Category: MARITIME

Eleven fishermen from two boats were rescued after being stranded on an island for six days without food or water. Eight others were missing. Two boats were swept up by the Category 5 storm, Cyclone Isla, which had wind gusts reaching up to a reported record of 180 miles per hour. According to The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the 11 survivors of the Express 1 and Putri Jaya spent six days without water and food before being rescued. The Australian Border Force released a statement that said, “This incident highlights the dangers of undertaking journeys in small boats unsuited to rough seas and adverse weather events, both of which are common in Australia’s northern waters.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was unharmed when someone threw an explosive at him as he was campaigning at a fishing port in western Japan. Chaos ensued but police were able to wrestle the suspect to the ground amidst screaming, scrambling bystanders as smoke filled the air. One police officer was slightly hurt but Kishida continued campaigning. Kishida was visiting Saikazaki port in Wakayama prefecture to support a candidate in a local election. The explosion occurred prior to his scheduled speech.

Danish reporters filmed armed men on a suspected Russian spy ship in the North Sea. The ship appeared to be mapping wind turbines. Other sites report surveillance by these ships, dubbed “ghost ships” in areas with underwater data cables and other pieces of infrastructure in the North Sea. Some experts say they are doing this in preparation for a campaign of sabotage in the event of conflict with the West, an investigation revealed. Moscow allegedly deployed the ships, including this one, the Admiral Vladimirsky, to carry out underwater surveillance and map key sites for possible disruption to European communications and energy, infrastructure that is sometimes shared with Britain, according to reports by public broadcasters in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Orca whales severely damaged a sailing boat off the coast of Spain, according to local maritime rescue services. This incident is one of dozens of orca attacks on vessels recorded so far this year off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts. In this latest incident, a group of orcas broke the rudder and pierced the hull after ramming into the sailboat Mustique which was en route to Gibraltar. The crew contacted Spanish authorities for help, a spokesman for the maritime rescue service said. This incident follows 20 interactions in the month of May alone in the Strait of Gibraltar between small boats and orcas. Earlier in May, another sailing yacht, Alboran Champagne, had a similar impact from three orcas half a nautical mile off Barbate. The ship was completely flooded and left adrift to sink. The Spanish Transport Ministry advises that whenever ships observe any alteration in the behavior of orcas, such as sudden changes of direction or speed, they should leave the area as soon as possible and avoid further disturbance to the animals during the maneuvers.

The Office of Naval Intelligence reports that pirates, armed robbers and kidnapping for ransom (KFR) groups continue to operate off Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sao Tome and Principe, and Togo, targeting a variety of vessels to include tankers, container ships, general cargo vessels, fishing vessels, passenger vessels and vessels supporting oil drilling/production. These groups have boarded vessels up to 275 nautical miles from shore, and it is not uncommon for these groups to fire upon vessels during boardings and attempted boardings. KFR groups generally kidnap senior crew members, including the master and chief engineer, and any Western or foreign crew members. Kidnapped crew members are normally taken ashore in the Niger Delta region where KFR groups demand ransom payments in exchange for the safe return of the crew members.

Nine people went missing in a South Korean boat incident. A search was conducted by the Coast Guard from the southwestern port city of Mokpo in South Korea. The fishermen’s boat capsized near the southwestern coast and reports said that three crew members were rescued but nine others went missing. The three were saved by a commercial ship near Daebichi Island. The survivors said the engine room filled with water and then the 24-ton vessel capsized.

The Coast Guard interdicted a lancha crew and seized 600 pounds of illegally caught fish in federal waters off southern Texas. A Coast Guard Station South Padre Island boat crew, in coordination with Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi and Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi aircrews, located and stopped a lancha with three Mexican fishermen engaged in illegal fishing. After interdicting the lancha, Coast Guard personnel seized 600 pounds of red snapper, along with fishing gear, radios, GPS devices and high flyers on board. Coast Guard crews detained the Mexican fishermen and transferred them to border enforcement agents for processing.

According to the Office of Naval Intelligence’s Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, multiple commercial vessels have been struck by projectiles or have experienced explosions in Ukrainian ports and in the northwestern Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine.These incidents have occurred since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. There have also been reports of naval mines, both moored and drifting, in the Black Sea. The WTS report says there is a high risk of damage to U.S.-flagged vessels in this region and advises U.S.-flagged commercial vessels to avoid entering or approaching the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian ports or Ukrainian territorial waters in the northwestern Black Sea unless participating in the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative. Vessels operating in these areas may encounter GPS interference, AIS spoofing and/or other communications jamming the report states.

France allowed the Ocean Viking rescue ship that was carrying more than 200 migrants and refugees rescued in the Mediterranean to dock at their port of Toulon. This followed terse communications with Italy over the fate of the vessel. Gerald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said that the Italian government’s ban on the boat was “incomprehensible” and “selfish.” “In this context, France decided on an exceptional basis to make up for the Italian government’s unacceptable behavior and to invite the ship to come to the military port of Toulon,” Darmanin said at a news conference. Of the 234 people on board, including 57 children, France agreed to accept a third, Germany another third and the rest are to be taken in by other European Union countries. The situation caused France to say they will discard an agreement with Rome to take in more than 3,000 migrants and refugees who had come to Italy previously. France also says it will reinforce controls at its borders with its southeastern neighbor. “France very deeply regrets that Italy has decided not to behave like a responsible European state,” Darmanin said and added, “there will be extremely strong consequences” for France’s bilateral relationship with Italy over the issue.