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The HMS 'Northumberland' will be decommissioned in cost-saving measures announced by Defence Secretary John Healey on Nov 20, 2024. The ageing Type 23 frigate was regarded as beyond economic repair, after structural damages were found, and will be decommissioned along with two Wave class tankers. The Army’s Watchkeeper drones, which cost around £5m each and have been in service for a decade but have been beset by problems and are effectively obsolete, will be grounded and the assault ships HMS 'Albion' and HMS 'Bulwark' will be decommissioned too. These decisions were set to save the MoD £150 million over the next two years and up to £500 million over five years.

The municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee has extended the reception of asylum seekers in the outer harbour of Stellendam until FEb 15, 2026. With this extension, the municipality responded to a request from the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). The request was to continue to help with the reception of asylum seekers, as there was still a great need for reception places in order to relieve the pressure on the registration centre in Ter Apel. At the moment, 118 asylum seekers are accomodated on the 'Bo Elise' which has replaced the 'Esmeralda', which needed maintenance and will not return Stellendam afterwards. The extension of the reception in Stellendam is in line with the regional reception plan for Rotterdam-Rijnmond. This plan was drawn up in the context of the Distribution Act. It was created after extensive consultation between municipalities and other parties involved. The aim is to achieve a balanced distribution of the reception of asylum seekers across the municipalities in the region. The plan stipulates that Goeree-Overflakkee will provide a total of 298 reception places for asylum seekers. With the locations in Middelharnis and Stellendam, the municipality complies with this agreement. On Nov 7, representatives of the municipality and the COA spoke with a s group of stakeholders at the outer harbour of Stellendam. The reception period from jan 1, 2024 to the present was evaluated. The reception was generally going well and quietly. However, members of the group did ask for attention to traffic safety around the reception ship, especially when it is dark. The municipality and COA are addressing this point.

At the Alang ship recycling yard on the Bhavnagar coast, Gujarat, the Shree Ram Vessel Scrap Pvt Ltd. (SRVSPL), filed a police complaint alleging a loss of Rs 45 lakh worth of equipment stolen from the 'DV Erica', which had been brought in from Abu Dhabi for dismantling. According to the complaint filed with Alang Marine police station, the theft was believed to have occurred on March 23, 2024, at around 5 a.m. The ship was anchored in the designated waiting area at the outer anchorage after having been towed from Abu Dhabi. When workers boarded the ship for inspection on the morning, they discovered signs of a break-in. Two ropes were found dangling from the stern of the ship, suggesting the thieves used them to climb aboard.

A fire destroyed the opening motors of the BIZERTE port bridge on July 26, 2023. The port remained closed to navigation from that date untill November 19. 2023, date of the re-opening of the Port to navigation.

The 'Aita Mari' has docked in the port of Catania on Nov 20 and disembarked the 53 people rescued in the central Mediterranean, among them a group made up mostly of young people and minors. They had been adrift at sea for three days before being located . The disembarkation took place at around 4:00 p.m., giving priority to the medical care of two people in serious condition, who were examined by the Italian authorities to confirm the initial diagnoses made by the medical team of the NGO ship. The rescued people were coming from Eritrea, Ethiopia and South Sudan, countries marked by armed conflicts and prolonged humanitarian crises. According to testimonies collected by the crew of the 'Aita Mari', many of them endured long and dangerous journeys through the Sahara, facing extreme conditions, before being trapped in Libya, where they had been subjected to “torture, beatings and imprisonment” in detention centres run by “militias and corrupt networks”. After years of trying to cross the Mediterranean, some described situations in which they were required to pay large sums of money, under threat of death, to obtain their release. After their arrival in Catania, they have been placed under the guardianship of the Italian authorities, who will be responsible for initiating their asylum application processes. The 'Aita Mari'will remain in port for the next few days due to storm forecasts.

On the morning of Nov 21, 2024, the Port Authority of Agios Efstratios was informed by the master of the'Blue Star Mykonos', which was performing its scheduled route from Kavala to Myrina – Agios Efstratios – Mytilini – Chios – Vathi – Karlovasi – Fourni – Agios Kyrykos – Mykonos – Syros and Piraeus, that its approach to the port was deemed unsafe due to the adverse weather conditions prevailing in the area. The ship continued its route for the port of Mytilene. Four passengers and two trucks were waiting to disembark on the ship.

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The Port of Kiel concluded this year’s cruise season with the call of AIDA Cruises’ AIDAnova on Nov 4. The port welcomed a total of 215 ship calls from 26 companies and a total of 1,174,000 cruise passengers, marking the port’s busiest season ever. “We are closing the 2023 season with a good result. The development in the tourism industry shows a clear trend towards the cruise sector, which was also evident in Kiel this season. “For us, the main issue is to make maritime tourism more environmentally friendly on the port side. Shore power was the dominant topic for us and will continue to be so in the coming season,” said Dirk Claus, managing director of SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. Among the ships that visited the port during 2023 was ​​the 'Disney Dream', the first ship from Disney Cruise Line to be welcomed in Kiel, as well as MSC Cruises’ 'MSC Euribia'. Earlier this year, the port of Kiel achieved a milestone by becoming the first German port to supply a ship with liquidified natural gas. Since then, the' AIDAnova' and 'MSC Euribia' have regularly bunkered LNG in the port of Kiel.

Turkey on Nov 20 denounced the missile attack targeting the 'Anadolu S' in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi terrorists. "We condemn the Houthi missile attacks on the Panamanian-flagged dry cargo ship Anadolu S, owned by a Turkish company, sailing off the coast of Yemen," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry did not specify whether the ship had suffered any damage and only said that "the necessary initiatives were being taken to prevent a similar incident from happening again." The Houthis, who claimed responsibility for the attack on Nov 19, said it hit the ship “precisely and directly” and was carried out because it had failed to respond “to warnings from naval forces.” The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), run by a multinational naval coalition that includes the United States and European countries and based in Bahrain, said it had investigated the incident and had established “an indirect link of the targeted ship to Israel.”

On the morning of Nov 21, the Port Authority of Milos was informed by the master of the passenger f'Kydon Palace',which was performing its scheduled route from the port of Heraklion to the ports of Milos and Piraeus, that its approach to the port was considered unsafe due to the adverse weather conditions prevailing. The ship continued its route to the port of Piraeus. At the port of Milos, 44 passengers were waiting to board, four vehicles, a truck and two two-wheelers, while one passenger was about to disembark. The passengers were forwarded to their destination by the care of the ship-owning company.

Brazil: Agriculture Officers Strike Federal agriculture officers decided to start the strike next Monday (22), which will directly affect trading involving perishable products and may cause delays in berthing and unberthing ships. Federal Revenue tax auditors also announced that they will intensify the general strike that has been ongoing since November last year, as reported in our previous newsletters. Next week, from the 22nd to the 26th of January, there will be no cargo clearance at the ports and airports of São Paulo and Bahia. This means that goods release services will be affected at Viracopos airport, the Port of Santos, Salvador customs (from the 23rd) and Guarulhos Airport. During the period, only perishable, live and dangerous cargo will be released at the sites, in addition to medicines and food, as they are considered essential. It is important to highlight that the import and export of goods of animal and plant origin require the consent and inspection of agricultural officers. The category's national union (Anffa Sindical) informed that the release of certificates and goods at ports, in this case, will respect the last day of the deadline set out in the rules of the Ministry of Agriculture. It is worth remembering that in the last meeting held on December 27th with Sindifisco Nacional, minister Fernando Haddad and the special secretary of Revenue, Robinson Barreirinhas, stated that they did not plan to make changes to the proposal presented for the payment of the efficiency bonus in 2024 , which motivated the continuation of the strike. The Superior Courts have already pacified the understanding that the strike movement cannot interrupt essential public services. Therefore, the functioning of the productive activity of shipowners/importers/exporters cannot be delayed by the Customs Inspectors' strike. Customs clearance must continue, regardless of the tax auditors' strike. The Judiciary has been intervening effectively on a case-by-case basis, in order to avoid the harmful effects of the Federal Revenue auditors' strike and maintain the regular activity of taxpayers at Brazilian customs. The strike could affect the port and customs sector. Our team is closely monitoring the situation in the North/Northeast ports and will inform you of any updates.

Ukraine has managed a serious blow against the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea on Nov 4, 2023, severely damaging the corvette 'Askold', that was docked at the Zaliv shipyard during successful attacks on the shipping and port infrastructure of the Zaliv shipyard in the temporarily occupied city of Kerch. The “Askold”, which is able to carry up to eight Kalibr or Onyx guided missiles, has been hit by at least one Ukrainian cruise missile. The upper part of the ship was significantly damaged. The damage and destruction of warships of this type is important for the security of Ukraine. Reports with photos: https://www.merkur.de/politik/ukraine-krieg-krim-schwarzmeerflotte-russland-flotte-kiew-moskau-zr-92657747.html https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukrainian-forces-hit-russian-ship-in-kerch-aftermath-photo/ar-AA1julmU?ocid=weather-verthp-feeds