Australia fines bulker
A court in Australia sided with its maritime authorities and ordered the owners of a bulker to pay a fine as well as court costs for failing to follow safety directions. The fine comes after the Australian Maritime Authority (AMSA) last year banned the vessel from sailing to Australia also related to safety issues in 2023.
KMAX Leader, a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier, arrived at the Port of Gladstone in October 2023 reporting propulsion issues. Through the port agency, Universal Shipping Alliance, AMSA was advised the vessel would require eight to 10 days to complete repairs. Instead, the port and AMSA found themselves dealing with the ship for four months while two cyclones also impacted the area. The vessel finally left Australia in February 2024 under tow after engineers had repeatedly failed to resolve the mechanical problems.
Chinese cargo ship sank N.Korean bulker
A media report is circulating, March 13, in South Korea saying that a North Korean bulker smuggling coal was involved in a collision and sank last month. It is saying as many as 20 seafarers were lost but the Chinese failed to report the incident.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap released the report citing multiple unidentified sources. They were told the incident happened in February in the Yellow Sea. The area between the Korean peninsular and China is reported to be known as a “hot spot” for coal smuggling.
“The North Korean ship appears to be overly loaded with coal,” the report states. “The cargo and ship sank altogether,” the source told Yonhap, adding China does not appear to want the accident to be known as it probably connived in North Korea’s violation of the UN Security Council sanctions.
In Fiji, dozens of abandoned shipwrecks pose safety risks
A fire incident this week onboard a Chinese fishing vessel, Dae Jin, while berthed at Suva Harbor, Fiji has rekindled concerns on marine safety in the country. The 24-year-old Fiji flagged longliner is said to had just completed offloading its catch when the fire started in the engine room. Twelve crewmembers, including Chinese and Indonesian nationals were able to escape, although some reported minor injuries. Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF) confirmed the incident and said an investigation has been launched to establish the cause of the fire. Fiji Ports Authority also dispatched a tug to tow the burnt vessel out of the port.
However, this incident comes hot on the heels of a growing push to clean up dozens of fishing shipwrecks abandoned near Suva Harbor. As operational costs for the fishing industry rise in the Pacific region, some companies are increasingly abandoning vessels in remote islands.
Salvage crews free a stranded dutch short-sea cargo ship
After two weeks and a lightering effort salvage crews were finally able to free a stranded Dutch short-sea cargo ship that was aground in the UK’s Humber Estuary. Officials had feared the vessel might be stuck till an April high tide.
H&S Wisdom (1,850 dwt) was inbound from Rotterdam with a load of steel when it became stranded on March 2 and as the tide went out she was sitting firmly in the mud. Shortly after the vessel grounded, three efforts were tried to free it but were abandoned when it was clear it was too firmly wedged in the estuary. Reports called it a “navigational effort.”
The crew remained aboard the vessel for two weeks while supplies were ferried to them from shore. At the same time, two barges were positioned alongside with a crane parked on one and the efforts began at offloading some of the cargo to prepare the ship for a new effort to free it.
French dockworkers suspend plan
The unions representing French dockworkers at the major industrial ports said in an effort to ease tensions with the government it would suspend its plans for a “dead port” strike planned for March 18. The unions reported that government officials had been receptive in a recent meeting, and they hoped to make progress on a simmering dispute over reforms to France’s retirement policies.
Dockworkers and other port employees have been conducting a rolling series of strikes since January in a dispute that dates back to 2023 and the federal government’s plans for reforms in the national retirement project. The government of French President Emmanuel Macron pushed through controversial reforms in 2023 including raising the national retirement age from 62 to 64.
The unions are demanding that their industry be exempt from the changes to retirement. They insist it is a physically demanding profession that entitles them to special consideration.
The Federation National des Ports et Docks scheduled a strike for March 18 that was reportedly going to stop all activity in the ports of Le Havre and Rouen.
Pirates suspected of hijacking another boat
March 16, of a Yemeni-flagged fishing boat that EUNAVFOR officials believe has been hijacked by Somali pirates. Operation Atalanta is involved as the authorities monitor the vessel and warn of the continued danger in the region.
The report indicates that seven hijackers are aboard the dhow. They are believed to have taken control of the vessel off Durdura, in the vicinity of Ely, which is on the northern coast of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region within Somalia and the same area where other vessels have been attacked.
Atalanta says there is a crew of eight Somali nationals aboard the vessel. It is monitoring the situation and coordinating with the Combined Maritime Forces and the Yemeni Coast Guard.
It is the second incident this year with another Yemeni fishing boat taken a month ago on February 17 and held for five days while the pirates robbed the vessel and its crew before fleeing. However, unlike the prior event which was labeled when it started as an armed robbery, this time Atalanta has classified the incident as a hijacking.