Category: MARITIME

The U.S. Navy-owned research vessel Petrel became dislodged from its holding on a dry dock in Edinburgh, Scotland. More than 33 people were injured when the ship tipped over at the dockyard. Pictures posted on social media show the 3,000-tonne vessel, leaning at a 45-degree angle. A major incident was declared after the occurrence and investigators were looking into the cause.

Three barges broke loose during severe storms in California. One barge struck a San Francisco bridge during the severe weather event called a bomb cyclone. A bridge was damaged. The Third Street bridge was closed to traffic as authorities assessed the damage.

A tourist submarine that focuses on exploring the Titanic shipwreck remains missing. The OceanGate Expeditions submersible has not been heard from for several days and has five people onboard, including Hamish Harding, a British billionaire. French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman Dawood are also on the submersible, named Titan. Stockton Rush, the founder of OceanGate Expeditions, may be the fifth person aboard but that had not been confirmed. It launched on Sunday June 18 and lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes later, reports say. The craft has a four-day emergency oxygen supply and time was running out as we went to press.

Australian Police and Border Force found 29 packages of cocaine wrapped in blue plastic and seized it from a bulk carrier called St Pinot, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag. It is alleged that the drugs came from Argentina, South America. Another package was obtained once the ballast tank was emptied. Each package had several 1-kilogram cocaine blocks, police officials said. The discovery was made after they received an SOS call from a small boat off the coast of Rottnest Island which led the authorities to begin looking for cargo ships operating in the area and ultimately found the St Pinot. The two seafarers arrested onboard were working as master and chief engineer. The haul equaled about 850 kilograms of cocaine worth 375 million.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.