On Sep 14 at 4 p.m. Canary time, the pleasure boat 'Samurai' sighted a cayuco 21 nautical miles south of La Gomera and notified Salvamento Marítimo in Teneriffe. At 5.35 p.m. the 'Guardamar Calíope', which had been deployed to assist, rescued 70 migrants, among them 69 men and one woman, in apparent good health. They were disembarked in La Gomera.
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US GOV VESSEL
The USS 'Iwo Jima' was back at sea on Sep 10, 2024 after a breakdown in the engineering room had forced the amphibious assault ship to return to Naval Station Norfolk on Sep 5. The ship had stalled off the coast of Virginia Beach. The ship had broken down because of a problem in the engine room, making it the third Wasp-class ship to suffer maintenance issues. The Norfolk-based USS 'Wasp' had suffered a mechanical failure before it deployed June 1. In April, the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti had warned the ship may be delayed because of an unnamed mechanical problem. The San Diego-based USS 'Boxer' was delayed repeatedly in part due to maintenance issues with its propulsion system. Several problems with basic maintenance had damaged the ship. The U.S. General Accountability Office found that sailors were poorly trained in maintenance throughout the fleet. Inspectors visited the USS 'wasp' in Norfolk, along with several other ships and found maintenance crews were chronically understaffed.
SALVAMAR MENKALINAN
On the morning of Sep 15 the crew of the 'Salvamar Menkalinan' has accompanied a cayuco which was located one nautical mile south of La Restinga with 87 sub-Saharan people on board, among them two women and two minors. The CCS Tenerife of Salvamento Marítimo has coordinated the operation. At 3:54 a.m. the disembarkation took place at the dock of La Restinga.
LEEUWIN 2
The damaged gear on the deck of the 'Leeuwin II' was to be removed from the ship in the week of Sep 16. It wil lbe stored nearby by Freo Ports pending next steps in the repair program. The Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation was preparing to begin the process of removing damaged masts, sails and rigging. On Sep 12 it has extended a big thank you to the people of Western Australia and from around the world for their messages of support since the ship was damaged in Fremantle. Report with photos:; https://fremantleshippingnews.com.au/2024/09/12/the-latest-on-the-leeuwin/
DALI
The NTSB has posted a 41-page document summarizing the findings of the Engineering Group formed to inspect the systems aboard the 'Dali'. It lists a few minor issues while also showing a loose cable found in the breaker system when tested in a simulation caused a brief blackout. Initial troubleshooting led to the Engineering Group narrowing its focus on the vessel’s electrical switchgear. The tests took place during April in four separate examination sessions. The check of the wiring on the transformer and a relay found a cable was loosely connected, a condition which representatives from Hyundai informed could create an open circuit and interrup the 110VDC power on the HV side of the board. It would trigger an under voltage release trip which would result in a 440V blackout. After explaining the situation to the NTSB and the other participants, Hyundai conducted a simulation. When the engineers disconnected the cable, all the equipment powered by the Low Voltage (440V) Switchboard blacked out. These included lights throughout the vessel. The system recovered making an automatic transfer and regained power after approximately 10 seconds. The other items listed in the report (download link) were judged to be non-consequential. Most of the systems were listed to be operating correctly.The inspection and testing were conducted by a team of experts including representatives from the vessel’s owners Grace Ocean and operators Synergy Marine. HD Hyundai, which had built the vessel in 2015, participated in the four examinations in April along with ClassNK as the vessel’s class society and the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore as the flag state. The NTSB teams were continuing their analysis. They were not expected to release a report until up to a year after the incident. The posting of this data came as the Department of Justice had informed the court involved in the claims that it was also conducting investigations aboard the vessel. The 'Dali' was expected to depart Norfolk, Virginia, around Sep 17 en route to China for permanent repairs.