Ro-Ro vessel Melusine collided with docked ferry Superspeed 1 during manoeuvring at the Port of Hirtshals, Denmark. The contact caused only minor damage. Melusine was leaving the port, when human error caused a contact with the stern of Superspeed 1, which had 611 passengers and 240 cars on board. After inspection both vessels were released to resume their journeys. According to P&I database, Superspeed 1 is covered by Gard P&I Bermuda through Kristiansand Line AS, while Melusine is covered with UK P&I through Member Cobelfret Ferries NV.
Special purpose vessel Ringasung suffered a fire while off Hordvikneset, Norway, when a diesel generator overheated. The flames engulfed the whole engine room. The fire was extinguished, but the vessel lost propulsion power and remained adrift. It was taken under tow to Bergen. Ringasung. No details of vessel in P&I databases.
Supply vessel Exito sank 14 nm off Dutch Harbor in Alaska, USA. The engine room began to suffer water ingress but the crew was unable to pump out the water from the flooded compartments. Bad weather and heavy seas then caused it to capsize. Three crew members were rescued by Good Samaritan vessel Afognak Strait, but
two others are missing. The rescued crewmembers were hospitalized, suffering from hypothermia. Exito was employed for the transportation of cargo for Trident Seafoods between Dutch Harbor and the Aleutian community of Akutan. No details of the vessel in P&I databases.
Fishing vessel Siempre Urbegi sank in the Bay of Biscay off Malpica, Spain after running aground on a rocky shallow. All of the crew abandoned the vessel into a liferaft and sent a distress signal. Nearby fishing boats and rescue ships recovered all the fishermen, although two showed signs of hypothermia and two more suffered minor injuries. Salvage operations for the submerged fishing boat were begun by local authorities, with nets and boxes recovered and removed. Balloons were attached to the vessel by divers, which raised the ship from the bottom. Salvage tugs then towed the wreck to Malpica, where it will be fully refloated for inspection. Although Siempre Urbegi had several hundred litres of fuel on board, no pollution was reported.
The Russian Master of CSAV Tyndall is reportedly under investigation for the previously reported collision of his ship with a Korean fishing vessel on December 8th, which left two fishermen dead and two missing.