News

Sold to Breakers 10.01.25

The 'Hua Xin 168' with three crew members on board got into distress off the coast of the northeastern province of Quảng Ninh, en-route from Fangchen to Hải Phòng (Việt Nam), with transport construction materials (construction stones). On Jan 10 at around 4:00 a.m. the main engine broke down in pos. 200 44'-107028' due to big waves and strong winds, and the ship drifted to the rock bank in the South East of Ha Mai Island, Van Don District, Quang Ninh Province. On jan 11, 2025, at about 8 p.m. the Ha Mai Border Guard Station discovered the ship in pos. 20044'29''N- 107028'53E' at the rock bank in the South-East of Hạ Mai Island, Ngoc Vung Commune, Vân Đồn District , Quang Ninh Province. Immediately after receiving the information, Ngoc Vung Border Guard Station deployed forces and vehicles to the location and launched a rescue operation. At about 5.20 p.m. the rescue team approached the ship. On board were three people of Chinese nationality, including: Huang Rong Shuang, born on March 28, 1968, captain; Huang Jian Qing, born on September 25, 1971, chief engineer; Huang Jun Cai, born on February 13, 1972, sailor. The three Chinese nationals were reported to be in stable condition following the rescue. They requested assistance from a local port service agents to hire a repair team to fix the engine at the incident site. Repairs are expected to be completed by Jan 17. In the meantime, the border guards have deployed five officers to provide food, water and medical care until the ship’s engine is fully repaired. In addition to the main engine damage, the propeller is broken due to hitting the rock, and water has entered the engine room as the tail near the propeller has been torn. Reports with photos: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/1690818/three-chinese-crew-members-rescued-from-stranded-cargo-ship-in-quang-ninh.html https://thuonghieucongluan.com.vn/don-bien-phong-ngoc-vung-cuu-ho-3-thuyen-vien-tau-van-tai-bi-mac-can-tren-bien-a251092.html

The Budapest Appeals Court has ordered a retrial of the first-instance procedure in the criminal case connected to the collision of the 'Hableány' with the river cruise ship 'Viking Sigyn' on May 29, 2019, on the Danube at the Margaret Bridge, killing 28 of the 35 people on board. Seven tourists were rescued from the water after the collision and the rest died. One of the bodies has not been recovered. The first-instance court had sentenced the captain of the 'Viking Sigyn' to 5.5 years in prison. The Appeals Court ordered a retrial, saying the judge in the case was biased. The accused remains under supervision during the trial. A judge participating in the sentencing procedure should have been recused from the trial, as they seemed to be unable to make impartial decisions. That runs afoul of procedural regulations, and so is a reason for retrial- The prosecutor’s office brought charges against the Ukrainian captain in July 2022. The court convicted him of negligence by endangering river traffic and causing a lethal accident. In a civil lawsuit brought in connection with the accident, the Municipal Court awarded 4.8 million Euro in damages to the families of the victims. The damages are to be paid by two shipping companies.

The scheduled call of the “Norwegian Star”at the Piedra Buena dock in Puerto Madryn on Jan 16, 2025, at around 6 a.m. advanced to Jan 15 at midnight due to a passenger's health problem which required urgent medical attention. Given this situation, the action protocolwas activated to facilitate the care that the condition required. The planning outlined for the visit of the “Norwegian Star”, including the excursions that were carried out in the usual way, and at the times that were already assigned, remained unaffected. The shipcast off at 4 p.m. to continue its journey north, where it will end the trip that began last week.

The 'Eagle S' has brought fuel covered by sanctions against Russia into Finnish waters, but there will be no criminal investigation, Customs said. The cargo includes unleaded gasoline and diesel, both of which are covered by sanctions against Russia. The Finnish Customs' Economic Crime Investigation Unit has therefore initiated a preliminary investigation to investigate whether the 'Eagle S' has violated sanctions legislation. Now it has been announced that there will be no criminal investigation. Although the ship brought in sanctioned goods, it was not done intentionally, but rather the ship entered Finnish territorial waters because the authorities urged the crew to do just that. The Deputy Prosecutor General has also been consulted in the case. The cargo will be detained by Customs until further notice. On Jan 15, the shipowner lost a bid to take back the ship's anchor, which Finnish authorities found on the seabed near the cable breaks. Finland's National Bureau of Investigation believes that it has evidence connecting the 'Eagle S' to the outage, when Fingrid's EstLink 2 power transmission cable and four subsea telecom cables suddenly shut down. The vessel would have caused more cable damage within 12 minutes if it had not been stopped. Possible additional targets could have included the Estlink 1 subsea cable and the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which was previously hit by an anchor-drag incident in 2023. Shortly after the anchor was recovered and brought ashore for forensic analysis, the vessel's attorney filed a court appeal to force the police to release it to the shipowner, the UAE-based Caravella LLC FZ. Herman Ljungberg, counsel for Caravella, told YLE that Finnish police had no jurisdiction over the vessel or her anchor. Since both were in international waters at the time they were taken into custody, he asserted, Finland's law enforcement reach did not extend to either. The court disagreed with this interpretation and ruled in favour of the NBI, and the anchor will remain in custody. The bureau's attorneys argued successfully that Finnish law gives them jurisdiction when international acts target Finland,for example, when a ship cuts an international cable that connects to Finnish soil. Ljungberg said that he would appeal the matter to the Court of Appeal and attempt to regain full control of the ship and the lost anchor. If the legal process takes too long, the 'Eagle S' may get trapped in the Baltic Sea's ice season, and would be exposed to conditions for which the vessel was not designed; given that the ship costs about $15,000 per day in upkeep, The anonymous single-ship holding company may simply abandon her and walk away. Even if the owner leaves the ship behind and stops paying for wages and operating expenses, the nine crew members who are suspected of involvement in the cable incident must remain. They are confined to the ship and are under a travel ban to prevent them from leaving the country while the inquiry continues.

arrived Bhavnagar Anchorage 16.01.25

The 'Joseph Doyle' repatriated 58 people to the Dominican Republic on Jan 15, following the interdiction of two migrant boats near Puerto Rico. Four of the interdicted migrants remained in U.S. custody and were facing possible federal prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico on charges of attempting to illegally re‑enter the United States in violation of Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1326, and failure to heave in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2237. The first interdiction occurred on the morning of Jan 13, after a Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch crew on a routine patrol detected a 25-foot makeshift vessel in waters southwest of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Sector San Juan watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter 'Joseph Tezanos' to respond. Shortly thereafter, it arrived on-scene and deployed the Over the Horizon Boat which stopped the compliant suspect vessel. While the 'Joseph Tezanos' was in the process of disembarking the migrants, the boat crew reported that three people, who had remained aboard the makeshift vessel, re‑energized the vessel engines, and attempted to flee the scene with several migrants who had not yet been disembarked from the boat. The Coast Guard crew reestablished pursuit and successfully stopped the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the 'Joseph Tezanos' embarked all 41 migrants, 21 of whom claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and 20 to be Haitian nationals. The second interdiction occurred the afternoon of Jan 13, after a Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch crew on a routine patrol detected a 30-foot makeshift boat northwest of Aguadilla. Sector San Juan watchstanders diverted the 'Joseph Tezanos' to respond. Shortly thereafter, it arrived on-scene and deployed the Over the Horizon Boat to stop the migrant boat. The operator refused to stop and conducted aggressive evasive maneuvers to flee the area. The boat crew successfully stopped the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the crew embarked 21 migrants, 17 of whom claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and four to be Haitian nationals. The 'Joseph Doyle' repatriated the migrants from both cases to San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, on Jan 15, where they were received by Dominican Republic Navy authorities. Meanwhile, the migrants facing prosecution were transferred to U.S. Ramey Sector Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4032184/coast-guard-returns-58-migrants-to-dominican-republic-following-maritime-interd/

Sold to Breakers

The hulk of the decommissioned aircraft carrier 'John F. Kennedy (CV-67)' was towed down the Delaware River by the 'Laney Chouest' on Jan. 16, 2025, on its way from the Navy’s Philadelphia Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility to Brownsville, Texas for dismantling. Shortly before 9 a.m., tugs maneuvered the hulk down the Delaware River, and it was attached to the 'Laney Chouest' then. The carrier was decommissioned in 2007 at Mayport, Florida, and has been in Philadelphia ever since. At the carrier’s Mayport decommissioning ceremony, Adm. John Nathman, then Fleet Forces commander, hailed “Big John,” its nickname, as “an icon of American might and freedom.” The Navy sold the carrier to International Shipbreaking Limited/EMR Brownsville in 2021 for one cent. The work was expected to begin in late 2023, but was put on hold by the Navy until now. In 2023, Robert Berry, vice president of International Shipbreaking Ltd./EMR Brownsville, stated that the Navy “is taking a harder line on security with the JFK than he’s ever experienced in all his years of dealing with that branch of the military, and that this particular ship has more security surrounding it than the other carriers ISL has received in the past.” Report with photos: https://news.usni.org/2025/01/16/carrier-john-f-kennedy-leaves-philadelphia-for-final-voyage-to-texas-scrapyard

The 'Silver Ray', which was on a return leg to Fort Lauderdale, was coping with an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness that affected 5.5% of guests, and will undergo a “super-sanitizing” upon the return to Port Everglades. The ship has 681 passengers onboard. Cruise ships are required to notify the CDC if more than 3% of guests or crew members report symptoms. The 'Silver Ray’s 16-night cruise to Lima, Peru, began on Jan 5, 2025, calling at ports in Ecuador, Columbia, and Aruba, and transiting the Panama Canal. The ship has already intensified cleaning and sanitizing methods, which appears to have limited the spread of the illness, but Silversea will bring a special cleaning crew onboard upon arrival at Port Everglades. As a result of the enhanced cleaning, the embarkation for the next voyage, departing on Jan 20, will be delayed until 4 p.m. The all-aboard time is 6 p.m.

The cutter "Kulle Christoph" has been raised by the 'Noorcat' on the evening of Jan 16 in a large-scale operation on behalf of the Heikendorf municipal utility (GWH), which is in turn is the owner of the port and thus obliged to remove the wreck. The last owner of "Kulle Christoph" is personally insolvent and has not looked after the ship for a long time. The tug "Seelöwe" from Kiel was moored at the port jetty right next to the sunken cutter in order to stabilize the salvage ship "Noorman". Both ships were being used by the company My Captain GmbH from Kiel. The tug and charter company was on site with trained specialists. The team from Unterwasserkrause Mutzeck GmbH from Schellhorn supported the salvage operation with divers, who secured the wreck with ropes and attached them to the traverse of the salvage ship. After a good three hours, the ship was ready to be levelled until the deck was sticking out of the water evenly. Then the wreck was lifted onto the deck of the salvage ship using the ship's crane along with a shore based mobile crane of 200 tons lifting capacity of the Willer Company, as ist was much heavier with a weight of 45 tons than certicicated.. It can still float, but it is no longer allowed to do so. On Jan 17, it wasdelivered to the KSH (Kiel Scrap Dealer) in the east shore port of Kiel at 8.50 a.m. UTC in order to be scrapped. The cause of the sinking in Möltenort Harbor remained unclear. The police have begun investigations. During the salvage operation, water police officers were on site. An examination of the wreck, once outside the water, was to be carried out as part of the investigation. Report with photo: https://www.kielerleben.de/news/kieler-foerde-kutter-moeltenort-geborgen-10027923.html

When a tanker truck was supplying the 'Elly' at the Oldenburg dam, an overflow"occurred via the tank ventilation of the vessel in the area of ​​the bow. Around 100 liters of diesel fuel leaked out. This spread over the gangway. Around 30 liters got into the water and contaminated the surface for at least one kilometer across the entire width of the Hunte river. The lock to the coastal canal and the Hunte shipping lane were closed to shipping traffic at 1:42 p.m. by the Bremen traffic control center, as oil booms had to be laid across the entire width of the Hunte at the level of the railway bridge and the agricultural trade pier. The on-call judge ordered the master to provide security as part of criminal proceedings relating to an environmental offense. He had incorrectly estimated the tank capacity. The vessel was banned from sailing due to significant technical defects by the investigating officials. Report with photo: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Binnenschiffer-tankt-100-Liter-zu-viel-Diesel-fliesst-in-Hunte,aktuelloldenburg17842.html

Beached at Alang 16.01.25

The 'Joseph Doyle' repatriated 58 people to the Dominican Republic on Jan 15, 2025, following the interdiction of two vessels near Puerto Rico. Four of the interdicted migrants remained in U.S. custody and were facing possible federal prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico on charges of attempting to illegally re‑enter the United States in violation of Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1326, and failure to heave in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2237. The first interdiction occurred on the morning of Jan 13, after a Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch crew on a routine patrol detected a 25-foot makeshift vessel in waters southwest of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Sector San Juan watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter 'Joseph Tezanos' to respond. Shortly thereafter, it arrived on-scene and deployed the Over the Horizon Boat which stopped the compliant suspect vessel. While the 'Joseph Tezanos' was in the process of disembarking the migrants, the boat crew reported that three people, who had remained aboard the makeshift vessel, re‑energized the vessel engines, and attempted to flee the scene with several migrants who had not yet been disembarked from the boat. The Coast Guard crew reestablished pursuit and successfully stopped the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the 'Joseph Tezanos' embarked all 41 migrants, 21 of whom claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and 20 to be Haitian nationals. The second interdiction occurred the afternoon of Jan 13, after a Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch crew on a routine patrol detected a 30-foot makeshift boat northwest of Aguadilla. Sector San Juan watchstanders diverted the 'Joseph Tezanos' to respond. Shortly thereafter, it arrived on-scene and deployed the Over the Horizon Boat to stop the migrant boat. The operator refused to stop and conducted aggressive evasive maneuvers to flee the area. The boat crew successfully stopped the suspect vessel. Following the interdiction, the crew embarked 21 migrants, 17 of whom claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and four to be Haitian nationals. The 'Joseph Doyle' repatriated the migrants from both cases to San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, on Jan 15, where they were received by Dominican Republic Navy authorities. Meanwhile, the migrants facing prosecution were transferred to U.S. Ramey Sector Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4032184/coast-guard-returns-58-migrants-to-dominican-republic-following-maritime-interd/

Sold to Breakers

The Budapest Appeals Court has ordered a retrial of the first-instance procedure in the criminal case connected to the collision of the sightseeing boat 'Hableány' with the 'Viking Sigyn' on May 29, 2019, on the Danube at the Margaret Bridge, killing 28 of the 35 people on board. Seven tourists were rescued from the water after the collision and the rest died. One of the bodies has not been recovered. The first-instance court had sentenced the captain of the 'Viking Sigyn' to 5.5 years in prison. The Appeals Court ordered a retrial, saying the judge in the case was biased. The accused remains under supervision during the trial. A judge participating in the sentencing procedure should have been recused from the trial, as they seemed to be unable to make impartial decisions. That runs afoul of procedural regulations, and so is a reason for retrial- The prosecutor’s office brought charges against the Ukrainian captain in July 2022. The court convicted him of negligence by endangering river traffic and causing a lethal accident. In a civil lawsuit brought in connection with the accident, the Municipal Court awarded 4.8 million Euro in damages to the families of the victims. The damages are to be paid by two shipping companies.

The 'Viking Vela' was still docked in Ålesund as of Jan 17, after a 3-day unscheduled visit to the city. The ship, which experienced severe weather and subsequent propulsion problems during its fourth-ever voyage, was expected to resume sailing on Jan 16 at 6 p.m. LT, but the captain announced additional delays due to ongoing adverse weather conditions in the North Atlantic with wind speeds up to 45 miles per hour. On Jan 17, gusts could reach speeds up to 61 miles per hour. Weather conditions were not expected to improve until the afternoon of Jan 18. There were reports of passenger injuries and disrupted furnishings following the ship’s encounter with 100-mile-per-hour winds and 35-foot swells that initially affected the ship. Setting off from London on Jan 10 for its first cruise in Norway, the ship was on a 12-night “In Search of the Northern Lights” itinerary and making its way to visit Narvik, Tromsö and Alta, when its journey was marred by severe weather. Despite growing concerns, other ships sailing in Norway were also cancelling calls, including the Hurtigruten expedition vessel, 'Kong Harald', which cancelled stops at multiple coastal towns and villages on Jan 16 and 17 due to the bad weather.

The Ouistreham SNSM boatwas mobilized to assist the 'L'Alliance' on Jan 14, 2025, after 10 a.m., which had been disabled by a blocked propeller 42 nautical miles north of Ouistreham. It took the SNSM boat two hours to reach the area. Once on site, the rescuers carried out five hours of maneuvers. The SNSM divers were in the water for 1 hour 20 minutes, but found themselves unable to free the propeller. The decision was made to take the trawler in tow and head to Port-en-Bessin, which took nine hours. it was impossible to reach the port before it closedOn Jan 15 at 2 a.m. when the trawler anchored while waiting for the next opening of the port gates and thus to be returned by another trawler and the SNSM team of Port-en-Bessin. The Ouistreham crew returned at 3:30 a.m, after 17 hours of intervention. During the assistance, one crew member was injured in the eye and consequently went to the emergency room in the hours following the intervention. Report with photo: https://www.tendanceouest.com/actualite-425495-ouistreham-17-heures-d-intervention-pour-la-snsm-pour-secourir-un-chalutier

Beached at Chittagong 15.01.25 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2244348392613510&set=gm.10164210926518943&idorvanity=6884293942

On Jan 16, 2025, at 01:02 a.m. the 'Eco Levant', en route from Antwerp towards Kiel, suffered an engine failure during the eastbound transit of the Kiel Canal and veered off course at Breiholz. The ship got sutck on the northern embankment near the pilot station in Rüstersbergen (Lat. 54.2386 Lng. 9.6088). The tug 'Holtenau' (IMO: 8200321) was mobilized from Kiel before 2 a.m, and the tug 'Fairplay 66' (IMO: 9036258) left Brunsbüttel at around 4 a.m. UTC, but could be stood down once the ship was floating again and returned to its base. The canal was completely closed after the grounding and the canal authority was not even letting any ships enter. 20 ships were affected during their canal transit and stopped their respective voyages on both sides of the incident site. At 8 a.m. the 'Eco Levant' could be refloated by the 'Holtenau' and berthed in the heavy load port of Rendsburg-Osterrönfeld at 9.20 a.m., where officers of the water police boarded the ship for further investigations. It continued the voyage the same night at 10 p.m. after repairs to the technical defect of the hydraulic system and the re-confirmation of its class by the monitoring classification society DNVGL with an ETA at the port of destination as of Jan 19. Reports, photos and video: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/NOK-Containerschiff-bei-Breiholz-in-Boeschung-gelaufen,containerschiff560.html https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/schleswigholstein/ndr-nok-containerschiff-bei-breiholz-in-boeschung-gelaufen-100.html https://lomazoma.com/nord-ostsee-kanal-schiff-in-uferboeschung-getrieben/ https://www.mopo.de/im-norden/schleswig-holstein/havarie-im-norden-containerriese-stellt-sich-auf-kanal-quer-vollsperrung/ https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3799247?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3799246?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest