Maritime news

A 752-foot oil tanker ship that was sailing in the fog hit a tower of the Bay Bridge on Monday morning, fortunately without any oil spillage but raising alarming new questions about safety of oil tankers in San Francisco Bay.

The collided oil tanker vessel, Overseas Reymar, based in the Marshall Islands, had unloaded its oil at the Shell refinery in Martinez only few hours before it grazed the "Echo Tower" of the Bay Bridge at 11:18 am, among Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco. Even though, it was carrying many thousands of gallons of bunker fuel, local authorities informed it appeared none of that spilled.

"We're still observing the situation," told US Coast Guard Petty Officer Barry Bena. "But as of right now, reports from the main pilot, the Coast Guard and local agencies show no pollution has hit the water."

The captain of the tanker vessel was identified as Guy Kleess, 61-years-old, of San Francisco, a former Exxon oil tanker captain that has been embroiled in at least 3 other shipping incidents since 2009.

The accident secured a stark reminder of a similar Bay Bridge collision 5 years ago, when the Cosco Busan, a 901-foot-long cargo vessel, hit the adjacent tower of the Bay Bridge, spilling 53,000 gallons of heavy bunker fuel into the bay, fouling sixty-nine miles of shoreline and killing thousands of birds.

by VesselFinder

5 German cruise ship passengers wanted to look closely the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship risking their lives.
There were 2 children in this group. The small boat of the tourists was swamped by waves and strong winds. All had the effects of the cold but had been rescued by the coastguard.

The tourists were from Costa Magica, a cruise ship from the same Costa Cruises fleet. Costa Concordia is still in the same location lying on rocks. Near the Giglio harbor.

The tourists hired a boat from Porto Santo Stefano and sailed without any problems but after 10 miles the weather changed and the small boat experienced a lot of problems. Despite the bad weather it managed to stay on the waves and picked up by the coastguard.
The tourists admitted that their desire to visit the wrecked ship was stupid. The danger of sinking was high but they had good luck.
It is understandable that Costa Concordia is an attraction and a lot of people would like to visit it by catching a ferry from Porto Santo Stefano.

by VesselFinder

Japanese coastguard informed on Monday that 4 Chinese government vessels crossed territorial waters around Japan-owned islands at the centre of a dispute.
The 4 surveillance ships were detected sailing within 12 nautical miles of the islands, named the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China.

Japan bought the islands from private owners in September. The last time a Chinese ship entered the border of the islands was December 31. Even a plane owned by the Chinese government flew over the islands last month. Tokyo answered with fighter jets, it was the first time since 1958 a Chinese plane to enter airspace of Japan.
3 days ago another Chinese plane owned by the government approached the islands without entering the airspace of Japan.

by VesselFinder

Thick ice on Laizhou Bay in East China's Shandong Province doomed thousand ships. Meteorologists from the Yantai Marine Environment Monitoring Center under the State Oceanic Administration announced that this ice in unusual this year and continue expanding.
Local people particularly aquafarmers are worried the this bad weather could result to heavy losses.

The thick ice is impossible to be penetrated and the sea cucumbers do not have proper ventilation. Other aquatic organisms are also in danger.
Coastal police announced that the thick ice can harm ships passing nearby the Bohai and Yellow seas.

by VesselFinder

US Coast Guard authorities and Shell informed that a plan had been made to tow the grounded Kulluk rig. The idea is to move it about 30 miles to Kiluida Bay for investigation.

The oil rig had to be deemed and ready to be towed, more information is not available for the moment. When the operation will take place that depends on weather, tides and readiness.

The Unified Command, which also refused give information of the towing plan to the press was still waiting on equipment to arrive to start the operation. A salvage team is onboard the rig and will be there during the operation.
Fuel tanks will not be removed at the moment (150, 000 tons of oil products).

by VesselFinder