Ship Evacuated After First Civilian Fatalities in Houthis' Red Sea Attacks
India's navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea on Thursday, after a Houthi attack killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group's campaign against the key shipping route.The Iran-aligned militants fired a missile at the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday about 50 nautical miles off the southern Yemeni port of Aden, setting it ablaze.In a statement, the owners and manager said all 20 crew and three…
Viking Strengthens Marine Evacuation Portfolio with Undertun Acquisition
Danish maritime safety solutions company Viking Life-Saving Equipment has acquired rights to manufacture and supply Undertun marine evacuation systems (MES).The Viking acquisition has been agreed with Sverre Undertun, whose Norway-based company offers solutions which include its well-known Undertun ship gangways.The solution is suitable for the small ferry market due to its easy installation and use.Catering for up to 150 persons, Undertun MES are especially convenient when installation heights and crew numbers are low…
Twelve Rescued After Cargo Vessel Capsizes
Twelve mariners were rescued after a small cargo vessel capsized near the Dominican Republic.Carnival Corp said the crew aboard its cruise ship Carnival Vista rescued six from the water early Wednesday morning after the cargo vessel Two Brothers capsized about 30 miles north of Puerto Plata overnight.Carnival Vista’s officers under the direction of Captain Paolo Severini immediately altered the ship’s course, in coordination with Carnival’s Fleet Operations Center in Miami, when…
SAR Officer Caleb Halle Receives 2023 IMO Bravery Award
The 2023 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea has been presented to Caleb Halle, Aviation Survival Technician Second Class (AST2) of the United States Coast Guard (USCG). He was recognized for the outstanding courage, endurance and determination he showed during the rescue of the seven-strong crew of the tugboat Legacy in January 2023.AST2 Halle, based at the Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, received the award at the annual IMO Awards Ceremony in London. The ceremony…
MAIB Warns on Liferafts After Failure
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has issued a safety bulletin following the engine room flooding and foundering of the stern trawler Piedras (FD 528) which led to the failure of a liferaft to inflate. A second liferaft was successfully launched, and the crew were rescued.Both liferafts exhibited deficiencies that raised servicing and certification concerns and are likely to have contributed to the failure, says MAIB. The port liferaft was never recovered, but inspection of the starboard liferaft found that it had not been correctly serviced since manufacture in March 2007…
US Coast Guard, Navy Rescue Four Missing Divers off North Carolina
Four divers that went missing off the U.S. East Coast on Sunday were rescued Monday 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, N.C.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector North Carolina initially received a notification Sunday from Coast Guard Sector Charleston stating four men were diving from the pleasure craft Big Bill’s, approximately 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C. near noon, and had not resurfaced. Sectors Charleston and North Carolina coordinated a multi-asset…
Wreck of MV Blythe Star Found Off Tasmania
An investigation by Australian research organisation CSIRO’s research vessel RV Investigator has confirmed the location of the wreck of the MV Blythe Star.The 44-metre motor vessel Blythe Star was a coastal freighter that disappeared off Tasmania nearly 50 years ago. The vessel was travelling from Hobart to King Island with a cargo of superphosphate fertiliser and a ton of beer in kegs when, on October 13, 1973, it suddenly capsized and sank off the southwest coast of Tasmania…
Personal Locator Beacons Improve the Chance of Rescue at Sea
New Year’s Eve is a time of celebration and remembrance. Three years ago, on December 31, 2019, as the new year was being rung in across the lower 48 states, a tragedy was playing out in icy Alaskan waters. The fishing vessel Scandies Rose, with seven crew members aboard, encountered severe icing conditions and high winds and waves as it transited from Kodiak to fishing grounds in the Bering Sea. The crabber tried to make it to Sutwik Island to shelter from the storm; however…
Coast Guard Calls Off Search for Four Missing from Helicopter that Crashed Near Gulf of Mexico Platform
The Coast Guard called off its search for four passengers onboard a downed helicopter about 10 miles off the coast of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.At around 8:40 a.m., Coast Guard District Eight watchstanders got a call from Rotorcraft Leasing Company personnel indicating that a company helicopter with four people aboard had gone down in the Gulf of Mexico while departing an oil platform.Sector New Orleans watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard…
Debris Analysis Shows Iran-made Drone Attacked Tanker, US Navy Says
The U.S. military on Tuesday said debris analysis has concluded that the same type of Iranian drone that Tehran has supplied to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine was used to attack a commercial tanker off the coast of Oman a week ago.The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet published photos and details of its investigation into the attack on the Liberian-flagged Pacific Zircon tanker, including debris from the Shahed-136 drone itself.In a statement, the Navy said the drone ripped a 30-inch-wide (76 cm) hole into the back of the ship…
Vestdavit Develops Innovative Davit for Esvagt SOV Newbuild
Vestdavit has developed an innovative heavy-duty davit for larger offshore wind workboats to be delivered for a green-fueled service operation vessel (SOV) newbuild as part of a multiple davit contract with Esvagt.Danish shipowner Esvagt earlier this year announced an order at Turkey’s Cemre Shipyard for an SOV to operate on green fuels under a joint newbuild project with compatriot offshore wind operator Ørsted.Powered by batteries and dual-fuel engines, the 93-meter-long vessel will be capable of sailing on renewable e-methanol produced from wind energy and biogenic carbon…
Survitec Launches New MES for Small Passenger Vessels
Survival technology company Survitec has unveiled a new Marine Evacuation System (MES) designed for small to medium size passenger vessels. Targeted at vessels with passenger capacities ranging from 300 to 1,500 persons, such as ferries and expedition cruise ships, the new MES solution will be officially introduced to ship operators during the SMM Trade Fair before being rolled out for full market availability from early 2023.The product is being launched with an extended service MES option of up to 30 months…
Refurbished Ferry Delivered to CalMac
A newly refurbished ferry has been delivered to provide additional capacity for operator CalMac Ferries on the west coast of Scotland.Purchased out of Norway in 2021 and renamed Loch Frisa, the vessel departed Dales Marine Services in Leith on May 29 for repositioning to Oban where it is undertaking familiarization and entry-in-to service activities.Starting in mid-June, the double-ended RoPax ferry will be phased into the Oban-Craignure timetable, in tandem with Coruisk. Once Loch Frisa takes over the full Coruisk timetable…
Mass Maritime Puts on Offshore Wind Training Demo for Governor Baker
Governor Charlie Baker, Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Bethany Card, and Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO (MassCEC) Jennifer Daloisio joined Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) officials for a Global Wind Organization (GWO) training demonstration at the Academy. Nearly three years since helping launch MMA’s first-in-the-nation offshore wind crew transfer training facility, Governor Baker returned to observe a wind and life raft training and highlight the investments the Baker-Polito Administration is proposing to expand the offshore wind workforce further.
Yesterday’s or Tomorrow’s Offshore Energy: Which to Pick?
Looking back, it is easy to wonder if one could have done better by taking the other fork in the road. I grew up in Holland in a maritime family and am pretty sure I would have stuck with maritime there. In 1968, when I was 8 years old, my father left Holland America Line and joined the United States Salvage Association. At the same time, their main customer, the U.S. marine insurance industry, became heavily involved in the development of North Sea offshore oil and gas, and it resulted in an economic boom that made USSA’s Rotterdam office wildly profitable.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy Teams Up with Union Apprentice Program for Offshore Wind
With the passing of the historic infrastructure bill in August 2021, the backbone of the United States will undergo a transformation over the next several years, and for this, workers will be needed in all facets of the construction industry.Building Pathways South (BPS), a pre-apprenticeship program in Southeastern Massachusetts, is preparing young adults for opportunities available today as well as down the road, including in the growing U.S. offshore wind industry.Yvonne Tobey…
Two Cargo Ships Hit by Blasts around Ukraine, One Seafarer Killed
An Estonian-owned cargo ship sank on Thursday off Ukraine's major Black Sea port of Odessa, hours after a Bangladeshi vessel was hit by a missile or bomb at a port east of Odessa, underlining the growing peril to merchant shipping after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Many shipping firms have suspended journeys to Black Sea ports and other terminals in Ukraine amid soaring recent insurance premiums for such voyages. At least three commercial ships have been hit separately by projectiles since Feb. 24 when Russia's invasion began.Viktor Vyshnov, deputy head of Ukraine’s Maritime Administration, said six crew members from the Marshall Islands-flagged Helt were picked up by Ukraine's rescue service and taken to a hospital in nearby Chernomorsk after floating in cold water for many hours…
Seven Dead, Others Feared Drowned After Spanish Trawler Sinks off Canada
At least seven crew from a Spanish trawler have died and three were plucked from a life raft after their ship sank off the Canadian coast on Tuesday, an official said, as rescuers searched for more survivors in the bitterly cold Atlantic waters.The vessel, the Villa de Pitanxo, with a crew of 24 comprising 16 Spaniards, five Peruvians and three Ghanaians, launched a distress beacon at 0424 GMT, Spain's fisheries ministry said.It sank around 450 km (280 miles) east-southeast of Newfoundland, the ministry said."Seven people have been found dead," said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the leader of Spain's Galicia region where the vessel and several of its crew were from."There were two Galician fishing boats in the area…
At Least 10 Dead from Sunken Trawler off Canada, 11 Still Missing
Sea rescue services from the Canadian city of Halifax found and recovered 10 bodies from a Spanish fishing trawler that sank in rough sea off the eastern coast of Canada, the services said late on Tuesday, though 11 of the crew are still missing.“Regrettably, Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Halifax can confirm that an additional three deceased individuals have been recovered from the sunken fishing vessel,” the center said on its Twitter account. Earlier, it announced the recovery of seven bodies.Three surviving sailors from the trawler…
Katadyn Desalination Inks Three-year Contract with US Navy
Katadyn Desalination, LLC announced it has won a three-year contract to deliver lifesaving, hand-operated desalination devices for the U.S. Navy.Katadyn Desalination is part of the Katadyn Group, provider of reliable, sustainable and simple solutions for safe drinking water treatment. Whether outdoors, at sea, for emergency preparedness, humanitarian or tactical missions or industrial applications, clean water becomes a reality with Katadyn products. The brand’s product line ranges from mobile water filter systems and chemical disinfectants…
Survitec Completes Blue Anchor Acquisition
U.K.-based safety and survival solutions provider Survitec said it has completed its acquisition of Blue Anchor Fire & Safety, a Scottish provider of survival solutions to the fisheries, maritime and offshore energy industries.The investment, part of Survitec’s expansion strategy, follows the acquisition in May of Norway’s Hansen Protection, a provider of personal protective equipment.Baba Devani, Chief Executive Officer, Marine, Survitec, said, “We are delighted to announce this acquisition…
Canada Calls off Search for Missing Sailors from Sunken Trawler
Canadian rescue officials on Wednesday suspended the search for 11 missing crew members from a Spanish trawler that sank the previous day in rough seas off the coast of Newfoundland, killing at least 10 people.Three surviving sailors from the trawler, suffering from severe hypothermia, were plucked from a life raft early on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear what sank the trawler Villa de Pitanxo.Bad weather complicated the search efforts, which went on for some 36 hours and involved a plane, two helicopters, rescue ships and one Spanish and two Portuguese trawlers.At 4 p.m.
Bulk Carrier Rescues Crew of Fire-stricken Fishing Vessel
A bulk carrier came to the rescue of seven people after their 85-foot commercial fishing boat caught fire Wednesday morning, approximately 350 miles west of Monterey, Calif.The U.S. Coast Guard said it coordinated the rescue after its Eleventh District command center received multiple emergency position-indicating radio beacon and personal location beacon alerts belonging to the fishing boat Blue Dragon around 12:20 a.m.The Coast Guard coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento C-27 Spartan aircrew at 1:30 a.m.Using the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System (AMVER), the Coast Guard issued a request for assistance…