KUALA LUMPUR EXPRESS

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Storm wreaked havoc in Hamburg

The "Kuala Lumpur Express" left Hamburg again on May 6 at 1.15 p.m. bound to Southampton, ETA May 7. The ship had been hit by the "Al Qibla" on May 5 at 5 p.m. in the Waltershof Port oin Hamburg in a thunderstorm with Gusts up to 120 km/h. Both ships had suffered damages in the bow Region, also a gantry crane was damaged. The "Al Qibla" had already left the port again at 9 a.m. bound to Zeebrugge. At the same time the "Hanjin Gold", "Bianca Rambow", "MSC Margarita" and "Barmbek" also broke lose from the moorings at the Predöhl Quay and the Athabaska Quay. The "Hanjin Gold" was able to prevent drifting off by an emergency anchoring. The "Bianca Rambow" was kept in the fairway of the Waltershofer Port by the police Launch "WS 35" before returning to the berth with own power. The "Barmbek" at Athabaska Quay 8 teilweise was secured by the police boat "WS 20 - Amerikahöft" and dropped two anchors. The boat "Hafenaufsicht" of the Hamburg Port Authority and an assistance tug secured the ship at the quay. The "MSC Margarita" could be kept at the quay in spite of a broken mooring. The gangways of the ships and the mooring lines suffered damage in an unknown amount. All available assistance tugs had been alerted by the Hamburg Port Authority. At 8.15 p.m. all ships were safe again. The work in the Waltershof port was suspended during this time. At Eurogate and the HHLA Container terminal at the Burchard Quay more than 100 containers tipped. No dangerous goods were spilt.

Boxship boxed by boxship

In the afternoon of May 5, 2015, gusts of a thunder storm broke lose the "Al Qibla" from the moorings in the Waltershof Port in Hamburg. The bow drifted against the "Kuala Lumpur Express" at the opposite quay. The tugs "ZP Bulldog", ZP Boxer" and "Perfect" were pushing the ship back to the quay. Also the "Hanjin Gold" which was berthed behind the "Al Quibla" broke lose. The "SD Dolphin" and "Bugsier 7" assisted to get the ship back to the quay. The police launch "WS 35" attended too. At the Athabaska Quay 8 the "Barmbek" broke lose.

Container ship saved single hand sailor

Coast Guard crews coordinated the rescue of the skipper of thy Belgium flagged, 42-ft-yacht "Vagrant" approximately 450 miles southeast of Cape Cod on June 2, 2014. Watchstanders at the 1st Coast Guard District Command Center in Boston received notification at 9:30 p.m. on May 31 from the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that the "Vagrant" , was taking on water at a rate of one gallon-per-hour and was experiencing heavy winds and seas. When the vessel missed scheduled satellite phone calls in the morning of June 1, the Coast Guard immediately launched an HC-144 Ocean Sentry from Air Station Cape Cod and a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C. to try to locate the vessel. The USS "New York" and multiple commercial vessels also responded to assist. Overcoming limited information on the vessel's location and planned course, the C-130 crew spotted the sailing vessel adrift with tattered sails. Unable to raise the vessel on the radio, the C-130 dropped a communications package, but 40-knot winds and 16-foot seas prevented the sole crewmember from the "Vagrant" from recovering it. The "Kuala Lumpur Express" was the first commercial vessel on scene and made a close quarters pass to formulate a rescue plan. The "Hoegh Maputo" arrived for secondary support. The crew of the "Kuala Lumpur" Express made a second pass and lowered a small boat to extract the man from the vessel. The crew reported that the man was in good health and uninjured.