Gale Force News

Gale-force winds and high waves from a storm led to the listing of an elevated liftboat in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Wednesday. Damage to the vessel and cargo was estimated at $6.9 million.On November 20, 2022, the liftboat L/B Robert was reported to be listing alongside a stationary oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The crew had evacuated two days prior due to forecasted adverse weather in the area, leaving the vessel elevated out of the water and unattended.

The three crew members of the SL Diamantina, who saved 21 lives and averted an environmental disaster in July 2022, have received an Exceptional Bravery at Sea commendation from the IMO.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) nominated Brad Lucas (Master), Alex Alsop (Deckhand), and Marius Fenger (Engineer), for their extraordinary efforts in saving the lives of the crew on board the MV Portland Bay and preventing an environmental disaster on the shores of the world’s second oldest national park…

Greece launched a major rescue operation off the island of Crete on Tuesday after a boat believed to be carrying as many as 500 migrants issued a distress signal in bad weather, the coast guard said.Near gale force winds in the sea south of the island made the operation difficult, authorities said. Two cargo ships, one navy frigate and one tanker were assisting in the rescue.(Reuters - Reporting by Karolina Tagaris and Lefteris Papadimas / Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Greece rescued nine migrants and was searching for dozens of others believed to be missing after their boat sank off the island of Evia early on Tuesday, the coast guard said. Nine people have been rescued from the boat, which sank off the southern tip of Evia, Greek coast guard spokesman Nikos Kokkalas told state broadcaster ERT. According to the migrants accounts, about 68 people were on the boat, Kokkalas said. A coast guard vessel, a helicopter and two boats sailing nearby are taking part in the rescue operation under gale-force winds, the coast guard said in a statement.

The National Weather Service Wakefield, Virginia on Friday warned of an approaching coastal storm impacting the region over the upcoming weekend and into early next week, warning mariners of potentially dangerous marine conditions."Gale force winds are expected Saturday evening through Tuesday evening, May 7-10. Between this time, expect strong north to northeasterly winds, 25-35 kts with gusts up to 40 kts. Expected sea state will deteriorate and gradually increase to 8 to 10 feet resulting in dangerous marine conditions.

A Valaris drillship hit the Akti bulk carrier ship on Saturday, after breaking free its moorings near the VT Halter Shipyards and Chevron docks in Pascagoula,  Mississippi. At around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a report from the National Response Center of a collision between two vessels. Per the Coast Guard, Valaris' a 752-foot drillship, reportedly broke free of its moorings due to high winds and collided with the Akti bulk carrier. According to photos shared by the Coast Guard…

A preliminary investigation report published by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) details that a containership was rolling and pitching heavily in rough seas and high winds when it lost 50 containers overboard about 46 nautical miles south-east of Sydney in May 2020.The ongoing investigation’s preliminary report sets out the incident’s sequence of events and outlines that as the APL England travelled down the east coast of Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology issued regular forecasts regarding a complex low pressure system developing off the south-east of the country…

The Scottish Maritime Museum has successfully bid for an 80-year-old bottle of whisky salvaged from one of Scotland’s most famous shipwrecks and the inspiration for the Ealing Studio comedy Whisky Galore!The unlabelled bottle of blended whisky from the 1923 SS Politician, which ran aground off the Isle of Eriskay in 1941, was acquired by the Scottish Maritime Museum with the support of the National Fund for Acquisitions at The Grand Whisky Auction.The rare find will become part…

Deficiencies in the cargo stowage arrangement ultimately caused the YM Efficiency to lose 81 containers while sailing in heavy seas off Australia in June 2018, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's (ATSB) investigation revealed.The Liberian-flagged vessel was en route from Taiwan to Sydney when it suddenly rolled heavily in strong gale force winds and rough seas, causing the ship to lose 81 containers overboard and another 62 containers to be damaged. The containership, operated by Taiwan shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation…

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port San Juan anticipates setting Port Condition Zulu at 8 p.m. Monday in the U.S. Virgins Islands due to the possibility of gale force winds from Tropical Storm Karen arriving to the area within 12 hours.Ports in Puerto Rico will remain in Port Condition X-Ray until further notice.During Port Condition ZULU the port is closed to all vessel traffic with the exception of vessel traffic specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port.Ports in Port Condition X-RAY will remain open to all commercial traffic and all cargo transfer operations at Coast Guard regulated facilities may continue while X-RAY remains…

Effective 8 a.m. Wednesday, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) set Port Condition Zulu for the Port of Charleston due to the anticipated arrival of sustained gale force winds from Hurricane Dorian within 12 hours.During port condition Zulu, no vessels may enter or transit within the port without permission of the COTP. The Coast Guard and port partners will assess the condition of the port as soon as it is safe to do so in order to expedite the lifting of vessel restrictions.WARNINGThe Coast Guard’s search and rescue capabilities degrade as storm conditions strengthen.

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port San Juan set Port Condition X-RAY at 2 a.m. Monday for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgins Islands due to the possibility of sustained gale force winds greater than 39 mph from Tropical Storm Dorian that may arrive to the area within 48 hours.The Coast Guard strongly cautions the maritime community to remain vigilant and take the necessary precautions as Tropical Storm Dorian makes way into Eastern Caribbean waters.During Port Condition X-RAY port…

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port set port condition Whiskey for Hawaii County, Tuesday afternoon.Commercial ports in Hawaii County are Hilo Harbor and Kawaihae Harbor of the Big Island.During Port heavy weather condition WHISKEY, gale force winds 39 mph are predicted to arrive within 72 hours. Both ports currently remain open to all commercial and recreational traffic.The public is reminded of these important safety messages:When hurricane or tropical storm force winds are present stay off the water. The Coast Guard’s search and rescue capabilities degrade as storm conditions strengthen.

A report into the RORO passenger ferry, Pride of Kent, striking a jetty and grounding in Calais, France on 10 December 2017 has now been published by UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).It said that the ferry Pride of Kent struck a jetty and then grounded while departing Calais, France, in December 2017 amid loss of control."Control of the ferry during the turn towards the harbour entrance was lost due to the fast rate of turn, strong gale-force winds, use of full rudder and propeller pitch, and the tripping of one of the ferry’s bow thrusters," it said.The ferry was re-floated later that day and subsequently moved to a berth where the passengers disembarked. The ferry’s starboard propeller and tail-shaft were damaged and required repair in dry dock.

French Frigate Shoals are located in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, between Kauai and Midway. The atoll consists of a twenty-mile long crescent-shaped reef, with 13 coral and sand islands and the 120-foot high volcanic rock Perouse Pinnacle, named for French explorer Jean-Francois de la Perouse, who charted the atoll in 1786 and nearly grounded his two frigates. Tern Island is the largest, covering 105,276 square meters or 26 acres. Second largest is (or was) East Island, with 35…

Russia-Ukraine naval clash followed shipping holdups Ships bound for Ukrainian ports say they are held up while those bound for Russian ports go through.When the Island Bay cargo ship arrived from Beirut at the Kerch Strait, gateway to the Azov Sea, it sailed into a perfect storm of geopolitics and bad weather.The following day, Russia opened fire on three Ukrainian naval ships, impounded them and detained their sailors, some of them wounded. It then blocked the strait by putting a tanker underneath a new bridge it has built linking the Russian mainland to the Crimean peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.While the world digested the implications of the Nov.

Hurricane Michael, now a Category 4 storm, will be the second hurricane in two months to significantly affect ports on the U.S. eastern seaboard. Eastern North Carolina in particular is only now recovering from Florence.The U.S. Coast Guard has set conditions X-Ray for ports in Georgia and South Carolina in preparation for Hurricane Michael. The storm is now expected to make landfall by Wednesday afternoon. While gale force winds are expected within the next 48 hours, these ports can remain open to commercial traffic.

Hurricane Florence is forecast to be a major hurricane when it nears the U.S. coast on Thursday, bringing life-threatening storm surge and rainfall to portions of the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory on Wednesday morning.The extremely dangerous hurricane, currently a category 4, is located about 530 miles southeast of Cape Fear, N.C. packing maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour, it said in an advisory issued…

Liebherr’s ship crane department has secured orders to equip 15 new vessels of the South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., LTD (DSME) with one ship set of four units type CBW 2100 each. That means a summarized order volume of 60 Liebherr ship cranes. The 15 ordered and identical vessels are liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with a capacity of 172,600 cubic meters and a total length of 299 meters. They are specially designed and adapted for the extreme environmental conditions around the Russian peninsula Yamal.

One mariner remains missing after 13 of 14 crewmembers were recovered from the sea following the sinking of their oil tanker in severe weather conditions 240 miles off the coast of Yemen. At around 4:30 a.m. June 26, the U.K. Coastguard received a Mayday distress call issued by a 99-meter-long Panamanian flagged oil tanker believed to be carrying crude oil, reporting that the vessel was sinking. The Yemen Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) were unable to assist, so the U.K. Coastguard stepped in to coordinate the rescue, issuing a Satellite Communication Mayday relay broadcast to all shipping in the area. Multiple commercial vessels nearby responded to the original Mayday call and made their way to the tanker, which had sunk in gale force 8 winds and 5 meters swells.

Dozens of ships in the Caribbean have already been diverted to avoid Hurricane Irma, but how exactly does shipping cope with extreme weather - a post by UK Chamber of Shipping. Hurricane Irma, much like its predecessor Hurricane Harvey, has sent shipping into disarray, particularly for cruise passengers. Around 40,000 holidaymakers are estimated to have been affected by disruption to scheduled cruises this week and this figure could rise further as Irma speeds through the Caribbean towards southern Florida. The hurricane has already devastated areas of the British Virgin Islands, St Martin, Barbuda, St Barthelemy and Anguilla. AIS data shows 12 cruise ships are currently still in Irma’s path, but the good news is that the passengers onboard have a good chance of remaining safe.

The Captain of the Port (COTP) North Carolina has set Port Condition X-Ray for all navigable waterways in the North Carolina COTP Zone in preparation for the anticipated weather impact of Tropical Storm Hermine, the U.S. Coast Guard announced. Gale Force winds of 34 knots or greater are predicted along the coast of North Carolina. All self-propelled oceangoing vessels over 500 gross-tons, all oceangoing barges and their supporting tugs and all tank barges over 200 gross-tons intending…

The U.S. Coast Guard is urging mariners and members of the maritime community across North Carolina to prepare for Hurricane Matthew as Condition Whiskey is set for North Carolina Waterways. The Captain of the Port (COTP) has set Condition Whiskey for all waterways in the North Carolina COTP Zone in preparation for the anticipated weather impact of Hurricane Matthew. Gale force winds of 39 mph and above are predicted along the coast of North Carolina within 72 hours. During this…