The US Coast Guard on Thursday December 24th responded to a marine casualty Thursday south of Puerto Rico. Sector San Juan watchstanders received a mayday call from tugboat Proassist III (IMO 8644395) with the three crew stating that they were taking on water about two miles south of Yabucoa...
Insurance Marine News
New Covid-19 variants cause partial reimposition of Manila crew change bans
The emergence of more infectious strains of Covid-19 in the UK and South Africa has led to the Philippines, one of the world’s leading providers of crew for both merchant and cruise ships, to reimpose bans on crew changes in Manilla from a number of countries. The move is a worrying portent of the...
Grain strike in Argentina ports continues, oilseed strike settled
Members of the Argentina grain inspectors’ union Urgara continued to strike over the first weekend of 2021 after failing to strike a wage deal with the Chamber of Private and Commercial Ports (CPPC). Urgara said that a fresh meeting with the CPPC would take place today, January 4th. The union wants...
Norwegian Cruise Line cancels its few remaining March 2021 trips
Norwegian Cruise Line will has cancelled the few remaining scheduled departures in March for its vessels Norwegian Encore, Escape and Joy. The Encore was scheduled to cruise from Miami, Florida, on March 1st; the Escape from Port Canaveral on March 11th; and the Joy from Miami on March 7th. The...
Bomb discovered attached to tanker off Iraq
Crew on crude oil tanker Pola (IMO 9493767) discovered an explosive object attached to its hull on December 31st while it was discharging cargo onto another vessel off the coast of Iraq, according to a statement from owner Dynacom Tankers Management. All the crew were safe, Dynacom said. The...
https://insurancemarinenews.com/insurance-marine-news/bomb-discovered-attached-to-tanker-off-iraq/
“Bomb” cyclone hits Aleutian Islands with hurricane force
A Pacific storm of record proportions swept through a remote stretch of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands chain on Thursday December 31st, affecting a region that is heavily used by commercial shipping. Brian Brettschneider, a NOAA research scientist with the National Weather Service, said that “it’s the...
Crew sign off from ships arriving in India from UK to undergo Covid RT-PCR testing
India’s Directorate General of Shipping in India has included vessels arriving from ports in the UK in the extra Covid-19 testing rules that the country has set for ship crew signing off from ships that have arrived from ports of infected countries within the 14-days mandatory quarantine period,...
“Technical problems” impact Carnival Corp’s AIDA and Costa Cruises
Cruise company Carnival Corporation have said that its brands AIDA and Costa Cruises were both suffering from technical problems that were affecting operations. The problems were first announced by AIDA on December 25th, forcing the cancellation of two departures. Neither the corporation nor the...
Fire-stricken Maersk Elba towed to Algeciras
Container ship Maersk Elba (IMO 9458078) was disabled by an engine room fire on December 26th while it was off the coast of Portugal. The vessel was being towed to the Port of Algeciras in Spain for repairs. The 13,000 teu Maersk Elba was initially towed to anchorage off Sagres after the fire left...
https://insurancemarinenews.com/insurance-marine-news/fire-stricken-maersk-elba-towed-to-algeciras/
Nigeria reports more cargoes trapped at ports as gridlock worsens
Nigerian importers and exporters have complained to the Nigeria Guardian that they are suffering from ongoing congestion at Lagos Port. They urged the Federal Government to find a solution to the traffic congestion along the corridor leading to and from the port, which they said had crippled port...