Missile & Drone Barrage Escalates as Three Killed in Houthi Missile Attack in Gulf of Aden

A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned, bulk carrier while transiting the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The deaths are the first merchant mariner fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned … Continue reading

Update: Bulker MV Rubymar Sinks After Being Struck by Houthi Missile Almost Two Weeks Ago

On Sunday, February 18th, anti-ship ballistic missiles, launched by Houthi rebels from Yemen, struck the MV Rubymar, a  32,211 DWT, Belize-flagged, UK-owned, and Lebanese-operated bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The attack caused sufficient … Continue reading

Crew of Bulker MV Rubymar Abandons Ship off Yemen After Houthi Attack

On Sunday evening, anti-ship ballistic missiles, launched by Houthi rebels from Yemen, struck the MV Rubymar, a  32,211 DWT, Belize-flagged, UK-owned, and Lebanese-operated bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The attack caused sufficient damage … Continue reading

Houthi Missiles Hit Bulk Carriers Off Yemen; US Retaliatory Air Strikes Continue

Houthi anti-ship missiles struck two more commercial ships in the Red Sea off Yemen in the last two days. There were no reports of injuries on either ship. On Tuesday, the Greek-owned 57,000 DWT bulk carrier MT Zografia with 24 … Continue reading

Collision Between Two Cargo Ships Off Germany Leaves One Dead, Two Rescued and Four Missing

Around 5 am about 14 miles southwest of the island of Heligoland, Germany, the British bulk carrier Verity sank after colliding with the Bahamian-flagged bulk carrier Polesie. Of the Verity‘s crew of seven, two were rescued, one has died and … Continue reading

Pyxis Ocean, Sail-Assisted 80,000 DWT Bulk Carrier Sets Sail on Maiden Voyage

Pyxis Ocean, an 80,000 DWT bulk carrier, fitted with two WindWings, a pioneering rigid wing technology, has set sail on its maiden voyage from China to Brazil. The bulker, owned by Mitsubishi Corporation has been chartered by Cargill, one of … Continue reading

Sailors on Japanese Submarine Soryu Use Cell Phones to Call For Help After Collision With Bulk Carrier

Sailors on the Japanese submarine Soryu had to use their cell phones to call for help after the sub surfaced beneath a Chinese bulk carrier and damaged its radio mast, disabling its communications. Three of the submarine’s crew sustained minor … Continue reading

Wakashio Oil Spill Off Mauritius Turns Deadly As Tug Sinks — 3 Dead, 1 Missing

The ongoing cleanup following the fuel oil spill from the grounded bulk carrier Wakashio off Mauritius turned deadly when a tug assisting in the effort sank after colliding with an oil barge. The tug Sir Gaetan Duval had a crew … Continue reading

US Takes Control of Wise Honest, North Korea’s Sanctions Violating Bulker Carrier

The media has been full of reports about the sanctions violating North Korean bulk carrier, dubiously named Wise Honest. Virtually every headline begins with “US seizes North Korean ship” or some variation thereof.  The Justice Department also used the word … Continue reading

Indonesian Teenager Adrift for 49 Days Rescued Near Guam

An Indonesian teenager working as a lamp keeper on a floating fish trap anchored off North Sulawesi was rescued off Guam after drifting for 49 days.  Aldi Novel Adilang, 19, had one of the loneliest jobs in the world. He worked on … Continue reading

Bulk Carrier Destroys Mansion on the Banks of the Bosporus

Saturday was a bad day on the Bosphorus. The Maltese-flagged 74,269 DWT bulk carrierVitaspirit suffered a steering gear failure while transiting Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait. The ship was traveling south, approaching the Second Bosphorus Bridge, when it veered out of control. Fortunately, it missed … Continue reading

The Mystery of North Korea’s Chong Chon Gang – Smuggling What, to Where, and Why?

The story is dramatic. The North Korean 14,000 dwt bulk carrier Chong Chon Gang was stopped by the Panama Canal Authority. A container, believed to carry undeclared military weapons was found hidden in a cargo of bagged sugar. The Korean … Continue reading

Bulk Carrier Ocean Breeze Driven Ashore in San Antonio, Chile in High Winds and Seas

The bulk carrier Ocean Breeze came shore on Llolleo Beach, near the port of San Antonio, Chile yesterday in high winds and seas.  In a dramatic rescue, all 24 crew members were airlifted off the ship by Chilean Navy helicopters.   No … Continue reading

British Solo Rowers Sarah Outen & Charlie Martell Rescued from Tropical Cyclone Marwar

Tropical cyclone Marwar ended attempts by two solo British rowers to row across the Pacific this week.  Sarah Outen, 27, was attempting to traverse the globe using only human power, by either rowing, kayaking or cycling.   She began her … Continue reading

Large Reward for Whistle-blowing Engineer on M/V Aquarosa

When US Coast Guard inspectors came aboard the bulk carrier M/V Aquarosa in Baltimore in February of 2011, a junior engineer slipped them a note, which read, “I have sometheng to till you but secret.”  The engineer, Salvatore Lopez, from the Philippines, had collected evidence of the illegal … Continue reading

Pirates Kill Bulk Carrier Captain and Chief Engineer in Gulf of Guinea

Pirate attacks are escalating in the Gulf of Guinea, with tragic consequences. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre posted on its website that eight armed pirates boarded a drifting bulk carrier, awaiting berthing instructions, on Monday in the Gulf of Guinea, 110 … Continue reading

Bulk Carrier Swanland Sinks off North Wales – Two Crew Rescued & Five Missing

Update: Prince William co-piloted the Sea King helicopter which rescued two crew from the sinking Swanland.   Prince William serves with RAF Valley in north Wales. The bulk carrier Swanland is reported to have sunk this morning off north  Wales in heavy … Continue reading

The Scuttling of the MSC Chitra

Last August, we posted about the collision of the containership MSC Chitra and the bulk carrier Khalijia 3 which resulting in the sinking of the Chitra with a significant oil spill, a loss of cargo containers and the blockage of the port of Mumbai for five … Continue reading

Bulker MV Oliva Breaking-up on Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha

The Greek-owned 75,000 tonne bulk carrier, MV Oliva ran aground  on March 16th at 04.30, at Spinners Point, on the far north-west promontory of Nightingale Island, a 4 square kilometer island in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic.   … Continue reading