Maritime news

In the night of 20th of Apr, 2013, the gillnetter "Inmaculada Segunda", 94-gt, which is based in Cedeira Coruña - while departing the port of Santoña being bound to French waters in order to catch Patagonian, had to make a sharp turn in order to evade surf paddlers and stranded on a sandbar.

All crew members hoped to get it refloated with high tide, but it failed. Instead of refloating, the trawler ship heeled to starboard and finally capsized near the port entrance.

All the 9 crew members could safely escape and were transported to the Hostel Santoña. On 22nd of April, the diesel fuel was drained after divers had plugged the vents. The Nuevo Salvador Padre and Monte Cueto vessels came alongside and took of nets and fishing gear.

After 2 days the trawler vessel was made as light and water tight as possible, on 24th of April, the work of righting it started. The Spanish tug boat Vehintitres was busy trying to salvage the half submerged vessel that had been surrounded by an oil boom in the meantime, and pushed it against a nearby quay. At 3:30 pm. lifting sacks that had been attached by divers of Índico Buceo Industrial were able to get the vessel on even keel before finally dewatering it.

by VesselFinder

Biggest international shipping company, Maersk Line has stated a range of service changes that affect the routes from western Mediterranean and ports of the US east coast.

The last round trip for the current WestMed service is going to be the 4,360-TEU CC Jamaica from Malta-Marsaxlokk on 27th of May, 2013 that is going to rotate through Livorno, Genoa, Marseilles-Fos, Barcelona, Valencia, Tangier, Newark, Norfolk, Virginia, Savannah, Algeciras and back to Malta-Marsaxlokk on 7th of July, 2013.

The new rotation is going to consist of a dedicated country feeder coverage that is going to link to the MECL1 and MECL2 services in Algeciras. It is going to offer a thirteen-day transit from Genoa to Newark and an 18-day transit from Newark to Livorno on the following rotation: Algeciras, Barcelona, Valencia and back to Algeciras.

The new service of Maersk Line is going to be served with 7 ships in the 6,500-TEU range and is going to be phased in on 27th of May, 2013 at Jebel Ali, with the current 5,500-TEU Nedlloyd Tasman and the 6,500-TEU Maersk Semakau departing Jebel Ali on 3rd of June, 2013.

The ME4 Maersk Line's service ships are going to start its phasing out in Jebel Ali from 25ft of May, 2013 onwards, starting with the 4,500-TEU Leda Maersk, but is not going to continue to Europe. The 4,258-TEU Luna Maersk is going to be the last ship of the ME4 service of Maersk that is going to phase out at Jebel Ali on 28th of June, 2013.

Maersk isalso going to expand its ME3 service by adding 6 bigger ships of panamax size with more reefer plugs. These upgraded ships are going to phase in starting May 30, 2013 on an eastbound call at Jebel Ali.

The ME3 port rotation is remaining the same: Pipavav, Hazira, Nhava Sheva, Jebel Ali, Salalah, Port Said, Mersin, Ambarli, Izmit Korfezi, Port Said, Jeddah; Jebel Ali and back to Pipavav.

Maersk is also going to extend its CRX service to include St Petersburg and Kotka, Finland, to offer direct service from Central America, the Caribbean, Russia and to the Baltic ports in summer. The 1st ship call is going to be in St Petersburg on 21st of May, 2013 with the 2,556-TEU Thekla Schulte.

by VesselFinder

French and the Dutch police have broken up a smuggling ring, which used torpedo-shaped containers, cargo vessels and frogmen for a few years to smuggle cocaine from South America to the largest commercial port in Europe.

Over 100 kilograms of cocaine were seized, 3 French seamen were arrested and 9 others questioned this month after a year-long investigation, a police source reported.

Drug agents got wind of the smuggling scheme last June when bemused port police fished a diver - accomplished with an underwater propulsion vehicle - out of pitch-black waters near port Fos-sur-Mer, a major oil port on France's Mediterranean coast, in the middle of the night.

The man, who was only identified as Marco, 56-year-old, was previously known to police as one suspected author of a 1992 heist, when 22 millions of euro (~$29 mln) were stolen from a branch of the Bank of France.

After letting him free, Police officers tracked Marco for a year, finally trailing him and 2 associates as they drove from southern France to the Dutch port of Rotterdam on 16th of April, 2013 in rented cars loaded with heavy diving equipment.

Marco and his associates never got to make their dive.

Before they could reach the water, police officers arrested them and seized their gear that included 2 propulsion vehicles and inflatable parachutes, which would have been used to bring heavy loads to the surface.

Bolted to the hull of a Dutch-flagged cargo vessel, which departed from Venezuela with a stop in the Dutch Caribbean, Dutch police found a rusting torpedo-shaped metal tube 2,5 meters (8,2 feet) long, stuffed with drug worth up to 7 millions of euro on the street.

The plan had likely been ongoing for years with a transatlantic trip every 6 months, the source informed.

The 3 smugglers are due to be transported back to France. And 5 of those questioned have been placed under formal investigation on suspicion of belonging to the ring. The police source also informed that the investigation was ongoing.

by VesselFinder

A stranded on the River Trent vessel has floated free after the tide came in. The Celtic Endeavour, is a UK-flagged general cargo ship owned by Willie Group, became stuck 9 days ago near Groveport.

The Celtic Endeavour has floated free after becoming stuck 9 days ago in the River Trent

A rescue operation of the stranded cargo ship had been scheduled this evening, involving the Willie Group, Association of British Ports (ABPorts), Groveport and tug vessel companies.

The plan was to pull the cargo ship free when the tide came in, while making sure it didn't float away if the rudder had become damaged.

But the early tide meant that the vessel came free naturally, with the vessel's pilot onboard to guide it to a safe spot.

The financial director for Groveport, Andrew Brown stated: “The stranded Celtic Endeavour came afloat of its own accord.

“The cargo vessel is fully laden with 3,000 tonnes of cargo, so we feared it may have sunk and taken hold of the riverbed. We had seevarl tug vessels, which were ready if that was the case. Being fully laden Celtic Endeavour, there could also have been damage to operating gear with it being stuck."

by VesselFinder

According to the information from 8th District of the USCG Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders obtained the first alert at 8:40 pm. on 24th of April, 2013 reporting barge explosion in the place between the George Wallace Tunnel and the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile Bay.

There was reported a 2nd explosion at 9:10 pm. Three burn-related injuries have been reported - 3 people in critical conditions. The USCG Cutter Stingray, USCG Station Dauphin Island, Ala., 25-foot and 45-foot response vessel crews, and additional federal, state and local agencies have responded to the accident.

The exploded barge was an empty compressed natural gas barge, which was at the dock for cleaning. A 1 nautical mile safety zone has been set around the barge.

The USCG is currently investigating the cause of the accident.

by VesselFinder