News

For the third day in a row, B.C. Ferries has cancelled sailings of the 'Coastal Inspiration' due to mechanical issues with the vessel's main engine on Feb 6. All sailings of the vessel between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen are cancelled: 7 a.m. departure Tsawwassen 9 a.m. departure Swartz Bay 11 a.m. departure Tsawwassen 1 p.m. departure Swartz Bay 3 p.m. departure Tsawwassen 5 p.m. departure Swartz Bay 7 p.m. departure Tsawwassen 9 p.m. departure Swartz Bay Other sailings on this route were expected to proceed as scheduled, starting with the 7 a.m. departure from Swartz Bay and the 9 a.m. departure from Tsawwassen. B.C. Ferries added a vessel to the route on Feb 5. Anyone with a booking on one of the cancelled sailings wast to be contacted by the B.C. Ferries’ customer service centre, which would then try to arrange travel on an alternate sailing. In the case of a cancellation, the ferry corporation says it will refund fees and/or fares. Alternate service was available via the Tsawwassen (Vancouver) – Duke Point (Nanaimo) route.

After the 'Deala' ran aground on April 16, 2024, at 7.30 p.m. with 15 Egyptian crew members on board, near the port of Raša in southeastern Istria, the African owner has renounced ownership of the wreck, and since then it has been disintegrating approximately 40 meters from the shore and at a water depth between two and five meters. Local residents and biologists fear an environmental catastrophe in the Natura 2000 protected area. The ship was to be salvaged within 30 days, according to the responsible Ministry for Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, but the owner has abandoned his ship, and the cost of salvaging it, which were estimated at three million euros, will probably be charged to the Croatian taxpayer. Divers discovered in April that the engine room had been flooded three meters high by a leak. On Feb 5, 2025, local politicians turned to the public, after a new damage has occurred on the ship. The residents of the municipalities of Raša, Marčana and Barban, which share the Raška Bay, have been waiting for a response from the relevant authorities, i.e. the ministry, for ten months, stated the president of the Association of Municipalities Dalibor Paus during a press conference in Krnica, supported by Neven Iveša, a biologist at the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Pula, who emphasized that the Raša Bay is protected as a Natura 2000 area. Some measures have been taken to remove waste water and fuel, but due to the deterioration of the ship, other dangerous substances may be released into the environment, warned the biologist, who is critical of alleged plans by the ministry to tow the ship to Turkey because Croatia is technically unable to salvage ships of this size. He suggested the wreck should be dismantled on site with the involvement of local companies. Report with photos: https://www.kleinezeitung.at/kaernten/alpeadria/19330023/vor-zehn-monaten-gestrandet-schiffswrack-vor-istrien-wird-zur

With the successful start an important milestone has been reached in the execution of the contract to operate the tugboat fleet for Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) in Port Hedland, the world’s largest bulk export port on Australia´s west coast. The fleet consists of eight new ART 85-32W and one RT80-32 Rotortugs®. Six of them are Fortescue owned, three are owned by KOTUG, which are chartered directly to Fortescue. KOTUG manages the entire contract.

The Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran is going to sign a contract with the private sector on Tuesday for the construction of Iran’s biggest mechanized mineral terminal at Shahid Rajaee Port, the deputy head of PMO announced on Monday. Ali Hassanzadeh added that the contract is worth 50 trillion rials (over $430 million). The terminal’s capacity will reach 50 million tons per year upon the completion of the project, which will be carried out in three phases, covering 180 hectares of land, each spread over 60 hectares. It will be the biggest mineral terminal in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, and mark a major development in Iran’s mining industry, considering its considerable mineral capacity, Mehr News Agency reported.

On Jan 30, 2025, a crew member of the 'Diamond Princess' suffered a serious eye injury and needed urgent hospital specialist treatment. The cruise ship was en route from Brisbane to Auckland and sailing about 37 kilometres east of Matauri Bay when the accident occurred. A helicopter hoisted the patient off the Northland coast amid good conditions with favourable weather, daylight and a competent crew aboard the ship. The victim was transported to shore for further medical care on a higher level. Report with video: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/dramatic-winch-rescue-off-northland-coast-as-cruise-ship-worker-injured/ZJX3R4FCBZAXHJG5K7PJBFJWTY/

The 'Campbell (WMEC 909)' has returned to its home port in Newport on Feb 4, 2025, following a 63-day multi-mission patrol to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean. The cutter was deployed in support of Joint Interagency Task Force – South (JIATF-S) to advance the primary mission of interdicting illegal narcotics in known drug trafficking zones. Its crew conducted maritime safety and security missions while working to detect, deter and intercept drug-smuggling vessels. While on patrol, the 'Campbell' interdicted a suspected drug-smuggling operations, involving six panga boats engaged in illicit activity on the high seas. During the pursuit, the 'Campbell’s crew seized approximately 8,061 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated street value of more than $91 million and detained two suspected drug traffickers. The 'Campbell embarked and provided care for two SAR survivors and maintained custody of a total of 49 suspected drug smugglers suspected of engaging in illicit trafficking activities at sea. The crew of the 'Campbell' offloaded the drugs at Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on Jan 27 and transferred 26 suspected drug smugglers to authorities, who were now facing federal prosecution by the Department of Justice. Between January 2024 and February 2025, the 'Campbell' transferred a total of 87 suspected smugglers to federal law enforcement authorities, resulting from 24 interdictions by U. S. Coast Guard cutters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. During the patrol, the 'Campbell’partnered with numerous additional Coast Guard assets during the deployment by hosting a law enforcement detachment from the Opa Locka, Florida-based Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team – South, and conducted joint patrols and at-sea transfers with Coast Guard Cutters 'Waesche (WMSL 751)', ' James (WMSL 754)' and 'Stone (WMSL 758)'. These units also leveraged international and interagency partners to ensure that U.S. Coast Guard presence resulted in both the interdiction and deterrence of illicit trafficking in the Eastern Pacific. Prior to returning to Newport, the 'Campbell' conducted three days of helicopter to deck landing qualifications at sea with multiple aircrews from the Coast Guard Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron based out of Jacksonville, Florida. Campbell also embarked nearly 60 personnel from other Coast Guard cutters for hands-on shipboard-helicopter operations training in order to improve mission readiness across the cutter fleet. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4055086/coast-guard-cutter-campbell-returns-home-after-interdicting-91m-in-illicit-narc/

Gas infrastructure along Russia’s Northern Sea Route is set to get a Japanese upgrade with news Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have signed a cooperation agreement with Novatek to develop LNG transhipment projects in Kamchatka and Murmansk. The projects will construct floating storage units (FSUs) to tranship LNG cargoes from ice-breaking LNG ships to conventional LNG ships. The FSUs will be located in Kamchatka and in Murmansk and will be used for the transhipment of LNG cargoes produced by Novatek’s Yamal LNG Project and Arctic LNG 2 Project, two of the largest gas developments in the world.

Port of Antwerp has ordered construction of a tug powered by hydrogen, the first in the world. This unique “Hydrotug” is driven by combustion engines that burn hydrogen in combination with diesel. The motors also comply with the very strictest standard, the EU Stage V, making them the lowest-rated for emissions on the market. This ultra-low-emission tug is being built by Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), a pioneer in the field of hydrogen power for shipping. With this world first Antwerp is making an important step in the transition to a sustainable, CO2-neutral port. By lending support to this promising technology Port of Antwerp hopes that the shipping industry will follow. The port is systematically pursuing a policy of making its entire fleet eco-friendly by incorporating the most environment-friendly technologies available on the market.

On Feb 6 it was stated that the 'Bayesian' would be recovered after its mast was dismantled. The salvage operation is expected to start around the middle of April from a water depth around 50 meters. The Italian prosecutors and Coastguard selected a project for recovery led by TMC Marine Consultants Ltd. This involves removing the mast of 72 metres lenght from the water, separately from the rest the vessel. Other salvage plans that involved turning the 55.9 metre yacht, weighing 534 tons, nearly 90 degrees on seabed, without dismantling the mast, were rejected due to their complexity. Three crew members are still under investigation by prosecutors in Termini Imerese near Palermo: Captain James Cutfield and ship engineer Tim Parker Eaton. The suspects are suspected of manslaughter, and they may have caused a shipwreck. The investigation would not be complete until the wreck was removed from the water, according to the prosecutors. After the 'Bayesian' is raised and repositioned on the seabed, it will be transported to Palermo, which is about 8.4 nautical mile away, to investigate what caused the accident and to recover any sensitive information on board.

Early on Feb 5, 2025, the Sommen', en route from Aveiro to Avedøre, got stuck twice during the wastbound transit of the Kiel Canal. The first accident was at Oldenbüttel, where the ship ran into in the southern embankment at canal kilometer 40 at 2.08 a.m. The allision damaged the dolphin 5, but the ship was able to free itself. A sailing ban was initially imposed. Once the electronic problem, which was identified as the cause, had been remedied, the ship was able to continue towards Kiel. Only 27 kilometers further, just ahead of the Rade Canal Bridge, the ship then suffered an engine failure and ran into the southern embankmen at canal kilometre 67,3 at 6.05 a.m., getting stuck in pos. 54° 20' N 009° 43' E, near the municipality of Schacht-Audorf. The Kiel Canal traffic control center prohibited the vessel from continuing its voyage unassisted, and the tug 'Parat' (IMO: 8128212 ) was called from Kiel. Also the SFK-tug 'Holtenau' (IMO: 8200321) was sent to the accident site from Kiel on the foremidday and reached the casulaty at around 10 a.m. Other ships could pass the accident site with caution as the 'Sommen' was stuck outside the fairway. At 11.15 a.m. the tugs pulled the 'Sommen' off and towed it to Kiel with the 'Parat' as steering tug at the stern, where it was berthed at the Voith Quay in the North Port for investigations at 1 p.m. UTC. It continued its voyage on Feb 6 at 3.30 a.m. UTC. Report with photo: https://www.shz.de/lokales/rendsburg/artikel/nord-ostsee-kanal-in-rendsburg-frachter-faehrt-zweimal-in-boeschung-48316711

The Chinese Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) sees its order intake for ro-pax ferries further increase following a long-awaited double order from P&O Ferries for a next-generation of Dover-Calais shuttle ferries.

Calgary based Melius Energy has successfully transported bitumen from Edmonton, Alberta to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, continuing to global markets in custom 20-foot shipping containers utilizing intermodal rail and vessel infrastructure. The shipment is the company’s first BitCrude™ transportation process demonstration, proving the ability to move bitumen safely and efficiently, in adherence to Canada’s regulatory framework.