Hannibal News

Polish divers say they have found the wreck of a German World War Two ship which may help solve a decades-old mystery - the whereabouts of the Amber Room, an ornate chamber from a tsarist palace in Russia that was looted by the Nazis.Decorated with amber and gold, the Amber Room was part of the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg, but was last seen in Koenigsberg, then a Baltic port city in Germany but now the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.It was from Koenigsberg that the Karlsruhe steamer set sail in 1945 with a heavy cargo…

Viking announced it will launch a Mississippi River cruise line with its first vessel, Viking Mississippi, scheduled to sail voyages on the Lower and Upper Mississippi, between New Orleans and St. Paul from August 2022.Purpose-built for the Mississippi and is currently under construction in Louisiana, the five-deck ship will accommodate 386 passengers in 193 all outside staterooms.“At a time where many of us are at home, looking for inspiration to travel in the future, I am pleased to introduce a new, modern way to explore this great river.

Contship Italia Group confirms its intermodal vocation, both for continental and maritime cargo – and for the latter, a collaboration between Terminal Container Ravenna (TCR) and Hannibal will offer an intermodal opportunity for the territory of Ravenna.Local companies that have developed business in northern Europe during 2019 – and with Rotterdam in particular, have already seized the new connection as an opportunity.The link will be made available by Contship Italia Group’s MTO Hannibal, connecting Ravenna with central an northern Europe through RHM – Rail Hub Milano, the intermodal platform located in Melzo (Milan).Intermodal activity is becoming a service of great value for TCR – the gateway is in fact equipped with five rail tracks…

Contship Italia Group has been pulling all the stops to increase its intermodal offering during the past months.Italy’s leading service provider for integrated global supply chains said that its Rail Hub Milano (RHM) and its gateway ports La Spezia and Ravenna serve as backbone of the Group’s growing intermodal network.La Spezia is geographically located within a range of 320 km from the key economic regions in Italy, accounting for over 47% of the total Italian GDP. RHM is located in Melzo, just outside the city of Milan at the heart of consumer and industrial regions. Ravenna is the natural gateway for East Med flows exchanged via the Adriatic Sea, the Italian container terminal operator said.This year has seen numerous service additions from RHM to various locations across Europe.

Contship Italia Group, Italy’s leading maritime container terminal and intermodal operator saw an increase in handled volume of 1.7% and 9.7% increase in transported volumes for 2016. The group’s Maritime Container Terminal business saw an increase of 109,000 TEUs in overall handling volumes in 2016, welcoming 6,888 vessel calls, up 4% year on year. Contship’s intermodal business reported an overall rise in transported volumes and directly operated number of trains. Innovative fast customs corridors, an improved load factor of domestic trains in the second half of the year, plus the increased routing of cargo via the southern gateway to south and central Europe, have all supported an increased market share of 25% in the Italian maritime intermodal business.

Continuing support from key markets across Asia helped Contship Italia Group, the leading container terminal and intermodal transport operator in Italy, to report a steady set of results for 2015. Contship Italia Group terminals handled a total of 6.3 million TEUs last year on the back of increased volumes at La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT), its main gateway for Asian cargo. LSCT, with four weekly calls from China, the Far East, and South East Asia, continues the positive trend that has seen Asia trade via La Spezia increase by 3.5% on the previous year (up 19% over the past five years). In 2015, 197 of 938 total calls at LSCT were associated with Asia services offered by the 2M, O3 and CKYHE alliances handling vessels in the 10,000-14,000 TEU capacity range.

The UK’s first commercial 6 megawatt (MW) wind turbine has been installed at the Westermost Rough wind farm, in a new landmark for renewable energy. The next generation machine, designed by Siemens and erected by DONG Energy, is the first of 35 at the 210MW North Sea project. It is hoped that the ‘round 3’ turbines, with their greater output, will help cut costs for the offshore wind sector. Duncan Clark, Westermost Rough programme director for Dong, said, “This is a major landmark in the construction phase of this project and its achievement is a great credit to the DONG Energy team and our supply chain partners. The Westermost Rough project is 50% owned by DONG Energy, whilst the Green Investment Bank and Marubeni revealed this week they are to refinance part of their 50% shareholding.

Gigantic records are set by land, sea and air. For them to be set, modern high-tech solutions are needed that in the right combination make the impossible possible. For example, one insider calls gigantic ferry boats “cruise ships with car decks.” By that he is referring to their size and the comfort that size brings with it. The biggest ferry boat ever built was launched in South Korea in 2012. Going along with it was the German-made standard gearboxes that in size, performance and quality are far from just standard.

Somali based pirates continue to cause serious challenges to merchant vessels transiting the Indian Ocean. At the time of writing, EU NAVFOR statistics indicate that there are 26 vessels and 582 crew held captive off the coast of Somalia (not taking into account an unknown number of smaller dhows and fishing vessels that have been seized). Moreover, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported that Somali pirates hijacked 49 vessels in 2010, an increase from 47 in 2009. With the use of hijacked mother ships, Somali pirates proved that they are capable of operating for extended periods of time in areas further out to sea; a trend that has continued in the first months of 2011.

Somali based pirates continue to cause serious challenges to merchant vessels transiting the Indian Ocean.At the time of writing, EU NAVFOR statistics indicate that there are 26 vessels and 582 crew held captive off the coast of Somalia (not taking into account an unknown number of smaller dhows and fishing vessels that have been seized). Moreover, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported that Somali pirates hijacked 49 vessels in 2010, an increase from 47 in 2009. With the use of hijacked mother ships…

The Chemical Tanker MV Hannibal II, was released from pirate control on 17 March 2011. The Panamanian flagged vessel was hijacked on 11 November 2010, approximately 860 nautical miles East of the Horn of Africa. The vessel and her crew of 30 are believed to be making for a safe port. The crew members are from Tunisia, Philippines, Croatia, Georgia, Russia and Morocco. The vessel had 31 crew members on board when she was taken but, as previously reported by the EU on the 17 December…

Late on the evening of 23 February, EUNAVFOR warships in the Arabian Sea were alerted that an incident had occurred on board a German owned container vessel, 155 Nautical miles South East of the island of Socotra, resulting in burns to one of the crew. A request for immediate assistance and possible medical evacuation was received soon after. EUNAVFOR warship FGS Hamburg, which was on Counter-Piracy patrol in the area, immediately launched its helicopter and evacuated the injured sailor.

Early on the morning of Nov. 11, the MV Hannibal II, a Panamanian-flagged vessel, was pirated whilst on route from Malaysia to Suez. The 24,105 tonne chemical tanker was carrying vegetable oils from Pasir Gudang to Suez at the time.  The master of the vessel reported that he had been attacked and boarded by pirates in an area some 860 nautical miles East of The Horn of Africa which is considerably closer to India than it is to Somalia.   The MV Hannibal II has a total of 31 crew on board.  This number consists of 23 Tunisians, 4 Filipinos, 1 Croatian, 1 Georgian, 1 Russian and 1 Moroccan.

We rolled into town on the last train north, arriving Portland, Maine at 2:00 a.m. Half an hour later we were at the dock, hauling our kit - and when Marine News travels light, we're like Hannibal crossing the Alps - over silent tugs resting abreast: Captain Bill, Justine McAllister, Stamford. On the phone a few days before, Capt. Brian Fournier had said something about leaving a light in Stamford's forward port cabin, and there, finally, it shone. But something brighter had caught our eye, and could we believe it? Last time we saw something like it, it was in Aberdeen, Scotland. Now, from Stamford's starboard rail, it loomed and glistened four hundred feet away - rising nearly as high - a pair of deep-sea drilling platforms, afloat waters barely up to their ankles.

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd) has signed contracts for the disposal of four ships from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet at Benicia, CA, bringing to nine the number that have left the facility for recycling since October 2005. The four ships are World War II-vintage Victory ships: Hannibal Victory, the Barnard Victory, the Occidental Victory and the Sioux Falls Victory. When ships are no longer considered useful for defense or aid missions, MARAD arranges for their proper disposal and works closely with the Coast Guard to ensure the safe transport of the vessels to their final destinations. Before towing from the fleet, all ships are inspected by an independent party.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will close additional locks on the upper Mississippi River north of St. Louis beginning on Monday (April 23) due to rising water levels, Army Corps officials said. Lock 22 near Hannibal, Mo., about 150 miles north of St. Louis, was scheduled to close on Monday afternoon and Lock 21 near Quincy, Ill., will close on Tuesday. The Army Corps had closed Lock 20 at Canton, Mo., over the weekend but was keeping Lock 19 near Keokuk, Ia., open for local traffic. So all locks from Canton north to Minnespolis, except Keokuk, were now closed to traffic due to high water. The latest lock closures are north of the confluence of the Illinois River, where barge traffic remains unaffected by the flood conditions on the upper Mississippi.

Several locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River will be closed to all navigation from January to early March for maintenance and repairs, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. Bill Gretten, chief of the lock and dam section of the Corps' Mississippi River Project, said maintenance is normally done in the winter when parts of the river are frozen and vessels are unable to navigate through the ice. Although the weather has been moderate so far this year, water temperatures have been around 33 degrees Fahrenheit, one degree above freezing. "If we get a couple of nights of cold weather, the river will be covered with ice," Gretten said. The Corps has issued several notices of the impending shutdowns, allowing the barge industry to coordinate shipments ahead of the lock closures.

Several locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River will be closed to all navigation from January to early March for maintenance and repairs, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) said. Maintenance is normally done in the winter when parts of the river are frozen and vessels are unable to navigate through the ice. The Corps has issued several notices of the impending shutdowns, allowing the barge industry to coordinate shipments ahead of the lock closures. The following locks are or will be closed. Upper Mississippi River, St. Lock and Dam 5A, Fountain City, Wis. Dec. Lock and Dam 21, Quincy, Ill., Jan. 1-Feb. Lock and Dam 22, Hannibal, Mo., Jan. 1-Feb. Upper Mississippi River, St. Louis District, three locks north of St. Louis. Locks 27, Granite City, Ill.

Barge tows traveling on the upper Mississippi River faced lengthy delays on Wednesday near Hannibal, Mo., after traffic was stopped for two days to dredge several spots in the river, river officials said. The river was closed in several areas between Hannibal and Quincy, Ill., on Monday when several barges reported shallow water conditions. The Corps of Engineers used a mechanical crane to dredge the shallow areas and carve a new channel in the river to allow barges to safely travel. "There were about three locations down there that had run out of water, but things have gotten cleaned up since this morning. Traffic is moving again," said Bill Gretten of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island district.

Delays at locks along the Mississippi River were easing on June 1 as a glut of northbound barges that congested locks after the river reopened last week made their way upriver, river officials said. Locks 24 and 25 in Winfield and Clarksville, Mo., the last two and most southerly locks to be reopened last Wednesday after a month-long river closure, were initially hit with back-ups of as many as 30 barge tows and delays of close to 40 hours, officials said. On June 1, however, lock 25 had no tows backed up and lock 24 had only eight tows waiting to lock through. Lock 22 near Hannibal, Missouri, had 10 tows backed up on Friday afternoon, with a wait time of about 10 to 15 hours, but river officials were hopeful that the back-up would thin out to 2 to 5 tows by early next week.