Maritime Safety News Archives - Page 7 of 259 - SHIP IP LTD

An Iranian naval flotilla foiled a pirate attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Red Sea, the navy said, following a similar incident last month.

“A suspicious boat with 12 armed people on board approached the Iranian merchant ship in Bab Al-Mandab” strait on Thursday, the state news agency IRNA said, citing a statement by the navy.

It said a squadron had come into confrontation with the “pirates in the Red Sea,” adding that the invading boat “left the area” after the escort flotilla, “headed by the Jamaran destroyer… opened fire” at the vessel.

The incident comes after the Pentagon said on Tuesday that an Iranian ship seized an American military unmanned research vessel in the Gulf but released it after a US Navy patrol boat and helicopter were deployed to the location.

On August 10, a senior Iranian navy commander said the same naval flotilla thwarted an overnight attack on another vessel belonging to the Islamic republic.

Rear Admiral Mustafa Tajeddini said at the time that, following a help request by an Iranian ship in the Red Sea, the flotilla was dispatched to the scene and engaged fire with the attacking boats.

“After heavy exchanges, the attacking boats made off,” he added.

Like other countries dependent on the shipping lane through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, Iran stepped up its naval presence in the Gulf of Aden after a wave of attacks by Somalia-based pirates between 2000 and 2011.
Source: AFP

TOKYO — An American diplomat in Tokyo on Tuesday criticized China‘s “increasingly hostile maritime actions” as a threat to the safety of waterways in the resource-rich Indo-Pacific, as the United States seeks to strengthen security cooperation with allies Japan and the Philippines.

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Raymond Greene said disregard for international law and heavy-handed actions by Beijing are aimed at increasing its control over the region. “Specifically, the increasingly hostile maritime actions by the People’s Republic of China threaten the safety of our waterways,” he said at a news conference ahead of a meeting of officials from the three countries.

”No one nation should be able to dominate Indo-Pacific waters through coercion and outright intimidation,” he said. “Might does not make right and we do not shy away from calling out Beijing’s provocative actions.”

He said China’s actions included a militarization of the East and South China Seas, harassment of foreign fishing and other vessels, and depletion of maritime resources and the environment.

China ranks second highest in military spending after the United States and is rapidly modernizing its forces. It says its military is purely for defense and to protect its sovereign rights.

Japan sees China as a regional security threat and worries about growing tensions surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. Tokyo also is concerned about increasing cooperation between China and Russia and their joint military activities around Japan, including joint firing drills off northern Japan over the weekend.

Japanese Vice Defense Minister Kimi Onoda, also at the news conference, said Japan and the Philippines as maritime nations share security challenges, including attempts by other nations to singlehandedly change the status quo in the South and East China Seas.

Robespierre L. Bolivar, chargé d’affaires at the Philippine Embassy, said promotion of cooperation among the three countries is important to help protect the Philippines’ maritime interests.

About 20 maritime security officials and experts from the three countries are to discuss maritime security cooperation at the two-day session.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/japan-us-philippines-step-maritime-security-ties-89395338

South Korea issued weather advisories and raised its typhoon alert level on Monday as typhoon Hinnamnor neared, with heavy rain and strong wind already lashing southern parts of the country.

The typhoon, travelling northward at a speed of 19 km per hour (12 mph), is expected to land 90 kilometres southwest of the port city Busan early on Tuesday, after reaching waters off Jeju Island around Monday midnight.

“Very strong winds and heavy rains are expected across the country through to Tuesday due to the typhoon, while there will be places where very high waves cross breakwaters and coastal roads along with storm and tsunami,” the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.

Warnings have been issued across the southern cities, including Gwangju, Busan, Daegu and Ulsan, following that in the southern island of Jeju, while the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Sunday upgraded its emergency response posture to the highest level for the first time in five years for typhoons.

The port city and its neighbouring area have received rain throughout the weekend, with more rain is forecast for Monday and Tuesday.

On Sunday, President Yoon Suk-yeol held a meeting with the authorities to review the response system, while promising to put all efforts in minimising damage from the typhoon.

Local media reported on Sunday that the country’s three South Korean shipbuilders – Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries – are expected to halt operation on Tuesday.

Other businesses such as steelmaker Poscoare also expected to suspend operations, while major airlines such as Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines have reportedly cancelled some of its flights departing after 1 p.m. Monday (0400 GMT).

As part of efforts of federal government to boast maritime security, Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, over the weekend commissioned two patrol boats (PB – Gusau and PB – Jalingo) as well as a 32- Seater  Passenger Ferry Boat to enhance operational efficiency and encourage water transportation at the National Inland Waterways Authority’s (NIWA) Area Office in Port Harcourt.

A statement by the Eric Ojiekwe, Director of Press and Publicity in the ministry reported that The Minister who was former General Manager at NIWA further disclosed that while he was at the helm of affairs there, he did not only maintain the amount of revenue target set by his predecessors, but surpassed it.

He said, “When I came here, a lot of people were wondering if we are going to succeed. But I did not only sustain the level of revenue that was sustained by my predecessors, but I even surpassed them,” he said.

He commended the Managing Director NIWA, Dr. George Moghalu, for the giant strides attained, saying: “Seriously, MD,  l am happy I came here today. If didn’t come, I would not have known the strides you have achieved. Without doubts, I think you have made the greatest impacts of all the Managing Directors that have served the Authority”. “Your tenure has moved the Authority from level 5 to  Level 9”.

He described inland water way transportation as the cheapest and safest means of moving goods and persons and key to development of any country, especially that endowed with water.

Furthermore, the Minister observed that Nigeria is blessed in that regard as 28 States of the Federation can be accessed by water, hence the need to develop the sector.

While promising to provide support in any capacity, he called on the MD to quickly  operationalize the Marina Area Office in Lagos which has been identified as a hub for trans- shipping cargoes from Lagos through the  Intercoastal routes like Warri and Onitsha.

Earlier, the Managing Director, NIWA, Dr. Moghalu, informed  that in less than a year, the Agency commissioned  more than twenty  patrol boats, as well as a house boat, tugboat and water ambulance for distribution to various Area offices of the Authority.

According to him, the act is part of the Agency’s vision to ensure that the nation’s Inland  waterways provides a truly safe, efficient, cost effective and alternative mode of transportation of goods and persons as well as become competitive and attractive.

Speaking further, Moghalu said: “the huge opportunities that abounds in the nation’s Inland waterways can only be maximized if concerted efforts are geared towards the development of infrastructure and proper funding to make the waterways attractive and competitive to players”.

Also, he disclosed that the Authority has licensed several companies for the  transportation of cargoes across the waterways in Nigeria, especially from Lagos so as to decongest it and open up other Inland ports.

Source: https://authorityngr.com/2022/09/05/maritime-safety-niwa-gets-two-patrol-boats/

A federal judge in Los Angeles on Friday dismissed the criminal indictment against a dive boat captain charged with manslaughter in the deaths of 34 people when the vessel caught fire and sank off the California coast three years ago.

The 75-foot (23-meter) Conception caught fire while most of those onboard were sleeping, killing 33 passengers and a crew member. It is considered one of California’s worst maritime disasters.

U.S. District Judge George Wu said in a ruling that the indictment, handed down on December 2020 against captain Jerry Nehl Boylan by a federal grand jury, must be thrown out because prosecutors had failed to accuse him of gross negligence.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, said prosecutors would seek authorization from the Department of Justice to appeal Wu’s ruling. An attorney for Boylan, 68, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

The indictment accused Boylan of causing the deaths through “misconduct, negligence, and inattention to his duties.”

The U.S. District Court grand jury cited three federal safety violations – failure to assign a night watch or roving patrol aboard the boat, to conduct sufficient crew training or to conduct adequate fire drills.

The victims had been sleeping below deck when the boat went up in flames while anchored near Santa Cruz Island, off the Santa Barbara coast, during a sport diving expedition. They included a family of five, a teacher and his daughter, a diving instructor and marine biologist.

The five surviving crew members, including Boylan, had been above deck in berths behind the wheelhouse and escaped by leaping overboard as the burning boat sank into the Pacific.

They told investigators that flames coming from the passenger quarters were too intense to save anyone trapped below. Coroners investigators determined the victims died of smoke inhalation.

Source: https://www.marinelink.com/news/judge-throws-indictment-captain-fatal-499224