News

The 'PEtter Dass', serving on the route Mekjarvik-Kvitsøybuen, suffered a technical failure on the afternoon of Jan 24, 2025, which also meant that several people have not been able to get home to Kvitsøy during weekend, but have had to find other options for accommodation. Only on Jan 26 the islanders could return home shortly before 9 a.m.

On Jan 25, 2025, the wreck of the 'Amnah' has been removed from the dock in Marport, Istanbul, about one month after it sank during cargo operations. The ship, which was backed up with safety precautions, was tied to dock number 5 and the necessary safety precautions were taken. After the removal of the ship, seabed and dock bottom checks were carried out. Once the examinations have been completed, dock number 4, where mega container ships dock, will be opened to maritime traffic. Reports with photos: https://turkdeniz.com/amnah-isimli-konteyner-gemisi-marporttaki-rihtimdan-kurtarildi https://www.denizhaber.com/marportta-batan-amnah-gemisi-guvenli-sekilde-cikarildi/123605

The Mexican government is upgrading the Port of Manzanillo, one of the country’s main Pacific Ocean ports, with four new terminals. The terminals will include a specialized container facility with capacity to handle 1.75 million TEUs per year, another for agricultural bulk, one more for mineral bulk and one specialized for hydrocarbons.

Middle East-India-Africa Express (MIAX) to start operations in October 2019 Hapag-Lloyd is expanding its African liner services and will offer its MIAX (Middle East-India-Africa Express) service starting in October 2019. It will include direct connections between the Arabian Gulf, India, Colombo (Sri Lanka), La Réunion, South Africa and West Africa.

The 'Medstraum' was taken out of service in Stavnager after its battery capacity dropped to 84 percent on Jan 2, 2025. Now a new electric vessel is on the way. Prior to the phase-out, the operator Fjord1 experienced that the battery was unable to store enough energy. This led to more frequent charging and delays in the route service. This has created a mood of rebellion on Vassøy and the other city islands.

On Jan 24, 2025, at around 7:30 pm, the CROSS Etel was alerted by its British counterparts about the 'Tiger PA', which was not responding to radio messages. The sailing yacht was then relocated approximately 185 km from the Pointe de Graves. The nearby ,/v 'Autosun' managed to establish radio contact after several attempts. The only person on board was a 73-year-old British man who said he was safe and continued on his way. However, on Jan 25 at around 3:00 p.m, the distress beacon of the yacht was detected approximately 80 kilometers west of Lacanau. The CROSS Etel took over the coordination of the resources and broadcast a May Day message. It engaged the Caracal helicopter of the Air and Space Force based in Cazaux, which was carrying a medical team and two divers. At 5:30 p.m., the helicopter arrived in the area, found the gutted sailboat and winched up its two divers who discovered the empty raft. The search continued to find the yachtsman. The 'm/v' Autostar' and the Spanish hospital ship 'Esperanza del Mar' were diverted to search for the man overboard. At 7:00 p.m., the Falcon 50 of the French Navy from Lann Bihoué was also engaged to complete the search system at nightfall. The Caracal helicopter from Cazaux returned to resupply and was then redeployed to the area. On Jan 26 at 1:33 a.m., after several hours of searching, due to the lack of new information, the maritime prefect of the Atlantic decided to suspend the search by directed means.

US-based McDermott International has received a contract to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for the Sohar LNG Bunkering Project in Oman. The project has an aim of establishing Oman as a regional LNG bunkering hub capable of supplying LNG as a fuel to marine vessels. Under the deal, awarded by Total Oman E&P Development B.V. in partnership with Oman Oil Company S.O.A.C., the scope of work during the FEED phase includes fully defining the onshore mid-scale LNG facilities and preparing a competitive tender for the engineering, procurement, supply, construction and commissioning phase.

Maiden call by Marella Cruises in Kiel. In the early Tuesday morning (16th July) the cruise ship Marella Explorer (see also CruiseMapper) berthed in the port of Kiel with 2,000 mostly anglo-phone passengers on-board. The vessel follows an itinerary of 14 days leading it all across the Baltic Sea. It started in Newcastle on 13th July and will conclude its cruise in the same port on 27th July.

On the late evening of Jan 24, 2025, the 'Aspö 3' encountered problems with one of the engines and had to be taken out of traffic on the route between Karlskrona and Aspö for investigations and repairs. After troubleshooting, the ship returned to service on Jan 25.

On Jan 22, 2025, at 2.30 a.m. the 'Delfin' was boarded by five to six perpetrators, armed with gun like objecfs and knives, 6.8 nautical miles west of Pulau Cula in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait (SS), in pos. 1° 3.9' N 103° 36.7' E. The robbers stole generator parts and escaped.

Norwegian shipping and tank terminal company Odfjell SE has finalized the sale of its stake in Odfjell Terminals Jiangyin (OTJ), China. The indirect 55% equity interest in OTJ has been sold by Odfjell Terminals Asia Holding to Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) for a price of about USD 46 million.

All new ships for UK waters ordered from 2025 should be designed with zero-emission capable technologies, according to ambitious plans set out today by maritime minister Nusrat Ghani to cut pollution from the country’s maritime sector. The commitment is set out in the Clean Maritime Plan published today. The government is also looking at ways to incentivise the transition to zero-emission shipping and will consult on this next year. The plan also includes a £1m competition to find innovative ways to reduce maritime emissions and is published alongside a call for evidence to reduce emissions on UK waterways and domestic vessels.