The container ship "Sv. Georgy" (ex "Varna 5") was arrested in Istanbul, Turkey for unpaid expenses for fuel and supplies by the previous charterer. All the crew members were taken to the police station in Istanbul for interrogation, while the ship was detained into the Turkish port before clearing the situation. The official press release of the shipowner explained that the problem with the container ship "Sv. Georgy" is because of unpaid expenses of the previous charterer of the vessel and there is no connection with their operations. The container vessel is operated by the scandalous Bulgarian shipowner Seaborne Trade, which also owns the grievously known "Sv. Nikolay", arrested with 2.7 tones of cocaine on board in Cadiz, Spain a few days ago. The company was investigated for drug traffic from Latin America to Europe and connections with organized criminal groups. In Turkey are taken 22 Bulgarian seamen, which future is unknown, as the company operating…
Bulk Carrier Great Mind ran aground in Philippines
Large Hong Kong cargo ship ran aground in Zambales, Phlippines because of the bad weather conditions and strong winds. The storm in the country caused many floods and destructions, embarrassing the shipping in the region. The bulk carrier mv Great Mind was carrying 64,500 metric tons of Indonesian steam coal for Masinloc, but due to the bad weather and currents the ship ran aground in mud bank and was not able to refloat by itself. The cargo ship sent a distress signal and the coast guard sent tugs to the scene of the accident, as the salvage operations took more than 2 hours. Finally the ship was refloated and tugged to the port of Masinloc, when was discharged from the cargo. There were no visible damages of the hull, but the port authorities requested survey to release the ship to the further destinations. The mv Great Mind is owned and operated by Great Mind Shipping Ltd, which were informed about the accident.
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The cargo ship Yukka sank in Black Sea
The general cargo ship Yukka, which caught fire near the Turkish port Cide, sank 2 miles off Eregli port. The firefighting tugs extinguished the fire on board, but meanwhile it seriously damaged the hull and decreased the stability of the vessel. The fire started in the cargo holds and engine room and broke the strength of the Ukrainian general cargo vessel. The tugs tried to tow the cargo ship Yukka to the coast, but during the salvage operations the ship got water ingress from the engine room and broke in the middle. With such serious damages the salvage operations were impossible and Yukka sank near the Turkish coast in the waters of Black Sea. The cargo vessel was operating on route from Istanbul to Rostov-on-Don, Russia loaded with ceramics, glass and textile dye. The 13 crew members were rescued and transported to Inebolu, Turkey, as only two officers has minor injuries.
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Super-yacht Star Fish was badly damaged by fire
The super-yacht Star Fish was badly damaged during a large fire in Auckland boat-yard. The yacht was completed on 75% and had to be delivered next year to her the owners. The dock workers made fireworkds in the engine room of the yacht, installing some of equipment, when due to a spark the fresh paint of the hull started burning. More than 90 firefighters battled the blaze during the night, before fully extinguishing the fire. On board of the yacht were stored chemicals, which additionally disturbed the firefighting. The fire was totally extinguished after more than 12 hours and cased damages of the hull, which will delay the deliver with more than 3 months. The director of Auckland boat-yard said on press-release that the reason of the fire was human error by the working teams and during the fire were lost countless hours of working on building the super-yacht Star Fish.
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Fire on board of the cable-ship Chamarel off Namibia
Fire started on board of the cable-ship Chamarel, while operating in cable laying off the coast of Namibia. The accident happened 2-3 nautical miles off the coast, but the crew reacted immidiately to change the course to deep waters. During the accident on board of the vessel were 56 crew members, who were not able to get control of the fire. All the crew members abandoned the cable-ship to a fishing vessel and were transported to the coast. The coast guard was informed about the fire on board late after the crew left the burning ship. The source of the fire on board of the cable-ship Chamarel is still unknown, but the port authorities started investigation of the fire. Most most probably the fire started from the engineering on board due to technical malfunction. The vessel was just returned in operation after planed repair and dry dock, where a lot of the electricity of board was maintained. The salvage operations started and two tugs are engaged with fir…
VLCC Otowasan collided with US Navy ship in the Persian Gulf
The US Navy ship USS Porter and the supertanker Otowasan collided in Persian Gulf after navigation error. The VLCC Otowasan was on route to the Fujairah port, where should be loaded with crude oil. During the passage through the Strait of Hormuz the vessel collided with the US Navy ship and both vessels got serious hull damages, which even caused evacuation of USS Porter. The VLCC Otowasan was empty during the accident, so there is no water pollution and there are no injured people on board. The crew of the navy vessel was evacuated after serious hole in the hull and danger from water ingress. There is no information, which ship was guilty for the accident, as most probably the US Navy ship was maneuvering dangerously close to the supertanker and crossed its road, which made the tanker unable to avoid collision. The cargo ship is moored in the Persian Gulf and still is waiting for the inspection from the port authorities about the ability to operate.
<…Passenger ship ran aground in Elbe River
The passenger ship Altona ran aground in Elbe River near Hamburg, due to the the low tide and navigation error of the duty officer on board. The passenger ship was operating on regular route from Blankenese to Neuenfelde, when the ship hit mud bank and stand in position without availability to refloat. During the accident there are no serious damages of the hull, as the crew reported that there is no water ingress. However the ship Altona stayed during the whole day agrounded. On board of the ship there were 30 passengers, who stayed on board and spent about 1 day in such position before being refloated and tugged to the HADAG-pier, where was berthed for inspection and repair. The port authorities are investigation the reason of the accident, but the shipowner will have to pay all the expenses for refloating and salvage operations of the ship.
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Fire on board of general cargo ship Yukka
The general cargo ship Yukka caught fire on 40 nautical miles off Cide, Turkey in Black Sea. The ship was operating on route from Istanbul to Rostov-on-Don, when a fire started from the engine room and caught whole vessel. The distress signal from the vessel was sent to the coast guard and the crew left the ship on life rafts. Two officers were slightly injured during the accident, but their burns were minor and there is no danger for their health. Meanwhile, the Turkish Coast Guard sent firefighting tugs to the scene of the accident, which extinguished the fire on board and towed the vessel to the port. The crew was evacuated and transported to Cide, where the injured officers will have a medical treatment. The port authorities started investigation for the source of the fire, but as preliminary information the reason was technical malfunction.
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Ferry with 80 passengers ran aground in Bergen
The ferry Trondheim with 80 passengers on board ran aground in the port of Bergen, Norway. The ship collided with Krokeide Quay and ran aground in the mud bank of the port during maneuvering for berthing. The rescue boats, and port authorities arrived at the scene of the accident, but they reported that there are no injured passengers and no damaged cars. The ferry Trondheim was operating on route between Hufthammar and Bergen, when during the maneuvering operations had technical problem and got blackour of the diesel generators. The vessel drifted with higher speed to the quay and the shallow, where ran aground. The divers are inspecting the hull of the ship but no serious damages and no holes were found. However, the ferry Trondheim will be dry docked in bergen for full recovery and maintenance.
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Fire on board of container ship Jupiter off San Diego
Fire started on board of the container ship Jupiter 30 nautical miles off San Diego, USA. The cargo ship was operating on route to Mazatlan, Mexico, when a fire started in the engine room. The crew on board started firefighting with all the facilities on board. During the accident one of the crew members was seriously burned and needed medical intervention. The fire was extinguished with the ship's firefighting equipment, but the condition of the seamen got worse. The officers sent a distress signal and requested assistance from the coast guard. A helicopter arrived at the scene of the accident and carried the seaman to the hospital for further treatment. The container ship reported that there are no other injured people on board during fire extinguishing and continued the voyage to Mexico with 2,400 TEU on board.
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