Container ship Repulse Bay (IMO 9238698) became disabled and went adrift near the Canary Islands off Santa Cruz, shortly after leaving Tenerife, bound for Algeciras late on August 11th. On August 13th the plans to continue the journey to Algeciras were abandoned and the vessel was towed back to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where the mechanical failure should be repaired. 2003-built, Antigua and Barbuda-flagged, 16,129 gt Repulse Bay is owned by Lantau Boehe Schiffahrt GmbH care of manager Lubeca Marine Germany GmbH of Luebeck, Germany. It is entered with Skuld (Hamburg business unit) on behalf of Lubeca Marine Germany GmbH.
Bulk carrier St. Elias (IMO 9138692) which had been banned from sailing and had been moored off La Pallice, France since July 26th, was scheduled to be reinspected on August 14th. The vessel had been waiting to be repaired after a technical failure during an inspection, The Polish classification society was on board in order to hand out the necessary certificate after the requested repairs. In La Rochelle the St. Elias was originally scheduled to load a cargo of grain. The chartering was eventually cancelled because of the delay. 1997-built, Panama-flagged, 15,888 gt St Elias is owned by Hawkeye Maritime Ltd care of manager Sealight Maritime of Athens, Greece. It is entered with American Club on behalf of Hawkeye Maritime Ltd.
Passenger/cargo RoRo Ebba Brahe (IMO 8816900) allided with the pier upon arrival from Visingö at Gränna, Sweden, on August 10th, during strong winds at Vättern. No-one was injured, but the ferry was taken out of service to undergo inspection. It was later announced that was going to be out of service for an indefinite period. The owner shipping company and the Transport Agency conducted a dive survey which showed that the propeller of the ferry had suffered greater damage than previously thought. Christina Brahe will enter service from August 17th, operating between Gränna and Visingsö. Ebba Brahe will be repaired in drydock.
Container/cargo ship Gozde Bayraktar (IMO 9398632) suffered an engine failure on August 4th at Poti, Georgia. A Turkish tug was tasked to tow the vessel from the incident scene to Tuzla Shipyard, where Gozde Bayraktar arrived on August 13th. 2009-built, Turkey-flagged, 15,479 gt Gozde Bayraktar is owned by Bayraktar Konteyner care of manager Bayraktar Shipmanagement & Chartering SA of Istanbul, Turkey. It is entered with West of England Club (Claims Team 2) on behalf of Bayraktar Konteyner Tasimaciligi ve Tic AS.
Attempts to refloat general cargo ship Umiavut (IMO 8801591), stranded on Lake St. Pierre, St Lawrence River, since the morning of August 12th, were unsuccessful on Aug 14. A hovercraft participated in the effort by moving a buoy that interfered with the work of the two tugs tasked with achieving the reflotation. Salvage work was scheduled to resume yesterday, August 16th. In the meantime the containers aboard were to be lightered. Once the ship has been refloated it will be inspected on site by the Coastguard to ensure that there was no hull damage or risk of an oil spill. Another inspection will take place at the port of Trois-Rivières, before she resumes her voyage to Valleyfield. The supply ship sails from Valleyfield to small communities in the Nord-du-Québec region such as Salluit and Inukjuak. A rudder failure was believed to have caused the deviation of the ship from the fairway. 1988-built, Canada-flagged, 6,037 gt Umiavut is owned by Transport Umialarik Inc care of manager Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping Inc (NEAS) of Montreal, Canada. It is entered with Standard Club (UK & Americas Division) on behalf of Umialarik Transportation Inc.
All the crewmembers who abandoned VLCC Desh Vaibhav (IMO 9297498) after a tank explosion have reboarded the ship and the tanker, fully manned and operational, will soon be headed for port, according to Shipping Corporation of India (SCI). The ship was drifting in the Gulf of Oman, 75 miles off Muscat .During the morning of August 14th the vessel suffered an explosion in a cargo tank. The fire was quickly extinguished with assistance from the Omani Navy, but three individuals were left missing and one was flown ashore for medical treatment. There have since been conflicting accounts of the crew’s status. UAE media reported that three crewmembers were rescued by Good Samaritan ships and had been hospitalized in Oman. 2005-built, India-flagged, 161,202 gt Desh Vaibhav is owned and managed by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) of Mumbai, India. It is entered with Standard Club (Standard Asia division) on behalf of SCI.
Passenger/Cargo RoRo KMP Bandeng (IMO 8994532) sank on August 15th off Loloda, West Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia while travelling from Tobelo, North Maluku island, heading to Bitung, eastern North Sulawesi, The ship was disabled after having suffered engine failure and sank being caught in a heavy swell during the afternoon. The vessel had 24 passengers, 18 crew members and 16 vehicles on board when she got into difficulties. The ferry contacted authorities and asked permission to turn back because of deteriorating weather. Several hours later contact with the ship was lost. All 42 people on board were missing or dead. 1992-built, Indonesia-flagged, 401 gt Bandeng is owned by Indonesian Government Land Commission and managed by ASDP Indonesia Ferry of Jakarta, Indonesia.
Migrant rescue vessel Open Arms (IMO 7325887) was permitted to leave the port of Algeciras, Spain on August 14th. The ship was heading to Barcelona for a crew change, before resuming SAR operations in the Mediterranean Sea. 1974-built, Spain-flagged, 427 gt Open Arms is owned and managed by Proactiva Open Arms of Barcelona, Spain.
The Swedish Coastguard has finished its supervision of vehicles carrier Makassar Highway (IMO 9235426), which during the afternoon of August 14th left Swedish waters. No oil leakage was detected. Makassar Highway reached international waters 16 hours after leaving Oskarshamn, continuing its journey to the shipyard in Gdansk. She was being towed by Blue Antares at about four knots. The entire towing time to Gdansk was estimated to be around 40 hours. 2001-built, Panama-flagged, 17,735 gt Makassar Highway is owned by Makassar Highway Shipping SA care of ‘K’ Line European Sea Highway Services GmbH (KESS) of Bremen, Germany. ISM manager is Stargate Shipmanagement GmbH of the same city. It is entered with UK P&I Club (Area Group London J1) on behalf of Makassar Highway Shipping SA.