On Feb 6, 2025, a person needed to be medevaced from the 'MSC Bianca Silva' in the port of Hamburg. Three tugs held the ship in position in the Park Port at around 9 a.m., and also the fire boat 'Brandirektor Westphal' went alongside. After a helicopter had hoisted the patient and transferred to a hospital for further medical care, the ship was finally towed to its intended berth at the Eurogate Terminal in the Waltershof Port for cargo operations. It left the port again on Feb 7 at 3.45 a.m., bound to Le Havre with an ETA as of Feb 9.
News
WAESCHE
The U.S. Coast Guard started searching for a crew member who was reported unaccounted for aboard the CGC 'Waesche (WMSL 751) ' while operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on Feb 6 2025, approximately 300 nautical miles south of Mexico, The patrol boat, zjr attached helicopter and small unmanned aircraft systems were conducting search patterns in the area. Additional Coast Guard and interagency search assets were being employed in the effor. The specific locations of the search efforts could not be disclosed due to operational security considerations. It was unclear when the crew member went missing, who was last seen eight hours earlier. The cutter immediately deviated from its routine counter-drug patrol tasking and initiated a comprehensive search effort. Besides the 'Waesche' itself, the following assets joined the SAR operation: - Two Customs and Border Protection Dash-8 aircraft from Joint Interagency Task Force – South (JIATF-S); - a C-130 aircraft from U.S. Air Force (USCF) 39th Rescue Squadron; -- a C-130 aircraft from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak; - the 'Waesche's embarked Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) drone; - a Mexican Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel: - a Mexican Navy Maritime Patrol Aircraft. The search area and effort are vast, and the operation is being carefully coordinated to ensure maximum coverage and effectiveness. The circumstances around the case were under investigation.
Chittagong
Currently, more than 4,000 TEUs of import containers can be unloaded every day allowing vessels to complete loading and unloading goods at a faster rate, which helps reduce the vessels' stay time at jetties. Vessels' berth occupancy time that had reached 6-7 days last month came down to 3-4 days now, port officials said. The vessels' waiting time at the outer anchorage for getting berths has also dropped to 13-14 days from 16-18 days. Subsequently, the number of vessels waiting at the outer anchorage declined to 24 yesterday though the number hovered around 36 before the steps were taken. AIS Station -BDCGP
Libreville
22 and 36 nautical miles Northwest of Libreville the latest acts of piracy occurred in positions 00° 30.50’N 009°06.21’E and 00° 55.24N 009° 08 09E and involved two fishing trawlers named 'amerger II' and 'Amerger VIIÄ – the first taking place 20 nautical miles off Libreville and the second 36 n.miles off Libreville. Both incidents involved a single speedboat described as a skiff powered by three engines and having 13 pirates on board. The pirates were reported as being English-speakers which gives rise to suspicions of them being of Nigerian origin, despite this being some distance from Nigeria. The boarding of each trawler resulted in three of the crew from each vessel being kidnapped. The nationalities of those kidnapped are reported as three Indonesian, two Senegalese, and one South Korean.
GLEN SANNOX
The 'Glen Sannox', serving on the route Troon-Brodick, suffered a technical issue in the port of Troon, which required an investigation on the foremidday of Feb 6. As a consequence, the scheduled sailings at 10:50 a.m. from Troon and 1:00 p.m. from Brodick had to be cancelled by the operator Calmac. An additional bus was operated from the Troon Terminal to the Ardrossan Terminal at 5:00 p.m. to meet the arrival of the 5:00 p.m.sailing operated by the ferry 'Alfred'. After the rerpairs aboard the 'Glen Sannox' were successfully completed, the service was resumed with the 3:10 p.m. sailing departing from Troon.
ESSENCE
The 'Essence', en route from Kotka to Rotterdam with an ETA as of Feb 7, was in collision with the "X-Press Mülhacen" (IMO: 9365960) en route from Rotterdam to Gdynia, on the Kiel Canal amid thick fog on Feb 6, 2025, at 7:05 a.m. in the area of the north port of Kiel in front of the Holtenau locks. The "X-Press Mülhacen" was supposed to enter the large north chamber of the Holtenau locks. At the same time, the "Essence" came from the south chamber Both ships came too close to each other and scraped past each other. Both freighters had to interrupt their respective voyages. The "Essence" moored at the Schwartenbek siding near Suchsdorf. The "X-Press Mülhacen" was allowed to continue the voyage to the roadstead of Holtenau, where it anchored in pos. 54° 23' N 010° 11' E at 8:50 a.m. The Kiel water police was on duty with the police boat "Stör". The officers were questioning the crews of the two ships and the pilots on board. Experts from the classification societies examined and confirmed the technical condition of the ships. The 'Esscence' resumed its voyage at around 11 a.m. and was allowed to proceed to Brunsbüttel, where it berthed at the Navy dolphins short past 6 p.m. It resumed its voyage on Feb 7 at 4 a.m. UTC with an ETA at the port of destination as of Feb 8. whereas the '"X-Press Mülhacen" remained stationary on the Kiel Fjord until 8.20 p.m. and then continued on its way to Gdynia with an ETA as of Feb 7.
Chittagong
The Department of Shipping (DoS) has asked the shipping lines not to realise container detention charge on import and export shipments during the lockdown period, spurred by COVID-19 outbreak. The shipping lines are also advised not to impose any new or additional charges until May 5 when the 41-day shutdowns end. The department issued the advisory on Wednesday, which sparked resentment among the shipping agents in the country. Usually, containers get free time for 14 days after the common landing date and thereafter charged between $5 and $10 per day as detention charge until the importers return those to the port or off-docks. Associate director of Transmarine Logistics Ltd, the local agent of Yang Ming Line, Mohammad Ahsanuzzaman told the FE on Thursday most shipping lines operate their fleet on a leasing basis and pay for the rental daily. Due to the prolonged congestions at the Chittagong port, the containers now have to stay for 15 days at the outer anchorage and at berth, compared with a minimum of three to four days in recent past, he said. During the shutdown period, the containers are lying at the Chittagong port for several weeks when the designated free days expire. "The shipping lines will have to pay container rent besides the opportunity cost, but now the shipping department is asking us not to charge detention fee on importers, which is a mere cost recovery for the liners. This is not acceptable at all when you consider the impact of COVID-19 has on us," he said. "Shipping lines will incur huge financial losses if the order is implemented," said Mr Ahsanuzzaman. Chairman of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA) Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury told the FE on Thursday vessels are staying at the outer anchorage and berth for weeks and counting millions of taka as demurrage. Deptt order angers shipping agentsA few days back, shipping agents had requested the government to waive some charges like port dues, pilotage fees, berthing and unbreathing tariffs, quay gantry crane, loading or discharging the container, storage charges, container and non-CPA equipment, and store rent for containers at off-docks. "The government paid no heed to our appeal rather issued an order not to realise the detention charge," Mr Chowdhury said. He said the department issued the advisory in line with the measures taken in Indian ports. But the reality is there is no such congestions in Indian ports and vessels there enter and leave in time while at the Chittagong port an additional two weeks are required in ship handling, he said. After the shipping department's advisory, he wrote that the imposition or waiver of detention charge of containers depends on foreign principals. "The principals may not consider the waiving of the container detention charge unless the government waives or reduces port tariffs for vessels," he noted. AIS station, Chittagong
Port Elizabeth
On April 30, 2020, at 11.15 a.m. the NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew were alerted by TNPA (Transnet National Ports Authority) requesting assistance to evacuate a Filipino crew member of a bunkering tanker at anchorage off-shore of the Port of Port Elizabeth. The man required transportation to a dentist as soon as possible and considering the Covid-19 lockdown the Port Health Authorities advised the tasking of NSRI to carry out the operation, taking into consideration that NSRI are well prepared for all Covid-19 Department of Health protocols, regulations and precautions. At 1 p.m. the sea rescue craft 'JLT Rescuer' was launched and rendezvoused with the tanker thre miles off Port Elizabeth in calm seas. The patient was transferred onto the sea rescue craft and he was brought to shore and transported to a dentist appointment by the ships agent. At 3.30 p.m. the patient returned to the Port of Port Elizabeth and he boarded our sea rescue craft JLT Rescuer and we transported him back to the ship and returned to base without incident.
X-PRESS MULHACEN
The 'Essence' (IMO: 9491496), en route from Kotka to Rotterdam with an ETA as of Feb 7, was in collision with the "X-Press Mülhacen", en route from Rotterdam to Gdynia, on the Kiel Canal amid thick fog on Feb 6, 2025, at 7:05 a.m. in the area of the north port of Kiel in front of the Holtenau locks. The "X-Press Mülhacen" was supposed to enter the large north chamber of the Holtenau locks. At the same time, the "Essence" came from the south chamber Both ships came too close to each other and scraped past each other. Both freighters had to interrupt their respective voyages. The "Essence" moored at the Schwartenbek siding near Suchsdorf. The "X-Press Mülhacen" was allowed to continue the voyage to the roadstead of Holtenau, where it anchored in pos. 54° 23' N 010° 11' E at 8:50 a.m. The Kiel water police was on duty with the police boat "Stör". The officers were questioning the crews of the two ships and the pilots on board. Experts from the classification societies examined and confirmed the technical condition of the ships. The 'Esscence' resumed its voyage at around 11 a.m. and was allowed to proceed to Brunsbüttel, where it berthed at the Navy dolphins short past 6 p.m. It resumed its voyage on Feb 7 at 4 a.m. UTC with an ETA at the port of destination as of Feb 8. whereas the '"X-Press Mülhacen" remained stationary on the Kiel Fjord until 8.20 p.m. and then continued on its way to Gdynia with an ETA as of Feb 7.
ISFJORD
The 'Isfjord' suffered an engine failure en route from Svolvær (Lat. 68.1192 Lng. 14.9302) on Feb 5, 2025, atr around 5 p.m. and went adrift, The Russian captain of the unloaded tanker sent out a mayday call, and both the NSSR-lifeboats from Svolvær and Ballstad were called out by the Main Rescue Centre to assist in securing the ship, which is referred to as "a floating gas station". It is operated by LNS Spitsbergen's subsidiary LNS Ocean, There was an onshore wind from the southwest and it was of interest to gain control of the situation. The lifeboat "Sundt Flyer" (MMSI: 259192000) was first on site, followed by the "Hans Hermann Horn" (MMSI: 257035360), which was the larger boat and took the tanker in tow. On Feb 6 at 03:00 a.m. the patrol vessel 'Heimdal' (IMO: 9353345) of the Norwegian Coastguard took over the tow from the "Hans Hermann Horn" after seven hours. The tug 'Polar Frigg' (IMO: 8714279) left Harstad on the late evening of Feb 5 and reached the scene the next morning at 05:45 a.m. It took over the tow from the lifeboats. On the morning of Feb 6, the tanker was anchored near Lødingen in pos. 68° 26' N 016° 02' E, where it remained stationary as of Feb 7. Reports with photos and video: https://www.lofotposten.no/104-meter-lang-tanker-med-motorhavari/s/5-29-1148933?fbclid=IwY2xjawIQymdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRJ7Myw8hca4Kz9_Os-hiqEIyRE5YOQ87ULHGow1OGLyZNDZub7KzdrD3Q_aem_gOY2kvA_yQjNIJFrtRMSAw https://x.com/i/status/1887247263187279885 https://www.ht.no/nyheter/i/nylJ8B/maatte-redde-104-meter-lang-tanker
Rio de Janeiro
The Mexican tank m/v ’Irmã Dulce’, 72900 dwt (IMO: 9548691), which was under construction at Estalairo Maua in Rio de Janeiro, suffered water ingress in the engine room and aft peak in the night of May 4, 2020. The stern came to rest on bthe bottom at a water depth of four to five meters. The accident was apparently caused by a leaking valve. In the afternoon of May 5 divers managed to stabilize the ship. It was the second of a series of four for Transpetro and was launched in 2014. The order for all three ships still under construction was later canceled. The Panamax had currently been 95% completed. Report with photo: https://splash247.com/near-complete-brazilian-tanker-newbuild-sinks-at-pier/ .
Port Elizabeth
On May 2, 2020, at 08.50 a.m. the NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew and EC Government Health EMS were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority to respond to rendezvous with a bulk carrier approaching Port Elizabeth from Cape Town to attend to a 52 year old Iraqi crew member onboard the ship suffering an emergency medical condition, not Covid-19 related. The sea rescue craft 'Spirit of Toft' was launched accompanied by an EMS rescue paramedic and rendezvoused with the ship seven miles East of Cape Recife. The EMS rescue paramedic and an NSRI rescue swimmer were transferred onto the ship and the patient was found to be in a critical condition. The paramedic took over emergency medical treatment from the ships medical crew and the patient, secured into a stokes basket stretcher, was transferred onto the sea rescue craft and the EMS paramedic and NSRI medics continued with medical care onboard the sea rescue craft while the patient was brought to the NSRI Port Elizabeth sea rescue base and in the care of paramedics he was transported to hospital by EMS ambulance. Despite extensive efforts by hospital medical staff the patient passed away.