Update: Fires at Sea – MSC Flaminia Finally Allowed To Come Home & Chamarel Salvage Underway

Updates to two sets of recent posts:  After considerable delay the container ship  MSC Flaminia is being allowed into a port of refuge.  Authorities have granted permission for the German flagged ship to be towed into German waters. Following a safety inspection … Continue reading

Knock, Knock – the Media and the Mystery of the Missing Stowaways on the Ville D’Aquarius

The story began around 3AM Wednesday morning, when a US Coast Guard boarding team, conducting a random sweep on the container ship Ville D’Aquarius, near Sandy Hook, just outside New York harbor, heard a knocking sound which appeared to be coming from somewhere in the ship’s … Continue reading

MSC Fabiola, Largest Containership Ever in a US Port, Calls at Long Beach

Way back in 1984, I worked for Malcom McLean’s United States Lines, when the 4,400 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) containership, the American New York, was delivered. She was this first of McLean’s fleet of “Jumbo Econships.”   In those days, he … Continue reading

Busy Saturday at Sea – Container Ship Aground Off Norway & Tanker Aground off Sicily

There are no weekends off at sea and this has been a busy Saturday. Off Sicily, the 18,000 DWT Italian tanker Gelso M ran aground in a storm, with reports of engine room flooding. The crew of 19 was evacuated by helicopter without injury. … Continue reading

Costa Allegra: Not A Sister Ship – the Unusual Transformation from Container Ship to Cruise Ship

The headlines from several media sources (see here or here) have referred to the Costa Allegra, the cruise ship adrift in the Indian Ocean after an engine room fire, as a sister ship to the Costa Concordia.  A sister ship is generally defined as a “a ship of the … Continue reading

Oil on the Water – Barge Spill on the Mississippi, Progress on the Concordia and Chances Missed on the Rena

Three stories this weekend of oil spills, a successful oil transfer and opportunities lost in mitigating a spill.  Two barges collided on the Mississippi River on Friday upriver from New Orleans.  A roughly 3,500 barrel capacity double hulled tank barge suffered damage … Continue reading

Container Ship Horizon Reliance Saves Three in Nighttime Rescue in the Pacific

At around 2AM local time Wednesday, the container ship Horizon Reliance rescued three Canadians, two men and a 9 year old boy, from the 33 foot disabled sailboat, Liahona, about 411 nautical miles east of Honolulu, Hawaii.  The winds were gusting over 40 knots … Continue reading

Container Ship MOL Summer Rescued 116 of 246 Survivors of Capsized Ferry

The officers and crew of the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines container ship, MOL Summer, deserve a special commendation for their rescue of 116 people following the capsizing and sinking of the passenger ferry MV Rabaul Queen off the coast of Papua New Guinea early Thursday. Eight merchant vessels assisted in … Continue reading

MV Rena Aground on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand

The Liberian flagged container ship, MV Rena, ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, New Zealand yesterday, flooding two cargo holds.   The ship is loaded with approximately 2,100 containers and has around 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel.  There has been no spillage of … Continue reading

Crowley Establishing Flow of Relief Cargo Into Haiti

Crowley Establishing Flow of Relief Cargo Into Haiti Crowley Maritime Corporation, working under contract with the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), is unloading Haiti relief cargo in Rio Haina, Dominican Republic, today. Fifty six of the 68 20-foot containers of water … Continue reading