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The container ship 'OOCL St. Lawrence' (IMO: 9290414) was in collision with the ‘Brigitte-Z 19’ on the evening of Jan 31, 2025, which had just turned at the end of the fishing line, off Nieuwpoort (Lat. 51.3680 Lng. 2.5994). The container ship was en route to Antwerp at a speed of 20 knots. How exactly the collision could have happened, was being investigated. Both ships had turned towards each other. The watchman of the cutter raised the alarm, gave hard starboard rudder, after which the container ship grazed the trawler on the port side. The fishing vessel listed heavily, and the port side boom was bent against the aft mast. The foreship suffered a large dent at port side. At the height of the fish hold, frames were dented. When Thysebaerdt declared that everything was safe on board, the ‘OOCL St. Lawrence’ continued to the port of destination, where it arrived on Feb 1. A few hours later the trawler also headed to port. French inspectors came along on the way near Boulogne-sur-Mer to inspect it for any oil leaks. On the afternoon of Feb 1, the ship entered the port of Ostend, where it was immediately unloaded. The Bema – the builder of the ship in 2020/2021 – was commissioned by owner Thysebaerdt to make the cutter ready for fishing again as soon as possible. Pending approval by the Maritime Inspectorate, the hull damage will be repaired later. The 'Brigitte' remained stationary in port as of Feb 10.

On the evening of Feb 6, 2025, the 'Fortune Pride' (IMO: 8861802) capsized and sank in the Atlantic Ocean about 18 kilometers southeast of Sambro, Nova Scotia. The authorities were alerted by the EPIRB signal of the vessel. Unable to contact the ship over radio, the Canadian Coast Guard deployed the SAR vessel Hare Bay (MMSI: 316044024) and the tender 'Sir William Alexander' (IMO: 8320482) along with a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft to assist. When they arrived at the last reported position of the fishing vessel, there was no sign of it, but they located three crew members, wearing survival suits, in the water. They were rescued by the 'Hare Bay' and taken to hospital. A fourth crew member was found on the morning of Feb 10 inside an overturned life raft. He was later hoisted onto the helicopter and transported to hospital, but the crew member along with one other fisherman rescued earlier had perished. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has launched an investigation into the incident. The 'Fortune Pride' had sailed from Sambro and encountered four meter waves and strong winds, when it capsized.

The court in Rotterdam showed images of the collision between the water taxi 'MSTX 21' and the 'Marco Polo' on the New Maas near the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam on July 21, 2022, on the morning of Feb 10, 2025. The skippers of both boats were on trial in the case. The water taxi had sunk in the incident, and six people ended up in the water, among them the captain, four adult passengers and a child. The adult victims were attending the trial. The first images shown in court were taken by the cameras on the sides of the 'Marco Polo'. They clearly showed how the water taxi ended up under the bow of the tour boat upside down. The court also showed images of the collision from the roof of the KPN building. The skipper Menno V. (51) of the tour boat called the images of the collision very impressive. He said that the water taxi emerged from a blind spot on the starboard side and that he immediately pressed the emergency stop after the collision. Skipper Willem de J. (75) of the water taxi said after seeing the images: ‘I find it incomprehensible that this happened. I should have looked, that’s for sure.’ After the collision, he stopped sailing on the water taxi. The water taxi was sailing at 20 kilometres per hour, the departing tour boat was sailing at approximately 18 kilometres per hour. V. had not used the VHF at the start of the tour and, according to him, was not obliged to do so on days when the water is quiet. He wondered whether a report would have been useful. At the end of January the State Port Master René de Vries had announced that a maximum speed limit would be set around the Erasmus Bridge. The maximum speed limit will be set at 20 kilometres per hour. The measures are expected to come into effect in the course of the year after several incidents around the Erasmus Bridge, including this collision.

On the night of Feb 8 and on Feb 9, numerous departures of migrant boats were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. In the Pas de Calais Strait sector the departure of a migrant boat around was noticed off Gravelines, and the 'Ridens' was deployed for surveillance. On the early morning, the rubber boat quickly deflated off Calais. The 'Ridens' immediately rescued the 57 people on board with the help of the two semi-rigid boats of the 'Abeille Normandie' as reinforcements. Once they were rescued on board, the 'Ridens' raised alert about the condition of three migrants, one of them being unconscious and two suffering from hypothermia. The CROSS Gris Nez engaged the medical team of the SMUR Maritime of Boulogne-sur-Mer who were dropped off on board by a Dauphin helicopter of the French Navy base in Le Touquet. The unconscious victim was airlifted to the hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The other two were dropped off in Calais by the Ridens and taken care of by the rescue services at around 9:45 am. At the same time, the CROSS Gris-Nez engaged the 'Minck' to monitor a boat that had left Le Portel. The 38 occupants requested assistance and were picked up by the vessel, which disembarked them in Boulogne-sur-Mer where they were taken care of early in the morning. On the morning of Feb 9, a third boat in distress was reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez off Petit-Fort-Philippe, and the 'Abeille Normandie' was deployed to assist. 19 people were then rescued, while the boat, with 40 other people on board, continued its route towards the British coast, without requesting assistance. A fourth boat was reported leaving Malo-les-Bains. The CROSS Gris-Nez engaged the PSP 'Cormoran' and the Dauphin helicopter of the French Navy base in Le Touquet. The patrol boat made contact with the boat, and it turned out that some of the occupants required emergency assistance. 42 people from the boat were recovered using semi-rigid boats from the 'Cormoran'. Among them, two people were injured. The CROSS informed the SAMU in order to send a medical team to the scene using a Dauphin helicopter of the French Navy. These two people were then winched up and dropped off at the hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The boat with 17 people still on board continued its route without requesting assistance. At taround 8:00 p.m., the 'Jeanne Barret' rescued 33 people on a boat that had left on the earlymorning from the Baie de Somme sector. This operation followed an attempted boarding, at the beaches of Berck-sur-Mer. During this attempt, 41 people who were unable to board were rescued on the beach by the State services, under the coordination of the CROSS Gris-Nez. In total, 230 people were rescued at sea, under the coordination of the CROSS Gris-Nez during five operations.

The US Coast Guard interdicted 12 migrants aboard a 25-foot sailing vessel approximately 12 nautical miles west of Point Loma, on Feb 9, 2025. At 10:19 a.m, a Customs and Border Protection patrol aircraft and a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter sighted the sailing vessel. The 'Petrel' was notified and diverted and at 11:48 a.m. launched a small boat team for the interdiction. 12 occuptans were taken into custody, amnong them 11 adult males and one adult female claiming Mexican nationality. They were transferred to the Imperial Beach Border Patrol. Report with photos: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4060795/coast-guard-interdicts-12-aliens-near-point-loma/