Since the beginning of the year, the Iceland Fisheries Authority has temporarily revoked the fishing licenses of three vessels due to discarding: The 'Fálkatindur NS-99' lost its license for 14 days from the start of the next license issue for lumpfish fishing, The 'Hrönn NS-50' and 'Skáley SH-300' had to revoke their licenses for coastal fishing for a week. For the 'Fálkatindur' and 'Hrönn', this was the second license loss within two years. Thanks to improved drone surveillance, fisheries authority inspectors know exactly what is happening on the ships. Five fish were thrown overboard on the 'Fálkatindur' on May 5, 2023, before the end of the two-year deadline. In the opinion of the fisheries authority, the repetition of offenses was sufficient for the license to be revoked, especially since the offense was the same. After the fishing license is revoked, the delinquent is not allowed to commit any offenses for two years. On March 30, 2022, the crew had thrown 16 halibut overboard while fishing for lumpfish. Five halibut were thrown overboard on the 'Hrönn' on May 3, 2023, and the license was revoked at the beginning of February because the authorities believed the discarding was intentional. Last year, the 'Hrönn' had to give up the license twice because of discards, once for 14 halibuts and one plaice, and the second time for 26 halibuts and three plaices, both within a week.
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SPAR LYRA
The Portuguese Navy, through the MRSC Funchal, and in conjunction with the captain of the Port of Funchal, coordinated the medevac of an Indian crew member, aged 33, from the 'Spar Lyra' 63 nautical miles northwest of Funchal in the morning of Feb 26. The alert was received at ther MRSC Funchal at 4:50 a.m., with a disembarkation request. After a medical evaluation at the Mar Urgent Patient Guidance Center (CODU-Mar), the crew member was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and needed to be transported to a hospital. After the ship was authorized to approach the Port of Funchal, a vessel from the Funchal Lifeboat Station was mobilized and took the patient off at around 12:20 p.m. He was transported by a Funchal Firefighters ambulance to a hospital. The Local Command of the Maritime Police took charge of the incident. Report with photo: https://funchalnoticias.net/2024/02/26/marinha-coordenou-resgate-de-tripulante-de-navio/
COLOR MAGIC
On Feb 27 at 5.54 p.m. a person was medevaced with a helicopter of the Danish Defence from the 'Color Magic', which was en route from Kiel to Oslo, in the Storebælt. After the patient was hoisted, he was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
BELGOROD
The USA have pinned 14 of Sovcomflot's tankers, the 'Anatoly Kolodkin' NS Antarctic', 'NS Lion', 'Ns Consul', 'Ns Burgas', Ns Captain' 'NS Columbus', 'Sakhalin Island', 'Nevskiy Prospect', 'Georgy Maslov', 'Liteyny Prospect', 'Krymsk' 'Ns Creation' and 'Ns Bravo', giving the Russian shipping company 45 days to unload oil and other cargo. The company is being prosecuted for violating the crude price cap in force since December 2022. This battalion of clandestine ships, owned by companies with opaque ownership to conceal illicit operations, has been in the crosshairs of the Western coalition for many months with widely documented practices such as STS oil transfer operations and deactivation of AIS, with the fleet constantly expanding. The Office of Foreign Asset Control of the Treasury (OFAC) has designated the 14 tankers in which Sovcomflot has an interest, and in particular 12 of the 75 vessels operated by the Oil Tankers SCF Management FZCO, a company which had to inherit part of of the SCF fleet when the latter was forced to sell or disperse to companies abroad following international sanctions. The first inclusion of SCF on the international sanctions list (United Kingdom, European Union, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, etc.) dates back to 2022 and concerned financial transactions involving long-term debt or new shares. The company has 45 days to unload oil and other cargo, but OFAC has not banned transactions for its other tankers and has even made it clear to oil traders that they can continue to use the large majority of the Russian carrier's fleet without repercussions, which claims 147 ships. Capping the price of oil, which consists of applying a discount per barrel of crude compared to the market price but without harming the stability of international markets, aims to limit the resources that Russia earns from the sale of hydrocarbons. Russia sold its oil in January at a discount of $19 per barrel compared to Brent (international benchmark) compared to $12 to $13 per barrel in October. With a barrel at this price, Russia therefore received 75% of the oil revenue it should have received, or 25% less. At the same time, Russian military spending has increased by 60%, leading many observers to say that the system is ineffective, due to a lack of monitoring and control means. 196 tankers, identified as belonging to the clandestine fleet, had left Russian ports in December 2023. Five new shipping companies based in the United Arab Emirates have started to transport Russian crude since November 2023. The US Treasury has sanctioned 27 oil companies for violating the price cap since October, when the cap was implemented.
RESILIENT LADY
Virgin Voyages have announced all sailings in Australia later in 2024 and early 2025 have been cancelled after heightened tensions in the Red Sea, prompting the 'Resilient Lady' to reroute its sailing through the Suez Canal for its upcoming half-world voyage scheduled for March 27, redirecting it back to Europe. The ship was meant to dock in Adelaide in December later this year as a part of a 6-night journey traversing Australia’s South Coast. The decision to reassess the timing for the return to Australia reflects the complexities involved in navigating global geopolitical challenges while ensuring the safety and satisfaction of passengers. Due to the cancellation of the ÄResilient Lady' from Australian waters every voyage in this region has now been cancelled.