News

The underwater work carried out by Tenerife Shipyards on the bow bulb of the “Marie Curie” has allowed the Maritime Authority of Tenerife to authorise the departure of the ship, four days after the mishap that occurred during the docking manoeuvre on its arrival from Huelva, when a generator failure left the ship without propulsion, so it hit the dock and suffered a leak. The resolution of the problem by Tenerife Shipyards has prevented it from having to enter ASTICAN, a possibility that had initially been considered.On FEb 3 at 3:30 p.m., the ship left its berth in the East dock, in the plot assigned to Tenerife Shipyards, and made a large part of the journey to the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at a speed of 21 knots, where it has rejoined the Huelva line.

The 'Erdek', en route from Ceuta, has arrived In the Douarnenez Bay on the evening of Feb 2, 2025, and dropped anchor in pos. 48° 12' N 004° 29' W in order to to repair a damage. The maritime prefecture has taken the report into account. A complaint from a sailor on board was received by an IFT/CGT inspector. The crew member mentioned a shortage of provisions on board and the crew being subjected to excessive working hours as well as the structural integrity of the ship is seriously compromised, a situation which worried the Mor Glaz association, The ship remained stationary at its mooring as of Feb 4.

On Feb 1, 2025, at 8.15 p.m. when a Norwegian cargo ship, transiting the Kiel Canal eastbound, and passed a moored push convoy with the tug 'Helmut' and a barge, the lines securing them to the dolphins broke due to the small distance between the cargo ship and the convoy, which was used in the area of ​​a canal construction site. The tug was driven into the adjacent embankment in pos. 53° 54' N 009° 09' E as a result. The cargo ship was sailing at the maximum speed permitted for the Kiel Canal. The pontoon loaded with a construction site crane remained undamaged. Only thanks to the intervention of the crane operator did a construction site ferry and an office container remain undamaged by the swinging crane boom. The suction and waves from the cargo ship threatened to break the line connection to the construction site ferry. Using the main engine prevented the lines from breaking and thus prevented further damage. The Brunsbüttel water police initiated criminal proceedings against the captain of the cargo ship for endangering ship traffic.

Sweden has released the 'Vezhen', after the investigation has shown that this case was not a case of sabotage, according to the public prosecutor. The ship therefore allowed to leave Karlskrona and continue its journey. The cause of the cable damage between Latvia and Sweden is now considered to be a combination of weather conditions and deficiencies in equipment and seamanship, according to senior public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist. At the same time, however, it was said that they were convinced that the "Vezhen" was responsible for the damage on the night of Jan 26. The affected submarine cable is used by the Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC), and the damage occurred in Sweden's exclusive economic zone. Latvia sent naval divers to the site of the damage shortly afterwards. As of Feb 3, the 'Vezhen' remained statioary in pos. 56° 04' N 015° 32' E. Reports with photos: https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/0Vq3O0/haver-beslag-av-fartyg-inget-sabotage https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/aklagaren-haver-beslut-om-beslagtaget-fartyg

An investigation into the sinking of the 'Angel' laid the blame mainly on a failure to properly maintain its hull, while the Palauan shipping authority knew that the vessel was not seaworthy, but failed to notify the Taiwanese government in advance. The ship with 19 Azerbaijani crew members on board had arrived at the Port of Kaohsiung on July 20, 2023, and sank on July 21. The accident occurred because the hull had not been properly maintained for five years, and the cargo hold floor structure was damaged, the investigation found. After the ship had sailed from Colombo, the bottom plate of the 3rd cargo hold on the starboard side cracked, causing the ballast water in the right side of the third ballast tank to seep into the third cargo hold, it found. After the cargo was loaded at the port of Dalian, the severely corroded floor cracked due to the weight of the containers, causing the water in the ballast water tanks to seep into the 4th and fifth cargo holds. After the ship sailed from Dalian, crew members were unable to enter the hold to deal with the water accumulation and seepage because it was full. On the day of the sinking, oil sludge and residue in the ship’s fuel pipeline blocked the fuel filter, causing the generator to stop running and resulting in a loss of power to the entire ship. Meanwhile, the ballast water pump stopped operating. After the ship tilted 45 degrees to port side,a large amount of seawater surged in. It entered the stern cargo hold and engine room, causing the ship to sink. The investigation showed there were several risks involved leading to the sinking. The crew lacked the ability to address the water seepage problem in the cargo hold after the ship was fully loaded. Aside from the lack of maintenance, the board also found that the ship’s owner and management firm Zulu Shipping failed to follow the International Register of Shipping’s rules requiring underwater hull inspections and additional international safety management audits to be carried out at the first convenient port or anchorage. They also did not complete the 17 improvement suggestions and four improvement suggestion memorandums proposed by the International Register of Shipping within the deadline. The Palau shipping authority knew ten days before the shipwreck that the 'Angel' was not seaworthy, but it did not notify Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau, leaving it with no time to offer emergency assistance before the accident. The S5 Asia (Hong Kong) Ltd. Taiwan Branch as the ship’s agent failed to inform the bureau and Taiwan International Port Corp about the water accumulation problem four days before the shipwreck, while Zulu failed to implement handover training for new and old crew members, and provide timely resources to solve the problem of water accumulation. Crew members had been replaced before the wreck, and the chief officer, who faced a threat to his life, sent an emergency e-mail to the International Transport Workers’ Federation and Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority. When the incident occurred, the Post of Kaohsiung Vessel Traffic Service System did not require the ship’s owner to provide liability insurance information when the ship was anchored in the port.