News

On Jan 28, 2025, the Royal Navy received a distress signal indicating the presence of three crew members in critical health condition on board the "Tai Hua Wan", en route from Agadir to Mohammedia. The Morroccan Royal Navy medevaced the two near the port of Mohammedia. The two operation was carried out in close coordination with the Royal Gendarmerie and the SAR Coordination Center. The evacuated patients were handed over to the Civil Protection elements. The ship entered the port of Mohammedia on Jan 29.

A person fell overboard from the 'Victoria 1' on the afternoon of Jan 29, 2025. The incident occurred in the waters around the island of Ulkomatala in Helsinki. It was only when the vessel reached the port of Helsinki that friends of the person discovered that he had disappeared. Surveillance camera footage shows a person falling overboard shortly after 3 p.m. An SAR operation was carried out with the help of patrol boats and a helicopter of the Finland Coast Guard. Other vessels operating in the area were also asked to help in the search. Shortly before 7 p.m. the Coast Guard was ending the search, as no one had been found. The assessment was that the person will not be found alive. The water was cold, the visibility poor, so it did not make sense to continue.

Customers and port stakeholders of Operadora Portuaria Centroamericana (OPC), the Honduran subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) operating Puerto Cortes, Central America 4’s (CA-4) largest port, can expect faster cargo movement in and around the terminal with OPC beefing up its partnership with Honduran authorities for improved and more efficient port services. OPC is working with the Honduran government and Puerto Cortés authorities to enhance the port’s competitiveness and better serve its customers in the four-nation CA-4, comprising Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Enhancements include simplified and faster port transactions, and the construction of critical road infrastructure the will improve cargo movement in the region. As part of efforts to expedite intra-regional trade, the Honduran Customs Agency (Dirección Adjunta de Rentas Aduaneras – DARA) has streamlined its systems for early clearance and dispatch of cargo, matching OPC’s already-efficient operations. Operating hours of customs authorities were likewise extended until 7 p.m., thus giving agents and brokers more time to process shipment.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority has reached an agreement with Sif Holding n.v. regarding the lease of 20 ha of port site and a 200-m stretch of deep-sea quay at Maasvlakte. Sif’s new lot lies adjacent to its existing port site, where the company already works on the assembly of foundations for offshore wind turbines, the company said in its release. Sif will be using the newly allocated site on behalf of clients active in the offshore wind power sector. The first project to be undertaken at the new site will be the logistics handling of all 94 monopiles (wind turbine foundations) destined for the offshore wind farm Borssele 1 + 2, commissioned by Deme Offshore.

On the morning of Jan 28, 2025, the "Linden", en route from Monrovia to Casablanca, suffered an engine failure off the coast of Mohammedia, 2.5 kilometers southeast of the port. The ship waas drifting approximately 2.5 kilometers southeast of the port of Mohammedia. Upon receiving the distress signal, the Moroccan Royal Navy quickly dispatched a helicopter to evacuate two crew members who were in critical condition. A naval unit was also mobilized on site to monitor the stricken ship and provide the necessary support. The evacuated patient was handed over to the Civil Protection elements. The ship drifted aground in pos. N 33° 43' N 007° 22 W. Report with photo: https://www.welovebuzz.com/la-marine-royale-sauve-deux-navires-en-detresse-au-large-de-mohammedia/

After a series of incidents with broken cables on the bottom of the North Sea, Global Connect, the largest cable operator in the Nordic region, is now calling for a response across the Nordic countries to increase the protection of critical infrastructure. The 'Vezhen' is suspected of having caused the latest cable break in the Baltic Sea. Few people believe that it is coincidence that has led to the breakage of submarine cables in recent months. Suspicion of sabotage is widespread. This has prompted Global Connect to appeal to the Danish government to ensure better protection of the infrastructure on the seabed: “You have to be aware that submarine cables are an integral part of our infrastructure, and there is not much that works in modern society if our main routes for data transmission disappear. As it is today, we can easily handle it – like a storm or a fishing boat that is going to pull a cable over. But what we have seen here recently is that it is happening more systematically, and then it can no longer be handled by a single company,” said the company’s director, Martin Lipper, calling for a contingency plan across the Nordic countries to help protect the infrastructure. The Bulgarian shipping company behind the 'Vezhen' acknowledged that the ship may have caused the rupture of a cable in the Baltic Sea between Gotland and Latvia, but denies that it was a deliberate act.

Istanbul’s Galataport, a megaproject expected to boost the city’s tourism with cruise ports and increase tourism revenues, is and slated to open in May 2020. Galataport is jointly being built by Turkey’s Doğuş Group and Bilgili Holding with an investment of $1.7 billion. It is dubbed one of the world’s largest coastal projects, aiming to become one of the top cruise destinations. In a press conference held yesterday in Istanbul, Doğuş Group Chairman Ferit Şahenk confirmed that the port has a capacity to welcome 25 million visitors per year, including 7 million foreigners. The estimated revenues from the increasing number of tourists will be around $1 billion. “The port also has two museums and a recreation area of 14,000 square meters to host culture and art events,” Şahenk added. The Doğuş Group chairman remarked that a “1.2-kilometer-long coast line, which has been closed to the public for 200 years, is now preparing to welcome its visitors.

Genting Hong Kong (GHK) has officially secured funding for the construction and post-delivery financing of Dream Cruises’ two new Global Class ships. KfW IPEX-Bank will supply US$2.9 billion, with backing from the Federal Republic of Germany, Finnish export credit agency Finnvera, and the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. At an overall cost of €3.1 billion (US$3.4 billion), the two new vessels are currently being built at GHK-owned shipyard MV Werften in Germany for the fast-growing Asian cruise market. “We are very appreciative of KfW IPEX-Bank, the bank consortium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Finnvera for supporting GHK in the financing of the Global Class ships,” said Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chief executive of Genting Hong Kong.

Beached at Chittagong 29.01.25

The ferry company Gotlandsbolaget sent the Nordic Pearl' from Copenhagen to Oslo for the first time on Jan 28 with its new colours and its new name. The 36-year-old ferry, which is now painted aqua-green and white, has also undergone an extensive renovation inside during its almost month-long stay at the shipyard in Landskrona. This applies to both cabins and the ferry's common areas. The ferry was purchased by DFDS in 2001 and named 'Pearl of Scandinavia'' and in 2011 'Pearl Seaways'. Report with photo: https://www.maritimedanmark.dk/forste-tur-med-nyt-navn-og-ny-bemaling

Active construction is currently underway in the D-terminal of the Port of Tallinn being built by Nordecon, in order to open the first phase of construction of the renovated D-terminal to passengers within two months, the port says in a press release. A digital twin of the new D-Terminal building and the remodeled part which aims to make the building's life cycle more efficient was created in the BIM implementation model. The completion of the extension and reconstruction work of the port is scheduled for summer 2020.

Marine battery supplier Corvus Energy is to install its lithium-ion battery storage systems onboard AIDA Cruises’ ships to reduce fossil fuel use and emissions. In a project that will also involve ABB and Siemens, Corvus will install and commission the battery storage systems on the first AIDA ship in 2020. The companies then plan to then use their findings from the pilot project to successfully fit battery systems onboard other vessels in the AIDA fleet. “Our goal is the emissions-neutral ship operation,” said Michael Thamm, group CEO of Costa Group and Carnival Asia.