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On the morning of May 5, 2025, the 'Marella Discovery', enroute from Gibraltar to Palma de Mallorca, alerted the RCC of Salamento Marítimo in Almería. One passenger required medical evacuation. The CCS mobilized the Helimer 215 helicopter, which hoisted the patient and transported her to the airport, where an ambulance was waiting.

The HM Customs made a sizable drug bust from the 'Great Zhou' on the anchorage of Gibraltar by deploying drones that were acquired in December 2024. The bulk carrier had arrived in Gibraltar on April 30, 2025, on a bunkering stop after a voyage from Santos, Brazil. The HM Customs undertook a routine check of the vessel while also using its newly acquired drones. The survey of the underwater areas of the vessel raised suspicions at one of the vessel’s sea chests on the port side of the hull. Divers ultimately retrieved four packages that had been hidden in the sea chest and the investigation found they contained 120 kg of cocaine. The HM Customs detained the vessel and interviewed the crew. It was later permitted to proceed to a scheduled port call in Italy. Officials in Gibraltar believed the crew was not aware of the drugs hidden on the outside of the hull. They also believed that the drugs were not meant to be offloaded in Gibraltar but would have proceeded to another country in Europe but through their efforts interrupted a smuggling operation. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys9YeOUvpHA&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.maritime-executive.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE

The sanctioned 'Elyana', which in the past is likely to have been involved with shipping arms to Syria, has just completed a northerly passage up the Red Sea and was located on May 3, 2025, underway and entering the southern end of the Suez Canal. As of the end of the day, the AIS signal showsed it has completed the Suez Canal transit. The vessel set off from the Bandar Abbas commercial port on April 18, making a port call in Jebel Ali, and departed on April 21. The vessel is not known to have made any port call en route and hence has taken much longer to complete the Jebel Ali to Suez leg of its voyage than would a normal commercial vessel. The 'Elyana' is listed by name and is subject to secondary sanctions by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). It is linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which is sanctioned as an entity.Equipped with deck davit cranes, the 'Elyana' would be capable of off-loading cargo at unsophisticated ports en route, potentially being able to do so in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen without using the closely monitored (and recently demolished) ports of Hodeida and Ras Isa. In June 2024, the 'Elyana' had unloaded cargo in Latakia, which had been taken on in Bandar Abbas. While closely aligned with the doomed Assad regime in Syria, the IRGC are known to have used Latakia as a hub for their arms imports destined for Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, using shipping to the port of Latakia and flying Boeing 747 cargo aircraft directly into Latakia International Airport.

Russia's military has military equipment for export again. On April 30, a military convoy consisting of three freighters and a frigate was observed for the first time in the Baltic Sea. The "Jiaganghangbeng 01" had the Russian Navy's flag flying from its mast. The Russian frigate "Boikiy" used the Chinese name to camouflage itself and escort the Russian heavy-lift carriers "Baltic Leader," "Patria," and "Siyanie Severa." The freighter convoy is fully loaded. More than 10,000 tons are on board, as the draft suggests. The convoy set off on the evening of April 29 from the Russian naval port of Baltiysk in Kaliningrad, Russia's largest military depot on the Baltic Sea. Its destination is the Mediterranean. The Danish Navy and the GErman Federal Police have been shadowing the convoy since that day. The task force vessel "Bamberg" followed the "Boikiy" from Rügen through the Kadet Trench and the Fehmarn Belt. The NATO will also be closely monitoring the convoy in the coming weeks. The convoy is the largest Russian military transport in the Baltic Sea since January 2022, when six landing ships left the Baltic Sea with equipment for the Ukraine campaign and headed for the Black Sea. The last convoy sent from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean was in December, with the heavy-lift freighters "URSA Major" and "Sparta." The "URSA Major" sank during the voyage after an explosion off the Algerian coast on Dec 23. The destination could be Libya. Russia is currently very active in the Sahel region. From bases in Libya, they can expand their influence in the region. Satellite images have shown construction activities since February at the Libyan military airport Maaten al-Sarra, which has been closed since 2011. The military base is strategically located in the Sahel region. From there, deliveries of military equipment to Sudan, Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso are easily feasible. The use of these roll-on/roll-off vessels suggests that Russian military vehicles are also being transported. The deployment of so much equipment raises the suspicion that the war in Ukraine is no longer a priority. In 2024, a large portion of the military equipment retrieved from Syria was also sent to Ukraine.

On April 15, 2024, the 'Serena' was detained in Ferrol with 31 deficiencies, eight of which being seriously and grounds for a detention: 1) Life saving Appliances - Launching arrangements for rescue boats Inoperative 2) Life saving Appliances - Inflatable liferafts Not ready for use 3) Labour conditions - Anchoring devices Not ready for use 4) Fire safety - Fire dampers Inoperative 5) Propulsion and auxiliary machinery - Propulsion main engine Not as required 6) Propulsion and auxiliary machinery - Auxiliary machinery Insufficient power. 7) Emergency system - Emergency fire pump and its pipes Inoperative 8)) ISM - Ism certificate Not as required The vessel was released again on May 8 and permitted a single voyage to Tuzla for permanent repairs. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063576908591