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Authorities in Singapore were planning to arrest the 'Sevastopol' under U.S. sanctions for violating economic sanctions imposed on North Korea. The U.S. Treasury targeted Russia’s Gudzon shipping company in 2018 with sanctions on six of its vessels, including the 'Sevastopol'. South Korea briefly held the 'Sevastopol' in 2018 and China later refused to repair Gudzon’s other container ship. Singapore sent papers saying it’s arresting the ship over parking debts to Gudzo. Singapore plans to confiscate the 'Sevastopol' through court and sell it at a public auction. The trial was set for Dec. 17, 2019. The debts were estimated at $950,000. The 'Sevastopol' experienced a failure of the auxiliary engine when it docked in Singapore in February.Russia’s Embassy in Singapore said the Sevastopol was seized because of a commercial dispute and not sanctions. The 12 crew members had enough provisions but were not allowed to leave the vessel. Singapore hoped the court will hand it the vessel, then American sanctions against could be lifted and it could be sold. Report with photo: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/12/06/singapore-arrests-sanctioned-russian-vessel-a68507

The owner of the 'Nordana Sophie' has dispatched two vessels to the position where the vessel sank. One has been moored to monitor the area while the other vessel was transporting divers to access the vessel and to clean up the oil spill. More than three kilometers of coastline in the Ky Loi commune (Ky Anh town) have been covered with oil deposits and debris after the ship sank with 178 tons of oil on board near Son Duong port.

The Alaska state ferry system said Dec 5, 2019, that 24 employees will be affected by the expected, long-term layup of the 'Aurora'. The state transportation department stated they will be relieved of duties effective on Jan. 14, 2020. The department previously said it did not have money for repair work to both the 'Aurora' and the 'LeConte' and opted to move ahead with repairs to the 'LeConte'. Repair work on the 'Aurora' would be more expensive and take longer. The 'LeConte' was expected to return to service May 15, while the 'Aurora' was being prepared for long-term layup in Ketchikan.

Beached at Alang 03.12.19

arrived Bhavnagar Anchorage 05.12.19

After the airport in Funchal was closed due to a storm, the 'Mein Schiff Herz' was diverted to Las Palmas and left Funchal on Dec 4 at 11 p.m. The ship arrived in Las Palmas on Dec 5 at 2.30 p.m. from where passengers booked on flights in Funchal were carried home.

The Maersk-owned Svitzer and the terminal operator Essar Oil did not properly assess the risk until the chief of staff died when he tried to board the 'Millgarth' according to a report by the British authorities. The 62-year-old chief engineer fell into the cold waters of the Mersey River at Liverpool on Jan 27, 2019, as he had loosened the tug from its moorings and tried to get back on board. His life jacket automatically inflated. and his colleagues on the ship were able to reach him from the side of the tug within five minutes. But they were unable to get him back on board as he had lost consciousness in the cold water. He was subsequently picked up by a lifeboat but had suffered cardiac arrest and could not be resuscitated. According to the British Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), the use of fenders at the Tranmere oil terminal to board tugs was normal practice, but extremely dangerous, especially in bad weather conditions. The lack of safe access to and from Svitzer's tugs at the Tranmere oil terminal has been known for at least 14 years prior to this accident and was subject at safety meetings and inspections many times before. Svitzer and Essar did not formally identify and evaluate the risks associated with access to and from non-moored tugs or discussed how these could be addressed. The report further found that the crew was not fully prepared to deal with the emergency and was unfamiliar with the use of the tug's rescue loop. A similar accident happened at the same site earlier this year - though without fatal outcome - but due to the similarities, the MAIB has chosen to issue an urgent security recommendation regarding safe access to and from the tugs.

The 'Souhou Maru' (499 gt, built 2014), ran aground onto the shallows at Chiba port in position 35 36 57 N, 139 57 48 E on Dec 4, 2019, at 4.30 p.m. It was refloated on Dec 5 short past midnight without significant damage.

The 'Glovis Maestro', coming from Alexandria, suffered auxiliary engine problems on Dec 4, 2019. The ship was subsequently towed to Gibraltar and berthed at the Detached Mole, where ot was currently undergoing repairs.

Picture from Sevastopol, Crimea. http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=3088118

Beached at Alang 27.11.19

The salvage plan for the 'Blue Star' which was developed by Smit Salvage was not without risks. In the operation the towing capacity of the tugs, a minimum of 350 tons, will be combined with the improvement of the buoyancy and depend on the tides and the swell which could facilitate the operation. However, it was feared that the damage to the hull will increase with the consequence that water would enter and buoyancy would be lost. 14 of the 18 ballast tanks were breached. In addition, the sludge tank was also damaged. 11 of the tanks were damaged on Nov 26, four days after the grounding. Four others suffered cracks as of Nov 28. The rock bed also worries the experts of the Dutch company, and they did not hide that there was risk that the Hull will break before or during the salvage operation. As the engine room remained intact, submersible bilge pumps were installed in it to prevent flooding, as it was crucial that it is fully operational to reduce any water ingress. The cargo tanks that were above the double bottom of the ship have also been sealed, with the aim of not losing buoyancy if the outer hull of the 'Blue Star' gets further damaged. The water in the ballast tanks will be removed by injecting compressed air, an operation that will be carried out when the two tugs, the 'Union Princess' and the 'Boka Pegasus' have been connected to two reinforcement points iat n the stern, both with 200 tons of draft. Once buoyancy was gained by removing excess water, the tugs would start pulling the tanker to try to refloat it. In principle, the operations will be carried out only by day, so the estimated duration of the preparations for the refloating was calculated to be seven days, so the first attempt cannot come before Dec 10. However, they prevent the circumstances from changing and forcing the modification of the plan, which would also be subject to the requirements of the Spanish Maritime Administration. The bad weather may also delay the operation, although just enough is required to create waves to support the towage. Other possible delays may concern the arrival of the necessary material that depends on third companies. Spanish report with photo: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/galicia/2019/12/06/blue-star-presenta-vias-agua-15-tanques-teme-remolque-provoque-danos/0003_201912G6P11991.htm

On Dec 3, 2019, at 7.10 a.m. the 'Chalakarn' rescued the crew of three of the bunker tanker 'Golden Bridge 2' which had been hit by waves at 5.45 a.m. and suffered water ingress in the aft. After a generator failure the tanker sank in the Sriracha Sea two miles from Bangkok. The bow was still protruding from the water. The castaways were taken to Bangkok. 20 tons of the 104 tons bunker fuel spilled off the Chao Praya River and drifted westwards 15 kilometers off Si Chang island in the Chonburi Province. The Royal Thai Navy took anti pollution measures. The drift was monitored by Sentinel 2A-satellite. It threatened the coasts of Si Chang, Phetchaburi and Bangkok. Thai reports with photos and video: https://www.pptvhd36.com/news/%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%94%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%99/115192 https://aec-tv-online2.com/?p=391011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW_-9xLphsc

Indian authorities have entered into talks on the release of the 19 crew members who were kidnapped on Dec 3 from the 'Nave Constellation' off Nigeria. The Indian Foreign Service was in contact with the pirates. The father of the captain of the ship, who was among the kidnapped, has assisted the Foreign Service in the negotiations. The ship usually was underway with armed guards when it sails to Nigeria, but that was not the case this time..After the attack, the seven remaining crew members on the fully loaded tanker were asked to sail the ship to a safe place and moored off Bonny in pos. 02° 3.34' N 004° 24. The tanker had left the Bonny Offshore Terminal fully loaded with crude oil before the attack. It was the fourth time this year that pirates have been successful in launching an attack and capturing crew members in this position.

The 'Sertao' remained laid up at Port Talbot since Mar 4, 2019 and it will be auctioned through sealed tender as per Admiralty Marshal?s condition of sale at London on Jan 14, 2020.

The 'Acadie' did not find a buyer during the auction of the Rennes company Alcopa Auction on Dec 4 in the Keroman port in Lorient. Six buyers had positioned themselves but none concluded the deal. Some want to give themselves time for reflection. Among the projects, the ferry could go to export, for Seychelles or Africa or be transformed into a nightclub or restaurant. Offered at € 80,000, the 600-seater remains property of the Brittany Region. The Regional Council had no longer considered the ship as useful and had decided to sell it as is. It no longer has a navigation certificate and is no longer up to current standards, especially for the reception of people with reduced mobility, but was ready to sail. Several employees of the former Morbihan Company and navigation company Océane attended the sale.

picture from Scrapyard http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=3087612

Beached at Gadani 06.12.19

On Dec 4, 2019, the 'Seabed Constructor' located the wreck of the German armoured cruiser SMS 'Scharnhorst' off the Falkland Islands, where it was sunk by the British navy 105 years ago. She was the flagship of German Vice-Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee's East Asia Squadron and was sunk on 8 December 1914 with more than 800 men on board, including Vice-Adm von Spee himself. The leader of the search, Mensun Bound, said the moment of discovery was extraordinary. "Suddenly she just came out of the gloom with great guns poking in every direction. As a Falkland Islander and a marine archaeologist, a discovery of this significance is an unforgettable, poignant moment in my life." The search for SMS Scharnhorst began five years ago, on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Falkland Islands, but was not successful at first. Search teams resumed their operation this year using the 'Seabed Constructor' and four autonomous underwater vehicles. They found SMS 'Scharnhorst' on the third day of the search, at a depth of 1,610 meters. The wreck was not disturbed during the operation and the Falkland Maritime Heritage Trust is seeking to have the site formally protected in law. SMS 'Scharnhorst' was part of the East Asia Squadron, the Imperial German Navy's cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean until the outbreak of World War One in 1914. The armoured cruiser played a key role in the Battle of Coronel, fought between the British Royal Navy and Germany's Imperial Navy off the coast of Chile. It was Britain's first naval defeat of World War One and it was a devastating one. The Germans sank two of the four British ships with the loss of more than 1,600 lives. Not a single German sailor died. The defeat at Coronel sent shock waves through the British empire and beyond. The Royal Navy despatched ships from the North Sea down to the South Atlantic and confronted the Germans at the Falkland Islands five weeks later. The British squadron pursued and engaged the German squadron. HMS 'Invincible' and HMS 'Inflexible' inflicted substantial damage on SMS 'Scharnhorst', causing it to sink with all 860 people on board. The Royal Navy then gave pursuit to the remaining German ships. Vice-Adm von Spee's two sons also died, Heinrich on board SMS Gneisenau and Otto aboard the light cruiser SMS 'Leipzig'. In total, 2,200 German sailors died in the battle. The head of the von Spee family said that the discovery of the wreck was "bittersweet". "We take comfort from the knowledge that the final resting place of so many has been found, and can now be preserved, whilst also being reminded of the huge waste of life. As a family we lost a father and his two sons on one day. Like the thousands of other families who suffered unimaginable loss during the First World War, we remember them and must ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain," Wilhelm Graf von Spee said. The Battle of the Falkland Islands had a lasting effect on World War One because as a result the East Asia Squadron, Germany's only permanent overseas naval formation, effectively ceased to exist and could no longer engage in commerce raiding. Reports with photos: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50670743 https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/05/incredible-pictures-show-newly-discovered-warship-sunk-landmark-1914-battle-11276498/

The 'Vasco da Gama' with 828 passengers on board suffered a two-hour lasting, controlled precautionary blackout on Adelaide approaches in the morning of Dec 6, 2019. An alarm light on the engine control room's panel led the vessel's captain to initiate the blackout as a precaution against damage to systems on-board and in order to investigate the alarm. All precautionary post-incidents checks were completed with no causes for concern identified. After power was restored, the ship safely reached port and was berthed at around 10 a.m.