News

Three people have been injured in a major explosion on the "Great Aspiration" off the coast Cornwall on April 17, 2019, at 3.15 p.m. which occured in a cargo hold caused by welding activities 8.2 miles SE of Lizard Point, in position 49 49 23.4N, 05 06 39.0W, 17 Apr 2019 The three casualties, believed to be Chinese nationals, were evacuated from the vessel which was enroute from Baltimore, USA, to Falmouth, ETA April 18, by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth by the helicoper R924 in a multi-agency response to the incident. They had suffered serious burns in the explosion. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has been informed. The ship has been taken to Mount's Bay where the damage was to be assessed. The fire was extinguished with no resulting pollution or water ingress. The vessel was expected to remain at anchor at Mounts Bay, conducting inspections of the hull and cargo for hot spots and signs of fire.

Is this ship sold to the breakers for scrapping or are they gonna sale it to MSC??? Be a little bit more clear!!!! PLEASE!??

In the first quarter of 2019, Turkey-based YILPORT HOLDING, the 12th biggest global container terminal and port operator, ordered four high-performance Model 8 mobile harbor cranes for two terminals in Latin America. Two of the large Konecranes Gottwald cranes will begin operation in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, in mid-2019.

LNG refueling has taken place at Spain’s Port of Ferrol for the first time in an operation which saw two ferries filled with LNG by Repsol in the port’s Mugardos terminal. The refuelling operation was carried out on the outer jetty of the Mugardos terminal operated by Regasificadora del Noroeste, which is owned by natural gas company Reganosa. The tanks were filled with LNG here prior to the operation.

On April 9, 2019, the Italian Coastguard detained the "Akasya 1" in the port of Marina di Carrara (Massa Carrara) due to insufficient safety conditions following a port state control. The Coastguard found 15 defiencies of which six were particularly serious such as the failure of some radio communication devices on the bridge; the absence of d.p.i. to be used in the event of a fire on dangerous goods; the lack of knowledge of the safety procedures for entry into confined spaces and the incorrect maintenance of the device for detecting toxic or explosive gases.On April 17 the authorization released the ship which departed to the port of Sidon after it was ensured that the crew restored the safety conditions with an ETA as of April 23.

In the night of April 17, 2019, port workers at the Rotterdam terminal of the European Bulk Services (EBS) decided not to unload the "Puma". The reason was that they heard that an ITF inspector was not left on board to check the working conditions and conditions of the crew. There were 17 crew members of Filipino, Russian and Ukrainian naitonality aboard. Abuses have been detected by other inspectors of the International Transport Workers' Federation on other ships of Blumenthal. For example, the food on board appeared not to meet the standard. In addition, a sailor receives around $ 900 a month for a 48-hour working week while on ships for which the ITF has concluded a collective labour agreement, he earns approximately $ 1,500 a month for 40 hours of work and holiday pay. Even the international minimum wage that the ILO (International Labor Organization) has agreed worldwide is higher with $ 1,085 a month. The port workers found it unacceptable that Blumenthal refused an ITF inspector to board and does not want to make collective agreements. That is why the dockers decided to boycott the "Puma" and not to unload the ship. "We respect this spontaneous solidarity action", said Cees Bos of FNV Havens.

The world’s first LNG-fuelled survey vessel, the "Atair", has been floated in Kiel after a building period of 16 months on Feb 28, 2019. The vessel was built on behalf of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) and the vessel’s general contractor is Fassmer shipyard. It’s hull and superstructure, as well as parts of its outfitting, were constructed at German Naval Yards Kiel. The survey vessel is destined to be used for wreck search and underwater surveying. After successfully completing all trials, the new building is due to be delivered to BSH in spring 2020. Reports with photos: https://seanews.co.uk/shipping/tanker/lng-powered-survey-vessel-atair-floated-out-at-german-naval-yards-kiel/ http://www.kn-online.de/Nachrichten/Wirtschaft/Kieler-Werft-bringt-erstes-Forschungsschiff-mit-LNG-Antrieb-zu-Wasser

The inauguration of the delayed APM Terminals Moín yesterday (February 28) will enable products to be shipped on transatlantic routes to European and Asian markets without transhipment, the port operator stated in a release. “Without any doubt, we are inaugurating today a new era in international and intra-regional trade in Central America,” said Morten Engelstoft, CEO of APM Terminals, at the inauguration ceremony yesterday attended by the president of the Central American nation. The $1bn new port is built on a 40 ha artificial island. The terminal has a 650 m long pier and a container yard with the capacity to hold 26,000 teu, including power connection capacity for 3,800 reefers. Refrigeration is essential as Costa Rica is currently the world’s largest exporter of pineapples and third largest exporter of bananas.

Off Ouistreham near Caen, the "Tanagroa" raised a German bomb from the Second World War on April 18, 2019 around 5 a.m. It was a parachute mine with an explosive load of 650 kg. Upon the alert at 6 a.m., the SNSM boat from Ouistreham, the "Saint-Anne des Flots", headed to the trawler. From Cherbourg, the Navy dispatched a helicopter with ordnance clearance divers on board. The SNSM boat evacuated the two crew members from the trawler. The German mine was then released and marked. It will be destroyed in the next days. French report with photos: https://actu.fr/normandie/ouistreham_14488/photos-large-ouistreham-chalutier-remonte-une-mine-allemande-seconde-guerre-mondiale_23024062.html

On April 15 the "Smarta" informed the Elefsina Port Authority that a 58-year-old crew member was in need of immediate hospital care. The patient was taken over by the "Nikalaos M" from Lantza and transferred to the port of Elefsina where he was transported by ambulance to the General Hospital of Elefsina for medical care.

Aberdeen Harbour’s £350-million expansion has reached another landmark stage with the first 6,000-tonne caisson beginning its journey to South Harbour on Monday (Feb25). The first caisson measures 50 meters long, 15 meters wide and an incredible 16 meters deep and will be used to form the closed quay section of the development. In order to transport the caisson safely, it will travel the 180-nautical mile journey at two nautical miles per hour, escorted by ‘The Strathdee’ towage vessel.

Current and potential ro-ro operators using the UK’s Port of Tilbury got the news they wanted on 20 February when the Department for Transport gave the green light for the construction of Tilbury2 – the new GBP 200 million satellite port for the Port of Tilbury which will feature a deepwater ro-ro terminal – which will become the UK’s largest ro-ro port for unaccompanied freight units when it enters service in mid-2020.