The Walloon Waterways Directorate continued to deal with the 'Kepejora', that sank in Auvelais. After the barge has been emptied of its 1,400 tons of scrap cargo, a specialized company was preparing the wreck for refloating on July 29, using powerful pumps, which have to remove the same amount of water from the flooded holds, in an effort to quickly restore ship traffic on the Sambre, which remained suspended due to a pollution threat. Report with photo: https://www.lavenir.net/regions/namur/2025/07/29/sambreville-dans-la-peniche-coulee-1-400-000-litres-deau-a-pomper-6YQMZR4RR5FRJCNSKZYPIPX7GY/
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KVALOY
The 'Kvaløy' suffered technical problems and had to be removed from the route Småge – Finnøya – Sandøya – Ona on July 28., The speed boat 'Lagertha' was inserted as a replacement with a departure from Ona at 12:00 p.m., following the established timetable and taking a maximum of 46 passengers. The 'Kvaløy' was sidelined in Småge and expected back in operation on July 30, departing from Ona at 05:20 a.m. Between 10 and 15 cars that were supposed to travel by ferry were stuck at the ferry pier of Ona for the time being.
FV VIRGINIE
On July 28, 2025, the 'Virginie' got its propeller fouled by a part of its trawl while fishing about 26 nautical miles west of Pointe de la Hague in the English Channel near the Casquets TSS, and requested towing assistance at around 4:00 a.m. The CROSS Jobourg mobilized the lifeboat of the SNSM station Goury-La Hague, which took the trawler in tow and pulled it to the port of Cherbourg. Report with photo: https://www.ouest-france.fr/societe/faits-divers/au-large-de-la-pointe-de-la-hague-la-snsm-remorque-un-chalutier-en-action-de-peche-35238e4c-6bb5-11f0-bf3f-03e335cb8146
PERFICIO
The Rotterdam District Court has ruled that the owner of the 'Perficio' is entitled to limit its liability for damage caused by the allision with the lifting bridge at Humbeek-Sas on June 29, 2023. The judge rejected an attempt by the Flemish government to halt the Dutch proceedings in favour of a Belgian lawsuit. The accident had caused significant damage to the bridge. De Vlaamse Waterweg NV (DVW), the bridge's manager, held the vessel and its owners liable. Shortly thereafter,the Perficio Shipping, together with its insurer EOC, initiated limitation proceedings in the Netherlands. With these proceedings, ship owners attempt to financially limit their liability, based on the international CLNI Convention. A few days later, DVW also initiated civil proceedings in Belgium, demanding, among other things, that the ship owner not be entitled to limitation of liability. The Belgian case preceded the Dutch proceedings, and the Rotterdam court should therefore postpone its judgment (the so-called lis pendens defense). However, the court disagreed: the limitation proceedings in Rotterdam had been initiated earlier and constituted the starting point for the subsequent substantive proceedings, the so-called reckless proceedings. The case in Rotterdam revolved solely around the question of whether the damage was caused by intent or gross negligence on the part of the shipowner or their representatives. Only in that case would there be no right to limitation of liability. The court concluded that this was not the case: there was no evidence that the allision was caused by consciously risky behaviour or intent. The court also ruled that the CLNI Convention contained sufficiently clear rules and that no additional Belgian or Dutch law was necessary for its interpretation. Consequently, the court also rejected the DVW's subsidiary request to adjourn the case until the Belgian expert investigation by the Nautical Commission has been fully completed. As a result, the Perficio Shipping and its insurer may settle the claim within the limits of the limitation fund they established. DVW has been ordered to pay over €2,000 in legal costs.
REACH REMOTE 1
The emergency services responded on July 28, 2025, at 1:05 p.m. to a gas leak on the 'Reach Remote 1', one of the offshore service provider Massterly's two USV vessels, in Kristiansund. Hydrogen fluoride, probably from a battery cell that had leaked, while the vessel was docked, and work was carried out on board. One man who was working on board inhaled the gas, became nauseous and was taken to the emergency room. The rest of the crew has been evacuated. The fire department established a safety distance of 50 meters and quickly isolated the leak. The cause of the incident was likely a short circuit in a battery cell that has led to a leak. At 1:30 p.m., the fire department had controlled the temperature and isolated the gas. The temperature was unchanged, and there was no risk of an explosion. The room where the leak occurred has been sealed off, and there was no longer any ongoing gas leak from the room. At 2:30 p.m., the entire dhip, with the exception of the room that has been sealed off, has been ventilated. The ship builder was contacted to handle the case further. An investigation was launched.