USNS Richard E. Byrd ,T-AKE 4, has rescued nine seafarers from Asaed. Yesterday, the Yemeni cargo vessel had lost power in the Gulf of Oman which resulted in water ingress at approx 4 a.m. LT.

The nine-man crew from the cargo ship Asaed requested help and USNS Richard E. Byrd was the closest vessel to the distress site. The Yemeni sailors abandoned their ship via its own lifeboats. They reached the American vessel safe.

Onboard Richard E. Byrd the nine seafarers were evaluated by medics and were reported in good health condition. The transfer of the Yemeni ashore will be coordinated by the Navy. Read More..

In April, Maersk Batur, a 43,273-ton container vessel, lost power after it had just departed Port Chalmers. Immediately, two tugs, Rangi and Otago, were dispatched to assist the vessel by towing it back into deeper water.

The Maersk Batur near miss was reported to Maritime New Zealand (MNZ), Otago’s harbour master and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) but it wasn’t announced because MNZ has suspended publishing of summaries since February (considering privacy issues). The incident came to light when it was reported by Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee during parliamentary question time. The report for Maersk Batur says it had a possible contact with sand at Otago Harbour‘s channel end.

Stuart Jennings, operations manager with Maersk NZ, commented: Read More..

The most expensive salvage operation in the maritime history so far has successfully completed its next step with Costa Concordia docked into a berth in the industrial port of Voltri (Genoa outskirts). The wrecked cruise liner arrived on Sunday afternoon and she was welcomed with amournful salute by ships in the port.

Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Cruises met Nick Sloane onboard the Concordia and personally thanked him.

“I wanted to personally thank Nick Sloane and the whole team for the extraordinary commitment they have always demonstrated throughout the project and wish them good work at the beginning of an important day of complex mooring operations,” he said. Read More..

HMS Queen Elizabeth, the biggest warship in the UK, has floated for the first time. Recently, the vessel was moved from her dry dock to Rosyth neighbouring jetty. There she will be completed for the next 2 years.

The whole operation of moving the vessel finished in three hours with the assistance of a fleet of tugs. The next step of the construction of the 65,000-tonne warship is outfitting and preparing for sea trails in 2016.

On 4th of July, the battle ship was officially named by the Queen at Rosyth. Instead of a champagne bottle Read More…