On April 10, 2024, the 'Costa da Barca' got the fishing gear entangled in the propeller and was disabled and adrift 10 nautical miles northnorthwest of Cape Ortegal. The ship requested assistance, and the SAR vessel 'Salvamar Shaula' was mobilized by the CCS Fisterra of Salvamento Marítimo. It took the trawler in tow and safely pulled it to Cariño. Report with photo: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1778127799015879081
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CG JOSEPH TEZANOS
On April 8 the US Coast Guard has repatriated 101 migrants back to the Dominican Republic after nabbing them on the high seas as they tried to make their way to American soil over the weekend. The 'Joseph Tezanos' had intercepted three different crafts with migrants during the weekend of April 6/7. The migrants were transferred to Dominican Republic authorities during two separate rendezvous with the Dominican Republic Navy vessel 'Capella' just off Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3734747/coast-guard-repatriates-101-migrants-to-dominican-republic-following-3-interdic/
MAERSK YORKTOWN
The USS 'Laboon' destroyed an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthi militants in Yemen on April 8, 2024, which was targeting the 'Maersk Yorktown' in the Gulf of Aden, which was being escorted by the U.S. Navy destroyer. It was determined the ABSM presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels in the region. There were no injuries or damage reported. Yemen’s Houthi militants confirmed that a missile shot down was targeting the AP Moller-Maersk ship. The group also claimed to have launched two more operations against MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company vessels nearby.
BAHIJAH
The arrival of the 'Bahijah' in Haifa on April 6, 2024, has put an end to one of the most shameful episodes in Australian live export history. The animals on board, who have been subjected to a gruelling 34-day journey, were due to soon be offloaded at the port. The animals were subjected to before being offloaded back in Australia on Feb 15, to stand in feedlots for several weeks before departing again on March 3. In total, at 90+ days, this stood as one of the longest live sheep export journeys in Australian history. The Australian sheep and cattle were sent into the escalating conflict in the Red Sea region, turned around, sat for days in the sweltering heat off the coast of Western Australia, offloaded, sat in a feedlot for over two weeks, loaded on board again, and then sent on an extraordinarily long and treacherous journey around the Cape of Good Hope, known for its rough seas. The RSPCA was urgently seeking further information about the welfare of the animals on board and what actually happened to the animals involved across the entire duration of this saga due to the lack of transparency, the inability of regulations to protect animals, and the profit-at-all-costs approach, that are endemic to live animal export.
CORFU
A fire broke out on the 'Corfu' that has just left the port of Cagliari en route to Civitavecchia in the evening of April 8, 2024. Initially, a dense cloud of white smoke came out of the funnel, followed by a brief flame. The firefighters and the Port Authority quickly reached the ship and put out the small fire. The captain started a series of checks. The cause of the accident has not been identified with certainty. The ship has returned to port and was subjected to a thorough inspection by the staff of the Italian Naval Registry (RINA), responsible for ensuring the safety of navigation. The ship finally sailed on April 9 at 12.30 a.m. UTC and reached Civitavecchia on April 9 at 1.50 p.m.
CELESTYAL DISCOVERY
On April 4, 2024, the Greek Air Force medevaced a 25-year-old Cuban dancer who suffered serious injuries aboard the 'Celestyal Discovery' Air Force personnel swiftly responded to the distress call, initiating a rescue mission at 10:30 p.m. A Super Puma helicopter departed from the base in Rhodes to conduct the evacuation. The incident took place while the 'Celestyal Discovery' was sailing near Karpathos. The injured dancer, who was part of the ship's entertainment team, required urgent medical attention after falling and sustaining severe injuries. She was airlifted to a hospital in Rhodes for immediate medical treatment.
AURORA
On April 10, 2024, a passenger of the 'Aurora', en route from Southampton, UK, to Lisbon, needed to be medevaced off the Spanish coast. The CCS Vigo of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the SAR vessel 'Salvamar Mirach', which rendezvoused with the ship east of the Islas Cíes and took the patient to the ferry dock in Vigo, where an ambulance was waiting for further transport to hospital. The ship berthed at the cruise terminal in Lisbon on April 11 at 8.20 a.m.
MANANNAN
Some passengers on the 'Manannan' were kept on board for more than three hours when the vessel docked after wind and tidal conditions in the River Mersey made it unsafe to disembark. The ferry arrived and docked in Liverpool on April 8, 2024, at about 09:45 a.m. BST. But letting the passengers off the vessel was paused by the ship's master after the conditions worsened, affecting the motion of the vessel next to the berth. However, the vessel left on its return journey to Douglas at 2:45 p.m.
RTN 442
More than a year after the sinking of the HTMS 'Sukhothai', a Rattanakosin-class corvette, in the Gulf of Thailand off the Prachuap Khiri Khan Province on the night of Dec 18, 2022, the Thai Navy has reported a sudden, unexpected and extreme change in weather conditions. and sea conditions were blamed for the ship's sinking and the deaths of 24 people, five of whom are still missing. The 'Sukhothai' was only designed for a maximum wave height of four meters. The 6-meter waves made it impossible for the commander to steer the ship, which ultimately led to its sinking. Six other ships, including a 2,123-ton freighter, also sank in the Gulf that night and early the next morning. Admiral Adoong explained that the 'Sukhothai's crew were unable to carry out their duties as usual in these conditions and that the darkness and poor visibility made rescue operations difficult. He added that the heavy seas scattered the crew over a wide area, making it difficult for them to survive in these extreme weather conditions. Rear Admiral Apirom Ngernbumroong, head of the Naval Science Department, said that following the sinking of the 'Sukhothai', the Thai Navy conducted four diving operations to examine the wreckage, the last of which was in collaboration with the US Navy. During the fourth diving operation, no trace of the five missing crew members was found, but it was discovered that water had entered the ship through the hull, causingit to list. A steel plate that was supposed to protect the ship from waves was badly damaged.
STRIDE
Danaos will scrap the 'Stride' following a fatal fire that killed two crew members on Jann 8, 2024, in Houston, making it the third Greek vessel sold for demolition this year, after it was declared a total loss. The deal to offload the boxship to a local buyer was borne out of necessity after the fire. Danaos did not operate the vessel, which was in service with the Cosco Shipping Lines at the time of the accident. Brokers attributed the vessel's below-average price of 120 US dollars per ldt, approximately 1.07 million US dollars to its unique circumstances and location. Danaos, however, has not incurred a loss from the transaction, as it has obtained an insurance pay-out related to the fire.
BLUE STAR DELOS
During the mooring process of the 'Blue Star Delos' in the port of Mytilene on the morning of April 7, 2024, a mooring cable jammed the starboard side propeller. The ship docked at the port, where it safely disembarked 260 passengers, 29 trucks, 29 cars and five two-wheelers. The Central Port Authority of Mytilini banned the ship from sailing. A diver inspected the propeller and untangled the rope, with no other damage noted. Upon presentation of a sailing certificate by the classification society monitoring the ship, the ban was lifted, and the ferry departed the port for Chios, Vathi, Karlovasi, Fournos, Evdilos Ikarias, Mykonos, Syros, and Piraeus with 175 passengers, 55 vehicles, 10 trucks and 22 two-wheelers on board. When the ship docked in the port of Piraeus, a ban on sailing was again implemented, until the inspection by the classification society monitoring the ship and the presentation of a certificate of saeaworthiness and class maintenance.
SEVEN SEAS SPLENDOR
The Spanish Air Force medevaced a passenger from the 'Seven Seas Splendor' with a stroke 500 kilometers from La Palma on April 8, 2024. An air force helicopter based in Gran Canaria hoisted the patient, who was in serious condition. The emergency was attended to by an HD 21 Super Puma helicopter from its search and rescue service (SAR). The Air Force also activated a D4 VIGMA (Maritime Surveillance) aircraft from the same group, which provided the helicopter with wind information at altitude, allowing it to optimize its flight at the highest speed and lowest fuel consumption. The aircraft had previously made contact with the cruise ship to facilitate the helicopter's maneuvering upon arrival. Once the radio coverage was terminated, the satellite communications capabilities allowed the SAR air resources involved to maintain contact with the Canary Islands Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center and thus coordinate in real time. Throughout the mission, contact was maintained both with the airport of La Palma, which had to extend its opening hours to support air resources, and with the maritime rescue, to update the ship and patient data during the mission and the health resources 112 of the Canary Islands to mobilize. With the patient on board, the helicopter flew to La Palma airport, where she was picked up by an ambulance from the Canary Islands Ambulance Service and taken to the island's general hospital.
SALVAMAR MINTAKA
In the night before of April 9, 2024, the sailing yacht 'Amaretto' with four crew members on board ran aground in El Masnou. The CCS of Salvemento Marítimo in Barcelona mobilized the 'Salvamar Mintaka' to assist. It rescued the castaaways from the Sun Odyssey 43 yacht, which was hard aground on the rocks with a list to port side, and took them safely to the port of Barcelona. Report with photos: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1722753635380039732
DALI
The U.S. Navy's Supervisor of Diving and Salvage (SUPSALV) has released new sonar imagery of the wreckage of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, showing the full extent of the damage and the work that will be required to restore the main shipping channel. The depiction showed that the tangled wreckage has significantly reduced the navigable depth of the center of the federal channel, including areas where no wreckage is visible above the surface. As the USACE has warned before, the steel truss span disintegrated into a tangled mess when it hit the bottom, and its girders were visibly twisted together and embedded in the mud. It is a massive, cantilevered, mangled mess of wreckage that is contorted and making it extremely difficult to identify any kind of structural integrity. The 3D sonar survey was created by Navy salvage divers, who operated in darkness and near-zero visibility to assess the contours of the wreckage. The diagrams show two separate areas of focus for the Army Corps-led salvage team. The first is a "Limited Access Channel," a 35-foot-deep fairway that contractors will clear on the north side of the center span. This will be big enough to allow ro/ros, barges and government vessels to go through. Clearing that channel will resolve minor national-defense effects of the bridge collapse: Four Military Sealift Command cargo ships are currently on the landward side of the bridge and cannot get out; meanwhile, several larger Coast Guard cutters are due to call in Baltimore for repairs and cannot get in. The Limited Access Channel includes areas with significant underwater wreckage, which may be challenging to clear. However, it is also further away from the difficult operation to remove the 'Dali', which is entangled with a section of the bridge truss. The delicate task of cutting the 'Dali' free is just beginning. When the channel is restored, thousands of stevedores and others who depend on the Port of Baltimore will be able to get back to work. While the primary focus has been on containerized and ro/ro cargoes, Baltimore is also home to America's second-largest coal terminal, which has been shuttered by the channel closure. In its April outlook, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that U.S. coal exports will drop by fully a third this month and by 20 percent in May. The impact will reduce U.S. coal exports by six percent for the full year. Reports with photos: https://maritime-executive.com/article/new-sonar-data-shows-the-challenge-of-clearing-baltimore-bridge-s-wreckage https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/baltimore-bridge-collapse-1.7168668
LIBERTY OF THE SEAS
On April 9 the US Coast Guard has called off the search for a 20 year old American Levion Parker, who jumped off the 'Liberty of the Seas' on April 4 at 4 a.m. during drunken argument with his dad as it sailed off the coast of the Bahamas. The ship had set sail from Fort Lauderdale on a four-day Caribbean cruise on April 1 and was hours away from docking at Fort Lauderdale in Florida when the man was confronted by his father as he emerged from a hot tub packed with revelers. He said to his dad, 'I'll fix this right now,' and he jumped out the window on dec 11, 57 miles off Grand Inagua. The ship stopped and immediately started a search, but resumed its journey just before 9 a.m. when the US Coast Guard cutter 'Seneca' arrived at the spot. Report with photos: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13293251/Caribbean-Liberty-dad-Levion-Parker-argument-overboard.html
JOVEN PURA
The 'Joven Pura', with three people on board, got its fihsing gear entangled in the propeller, causing an engine failure two nautical miles west of Roquetas on April 8, 2024. The crew requested assistance, and the SAR boat 'Salvamar Spica' (MMSI: 225987262) was deployed by the CCS Almería of Salvamento Marítimo to tow the disabled ship to Almería.
NIKITIS
In the morningof April 7, 2024, the Port Authority of Prinos was informed by the Master of the 'Nikitis' that the ship was not able to start its scheduled route from the port of Prinos to the port of Kavala, due to the inability to start the starboard side main engine. The Port Authority banned the ferry from sailing until the repair of the damage and the presentation of a certificate of class maintenance by the monitoring classification society. The 12 passengers were forwarded to their destination from the port of Thassos.
FRIO CHIKUMA
The 'Frío Chikuma', which had run aground on sandy bottom a few meters from the shore in the Bay of Puerto Argentino as a result of bad weather in the area, was able to free itself again on April 4 and became operational in the anchoring area to continue receiving fishing vessels until she finished filling her hold. She had arrived from Matadi in the Republic of the Congo, in ballast and once loaded with 9000 tons squid, will carry the fishing products to Vigo. The ship was in good operating condition. The Vigo fleet operates under license from the Malvinas Islands, in its surrounding waters. Report with photo: https://pescare.com.ar/el-reefer-frio-chikuma-varo-por-las-inclemencias-del-tiempo-en-las-islas-malvinas/