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On the evening of Jan 28, 2025, the 'Guang Rong' ran aground on the beachfront in Marina di Massa due to stron northeasterly winds and a swell of four meters, brought by storm Herminia. The ship was at anchor in the harbour of Marina di Carrara when the force of the storm caused it to move and dangerously drift towards the coast at around 9 p.m. The ship had only one engine functioning and may also have had a problem with one of its anchors. The situation was complicated by an onboard crane that may have destabilised the vessel, which was half-loaded with marble debris. The intensity of the wind and sea currents pushed it towards the shore, until the stern came to rest against the iconic Pontile di Marina di Massa, a wooden public-access pier in a resort district. Following the impact, a part of the Marina di Massa pier collapsed. The area was inevitably closed off. The 12 crew members, mostly Ukrainians, have been safely transferred to the shore. The Coast Guard's Nemo helicopter was flying over the area to monitor the situation. The operations were being monitored by the Coast Guard of Marina di Carrara under the coordination of the Regional Maritime Rescue Center of the Coast Guard of Livorno. Also on site were the Coast Guard's divers from Genova, who intended to dive to inspect the hull and assess the safety and removal of the ship, which was resting on its starboard side, pounded by the surf and flooded. It has on board 102 tons of gas oil, creating an environmental threat. The vessel has accumulated a long history of deficiencies and detentions, with port state inspectors finding multiple issues at every boarding since 2017. Its last inspection by the Livorno Coastguard at Marina di Carrara in Sep 2024 turned up 24 deficiencies, and the vessel was detained for nearly a month for repairs. The identified issues included problems with corrosion, life rafts, propulsion, fire pumps, certificates and hatches, among others. Just under two years ago in Genoa, the ship was subjected to a detention by the Genova Coast Guard for violations of international regulations on the protection of human life at sea, the protection of the marine environment and the safety of navigation. On that occasion, 12 deficiencies were identified, seveb of which were regarded as serious, including some critical issues with the main engine, emergency equipment, the ship's structure, as well as crew safety and the safety management system. After a sailing ban, lasting several days, the ship returned to sailing after having remedied the critical issues identified. Italian authorities detained the 'Guang Rong' three times between Sep 2022 and Sep 2024, for a total of 69 days, due to 49 different deficiencies. The vessel was a regular visitor to the ports of Genova and Marina di Carrara, from which it had set sail at 5.30 p.m., because for years it has been shuttling between Tuscany and Liguria to transport materials intended first for the Fincantieri shipyard at Sestri Ponente and in recent months for the works on the new breakwater at the port. Reports with photos and video: https://www.messaggeromarittimo.it/mare-mosso-la-guang-rong-si-arena-sul-pontile-di-marina-di-massa/ https://www.iltirreno.it/massa/cronaca/2025/01/29/news/marina-di-massa-nave-cargo-incagliata-cosa-trasporta-la-guang-rong-il-pontile-distrutto-e-le-12-persone-salvate-video-1.100653280 https://www.ilsecoloxix.it/italia/2025/01/29/video/marina_di_massa_la_nave_guang_rong_arenata_davanti_alla_costa__video-14969509/#google_vignette https://www.shippingitaly.it/2025/01/28/avaria-e-incaglio-a-massa-per-la-nave-guang-rong-impiegata-per-la-diga-di-genova/ https://www.iltirreno.it/massa/cronaca/2025/01/28/news/paura-a-marina-di-massa-nave-alla-deriva-finisce-contro-il-pontile-1.100653197

More than a year after the 'La Primavera' crashed into the Iffezheim lock (Rastatt district) on the Upper Rhine on Nov 25, 2023, ships can use both lock chambers again. The new upper gate is 25.5 meters wide and 11 meters high including the walkway. It is designed to operate for 70 years. Those responsible tested that the processes worked perfectly during more than 100 test locks without ship traffic. As of Jan 30, 2025 at 10 a.m., the lock is fully operational again, according to the Upper Rhine Waterways and Shipping Authority (WSA). The badly damaged upper gate of the right chamber has been replaced. The district court in Kehl, Baden, as the responsible shipping court, sentenced the helmswoman to five months' probation. The 50-year-old caused the accident because she had drunk alcohol and then fell asleep. The woman has appealed against the decision to the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court.

The shipping company of the 'Vezhen' has continued to claim its innocence after the suspected cable sabotage off Gotland. Navibulgar CEO Capt. Alexander Kalchev stated that the incident was an accident caused by bad weather and not intentional. When the 'Vezhen' approached Gotland on Jan 25, the weather conditions were rough, with waves of 10 feet and winds reaching 40 knots.Surveillance footage from the ship’s bridge showed that the vessel’s bow took a pounding from the waves. In these conditions, the waves caused the port anchor to move back and forth, which eventually led to the failure of the wire stopper. Kalchev said that once the stopper failed, the anchor chain “leaked” out gradually under tension, without the anchor dropping suddenly. He added that the failure of the chain stopper occurred slowly, allowing the chain to slip out bit by bit under tension. He pointed out that the wear on the stopper bar proved the anchor drop was accidental, and further explained that guillotine stopper failures, like the one on the 'Vezhen', have been reported before in near-miss incidents but never caused subsea cable damage. However, several experts believed that it was unlikely that an anchor would be dropped accidentally without noticing. In Bulgaria, it has become an issue that is being handled at the highest political level because the ship belongs to the Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar. A representative from the country's embassy in Stockholm was on his way to the ship. The Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev was waiting fora permission for him to board the ship and communicate with the crew. At the same time, Navibulgar’s CEO Alexander Kalchev reiterated that it was bad weather that caused the anchor to come loose and that it took time before the crew noticed that it was being dragged along the seabed. Johan Östergren, principal of the Maritime School in Stockholm, said: “It would shake and make noise throughout the ship. It is completely unlikely that it would happen, if it is in the middle of the night you would wake up,” Peter Sigray, a researcher at the Faculty of Marine Systems at KTH, said: “It makes noise and rattles, you notice that. You wonder why the speed is decreasing and why the engines are working so hard and why you have difficulty steering. There are many indicators. It's impossible to miss. There are two variants. Either it's very poor seamanship and poor training, or they did it on purpose. Lars Höglund, captain of Donsörederiet, has dropped an anchor once in his 25 years at sea. He agrees that it's unreasonable not to notice if the anchor has been dropped: "You have a very big impact on the ship if an anchor were to drag on the bottom. It creates a braking and twisting moment".

The fire on the 'ASL Bauhinia' was probably the result of an explosion in the cargo and not a Houthi attack. The crew managed to safely leave the burning ship and were taken aboard a nearby vessel. At the time of the explosion, the ship was approximately 140 miles off the coast of Hodeida. The ship's cargo was described as dangerous, without providing further details. The abandoned ship was still on fire. There were fears that the ship and its cargo will have to be considered lost.

The "Eventin" was still detained on Jan 30, almost three weeks after its accident near the island of Rügen. The technical inspection has not yet been completed, according to the Federal Ministry of Transport. The temporary ban on further sailing by the ship safety department therefore still applied. A few days later, the main engine was running again, and the captain asked for permission to leave. However, this was also prohibited due to inspections by the General Customs Directorate. An investigation was being carried out to determine whether the cargo was Russian oil and whether the EU oil embargo was being violated. According to the Stralsund public prosecutor's office, the inspection carried out so far has not revealed any initial suspicion of a criminal offense. Representatives of the classification society DNV went on board for the technical inspection. The evaluation of this inspection has not been completed. The tanker is on a list of ships from the so-called Russian shadow fleet, which mostly refers to older tankers and other cargo ships with opaque ownership structures that Russia uses to circumvent sanctions as a result of its war against Ukraine.