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Investigators of the New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) have released their final report on an incident with the 'Achilles Bulker', now sailing as 'Nab Bulker' and found out that poor welding during maintenance led to a series of failures that saw the vessel lose its rudder and nearly run aground. The bulk carrier had sailed from Tauiranga on July 24, 2023, fully loaded with logs bound for China. Shortly after clearing Tauranga Harbor, the bridge team reported the vessel was steering erratically and veering off course. As they attempted to steer it back on course, the ship shuddered, and there was a loud bang. The pilot took control of navigation, trying to get the vessel on course when a second, louder bang was heard. Unable to get the vessel back into the channel, the pilot struggled to slow the ship and ordered the crew to immediately drop both anchors. 30 minutes later, the vessel was stopped outside the channel. It had narrowly avoided grounding, with the reports indicating there was less than one meter of clearance under the keel. Divers inspecting the vessel found that its rudder was gone. They were able to recover the rudder two days later from the sea floor. Inspectors found out that the rudder pintle was missing, and they concluded that it left the bottom of the rudder unsupported and allowed excess movement in the rudder system. The rudder broke off hen the rudder palm fractured on both sides of the stock. Reviewing the vessel’s records, it turned out that in 2021, during a routine dry docking, the rudder pintle assembly had been removed and later reinstalled. The rudder pintle assembly did not ensure that the pintle would remained in place during normal shipboard operations, which meant that components used to secure the pintle in place failed, allowing the pintle to drop from the bottom of the rudder. The TAIC concluded that the securing parts installed had weak, porous welds. After the ship was back in service, the welds failed due to vibrations. The nut that retained the pintle as part of the assembly unwound itself, and the pintle dropped unnoticed from the casting and sank. The rudder began experiencing unintended movement, adding to the stresses. Moving side-to-side and fore and aft, the forces were beyond the designed strength of the coupling plate (palm) at the top that joined the rudder to the solid shaft (stock) that connected to the internal steering mechanism. Fatigue cracks grew until the rudder finally fell off. The vessel was repaired and returned to service. The TAIC has issuied a warning and called for robust quality assurance procedures at the shipyard for the installation of a rudder pintle. It also notified the Maritime Safety Administration of China and said it will work with the International Maritime Organization to promote enhanced global standards for quality assurance of rudder systems during installation, maintenance, and repairs.

On July 18, 2025, the 'RMS Ratingen' was detained in Leixoes with seven deficiencies, one of which being regarded as serious and ground for a detention: 1) Pollution Prevention - Oil filtering equipment Missing The vessel was released again on July 21 and left the port en route to Varzea. The last detention was on Jan 5 in Goole with19 deficiencies for 30 days.

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Dutch dredging and offshore outfit Royal Boskalis Westminster has been awarded contracts in the United Kingdom and Romania worth a combined €85m ($94m). Portsmouth City Council has contracted Boskalis to construct new sea defenses in Southsea, near Portsmouth, in a joint venture with VolkerStevin. Boskalis will deploy a large trailing suction hopper dredger to replenish the beach and will construct revetments using rock barges. Project execution is expected to start early 2020 and is estimated to take five years.

Throughout July 24, emergency personnel from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) in Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven worked to remove the marine diesel oil that had leaked from the damaged tank of the 'Coastal Legend'. They made significant progress: The oil film had diminished significantly in the afternoon. The ship was able to move to a berth in the New Fishing Harbour on the afternoon with own power. The hull had already been temporarily sealed by divers. For the transit, the emergency personnel briefly opened the oil boom that had surrounded the vessel and allowed it to sail out, assisted by the work vessel 'Steubenhöft' of the port operator Niedersachsen Ports and the tug 'Wulf 7'. The fact that the ship was no longer at the scene of the accident, mad the clean-up work easier, among other things. The Central Command for Maritime Emergencies, which was leading the operation, was confident that the situation would continue to improve. The 'Capella' left CVuxhaven on the foremidday of July 25 en route to Bremen.

On the night of July 24, the 'Aidascoma', en route from Marseille to Barcelona, requested the medical evacuation of a sick passenger. The CCS of Salvamento Marítimo in Barcelona mobilized the SAR helicopter Helimer 203 to take the patient off, who was hoisted and transported to the port, where an ambulance was waiting for further tranfer to a hospital.

Grand Bahama Shipyard (GBS) has officially resumed operations and welcomed back its first commercial vessel following Hurricane Dorian. The 57,062-ton crude oil tanker Agathonissos, owned by Greece-based Eletson, returned to the yard to complete repair works that began before the hurricane arrived in the Bahamas earlier this month. The shipyard also said it remains on track for the next planned cruise ship visit, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Ecstasy, scheduled to arrive on October 5.

The American port of Brunswick has reopened on a “case by case” basis after Sunday’s capsizing of a car carrier in a nearby channel. The Golden Ray overturned with 24 crew members inside sparking a dramatic, successful rescue mission over the weekend. Authorities are still assessing how to remove the vessel, which is stuck on St Simons Sound. A half-mile perimeter has been established around the Golden Ray, which sits half in the water with its starboard side pointing skyward. An oil boom has been placed around the ship. Salvage teams are likely to start taking the bunker fuel from the ship this weekend.

Throughout July 24, emergency personnel from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) in Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven worked to remove the marine diesel oil that had leaked from the damaged tank of the 'Coastal Legend'. They made significant progress: The oil film had diminished significantly in the afternoon. The ship was able to move to a berth in the New Fishing Harbour on the afternoon with own power. The hull had already been temporarily sealed by divers. For the transit, the emergency personnel briefly opened the oil boom that had surrounded the vessel and allowed it to sail out, assisted by the work vessel 'Steubenhöft' of the port operator Niedersachsen Ports and the tug 'Wulf 7'. The fact that the ship was no longer at the scene of the accident, mad the clean-up work easier, among other things. The Central Command for Maritime Emergencies, which was leading the operation, was confident that the situation would continue to improve. The 'Capella' left CVuxhaven on the foremidday of July 25 en route to Bremen.

Due to the technical issues of the 'Isle of Cumbrae', serving on the route Largs-Cumbrae, which were impacting the vessel’s steering, the sailings operated by the ship were suspended on July 24 after further cancellations on July 23 in connection with the ramp issues. Sailings with the 'Loch Shira', departing from Largs at a quarter past and quarter to the hour and departing from Cumbrae on the hour and half past the hour, remained unaffected. The 'Isle of Cumbrae' remained sidelined in Largs for troubleshooting. After the issue was successfully resolved, the service was resumed with the 6:00 p.m. sailing departing Largs.

The US Coast Guard is continuing efforts on containing an oil spill on the Mississippi River in New Orleans. First assets were deployed on September 11 after a helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans observed a sheen on the water earlier in the day during a routine overflight. Fifteen hundred feet of boom has been deployed to contain the sheen while oil spill response company OMI Environmental Solutions has been contracted to contain and recover the product. The Coast Guard is yet to provide details on the cause or source of the spill. The incident is still under investigation. In addition to US Coast Guard assets, Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office has joined the response effort and six oil spill response boats have been on site as of September 13.

Cyprus continues to address every facet of its maritime offering to lure more shipowners to the island. The country’s deputy minister for shipping Natasa Pilides has revealed plans to abolish initial ship registration fees to boost one of Europe’s fastest growing flags. Members of parliament will vote on the issue later this month with a view to making the regulation official in time for Cyprus’s shipping week, which kicks off on October 6. The Cypriot register today is the 11th largest in the world with 24.4m gt on its books.