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The MAIB has published and interim report on the investigation of the collision between the 'Solong' and the 'Stena Immaculate'. On 27 February 2025, the tanker had departed Agioi Theodoroi with a cargo of 220,204.5 barrels1 of aviation fuel onboard, bound for Killingholme with an ETA as of March 11.The container ship was engaged in fixed tradein the North Sea, sailing between Rotterdam, Grangemouth and Hull. On March 10, its containerised cargo included various products including some designated asdangerous goods. As the 'Stena Immaculate' approached the Humber Estuary on March 9, the officer of the watch contacted the Associate British Ports (ABP) Vessel Traffic Services Humber and was advised to proceed to anchor at a position five miles to the north of the Humber light float, two miles clear of any pipeline. At about 6.30 p.m., the 'Stena Immaculate'’s master manoeuvred the vessel as directed to a position north of the ABP Humber’s area of responsibility where it anchored. There were eight other vessels anchored in the same area.By 8 p.m.m the 'Solong' had departed Grangemouth, disembarked the pilot and commenced its passage to Rotterdam. The planned passage followed a route the vessel had used in the past. The master remained on watch until shortly before 11 p.m., then handed the watch over to the second officer (2/O) and retired to bed. Shortly before midnight, the 'Stena Immaculate'’s 2/O took over the anchor watch at the start of a 12-hour duty period. On March 10 at approximately 0130 a.m. the 'Solong' passed the Longstone Lighthouse and altered course onto a heading of approximately 150°. The 'Solong' maintained this course, except for a slight deviation at 03.45 a.m. At 07:00 a.m., the 'Solong'’s master returned to the bridge and took over the watch as the lone watchkeeper.The visibility in the area north of the Humber light float was reported to be patchy and varying between 0.25 nautical miles (nm) and 2.0 nm. Neither the 'Solong' nor the 'Stena Immaculate' had a dedicated lookout on the bridge.At 09.47 a.m., the 'Solong' allided with the anchored 'Stena Immaculate'’s port side on a heading (HDG) of 150° and speed over the ground (SOG) of about 16 knots (kts) The able seaman Mark Pernia, one of the 'Solong'’s crew members, was reported to be in the forecastle area at the time of the allision, which breached the 'Stena Immaculate'’s No.7 port side cargo tank, releasing aviation fuel into the sea and onto the bow of the 'Solong'. The aviation fuel was ignited by the heat generated by the force of the alision, and the resulting fire ignited the contents of containers carried on board. The crews of both the 'Solong' and the 'Stena Immaculate'' took immediate action to address the evolving situation. Attempts by the 'Stena Immaculate'’s crew to fight the fire, and for the 'Solong'’s crew to locate the missing able seaman, were hampered by the severity of the fire. The tanker crew fought the fire for around 30 minutes. They had good pressure. and the Third Mate Jeffery Griffin was about to do a muster when they heard the words, forget the muster, abandon ship. The evacuation became urgent when the wind or the position of the ship changed. All the smoke came towards the accomodation block. Despite the dangerous conditions, the crew maintained their composure and moved in the most organized but urgent way. They did a quick muster at the lifeboat. The second mate did a fast head count. Everybody did exactly what they were trained to do. The captain Thomas Leaf and the second mate Peter Skerys in particular processed all the information so quickly, and formulated a gameplan. The crew’s quick thinking and training proved crucial. Before abandoning ship, they activated fire monitors to provide boundary cooling water to adjacent cargo tanks, significantly limiting the damage. Only 17,515 barrels of the cargo were lost. Both the 'Stena Immaculate' and 'Solong'’s crew abandoned to lifeboats and were subsequently recovered by the efforts of local boats and emergency responders, coordinated by the British Coastguard. Mark Pernia has not been found and is believed to have died in the accident.. An evaluation of the nature and extent of pollution from both vessels is in progress. The MAIB’s investigation into the accident is ongoing. The investigation will encompass the navigationand watch keeping practices on board both vessels; manning and fatigue management; the condition and maintenance of the vessels; the use of the offshore area as an anchorage for vessels waiting to enter the Humber Estuary; and the environmental conditions at the time. A report of the investigation will be drafted and will be distributed to key stakeholders for a 30-day consultationperiod in due course. Report with photos: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67ebb6a1632d0f88e8248ada/Solong-StenaImmaculate-InterimReport.pdf

arrived Bhavnagar Anchorage 03.04.25

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) recently took delivery of another new quay crane (QC) and eight new hybrid rubber-tired gantries (RTGs) for its flagship Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), establishing the terminal as having the largest fleet of modern container-handling equipment in the Philippines with 18 QCs and 58 RTGs. Manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (ZPMC), the QC is part of the five from ICTSI’s 2018 USD80-million capacity improvement program package. With a reach of up to 16 rows across twin, the new QC can service the largest feeder vessels calling the Philippines. It will be deployed at Berth 3.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the City of Dubrovnik have partnered to introduce sustainable tourism management practices that will preserve the Croatian city’s cultural heritage. CLIA president and CEO Kelly Craighead and Dubrovnik’s Mayor Mato Franković signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which outlines plans to make Dubrovnik a model of sustainable tourism for the Adriatic region. All plans focus on investment, collaboration and best practices that will benefit both Dubrovnik’s residents and visitors. “Today’s agreement validates the work we have already done with Mayor Franković and formalises the cruise industry’s continued commitment to the City of Dubrovnik and its people,” said Craighead.

On April 3, the Royal New Zealand Navy released its final Court of Inquiry report detailing the circumstances that led to the loss of the HMNZS 'Manawanui', while conducting a hydrographic survey of a reef. Nine recommendations were outlined in the report, focusing on risk management, procedural improvements, force generation, seaworthiness standards, training protocols, and hydrographic capabilities. The Court of Inquiry, presided over by Commodore Melissa Ross, identified direct causes including the ship maintaining a heading toward land and confusion over the vessel’s autopilot status. Critically, the crew attempted to adjust course using azimuth thruster controls while the ship remained in autopilot mode, rendering their actions ineffective. The situation was compounded by a mistaken assessment of thruster control failure and subsequent non-adherence to emergency procedures, which should have included switching from autopilot to manual control: “The Court found deficiencies in the training and qualifications of key ship’s personnel involved in the incident, risks related to the survey task were not sufficiently identified, discussed and mitigated, and instructions or procedures were lacking.” The investigation revealed that the ship’s Commanding Officer was not platform endorsed for the vessel, a requirement specified in the New Zealand Manual of Navigation. Chief of the Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding acknowledged the findings, highlighting a concerning gap between work as imagined and work as done. The Navy has already implemented several corrective measures, including reviews of risk management procedures and training protocols. The investigation identified twelve contributing factors, including training and experience deficiencies, inadequate military hydrographic planning, procedural issues, supervision gaps, and leadership concerns. The Navy announced plans for a comprehensive transformation program to address systemic issues, including the lack of standardization across the fleet. Full report: https://www.nzdf.mil.nz/assets/Uploads/DocumentLibrary/MAN-COI-ROP-FINAL-31-Mar-25_Redacted-v2.pdf

The 'Hebrides' serving on the route Uig-Lochmaddy, suffered a technical issue on March 29. Due the repair taking longer than planned, the departure from Lochmaddy at 4:45 p.m. had to be cancelled: After repairs have been carried out, the vessel operated the following amended timetable: Departure Uig – 07 :00 p.m. Arrival Lochmaddy – 08:45 p.m. Departure Lochmaddy – 09:00 p.m. Arrival Tarbert – 10:50 p.m. CalMac has admitted the extra work required for the 'Hebrides' is more extensive than initially acknowledged. The holdup was attributed to repairs needed to the bow visor. Further repairs are required to the stern ramp and the car deck in addition to the bow visor. The ferry was expected to return to service on April 16. On April3 it emeeged an extra six days of work is required. The vessel will not return until April 22.

The first cargo of liquified natural gas under the long-term contract between PGNiG and US LNG provider Cheniere Energy arrived at the President Lech Kaczyński LNG Terminal in Świnoujście. The long-term contract, which was signed in November of 2018, will total approximately 39 bcm of natural gas over the 24 year period of the agreement. The official reception ceremony of the first delivery at the LNG terminal in Świnoujście included representatives of the government of the Republic of Poland, local authorities, as well as executives from PGNiG and Cheniere Energy.

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.

On the afternoon of April 2, 2025, the Port Authority of Rhodes was informed by the Captain of the 'Sempeko', that a malfunction of the starboard main engine was detected during the execution of the scheduled route from Rhodes to Symi outside the commercial port of Rhodes, The ship sailed independently at reduced speed to the port of Kolona, ​​Rhodes, where it safely disembarked its 53 passengers. With the care of the ship-owning company, the passengers were accommodated in a hotel. The Central Port Authority of Rhodes banned the passenger ferry from sailing, until the damage was repaired and a certificate of seaworthiness from the monitoring classification society was presented.

Beached at Gadani 29.03.25 https://www.facebook.com/reel/638617129156290

The French port of Marseille Fos plans to spend over US$22 million to reduce air emissions by extending its shoreside electrical connections to every ferry, cruise ship and repair quay in the eastern harbour. The port has also introduced speed restrictions to reduce industrial air pollution. Already available on the Corsica ferry quays, the shore power network will be expanded in two phases to cover North Africa ferry quays and the ship repair hub by 2022 and the cruise terminal between 2022 and 2025. The zero-emissions investment, which is supported by national and regional government, recognises the need to maintain the port’s economic value while improving the city’s waterside air quality.

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.