The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has gone public with an appeal to the world community inviting in-kind contributions of spill response equipment to support the Republic of Yemen. The organization published an appeal that seeks the donation of an ROUV or ROV along with a list of equipment to be used in cleanup efforts. The call for contributions of oil pollution response equipment was to support operations related to the sinking of the 'Rubymar'. During the time the vessel was drifting and slowly taking on water, the U.S. Central Command and others highlighted the growing environmental disaster. The IMO highlighted that there were 200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 80 tonnes of marine diesel on board. In the days following the attack, an oil slick grew behind the vessel extending 18 miles from it. Another major concern was that the 'Rubymar' was transporting over 41,000 tons of ammonium phosphate-sulfate fertilizer when it was attacked. Environmentalists have emphasized the dangers if it leaks into the Red Sea. The ship went down in about 328 feet of water, with the remaining bunker fuel and fertilizer cargo onboard representing a significant environmental threat to the Republic of Yemen, in particular to the nearby Hanish Islands. Recognizing the lack of specialized oil spill response equipment within the country to respond to a possible leak or other environmental issues, the IMO was inviting in-kind contributions of spill response equipment in support of the Republic of Yemen. In addition to the ROV, they were calling for equipment including a shovelhead skimmer, nozzles used in cleaning efforts, towing brindles, anchoring equipment, and a broad range of personal protective equipment.
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CONDOR ISLANDER
The ferry service from Jersey had to delay its crossing overnight due to an alliision of the 'Condor Islander' with the berth in St. Helier harbour upon Jersey on July 3, 2024. The Elizabeth East Berth was damaged, and the extent of the damage was still being assessed. The vessel's departure to Guernsey and Portsmouth was delayed after the ship's starboard side scraped the east berth on arrival. The ship was assessed by engineers and remained stationary in Jersey until July 4 at 9.30 a.m. The Jersey Hospitality Association provided more than 100 passengers with hotel rooms late on the night, including 53 young school children and their six teachers. Freight shipments were placed onto other vessels.
LADY AYANA
On July 4 the 'Lady Ayana' was finally refloated with the assistance of the tugs 'Gemi Kurtaran', 'Kurtaran 5' and 'Kural 10'. The ship was anchored in a safe location in the same area. As of July 5, it was moored in pos. 40° 57.08' N 028° 51.79' E. The response was coordinated by the Coastal Safety General Directorate. Report with photo: https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/bakirkoy-onlerinde-karaya-oturan-lady-ayana-isimli-gemi-kurtarildi/3265618
VERBENA
The 'Verbena', which had been attacked by Houthi terrorits with anti-ship cruise missiles and was abandoned by its crew, remained afloat as of July 3, and was waiting to be salvaged. One armed guard on board had been injured during the attack.
LOUISE MICHEL
The 'Louise Michel' has been detained in Trapani, Lampedusa for 20 days for ignoring orders to disembark migrants from Italian authorities, the charity that runs the ship said on July 3, 2024. The ship had been ordered to take 37 people rescued at sea to Pozzallo, but took them to the island of Lampedusa, saying the seas were too rough for them to reach the destination planned. The vessel has been detained so as not to having followed the order to disembark in Sicily.
KAITAKI
The 'Kaitaki' has been missing one of two stabiliser fins for more than 18 months, meaning sailings were cancelled on the niight of July 1, 2024. KiwiRail announced that all sailings between Wellington and Picton would be cancelled until the morning of July 4 due to heavy swells and rough weather. All sailings only involved the 'Kaitaki', as the 'Kaiarahi' is undergoing a month-long wet docking in Picton, and the 'Aratere' is still under detention and repair following its steering failure and grounding outside Picton on June 21. KiwiRail’s fleet of three ferries has stabilisers and can sail amid choppy conditions. Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy confirmed KiwiRail discovered one of the 'Kaitaki'’s stabilisers was missing during the ferry’s last dry dock in Sydney in Sep 2022. Manufacture and fitting of a new stabiliser could not be achieved during that dry dock and the work was programmed into the vessel’s long-term maintenance plan. Stabilisers, however, did not relate to vessel safety. They were about comfort and helped reduce the vessel’s movement for passengers and livestock. The issue had not materially affected the ship’s performance.
GEO BARENTS
Among the 34 migrants who arrived in Ancona on July 2 on board the 'Geo Barents', there were 14 unaccompanied minors. They were rescued on June 27 off the Libyan coast. The migrants had left their countries of origin months ago. Some were exchanged and sold among Libyan militias, suffering violence and torture perpetrated by human traffickers aiming to extract more money from them. The extortion reportedly included video calls made to the migrants' parents or families. Among the migrants, who come from various countries such as Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, and Eritrea, there are 19 young adults, including one woman, and 15 minors. Among them is a young unaccompanied girl between the ages of 14 and 17 from South Sudan. The social services of the Municipality of Ancona will look after her. Seven unaccompanied minors will be taken to Molise, while the others will stay in Marche as decided by the Ministry in agreement with the Prefectures. In this phase, the Municipality will only look after the young girl.
ABEILLE FLANDRE
On July 4 the 5-ton-propeller of the 'Abeille Flandre' has returned to Brest to be permanently exhibited in the Parc à Chaînes. The propeller, with its transmission shaft, recalls the history of the emblematic storm chaser. One of the captains of Abeille Flandre, Charles Claden (sponsor of Brest 2024), will come to celebrate the opening on July 14. After having been refurbished, the propeller testifies to the power of the tug whose mission was to defend the Breton coasts from maritime disasters, after the grounding and loss of the tanker 'Amoco Cadiz'. Report with photo: https://www.letelegramme.fr/finistere/brest-29200/lhelice-de-labeille-flandre-est-arrivee-au-parc-a-chaines-de-brest-6619587.php
NEFTERUDOVOZ-29M
The "Nefterudovoz-29M", loaded with barley, ran aground in the area of the Aleksandrovsky roadstead in Rostov on-Don on July 4, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. Moscow time. The ship lost its anchor and was unable to keep its position, and as a result it drifted aground. Two tugbs were sent to the scene to assist in refloating the vessel. No injuries or spills were reported. Navigation on the Don in the area of the incident was not disrupted. The situation was handled under the control of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Report with photo: https://privet-rostov.ru/incident/102315-teplohod-nefterudovoz-29m-sel-na-mel-na-donu.html
SALVAMAR GIENAH
On July 4, 2024, the pleasure boat 'Cisne Negro' went adrift eight nautical miles from the port of Motril in front of the Alta Mar urbanization with seven people on board. The CCS Almería of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the 'Salvamar Gienah' to assist, which took the boat in tow and safely pulled it to the Motril Nautical Club. Report with photo: https://x.com/salvamentogob/status/1808903194506113400
HMS MEDWAY
The HMS 'Medway' had to deal with a mechanical issue and was towed back to the shores of Gibraltar on June 28, 2024, by tugs during the afternoon followingthe trouble on post-refit trials. The HMS 'Medway' had been operating around the Falkland Islands for most of last year, a stark contrast compared to her usual tasks in the Caribbean. She took place of her sister ship HMS 'Forth', which was undergoing maintenance. Both ships then swapped places, with HMS 'Medway' undergoing engineering work after patrolling the South Atlantic for nine months and racking up 16,500 nautical miles.
VIRGEM DOLOROSA
On July 3, 2024, at 4.33 a.m. LT the 'Virgem Dolorosa', heading south after seine fishing, capsized two kilometres from the shore between São Pedro de Moel beach and Vieira beach, north of Lisbon, in the municipalitys of Marinha Grande. The vessel had been fishing along with six more vessels of the Figueira da Foz Producers Organization, when, from one moment to the next, it capsized. The wreck was then floating bottom up in the sea. The National Maritime Authority was alerted to the situation at about 4:30 a.m, with four other fishing vessels nearby immediately starting the search for survivors. The emergency response included maritime police and coast guard boats, who rushed to the scene. Two boats from the Nazaré and Figueira da Foz Lifeguard Station were mobilized, as well as an aerial surveillance team from the local Nazaré Maritime Police Command and an aircraft from the Portuguese Air Force. Rescuers from the “SeaWatch” Project, the National Maritime Authority, and the Forensic Diving Group of the Maritime Police also went to the site. Also four nearby fishing vessels immediately began searching for survivors. There were 17 crew members on board, 15 Portuguese and two Indonesians, aged between 30 and 50 years. 11 people were rescued, three more, two from Buarcos and one from Lavos, were recovered dead. Two of whom were taken to Nazaré, and one transported to shore aboard the 'Nossa Senhora da Lapa', from Figueira da Foz, which also picked up two crew members who were rescued alive. Three more fishermen were still missing. Seven of the rescued were admitted to the Figueira da Foz district hospital, one of whom was in serious condition. The most seriously injured person was 57 years old and will be transferred to the intensive care unit of the University Hospital of Coimbra (HUC) for respiratory problems. Most of the crew were Portuguese. Two Indonesian nationals were among those rescued. The SAR operation was continued with the help of an Airforce helicopter, a drone from Nazaré, and a diving team. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53r6GWT_EN4
MARINE HONOUR
During the Parliament sitting on July 2, as government leaders helming the response to the spill at Pasir Panjang Terminal delivered ministerial statements, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, and National Development Minister Desmond Lee responded to 40 questions on the incident, filed by 23 MPs from both sides of the political aisle. Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio GRC) asked about the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for containing spills, while other MPs – including Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) and Mr Edward Chia (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) – wanted to know the estimated costs of the cleanup. On June 14, at 2.18 p.m. the 'Vox Maxima' lost engine and steering controls and slammed into the 'Marine Honour', which was berthed at Pasir Panjang Terminal. On June 15, the oil that escaped from Marine Honour had washed ashore in areas such as Sentosa and East Coast Park. It took a contractor nearly 15 hours to complete the deployment of the booms, hampered by a thunderstorm and nightfall. The response to the spill – in particular the time it took to lay containment booms around the damaged bunker vessel – came under scrutiny again in Parliament on July 2. Workers’ Party (WP) MP Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) asked about Singapore’s required response times to oil spills of varying severity. In response, Mr Chee said it was difficult to have a precise, single number, because “every oil spill was different. In some instances, the oil may not float very far away. In some instances, it may float farther away. In some instances, the oil density makes it easier to detect because it floats on the surface. In this case, it was an added challenge because this oil has a similar density to seawater, so it could go below the surface. At several points in Parliament Chee stressed that the authorities and their contractors followed international industry practices to contain the spill. In the first instance, dispersant was sprayed to break down the spilled oil, to pave the way for cleanup efforts. The contractor T&T Salvage Asia fully deployed 200 meters of booms on June 15 at 5.15 a.m. The contractor needed more time as it had to load its vessel with heavy equipment and set about the laborious task of laying the booms amid bad weather and nightfall. Chee said T&T did its best given the circumstances, and its response time was in line with industry practices internationally. He explained that currents and waves would have carried the spilled oil away from the accident site, and hence, the booms were not meant to ring-fence the oil that has already leaked. Rather, they were to prevent further spills from the vessel, which still had vast amounts of fuel in its tanks. WP MP Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) asked if the booms could have been deployed more quickly. Chee replied that the practices used in response to the oil spill have been developed over the years by experts, and this is how it is done internationally, not just in Singapore but also in other parts of the world. While the minister said that there was no disagreement that faster is better, he made the point that even in the best circumstances, there would be a gap between a large oil spill and when booms are fully deployed. In this case, the challenge for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and its contractors was in locating those patches, an effort which was also hampered by poor visibility and nightfall. They were able to do so only on the morning after the spill, when the skimmers were dispatched. Another question was whether it made economic sense to have in-house capacity to contain oil spills, instead of engaging contractors. Mr Chee said the MPA has in-house capabilities, such as vessels, for this purpose. But, given the nature of spills, the Republic wants to tackle them in two ways: - Fostering “good collaborations” with its neighbours to ensure a coordinated response during spills; and - Working with contractors who are experts in various areas, including laying booms and skimming oil. Cautioning against a binary view that everything has to be in-house, or everything has to be outsourced, he said that both is needed. One key takeaway from the debate was that it takes all hands on deck to contain an oil spill. It is impossible for the authorities to go it alone.
VIRGEM DOLOROSA
Two Portuguese Navy ships and a group of forensic divers from the Maritime Police as well as a detachment of sapper divers continued to search for the three missing crew members of the 'Virgem Dolorosa' off the town of Marinha Grande, about 140 kilometers north of Lisbon, on July 4. On the shore side the search was continued by security and Coastguard personnel, supported by two vehicles and an aerial surveillance team, with two drones, although given the fog in the area, the conditions to fly over it were not met. The purse seiner has meanwhile sunk in shallow water one nautical mile from Samouco beach, in Marinha Grande. 11 people were rescued alive and the bodies of three more fishermen were recovered dead. The psychology office of the Maritime Police was providing support to the victims' families. Report with photo: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/somosmar/2024/07/04/portugal-continua-busqueda-3-desaparecidos-naufragio-barco-pesca/00031720090310938428415.htm
CABO DE HORNOS
An estimated amount of one tone oil was reported to have spilled from the Cabo de Hronos' on July 1, 2024, at 1.30 p.m., by the prosecutor Pedro Poblete, a specialist in environmental crimes and in charge of the investigation of the massive fuel spill in the bay of Puerto Chacabuco. The factory ship, owned by the Pesca Chile company, is based in the commune of Punta Arenas. The case was taken by the Local Prosecutor's Office of Aysén. and prosecutor Poblete requested investigative proceedings from the Investigative Brigade of Crimes Against the Environment and Cultural Heritage (Bidema) of Aysén. As part of the investigative process, statements were taken, documents were seized and scientific expertise was carried out at both the Bidema and the PDI Criminalistics Laboratory, among other procedures. The ship remained stationary at Puerto Chacabuco as of July 5.
QUEEN OF NEW WEST
Mechanical problems with the 'Queen of New Westminster’s starboard rudder cancelled a couple of morning sailings between Vancouver and Victoria on July 4, 2024. The 6 a.m. departure from Tsawwassen and the 8 a.m. departure from Swartz Bay were cancelled. The 10 a.m. sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay went ahead as scheduled after repairs were made. Anyone who booked on one of the cancelled sailingshad their reservation honoured on a first-arrived first-loaded basis at the terminal.
SUMMIT LNG
The 'Summit LNG' should resume operations by July 14-15 after it was damaged during the cyclone Remal, which brought gales and heavy rain to the coastlines of India and Bangladesh, a Petrobangla official said on July 4. Summit LNG had earlier said the floating liquefied natural gas import terminal would proceed to Singapore or the Middle East for repairs. The ship is berthed at the Sembcorp Marine Boulvevard in Singapore. The State-owned Petrobangla is tasked with importing LNG for Bangladesh, which relies on the fuel to meet power demand for its population of more than 170 million people. Petrobangla cancelled four spot cargoes scheduled for delivery from late May to around mid-June following the damage to the unit, which is one of Bangladesh's two floating LNG import terminals.
AVEMAR DOS
On July 3, 2024, a woman aboard the 'Avemar Dos' gave birth to her daughter while the ship was carrying out its regular route between Ceuta and Algeciras, approximately 20 minutes after the ship began to set sail from the Port of Ceuta. The ferry crew, trained to handle emergencies of various kinds, quickly mobilized to assist. Several healthcare providers did not hesitate to collaborate. Thus, with the help of the ferry staff, they set up an area of the ship so that the woman could give birth in safe and as comfortable conditions as possible given the circumstances. The birth, although unexpected, proceeded without complications.
ARTOMORO II
On July 3, 2024 at 09.20 a.m. WIT, the Saumlaki Beach Radio Station in the Tual Navigation District received a report from Basarnas Saumlaki regarding the sinking of the KM 'Artomoro II', 637 gt, with a cargo of 1050 tons constrction materials such as barreks of tar, cement, bricks, water tanks as well as radios, TV sets, dispensers a.o., amid stormy seas, en route from Surabaya to Asike, Papua, with 16 crew members on board. Ships in the vicinity were notified via the ship distress frequency 6215.0 and VHF Channel 16. There was intensive coordination with the Head of Basarnas Saumlaki, Head of UPP Saumlaki, Head of Wilker Lirang, and Kadisnav Tual to facilitate rescue efforts. The relevant authorities, including PLP Tual, bankantikmas, Babinsa, Navy post, and Army post, together with sub-district leaders, continued to search on the border between Lirang Island and Atauro Island to find one missing crew member. Rescued were - Achmad Taufiqrohman - Mattading - La Ode Muhammad Hafiz - Derek Nunumete - Muhammad Hirlan - David Surya Perdana - I Ketut Harmono - Nopa Triswana - Paschal Agung Hurek Making - Refaldi Ega Pratama - Ujang Riski - Thomas Adi Sastra - Muhammad Rahan Dwi Putra Aprozaq - Melkianus W. Supit Not Yet Found: - Purwanto (KKM), aged 60.