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On the morning of No 18, 2024, the 'Arctic Dawn', while pushing the 240 foot barge 'Mighty Quinn', 2338 gt, ran aground on a sandbar on the Thames River near Gales Ferry, Connecticut. There were no injuries and no pollution released. The grounding occurred when the tug was underway with the empty barge from Ledyard. It remained stuck for several hours until it could be freed. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sylwxSiN_gs

As of Nov 22, the 'Yi Peng 3' remained at anchor in pos.  56° 25' NE 011° 39' E in the Kattegat. The patrol ship 'P 523 - Najaden' took over monitoring of the ship from the 'P 525' on the late afternoon of Nov 21. Meanwhile it has turned out that the port side anchor was damaged. The anchor flaps have been twisted in different directions, which could indicate that one side of the anchor was caught on something that was stuck down on the bottom. The Swedish authorities have investigated the damage to one of the two cables that were damaged on Nov 17,  but are still keeping the results of the investigations to themselves, while the investigations into the damage to the other cable was ongoing. Both Swedish, German and Finnish authorities are investigating and all suspected that sabotage was the cause of the damage to the data cables. There is still no information on whether the authorities have been on board the ship,. As the ship is outside Danish territorial waters, but in the Danish economic zone, which is considered international waters, it cannot in principle be detained by the Danish authorities, but they therefore probably had a special authority to stop the ship, which could be f.e. a cable convention from 1884, which is still valid.  Reports with photos and video: https://svenska.yle.fi/a/7-10067779 https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/moerklagt/noget-har-vredet-anker-skaevt-paa-sabotagemistaenkt-kinesisk-skib

The Tanger Med port has emerged as the biggest port in Africa in terms of container capacity, surpassing Africa’s bigger ports like Durban (South Africa) and Mombasa (Kenya). The Tanger Med port now connects Morocco to 77 countries and 186 ports around the world. The Tanger Med II has two new container terminals – TC3 and TC4 – with an additional 6 million container capacity. The TC3, which is operated by Morocco’s main port operator Marsa Maroc, has a capacity of 1 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units). The TC4, which is operated by the Netherlands-based APM Terminals, has a capacity of 5 million TEUs. According to the Tanger Med Port Authority, with its new terminals, Tanger Med port will have a capacity of processing 9 million containers, 7 million passengers, 1 million vehicles and 700,000 trucks. Thanks to its extensions, Tanger Med port has now become the largest port in the Mediterranean region, surpassing some of the region’s top ports like Algeciras (Spain), Valencia (Spain) and Gioia (Italy). The port is located 40 kilometers east of the Moroccan town of Tangier, which is a gateway to both Europe and Africa. “Our aim is to develop an effective port platform integrated with transshipment activities, imports and exports,” Tanger Med Port Authority said on its website. The Tanger Med port has become vital for Morocco’s economy as it handled 317 billion Moroccan dirhams (US$33.14 billion) worth of exports and imports in 2018. It processed an overall tonnage of 52.24 tonnes last year.

French oil and gas giant Total SA has taken a 50 per cent stake in Dhamra LNG Terminal Pvt Ltd (DLTPL), a unit of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), which is constructing a 12 million tonne per annum (mtpa) LNG regasification terminal at its port located at Dhamra in Odisha’s Bhadrak district.

On the morning of Nov 13, 2024, the barge 'CMT 252' caught fire on the Mobile River near the Cochrane-Africatown bridge in Mobile, Alabama, while it was being pushed by the 'Judson B' aliong with a string of other barges. The 'CMT 252' was loaded with a cargo of crushed cars, from which dense smoke started billowing. The tug moved the barge to a safe distance from the others. Local firefighters dispatched a fire boat along with a drone with thermal cameras. Assisted by the tug 'Lisa Cooper', the fire fighters contained the blaze in the run of the day. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ408aw9r1o

A number of arrivals of migrants off La Restinga and Los Cristianos were reported on the morning of Nov 21. The 'Guardamar Talía' rescued the people aboard one boat and accompaniment two more to La Restinga, with 60 people on the first and 53 and 55 people on the other boatts. The 'Salvamar Acrux' accompanied a cayuco six nautical miles south of La Restinga, which had 53 people on board, and the 'Salvamar Alpheratz' escorted a cayuco to Los Cristianos, which had 97 people on board. The responses were coordinated by the CCS Tenerife of Salvamento Marítimo. Report with photo: https://x.com/salvamentogob/status/1859528389339619548

Phase one of the new Jurong Port Tank Terminals (JPTT) was officially opened on Monday (July 29), with Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Chee Hong Tat saying it will allow Singapore to strengthen its position as one of the world’s top bunkering ports for low-sulphur fuels. The $200 million, 16ha petrochemical terminal is a joint venture between port operator Jurong Port and German firm Oiltanking with 252,000 cubic m of clean petroleum storage capacity. From January next year, the International Maritime Organisation will prohibit ships from using fuels containing more than 0.5 per cent sulphur.

Moves are afoot for a new multi-billion-rand liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and regasification terminal to be established at the port of Richards Bay by 2024, but state-owned Transnet wants the private sector to be the main investor and operator of the facility. The plan was revealed on Tuesday as Transnet announced the signing of a cost-sharing agreement with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to jointly fund a feasibility study into the terminal project. The IFC has committed $2 million (around R28 million) as part of the cost-sharing agreement. The move comes as Transnet looks to bolster South Africa’s LNG infrastructure, both at the country’s ports and within its pipelines business.

On Nov 21, 2024, at around 7.20 a.m. UTC the 'Tia Cinta' suffered an engine failure with five crew members on board and was disabled and adrift (Lat. 41.6727 Lng. 3.3509). Upon its request for assistance, the CCS Barcelona of Salvamento Marítimo mobilised the SAR boat 'Salvamar Sirius', which located it and took it in tow at around 8.30 a.m.. The ship was then pulled to the port of Palamós, where it was safely berthed at 10.45 a.m.

A number of arrivals of migrants off La Restinga and Los Cristianos were reported on the morning of Nov 21. The 'Guardamar Talía' rescued the people aboard one boat and accompaniment two more to La Restinga, with 60 people on the first and 53 and 55 people on the other boatts. The 'Salvamar Acrux' accompanied a cayuco six nautical miles south of La Restinga, which had 53 people on board, and the 'Salvamar Alpheratz' escorted a cayuco to Los Cristianos, which had 97 people on board. The responses were coordinated by the CCS Tenerife of Salvamento Marítimo. Report with photo: https://x.com/salvamentogob/status/1859528389339619548

Congestion at Cambodia’s top port is creating supply chain disruptions. In a note to clients German containerline Hapag-Lloyd noted that terminal productivity at Sihanoukville port has deteriorated due to port and yard congestion. Feeder services and turnaround times are affected and feeder space is tight. In an effort for medium term improvement of this situation, the port is building an extended yard for additional storage space. “Before the new container yard is completed, port congestion may persist,” Hapag-Lloyd warned.

Hong Kong-based Dream Cruises’ World Dream cruise ship made its first port call to Keelung on July 8 and tourism operators have said that the port could receive a visit by Royal Caribbean International’s new Spectrum of the Seas in 2021. With gross tonnage (GT) of 151,300, the World Dream is the largest ship ever to visit Keelung Port, the Keelung Harbor Bureau said on Sunday, July 21. Tourism operators have said that the 169,379GT Spectrum of the Seas could set a new record if it makes an anticipated port call in 2021.