The Director General of Shipping has issued a formal notice to the MSC Ship Management for gross negligence in salvage operations of the 'MSC Elsa 3' off the Kochi coast and imminent threat to the marine environment and the coast line. The progress made in this operation was grossly inadequate and continued to fall short of the timelines and operational commitments previously provided by the owners and salvors. Should the extraction of oil not commence within next 48 hours, the government shall be left with no alternative but examine all avenues against the ship owners and salvors under applicable Indian legislation for the continuing threat posed to Indian waters and the coastal environment, a notice said. Despite repeated instructions and coordination meetings, the response from salvors has been consistently delayed and insufficient. The lack of prompt action has resulted in a continued and serious risk to marine environment and coastline, particularly affecting Kerala’s coastal region. The local communities in the region have already suffered extensive loss of work and income due to the prolonged presence of the sunken vessel, floating debris, oil sheen and ongoing pollution risks. The salvors not only delayed the required diving support vessel and personnel, but also failed to file visa applications for saturation divers from 11 countries, even after the Indian government facilitated diplomatic support for their clearance. The vessel, which lies at the depth of 51 metres, requires saturation diving for oil recovery. However, only limited air diving has been conducted so far, insufficient for the safe and complete extraction of oil trapped in the tanks. Capping of vents was still being conducted at present. The extraction of oil, originally scheduled to commence around June 5, has not even begun as of this date. The Directorate General of Shipping placed the owners and salvors on formal notice that any further delay beyond the specified period will be treated as wilful and deliberate noncompliance, and the government shall proceed to exercise its full legal rights and remedies without further reference. A Division Bench of the High Court has directed the Vizhinjam Port Authority to detain another MSC vessel, the 'MSC Manasa F'. The directive came in response to a petition filed by the Cashew Export Promotion Council. The petition stated that the 'MSC Elsa 3' was supposed to reach Vizhinjam with a cashew cargo on board, alleging a loss of ₹6 crore due to the accident. The court ordered the detention of the 'MSC Manasa F' and that the ship will be released upon presentation of a demand draft of ₹6 crore to the court. The High Court will reconsider the petition on June 12 at 1:45 p.m..
News
BAYESIAN
The authorities in Sicily have approved an amended salvage plan by the salvors of Hebo and Smit Salvage and coordinator TMC Marine to raise the 'Bayesian'. This plan involves the 'Hebo Lift 10', one of the largest sheerlegs in Europe, which will be lifting the stern of the yacht, so that the salvors can pass the slings under the hull. The clayey bottom requires this approach. Previous attempts were made to pull the cables under the hull while it was lying on the seabed. A total of eight slings are needed to lift the wreck, which is scheduled for the end of June. Over the past week, salvage teams have been searching the seabed around the 'Bayesian' for materials from the yacht, using remotely controlled underwater equipment. 17 objects were found, including deck furniture and the shell of a life raft.
ARATERE
The 'Aratere' broke down on its way to Wellington on the night of June 11. The ferry left Picton at about 8.50 p.m., but then experienced an issue with its propulsion drive. Seven commercial vehicle drivers and four foot passengers were on board the ferry while it was anchored for hours, waiting for a specialist electrician to arrive. The issue was fixed at about 1 a.m.. and the vessel resumed its trip to Wellington, with a new ETA as of June 12, 5 a.m. Kiwirail had to cancel the 6.15 a.m. departure from Wellington to Picton and the 11.00 a.m. crossing from Picton to Wellington and also the 4 p.m. sailing, as the search for the cause of the problem was continued. Interislander's customer service teams were amending bookings due to these cancellations. All affected customers were offered an alternative sailing. If the alternative sailing was not suitable, passengers could reschedule for no additional cost.
CGC WILLIAM SPARLING
Two bodies were found in the fishing vessel 'Seahorse' on June 11. The 30-foot ship was found sunk in 25 feet of water near Billingsgate Shoal, west of Wellfleet, in Cape Cod Bay, on the afternoon,. The 'William Sparling' was deployed and arrived on scene within 30 minutes. Divers from the Massachusetts environmental police, and Massachusetts state police identified the vessel. Both crew members were found onboard. Divers recovered the bodies, and authorities have contacted their families. The Coast Guard sent investigating officers to explore the reasons why the vessel sank and when it sank. Salvage operations will follow to potentially get the vessel out of the water. The 'Seahorse' had left Rock Harbor at Orleans on June 8 at 8 a.m. Capt. Shawn Arsenault was at its helm, accompanied by his girlfriend. At 10:30 a.m. other fishermen saw him throwing debris off the vessel. Harbormaster Nate Sears was notified by witnesses and tried to contact him to tell him that wasn't allowed. He tried twice to contact him but wasn't successful. At about 2 p.m. a witness who was fishing in Cape Cod Bay saw Arsenault dragging for quahogs. He didn't see anyone else on the 'Seahorse'. When Arsenault didn't return on the high tide on that day, Sears assumed he'd gone to another harbor to land his shellfish and planned to fish the next high tide out of that port. On June 9, Sears contacted Arsenault's brother, Paul, a commercial fisherman who was on a contact list for Shawn and told him he wasn't going to return until he got his limit. On the night of June 9, Arsenault was still not back at Rock Harbor. Sears began making calls to other harbors to see if Arsenault was docked there. Onn the morning of, June 10, Sears received the last of the confirmations that harbour masters in Dennis, Provincetown and Orleans had not seen Arsenault. At that point he reached out to the Coast Guard to say he was concerned about the wellbeing of Arsenault and his girlfriend. The Coast Guard initiated a search for the vessel and put a broadcast out on VHF. The Coast Guard located the cell phone ping at around 10:30 p.m. two miles east of Chatham. It would have taken the Seahorse six to eight hours to reach that spot. On June 11, the Coast Guard was doing grid pattern searches, using sonar to search the ocean floor, and planes were out looking for debris in the water. Neighbouring natural resources personnel and harbour masters were scanning the shoreline by boat and walking the shoreline looking for any type of debris. An extensive multi-agency search for the overdue fishing vessel was led by Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England. They issued an UMIB on the morning of Juen 10 to notify the public of the emergency and launched Stations Chatham, Cape Cod Canal, and Provincetown to search the fishing area within Cape Cod Bay and the location of the last known cell phone ping. Report with video: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/missing-cape-cod-fishing-boat-seahorse-found-underwater/ Partners from the Cape Cod Mutual Response System consisting of Massachusetts Environmental and State Police, National Park Service, and local fire and police departments from Hyannis, Eastham, Wellfleet, Orleans, and Fishing Partnership along with members of the fishing community searched shorelines, marinas, and fishing piers for the vessel. Crews from the Fast Response Cutter William Sparling conducted an overnight search operation on Tuesday night, according to the press release.
SBJORN HELGE INGSTAD
On June 2, 2025, the Spanish shipyard Navantia, which built the 'Helge Ingstad', will avoid a lawsuit after the loss of the ship in 2018. A new settlement meant that the Norwegian state will receive a discount on future maintenance tasks, although at a value far from what the state originally demanded. After almost seven years of legal dispute over responsibility for the sinking of the frigate,, the Norwegian state and the Spanish shipyard Navantia have reached a settlement that closes a significant part of the compensation case. The agreement means that Navantia will provide a discount of 47.5 million euros on future maintenance and upgrade work on Norway's remaining five Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates. This is a fraction of the total claim of 15 billion Norwegian crowns, that the Norwegian state raised after the accident report's conclusions about a critical design flaw. Since the sinking in 2018, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense has waged a long-running battle to assign technical responsibility for the accident, in which the 'Helge Ingstad' collided with the tanker 'Sola TS' and subsequently sank. The accident report determined that water quickly entered the ship due to hollow propeller shafts, a defect that, according to the Norwegian Defense Ministry, was crucial to the frigate's inability to be saved. Against this background, the Norwegian state demanded a total of 15 billion Norwegian crowns in compensation from both the shipyard Navantia and the classification society DNV GL. However, with the settlement, the state now acknowledges that the case against the shipyard will not be taken to court, and that financial compensation will instead be provided in the form of a discount over the next six years. Navantia has long sought access to previously secret documents, which, according to the shipyard, could nuance the assessment of technical responsibility and the role of the Norwegian Defense in the accident. The shipyard has publicly criticized the Norwegian Ministry of Defense's decision to withhold internal documents that could potentially shed a different light on the case. Navantia believes that the Norwegian state's secrecy has prevented a full technical investigation. However, with the settlement, the parties choose to put the case behind them, without the shipyard formally acknowledging responsibility.