Mayday News

Six workers were missing and presumed dead from a bridge that collapsed in Baltimore Harbor early on Tuesday after a massive cargo ship crippled by a power loss rammed into the structure, forcing the closure of one of the busiest ports on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.With dive teams facing increasingly treacherous conditions in the darkened, wreckage-strewn waters, active search-and-rescue operations were suspended about 18 hours after the accident, U.S. Coast Guard and Maryland…

A massive cargo ship smashed into a bridge while sailing out of Baltimore early on Tuesday, sending cars and people into the river below and closing one of the busiest ports on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one of whom was hospitalized, and searched for more in the Patapsco River after huge metal spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the icy water around 1:30 a.m. (0530 GMT).The ship reported a power issue before impact…

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they hit a Norwegian commercial tanker with a missile in their latest protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, underlining the risks of a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.The Iran-aligned group attacked the tanker, the Strinda, because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal and after its crew ignored all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea said in a statement.But the tanker's owner, Norway's Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, said the vessel was headed to Italy with a cargo of biofuel feedstock, not crude oil.

A crewmember has died after falling overboard from a tanker vessel near Boston.A frantic search commenced shortly after 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday in response to a mayday call from the Singapore-registered MTM Dublin, which reported the mariner had fallen overboard.The man had reportedly been swept into the sea while a ladder was being lowered for the boarding of a Boston Harbor pilot, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.The search was performed in rough sea conditions near Boston Harbor…

A Singapore-registered containership that lost power and steering in heavy seas off the west coast of New Zealand has been towed to safety.The 5,100 TEU capacity Shiling requested assistance from Maritime New Zealand at around 8:30 a.m. local time Friday, after losing main propulsion while en route from Auckland to Wellington.The 294-meter-long containership started rolling severely after drifting into heavy swells about 22 nautical miles northwest of Farewell Spit and issued a mayday call at 11 a.m.

Four mariners were rescued in dramatic fashion from a tugboat that was sinking in Sabine Pass, Texas, on Friday.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Houston-Galveston command center were notified at 5:38 a.m. that the crew of the 71-foot tug Sea Cypress hailed mayday on VHF-FM channel 13 and reported they were capsizing while moored near the mouth of the Sabine Pass channel.Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of…

Five mariners were rescued by the crew of a U.K. Royal Navy patrol ship after their tug started to sink in rough seas last week in the Caribbean.The oceangoing tug began taking on water after suffering an engine failure some 20 miles west of Sint Maarten. The vessel's crew sent out a distress call around 1 p.m. on Friday and took refuge on the large sand barge their vessel had been towing.Patrol ship HMS Medway, the Royal Navy’s permanent presence in the region, was slightly more than a dozen miles away and promptly responded to the Mayday call.

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…

A U.K. Royal Navy warship assisted in the rescue of four people from a yacht that was taking on water and at risk of sinking in the English Channel near the Isle of Wight.Last week, the Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond answered a Mayday call from a civilian yacht that was taking on a significant amount of water while sailing from Beaulieu River in the New Forest toward Honfleur in France.Diamond was in the area after leaving its home port and coordinated and conducted the rescue operation…

All radio traffic on the emergency channel that reaches Sweden is now transcribed by artificial intelligence (AI) and shown to the operators at the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Gothenburg within a second. Keywords, such as "Mayday", "SOS", "help" and "sinking", are clearly marked and cannot be missed.The Swedish Maritime Administration, together with the Swedish companies Tenfifty AB and Maranics AB, has conducted a research and innovation project during the past two years.

A Valaris drillship went adrift on Tuesday evening, breaking free from moorings near the port at Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland.According to BBC, which was the first to report on the incident on Wednesday, "a major rescue operation has been ongoing overnight," when the 228 meters drillship, Valaris DS4, broke free and started drifting without power.According to the news agency, coastguard rescue teams, vessels, and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene, and no injuries have been reported.Offshore Engineer has reached out to Valaris and Maritime and Coastguard Agency, seeking more info. Valaris did not immediately respond. A…

Three people were rescued from a 71-year-old tugboat that sank south of Puerto Rico on Thursday.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector San Juan fielded a mayday call from the crew of the 112-foot U.S.-flagged tug Proassist III, stating they were taking on water approximately two miles south of Yabucoa Harbor.A good Samaritan embarked the three people from the 1949-built tug and took them ashore with no reported injuries.On Friday, a Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen…

Last Tuesday, the crew of the service operations vessel (SOV) Esvagt Njord helped save seven fishermen in distress near the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm in the U.K. North Sea.Esvagt Njord is a wind turbine ship assisting Equinor in the operation of the offshore wind farm off Great Yarmouth on the English east coast. Over the radio, skipper Brian Kristiansen heard a fishing vessel nearby calling for help, and when he responded, he learned that the ship was taking in water. "The fishing vessel had yet to send out a Mayday. We had a feeling, however, that there was a need for help close by.

The crew of an idled cruise ship anchored in The Bahamas coordinated the rescue of a severely inured yacht crew member on Tuesday.Carinval Cruise Line's Carnival Ecstasy responded to the Mayday call from the private yacht Balista seeking help for a crew member suffering from severe injuries.Carnival Ecstasy was approximately four nautical miles away. While it could see that another cruise ship was closer, the other vessel did not appear to be responding to the Mayday and Carnival…

U.S. Coast Guard air and surface rescue crews at Sector San Juan responded and assisted the distressed M/V Island Express Wednesday afternoon, after the ship started taking on water when it departed the Port of San Juan for storm avoidance in anticipation of Tropical Cyclone 9.The M/V Island Express, a Cyprus flagged 412-foot ro-ro cargo ship, and its 18-man crew is now safely moored in San Juan Harbor.Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan received a Mayday VHF radio transmission on Channel 16 from the Captain of the M/V Island Express…

A US Air Force F-15 fighter jet pilot died in an accident Monday after crashing into the North Sea, off Flamborough Head, UK.Immediately after the crash, a search and rescue operation was launched for the pilot of a United States military aircraft from RAF Lakenheath base.However, on Monday evening local time, the U.S. Airforce 48th Fighter Wing division said the pilot had been found and confirmed deceased, and the UK coast guard said the SAR had been called off. The coast guard…

Norwegian offshore vessel operator Østensjø has said it is assisting in the ongoing search and rescue (SAR) after a fighter jet crashed off the UK coast on Monday."Østensjø's offshore wind vessel “Edda Mistral” and her autonomous workboat “Mistral Worker” were in the vicinity of the fighter jet crash off the UK coast. Both vessels are engaged in the ongoing search and rescue SAR operation," the company said Monday.The vessels are reporting to UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency who is coordinating the SAR-operation.

Twelve crew members were rescued Wednesday from a cargo ship ablaze off the coast of Italy.At about 7 a.m. local time, the Reggio Calabria port authority received a mayday call reporting an uncontrollable fire in the engine room aboard Bolivian-flagged freighter Bellatrix, in the Mediterranean Sea, about 180 miles southeast from Catania, Italy's Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard assumed coordination of the rescue effort and arranged for multiple air and surface assets to be sent to the scene.

Dutch salvage and towage company Kotug said that its two tugs have helped to rescue a containership hit by fire while sailing off the coast of East Africa.The 2,503-teu Oinousses (built 2000) was sailing sailing from Maputo to Mombasa, off the coast of Mozambique after the vessel sustained an engine room fire.On the night of January 20, two Rotortugs of KOTUG International picked up the Mayday signal of the container vessel EM-Oinousses having a devastating fire in the engine room.Although the vessel’s crew adequately extinguished the fire, at approximately 50 miles off the coast of Nacala, Mozambique, the ship appeared to be uncontrollable.The salvage was carried out by KOTUG’S Rotortugs RT Spirit and RT Magic.

A containership lost steering off the coast of Mozambique on Monday after its crew put out an engine room fire on board the 680-foot vessel.Towage operator KOTUG International said two of its vessels responded after picking up a mayday call from the Marshall-Islands-flagged Em Oinousses, approximately 50 miles off the coast of Nacala, Mozambique, while en route from Maputo, Mozambique to Mombasa, Kenya.KOTUG said its Rotortugs RT Spirit and RT Magic carried out the salvage in high seas, making quick connections to the disabled vessel for tow into Nacala.

Five commercial fishermen were believed to have died after their crabbing vessel sank on New Year’s Eve in the Gulf of Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard said after ending a search and rescue operation amid high winds and heavy seas.There were two survivors: crewmen who took refuge in a lifeboat and were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. The two were taken to a hospital in Kodiak and were reported to be in stable condition, the Coast Guard said.But after scouring a 1,400 square-mile (3,600 square km) area for 20 hours with helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft in the air and a cutter at sea, the Coast Guard called off its search for five missing crew on Wednesday night.The wreck appeared to be the worst Alaska commercial fishing accident in nearly three years.

The Coast Guard continues to respond to an incident aboard the commercial fishing vessel Miss Emma off Oahu, Wednesday.“We’re pleased there was no loss of life in this case, and there are no current reports of pollution,” said Lt. j.g. Seth Gross, a command duty officer for Coast Guard Sector Honolulu. “We will conduct another overflight of the area today, and Coast Guard personnel are investigating the cause of the fire."The vessel caught fire Tuesday afternoon about 8 miles south of Sand Island prompting a search and rescue response.

None of a dive boat's 34 passengers survived a fast-moving fire that sunk it off California's Santa Cruz Island, officials said on Tuesday, as recovery workers prepared to try to retrieve 14 bodies still believed to be on the vessel or in the ocean.Emergency workers planned to use DNA analysis to identify the badly-burned remains of the 20 people so far removed from the 75-foot (23 m) Conception ship, which was lying upside down under more than 60 feet (18 meters) of water following…