On the night of April 11, a migrant boat got in difficulty, and the CROSS Gris-Nez deployed the 'Abeille Normandie' to locate and monitor the boat, as well as the SNSM lifeboat 'SNS-067 Mona Rigolet' from Calais. The lifeboat picked up the 28 occupants of the boat and delivered them to the dock in Calais. On the morning of April 12, the CROSS Gris-Nez CROSS was informed of another migrant boat heading towards the Malo-les-Bains area and deployed the 'Ridens' to monitor the it. Once near the boat, some of the occupants requested assistance. The 'Ridens' rescued 19 people from the boat, while the remaining occupants continued on their way. At midday, the CROSS was once again informed of the departure of a boat from the Hardelot area, and engaged the 'DFP1 Jacques Oudart Fourmentin' to locate and monitor it. Once on site, the customs vessel rescued three occupants from the boat. Several people still on board refused any assistance and continued on their way. The three rescued people were dropped off at the quay in Boulogne-sur-Mer. In total, 50 people were rescue and safely brought to the ashore, where they were taken into care by land-based rescue services.
News
MSC SINFONIA
On the afternoon of April 11, 2025, the Corfu Port Authority was informed that the'MSC Sinfonia', which was moored in the new port of Corfu with 2193 passengers and 730 crew members on board, had sufferd a failure of the starboard side propeller of the propulsion-steering system. The Corfu Central Port Authority initially prohibited the departure of thecruise ship. Upon the presentation of a seaworthiness certificate from the monitoring classification society, it was permitted to depart for a single voyage, accompanied by the tug 'Megalochari XIV' (IMO: 9199452), to the port of Bari, where it arrived late on April 13, and not at 8:00 a.m. as originally planned. On the way from Corfu to Bari, the ship sailed at only four knots at times, thus not reaching the necessary cruising speed to arrive at the port on time. MSC Cruises has canceled its Eastern Mediterranean cruise, which was scheduled to begin on April 12 in Bari, less than 24 hours before departure. Guests with different embarkation and disembarkation ports, were also affected by the cancellations. Guests affected by the cancellations will receive a full refund of their travel costs and a travel credit for a future MSC cruise equal to the price they paid. Meanwhile, technicians were working diligently to resolve the issues. How long this will take was not yet known, as it depended on the severity of the technical issues. The ship remained stationary in Bari as of April 14
Dubrovnik
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the City of Dubrovnik have partnered to introduce sustainable tourism management practices that will preserve the Croatian city’s cultural heritage. CLIA president and CEO Kelly Craighead and Dubrovnik’s Mayor Mato Franković signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which outlines plans to make Dubrovnik a model of sustainable tourism for the Adriatic region. All plans focus on investment, collaboration and best practices that will benefit both Dubrovnik’s residents and visitors. “Today’s agreement validates the work we have already done with Mayor Franković and formalises the cruise industry’s continued commitment to the City of Dubrovnik and its people,” said Craighead.
Sihanoukville
Congestion at Cambodia’s top port is creating supply chain disruptions. In a note to clients German containerline Hapag-Lloyd noted that terminal productivity at Sihanoukville port has deteriorated due to port and yard congestion. Feeder services and turnaround times are affected and feeder space is tight. In an effort for medium term improvement of this situation, the port is building an extended yard for additional storage space. “Before the new container yard is completed, port congestion may persist,” Hapag-Lloyd warned.
MONA RIGOLET
On the night of April 11, a migrant boat got in difficulty, and the CROSS Gris-Nez deployed the 'Abeille Normandie' to locate and monitor the boat, as well as the SNSM lifeboat 'SNS-067 Mona Rigolet' from Calais. The lifeboat picked up the 28 occupants of the boat and delivered them to the dock in Calais. On the morning of April 12, the CROSS Gris-Nez CROSS was informed of another migrant boat heading towards the Malo-les-Bains area and deployed the 'Ridens' to monitor the it. Once near the boat, some of the occupants requested assistance. The 'Ridens' rescued 19 people from the boat, while the remaining occupants continued on their way. At midday, the CROSS was once again informed of the departure of a boat from the Hardelot area, and engaged the 'DFP1 Jacques Oudart Fourmentin' to locate and monitor it. Once on site, the customs vessel rescued three occupants from the boat. Several people still on board refused any assistance and continued on their way. The three rescued people were dropped off at the quay in Boulogne-sur-Mer. In total, 50 people were rescue and safely brought to the ashore, where they were taken into care by land-based rescue services.
BLUE STAR CHIOS
In the midday hours of April 13, 2025, the Halki Port Authority was informed that the'Blue Star Chios', during its arrival at the port of Halki, experienced a malfunction in the electric automatic folding system of the central ramp. Theferry safely moored at the port and disembarked 86 passengers from the starboard side stern ramp, while after manual folding of the central ramp, 21 cars were disembarked. The Halki Port Station of the Central Port Authority of Rhodes initially banned the ship from sailing. Upon presentation of a seaworthiness certificate from the monitoring classification society, the ship was permitted tcontinue its approved route with destination to the ports of Diafani Karpathos - Pigadia Karpathos - Kasos - Sitia - Heraklion - Anafi - Thira - Piraeus.
Tanger-Med
The Tanger Med port has emerged as the biggest port in Africa in terms of container capacity, surpassing Africa’s bigger ports like Durban (South Africa) and Mombasa (Kenya). The Tanger Med port now connects Morocco to 77 countries and 186 ports around the world. The Tanger Med II has two new container terminals – TC3 and TC4 – with an additional 6 million container capacity. The TC3, which is operated by Morocco’s main port operator Marsa Maroc, has a capacity of 1 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units). The TC4, which is operated by the Netherlands-based APM Terminals, has a capacity of 5 million TEUs. According to the Tanger Med Port Authority, with its new terminals, Tanger Med port will have a capacity of processing 9 million containers, 7 million passengers, 1 million vehicles and 700,000 trucks. Thanks to its extensions, Tanger Med port has now become the largest port in the Mediterranean region, surpassing some of the region’s top ports like Algeciras (Spain), Valencia (Spain) and Gioia (Italy). The port is located 40 kilometers east of the Moroccan town of Tangier, which is a gateway to both Europe and Africa. “Our aim is to develop an effective port platform integrated with transshipment activities, imports and exports,” Tanger Med Port Authority said on its website. The Tanger Med port has become vital for Morocco’s economy as it handled 317 billion Moroccan dirhams (US$33.14 billion) worth of exports and imports in 2018. It processed an overall tonnage of 52.24 tonnes last year.
Dhamra
French oil and gas giant Total SA has taken a 50 per cent stake in Dhamra LNG Terminal Pvt Ltd (DLTPL), a unit of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), which is constructing a 12 million tonne per annum (mtpa) LNG regasification terminal at its port located at Dhamra in Odisha’s Bhadrak district.
ABEILLE NORMANDIE
On the night of April 11, a migrant boat got in difficulty, and the CROSS Gris-Nez deployed the 'Abeille Normandie' to locate and monitor the boat, as well as the SNSM lifeboat 'SNS-067 Mona Rigolet' from Calais. The lifeboat picked up the 28 occupants of the boat and delivered them to the dock in Calais. On the morning of April 12, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed of another migrant boat heading towards the Malo-les-Bains area and deployed the 'Ridens' to monitor the it. Once near the boat, some of the occupants requested assistance. The 'Ridens' rescued 19 people from the boat, while the remaining occupants continued on their way. At midday, the CROSS was once again informed of the departure of a boat from the Hardelot area, and engaged the 'DFP1 Jacques Oudart Fourmentin' to locate and monitor it. Once on site, the customs vessel rescued three occupants from the boat. Several people still on board refused any assistance and continued on their way. The three rescued people were dropped off at the quay in Boulogne-sur-Mer. In total, 50 people were rescue and safely brought to the ashore, where they were taken into care by land-based rescue services.
ISLE OF CUMBRAE
The 'Ilse of Cumbrae', serving on the route Largs-Cumbrae, suffered an issue with its hydraulic pump, affecting a vessel's ramp, on the morning of April 12 , The vessel got unavailable for service with the option of operating single-ended if required. Investigations were started. As part of the repairs, the vessel was required to transit to Cumbrae. The 'Loch Shira' was operating as normal on the route meanwhile. On April 13, the repairs have been completed, and the vessel returned to service service.
Singapore
Phase one of the new Jurong Port Tank Terminals (JPTT) was officially opened on Monday (July 29), with Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Chee Hong Tat saying it will allow Singapore to strengthen its position as one of the world’s top bunkering ports for low-sulphur fuels. The $200 million, 16ha petrochemical terminal is a joint venture between port operator Jurong Port and German firm Oiltanking with 252,000 cubic m of clean petroleum storage capacity. From January next year, the International Maritime Organisation will prohibit ships from using fuels containing more than 0.5 per cent sulphur.
Richards Bay
Moves are afoot for a new multi-billion-rand liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and regasification terminal to be established at the port of Richards Bay by 2024, but state-owned Transnet wants the private sector to be the main investor and operator of the facility. The plan was revealed on Tuesday as Transnet announced the signing of a cost-sharing agreement with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to jointly fund a feasibility study into the terminal project. The IFC has committed $2 million (around R28 million) as part of the cost-sharing agreement. The move comes as Transnet looks to bolster South Africa’s LNG infrastructure, both at the country’s ports and within its pipelines business.