News

arrived Bhavnagar Anchorage 08.07.20

The 'Srakane' has been laid up in the Sao Sebastiao Channel for more than three weeks and the crew on board had outstanding wages of USD 180000. The ship came to Brazil from Morocco in early June 2020, called at a number of ports before anchoring in Sao Sebastiao. The crew refused to go any further until they have received their wages, which have not been paid in at least seven months. The captain has not been paid four months, and one crew member has not been paid for almost a year. With the ship's owner unable to pay the wages owed to the crew or cover the cost of repatriation, the situation was deteriorating. There was also a lack of supplies on board, as the ship was at anchor for almost a month at the port of Salvador in Bahia, awaiting instructions to proceed to the next destination. There were reports that one of the crew member was attacked by the captain and also about the supply of water and food, which were running out. Following these complaints, the Brazilian labour authorities boarded the ship and provided fresh water and food to the crew. The authorities also made sure that the crew received medical and dental assistance. With their immediate welfare needs met, the crew's attention has turned to recovering their wages and returning home. As a result of the ITF's action, a Brazilian Federal Labour Prosecutor began proceedings against the ship's manager in the Sao Sebastiao Regional Labour Court, requesting the ship be detained until the outstanding wages were paid.

The Department of Shipping (DoS) has asked the shipping lines not to realise container detention charge on import and export shipments during the lockdown period, spurred by COVID-19 outbreak. The shipping lines are also advised not to impose any new or additional charges until May 5 when the 41-day shutdowns end. The department issued the advisory on Wednesday, which sparked resentment among the shipping agents in the country. Usually, containers get free time for 14 days after the common landing date and thereafter charged between $5 and $10 per day as detention charge until the importers return those to the port or off-docks. Associate director of Transmarine Logistics Ltd, the local agent of Yang Ming Line, Mohammad Ahsanuzzaman told the FE on Thursday most shipping lines operate their fleet on a leasing basis and pay for the rental daily. Due to the prolonged congestions at the Chittagong port, the containers now have to stay for 15 days at the outer anchorage and at berth, compared with a minimum of three to four days in recent past, he said. During the shutdown period, the containers are lying at the Chittagong port for several weeks when the designated free days expire. "The shipping lines will have to pay container rent besides the opportunity cost, but now the shipping department is asking us not to charge detention fee on importers, which is a mere cost recovery for the liners. This is not acceptable at all when you consider the impact of COVID-19 has on us," he said. "Shipping lines will incur huge financial losses if the order is implemented," said Mr Ahsanuzzaman. Chairman of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA) Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury told the FE on Thursday vessels are staying at the outer anchorage and berth for weeks and counting millions of taka as demurrage. Deptt order angers shipping agentsA few days back, shipping agents had requested the government to waive some charges like port dues, pilotage fees, berthing and unbreathing tariffs, quay gantry crane, loading or discharging the container, storage charges, container and non-CPA equipment, and store rent for containers at off-docks. "The government paid no heed to our appeal rather issued an order not to realise the detention charge," Mr Chowdhury said. He said the department issued the advisory in line with the measures taken in Indian ports. But the reality is there is no such congestions in Indian ports and vessels there enter and leave in time while at the Chittagong port an additional two weeks are required in ship handling, he said. After the shipping department's advisory, he wrote that the imposition or waiver of detention charge of containers depends on foreign principals. "The principals may not consider the waiving of the container detention charge unless the government waives or reduces port tariffs for vessels," he noted. AIS station, Chittagong

On April 30, 2020, at 11.15 a.m. the NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew were alerted by TNPA (Transnet National Ports Authority) requesting assistance to evacuate a Filipino crew member of a bunkering tanker at anchorage off-shore of the Port of Port Elizabeth. The man required transportation to a dentist as soon as possible and considering the Covid-19 lockdown the Port Health Authorities advised the tasking of NSRI to carry out the operation, taking into consideration that NSRI are well prepared for all Covid-19 Department of Health protocols, regulations and precautions. At 1 p.m. the sea rescue craft 'JLT Rescuer' was launched and rendezvoused with the tanker thre miles off Port Elizabeth in calm seas. The patient was transferred onto the sea rescue craft and he was brought to shore and transported to a dentist appointment by the ships agent. At 3.30 p.m. the patient returned to the Port of Port Elizabeth and he boarded our sea rescue craft JLT Rescuer and we transported him back to the ship and returned to base without incident.

arrived Alang Anchorage 08.07.20

The 'Atlantic Huron' sailing down-bound to the Poe Lock, suffered a power failure on July 5 at 3 a.m. in the vicinity of the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge. The vessel dropped its stern anchor, but allided with the northwest pier and continued to move along it until the vessel came to a stop just east of the bridge. The tug 'Kentucky' assisted in moving the vessel back to the end of the pier and then over to the end of the southwest pier. The USCOE survey vessel 'Bufe' was called to sweep the channel for obstructions, after which traffic was allowed to continue. Later, the tugs 'Adanac III' and 'W.J. Scott Purvis' were on the scene to tow the vessel to the Algoma Export Dock for inspections. It had been enroute to Meldrum Bay, Ontario, after discharging a cargo of salt in Thunder Bay. The ship remained stationary as of July 8.

The Mexican tank m/v ’Irmã Dulce’, 72900 dwt (IMO: 9548691), which was under construction at Estalairo Maua in Rio de Janeiro, suffered water ingress in the engine room and aft peak in the night of May 4, 2020. The stern came to rest on bthe bottom at a water depth of four to five meters. The accident was apparently caused by a leaking valve. In the afternoon of May 5 divers managed to stabilize the ship. It was the second of a series of four for Transpetro and was launched in 2014. The order for all three ships still under construction was later canceled. The Panamax had currently been 95% completed. Report with photo: https://splash247.com/near-complete-brazilian-tanker-newbuild-sinks-at-pier/ .

On May 2, 2020, at 08.50 a.m. the NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew and EC Government Health EMS were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority to respond to rendezvous with a bulk carrier approaching Port Elizabeth from Cape Town to attend to a 52 year old Iraqi crew member onboard the ship suffering an emergency medical condition, not Covid-19 related. The sea rescue craft 'Spirit of Toft' was launched accompanied by an EMS rescue paramedic and rendezvoused with the ship seven miles East of Cape Recife. The EMS rescue paramedic and an NSRI rescue swimmer were transferred onto the ship and the patient was found to be in a critical condition. The paramedic took over emergency medical treatment from the ships medical crew and the patient, secured into a stokes basket stretcher, was transferred onto the sea rescue craft and the EMS paramedic and NSRI medics continued with medical care onboard the sea rescue craft while the patient was brought to the NSRI Port Elizabeth sea rescue base and in the care of paramedics he was transported to hospital by EMS ambulance. Despite extensive efforts by hospital medical staff the patient passed away.

Beached at Alang 08.07.20

The Maersk company confirmed that the authorities at the Manzanillo Terminal were conducting an investigation after two stevedores were found hidden alongside with narcotics in one container on board the vessel, on July 2, 2020. They were collaborating with the Mexican authorities in charge of the case. As a matter of policy, Maersk did not comment further while criminal investigations were ongoing. Throughout all aspects of tthe vessel and shore operations, Maersk were committed to conducting the business in a responsible and lawful manner with respect for the wider economic, social and environmental impacts of the activities. Maersk does not accept illegal cargo and we have guidelines in place to guide staff on screening and handling cargo bookings, to be alert to anything unusual or suspicious. They proactively worked with authorities to mitigate risk and cooperated openly with relevant authorities during this investigations.

22 and 36 nautical miles Northwest of Libreville the latest acts of piracy occurred in positions 00° 30.50’N 009°06.21’E and 00° 55.24N 009° 08 09E and involved two fishing trawlers named 'amerger II' and 'Amerger VIIÄ – the first taking place 20 nautical miles off Libreville and the second 36 n.miles off Libreville. Both incidents involved a single speedboat described as a skiff powered by three engines and having 13 pirates on board. The pirates were reported as being English-speakers which gives rise to suspicions of them being of Nigerian origin, despite this being some distance from Nigeria. The boarding of each trawler resulted in three of the crew from each vessel being kidnapped. The nationalities of those kidnapped are reported as three Indonesian, two Senegalese, and one South Korean.

On May 3, 2020, at 10.15 a.m. the NSRI Durban launched the sea rescue craft 'Alick Rennie' to transport a ShipsMed doctor to a bulk carrier at the outer anchorage off-shore of the Port of Durban. The Port Health Authorities had arranged for the doctor to take sample swabs from a crewman onboard the ship, which is due to enter Port, for Covid-19 laboratory testing prior to the ship being granted permission to enter Port. Observing all Covid-19 Department of Health and Port Health Authority safety regulations and protocols on arrival at the ship the doctor was transferred onto the ship and sample swabs were collected from the crewman. The doctor returned to the sea rescue craft accompanied by the samples that he had collected and he was brought into Durban Port without incident. Port Health Authorities evaluated the samples to determine safe passage for the ship to enter Port. The operation completed at 11.40 a.m.