News

Modernising the 'Ben my Chree' would cost £18m to and the spend would not be recovered over its remaining lifespan of the ferry, the treasury minister Alex Allinson MHK said in the House of Keys on Nov 5,. The 'Ben-my-Chree' was currently operating with several outdated systems, which affected its efficiency and reliability. He outlined a list of works that would be needed to bring it up to modern standards, including an overhaul of the accommodation. uring the sitting, Chris Thomas MHK questioned the potential costs presented by Allinson and said an independent evaluation of the of the numbers provided should be carried out. Allinson told the members that a complete upgrade of the back-up vessel's propulsion system would cost between £8m and £10m. To align with standards on the ferroes 'Manannan' and 'Manxman' , the passenger accommodation needed to be upgraded at a cost of about £3.5m. The lift was dated, slow and increasingly unreliable, and replacing it would cost approximately £1.5m, and the existing life saving equipment should ideally be replaced, which would cost £2m. A further £1m would be needed to replace the antifoul paint system, and updates to control systems would require £250,000 of spending. Although the upgrades would result in a more reliable and efficient vessel, the cost would exceed the vessel's end value and would not be recoverable over its remaining lifespan.

The US Coast Guard medevaced an ailing woman from the 'Grand Princess' 70 miles off Oahu on Nov 5, 2024. Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu watchstanders received a phone call on Nov 4 at 6 p.m. from the cruise ship, requesting a medevac for the 29-year-old woman who was experiencing symptoms of appendicitis, while the ship was sailing approximately 570 nautical miles northeast of Kauai. Watchstanders consulted with the duty flight surgeon, who recommended a medevac. On Nov 5 at 6:17 p.m. an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point rendezvoused with the 'Grand Princess' about 70 nautical miles east of Kaneohe, Hawaii. The helicopter crew hoisted the woman and transported her to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu. The patient was in stable condition. Report with video: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3958726/coast-guard-medevacs-ailing-woman-from-cruise-ship-70-miles-off-oahu/

The ‘Libra’ has arrived in the port of Shengjin on the morning of Nov 7. The ship had left Lampedusa with just eight asylum seekers on board, after judges in Catania and Rome rejected the Meloni government’s “safe countries” decree on Nov 4. As the conflict between the Italian judiciary and the government over migrants continued, the eight asylum seekers were sent to Albania on ‘Libra’ on the morning of Nov 6. The migrants will be transferred to the Gjader repatriation centre. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Nov 6 that the decision to transfer the small number of people was taken according to very strict operational procedures. The Catania court did not validate the detention of three Egyptian citizens and two Bangladeshi citizens who arrived in Pozzallo. The president of the Catania court, Massimo Escher, said that the list of safe countries drawn up by the government on Oct 21 did not prevent the judiciary from fulfilling its obligation to verify the consistency of such an approach with European law, given the accelerated nature of the procedure for processing asylum applications. The Court of Justice of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Oct 4 that many of the countries listed by Italy could not be considered completely safe. He stressed that Egypt cannot be considered safe given that serious human rights violations take place in the North African country, such as the death penalty, systematic torture by the police, as well as violence and discrimination against women and minors.

The Panamanian authorities announced on Nov 6 to have initiated the process of canceling the registration of the 'North Way', 'North Sky', 'North Mountain' and 'North Air', which have been sanctioned by the US for illicit activities. Their registrations, along with other navigation documents provided by Panama, were to be revoked. All tankers are owned by the New Transshipment FZE, which is a subsidiary of Nthe ovatek, and were alleged by the US to have been part of the Russian dark fleet and having carried shipments from the Russian Yamal and Arctic LNG 2 projects. On Oct 18, the, incumbent president José Raúl Molino had issued a decree to establish a framework for swiftly canceling registrations and licenses for vessels that appeared on the sanctions list of the US, EU, or UK. Along with the cancellation of registration and all navigation documents issued by Panama, any other organizations that are recognized by Panama are also barred from providing classification or certification to these vessels.

The Maldives Customs Service intercepted more than 8,000 cartons of cigarettes illegally shipped into the country aboard the 'Jawks Javaahiru' on Oct 25, 2024, which is operated by the Hawks Private Ltd., one of the nation’s leading fuel importers and distributors. Under a court order, authorities subsequently searched the Hawks Boatyard on suspicion that more cigarette cartons may be stored there. Approximately 1,695 million cigarette sticks of Manchester brand have been found during the search on the boatyard, in the accommodation block and workshop by the customs service. The cigarettes were brought in aboard the 'Hawks Javaahiru' and taken to Thilafushi on a local boat, whichi is owned by the company and was unloaded after regular business hours. The company management was not involved in the smuggling operation. It was done by some employees in connection with some foreigners,. The management only learned of this when police also came with a court order to search the premises, Hawks was cooperating with authorities and would conduct an internal investigatio and has suspended the employees implicated in the attempted cigarette smuggling incident. Report with photos https://edition.mv/sports/37060