arrived Alang Anchorage 25.04.24
News
BIRKA GOTLAND
On April 28, 2024, the 'Birka Gotland', sailing between Stockholm and Marihamn, requested assistance for a child with an allergic reaction. An SAR helicopter apparently couldn't go out due to inclement weather, so the Sea Rescue Society deployed the RS 'Vialla' from the station in Räfsnäs. The sea rescuers boarded the ship north of Furusund and took over the patient, who was handed over to a waiting ambulance in Kapellskär.
Kiel
The Port of Kiel expects another good season in 2023, resulting in 218 cruise calls, said its MD Dirk Claus in the morning of Jan 17, 2023, as part of a presentation reflecting on last year's results. It follows 2022's record-breaking 244 calls, which saw the port handle over 2.24m passengers, 836,000 of those from cruise vessels. The number of calls in 2019 was 37% less by comparison, numbering 178, and passenger volumes 4.1% lower. 2020 had been forecast to become a record season for Kiel, with 200 calls and 880,000 passengers, but aspirations were dashed owing to the pandemic. This year, a number of larger vessels are scheduled to arrive at Kiel on multiple occasions making the gross tonnage of arriving ships similar to 2022. For 2023, the choice of routes and destinations approached from Kiel will be slightly broader. Moving into the future, Claus expects Kiel to settle on between 200 and 250 cruise calls annually. According to the port, last year’s promising results were the result of ‘intense planning’ with international cruise operators. While 11 calls were cancelled owing to the conflict in Ukraine and the resulting loss of St Petersburg from itineraries, nine were newly added as a result of rerouting by operators. Looking ahead, there will be a strong focus on greener shipping with Claus hoping that between 60 and 100 calls can be supplied with green shore power this year. He stated that Kiel will continue to look at strengthening shore power in line with its corporate sustainability strategy to lower carbon emissions. Work on the new Ostuferhafen shore power plant is expected to conclude towards the end of this year, resulting in Kiel being able to offer shoreside connectivity at all its ferry and cruise terminals from 2024. Along with this €17m investment, a further €2m will be invested to install solar arrays. The systems, which will be fitted on roofs at Kiel Port, are intended to cover up to 30% of the port's electricity requirements in the long term. Kiel’s first call is expected to arrive April 7 with the river vessel 'Frederic Chopin'. The first cruise ship of the season, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 'Balmoral', will arrive a week later. The largest ships to call will be 'MSC Euribia' and 'AIDAnova'. At the other end of the scale, the 'Ocean Majesty' will visit Kiel on six occasions while chartered to Hansa Touristik. The vessel, which celebrates its 57th anniversary this year, is popular with the German source market. One of its calls is scheduled to occur on June 18 during the Kieler Woche sailing festival which will run from June 17-25. Traditionally, this marks the peak of the cruise season with this year no exception: 22 calls are expected by Kiel at the same time as the event takes place. While the highest number of calls is expected between mid-April and the end of September as usual, some ships will continue to call later in the year. 'AIDAnova'’s last departure is scheduled for November 4 whilst December 20 will see Phoenix Reisen's 'Amera' arrive at Kiel as part of a pre-Christmas itinerary. The season will draw to a close a few days later with the 'Spirit of Discovery' on December 29. Costa-, AIDA-, MSC- and TUI Cruises will again be the port's largest cruise customers. The majority of calls account for turnarounds serving the German-speaking source markets, but a number of transit calls will also take place, P&O Cruises’ Britannia, Swiss Ruby, Holland America Line’s 'Nieuw Statendam' and Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 'Seven Seas Splendor' among them. As in previous years, the Ostuferhafen outside the city centre will be heavily utilised by MSC Cruises and most other cruise ships will arrive at the Ostseekai.
Kerch
The Crimean Bridge across Kerch Strait suffered an explosion and fire in the morning of Oct 8, 2022. Two spans of the motorway bridge collapsed and fell into the water, the railway bridge above the motorway witha cargo train including railway car tanks with fuel, was on fire. All bridge traffic was suspended. The Crimean Bridge was more than a Bridge, both for Russia and Ukraine. For Russia it was a symbol of the Russian “victory” and historical justice. For the Ukraine, it was a symbol of the Russian aggression and Crimea occupation. The navigation span of the Bridge is yet undamaged, and therefore, the Kerch Strait Channel remained navigable. The Kerch Strait Transit is from now on, however, a risky undertaking, so all ship owners are advised to calculate risks and probably, change their ships voyages, avoiding Azov sea calls.
BRP DATU BANKAW
The BRP 'Bagacay', on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal, was confronted by 10 Chinese ships, four China Coast Guard vessels and six Chinese Maritime Militia vessels, which encircled the vessel on April 30, 2024. They swerved in front of the Philippine crew, who exchanged warnings over the radio. On the deck, the crew rushed towards buoys every time the Chinese edged closer, trying to protect themselves in case there was a collision. Then the Chinese fired with their water cannons. The 'Bagacay' turned back after a patrol ship of the country's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the BRP 'Datu Bankaw', which was travelling alongside, had its radar damaged by the water cannons. The'Bagacay' suffered damage to the railing and canopy. No injuries were reported. Report with photos: https://news.sky.com/story/how-a-philippine-coastguard-ship-ended-up-being-surrounded-by-12-chinese-vessels-13126205 https://www.businessinsider.com/china-philippines-ship-confrontation-with-water-cannons-video-2024-4
Singapore
On Dec 1, 2022, at about 3 p.m. the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was informed that 15 empty containers at Keppel Terminal had fallen from the wharf into the water as a result of strong winds during a squall. There were no reported injuries and no immediate impact to port operations. The MPA deployed two patrol crafts to monitor and cordon off the affected area to facilitate recovery work by PSA Corporation Ltd. MPA’s Port Operations Control Centre has restricted all vessel movements in the vicinity of Keppel Terminal until the containers were recovered.
Odessa
For the fourth day in a row, Iranian-made drones attacked Odesa on Sep 26 in the morning, this time against military targets and without civilian casualties. On Sep 23, two civilians were killed during Russian drone attacks on the port city. On Sep 25, Odesa was attacked by three drones, one of which was reportedly shot down by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine has not officially identified the drones, but from the video footage below it appears, according to experts, that they are Iranian-produced Shakhed 136 drones.
ANGLEVIKEN
The 'Angleviken' came across a fisherman floating in the Java Sea for two days in a life ring, 12 nautical miles from land. The master of the 'Avgleviken', Captain Bhanu Kundi, reportedly sighted an object floating in the water approximately 2.5 nautical miles ahead of the tanker while they were sailing in the Java Sea. He maneuvered the vessel and sounded the general alarm with a man overboard announcement when they realized it was a person floating in the water. The crew of Indian, Ukrainian, and Filipino seafarers started the rescue operation. They successfully recovered the man in just 45 minutes from when the alarm was sounded. He had jumped from the fishing boat he was working on because he had been working without pay. He was brought aboard safely and both conscious and uninjured.
BRP BAGACAY
The BRP 'Bagacay', on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal, was confronted by 10 Chinese ships, four China Coast Guard vessels and six Chinese Maritime Militia vessels, which encircled the vessel on April 30, 2024. They swerved in front of the Philippine crew, who exchanged warnings over the radio. On the deck, the crew rushed towards buoys every time the Chinese edged closer, trying to protect themselves in case there was a collision. Then the Chinese fired with their water cannons. The 'Bagacay' turned back after a patrol ship of the country's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the BRP 'Datu Bankaw', which was travelling alongside, had its radar damaged by the water cannons. The'Bagacay' suffered damage to the railing and canopy. No injuries were reported. Report with photos: https://news.sky.com/story/how-a-philippine-coastguard-ship-ended-up-being-surrounded-by-12-chinese-vessels-13126205 https://www.businessinsider.com/china-philippines-ship-confrontation-with-water-cannons-video-2024-4
Kerch
Russia's Ministry of Transport has set up a ferry service across the Kerch Strait to take over vehicle traffic, offsetting some of the impact of the damage to the Kerch Strait Bridge after a truck was blown up on the westbound road deck of the Kerch Strait Bridge on Oct 7 at about 6 a.m. Two spans of the westbound deck collapsed into the water, but the adjacent eastbound deck remained in place. The blast's timing coincided with the passage of a fuel train on the adjacent rail deck, and it ignited seven fuel tank cars, which burned for hours after the explosion. A Russian salvage diving team has arrived on the site and is completing an underwater survey of the damage, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said Sunday. An above-water inspection process is already under way. Traffic had partially resumed on the bridge by late Saturday, though restricted by the extent of the damage. Russia's Ministry of Transport said that it also resumed suburban commuter rail service over the rail track, though not heavy freight trains. Two ferries are already in operation to provide a bypass route, and eight separate parking lots have been set up for temporary storage for cars and trucks waiting to make the crossing. Two more ferries will join the effort on Monday, the Yeysh and Mriya.
Yaizu
Yaizu Port is one of the leading fishing ports in Japan. In August 2022, the VesselTracker AIS receiving station opened at Yaizu Port.