The voyage data recorder (VDR), of the 'Eagle S' was not functioning during the critical period in which the vessel damaged several undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland. According to materials from the National Bureau of Investigation (KRP), made public as part of an ongoing criminal trial, the data recorder failed to capture the moment when the vessel's anchor severed the Estlink 2 electricity cable on Dec 25, 2024. The investigators found that the VDR had only begun recording data at 12:59 that day. By that time, the tanker had already entered Finland’s exclusive economic zone at 12:23 and crossed over Estlink 2, where the cable was damaged. KRP officials seized the VDR and conducted technical examinations, including efforts to recover overwritten or deleted data. No usable recordings were found between Dec 18 and 12:59 on Dec 25, a period during which the vessel had mostly remained in Russian territorial waters. The investigators considered both equipment failure and intentional interference. The KRP found no signs of tampering. A technical explanation emerged during forensic analysis: the VDR system relied on a GPS time signal, which had been lost intermittently during the voyage. According to police findings, the GPS receiver onboard had reverted to an incorrect time, sometimes displaying the year 2005, when it failed to acquire a satellite signal. As a result, the recorder deleted existing files to manage disk space. Investigators described the GPS unit as outdated, dating back to the early 2000s. The captain Davit Vadatchkoria told investigators that the ship had lost its GPS signal approximately an hour after entering Russian waters. Signal reception remained unstable until it resumed at 12:59 onAug 25. At that point, the VDR resumed normal recording, including bridge communications. At 1:05 p.m., just minutes after the system reactivated, the ship’s second mate informed the captain of low engine revolutions. The fifth and final cable break occurred later that evening at 6:43 p.m. The 'Eagle S' had been first anchoring in St Petersburg on Dec 21, and departid from Ust-Luga with a fuel cargo on Dec 24.
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MOROCCO STAR
The port of Algeciras (Cádiz) was forced to suspend operations at one of its four berths after the Morocco Star', serving on the route Tanger-Cadiz, allided with two barriers of berth 2 of the pasenger terminal on Aug 21, 2025, at around 8:00 p.m. The vessel hit with its port side as it was about to dock in Algeciras. No casualties were reported, however, the berth barriers were damaged, preventing the resumption of operations at the terminal.
HUMANITY 1
The Italian government has designated Ravenna as a safe port for the 'Humanity 1', which was expected to arrive on the morning of Aug 28 with 51 rescued migrants on board. The decision was communicated by the Italian Ministry of Interior to the Municipality in Emilia-Romagna on Aug 23, following the rescue of the migrants by the NGO ship. The Mayor of Ravenna, Alessandro Barattoni, recalled that this was the 24th ship of NGOs to arrive in the port in two and a half years and said, the ship would be the last one to dock in Ravenna until a national roundtable of the cities identified as having safe ports has been held in Rome. The Municipality of Ravenna had always cooperated with the Ministry and the Prefecture to assure the best logistic and organizational conditions during the arrivals, but at the same time it also always denounced the inhumanity and lack of coherence of the choices of the safe ports that are far from the sea rescue areas. Also on board the 'Humanity 1',, there were many criticisms concerning the choice of RAvenna as safe port: "Once again, Italian authorities fail to allow those rescued the right to dock at a safe and nearby port! We were assigned the port of Ravenna, which is slightly more than 1.600 kilometers from the place where we rescued 51 persons, among them approximately 10 unaccompanied minors," stated the NGO on Aug 24.
MARANATHA
The Grid operator TenneT worked all day on Aug 26 to finally stabilize the high-voltage pylon in Franeker, and late in the evening it was reported to be safe and stable. On Aug 27, an inspection was to be conducted to determine the extent of the damage. Based on this inspection, the grid operator would make an assessment how to resolve this and how long it will take, hoping to be able to say something about that in the coming days. The barge 'Famke' (MMSI: 244630496) was also sailing again on the evening of Aug 26. The ship had been unloading sand in Leeuwarden when the power went out. The crane's clamp was in the hold at the time, so that the ship got stuck for two days. The 'Famke' returned to Harlingen, being one of the first vessels to pass under the power lines near Franeker on the evening of Aug 26. It berthed in Harlingen on Aug 27. Report with photos: https://www.omropfryslan.nl/nl/nieuws/17737248/hoogspanningsmast-stabiel-kijken-hoe-groot-schade-is-schip-uit-harlingen-vaart-weer
PUNTA DA GUIA
On Aug 26, 2025, the 'Punta da Guía' came to assist the historic tug 'San Esteban', which had run aground at América beach, in the Ría de Vigo, and pulled it to the port of Baiona. The historic steamboat, now powered by a diesel engine, had run aground on the morning on the beach of Playa América due to a mechanical failure and heavy swell. It got stuck in the middle of the Nigrán sandbank. The skipper attempted to maneuver it back out to sea several times, but was unable to do so until, just after 3:00 p.m., the vessel was towed off by the Galician Coast Guard thanks to the rising tide after an hour of maneuvers In 1902, the 'San Esteban' was completed at the Phillips & Sons Shipbuilders Ltd. shipyard in Dartmouth. Measuring almost 17 meters in length and just over four meters in width, it operated as a fishing vessel for its first five years under the name 'Venture'. In 1907, it was converted into a tug, owned by the Sociedad General de Ferrocarriles Vasco-Asturiana (Basque-Asturian General Railway Company). It ceased operations in 1970 and was later rescued from scrap and restored between 1998 and 2003 by the San Esteban Tugboat Protection Society, which included engineer José Cardín, manager of Sidra El Gaitero. Today, it is owned by Industrias Ferri, based in the A Pasaxe industrial estate in Gondomar, which financed its latest restoration in 2021 at Talleres Carral. Reports with photos and video: https://www.msn.com/es-es/noticias/virales/el-remolcador-remolcado-gardacostas-rescata-al-barco-hist%C3%B3rico-que-embarr%C3%B3-en-praia-am%C3%A9rica/ar-AA1LiQce https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/vigo/nigran/2025/08/26/barco-vapor-san-esteban-encalla-playa-america-queda-varado-marea-baja/00031756199611314958656.htm https://www.elcomercio.es/asturias/bajo-nalon/vaporin-encalla-galicia-orillas-playa-america-20250827074445-nt.html https://www.vigoe.es/comarcas/val-minor/nigran/asi-fue-el-rescate-del-san-esteban-tras-encallar-en-praia-america/ https://www.farodevigo.es/comarcas/2025/08/26/barco-historico-embarra-praia-america-120947708.html https://www.atlantico.net/nigran/buque-san-esteban-leyenda-flotante_1_20250826-3960054.html