Page 3 - Shipping Ports

Fire on ship off Goa coast under control, says ICG official; 1 member dead

The fire that broke out on July 19 on a merchant navy ship off the coast of Goa is under control, a senior Indian Coast Guard official said on Sunday, adding one crew member had died in the blaze. MV Maersk Frankfurt, carrying 1,154 containers, including some with dangerous cargo like benzene and sodium cyanate, had caught fire some 102 nautical miles off the coast of Goa while on its way from Mundra in Gujarat to Colombo in Sri Lanka. Dry chemical powder that was spread through helicopters on Saturday helped to a large extent in controlling the fire, ICG Deputy Inspector General Manoj Bhatia told PTI. There is no fire in the portion in which the dangerous cargo is stocked, the ICG deputy inspector general asserted. "The firefighting operation is still on. The fire is under control. I would not say it is fully doused. Four ships are already in the area and also helicopters are taking regular sorties. The ICG spread dry chemical powder through helicopters on Saturday, which has ...

Ship built by GRSE to explore Indian Ocean for rare minerals, says official

A ship to be built by defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) as part of its pact with a Goa-based government institution will explore the deep Indian Ocean for rare minerals and metals, officials said on Thursday. With a length of 89.5 metres, it will be the largest research vessel to be built in an Indian shipyard for deep sea exploration, a spokesperson of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa said in a release. The vessel will be deployed for undertaking deep sea scientific surveys and sampling towards the Deep Ocean Mission of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, he said. It will have an all-weather capability and capacity to carry 34 scientists at a time and is expected to serve India for the next 30 years, he said. The vessel, to be built by the Kolkata-headquartered GRSE in 36 months at a contract value of Rs 839.55 crore, will "explore the deep Indian Ocean for rare minerals and metals as part of India's Deep Ocean Mission," the rele

Titanic undertakes its first expedition to ship's wreckage in 14 years

The company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic is undertaking its first expedition to the ship's wreckage in years, and those involved in the mission said they have both heavy hearts and lofty goals for a trip happening a year after a submersible disaster involving another firm killed five people. RMS Titanic Inc., a Georgia-based firm, holds the legal rights to salvage the wreck of the ship, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912. The company's first expedition to the site since 2010 launched Friday from Providence, Rhode Island. The voyage arrives as the worldwide community of undersea explorers is still reeling from the deadly implosion of an experimental submersible en route to the Titanic in June 2023. The Titan submersible disaster killed all five people on board, including Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who was director of underwater research for RMS Titanic. This summer's mission to the Titanic means even more with the passing of Nargeolet, known as Mr. Titanic by ..

Cargo traffic across 12 major Indian ports surges 6.8 % to 69.8 MT in June

Cargo traffic across 12 major Indian ports rose 6.8 per cent to 69.08 million tonnes (MT) in June from 64.69 MT in the year-ago month, with ten ports showing positive growth while the remaining two witnessed a decline. Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra recorded the highest growth in cargo handling at 15.12 per cent during the reporting month, followed by Cochin Port with 15.12 per cent, Kamarajar Port (10.70 per cent), Deendayal Port (8.57 per cent) and New Mangalore Port (8.53 per cent), according to the data released by the major ports' apex body Indian Ports Association (IPA). The 12 major ports are Deendayal (Kandla), Mumbai, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore (Kamarajar), Tuticorin (V O Chidambaranar), Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) and Jawaharlal Nehru Port. According to the IPA, VO Chidambaranar Port's cargo traffic grew 7.73 per cent and Paradip Port 7.41 per cent growth, respectively, during the previous month. SMP Kolkata Port ...

Baltimore Bridge collapse: Ship behind mishap to be refloated and moved

The container ship that caused the deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is scheduled to be refloated on Monday and moved to a nearby marine terminal. The Dali has remained at the collapse site since it lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns on March 26, killing six construction workers and snarling traffic into Baltimore Harbour. High tide Monday morning is expected to bring the best conditions for crews to start refloating and transit work on the ship, according to a statement from the Key Bridge Response Unified Command. Up to five tugboats will escort the Dali on its 2.5-mile (4-kilometre) path to the marine terminal. The work is expected to last at least 21 hours. Crews conducted a controlled demolition on May 13 to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed bridge. The Dali experienced four electrical blackouts within about 10 hours before leaving the Port of Baltimore for Sri Lanka and hitting the bridge, according t

Private ports outpace central peers in FY24; register double-digit growth

Coastal cargo major booster for private ports last fiscal

Ships moved 9% faster at Indian major ports in FY24 as infra improved

Greater participation by private companies is another reason for improvement

Ship that brought down Baltimore bridge to be removed from collapse site

At the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, crews plan to refloat and remove the grounded Dali container ship within roughly the next 10 days, allowing more maritime traffic to resume through Baltimore's port. The ship, which lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns, has been stationary amid the wreckage since the March 26 collapse. Officials expect to have it removed by May 10, according to a news release Tuesday from the Port of Baltimore. Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths in the disaster. Four bodies have been recovered while two remain missing. Crews have identified areas of interest where they believe the bodies could be, but they've been unable to access them so far, Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. We're working in generalisations of areas where we think they should be, based on sonar images and other mapping techniques, he said. Officials declined to

Sri Lanka unaware of ship carrying toxic waste from the US, say official

Sri Lanka is not yet aware of the nature of hazardous materials on the cargo vessel that collided with a key Baltimore bridge last week as it was supposed to declare the contents of containers only 72 hours before the time of arrival into the Colombo Port, officials here said. The Singapore-flagged container ship vessel Dali, which was mainly manned by an Indian crew, collided with the 2.6-km-long four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore in the early hours of March 26. The 984-foot cargo ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. The ship was carrying 764 tonnes of hazardous materials as reported by the US media. According to the information available, there are 57 containers with such toxic materials that can be categorised under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code. The waste included mostly corrosives, flammables, miscellaneous hazardous materials, and Class-9 hazardous materials, including explosives & lithium-ion batteries in 56 ...

Engineers find limited-access channel to Baltimore port to open in 4 weeks

Engineers working to clear the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore have said that they expect to be able to restore navigation in and out of the Port of Baltimore by the end of this month. The bridge collapsed within seconds on March 26 after being struck by the cargo ship Dali, which lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore, bound for Sri Lanka. The ship issued a mayday alert with just enough time for police to stop traffic, but not enough to save a roadwork crew filling potholes on the bridge. Authorities believe six workers plunged to their deaths in the Patapsco River; two bodies have been recovered so far. Two others survived. The US Army Corps of Engineers announced a tentative timeline Thursday, saying in a news release that it expects to open a limited access channel to the port within the next four weeks measuring some 280 feet wide by 35 feet deep (85 metres by 11 metres). The channel would support one-way traffic in and out of the port for ...

Baltimore bridge cleanup: Maritime terminal prepares for redirected ships

The only maritime shipping terminal currently operating in the Port of Baltimore is preparing to process an influx of redirected ships as crews continue clearing the mangled wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. Tradepoint Atlantic will unload and process an estimated 10,000 vehicles over the next 15 days, according to a statement from the company. That includes six regularly scheduled ships and nine that have been redirected since the deadly bridge collapse blocked access to the port's main terminals, which remains closed to traffic in a logistical nightmare for shipping along the East Coast. Crews opened a second temporary channel through the collapse site Tuesday, but it's too shallow for most commercial vessels to pass through. The two existing channels are meant primarily for vessels involved in the cleanup effort, which began last week. Work continues to open a third channel that will allow larger vessels to pass through the bottleneck and restore more commercia

Baltimore collapse: Ship crew to remain on board until probe is completed

The crew of 20 Indians and a Sri Lankan of the container vessel that collided with a key Baltimore bridge last week is busy with their normal duties and will remain on board until the investigation into the accident is completed. It is confirmed there are 21 crew members on board. The crew members are busy with their normal duties on the ship as well as assisting the National Transportation Safety Board and Coast Guard investigators on board," a spokesperson of Grace Ocean Pte and Synergy Marine told PTI. The crew is on board the container vessel Dali that collided with the 2.6-km-long four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore in the early hours of March 26. The 984-foot cargo ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. On how long the crew would have to stay on board the ship, the spokesperson said, At this time, we do not know how long the investigation process will take and until that process is complete, the crew will remain on board. The Singapore-flag

Shipowner in Baltimore bridge collapse seeks to limit liability to $43.7 mn

The company, Grace Ocean, could face hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims, legal experts say

Baltimore bridge: US Coast Guard opens temporary channel for vessels

The US Coast Guard has opened a temporary, alternate channel for vessels involved in the clearing of debris at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, part of a phased approach to opening the main channel leading to the vital port, officials said. Crews are undertaking the complicated work of removing steel and concrete at the site of the bridge's deadly collapse into the Patapsco River after a container ship lost power and crashed into a supporting column. On Sunday, dive teams surveyed parts of the bridge and checked the ship, and workers in lifts used torches to cut above-water parts of the twisted steel superstructure. Officials said the temporary channel is open only to vessels that are helping with the cleanup effort. Authorities believe four workers plunged to their deaths in the collapse. Recovery of their bodies is a key part of the ongoing salvage operation. Officials earlier said the channel would have a controlling depth of 11 feet (over 3 meter

Baltimore bridge collapse: Focus on removing heavy structure from water

Teams of engineers are now focused on the formidable job of hauling the shattered remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge out of Maryland's Patapsco River, the first step toward reopening the Port of Baltimore and recovering the bodies of four workers who are still missing and presumed dead. A massive cargo go ship felled the span Tuesday after striking one of its main supports. Experts are trying to figure out how to break that bridge up into the right-sized pieces that we can lift, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said Friday at a news conference. The tools that are needed have been coming into place. They include seven floating cranes - one of which is one of the largest on the Eastern Seaboard, capable of lifting 1,000 tons - 10 tugboats, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats. To go out there and see it up close, you realize just how daunting a task this is, Gov. Wes Moore said Friday afternoon as the massive crane loomed behind him. With a ..

Baltimore bridge collapse: US concerned about impact on immediate region

US officials have expressed concern about the implications rippling beyond the immediate region after a key bridge harbouring America's largest vehicle handling port collapsed in Baltimore when a cargo ship crashed into it, even as experts predicted repercussions to be "modest and mainly localised". The 2.6km-long, four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore was destroyed after Dali, a 984-foot cargo ship bound for Sri Lanka, collided against a bridge column in the early hours of Tuesday. The collapse of the bridge has indefinitely halted the flow of ships in and out of Baltimore Port. We are concerned about the local economic impact, with some 8,000 jobs directly associated with port activities," US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters in the White House on Wednesday. "We're concerned about implications that will ripple out beyond the immediate region because of the port's role in our supply chains, he said, describing the Baltimore po

Baltimore bridge collapse: Ships with heavy load need to find new harbour

Manufacturers and shippers are scrambling to figure out where they can load or unload cargo while the main operations of the Port of Baltimore remain shut down due to Tuesday's deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Supply chain experts say other ports up and down the East Coast are likely to absorb much of Baltimore's traffic, avoiding a crisis. But not without some longer shipping times and upheaval. "Ultimately, most trade through Baltimore will find a new home port," Moody's Analytics economist Harry Murphy Cruise wrote in a blog post. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reiterated Wednesday that it was too soon to estimate how long it would take to clear the bridge structure from the 50-foot-deep Patapsco River channel, which leads to the port's main terminal. The port's location makes it a key destination for freight. The Maryland Port Administration says the facility is an overnight drive from two-thirds of the US population, and it's closer to the Midwest t

Traffic handled by major Indian ports hits 5-year high in January

The total traffic for the major ports was 72.5 mn tonnes, the highest since Feb 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways and the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy

Private, state ports' growth outpaces central counterparts till Q3 FY24

At 604 million metric tonne (mmt), cargo at major ports grew by 5 per cent between April and December, while non-major port cargo traffic grew by 11 per cent at 531 mmt

India outpaced several developed nations in ship-turnaround time: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday highlighted that India has outpaced several developed nations in ship-turnaround time, emphasising the country's proven potential and standing in global trade. The prime minister made these remarks while dedicating projects worth Rs 4,000 crore to the nation, including crucial strategic initiatives at Cochin Shipyard Limited. He mentioned that these projects would accelerate the development of the southern region of the country. "The world is recognising India's potential and position in global trade," Modi said, shedding light on the agreements made during India's G20 Presidency regarding the Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Modi said that the Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will further strengthen the creation of 'Viksit Bharat' by providing a boost to the coastal economy of India. Reflecting on the past, the prime minister recalled that just a decade ago, ships had to wait for a considerable amount of time at the ports, and ...