News

The sunken foreship of the 'Volgoneft 239' and all of the 'Volgoneft212' are currently being examined underwater, but with no attempts yet being made to haul them to shore or extract the fuel oil left in their tanks .According to Eugene Simonov, an expert with the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group (UWEC) , the sunken parts are left untouched because Russian authorities simply do not have the appropriate equipment to extract oil from underwater reservoirs. As a result, according to Viktor Danilov-Danilyan, the head of science at the Russian Academy of Sciences, the wrecks could evolve into the worst ecological catastrophe, Russia has seen in the 21st century. On Jan. 25, the Russian government officially had declared that the emergency services had finished the ongoing oil extraction operation, but this only concerned the grounded stern of the Volgoneft 239'.

The "Eventin" is still not allowed to continue its journey due to ongoing investigations. As long as the results of the investigations are pending, a sailing ban applies. Two investigations are underway in which customs and the classification society DNV are involved. The results were sent to Panama as the flag state, which instructed the crew of the "Eventin" to cooperate with the authorities in Germany. There was no precise information on the further timetable. The customs inspections focused on the question of whether the approximately 100,000 tons of oil on board the "Eventin" was Russian oil and whether the EU oil embargo was being violated. The Stralsund public prosecutor's office had announced that there was no initial suspicion of a crime. The ageing ship was also prohibited from sailing due to technical shortcomings.

The “Volcán de Tauce”, which has been moored since Jan 14 at the Santa Catalina dock in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, after resolving the technical trouble that altered the La Palma line in December by inserting the catamaran “Volcán de Tirajana”, has been sold to the Emirates International Air Cargo company from the United Arab Emirates. The ferry will presumably be delivered on Feb 13. The management of the Armas Trasmediterránea Group has informed the company's staff on Feb 5 of the sale of the ship, which is listed as the property of Anarafe S.L., one of the companies controlled by the Armas Trasmediterránea Group. According to reports, its new owner intends to convert it into a hospital ship.

The 'Cellus' had to berth in the outer port of Glückstadt on Jan 17, 2025. The ship was en route from Flushing to Sweden, when strange noises and vibrations were remarked in the engine on Jan 16, and the ship diverted to the emergency port. Vlissingen en rout to Sweden diverted to the port due to vibrations and strange noises. Not one day later the ship reached the port. Investigations showed that the gear rings on the gearbox between the main engine and the propeller had broken. The gear rings were removed and sent to Holland. It will take ten weeks to produce spar parts, the assembly will take another two weeks. Some of the 10 crew members were meanwhile employed elsewhere. The repair will cost about 250,000 euros. The loss of the layover time was estimated to be around 450,000 euros. The ship is used in the cellulose transport. Report with photo: https://www.shz.de/lokales/glueckstadt/artikel/schiff-cellus-musste-glueckstadt-als-nothafen-ansteuern-48314435

Clean-up operations were ongoing after oil escaped from the wreck of the 'Ultra Galaxy' during salvage operations. The oil, which was trapped within the wreck, leaked during the complex wreck removal process. Clean-up operations were carried out with a workforce of around 180 people in 12 teams and progressing steadily. As the risk of oil escaping during operations of this nature is anticipated, robust contingency measures are always in place. The South African Maritime Safety Authority stated on Jan 29 that SpillTech, a dedicated spill management company, has been on site from the onset of the removal operation to handle such incidents promptly and effectively. To safeguard marine life and coastal ecosystems, the SAMSA is working closely with SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) and Cape Nature, both of which are on standby to respond should wildlife be affected. The wreck removal operation began in December, and approximately 4206 tons of wreckage have been removed from the site.