News

Beached at Chittagong 14.01.21

The 'Baie St. Paul' suffered a problem with its propulsion near Deschambault Grondines, Quebec, in position 46 38 37.9N, 071 55 34.0W, on Jan 11, 2021, at 7.30 p.m. The vessel proceeded to the nearest anchorage for further investigations. It left Montreal on Jan 13 and headed to Grancde Entrée, ETA Jan 15.

The PORT OF KIEL has redesigned the port apron in Ostuferhafen, which is the freight and logistics centre on the fjord. Where once stood a grain silo, there is now an expanded pre-stacking and stand-by area of three hectares for trucks, trailers and pas-senger cars.The State Premier of Schleswig- Holstein, Daniel Günther, visited the Ostufer-hafen on 12th August to hand over the grant notice coming from the State Programme Economy for 5.44 million Euros: The project to redesign the port apron included dismantling three hall areas of the former grain silo, excavation and road works as well as drainage, lighting and security measures and the connection of the area to the infrastructure. Through the new and generous port apron it has been possible to merge formerly separated pre-stacking areas, shorten distances and gain more space for trucks, busses, trailers and passenger cars. Furthermore, IT solutions have been developed to accelerate the handling processes at the gate, which also allow truck drivers to reduce personal contact.Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director at the PORT OF KIEL: “Even under the current circumstances the Ostuferhafen operates in a reliable and safe way. The port of Kiel has proven its systemic importance regarding the transshipment of cross-border freight transport.”In the first seven months of the year 2.1 million tons of cargo have been tran-shipped via the Ostuferhafen (+ 1 %). Additional volumes have been transported by the ferries of the DFDS shipping company to the Baltic States or they have been delivered by the SCA-RoRo-freighters from Scandinavia. Not only general cargo and forest products are unloaded resp. transhipped in Ostuferhafen but also project and heavy cargo, scrap metal and agricul-tural products. The integrated passenger terminal to handle cruise vessels emphasizes the universal character of this port part.

Vessells

The 'Panasiatic' suffered a total failure of its engine controls in Vancouver Harbour in position 49 18 41.9 N, 123 07 44.3 W, on Jan 12, 2021, at 01.30 a.m. The vessel anchored to effect repairs. After completion it resumed the voyage to Trincomalee with an ETA as of Feb 12.

The Port Authority of Igoumenitsa was informed in the night of Jnan 13, 2021, that during the process of mooring of the 'Golden Bridge' at the port of Igoumenitsa the ship slammed into the bumpers of the pier. The ship was operating on its scheduled route Brindisi - Igoumenitsa. Immediately, the ship was investigated by the Local Ship Inspection, and it was found that there was a hull breach one meter above the waterline. No injuries were reported and no marine pollution nor water ingress were observed. The ferry disembarked 35 passengers, 28 cars and two trucks, while the 69 passengers, the 26 vehicles and 14 trucks, waiting to board, were forwarded to their destination with the care of the ship owner. The Central Port Authority of Igoumenitsa, which conducted the preliminary investigation, banned the ship from sailing until the presentation of a certificate of airseaworthiness and a certificate of class maintenance by the attending classification society. It remained stationary in port as of Jan 14.

The Port of Beirut (PoB) resumed partial operations on Aug 10 with the first two container ships berthing in the container terminal after the explosion which killed at least 160 persons, injured thousands and made hundred thousands homeless. Out of 16 cranes at the container terminal, 12 were currently operational. The port was gradually resuming operations to ensure the supply of all kinds of goods to citizens. Bassem Al Kaissi, the new Director of the PoB, said that the container terminal will be fully operational by Aug 14. Al Kaissi said that 420 containers were unloaded on Aug 10. The container terminal storage area has been cleaned up and restored to its state before the blast. The container terminal represents 80 percent of the overall cargo movement at the PoB. It is located one kilometer away from the blast epicenter. Container vessels can dock at quay number 16. Shipping movement at the PoB had already plunged by 75 percent due to the economic crisis and has reached 15 percent following the blast. Customs have opened offices in the PoB’s warehouse number 14 which was partially damaged. The customs have become able to carry out the inspection of merchandise- Customs duties are being temporarily paid at the Rafic Hariri International Airport. Tthe PoB is now handling only full containers as groupage consignment requires warehouses which don’t exist now. Amer Al Kaissi said groupage, which represents 15 percent of shipments at the PoB, will be diverted to the Port of Tripoli until the rebuilding of warehouses at the PoB is completed. The first two containerships to berth at the PoB after the blast were the 'Electra' (Gezairi Transport) and the 'Nicolas Delmas' (CMA CGM). The 'Electra', which was carrying 400 containers, was diverted to Tripoli where there was a license to operate but the company insisted to unload it in Beirut when it was told that the PoB has resumed operation. The CMA CGM Group and CEVA Logistics said they are fully operational and ensuring business continuity to serve their customers. The Group has redeployed its employees in its two back-up sites in Beirut Digital District and reinforced its presence in Tripoli. Part of CMA CGM’s vessels has been temporarily directed to Tripoli. Few shipping companies are authorized to operate in other ports such as Tripoli or Saida. BCTC, the Customs and the PoB’s authorities did their best to handle the clearing formalities despite the difficult working conditions. The general cargo area was fully operational on Aug 12 both for imports and exports. This includes wheat and other grains as well as construction steel bars. The cost of rebuilding the port is estimated at around $1 billion.

Ships

The 'Pacific Viking' with seven crew members on board was disabled by a line in the propeller off Langara Island, British Columbia, in position 54 09 03.6 N, 133 45 33.0 W, on Jan 11, 2021, at 2.20 p.m. The tug 'Atlantic Raven' was tasked to assist. The ship was towed to Prince Rupert and set sail back to the fishing grounds after the obstruction was removed on Jan 13 at 2.50 a.m.

The 'Jasmin Queen', while en route from Istanbul to Tripoli, suffered a technical failure and dropped anchor at Datca Bay on Jan 12, 2021. Repairs were started by the crew. The 'Jasmine Queen' remained stationary as of Jan 13.

Ships

Ships