News

Beached at Aliaga Towed by MSC Dragon 29.07.25

An extensive damage to the"Ecofive" has led to new months of delays. On July 27, 2025, the shipping company has announced financial claims to cover lost expenses. The shipyard is threatened with warranty liability. The delivery of the "Ecofive" has previously been postponed several times, but on Feb 26, 2025, the Ålesund shipping company Bluewild announced that they could finally take over their newly built factory trawler from the Westcon Yards shipyard in Ølensvåg in Rogaland. The vessel was to go through the final phase of completion in Ålesund before a trial. But during the test run in April, something went wrong. When the crew was to maneuver the boarding equipment, the A-frame, it was severely twisted, and steel structures were deformed. The skippper of the "Ecofive", Fridtjof Køhn, wrote to the shipping company on April 22 that the ship had to return to Ålesund after the damage: "The A-frame was to be driven from the upper to the rear position. [...] moved little or nothing. [...] Both legs of the A-frame are twisted with significant damage. It is not possible to continue fishing. Setting course for Ålesund," Køhn wrote. The equipment was purchased from a subcontractor. Report with photos: https://www.kystens.no/nyheter/prestisjebat-alvorlig-skadet-veldig-uheldig-sier-verftet-som-trues-med-garantiansvar/2-1-1850564

Sold to Breakers 29.07.25

Beached at Aliaga 17.06.25 towed by Fram Prince https://www.instagram.com/p/DMzI0IwoSBS/

On July 30, 2025, at around 3.45 p.m., the 'Wilson Gdynia', en route from Rotterdam, allided with dolphin 46 off the small locks of the Kiel Canal in Brunsbüttel upon approaching the waterway from the Elbe for the eastbound transit, due to strong gusts of wind and currents. The allision caused parts of the wooden dolphins to break. A floating crane recovered the damaged dolphins. No one was injured, and there was no water pollution. The ship's bulbous bow was damaged too, and the hull was dented approximately two meters above the waterline. Approximately 40 tons of water leaked into the forepeak of the ship. The BG Verkehr (German Traffic Safety Authority) issued a sailing ban. The vessel was moored at the railway station pilings in Brunsbüttel, where it remained stationary as of Aug . On Feb 24, the ship was subjected to a Port State Control in Stord, during which five deficiencies were remarked.

It has now become clear what went wrong on July 17, when the 'Betelgeuze' tilted in drydock. It is a round-hulled ship and has an S-shaped keel. The floating dock at the shipyard is air-operated. When lifting, the ship has to list slightly to port side or starboard side. When the 'Betelgeuze' hit the support in the dock on the port side, the support broke due to a material failure, and the ship tipped over. However, the guide pole that centers the dock prevented the ship from tipping further. There were seven people aboard, who were all able to disembark safely. The 'Betelgeuze 'is now upright again at the quay in the Waalhaven, awaiting dock repairs, so that the 'Betelgeuze' can finally be brought up for a thickness survey. During the waiting time everything gets back upright on the ship. Report with photos: https://www.schuttevaer.nl/nieuws/actueel/2025/08/01/opluchting-bij-zeekadetkorps-rotterdam-na-kantelmoment-betelgeuze-in-dok-holland-ship-repair/

The 'Joseph Doyle' and a boat crew of the USCG Station San Juan assisted four mariners aboard the disabled 75-ft-m/v 'Sueño I', with four crew members on board, off Carolina, Puerto Rico, on July 30. The Dominican Republic nationals were on a voyage from Tortola to Saman, when the vessel suffered electrical problems and was disabled. Coast Guard watchstanders in San Juan received a distress communication reporting the 'Sueño I', which was adrift approximately 12 nautical miles northeast of Carolina, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders issued an UMIB to alert vessel traffic in the vicinity of the ongoing distress situation. They also diverted the 'Joseph Doyle' to render assistance. Once on scene, the cutte crew established a tow of the 'Sueño I' to San Juan Harbor, where the boat crew took over the tow and brought the vessel to the safety of the Coast Guard Base San Juan, where it was moored. T crew made arrangements for repairs. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4260824/coast-guard-surface-units-assist-4-mariners-aboard-disabled-vessel-sueo-i-off-c/

The refloating operation of the 'Kepejora' has been completed, but the barge was still moored at the quayside, upstream of the Auvelais lock, surrounded by an oil boom as a precaution, one week after it sank. A dredger removed the remainder of the cargo from the hold on July 30. It was carrying 1,400 tons of scrap metal that had just been loaded at Châtelet, at the Comet group quay, when an undetected leak of unknown origin caused it to sink after startomg its journey to Ghent. The cargo was transferred onto dozens of truck trailers and talem tp Bruco. Then the dive company L.M. Diving Service y from Audenaarde was called to reefloat the ship, and sucked up nearly 1,400 tons of water using very high-capacity pumps. On the evening of July 29, the barge was floaing again. 0 tons of oil were pumped from a tank, and the oil contaminated water was removed from the surface without major difficulty. A crack was found at the stern of the vessel, near the cabin,which was nearly a meter long and could quickly be sealed by the divers. On the morning of July 31 the barges and pleasure craft—about 15 boats—were able to cast off morning and resume their respective voyages, after their crews were supplied with drinking water. Report with photo: https://www.lavenir.net/regions/namur/2025/07/31/sambreville-lecluse-dauvelais-rouverte-a-la-navigation-mais-la-peniche-coulee-ira-a-la-casse-R7BFLCAL4ZD6FHFR24TS3J7S44/

The bill for the clean-up of 60 tons oil, after the 'Marco Polo'ran aground off the Blekinge coast is growing. So far, the MSB has paid out SEK 64 million to the municipalities affected. The most money has been paid to the municipality of Sölvesborg, where the hardest-hit stretch of coast is located. There are also claims for an additional SEK 2 million from Sölvesborg, Karlshamn and Kristianstad that have not yet been paid. The starting point of MSB was to get back all the money it has spent from the shipping company's insurance company, since the assessment was that the compensation claims from the municipalities were reasonable. Clean-up costs could rise further if new oil were discovered.

Beached at Gadani 31.07.25 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=727480256587583&set=a.155050113830603

arrived Alang anchorage 31.07.25

Sold to Alang Breakers

The 'Betelgeuze' has tilted at the Holland Ship Repair dock in Rotterdam on July 17, 2025, when it was docked for an inspection. The entire floating dock with the ship started to list to port side. Part of the scaffolding was broken off. The ship was originally scheduled to enter the dock in August, but could now be brought in sooner because all theequipment of the sister ship 'Castor', which had been drydocked before, was already ready. This saved costs and time. The crew did hear a bang at one point while the dock was lowered, but at least it was afloat again.'By the end of the afternoon, the 'Betelgeuze' was upright and in the water again. It has suffered no damage, and there were no injuries. Report with photo: https://www.schuttevaer.nl/nieuws/actueel/2025/07/25/zeekadettenschip-betelgeuze-valt-scheef-bij-dok-in-rotterdam/

The US-sanctioned 'Bluebell' was now spoofing its position in Indonesia’s territorial waters. The tanker sailed into the area on July 16, 2025, indicating the navigational status as “at anchor” and then began location (GNSS) manipulation to obfuscate its true location. It then went dark on July 22, and stopped AIS transmittings in one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints, underscoring the escalating safety and maritime security risks to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia from sanctioned and high-risk tankers loitering in waters near the Riau archipelago. The real location of the tanker was unknown. The 'Bluebell', formerly known as 'Cross Ocean', had spent a month in this area, where about 80 Iran and Russia-trading tankers assemble for floating storage and unregulated STS transfers of Western-sanctioned oil, often under dangerous conditions. The ships form part of an inefficient logistics network of dark fleet tankers that ship crude cargoes from Russia, Iran and Venezuela via multiple STS transfers in international waters to obscure the destination and origin. Dozens are falsely flagged like the 'Bluebell', thus invalidating insurance and certificates of safety and seaworthiness. The 'Bluebell' is one of some 1900 ships identified as part of the dark fleet, and among hundreds of vessels now transmitting a false flag, with 40% of Iran-trading tankers and 30% of Russia trading tankers in the dark fleet now using fraudulent registries, signaling false flags such as Curaçao in this case, or whose flag status is unknown. Fraudulent registries linked to these trades by the IMO include Aruba, Benin, Curaçao, Guinea, Guyana, Eswatini, Malawi, Timor-Leste, and St Maarten. Other ships falsely transmit they are flagged with legitimate registries, posing a significant threat to the regulatory integrity of global seaborne trade and undermines the foundations of the world’s maritime economic system.

Beached at Aliaga 22.07.25

The captain of the 'Tiger has appealed the community service order imposed on him by the court for the fatal collision in the Wadden Sea. Whether the appeal will proceed will be decided at a later date. The ferry had collided with the water taxi 'Stormloper' in the Schuitengat near Terschelling in the early morning of Oct 21, 2022. Four people on board the water taxi were killed. The body of one of them, a 12-year-old boy, was never found. The court in Leeuwarden sentenced both the captain of the speedboat and the skipper of the water taxi to 240 hours of community service and a three-month suspended prison sentence. According to the court, both boats were speeding. The skippers also failed to communicate effectively via radio about how they would pass each other. The Public Prosecution Service had demanded 180 hours of community service for both, in addition to three-month suspended prison sentences. The defense has already filed an appeal to meet the statutory two-week deadline, attorney Tjalling van der Goot announced on the website of the law firm Anker en Anker on July 31, 2025- The captain's lawyer stated that he intends to "carefully advise his client regarding the possibilities of an appeal" after the summer holidays.

Beached at Aliaga 31.07.25

Beached at Alang 31.07.25

During a ceremony in Singapore, Stena Bulk has officially registered the 'Stena Sunrise' under the Swedish flag. According to the shipping company, this is the first time in modern times that a Suezmax tanker is operated with a Swedish registration. The ceremony on board was attended by Sweden's ambassador to Singapore, Anders Sjöberg, together with Johan Zander, head of Stena Bulk Singapore. Together they carried out the formal handover of the Swedish flag to the crew. Erik Hånell, CEO of Stena Bulk stated; " We are proud that Stena Sunrise is now officially sailing under the Swedish flag and that we were able to celebrate this in Singapore. This milestone has been made possible thanks to strong cooperation with Swedish authorities and unions". Swedish shipyards have built several large crude oil tankers during the 1970s and 1980s, but that these were usually delivered under foreign flags. In recent decades, Sweden has been virtually invisible in the largest tanker segments. Exceptions such as TT 'Nanny' (ULCC, 1978–1984) and 'Vanadis' (VLCC, early 1990s) have been few and temporary. With the 'Stena Sunrise', Sweden is once again represented in the Suezmax segment. The 'Stena Sunrise' is the first of five Suezmax vessels that Stena Bulk plans to register in the Swedish ship register. In the coming months, the 'Stena Superior', 'Stena Suede', 'Stena Surprise' and 'Stena Sunshine' are also expected to be reflagged, as commercial and operational schedules allow. Report with photos: https://www.sjofartstidningen.se/stena-sunrise-fick-svensk-flagg-i-singapore/

On July 7, 2023, the Coast Guard’s Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis published a report of investigation (ROI) to Marine Casualty Reports regarding the demasting of the 'Grace Bailey' in Penobscot Bay, Rockland, Maine resulting in the loss of life of one passenger and injuries to five other passengers on Oct 9, 2023. The Coast Guard Northeast District Commander convened a formal investigation into this tragedy. The investigation team compiled and issued nine safety recommendations and two administrative recommendations. A Commandant’s final action memorandum (FAM) detailing the Coast Guard response and actions on each recommendation is included with the ROI.