The 'Al Kuwait', which was blamed for causing a foul smell engulfing Cape Town, has departed on Feb 21 at 4 a.m. UTC, en route to Umm Qasr with an ETA as of March 5. The NSPCA assessed the cattle on board the livestock vessel and described conditions as "abhorrent", including an "extreme build-up of faeces and urine". In a statement on Feb 20 , the animal welfare organisation - the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - said the cows had been on the ship for more than two weeks with many animals having no option but to rest in dams of their own excrement. The NSPCA discovered diseased and injured cattle during inspections between Feb 18 and Feb 20. Eight had to be euthanised due to their injuries, while others were found dead on board. Report with photos: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68355434
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GOVT VESSEL 58
On Feb 20, 2024, shortly after midnight, the USS 'Laboon' identified one anti-ship cruise missile shot by Houthi militants, headed in its direction. The USS 'Laboon' shot down the missile with CENTCOM reporting no damage or injury to the American crew.
CELEBRITY MILLENNIUM
The Mexican national Fernando Cruz Mendez, 53, was medevaced from the 'Celebrity Millennium', en route from Goa to Mumbai by the Indian Coast Gaurd after suffering a heart attack on Feb 19. 2024, 40 kilometers off the coast of Goa, and taken to a private hospital in Chicalim. The ship had contacted the Coast Guard at 7.25 p.m. A Coast Guard vessel was diverted to the ship and rendezvoused at 9.30 p.m. The patient was taken aboard aloing with his wife and a medical attendant and then transported to Mormugao at 11.30 p.m., where an ambulance was waiting. Report with photo: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/107879885.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
MT KQLI
The Nigeria Police have unmasked three Indians and five Nigerians as sponsors of the 'Kali', which was impounded for illegally siphoning crude oil from the platform of the Anglo-Dutch Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), in Bayelsa State. Similarly, the police have arrested a popular Lagos-based oil and gas magnate as the alleged owner and sponsor of the 'Harbor Spirit', which was also arrested siphoning crude oil illegally from Sengana oilfields in the coastal axis of Bayelsa State on Feb 4, 2024. The oil merchant, whose office is located in Ikeja, Lagos Sate, was arrested on Feb 19 as he honoured the invitation of the police investigating the operations of the illegal bunkering ship. He was promptly taken to Abuja on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police, and has since been kept in custody as police detectives tried to establish his culpability in the shady oil deals. The Indians, who are members of the management team of a major oil company operating in Kwale axis of Delta State, were yet to honour the police invitation. Their emissaries, identified as retired naval rear admiral and captain, as well as a retired assistant superintendent of police who came to represent the foreign nationals, claimed that the Indians were out of the country. The police e insisted that the Indian suspects must honour the invitation personally upon their return to the country. Findings by the police revealed that the Indians and Nigerians were the promoters of Deep Frontline Shippers Ltd., which allegedly procured the 'Kali' for the illegal assignment. The Indians. The tanker was impounded by the joint team of a private security company, Tantita Security Services Limited (TSSL), and the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) while siphoning crude oil from Pennington oil fields of SPDC in Bayelsa State, on Jan 11. 23 suspects, made up of 12 crew members and 11 host community boys offering operational support to the crew to successfully carry out the nefarious assignment in their areas, were apprehended in the manhunt by TSSL and NSCDC operatives. The 'Kali' was actually registered in the name of Frontline Shippers Ltd., as against the initial fake name, Sasna Global and Sasna Global Resources Ltd. given by the captain of the ship. The police were able to establish, with the assistance of the Nigeria Maritime and Safety Administration Agency (NIMASA), that the vessel was deleted from the Nigerian maritime networks since Feb 1, 2022 and that it had no valid permit to sail on Nigerian waters without a valid certificate of registry and applicable trading certificates.The Indians, who were captured in the CAC records of Deep Frontline Shippers Ltd., were in charge of the finance of the company and are also associated with 150 other corporate entities, including an oil company operating in Kwale axis of Delta State. Full report:
KRITI KING
The 'Kriti King' was fined with 100,000 Euros by the public procecutor in Marseille on Jan 19, 2024, to be permitted to leave Fos-sur-Mer due to having used its scrubber in an unauthorized area and having used engine fuel the sulfur content of which was above the authorized level. The ship was detained in the port on Feb 15. The captain will be tried in December in Marseille for having deliberately ignored the rules limiting maritime pollution.The tanker had already stopped at Fos-sur-Mer at the end of 2023 without respecting the ban on the use of the scrubber within 3 nautical miles and in the port area.