Irish Coast Guard responded to 2,554 incidents in 2024
2024 was another busy and eventful year for the Irish Coast Guard. The year in figures:The 44 Coast Guard Units were mobilised on 1,154 separate occasions this year;Coast Guard Helicopters conducted 752 missions;Critical assistance was provided to 537 persons (preventing loss of life, and/or delivery to appropriate medical care);Coast Guard helicopters conducted 134 air ambulance flights in support of the offshore island communities;Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats were launched on 699 occasions…
NTSB's Alvin Brown Appointed Vice Chairman
Alvin Brown, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board and former mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, was designated Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, by President Biden to serve as vice chairman of the independent safety agency. “I am honored to be named in this new role of vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board,” Brown said. “The NTSB is the gold standard for public safety, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues at this federal agency to save lives and make transportation safer.”The Senate confirmed Brown as the 47th board member last March.
Volunteers Battle Black Sea Oil Spill
Volunteers struggled on Friday to shovel up tons of sticky oil from Russia's Black Sea coastline following what President Vladimir Putin has called an ecological disaster.The oil spilled from two ageing Russian oil tankers that were severely damaged by a weekend storm in the Kerch Strait that separates southern Russia from Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. One of the vessels split in half, and a crew member was killed, while the other ran aground.At the sea's edge, volunteers shoveled oil and blackened sand into white sacks to be taken away in trucks, as more viscous black tar drifted in on the waves."I've never seen anything like this. I can't even really imagine it.
Germany’s Mosel River Remains Closed for Lock Repairs
The Mosel River in Germany will remain closed to cargo shipping in January despite the success of a temporary lock helping to free vessels trapped on the river after an accident, navigation authorities said on Thursday.The temporary lock will not permit a reduced level of cargo shipping to operate on the river while repairs to a damaged lock start in the new year, said a spokesperson for German inland navigation agency WSA.Germany's federal transport ministry said separately that a resumption of normal shipping along the Mosel could be possible in early February 2024.The river…
Western States to Ramp up Pressure on Russian 'shadow fleet'
Vessels of Russia's so-called shadow tanker fleet will be boarded or put on a sanctions list if they do not provide proof of insurance, Estonia's prime minister said on Tuesday.'Shadow fleet' refers to vessels used by Russia to move oil, arms and grains around in violation of international sanctions imposed on it over the Ukraine war. The vessels are not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers.A dozen Western countries - Britain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands…
Authorities Attempt to Reopen Germany's Mosel River
Navigation authorities will attempt to install a temporary lock system on the river Mosel in west Germany this weekend to enable the river, an important route for grains and rapeseed shipments to and from Germany and France, to reopen to cargo shipping.The river was closed to inland waterways shipping this week after an accident damaged a lock at Mueden south of Koblenz with repairs likely to last until late March.However, German navigation agency WSA said on Friday that it is preparing a temporary lock system which will be tested over the weekend.
Lock Accident Closes Germany's Mosel River
The river Mosel in western Germany, an important route for grains and rapeseed shipments, has been closed to inland waterways shipping after an accident that damaged a lock, navigation authorities said.A lock at Mueden south of Koblenz has been damaged after a vessel collision and repairs are likely to last until spring 2025, possibly around late March, the WSA agency said. The river will be closed to cargo shipping during this period.Traders estimated that about 70 ships are blocked because of the damage…
Tanker, Tugboat Crews receive 2024 IMO Bravery Award
The 2024 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea has been presented to two sets of nominees: the Captain and crew of the oil tanker Marlin Luanda, for containing a fire after the ship was struck by an uncrewed aerial device; and the Captain and crew of the tugboat Pemex Maya, for their rescue of six shipwrecked persons from four different vessels, during a hurricane.They received the medals and certificates during the annual IMO Awards Ceremony, held in London on 2 December 2024.
Cargo Ship Sinking off Egypt’s Red Sea Coast
Egyptian authorities are scrambling to salvage the VSG Glory, a cargo ship that began sinking on Monday near the coral reefs off Quseir in the Red Sea Governorate after being stranded for 10 days, maritime sources told Reuters.The vessel, carrying 21 crew, 4,000 metric tons of bran, 70 tons of fuel oil and 50 tons of diesel, sustained a 60-centimeter (23.6 inch) hull breach, allowing seawater to flood its engine room. Its crew has since been rescued.Efforts to stabilize the ship have been hampered by deteriorating weather, causing the vessel to tilt further.
