The 'Léon Thévenin' departed Cape Town Harbour on May 14, 2024, at 3.45 p.m. UTC for the site of the faults on the Eastern Africa Submarine System (EASSy) and Seacom cables, which occurred on May 12. The faults were reported on the EASSy and Seacom cables off the East Coast of Africa, knocking out all subsea capacity between East Africa and South Africa. The cable faults were impacting Internet connectivity to Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Traffic drops of between 30% and 75% in impacted countries were observed. Following these cable faults, South African users complained about poor Netflix performance and issues connecting to other online services. However, the East coast submarine cables may have only been part of the problem. Several terrestrial cable failures also occurred, reducing capacity between Johannesburg and Cape Town. The vessel was expected to arrive at the cable grounds on May 18 at around 05:00 a.m. The 'Léon Thévenin' is equipped with various cable work tools such as grapnels, buoys, ropes, and dead weights and a ROV that can be used to detect, cut, recover, join, and test undersea fibre cables. The vessel had docked in Cape Town Harbour on April 25 after returning from Abidjan, where it had attended to a fault on the SAT-3 cable.
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NORTH AMERICAN
On the morning of May 14, 2024, the 'North American' sank at a pier on the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a call at 07.30 a.m. after the crabber had partially sunk on the south side of the canal, east of the Ballard Bridge, with only the stern still protruding from the water.Responders from the Seattle Fire installed an oil containment boom around the vessel to prevent pollution, and a dive team started working on plugging vents and reducing the risk of fuel discharges. A second layer of boom has been deployed to further reduce the chance of a fuel slick escaping from the vessel, which can carry up to a maximum of 32,500 gallons of diesel, The actual amount aboard at the time of the sinking may be lower. The Global Diving and Salvage was the pollution response contractor for the incident, and its team will be removing the remaining petroleum on board and transferring it to storage tanks on shore. The Coast Guard is monitoring the progress of the response, and an investigation into the cause of the sinking is under way. Reports with photos: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3775064/coast-guard-other-agencies-respond-to-sunken-vessel-in-seattle/ https://maritime-executive.com/article/pioneering-crab-boat-f-v-north-american-sinks-at-the-pier
ABEILLE NORMANDIE
On the night of May 14, the CROSS Gris-Nez regional was informed that a migrant boat had set sail in the Malo-les-Bains sector. At the end of the night, in conjunction with the CROSS Gris Nez, the Dunkirk semaphore relocated the boat and indicated that it had stopped. At the same time, the CROSS deployed the 'Abeille Normandie' to the site. The crew of the 'Abeille Normandie' joined the boat near the beach of Malo-les-Bains, noticed that there were 19 people on board and that they requested assistance. The semi-rigid then towed the boat to the beach of Malo-les-Bains where the 19 people were taken care of by shore based emergency services and the police.
CG VALIANT
The US Coast Guard intercepted two separate boats packed with Cuban migrants trying to set foot in Florida aboard tiny vessels ill-suited for the high seas. The first boat was spotted about 12 miles south of the Marquesas Keys near Key West on May 10, 2024, with 15 Cubans on board. On May 12, authorities in Key West were tipped off by a good Samaritan that another boat with migrants was in the ocean about 26 miles south of Marathon. The Coast Guard Cutter 'Valiant' plucked eight Cubans from that boat and sent them home. The crew of the 'Paul Clark' repatriated 23 migrants to Cuba on May 14. Report with photo: https://nypost.com/2024/05/14/us-news/coast-guard-catches-23-cuban-migrants-headed-to-florida-and-sends-them-back-home/
DIONISIOS SOLOMOS
On May 14, 2024, at noon, the Port Authority of Ios was informed by teachers of the High School of Thira who were making a day trip from Thira to Ios, about an incident with six students suffering injuries on board the 'Dionisios Solomos'. The ship was on a scheduled route from Thira. The injuries were caused by a fall on the escalators while the ship docked in the port of Ios. A 14-year-old boy was taken to the Ios Health Center for first aid, from where he was discharged the same day. The students, after the end of their excursion to Ios, boarded another ship bound for Thera. A preliminary investigation was carried out by the Port Authority of Ios.