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The MAIB has published an investigation report into an incident where on July 29, 2021, at 1:53 p.m. the bosun of the 'Clipper Pennant', actually sailing as 'Ur', was fatally crushed when he became trapped between a moving vehicle and the vessel’s structure. The ship was alongside in Liverpool, England, loading a cargo of semi-trailers. A tractor unit driver pushed a semi-trailer into a corner space, marshalled by the vessel’s bosun in his assigned role as banksman. The driver then disconnected the tractor unit and drove away. Shortly afterwards, the bosun was found trapped between the rear of the semi-trailer and the vessel’s structure, having sustained fatal injuries. The accident happened because the tractor unit driver did not stop pushing the semi-trailer when they lost sight of the bosun during the manoeuvre. This was due to a procedural workaround that had become routine practice at the port, whereby the banksman was expected to move to an unsighted position behind a nearby semi-trailer. However, the bosun in this instance did not act as expected. He instead stood on a painted walkway located inside the vehicle lane to marshal the semi-trailer into the space, and so remained in its path as it approached. The semi-trailer had inadvertently been parked at an angle, encroaching the walkway and striking the bosun. The investigation found that the working practices on board the 'Clipper Pennant' did not reflect industry guidelines and company procedure; there was no documented procedure for stowing semi-trailers in the more hazardous corner stowage spaces, which led to the development of local workarounds that went unchallenged; and organisational oversight was insufficiently effective, both in the approach of the vessel’s operator, Seatruck Ferries Limited, to learning lessons from previous accidents and the management of the port and its tractor unit drivers by the vessel’s charterer, P&O Ferries Limited. Since the accident, Seatruck Ferries Limited has taken several actions to improve safety on its vehicle decks, including developing a new safe system of work that recognises dynamic danger zones and establishing standard loading procedures that better reflect the work performed. The company has also engaged with the industry to share its findings following several trials and tests of new procedures on company vessels and in various ports. A safety recommendation has been made to industry bodies to develop a jointly agreed and consolidated industry Code of Practice for vehicle deck safety on roll-on/roll-off vessels. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Health and Safety Executive are recommended to amend their relevant codes and guidelines to reflect industry best practice. Recommendations have also been made to: P&O Ferries Limited to review how it achieves assurance that its ports adhere to its operational procedures and that a jointly agreed safe system of work is in place on chartered vessels; and to CLdN RoRo Limited (formerly Seatruck Ferries Limited) to improve its organisational safety culture and ensure effective supervision of vehicle deck cargo loading operations. Fullö report: https://safety4sea.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/UKMAIB-ClipperPennant-2024_11.pdf

On the morning Nov 7, 2024, the 'Rygerfjell' suffered technical problems in Vassøy. The ship was taken out of service and replaced by the ferry 'Rygerkongen' (IMO: 9359997) until further notice.  The departure from Vassøy at 08.10 a.m. is canceled due to the technical problems. The reserve ship made its first sailing from Stavanger at 09.45 a.m. and at 10.30 a.m. from Vassøy. After repairs, the 'Rygerfjell' was back in operation again for the departure at 12.45 p.m. from Stavanger.

Istanbul’s Galataport, a megaproject expected to boost the city’s tourism with cruise ports and increase tourism revenues, is and slated to open in May 2020. Galataport is jointly being built by Turkey’s Doğuş Group and Bilgili Holding with an investment of $1.7 billion. It is dubbed one of the world’s largest coastal projects, aiming to become one of the top cruise destinations. In a press conference held yesterday in Istanbul, Doğuş Group Chairman Ferit Şahenk confirmed that the port has a capacity to welcome 25 million visitors per year, including 7 million foreigners. The estimated revenues from the increasing number of tourists will be around $1 billion. “The port also has two museums and a recreation area of 14,000 square meters to host culture and art events,” Şahenk added. The Doğuş Group chairman remarked that a “1.2-kilometer-long coast line, which has been closed to the public for 200 years, is now preparing to welcome its visitors.

Genting Hong Kong (GHK) has officially secured funding for the construction and post-delivery financing of Dream Cruises’ two new Global Class ships. KfW IPEX-Bank will supply US$2.9 billion, with backing from the Federal Republic of Germany, Finnish export credit agency Finnvera, and the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. At an overall cost of €3.1 billion (US$3.4 billion), the two new vessels are currently being built at GHK-owned shipyard MV Werften in Germany for the fast-growing Asian cruise market. “We are very appreciative of KfW IPEX-Bank, the bank consortium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Finnvera for supporting GHK in the financing of the Global Class ships,” said Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chief executive of Genting Hong Kong.

In Benin, the CRIET rendered its decision on Nov 7, 2024, on the request for provisional release of the defendants in the case of 'SPSL Udeme', stranded in Fidjrossè. The 14 people arrested, and police and navy officers allegedly involved in the case will remain in prison pending the outcome of their trial. The Special Court rendered its decision on the request for provisional release of the defendants. In its decision, the court rejected the lawyers' request for provisional release. After its decision, the Court adjourned the proceedings to Nov 28, to continue the proceedings. Following this decision of the court, the 18 defendants, including the 14 members of the ship's crew and twio agents of the national navy, a police commissioner and a smuggler, returned to prison pending the next hearing. The state officials (two sailors and a police officer) are being prosecuted for "abuse of office". As for the 14 members of the crew, they are accused of "navigating without title" in the waters of Benin. The smuggler, presumed owner of the cargo, is being prosecuted for "trafficking in petroleum products". They all pleaded not guilty to these charges. During the previous hearing, the CRIET ordered, at the request of the public prosecutor, the dismantling of vessel at the owner's expense.

The Disciplinary Board for Shipping has investigated the allision of the 'ARM 18-Joris Senior ' with the tanker 'Golden Daisy' on the night of Sep 28, 2022, which was anchored near IJmuiden. The damage was extensive. The cutter was on its way to IJmuiden with six crew members, the ship's home port since the ban on pulse fishing. Just before 11.30 p.m., when it slammed into the tanker's side, rupturing a water tank . The bow of the fishing vessel was badly damaged too. The cause of the accident was that the helmsman was on the toilet. He has now been given a hefty fine. The helmsman was on board as a substitute skipper and officer of the watch at the time of the allision. The man appears to have made one mistake after another. He did not follow the course that the skipper had set. The intention was to sail north of the anchorage to IJmuiden. While the rest of the crew was asleep, the helmsman chose to go through the anchorage area anyway to arrive a bit earlier. It should have been clear to him that, sailing through the anchorage, constant alertness on the bridge was required, but left the bridge for about five minutes, without anyone else there. While he had seen the tanker, he expected the cutter to pass it at a distance of a few hundred metres, not taking into account the influence of the wind and the current. Furthermore, the agreement was that he would call the skipper when they approached IJmuiden. He had failed to do so. The disciplinary board found that the man ‘seriously failed in his responsibilities as a helmsman/officer of the watch, resulting in the allision, and that it was incomprehensible that the man simply went to the toilet. As a result, he ‘endangered the safety of the crews. He was previously fined 1500 euros for acting as a substitute skipper on a ship, while he did not have the correct certifictes for this. The disciplinary board has now imposed a fine of 3000 euros on him, half of which is conditional. This took into account the fact that he is the sole earner and can no longer sail as a crew member due to physical problems, partly caused by the accident. The fishing cutter involved in the accident no longer in service. The ship was handed in for scrapping a few months after the collision as part of the restructuring scheme for the fishing industry. Report with photo: https://www.pzc.nl/middelburg/toiletbezoek-met-grote-gevolgen-viskotter-botst-op-tanker~a5ba1be7/?cb=b6617ba5-164e-488e-9051-51875381afec&auth_rd=1

Active construction is currently underway in the D-terminal of the Port of Tallinn being built by Nordecon, in order to open the first phase of construction of the renovated D-terminal to passengers within two months, the port says in a press release. A digital twin of the new D-Terminal building and the remodeled part which aims to make the building's life cycle more efficient was created in the BIM implementation model. The completion of the extension and reconstruction work of the port is scheduled for summer 2020.

Marine battery supplier Corvus Energy is to install its lithium-ion battery storage systems onboard AIDA Cruises’ ships to reduce fossil fuel use and emissions. In a project that will also involve ABB and Siemens, Corvus will install and commission the battery storage systems on the first AIDA ship in 2020. The companies then plan to then use their findings from the pilot project to successfully fit battery systems onboard other vessels in the AIDA fleet. “Our goal is the emissions-neutral ship operation,” said Michael Thamm, group CEO of Costa Group and Carnival Asia.

On the morning of Nov 8, 2024, the fire service was called to Frekhaug in Alver after smoke and a burning smell were reported on the Norwegian flagged fast ferry 'Fjordkatt', 226 gt (IMO: 9380790)when it approached the quay in Frekhaug. Fire and police at the site could not find where the smell was coming from. It must have been an electrical fault. There were 35 passengers on board the vessel. There have been no reports of injuries. Most of the passengers were to get off at Frekhaug, while those going on were transported by bus. The crew on board have called in an electrician to find out the cause of the fault. The Nordhordland route, which runs between Knarvik, Frekhaug and Bergen, has been canceled until further notice.

The wreck of the 'Atina', which had sunk on Aug 10, 2024, due to a fire in front of the Saline, has re-emerged from the waters of Olbia on Nov 4. The ship was reised with f a crane, which hoisted the vessel aboard the platform 'Conquest MB1'. On Nov 5, more operations including the inspection and reclamation of the seabed, where the wreck was located, were planned. The Olbia Coastguard will also carry out an inspection of the hull to investigate the cause of the fire. After the operations, the wreck of the 'Atina' will be demolished in Piombino. Report with photos: https://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/watch-154-foot-sunken-superyacht-raised-from-sardinian-waters-for-scrapping/

The Port of Rotterdam Authority has reached an agreement with Sif Holding n.v. regarding the lease of 20 ha of port site and a 200-m stretch of deep-sea quay at Maasvlakte. Sif’s new lot lies adjacent to its existing port site, where the company already works on the assembly of foundations for offshore wind turbines, the company said in its release. Sif will be using the newly allocated site on behalf of clients active in the offshore wind power sector. The first project to be undertaken at the new site will be the logistics handling of all 94 monopiles (wind turbine foundations) destined for the offshore wind farm Borssele 1 + 2, commissioned by Deme Offshore.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has concluded an agreement with long-term customer EUROGATE Tanger (EGT) in Morocco to upgrade four ZPMC ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, as part of the terminal’s expansion plans. With a quay length of 821 meters, a terminal area of 400,000 m2 and a water depth of up to 18 meters, the facility is well-equipped to handle the new generation of containerships. The terminal’s equipment fleet already includes several Kalmar machines, including rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs). Furthermore, Kalar will be responsible for the planning, engineering and execution of the entire project, which involves heightening the four STS cranes by 11 meters and extending the booms by six meters. The project with Kalmar will help the terminal serve mega-sized container vessels.