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Since Jan 18, 2025, the 'Flamuri' has remained stationary in the Vauban basin in the port of Saint-Malo. Following a technical problem, the ship's cargo was polluted by hydrocarbons. No fewer than 154 deficiencies have reportedly been noted on board the very poorly maintained ship since 2011, among them a deficient structural state, a lack of compliance with the Marpol Convention and poor living conditions for sailors on board with a lack of food and a lack of lifeboats etc. At the end of 2024, the 'Flamuri', which was transporting soybean cakes intended for animal feed, encountered technical difficulties off the Corse coast on Dec 21, 2024. Following a pipe rupture, part of the cargo was polluted by hydrocarbons. After the ship docked on Jan 18, a part of the cargo was unloaded, another part has remained on board the ship, which Turkish owned and has been registered in Malta, Panama, Belize before changing lfag to Liberia. It was feared that the shipowner will promise to carry out repairs somewhere in the Black Sea and that the vessel will be allowed to set sail. The ship was detained in 2013 and 2021 in the ports of Novorossiysk and Constanta. Report with photo: https://lemarin.ouest-france.fr/shipping/le-navire-turc-flamuri-a-quai-dans-le-port-de-saint-malo-est-il-dangereux-5031925c-e4aa-11ef-95b5-abc03fff97b2

Two of the onboard cranes of the 'Dynamic Striker' have collapsed on the high seas, while the ship was sailing in the Mediterranean, en route from Terneuzen, where it had sailed on Jan 18 and arrived at Carteya Guadarranque on Jan 29. The ship entered the port of Algeciras on Jan 31, where repairs of the damaged cranes have commenced. The ship remained stationary at the Total Terminal International Algeciras as of Feb 11. Photo: https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3806873?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest

Currently, more than 4,000 TEUs of import containers can be unloaded every day allowing vessels to complete loading and unloading goods at a faster rate, which helps reduce the vessels' stay time at jetties. Vessels' berth occupancy time that had reached 6-7 days last month came down to 3-4 days now, port officials said. The vessels' waiting time at the outer anchorage for getting berths has also dropped to 13-14 days from 16-18 days. Subsequently, the number of vessels waiting at the outer anchorage declined to 24 yesterday though the number hovered around 36 before the steps were taken. AIS Station -BDCGP

22 and 36 nautical miles Northwest of Libreville the latest acts of piracy occurred in positions 00° 30.50’N 009°06.21’E and 00° 55.24N 009° 08 09E and involved two fishing trawlers named 'amerger II' and 'Amerger VIIÄ – the first taking place 20 nautical miles off Libreville and the second 36 n.miles off Libreville. Both incidents involved a single speedboat described as a skiff powered by three engines and having 13 pirates on board. The pirates were reported as being English-speakers which gives rise to suspicions of them being of Nigerian origin, despite this being some distance from Nigeria. The boarding of each trawler resulted in three of the crew from each vessel being kidnapped. The nationalities of those kidnapped are reported as three Indonesian, two Senegalese, and one South Korean.

On Feb 10, the Public Prosecution Service demanded community service for the skippers of the 'Marco Polo' and 'MSTX 21', who were involved in the serious collision between the tour boat and the water taxi on the New Maas in Rotterdam. The Public Prosecution Service believes that both men should have prevented the accident. A community service order of 150 hours and a fine of 1000 euros have been demanded for the 75-year-old skipper of the water taxi. A community service order of 120 hours and a fine of 1000 euros have been demanded for the 51-year-old skipper of the tour boat. The Public Prosecution Service believes that both skippers made mistakes. They should have used their radio and kept a better lookout. They should also have used AIS. According to the prosecutors, their negligence endangered the lives of the occupants of the water taxi. They are convinced that the skippers did not deliberately cause the accident, but they do feel that the collision was their fault. Both could have prevented this, being very experienced and professional.

The 'Escanaba' repatriated 132 migrants to Haiti on Feb 10, 2025, following an interdiction approximately 50 miles southeast of Marathon. A Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircrew based out of Jacksonville and a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 aircrew had notified Coast Guard District Seven watchstanders on Feb 4 of a 30-foot overloaded sailing vessel transiting northwest between Cuba and Cay Sal Bank. Once aboard the Coast Guard cutter, aliens are processed to determine their identity and are provided food, water, shelter, and basic medical attention before repatriation to their country of origin or return to the country of their departure. Report with photos: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4062016/coast-guard-repatriates-132-aliens-to-haiti/

The Department of Shipping (DoS) has asked the shipping lines not to realise container detention charge on import and export shipments during the lockdown period, spurred by COVID-19 outbreak. The shipping lines are also advised not to impose any new or additional charges until May 5 when the 41-day shutdowns end. The department issued the advisory on Wednesday, which sparked resentment among the shipping agents in the country. Usually, containers get free time for 14 days after the common landing date and thereafter charged between $5 and $10 per day as detention charge until the importers return those to the port or off-docks. Associate director of Transmarine Logistics Ltd, the local agent of Yang Ming Line, Mohammad Ahsanuzzaman told the FE on Thursday most shipping lines operate their fleet on a leasing basis and pay for the rental daily. Due to the prolonged congestions at the Chittagong port, the containers now have to stay for 15 days at the outer anchorage and at berth, compared with a minimum of three to four days in recent past, he said. During the shutdown period, the containers are lying at the Chittagong port for several weeks when the designated free days expire. "The shipping lines will have to pay container rent besides the opportunity cost, but now the shipping department is asking us not to charge detention fee on importers, which is a mere cost recovery for the liners. This is not acceptable at all when you consider the impact of COVID-19 has on us," he said. "Shipping lines will incur huge financial losses if the order is implemented," said Mr Ahsanuzzaman. Chairman of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA) Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury told the FE on Thursday vessels are staying at the outer anchorage and berth for weeks and counting millions of taka as demurrage. Deptt order angers shipping agentsA few days back, shipping agents had requested the government to waive some charges like port dues, pilotage fees, berthing and unbreathing tariffs, quay gantry crane, loading or discharging the container, storage charges, container and non-CPA equipment, and store rent for containers at off-docks. "The government paid no heed to our appeal rather issued an order not to realise the detention charge," Mr Chowdhury said. He said the department issued the advisory in line with the measures taken in Indian ports. But the reality is there is no such congestions in Indian ports and vessels there enter and leave in time while at the Chittagong port an additional two weeks are required in ship handling, he said. After the shipping department's advisory, he wrote that the imposition or waiver of detention charge of containers depends on foreign principals. "The principals may not consider the waiving of the container detention charge unless the government waives or reduces port tariffs for vessels," he noted. AIS station, Chittagong

On April 30, 2020, at 11.15 a.m. the NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew were alerted by TNPA (Transnet National Ports Authority) requesting assistance to evacuate a Filipino crew member of a bunkering tanker at anchorage off-shore of the Port of Port Elizabeth. The man required transportation to a dentist as soon as possible and considering the Covid-19 lockdown the Port Health Authorities advised the tasking of NSRI to carry out the operation, taking into consideration that NSRI are well prepared for all Covid-19 Department of Health protocols, regulations and precautions. At 1 p.m. the sea rescue craft 'JLT Rescuer' was launched and rendezvoused with the tanker thre miles off Port Elizabeth in calm seas. The patient was transferred onto the sea rescue craft and he was brought to shore and transported to a dentist appointment by the ships agent. At 3.30 p.m. the patient returned to the Port of Port Elizabeth and he boarded our sea rescue craft JLT Rescuer and we transported him back to the ship and returned to base without incident.

The 'Viking Star' skipped its scheduled call at Santorini on Feb 10, 2025, with around 900 cruise passengers on board instead the ship headed to the port of the city of Chania because of the ongoing earthquakes that continued to shake Santorini. Normally the "Viking Star" would have been the ship that opened this year's cruise season for the island, where a record was set in Aug 2024 with more than 15,500 people during one day. Due to the high number, the island community planned to enforce a limit of 8,000 cruise tourists per day. But now it could be that no cruise ships will be arriving for the time being, because the earth is still shaking several times an hour and with peaks of magnitude 5. Seismologists and geologists cannot predict when and how the phenomenon will end. This week, schools on Santorini and the neighboring islands of Ios, Anafi and Amorgos will remain closed following a government decision. Most of the population - especially women, children and the elderly - have left the island and sought safety on the mainland.

On the morning of Feb 10, 2025, the Oinousses Port Authority was informed of the presence of a group of migrants on the island of Panagia. The 41 people, among them 11 men, 11 women and 19 minors, were transferred to Chios by the water taxi 'Agios Nikolaos'and the "Oinoussai III", where they were received by officers of the Police Directorate to be transferred to the Central Port Authority of Chios for registration and identification. A preliminary investigation was being conducted by the Central Port Authority of Chios.

The Mexican tank m/v ’Irmã Dulce’, 72900 dwt (IMO: 9548691), which was under construction at Estalairo Maua in Rio de Janeiro, suffered water ingress in the engine room and aft peak in the night of May 4, 2020. The stern came to rest on bthe bottom at a water depth of four to five meters. The accident was apparently caused by a leaking valve. In the afternoon of May 5 divers managed to stabilize the ship. It was the second of a series of four for Transpetro and was launched in 2014. The order for all three ships still under construction was later canceled. The Panamax had currently been 95% completed. Report with photo: https://splash247.com/near-complete-brazilian-tanker-newbuild-sinks-at-pier/ .

On May 2, 2020, at 08.50 a.m. the NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew and EC Government Health EMS were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority to respond to rendezvous with a bulk carrier approaching Port Elizabeth from Cape Town to attend to a 52 year old Iraqi crew member onboard the ship suffering an emergency medical condition, not Covid-19 related. The sea rescue craft 'Spirit of Toft' was launched accompanied by an EMS rescue paramedic and rendezvoused with the ship seven miles East of Cape Recife. The EMS rescue paramedic and an NSRI rescue swimmer were transferred onto the ship and the patient was found to be in a critical condition. The paramedic took over emergency medical treatment from the ships medical crew and the patient, secured into a stokes basket stretcher, was transferred onto the sea rescue craft and the EMS paramedic and NSRI medics continued with medical care onboard the sea rescue craft while the patient was brought to the NSRI Port Elizabeth sea rescue base and in the care of paramedics he was transported to hospital by EMS ambulance. Despite extensive efforts by hospital medical staff the patient passed away.