New details have emerged about the condition of the 'Dali', as the lawyers gathered information about the ship and continued their discovery process and interview crew members. New revelations from lawyers representing the state of Maryland and other claimants seeking damages from the owner company Grace Ocean Private, and the managers of the Synergy Marine Group, included brake failures on one of the anchors. The hydraulic brake on the port side anchor windlass had been inoperable for nearly two weeks,.The unseaworthy condition meant the anchor windlass could only be operated with the manual brake, a two-man job. Despite that situation, only one man was posted to the bow on March 26, 2024, which meant when the time came to deploy the anchor, he was unable to do so. The lawyers alleged that that had devastating consequences for properly diverting the ship from disaster. Additionally, the documents stated that the ship was without one of its four generators. The crew only ran two of the three remaining generators as it left port. The Chief Engineer admitted that the second blackout would never have occurred if the ship had been using three generators rather than two. The state of Maryland, the city of Baltimore, numerous companies and families of the victims who died on the bridge are all suing the Grace Ocean and Synergy. Depositions have been taken from the crew, but the testimony remains redacted at this time. Earlier, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office asked ZeroNorth for its communications information with Grace Ocean as part of the discovery phase of the case. ZeroNorth owns the software SMARTShip, which is used to remotely monitor vessels. The communications of the owners and managers of the 'Dali' with Alpha Ori and ZeroNorth will be critical in establishing how SMARTShip was utilized onboard the ship, and what information shoreside personnel chose to monitor. The trail Grace Ocean and Synergy is set for next summer.
News
FRONT EAGLE
An oil slick spanning approximately six square miles has formed in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Iran and the UAE following the collision of the 'Adalynn' and the 'Front Eagle'. The spill, which covered 1.47 square miles) on June 17, hadsquadrupled in size within 24 hours, creating a potential environmental disaster in the region. The 'Adalynn' is part of Russia’s shadow fleet, has previously transported Russian oil from the Russian port of Ust-Luga in violation of the G7 price cap, using tactics like disabling its AIS in order to avoid detection. Despite officially reporting that it was carrying no cargo, the ship’s draft of 9.3 meters suggested it may have been transporting up to 70,000 tons of crude oil. The origin of the cargo on this voyage remains unconfirmed. However, it was most likely transferred from another vessel. Between May 1 and the time of the collision, the 'Adalynn' had been circling in the same area of the Gulf of Oman, suggesting possible ship-to-ship transfers of crude oil. Prior to that, the tanker had been docked at the port of Duqmand made periodic trips into the Gulf of Oman. The last confirmed direct loading took place at the port of Ust-Luga in September 2024, after which the vessel returned to Duqm and visited several other ports in the region. The 'Adalynn's listed owner is the Global Shipping Holding Ltd, in Antigua-Barbuda with a mailing addres in an older office complex in Navi Mumbai, which is home to multiple logistics, seafarer training and ship management firms, but has no public directory to confirm whether the 'Adalynn's operator is a tenant. The Indian company operates two aging tankers, besides the 'Adalynn' the 'Carcharodon' (IMO: 9258882), which is also sanctioned by the UK for transporting Russian oil. Both tankers are sanctioned by the government of Ukraine for their involvement in Russia's shadowy oil trade. No records of the Global Shipping Holding Ltd. exist in OpenCorporates, the world’s largest open database of corporate entities. Ship tracking data also indicated that the 'Adalynn' may lack P&I (Protection and Indemnity) insurance, without which any liability for environmental or other damages would fall solely on the vessel’s owner. After the collision, the operator of the 'Front Eagle', Frontline, attempted to get in touch with the 'Adalynn's owners, but found that it could not find an individual to talk to. Frontline had to find out from a local agent - not the shipowner - that the 'Adalynn's crew made it safely ashore and were lodged in a hotel. The 'Front Eagle' remained anchored off Fujairah in pos. 25° 14' N 056° 34' E as of June 19. The tanker has to be inspected before any further voyage to China. Report with photos: https://theins.ru/en/news/282263
ADALYNN
The 'Adalynn' was in collision with the tanker 'Front Eagle' near the Khor Fakkan Anchorage on June 16, 2025, at 9:14 p.m. UTC. The 'Front Eagle' was loaded and bound for Zhoushan. The unloaded 'Adalynn' had just departed the anchorage. The 'Front Eagle', with 22 crew members from nations in Eastern Europe and Asia on board, was sailing southbound at 13.1 knots and executed a starboard turn, striking the after port quarter of the 'Adalynn', which was proceeding southeast at 4.8 knots towards the Suez Canal. The collision resulted in a hull breach and a massive fire on the 'Adalynn'. The blaze quickly spread and consumed the superstructure of the tanker. The fire also spread onto the deck of the 'Front Eagle'. The crew of the Front Eagle were able to extinguish it quickly, and there were no reports of injuries. On June 17 at 01.51 a.m. UTC, the 'Front Eagle' changed its status to Not Under Command. The Coast Guard of the UAE National Guard evacuated the 24 crew members of the 'Adalynn', using SAR boats. The cause of the incident was not security-related, but thought to have been caused by a navigational error, however, spoofing of GPS signals has made the area more prone to accidents lately. The 'Adalynn' was at 25.330959, 56.823463, though its anchoring status remained unconfirmed. The Ukrainian government has accused the 'Adalynn' of being involved in the export of Russian oil/oil products from the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, as well as using deceptive practices such as disabling its AIS and conducting shady activities in the Kola Bay area in 2023 and 2024. The last laden voyage was from Ust-Luga in Sep 2024. It delivered 855,000 barrels of Urals crude to the Vadinar refinery on the west coast of India the following month. Since then, it has remained off the coast of the UAE and spent several months at the port of Duqm in Oman. The 'Front Eagle' has protection and indemnity cover with Steamship Mutual. The 'Adalynn' does not have cover from any of the 12 clubs that make up the International Group of P&I Clubs. The area of the collision has been designated a high-risk area where shipowners require additional cover from specialist war insurers, which take on responsibility for hull and P&I claims. Reports with photo and video: https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/3-ships-allegedly-on-fire-near-strait-of-hormuz-in-gulf-of-oman-amid-israel-iran-tensions-picture-emerges https://gcaptain.com/navigation-error-suspected-in-vlcc-suezmax-crash-off-fujairah-amid-rising-gulf-tensions/
EAGLE S
The repairs to the Estlink 2 electricity transmission cable between Finland and Estonia have been completed. The submarine cable can be put back into service on June 20. The connection has been out of service since December 2024, and the work to repair the cable has been ongoing at sea since mid-May. During the repair, approximately one kilometer of the damaged submarine cable was replaced with a new one.Tests to restart the cable began on the evening of June 17 and have continued without problems. The cable will be put into commercial operation as soon as the test period has been successfully completed. Despite Estlink 2 being out of service since Christmas Day, electricity transmission between Finland and Estonia has been working. However, capacity has temporarily decreased by 650 megawatts. The 'Eagle S' is suspected of causing the damage. The Finnish Central Criminal Police has investigated the case. Among other things, three people on the crew were suspected of crimes. The tanker belongs to the Russian shadow fleet.
FRONT EAGLE
The tanker 'Adalynn' was in collision with the 'Front Eagle' near the Khor Fakkan Anchorage on June 16, 2025, at 9:14 p.m. UTC. The 'Front Eagle' was fully loaded and bound for Zhoushan. The unloaded 'Adalynn' had just departed the anchorage. The 'Front Eagle', with 22 crew members from nations in Eastern Europe and Asia on board, was sailing southbound at 13.1 knots and executed a starboard turn, striking the after port quarter of the 'Adalynn', which was proceeding southeast at 4.8 knots towards the Suez Canal. The collision resulted in a hull breach and a massive fire on the 'Adalynn'. The blaze quickly spread and consumed the superstructure of the tanker. The fire also spread onto the deck of the 'Front Eagle'. The crew of the Front Eagle were able to extinguish it, and there were no reports of injuries. On June 17 at 01.51 a.m. UTC, the 'Front Eagle' changed its status to Not Under Command. There were no injuries among the crew. The Coast Guard of the UAE National Guard evacuated the 24 crew members of the 'Adalynn', using SAR boats. The cause of the incident was not security-related, but thought to have been caused by a navigational error, however, spoofing of GPS signals has made the area more prone to accidents lately. The 'Adalynn' was at 25.330959, 56.823463, though its anchoring status remained unconfirmed. The Ukrainian government has accused the 'Adalynn' of being involved in the export of Russian oil/oil products from the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, as well as using deceptive practices such as disabling its AIS and conducting shady activities in the Kola Bay area in 2023 and 2024. The last laden voyage was from Ust-Luga in Sep 2024. It delivered 855,000 barrels of Urals crude to the Vadinar refinery on the west coast of India the following month. Since then, it has remained off the coast of the UAE and spent several months at the port of Duqm in Oman. The 'Front Eagle' has protection and indemnity cover with Steamship Mutual. The 'Adalynn' does not have cover from any of the 12 clubs that make up the International Group of P&I Clubs. The area of the collision has been designated a high-risk area where shipowners require additional cover from specialist war insurers, which take on responsibility for hull and P&I claims. Reports with photo and video: https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/3-ships-allegedly-on-fire-near-strait-of-hormuz-in-gulf-of-oman-amid-israel-iran-tensions-picture-emerges https://gcaptain.com/navigation-error-suspected-in-vlcc-suezmax-crash-off-fujairah-amid-rising-gulf-tensions/