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The public prosecutor's office has brought charges against five people for causing a damage of 250.000 euros to the 'Lady M' with orange paint in the Ancora Marina in Neuistadt. Activists of the so-called last generation had illegally gained access to the "Lady M" and caused considerable damage. Now the self-proclaimed climate protectors will most likely have to appearin the Niebüll district court. In addition to the case in Neustadt, the same activists are also said to be responsible for two incidents on Sylt. On the one hand, this concerns the devastation of the bar area in the Hotel Miramar with paint and the soiling of two facades in Kampen. In addition to the criminal proceedings, the perpetrators could also face a civil dispute. Because the insurance company will cover the damage, but could also assert claims against the climate activists. The trial is about property damage and trespassing. The first offense carries a fine or a prison sentence of up to two years. The court must now decide whether the public prosecutor's charges will be accepted. This is expected at the beginning of 2025. A total of six people were involved in the incident. One of them lives in Berlin. In September, the Berlin public prosecutor's office brought the charges. They are certain that the then 19-year-old sprayed the yacht with paint using a fire extinguisher and stuck himself to the side of the ship. On Nov 11, the court admitted the charges to the main hearing. The young man will have to answer to the district court on Jan 23. The "Lady M" belongs to an 85-year-old woman from Pinneberg who keeps the ship as a memento of her late husband. Hella Mohr therefore did not have it sold in a defective condition, but restored the ship despite extremely high costs. It was difficult to find a suitable solvent for the paint and a specialist company. In addition, the teak deck was massively damaged by the attack.

During the ongoing Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), the 'Karolina Viking' suffered water ingress on Dec 2, 2024, at 03:00 a.m. UTC. The crew located the leak in the starboard engine compartment. Apparently, massive amounts of water were entering through the rudder shaft. The skipper then made an emergency call. In coordination with the MRCC Cape Verde. He initially decided to head for the Cape Verde Islands using the remaining port side engine, around 300 nautical miles against the wind. At least two other ARC yachts sailing nearby set course for the stricken vessel in order to be able to provide assistance if required. The electrical system of the two-hulled vessel failed several hours after the leak occurred. The skipper had already deviated from the plan to head for the Cape Verde Islands. Instead, he had set course for the ARC yacht "Cinderella di Sanremo", which was rushing to help. The two ships rendezvoused around midday. In the afternoon, the five crew members decided to abandon the "Karolina Viking". They were taken aboard the "Cinderella di Sanremo" safely.

On April 4, 2024, the containerm/v 'Magalie' ((IMO: 7413892)) was hijacked by members of the 5 Seconds gang in the Varreux terminal neighborhood at Port-au-Prince. The gang members took all crew members hostage and stole one-sixth of the cargo, which included rice, Haiti's main staple food. On April 8, Haiti's National Police stormed the ship and engaged in a five-hour gunfight. The operation resulted in the injury of two officers and an unspecified number of gang members being killed. The vessel was retrieved safely, and Haiti's Port Authority assisted in transporting the onboard personnel. The status of the crew members was unknown. The ship was pulled away from the shore by a tug. Gangs have frequently attacked Port-au-Prince's waterfront operations, causing disruptions to the supply and relief flow. Last month, vandals destroyed the Varreux Power Plant and briefly took over and looted the Caribbean Port Services (CPS), the biggest container terminal in the country. The UN's Famine Early Warning System Network states that the terminal's waterside activities may remain closed for several weeks.

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After the verdict in the criminal case against the 50-year-old helmswoman of the 'La Primavera', the defense has filed an appeal. As the district court in Kehl, Baden, as the responsible shipping court, further announced, the next instance is the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court as the so-called shipping court. The helmswoman of the "La Primavera" was sentenced to five months' probation in Kehl. The court ruled that she had caused the accident at the Iffezheim Rhine lock because she had been drinking at the helm and then fell asleep. According to the prosecution, the lock in the Rastatt district suffered damage of around 2.5 million euros. According to witnesses, the ship drove into the lock without slowing down. The defense pleaded for acquittal during the trial. The woman, who lives in the Netherlands, was on trial for negligently endangering shipping traffic. She testified in court that she was unconscious at the time.

On the afternoon of Dec 2, the Port Authority of Samothrace was informed that the 'Ionis' allided with the pier during the berthing manoever at the port. The bumper on its starboard side was broken, and the starboard side stern suffered a breach of approximately 10 centimeters length and two centimeters width at a height of approximately 2.5 meters above the waterline. The ship was executing a scheduled route from the port of Alexandroupoli with 103 passengers on board, who disembarked safely. No injuries were reported from the incident and no marine pollution was caused. The 1st Port Department of Samothraki of the Central Port Authority of Alexandroupoli banned the ferry from sailing until the presentation of a certificate of seaworthiness by the monitoring classification society.

Ukraine's military intelligence directorate, the GUR, has claimed responsibility for a serious fire aboard the Russian corvette 'Serpukhov' at the port of Kaliningrad, a Buyan-M class vessel. GUR provided what appeared to be a schematic of the vessel's internal spaces, and a brief video of an incendiary device going off. The agency said that the 'Serpukhov' sustained substantial damage from the fire, with its means of communication and automation were completely destroyed. The Buyan class is designed for coastal operations and are heavily armed for their size, carrying up to eight Kalibr or Oniks antiship missiles and up to eight surface-to-air missiles. This was a deep strike behind the Russian lines. The agency's drones have hit Russian oil refineries up to 750 miles away from Ukraine's borders, and have taken approximately 14 percent of Russia's refining capacity offline. The latest strike - a claimed attack on a product pipeline - allegedly disabled all product tanker loadings at the occupied port of Azov. The GUR has also mounted a successful campaign against the Russian Black Sea Fleet, damaging or destroying a claimed one-third of its force and confining the rest to the relative safety of Novorossiysk. The sister ship 'Velykyi' Ustyug was likely damaged by a Ukrainian drone early in the Russian invasion. In June 2022 the 'Ustyug' was photographed in tow to a shipyard, showing signs of fragmentation damage along her port side. Report with video: https://maritime-executive.com/article/ukrainian-spy-agency-claims-it-lit-a-fire-on-a-russian-corvette

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.

On Dec 2, 2024, at 02:27 a.m. UTC t a crew member of the “Ocean Breeze” went overboard in the mid-Atlantic. The crew immediately launched a search operation. The yacht was taking part in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). The SAR operationwas coordinated by the MRCC Norfolk, which has sent out an emergency call to all shipping in the affected sea area. Another ARC participant yacht sailing nearby and the mega yacht “Project X” were involved in the search. An aerial search operation was not possible due to the distance of the accident site from land. The World Cruising Club assumed that the victim was wearing an automatically inflatable life jacket to which a personal AIS signal was attached. The exact circumstances of the accident were not yet known.

The US Coast Guard has suspended its search for the missing crew of the 'Wind Walker' on the morning of Dec 2 near Couverden Point, Alaska, pending the development of new information. The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska watchstanders had received a mayday call at approximately 12:07 a.m. on VHF-FM channel 16 from the crew aboard the fishing vessel, reporting they were overturning.  Coast Guard crews searched for nearly 24 hours, covering more than 108 square nautical miles. Local weather conditions in the search area included heavy snow, winds between 45 and 60 mph and 6-foot seas. Involved in the search were:   - Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska  - Coast Guard Air Station Sitka  - Coast Guard Station Juneau  - Coast Guard Cutter 'Healy (WAGB 20') - Coast Guard Cutter 'Douglas Denman (WPC 1149)'  - Alaska Marine Highway System motor vessel Hubbard  Anyone with new information about this situation is requested to contact Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska watchstanders at 907-463-2980.

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.