA for Silversea Cruises was celebrated at the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, and the construction phase officially began. The SILVER NOVA will be hybrid driven: LNG is to be used as the main fuel, fuel cells and batteries are to be used in ports so that the ship can stay there without emissions. The SILVER NOVA will be measured with approx. 54,700 gross tons and designed for 728 passengers. Delivery is planned for summer 2023. Full article + image: https://www.cruisedeck.de/bau-der-silver-nova-hat-begonnen/

Fourth Edge class ship under construction. The first steel cut for the CELEBRITY ASCENT was celebrated on November 17, 2021 at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint Nazaire, France. It is already the fourth Edge class ship for Celebrity Cruises – after the CELEBRITY EDGE, CELEBRITY APEX and CELEBRITY BEYOND. The ships are each 306 meters long and measured with approx. 130,000 gross tons. A special feature of these cruise ships is the so-called Magic Carpet, a vertically movable deck on the starboard side. The CELEBRITY ASCENT is expected to be completed by the second half of 2023. Full article: https://www.cruisedeck.de/erster-stahlschnitt-fuer-celebrity-ascent/

A Division Bench of the High Court has directed the Vizhinjam Port Authority to detain the 'MSC Manasa F' in Vizhinjam on June 12, 2025. The directive came in response to a petition filed by the Cashew Export Promotion Council. The petition stated that the sunken 'MSC Elsa 3' was supposed to reach Vizhinjam with a cashew cargo on board, alleging a loss of ₹6 crore due to the accident. The court ordered the detention of the 'MSC Manasa F' and that the ship will be released upon presentation of a demand draft of ₹6 crore to the court. The High Court will reconsider the petition on June 12 at 1:45 p.m..

Beached at Aliaga 04.06.25 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161564782995036&set=gm.10164832686718943&idorvanity=6884293942

The Port of Kiel has launched a three-step plan that puts the port's 'Blue Port' concept into concrete terms, as a framework of its effort to completely reduce all of its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030. "The port will be climate-neutral by the end of this decade," noted Dr. Dirk Claus, Managing Director of Port of Kiel. The port's three-step plan envisages covering 60% of the energy requirements of ships calling at Kiel with green electricity as early as next year. This figure is expected to reach 80-90% by 2025, before climate neutrality is achieved for all activities of the German port in 2030, through a range of measures to supply port facilities with 100% climate-neutral green electricity that have already been implemented. The port is also planning to further decrease nitrogen oxides emissions. According to an environmental report, the Port of Kiel already avoided more than 6,200 tonnes of CO2 in 2020, while almost 18,800 tonnes were still emitted. The energy demand at the terminals has already been sustainably reduced by switching to economical LED technology and increasing energy efficiency, while photovoltaic systems provide around 290,000-kilowatt hours of solar energy every year. The port in the Baltic is also gradually converting its own vehicle fleet to electric drive and offers incentives to customers to promote the decarbonisation process. Moreover, the port has invested in on-shore power to reduce emissions. After the first system for shore-side power supply was connected to Norwegenkai in 2019, a second larger one was commissioned at Ostseekai in June, earlier this year. In the meantime, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is funding the establishment of a digital test field in the port to make the processes at the freight terminals even more efficient. Operational processes will therefore be optimised and made more sustainable on the basis of a 5G campus network. In this way, climate-neutral growth in port handling is expected to be supported by innovative information technology (IT). Measures towards zero emissions by 2030 in the German port also include electrification of the vehicle fleet, such as industrial trucks, digitalisation of operational processes for increased efficiency, as well as tariff-based environmental discount as an incentive for climate-friendly transformation.

BMF Port Burgas EAD is a private-owned port operator of terminal Burgas East 2 and terminal Burgas West, part of the national public port of Burgas, Republic of Bulgaria. On June 5 2019 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria decided to expand the duration of the concession term of both of the terminals from 35 to 46 years and 8 months each. A couple of days ago, we took an opportunity to talk with Mr. Boris Balev, CEO of BMF Port Burgas EAD, who provided us with invaluable insight into the company’s business and development plans and their most important projects on the horizon. Mr. Balev, how much money and in what directions are your investments in the development of BMF Port Burgas since 2012? The investments that will be realized for the 2021 amount to nearly 8 million euros. With them, the total amount of investments since 2012 is approximately 158 million euros. I dare say that with these funds we have completely transformed the two terminals of the Port of Burgas since they were given to us for management and operation. We have talked many times about the facilities we have built and modernized in the port in the past, so I will focus on what is new for this year. We have put into operation a new installation for discharging oil bitumen from ships to railway cars and tank trucks. We strive not only to constantly increase the number of available equipment, but also to modernize it to such with modern technologies for energy efficiency. We are constantly working towards expanding and modernizing the storage areas in the terminals. The project for expansion of our silo complex is going well so far. This year we built 2 more silos, 5,100 m3 each. The construction of another 2 is forthcoming. The total capacity of the complex after the completion of the construction activities will be 119,000 m3. The implementation of this project allowed us to mark a number of strong months in the processing of cereals this year. Interview in English: https://maritime1.com/65710/