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A Navy salvage and diving team aboard the 'HOS Bayou' has recovered the wreckage of a helicopter and the remains of five sailors who were killed in a crash on Aug 31, 2021, about 60 miles off the San Diego coast on Oct 8. The salvage team brought the wreckage of the aircraft and the remains of its crew up from a depth of 5.300 feet. The 'HOS Bayou' arrived at the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego on Oct. 10 and the remains the five crew members were flown to the Delaware base for identification and review by a coroner. Once that process is complete, they will be released to their families for funeral services. The recovery effort began when the 'HOS Dominator', a ship typically used for submarine recoveries, headed to the location about 60 miles southwest of San Diego where the helicopter was last seen. Starting on Sep 15, the crew used specialized equipment to scan the ocean floor. They continued the search until the wreckage was located with help from a ROV. On Oct. 7, the 'HOS Bayou' was called in from Naval Base Ventura County to assist with retrieving the helicopter. The ROV attached specialized rigging and lift lines to the helicopter’s landing gear and attachments near the back. The ship’s crane line was lowered to the seafloor and connected to the rigging, lifting the helicopter up to the ship. The MH-60S Seahawk from the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 8, was conducting routine flight operations off the aircraft carrier USS 'Abraham Lincoln' on Aug 31. The helicopter started vibrating side-to-side upon landing on the ship’s flight deck. As a result, the helicopter’s rotor struck the flight deck and the aircraft crashed over the side of the ship. One member of the helicopter’s six-person crew survived and was rescued from the water. Five crew members of the USS 'Abraham Lincoln' were also injured. The Navy searched for the rest of the aircraft’s crew for three days before declaring them dead. Two weeks later, the service began its underwater search and recovery mission. The sailors killed in the crash were: - Lt. Bradley Foster, 29, from Oakhurst, Calif. - Lt. Paul Fridley, 28, from Annandale, Va. - Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class James Buriak, 31, from Salem, Va. - Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Sarah Burns, 31, from Severna Park, Md. - Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Bailey Tucker, 21, from St. Louis. An investigation into the crash was ongoing. Both the Abraham Lincoln and HSC-8 are based at Naval Air Station North Island.

The Court of Investigation was expected to resume work soon after nearly two months of inactivity. The panel was awaiting a report from a naval architect before resuming the sessions with testimonies from officials of the Okiyo Maritime Corp, the owner of the'Wakashio', and the salvors of SMIT Salvage, who were tasked with the refloating of the bulk carrier. The naval architect should explain the decision to fill the cargo hold 8 with water. On Aug 24, Alain Donat, director of navigation, said to have relied on the salvors' explanations throughout the operation, but the salvors' assessment was not correct. “We don't have a naval architect to cross-check. At that point, according to their calculation, the best decision was to fill the No. 8 hold with water. But today we would say no." The Salvage Master will have to answer several questions regarding the decisions taken to refloat the bulk carrier. Captain Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar had said he handled everything correctly on the 'Wakashio' before SMIT Salvage arrived on July 31. He also explained how on Aug 2 the situation was not really critical for the salvors, but that it was only after Aug 6 that they felt threatened and asked to be hoisted from the ship.

Ships

A powerful explosion rocked Beirut port on Aug 4, 2020, killing and injuring dozens of people, and causing widespread damage. There was no clarity yet with regards to the cause of explosions, and what triggered it. The talk was of a firework factory which blew up. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR88CECmTso&feature=emb_title

The 'Relentless', which had suffered water ingress on Aug 29, 2021, four miles off Barnegat Light, New Jersey, was still under repair at Garpo Power in Staten Island as of Oct 13. A stainless steel saltwater intake pipe had broken and flooded the engine room quickly. The flywheel was spraying water on the generator. A crew member jammed a board in to deflect the water off the generator. The board held all the way into port. With the three pumps running and extras from the Coast Guard and the Barnegat’s TowBoatUS, skipper Smith and his crew got back to their dock under their own power with the V12 Mitsubishi running half under water but working due to the mechanical injectors. Despite the flooding, the main engine kept running as well as the generators. 80 gallons of water and oil were pumped out of a 37 gallon crankcase. Five oil changes were carried out before finding a leak in the rear main seal. Once that has been fixed, the ship may return to sea. There was still have some water in the gear,but once it is running, the gear will heat up and steam it out. Report with photos: https://www.nationalfisherman.com/northeast/still-relentless-crew-keeps-scalloper-afloat-in-engine-room-flood

On Oct 12, 2021 at 2:32 p.m., the 'Armandèche' reported to the CROSS Etel that one of the six crew members was unconscious due to discomfort on deck. The trawler was then 6,7 nautical miles from the Pointe de Chassiron. Following an initial conference call with the Center de Consultation Médicale Maritime in Toulouse and then with the SAMU in Bayonne, the CROSS deployed the Caracal medical helicopter of the Cazaux air base, the lifeboat 'SNS 144' of the SNSM station in La Rochelle along with a team of the SMUR and the RIB 'SNS 741-Marie-Anne' of the SNSM of La Rochelle with a doctor from the station on board. The 'Borda' of the French Navy, being on a mission in the area, assisted by transferring its nurse onto the trawler at 3.20 p.m. The medical teams transported by the SNSM and the Air and Space Army helicopter arrived successively on scene. Despite the uninterrupted care provided by the crew and then by the medical staff, the doctor from the SNSM station in La Rochelle, in conjunction with the doctor from the Bayonne SCMM, the death of the fisherman was confirmed at 3:48 p.m. The 'SNS 144' transported the body of the deceased fisherman to the port of Chef de Baie (La Rochelle) where it was taken care of by the funeral directors at 5:41 p.m.

Vessells

Ships

For four years, the 'FSO Safer' has been rotting in the Red Sea. Images show that the condition of the abandoned ship is constantly deteriorating, which increases the risks of the ship’s cargo leaking into the sea. The 'FSO Safer' is loaded with 1.1 million barrels of crude oil. Experts have long sounded the alarm about the consequences of a possible spill in the Red Sea, but now it turns out that the extent could be worse than initially thought. A recent report states that the leak from the vessel will leave eight million people in the area without water. At the same time, the entire Yemeni commercial fish stock can be eliminated in just three weeks, according to Nature Sustainability. The consequences will not only affect Yemen. Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Djibouti will also be affected by what may be one of the worst environmental disasters in modern times. The United Nations has been trying for a long time to get rid of the dangerous cargo, but so far to no avail. The area is controlled by the rebels, and despite frequent talks between the rebels, the United Nations and the Yemeni authorities, the United Nations has not been granted permission to board the ship. The rebels demand a guarantee of repair of the ship, but the United Nations does not currently have the funds to implement this. The potential leak will likely result in more central coastal cities in Yemen, such as Saleef and Al Hudaydah, having to close their ports. This, in turn, could lead to a national fuel crisis in the country, with prices expected to rise by as much as 80 percent. Nature Sustainability indicates that even if half of the oil spill evaporates within a day, the remaining quantities will reach the Yemeni coast within a week. This, in turn, will result in several million people suffering from food shortages, in one of the countries that is already home to one of the most serious famines in the world. The possibility of leakage is constantly increasing. Nature Sustainabilty warns that the 'FSO Safer' has no double hull, meaning any spills will flow directly into the sea. The report notes that a number of factors could cause a leak on the increasingly malfunctioning ship, and it asks the United Nations to act before it is too late.

The 'Ocean Investigator', which had suffered an engine failure at Ambelaki on March 1, 2021, was towed to Tuzla for permanent repairs on Oct 8. The ship entered the shipyard, upon completion of formalities, where a detailed damage survey was carried out by the class surveyor, along with the superintendent of the vessel owner and shipyard's duty engineer. Repairs have been commenced by shore based technical teams according to the class surveyor's recommendations.

Ships

The trial transshipment of goods from India to its northeast, via the sea route, started on Tuesday after four containers bound for the region were unloaded from a merchant vessel at Bangladesh's Chittagong port, officials said on Tuesday. India and Bangladesh had signed an MOU for goods for northeast India transiting via Bangladesh's ports - a small but significant opening up of both Bangladesh's ports under the broader economic relationship between the two countries. Chittagong Port Authority Secretary Md Omar Faruk told on Tuesday: "The first ship under the trial run of transshipment of Indian goods to its northeastern states through Bangladesh arrived at Chattogram (Chittagong) port on Tuesday morning. "MV Shejyoti, carrying back to Chattogam 4 TEUs (20-feet equivalent unit) with 221 containers full of transhipment goods from India's Haldia port, reached the NCT-1 Berth, the outer anchorage of Chattogram port at around 1.25 a.m. But as night navigation is restricted in the port, that is why we started the navigation at morning," he said. MV Shejyoti had left the Syama Prasad Mukherjee port of Kolkata on July 17. Handling of the containers was completed before midnight and the container trailers started for Akhaura with an escort provided by Bangladesh's customs security. Shipping agent sources said the four containers under the trial transshipment contain iron rods and pulses. Those will head to Agartala through the Akhaura Land Port. The consignment of rods will be brought to West Tripura's Jirania from Agartala, while the pulses will go to Assam's Karimganj. Habibur Rahman of Mango Lines, the agent for the merchant vessel, had said that offloading may begin also on Tuesday after completing the formalities. Indian transshipment goods would enjoy a 28-day free-stay after offloading at the port as per the international transshipment agreement. Bangladesh will earn 254 takas from the scanning of each container loaded with transshipment goods. Bangladeshi importers also pay the same charge. Similarly, 30 takas document processing fee for each consignment of Indian goods will be levied, the same amount charged on Bangladeshi importers. Joint Commissioner of the Customs House S.M. Shamsuzzaman said the transshipped goods will have to pay police 50 takas per tonne as escort charge to reach the Indian border in Tripura from the port by road. Usually a 20 feet container carries a maximum of 30 tons of goods. According to this estimation, Bangladesh will realise around 1, 500 takas as escort charge for accompanying goods of a container to the border. Akhaura Customs Officer Harunur Rashid said they have taken necessary preparations for the transportation of the Indian goods, under the trial run. India is transporting goods to its northeastern states, using Bangladeshi ports, as per the agreement on "The Use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports for Movement of Goods to and from India" signed between Dhaka and Delhi in 2018 and a standard operating procedure (SoP) signed in October 2019. Earlier, the Indian government used the Ashuganj river port to transport goods for the Palatana Power Plant in Tripura through the Akhaura land port. On the new chapter in connectivity with Bangladesh via container shipping, India's Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the transit route will open new opportunities for both countries. He said that it will provide an alternative and shorter route to connect the northeast region through Bangladesh, reducing distance and time taken in transportation of goods for India and is a win-win for both the economies. On the other hand, job creation, investment in the logistical sector, enhanced business services and revenue generation are advantages that will accrue to Bangladesh. Bangladeshi vessels and trucks will be utilised to move the Indian cargo, the Indian government said. India and Bangladesh have enhanced cooperation in shipping and inland water trade in recent years. Under the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, in addition to the six existing Ports of Call, five more in each country have been added recently. Dredging of inland waterway routes is ongoing under an MoU, signed by the two countries on development of selected stretches of Bangladesh waterways. The trial transportation of goods to the northeastern states by road, via Bangladesh, had started earlier.