News

Beached at Aliaga 25.06.25

The "Kokoo," seized in the Autonomous Port of Nouméa on Feb 8, has been declared abandoned on April 30. Its 13 crew members were also abandoned on board and cared for by the state. Six Chinese sailors were repatriated on June 21. Seven Burmese sailors were still awaiting treatment. The vessel had been detained due to serious safety defects, endangering the crew and the marine environment, after it was seized by customs for tobacco smuggling. With no response from the shipowner or the Tanzanian flag authorities, the vessel was declared abandoned. Without a shipping agent, the 13 crew members were faicing a deteriorating situation with no resources (food and hygiene) and no wage payments due to their abandonment, and no dockside security, as normally provided by an agency, due to lack of funding. The local community ensured their food and medical care. The vital support of the representative association of New Caledonian seafarers (Synmar NC), in conjunction with international organizations (IMO/ILO) and the ITF, was particularly decisive in managing the case, which resulted in the partial repatriation. Steps were continuing for the repatriation of the seven Burmese sailors still on the ship.

Container lines Hapag Lloyd, ONE, YML, COSCO and OOCL will jointly run a new direct service from Visakha Container Terminal (VCT), the privately-run facility at State-owned Visakhapatnam Port Trust, to the Mediterranean and Europe, which will also bring connectivity with Africa and the America. The announcement strengthens Visakha Container Terminal’s rising stature as a regional container transshipment hub on the east coast, said shipping industry sources. “The commercial benefits offered by Visakhapatanam Port Trust makes the terminal even more attractive in the long run by being the gateway to the East for both northern and southern regions extending right up to Bangladesh and even Myanmar,” the terminal operator said. The terminal, majority owned by International Cargo Terminals & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, is located centrally and strategically on the East Coast of India between Kolkata and Chennai. The facility handled over 0.45 million TEUs during FY19 and is on the verge of crossing the 0.5-million TEUs in FY20, aided by a 16 pre cent growth in traffic, complemented rail movement and also transshipment.

By the Southern Canal Dock in the inner port of Zeebrugge, a ceremony was held yesterday for the start of the construction of a new 1,071 meter quay wall, an extension of the existing Bastenaken quay. This quay wall is the final missing piece that will connect the Bastenaken quay with the reverse quay at the dock's end, where International Car Operators Zeebrugge is located. When this project is finished, the largest dock in het port of Zeebrugge will be completed.

arrived Bhavnagar Anchorage 25.06.25

The ‘Betim’, serving the Chorao route, remained submerged at its dock at Chorao on June 25. The authorities have initiated salvage operations, but the retrieval process was delayed due to technical and logistical challenges. Machinery was being mobilised. A pontoon crane with pumps has already arrived at the site. Two additional pontoons were expected to reach on June 25 by 11 p.m. The river navigation department (RND) planned to start the salvage on June 26. The ferry sank after one of its tanks got flooded. Preliminary investigations by the RND suggested that the incident could have been caused by an inadequate drainage from the tanks, particularly the air tanks positioned at the bottom of the vessel. These air tanks are critical for maintaining the buoyancy of the ship. On June 23, the fire brigade had tried to assist in getting the ship afloat, deploying large water pumps to try and drain the water from the vessel. However, despite their efforts, the vessel could not be raised.

Carnival Cruise Line is to fully renovate and significantly expand Cruise Terminal F at Florida’s PortMiami to accommodate its Excel-class cruise ships, which will be the largest in its fleet and will be powered by LNG. Following approval from the Miami-Dade County Commission, Carnival has shared its plans to work with Miami-based design firm Berenblum Busch Architects to create a terminal with a simple and open layout. The terminal will be equipped with various technologies, such as facial recognition systems, to make the embarkation process quicker and safer. Terminal F is set to open in October 2022 to coincide with the arrival of Carnival’s second Excel-class ship (yet to be named) and is one of three dedicated to the line’s operations in Miami.

A traditional maritime coin ceremony took place at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, when the keel was laid for MSC Seashore. At the milestone event, MSC Cruises revealed details of the significantly transformed overall design and new features of the ship, the company said in its release. MSC Seashore will be the Company’s longest ship – 339 metres – when she enters service in June 2021, the first of two enriched “Seaside Evo” Class ships with the latest available environmental technology, extended public spaces, more cabins and the highest ratio of outdoor space per guest of any ship in the company’s fleet.

arrived Bhavnagar Anchorage 25.06.25

A fire broke out aboard the 'Federal II', which was undergoing repair in Batam, on the afternoon of June 24, 2025, killing four workers and injuring five others. The tanker, which was serving as a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit, was docked at ASL Shipyard at the time of the incident. The fire erupted while workers were inside the ship’s oil storage tanks. They were carrying out the task of cutting steel plates. All nine were Indonesians carrying out repair work on the vessel. Of the five survivors, four suffered severe burns and were receiving medical treatment at a local hospital. Emergency crews battled the flames for several hours before bringing the fire under contro by the ASL Shipyard’s internal safety team. It was suspected that a leak of flammable gas or vapor may have triggered the blaze, contributing to the rapid spread of the fire. The exact cause of the fire remained under investigation. The aframax is owned by Indonesia-registered PT Eastern Jason and under full management of Monaco-based International Andromeda Shipping. Report with photos and video: https://splash247.com/deadly-fire-engulfs-tanker-in-batam-shipyard/

ECOsubsea, the Norwegian cleantech firm with a unique hull cleaning technology has won contracts to clean in North European ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge thanks to the technology’s ability to remove all hull fouling from the water, the company said in its release. The technologically-advanced system has now been approved for use in the two North European ports following around 500 vessel cleanings in Southampton and Norway and its proven ability to meet strict environmental requirements. While hull cleaning is an important part of vessel efficiency it has become mired in controversy due to the high risk of invasive species being easily transferred across the oceans and becoming an environmental and economic hazard.

Helsinki Shipyard (Finland) will build two cruise liners for the Arctic and Antarctic.