News

The Seaspan Tempest' (82 gt, built 2001) lost the towed barge 'Seaspan 553' (1051 gt, built 1998), after the towing gear parted on the Fraser River, British Columbia, on March 25, 2020, at 8.50 a.m. The barge went adrift in position 49 10 27.5 N, 122 55 27.8 W. With the assistance from the tug 'Smit Pride', the 'Seaspan Tempest' managed to retrieve the barge and secured it at a nearby tie up station.

The 'Jianghaiyanghongwei' started sinking on March 31, 2020, around mdnight 50 miles southeast of Pingtan, Fujian Province, in the northern Taiwan Strait. The SAR ship 'Dong Hai Jiu 116' was sent to assist. When it arrived on site. the vessel was already foundering, and the crew of five landed in the water. Four of them were spotted with the help of searchlights and picked up, the fifth crew was found about an hours later and rescued too.

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.

The 'Liverpool Express' was disabled due to a failure of the main engine lubricating oil pump, 0,7 miles north-northwest of Vercheres, Quebec, in position 45 47 06.9 N, 73 21 07.1 W, on March 29, 2020, at 10.30 a.m. The vessel ran aground shortly after. It was refloated and then proceeded to Montreal under its own power with tug assistance, and left port again on March 30 at 5.10 p.m., headed to Algericas, ETA April 9.

In the morning of March 30, 2020, a fire broke out in the accomodation area of the 'Yubileynyy' while undergoing repairs at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka. The crew reported the fire to the port authorities and the fire brigade arrived on board 15 minutes after the call. On arrival, the firefighters and their vehicles were able to reach the vessel, after the berth and hydrants were cleared of snow, allowing the water hoses to connect to the hydrants. In the 15 minutes prior to the fire brigade's arrival, the crew of vessel had managed to localize the fire. The fire brigade took over the fire fighting and finally extinguished the fire. Initial investigations indicate that the fire broke out due to a short circuit in one of the cable routes. There were no injuries.

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.

The 'Key Bora', while en route from Esbjerg to Kyleakin with 12 crew members on board, ran aground while approaching the Kyleakin pier, Isle of Skye in position 57 16 30 N, 005 45 06.0 W, on March 30, 2020. The vessel was holed in the number five port side and the number four starboard side ballast tanks. The vessel sailed from Kyleakin at 08.50 a.m., headed to Greenock. The vessel had 500 tons of leicithin, 1500 tons of rapeseed,1090 tons of fish oil as cargo. On March 31 at 5.40 p.m. it berthed at the Garvel Clyde Shipyard in Greenock for repairs.

The 'Disney Wonder' will be staying at the B Street cruise terminal until April 19. Several of the ships crew, who remain aboard, have required medical attention for suspected COVID infections. There were two pending cases, and there was one emergency evacuation from the ship in the night of March 29. The sip which arrived in San Diego reporting that none of its passengers or crew was exhibiting any COVID symptoms, has subsequently seen significant illness develop after arrival. There was one passenger that was known to be positive who was currently hospitalized and there was one crew member that is known to be positive that is currently hospitalized,. Before he was sent ashore for treatment, he had close contact with six other crew members who were all still quarantined on the vessel. The passenger went to their San Diego home for a 14-day self quarantine.

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.

The port in Northern Ireland has committed GB£254m of investment to deliver new marine and estate infrastructure. Belfast Harbour’s investment is part of a 2019-2023 Strategic Plan to boost Northern Ireland’s economy. The plan focuses on increased collaboration and partnerships with key city stakeholders to drive growth and regeneration in Belfast’s waterfront area and has been unveiled alongside an outlook through to 2035. Belfast Harbour’s chairman, David Dobbin, said: “Over the next five years Belfast Harbour intends to invest £254 million in new Port and estate infrastructure and facilities. This major investment programme is really only possible because of our Trust Port status which allows us to reinvest every penny of our net earnings back into the business.” Belfast Harbour will upgrade its cranes and material handling equipment, install new ramps to accommodate larger vessels and build new storage facilities. Work will also begin on digital ‘Smart Port’ initiatives to provide greater automation and a new unified system to coordinate cargo and shipping communications.