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On Sep 19, 2024, at around 10:55 a.m., the 'Sky Light' lost control upon entering the port of Constanta and allided with two other ships that were moored at berth 52. No injuries or pollution were reported, but there was major damage. One ship was hit at the stern, the other at its port side.The Constanța Port Authority opened an investigation file to establish the causes and circumstances of the accident Reports with photo and video: https://www.gandul.ro/actualitate/accident-naval-in-portul-constanta-cargoul-sky-light-pavilion-belize-a-lovit-doua-nave-acostate-nici-o-victima-20309308 https://www.puterea.ro/imagini-spectaculoase-din-portul-constanta-sky-light-a-intrat-in-doua-nave-video/ https://www.replicaonline.ro/doua-nave-s-au-ciocnit-in-portul-constanta-imagini-cu-momentul-impactului-video-604966

On Sep 16, 2024, at about noon, global maritime tracking showed that the 'Akademik Alexander Karpinsky', which is infamous for mapping Antarctica’s banned oil and gas, was hovering at a peninsula in northern Tallinn. An ongoing ban imposed by the European Union since April 17, 2022, however, is thwarting Russian-flagged ships from entering the region’s ports. The implications of the ship’s apparent presence in Tallinn — a location it has been barred from accessing — sent national maritime authorities scrambling. Upon inspection, officials confirmed that the ship was not physically present at the designated location. This apparent discrepancy led to the conclusion that the US-sanctioned ship had employed location spoofing. The ship had engaged in a significant incident of GPS interference, falsely positioning itself within global maritime information systems to appear docked in Tallinn. The ship appeared to have used a “modified AIS”, or even a specialised military variant, which is capable of altering its reported location. This manipulation allowed the ship’s coordinates to be artificially set to a port in Tallinn, while it was actually operating from its St Petersburg home port, about 170 nautical miles away.

The Croatian Captain Marko Bekavac and the First Officer Ali Albokhari of the 'Phoenician M' have been sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment in Turkey after being found guilty of smuggling 137 kg of cocaine on board the vessel. They were arrested along with eight crew members in Oct 2023 and detained in an Ankara prison ahead of their trial, which started in June. Bekavac has a 30-year record at sea with no reported offences. Both Bekavac and Albokhari were sentenced to 30 years each in jail after the cocaine was discovered hidden in the cargo on the coal-laden vessel, which had arrived in the port of Eregli from Columbia. Authorities searched the vessel and found 137 kg of cocaine hidden among the coal. Eight seafarers were acquitted on the same charges as the authorities focused on the responsibility of the captain and his first officer. The ship was detained for 11 days by the UK authorities in May 2023, who inspected the vessel, then named 'Clipper Palma' and found 11 deficiencies across a broad range of categories. The vessel was renamed the next month. Albokhari told the court during the trial that he had reported that the ship did not have sufficient security while it was being loaded in Colombia. He said he had advised the Turkish authorities of this when the vessel arrived in port. It also emerged in court that Bekavac had told the ship’s managers that security should be increased and additional cameras should be added for the Colombian port call. However, his requests were ignored. The Colombian authorities searched the vessel before it sailed and found a small amount of cocaine in the aft peak tank. The ship’s crew comprised 20 seafarers from the Philippines, Finland, Poland, and Russia when it was detained. After arresting the 10 suspects, the authorities released the vessel. The prosecutors were unable to provide any evidence linking the eight crew members to the cocaine, so they were acquitted. However, the state prosecutor said the master and first officer were responsible for managing the vessel. The Croatian government supported the crew during the trial and its ambassador was present at court.

On Sep 23 a number of responses were coordinated by the CCS Las Palmas of Salvamento Marítimo. The 'Guardamar Talía' assisted three precarious boats off the Canary islands, one inflatable boat with 50 people on board and two with 65 migrants each. The more than 170 people disembarked in Puerto del Rosario upon Fuerteventura. The 'Salvamar Al Nair' rescued 45 migrants from an inflatable boat, who were disembarked in Arrecife upon Lanzarote.

Beached at Alang 22.09.24 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10170124520460311&set=gm.10163434295938943&idorvanity=6884293942

On Sep 20, the 'Glen Sannox' has officially started its final run of sea trials on the Clyde, with the ferry’s liquified national gas (LNG) engines being formally tested. This marked a crucial stage to finally getting the twin-funnel passenger car ferry towards entry into service. The ÄGlen Sannox' is to serve on the Arran route between Ardrossan on the mainland and Brodick. It was confirmed by Ferguson Marine shipyard that the duel-fuel powered ferry reached a speed of 10 knots in the Firth of Clyde on Sep 20 in what represented the first major trial of its LNG propulsion system. The key tests had been delayed by a fortnight because the newbuild was taking longer than expected to cool the pipes enough to load fuel. The ferry that was originally to have entered service in 2018. The delivery of the 'Glen Sannox' is scheduled for mid-October now.

The Moroccan company Africa Morocco Link (AML) has started a roll-on/roll-off service on the Tangier Med-Algeciras line on Sep 16, operated by the “Kaunas”. The ship is owned by the company Agalink Investment Co., and is sub-chartered to UKR Ferry and belongs to the same series as the ship “Vilnius”, which is in the service of InterShipping.

The “Aeolos Kenteris” is resting half-submerged in Augusta, and a video, taken by a group of explorers in Sep 2024, reveals the ship’s current state: a decaying shell, its interior ravaged by time and neglect. The ship, which gained fame for its speed of up to 40 knots),operating on routes like Piraeus-Chios-Lesvos and Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Santorini, caused problems, as its wake caused significant coastal damage, forcing it to reduce speed and stay further from shore. In 2007, “Aeolos Kenteris” was sold and began operating in the Red Sea. It eventually returned to Greece and was chartered to connect Augusta and Valletta. Renovations in Augusta led to the ship’s seizure due to unpaid debts of 5 million Euros. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzfwEBcDhOA

The ship recycling facility SN Corporation has been ordered to pay $5,856 to the families of six workers who were killed in the explosion aboard the 'Swarajya'. Bangladesh’s Ministry of Industries ordered the ship recycler to pay a compensation in the form of 12 months of salary and all medical costs to six other workers who were seriously injured. A report by an investigative committee that was established to investigate the explosion blamed it on safety violations, operational misconduct, and a failure to ensure safe working conditionss, which has has cost the ship recycler an additional $21,740 in fines. The SN Corporation has been ordered to halt all operations at its ship recycling facilities for a three-month period. The Ministry released a 20-point suggestion list to prevent similar incidents in the future. Among the recommendations were safety measures such as forbidding the simultaneous operation of hot and cold work, ensuring sufficient ventilation while cutting tanks, engine rooms, and pump rooms, and making sure these areas are gas-free before issuing hot work permits. The recycler was also instructed to ensure that proper firefighting and rescue arrangements were in place when working on high-risk areas of ships. The SN Corporation was urged to recruit trained, experienced workers, and ensure that they strictly follow the ship cutting plan.

The 'Geo Barents' has rescued 205 migrants during two missons within a few hours in the central Mediterranean on Sep 19, after an administrative suspension imposed on Aug. 26 was lifted on Sep 11. On the morning, a group of 96 people who had been on an overcrowded wooden boat, were taken aboard. Many of them were women and children, the majority of whom were travelling alone.A few hours later, in the afternoon, the ship rescued another group of 109 people who had been in difficulty onboard a makeshift vessel. The refugees had fled Libya and were also travelling on an overcrowded wooden vessel. The NGO Doctors without Froontiers denounces 'dangerous maneuvers' by the socalled Libyan Coastguard during the rescue operations, "a boat from the Libyan Coast Guard, donated by Italy, approached the scene and conducted dangerous maneuvers. The vessel was directed to the port of Genoa for the disembarkation of the migrants with an ETA as of Sep 23.

On Sep 23 a number of responses were coordinated by the CCS Las Palmas of Salvamento Marítimo. The 'Guardamar Talía' assisted three precarious boats off the Canary islands, one inflatable boat with 50 people on board and two with 65 migrants each. The more than 170 people disembarked in Puerto del Rosario upon Fuerteventura. The 'Salvamar Al Nair' rescued 45 migrants from an inflatable boat, who were disembarked in Arrecife upon Lanzarote.

On Sep 22, 2024, the 'Ornefjeld' ran aground in Auckland’s Ōrākei Marina after the skipper missed tide timings while refuelling. The vessel refloated and left the marina again at around 9.30 p.m. when the high tide came back in. The vessel had berthed shortly before high tide to refuel and overestimated how much time it had past full tide to depart.

Dozens of passengers and crew members aboard the 'Arcadia' came down sick with a gastrointestinal illness. They reported symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t yet confirmed it to be norovirus. The ship ship is on a transatlantic round-trip cruise from Southampton, UK, on Sep 3, 2024, to the US. and Canada. The CDC came aboard the ship when in docked in New York on Sep 18 to assess the situation. Upon embarkation all guests were provided with an advisory notice with precautionary health measures for onboard and onshore by P&O Cruises. The cruise line also made announcements to notify passengers and crew of the outbreak.

The mayer of Arrecife has asked to move the ''Esperanza del Mar' to the Canary Islands and transfer the migrants to Barcelona The island has received almost 600 Maghrebi migrants in 24 hours. The mayor Yonathan de León, has asked the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, that the hospital ship transfers the hundreds of irregular migrants who have arrivedon the island to be disembarked in the port of Barcelona. The mayor has stressed that, in just 24 hours, almost 600 Maghrebi migrants have arrived in Lanzarote on board of 11 boats, many of them minors or pregnant women. Lanzarote declared a Social Emergency last August in response to the large number of migrants from North Africa who were heading towards the Canary Islands.

Environmental protesters have once again blocked cruise ships from entering the port of Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur). The associations Stop Croisières and Extinction Rébellion took to the port entrance on Sep 21, 2024. The 'Aidastella' was forced to turn back at around 07:00 a.m., with 2,000 passengers on board. At least three cruise ships and a ferry from Corsica also had to wait at sea before the port reopened. The protesters remained on the water in kayaks, before being removed by the maritime police. The port reopened at around 09:00,a.m. Around 20 people were arrested. The political group Une Génération pour Marseille responded: “These activists provoked an emergency manoeuvre for a ship, putting thousands of passengers’ lives at risk. This is the face of those who want to see the economic and social decline of Marseille. Our port is not a lawless zone.” Report with photo: https://www.connexionfrance.com/news/environmental-protesters-block-cruise-ships-from-marseille-port/679893

It could take weeks to put out the fires aboard the 'Sounion' after it was towed away from the danger zone and moved further north to safer waters in the Red Sea a week ago. Specialist teams were focused on putting out the flames and preventing further blasts from gases that have built up in the cargo tanks. A complex stabilisation and firefighting operation was due to begin shortly. Specialist equipment has now arrived and was being prepared for the firefighting phase. None of the crude cargo has leaked from the vessel, though it was hit three times by the Houthis. The missiles struck the starboard side, damaging the engine compartment and starting a fire. The crude cargo is owned by Greek refiner Motor Oil.

On Sep 19, 2024, at 1.30 p.m. the 'Transformer OL'', en route from Chittagong to Vung Tau, was in collision with the fishing boat 'BV99778TS 22'.about 22 nautical miles southeast of Con Dao. The accident caused the fishing boat to sink, and all 14 crew members fell into the sea. Thanks to the timely support of nearby vessels, 12 fishermen were rescued and brought safely to shore, while the remaining two fishermen were missing. The Coast Guard Region 3 Command dispatched the 'Coast Guard Ship 2011' to participate in the SAR operation. On Sep 21 at 2:00 a.m. it arrived at the scene, contacted the 'Transformer Ol' and nearby vehicles to coordinate the search. After more than two days of searching in harsh weather conditions with wave heights of 6-7 meters and gusts of 8 Beaufort, the crew found the body of a victim ofdrifting at sea. After thebody was recovered, he was handed over to the 'SAR Ship 413' of the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center Region III at 12:50 p.m. the same day. The body was brought to the mainland to be handed over to the authorities and family. After completing the handover, the 'Coast Guard ship 2011' remained at the scene to coordinate with the authorities and fishing boats to continue searching for the remaining victim. The weather in this area was still very bad,causing many difficulties for the search. Report with photos: https://daibieunhandan.vn/bo-tu-lenh-vung-canh-sat-bien-3-no-luc-tim-kiem-nan-nhan-vu-va-cham-tau-ca-ngoai-khoi-con-dao-post391070.html

Beached at Alang 22.09.24 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10170124520460311&set=gm.10163434295938943&idorvanity=6884293942

Monitoring of the 'Ultra Galaxy' continued, with salvors to be appointed after assessing tenders from insurers and experts. The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) confirmed that the tender period for the removal of the wreck had recently been closed with the vessel owner’s insurers, P&I and salvage experts now engaged with the assessment of the tenders received. Once done, the preferred options will be presented to SAMSA for consideration, Regarding the wreck, the situation has remained the same with no significant change in the ship or its position. In terms of clean up of the oil spill, the response teams remained on the beaches with a huge team to ensure that any, and all debris or oily recharge – even as very minor at this stage – is picked up.

A team of firefighters tried to manage a spill of diesel fuel which leaked from the 'Adolf Jesen' after it sank off the coast of Greenland, threatening the marine ecosystem of the Arctic waters. Hydrocarbon films could be seen on the water surface in Nanortalik Fjords in the south. Around 20,000 litres or 5300 gallons of fuel spilt and reached the fjord even though pumps and a floating barrage were installed. Elements including wind, tides and sea currents posed additional difficulties in efforts to contain the oil spill, said firefighters who had also received additional equipment.