On the morning of April 18, 2025, several migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez off the coasts of Pas-de-Calais and Nord. First, a boat was reported departing from Cap Blanc-Nez. The CROSS deployed an aircraft to monitor the boat's departure and the Gendarmerie's RHIB 'Ouranos', which was then relieved by the 'Cormoran' to continue monitoring the boat. The crew launched their operational droma boat (EDO) to make contact with the boat. The occupants refused the offered assistance. The 'Cormoran' continued its surveillance of the boat until arriving in the British SAR region, where it was taken over by the British emergency services. During the recovery by British assets assisted by the 'Cormoran', one person was reported unconscious. A medevac was coordinated by the British rescue center. The victim was declared dead as they approached Dover. At the same time, the CROSS engaged the 'Oyapock' of the Maritime Gendarmerie, to relocate a migrant boat adrift from Gravelines. Once there, the vessel made contact with the boat's occupants, who refused the assistance offered. Shortly after, the occupants requested assistance from the vessel, which then picked up all nine occupants before dropping them off at the port of Dunkirk. Late in the morning, a migrant boat set sail from Equihen beach. The 'Pluvier' was hired by CROSS to locate and monitor the boat. The boat was heavily laden. While conducting surveillance near the boat, the 'Pluvier' reported the deflation of the boat's inflatable tubes and people who had fallen into the water. The victims in the water were immediately recovered by the 'Pluvier's EDO. The 'Minck' was deployed to support the 'Pluvier'. A total of 15 people were rescued. The other occupants of the boat refused all assistance and resumed their journey, under the supervision of the 'Minck', towards British waters after having managed to reinflate the boat's inflatable tube. In total, 24 people were rescued by French resources.
News
LOCH SEAFORTH
Due to a technical issue of the 'Loch Seaforth ', serving on the route Ullapool-Stornoway, on April 17, that required further investigations, the scheduled deaprture at 10:30 a.m. frm Ullapool and the departure from Stornoway at 2 p.m. have been cancelled. After the technical issue has been resolved, the service was resumed with the 5:30 p.m. sailing departing Ullapool.
Bandar Abbas
The Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran is going to sign a contract with the private sector on Tuesday for the construction of Iran’s biggest mechanized mineral terminal at Shahid Rajaee Port, the deputy head of PMO announced on Monday. Ali Hassanzadeh added that the contract is worth 50 trillion rials (over $430 million). The terminal’s capacity will reach 50 million tons per year upon the completion of the project, which will be carried out in three phases, covering 180 hectares of land, each spread over 60 hectares. It will be the biggest mineral terminal in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, and mark a major development in Iran’s mining industry, considering its considerable mineral capacity, Mehr News Agency reported.
Abbot Point
Three South Korean brokerage firms, including Samsung Securities Co. Ltd., underwrote around 250 billion won ($208 million) of a subordinated debt on Abbot Point coal terminal in Australia in the second investment by South Korean institutions in the export terminal. Samsung and Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. acquired 150 billion won of the five-year debt in aggregate for an expected yield of about 8%. They are selling them down to domestic institutional investors.
PSP CORMORAN
On the morning of April 18, 2025, several migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez off the coasts of Pas-de-Calais and Nord. First, a boat was reported departing from Cap Blanc-Nez. The CROSS deployed an aircraft to monitor the boat's departure and the Gendarmerie's RHIB 'Ouranos', which was then relieved by the 'Cormoran' to continue monitoring the boat. The crew launched their operational droma boat (EDO) to make contact with the boat. The occupants refused the offered assistance. The 'Cormoran' continued its surveillance of the boat until arriving in the British SAR region, where it was taken over by the British emergency services. During the recovery by British assets assisted by the 'Cormoran', one person was reported unconscious. A medevac was coordinated by the British rescue center. The victim was declared dead as they approached Dover. At the same time, the CROSS engaged the 'Oyapock' of the Maritime Gendarmerie, to relocate a migrant boat adrift from Gravelines. Once there, the vessel made contact with the boat's occupants, who refused the assistance offered. Shortly after, the occupants requested assistance from the vessel, which then picked up all nine occupants before dropping them off at the port of Dunkirk. Late in the morning, a migrant boat set sail from Equihen beach. The 'Pluvier' was hired by CROSS to locate and monitor the boat. The boat was heavily laden. While conducting surveillance near the boat, the 'Pluvier' reported the deflation of the boat's inflatable tubes and people who had fallen into the water. The victims in the water were immediately recovered by the 'Pluvier's EDO. The 'Minck' was deployed to support the 'Pluvier'. A total of 15 people were rescued. The other occupants of the boat refused all assistance and resumed their journey, under the supervision of the 'Minck', towards British waters after having managed to reinflate the boat's inflatable tube. In total, 24 people were rescued by French resources.
VIZCONDE DE EZA
On April 17, the SAR helicopter Helimer 215 medevaced a sick passenger from the cruise ship 'Queen Mary 2', which was sailing 28 nautical miles from Garrucha. The SAR boat 'Salvamar Deneb' medevaced a sick crew member from the 'Vizconde de Eza off Santander. Thwe operations were coordinated by the CCS of Salvamento Marítimo in Almería and Santander.
Antwerp
Port of Antwerp has ordered construction of a tug powered by hydrogen, the first in the world. This unique “Hydrotug” is driven by combustion engines that burn hydrogen in combination with diesel. The motors also comply with the very strictest standard, the EU Stage V, making them the lowest-rated for emissions on the market. This ultra-low-emission tug is being built by Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), a pioneer in the field of hydrogen power for shipping. With this world first Antwerp is making an important step in the transition to a sustainable, CO2-neutral port. By lending support to this promising technology Port of Antwerp hopes that the shipping industry will follow. The port is systematically pursuing a policy of making its entire fleet eco-friendly by incorporating the most environment-friendly technologies available on the market.
Altamira
Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has signed a contract to supply Infraestructura Portuaria Mexicana (IPM) with two ship-to-shore (STS) and three rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes for the IPM Altamira terminal. The order, which also includes Kalmar SmartPort process automation solutions for the RTGs, was booked in Cargotec’s 2019 Q3 order intake with handover scheduled to be completed during Q1 of 2021. The IPM Altamira terminal is located on the Gulf of Mexico, in the state of Tamaulipas. The terminal’s current equipment fleet already includes one Kalmar STS crane, eight Kalmar RTGs and a variety of Kalmar mobile equipment such as terminal tractors and forklifts. The Kalmar STS cranes will be Super Post-Panamax size with an outreach of 21 container rows and have twin-lift capability with a capacity of 65 tonnes under the spreader.
SUPERSTAR
On the morning of April 18, 2025, the Port Authority of Volos was informed by the Captain of the 'Superstar', that during the execution of its scheduled route from the port of Volos to the ports of Skiathos-Skopelos and return, a failure was detected in the port side main engine. The ship returned to the port of Volos, where it safely disembarked 427 passengers. The Central Port Authority of Volos prohibited the departure of the ship until the presentation of a certificate of class maintenance from the classification society that monitors it, while the passengers were transported with the company's care.
QUEEN MARY 2
On April 17, the SAR helicopter Helimer 215 medevaced a sick passenger from the 'Queen Mary 2', which was sailing 28 nautical miles from Garrucha. The SAR boat 'Salvamar Deneb' medevaced a sick crew member from the oceanographic vessel 'Vizconde de Eza off Santander. Thwe operations were coordinated by the CCS of Salvamento Marítimo in Almería and Santander.
Prince Rupert
Calgary based Melius Energy has successfully transported bitumen from Edmonton, Alberta to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, continuing to global markets in custom 20-foot shipping containers utilizing intermodal rail and vessel infrastructure. The shipment is the company’s first BitCrude™ transportation process demonstration, proving the ability to move bitumen safely and efficiently, in adherence to Canada’s regulatory framework.
Visakhapatnam
Container lines Hapag Lloyd, ONE, YML, COSCO and OOCL will jointly run a new direct service from Visakha Container Terminal (VCT), the privately-run facility at State-owned Visakhapatnam Port Trust, to the Mediterranean and Europe, which will also bring connectivity with Africa and the America. The announcement strengthens Visakha Container Terminal’s rising stature as a regional container transshipment hub on the east coast, said shipping industry sources. “The commercial benefits offered by Visakhapatanam Port Trust makes the terminal even more attractive in the long run by being the gateway to the East for both northern and southern regions extending right up to Bangladesh and even Myanmar,” the terminal operator said. The terminal, majority owned by International Cargo Terminals & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, is located centrally and strategically on the East Coast of India between Kolkata and Chennai. The facility handled over 0.45 million TEUs during FY19 and is on the verge of crossing the 0.5-million TEUs in FY20, aided by a 16 pre cent growth in traffic, complemented rail movement and also transshipment.