The investigation into the fire in the 3500 tons of scrap aboard the 'Altay' will continue the next few days, with the ship remaining stationary as of July 1. The fire fighters were looking at it as an accidental cause. The Humberside Fire and Rescue Service was called to Albert Dock in Hull on June 27 at about 10:20 a.m. BST. It took crews until June 28 at 05:00 a.m. BST to put the deep seated fire out. Report with photo: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cargo-ship-fire-in-port-likely-to-be-an-accident/ar-AA1HHITz
News
CAPE SOUNIO
On June 29, 2025, at around 11 a.m. the tug 'Cala Gullo' (IMO: 9791509 sank in the Port of Barcelona after the collision with the 'Cape Sounio'. The three crew members were rescued unharmed by the port pilots with a pilot boat. The accident happened during a turnaround maneuver alongside the container ship, while the tug was supporting it, when leaving the Hutchison Port Best terminal. The 'Cala Gullo' then started to list and went down stern first, with the bow tip sill protruding from the water. The container ship left the port again on July 1, next headed to La Spezia with an ETA as of July 2. The incident prompted the activation of the Maritime Interior Plan (PIM) in the alert phase to assess any oil spill in the water, which was later ruled out. Work was commenced to refloat the tug. Report with photo: https://infopuertos.com/un-remolcador-se-hunde-en-el-puerto-de-barcelona-tras-una-colision-con-un-buque-de-msc/ https://portalportuario.cl/remolcador-termina-hundido-tras-impacto-con-portacontenedores-en-puerto-de-barcelona/
Kiel
The Port of Kiel expects another good season in 2023, resulting in 218 cruise calls, said its MD Dirk Claus in the morning of Jan 17, 2023, as part of a presentation reflecting on last year's results. It follows 2022's record-breaking 244 calls, which saw the port handle over 2.24m passengers, 836,000 of those from cruise vessels. The number of calls in 2019 was 37% less by comparison, numbering 178, and passenger volumes 4.1% lower. 2020 had been forecast to become a record season for Kiel, with 200 calls and 880,000 passengers, but aspirations were dashed owing to the pandemic. This year, a number of larger vessels are scheduled to arrive at Kiel on multiple occasions making the gross tonnage of arriving ships similar to 2022. For 2023, the choice of routes and destinations approached from Kiel will be slightly broader. Moving into the future, Claus expects Kiel to settle on between 200 and 250 cruise calls annually. According to the port, last year’s promising results were the result of ‘intense planning’ with international cruise operators. While 11 calls were cancelled owing to the conflict in Ukraine and the resulting loss of St Petersburg from itineraries, nine were newly added as a result of rerouting by operators. Looking ahead, there will be a strong focus on greener shipping with Claus hoping that between 60 and 100 calls can be supplied with green shore power this year. He stated that Kiel will continue to look at strengthening shore power in line with its corporate sustainability strategy to lower carbon emissions. Work on the new Ostuferhafen shore power plant is expected to conclude towards the end of this year, resulting in Kiel being able to offer shoreside connectivity at all its ferry and cruise terminals from 2024. Along with this €17m investment, a further €2m will be invested to install solar arrays. The systems, which will be fitted on roofs at Kiel Port, are intended to cover up to 30% of the port's electricity requirements in the long term. Kiel’s first call is expected to arrive April 7 with the river vessel 'Frederic Chopin'. The first cruise ship of the season, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 'Balmoral', will arrive a week later. The largest ships to call will be 'MSC Euribia' and 'AIDAnova'. At the other end of the scale, the 'Ocean Majesty' will visit Kiel on six occasions while chartered to Hansa Touristik. The vessel, which celebrates its 57th anniversary this year, is popular with the German source market. One of its calls is scheduled to occur on June 18 during the Kieler Woche sailing festival which will run from June 17-25. Traditionally, this marks the peak of the cruise season with this year no exception: 22 calls are expected by Kiel at the same time as the event takes place. While the highest number of calls is expected between mid-April and the end of September as usual, some ships will continue to call later in the year. 'AIDAnova'’s last departure is scheduled for November 4 whilst December 20 will see Phoenix Reisen's 'Amera' arrive at Kiel as part of a pre-Christmas itinerary. The season will draw to a close a few days later with the 'Spirit of Discovery' on December 29. Costa-, AIDA-, MSC- and TUI Cruises will again be the port's largest cruise customers. The majority of calls account for turnarounds serving the German-speaking source markets, but a number of transit calls will also take place, P&O Cruises’ Britannia, Swiss Ruby, Holland America Line’s 'Nieuw Statendam' and Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 'Seven Seas Splendor' among them. As in previous years, the Ostuferhafen outside the city centre will be heavily utilised by MSC Cruises and most other cruise ships will arrive at the Ostseekai.
Kerch
The Crimean Bridge across Kerch Strait suffered an explosion and fire in the morning of Oct 8, 2022. Two spans of the motorway bridge collapsed and fell into the water, the railway bridge above the motorway witha cargo train including railway car tanks with fuel, was on fire. All bridge traffic was suspended. The Crimean Bridge was more than a Bridge, both for Russia and Ukraine. For Russia it was a symbol of the Russian “victory” and historical justice. For the Ukraine, it was a symbol of the Russian aggression and Crimea occupation. The navigation span of the Bridge is yet undamaged, and therefore, the Kerch Strait Channel remained navigable. The Kerch Strait Transit is from now on, however, a risky undertaking, so all ship owners are advised to calculate risks and probably, change their ships voyages, avoiding Azov sea calls.
MORNING MIDAS
The sinking of the 'Morning Midas', carrying 3,048 Chinese vehicles, including 750 electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids, is costing the industry an estimated $560 million, according to the Anderson Economic Group. This incident, the third major EV-carrying ship loss in three years, highlights growing risks in EV shipping. The 'Morning Midas' was transporting vehicles from Chinese automakers like Chery Automobile Co. and Great Wall Motor Co. Combined with the sinking of the 'Felicity Ace' in 2022 and the fire aboard the 'Fremantle Highway' in 2023, these incidents have racked up an estimated $1.8 billion in losses, highlighting the risks of shipping EVs in closed containers. These figures excluded the additional expenses like environmental cleanup, medical costs, or replacing the ship itself, meaning the true impact could be even higher. For EV manufacturers, these losses strain budgets and disrupt supply chains, potentially delaying deliveries to markets like Mexico, where demand for affordable EVs is growing. Ship crews, often limited in size, lack the specialized training needed to handle EV fires. Most crews receive only basic firefighting training and may not even know where EVs are stored on board. This gap in expertise and resources complicates emergency responses. Better fire monitoring systems and increased spacing between EVs” could help control fires. Spacing EVs farther apart could slow fire spread, though it would reduce the number of vehicles per ship. These changes could raise shipping costs, as fewer vehicles per trip mean higher per-unit expenses. Automakers and shippers must balance efficiency with safety. Enhanced monitoring, better crew training, and revised cargo layouts are regarded as critical steps towards preventing future disasters.
CALA GULLO
On June 29, 2025, at around 11 a.m. the 'Cala Gullo' sank in the Port of Barcelona after the collision with the 'Cape Sounio' (IMO: 9727625). The three crew members were rescued unharmed by the port pilots with a pilot boat. The accident happened during a turnaround maneuver alongside the container ship, while the tug was supporting it, when leaving the Hutchison Port Best terminal. The 'Cala Gullo' then started to list and went down stern first, with the bow tip sill protruding from the water. The container ship left the port again on July 1, next headed to La Spezia with an ETA as of July 2. The incident prompted the activation of the Maritime Interior Plan (PIM) in the alert phase to assess any oil spill in the water, which was later ruled out. Work was commenced to refloat the tug. Report with photo: https://infopuertos.com/un-remolcador-se-hunde-en-el-puerto-de-barcelona-tras-una-colision-con-un-buque-de-msc/ https://portalportuario.cl/remolcador-termina-hundido-tras-impacto-con-portacontenedores-en-puerto-de-barcelona/
Singapore
On Dec 1, 2022, at about 3 p.m. the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was informed that 15 empty containers at Keppel Terminal had fallen from the wharf into the water as a result of strong winds during a squall. There were no reported injuries and no immediate impact to port operations. The MPA deployed two patrol crafts to monitor and cordon off the affected area to facilitate recovery work by PSA Corporation Ltd. MPA’s Port Operations Control Centre has restricted all vessel movements in the vicinity of Keppel Terminal until the containers were recovered.
Odessa
For the fourth day in a row, Iranian-made drones attacked Odesa on Sep 26 in the morning, this time against military targets and without civilian casualties. On Sep 23, two civilians were killed during Russian drone attacks on the port city. On Sep 25, Odesa was attacked by three drones, one of which was reportedly shot down by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine has not officially identified the drones, but from the video footage below it appears, according to experts, that they are Iranian-produced Shakhed 136 drones.
ENERGOS FORCE
The commissioning of the LNG terminal in Stade continues to be delayed with the "Energos Force" chartered by the German government, having set course on June 24, 2025, en route to Gibraltar with an ETA as of July 1. Over the past few months, it has been waiting off Skagen, waiting to enter Stade. Nevertheless, there were initial signs that the two parties to the conflict are slowly moving closer together. The differences between the federally owned Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET) GmbH and the project developer Hanseatic Energy Hub GmbH (HEH) are about the construction of the superstructure. This jetty ensures that the cryogenic liquefied natural gas regasified from the ship can be transferred to land and distributed to the gas grids there. The superstructure could go into operation by the start of the heating season, as iit had previously been confirmed by the responsible approval authorities. First signs of rapprochement The DET has not yet considered the facilities to be operational. HEH has apparently also determined that the technical work on the superstructure facilities and the documentation to be handed over for the safe operation of the superstructure facilities in compliance with German and international safety standards are still outstanding. The plant could be put into operation once the outstanding issues named by Uniper have been resolved. The DET was currently "intensively examining a sub-charter of the 'Energos Force'. The ship would generate considerable costs even without active use, and subchartering would reduce the costs for the federal government. The sub-chartering must not impair the possibilities for a timely commissioning of the site, which are also currently being examined.
FV BELENOS
The "Belenos" was surprised by the surfacing of a Russian submarine off the coast of Brittany on June 28, 2025.T he Breton fishing vessel had left Roscoff in Finistère the same morning and was sailing off the coast of Côtes-d'Armor. The incident occurred not far from the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. The submarine had been tracked for some time by the Atlantic Maritime Prefecture. The French frigate 'Normandie' escorted it during its southbound transit. The escort was then entrusted to the British Navy. Report with photo: https://lemarin.ouest-france.fr/defense/au-large-de-la-bretagne-le-chalutier-belenos-surpris-par-la-remontee-dun-sous-marin-russe-24faa928-5590-11f0-8d7d-49e18ac65051
Kerch
Russia's Ministry of Transport has set up a ferry service across the Kerch Strait to take over vehicle traffic, offsetting some of the impact of the damage to the Kerch Strait Bridge after a truck was blown up on the westbound road deck of the Kerch Strait Bridge on Oct 7 at about 6 a.m. Two spans of the westbound deck collapsed into the water, but the adjacent eastbound deck remained in place. The blast's timing coincided with the passage of a fuel train on the adjacent rail deck, and it ignited seven fuel tank cars, which burned for hours after the explosion. A Russian salvage diving team has arrived on the site and is completing an underwater survey of the damage, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said Sunday. An above-water inspection process is already under way. Traffic had partially resumed on the bridge by late Saturday, though restricted by the extent of the damage. Russia's Ministry of Transport said that it also resumed suburban commuter rail service over the rail track, though not heavy freight trains. Two ferries are already in operation to provide a bypass route, and eight separate parking lots have been set up for temporary storage for cars and trucks waiting to make the crossing. Two more ferries will join the effort on Monday, the Yeysh and Mriya.
Yaizu
Yaizu Port is one of the leading fishing ports in Japan. In August 2022, the VesselTracker AIS receiving station opened at Yaizu Port.