A dispute between the state-run oil company Petrobras and steelmaker Gerdau delayed the first dismantling the 'Petrobras 32',of an oil production vessel in Brazil by at least a year, in a setback for local shipyards. The operation had been hailed as a chance to reinvent Brazil's struggling shipbuilders as industrial recyclers, generating jobs as Petrobras plans to spend $9.9 billion in the next five years to retire another 10 ships of the same kind. The FPSO was set to wrap up its decommissioning by Dec 2024 under a new Petrobras sustainability program. Instead, the work began only in March 2025, according to the head of a local metalworker's union in Rio Grande do Sul state Benito de Oliveira Goncalves The dispute between Petrobras and Gerdau over removing petroleum residues from the vessel had stalled work for more than a year. The sale of the FPSO took place on July 7, 2023. In a collaboration supervised by Petrobras, the steel company Gerdau S.A. and shipyard Ecovix have been entrusted with the responsible and environmentally sound recycling of the unit.
News
WHITE EAGLE
The 'White Eagle' has been lying idle in the port of Nador for more than two months for reasons that were remainng unclear. The ship was en route from Sierra Leone to Lebanon, but switched off its AIS near the coast of Rabat. Then it unexpectedly berthed in Nador. What happened in the meantime remained a mystery. The ship has had a total of seven different names since it was built in Shanghai in 1991. It has previously been called 'Breadbox Falcon', 'Saphir', 'Baltimar Sirius' and 'Moresby Chief', among others. It was suggested that the ship had technical problems, but it was not towed, and the port of Nador has no repair facilities. Rumors of smuggling were now circulating. The 'White Eagle' has been involved in drug trafficking investigations in the past. However, the ship has not yet been fully searched. The crew, mainly of Filipino origin, has been on board all the time and is not allowed to leave. Even a visit by the Philippine ambassador did not change that.
NORDKAPPFANGST
The 'Nordkappfangst' was destroyed by a fire, which broke out in the engine room, on the evening of April 12, 2025. off Honningsvåg, outside Nordvågen in the Nordkapp municipality. while catching shrimps. The skipper Stig Ivar Pettersen was down to pack some shrimp, when suddenly there was smoke around him, and he heard the alarms. Pettersen tried to reach the fire extinguisher, but had to give up because of the smoke. He contacted the fishing boat "Amalie Sofie" that was nearby, via coastal radio. Captain Arnt Magne Johansens alerted his deckhand Even Vigeland (29), wjho had his first week on the shrimp trawler. They could only see a red dot in the middle of the sea. Also the rescue helicopter SAR Queen was on its way, but the fire developed so quickly that it did not arrive in time. Pettersen and his deckhand put on their life jackets and survival suits. The "Amalie Sofie" arrived about five minutes later. It was dark, visibility was poor, and the weather conditions were bad. The crew of the 'Nordkappfangst' was standing on the deck before they had to jump into the water to escape the rapidly spreading flames. One of them was drifting behind the boat, where the flames were the worst. Johansen and Vigeland had to circle around the burning shrimper, but managed to throw a rope. After a short time, both fishermen were rescued. Pettersen had inhaled a lot of smoke, which meant that he had to wear an oxygen mask for 20 minutes in the ambulance. Report with photos: https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/xmv2jl/fiskebaat-i-full-fyr-maatte-hoppe-i-sjoeen
BAYESIAN
The salvage start of the "Bayesian" will be on 'April 26, and the wreck is to brought to shore by the end of May, Simon Graves, a principal investigator for the Marine Accident Investigation Branch told a pre-inquest hearing said on April 15. The inquests into the deaths of Lynch and the other three British victims are being held in Ipswich. Inquests were opened and adjourned in October pending the completion of probes by both the UK investigators and a criminal inquiry by Italian prosecutors. An MAIB interim report on whether there were any breaches of maritime legislation could be published online in four to six weeks, with the final report to follow in months. The Coroner Nigel Parsley said he was in the hands of the criminal investigations as to when a final inquest hearing date could be set. The inquest in the UK is examining the deaths of the British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his daughter, Hannah, 18, as well as Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer, who were also British nationals. The others who died were US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the yacht. Angela Bacares, Lynch's wife and Hannah's mother, was among the 15 survivors.
Chittagong
THE SUPER CYCLONE ‘AMPHAN’ (PRONUNCIATION: UM-PUN) (ECP: 926 HPA) OVER WEST CENTRAL BAY AND ADJOINING AREA MOVED NORTH- NORTHEASTWARDS AND NOW LIES OVER THE SAME AREA (LAT. 16.0°N, LONG. 86.7°E) AND WAS CENTRED AT 06 AM TODAY (19 MAY, 2020) ABOUT 890 KM SOUTHWEST OF CHATTOGRAM PORT, 840 KM SOUTHWEST OF COX’S BAZAR PORT, 785 KM SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF MONGLA PORT AND 775 KM SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF PAYRA PORT. IT IS LIKELY TO MOVE IN A NORTH-NORTHEASTERLY DIRECTION AND MAY CROSS BANGLADESH COAST BETWEEN KHULNA-CHATTOGRAM DURING LATE NIGHT 19 MAY 2020 TO AFTERNOON / EVENING 20 MAY 2020. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WIND SPEED WITHIN 90 KMS OF THE CYCLONE CENTRE IS ABOUT 225 KPH RISING TO 245 KPH IN GUSTS/ SQUALLS. SEA WILL REMAIN VERY HIGH NEAR THE CYCLONE CENTRE. MARITIME PORTS OF MONGLA AND PAYRA HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO KEEP HOISTED DANGER SIGNAL NUBMER SEVEN (R) SEVEN. COASTAL DISTRICTS OF SATKHIRA, KHULNA, BAGHERHAT, JHALOKATHI, PIROZPUR, BORGUNA, PATUAKHALI, BHOLA, BARISHAL, LAXMIPUR, CHANDPUR AND THEIR OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND CHARS WILL COME UNDER DANGER SIGNAL NUMBER SEVEN (R) SEVEN. MARITIME PORTS OF CHATTOGRAM AND COX’S BAZAR HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO KEEP HOISTED DANGER SIGNAL NUBMER SIX (R) SIX. COASTAL DISTRICTS OF NOAKHALI, FENI, CHATTOGRAM AND COX’S BAZAR THEIR OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND CHARS WILL COME UNDER DANGER SIGNAL NUMBER SIX (R) SIX. UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE VERY SEVERE CYCLONIC STORM “AMPHAN” AND THE NEW MOON PHASE, THE LOW-LYING AREAS OF THE COASTAL DISTRICTS OF SATKHIRA, KHULNA, BAGHERHAT, JHALOKATHI, PIROZPUR, BORGUNA, PATUAKHALI, BHOLA, BARISHAL, LAXMIPUR, CHANDPUR, NOAKHALI, FENI, CHATTOGRAM AND THEIR OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND CHARS ARE LIKELY TO BE INUNDATED BY STORM SURGE OF 4-5 FEET HEIGHT ABOVE NORMAL ASTRONOMICAL TIDE. THE COASTAL DISTRICTS OF SATKHIRA, KHULNA, BAGHERHAT, JHALOKATHI, PIROZPUR, BORGUNA, PATUAKHALI, BHOLA, BARISHAL, LAXMIPUR, CHANDPUR, NOAKHALI, FENI, CHATTOGRAM AND THEIR OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND CHARS ARE LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE WIND SPEED UP TO 140-160 KPH IN GUSTS/ SQUALLS WITH HEAVY TO VERY HEAVY FALLS DURING THE PASSAGE OF THE STORM. ALL FISHING BOATS AND TRAWLERS OVER NORTH BAY AND DEEP SEA HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AND WILL REMAIN IN SHELTER TILL FURTHER NOTICE.
FERDINAND
The two upper segments of the crane boom of the 'Ferdinand' became detached on April 10, 2025, in the port of Barth. Using their own resources, the employees of the Ueckermünde-based hydraulic engineering company Colcrete managed to repair the defective crane, The damaged second-to-last segment was removed, and the upper end piece was reattached to the remaining boom. Although this shortened the boom somewhat, the reach was sufficient for the remaining sheet piles of the construction of the new marina. allowing to pull the remaining steel piles of the sheet pile barrier by the afternoon of April 14. To make things worse, the barge "Roock 84," which was alongside and was supposed to transport the 15-meter-long, two-ton sheet piles, sank on April 12. The loaded sheet piles were recovered and have been stored on the crane platform. The sunken barge was brought back to the surface on April 15. A small leak above the normal waterline led to the sinking. As it was continuously loaded with sheet piles, the barge sank deeper until the leak was below the water surface, so that the barge filled up with water in the access channel to the new Barth marina, which had recently been dredged to a depth of three meters. The barge was then completely unloaded and pumped dry. Because the leak was now above the water surface again, there was no danger as long as the barge is not moved. The dredging of the remaining sand barrier was scheduled to continue on April 22. Reports with photos: https://www.ostsee-zeitung.de/lokales/vorpommern-ruegen/ribnitz-damgarten/barth-pannen-bei-arbeiten-am-neuen-yachthafen-kran-kaputt-und-schiff-gesunken-QK3LTZCQ5RFTBFFVTVGL2IAWMM.html https://www.ostsee-zeitung.de/lokales/vorpommern-ruegen/ribnitz-damgarten/gesunkenes-arbeitsschiff-im-barther-yachthafen-gehoben-zufahrt-nach-ostern-frei-DYFYV6TWZVELXONFQ6DRB7HRVU.html
SALVAMAR DIPHDA
On April 15, a cayuco was located half a mile from the port of La Restinga (Hierro). The CCS Tenerife of Salvamento Marítimo mobilized the 'Salvamar Diphda', which escorted the boat to the port, where 62 people disembarked. Among them were one woman, and three minors. The migrants were assisted by medical and safety teams in La Restinga.
Varna
A global petition aiming to draw the attention of the general public to the problems of over 150 000 seafarers that cannot leave or cannot joint ship crews due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative belongs to the International Marittime Organization (IMO) Goodwill Maritime Ambassador for Bulgaria Capt. Andriyan Evtimov. The purpose is to have the document signed online by at least the same number of people as that of the blocked by the COVID-19 seafarers, and then send it to the IMO member-state governments with an appeal for immediate and urgent measures to facilitate the movement of seafaring personnel. Currently, only a few countries permit crewmember exchange in their ports, which has a direct negative impact on seafarers’ wellbeing, on the safety of navigation and the global supply chains. The petition, which can be accessed at www.seafarersmatter.com, draws to the attention of the governments that the maritime industry is the backbone of world trade and any continuation of the restrictive measures currently in place against the seafarers would lead to detrimental effect for the global economy. More than 90% of world trade takes place by sea and the seafarers are those who constantly and in personal deprivation carry out their mission ensuring the operation of the supply chains, including such for medical supplies to combat the pandemic. You can access the petition online at www.seafarersmatter.com