Migrant ship sinks off Libya coast, dozens feared dead, report

www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-31 05:45:52

CAIRO, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A Europe-bound ship carrying 257 illegal migrants has sunk off the Libya coast and dozens of people were feared to have drowned, Egypt's state news agency MENA said on Monday.

Egypt's Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Ahmed Rizq was quoted as saying that the ship sank some 30 km off the coast due to a holed hull after setting sail from Libya's northern port Sidi Bilah, near the capital of Tripoli, on Sunday morning.

Libyan search and rescue operations recovered the bodies of those who drowned in the accident, among which 10 identified as Egyptians, said Rizq.

Twenty passengers, including six Egyptians, were saved by Libyan rescue workers, according to the official.

It is not immediately known how many passengers of the 257 on board have died and what are their nationalities.

Divers rescued as boat driven on to West Scar rocks

Sunday 29 March 2009 16:08
Maritime And Coastguard Agency (National)




At 1:40 pm today the Redcar Coastguard Rescue Team and Redcar RNLI Inshore Lifeboats responded to a report of a dive boat aground on West Scar.

In view of the sea conditions the LAURIE D II, with five persons on board had decided to abandon their planned dive and return ashore. As the vessel made its way back to Redcar, a swell put them ashore West Scar Rocks.

With the assistance of the RNLI Inshore Lifeboat, the LAURIE D II floated free from the rocks and made it's way back to Redcar with no casualties.

Tony Tuton, Watch Manager at Humber Coastguard said:

"We are grateful to the Redcar Coastwatch Team for their prompt report of the LAURIE D's predicament which enabled us to co-ordinate a swift response.

The north westerly winds over the last few days have left a residual swell and the crew made all the right decisions in attempting to return ashore. We would always recommend that leisure mariners carefully assess the prevailing conditions before proceeding with any planned activity and are au fait with their electronic equipment."

Coast Guard assists Canadian Coast Guard in rescue

JUNEAU, Alaska - A Coast Guard rescue swimmer from Air Station Sitka, Alaska, checks on the condition of two men aboard an 18-foot recreational vessel in Portland Inlet, Canada, Friday. Air Station Sitka responded to a request for assitance from the Canadian Coast Guard. The two men were midly hypothermic. The Coast Guard rescue swimmer remained with the men until Canadian Coast Guard assets arrived on scene. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Air Station Sitka)

Fishing Boat Sinks Off N.J., 1 Dead

Vessel Sank 75 Miles Offshore; Coast Guard Searching For 4 Still Missing

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., March 24, 2009
(CBS/AP) At least one person is dead and four others are missing after a fishing boat overturned and sank off the New Jersey coast.

Coast Guard crews recovered three people from the boat, one of whom is dead.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris McLaughlin said the 71-foot Lady Mary sank around 5 a.m.

Rescuers received a transmission from an emergency radio beacon around 7:30 a.m. and launched helicopters.

CBS Station KYW reports that a helicopter crew from Atlantic City found an unmanned life raft 75 miles off the coast of Cape May. Three crew members were found nearby and plucked from the waters.

"We spotted a wood plank and on the wood plank there was the red of a survival suit," said rescue swimmer Lake Dowhan.

Officials said two fishermen were unconscious, one without vitals, while a third was reportedly responsive in good condition. The survivor told rescuers that there were seven on board the boat when it sunk, and that all seven had donned survival suits before ending up in the water.

KYW said that several rescue helicopters and Coast Guard crews from around the region are still searching for the remaining four who were on board the ship.

It's not yet known what caused the boat to overturn.


© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Boat collision kills two in Vietnam

Posted on : 2009-03-23 | Author : DPA
News Category : Asia


Hanoi - A sightseeing boat carrying 11 tourists was hit by a cargo freighter while on its way to visit a floating market in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, killing two people, a police official said Monday. Luong Thanh Hoa, head of the Traffic Police Unit in the district of Can Tho Province where the accident took place, said the sightseeing boat sank after it was hit by a 625-ton freighter at Saturday morning, but reports of the accident were only released on Monday.

The bodies of a Vietnamese-American tourist and a man from Ho Chi Minh City were recovered by rescue boats later in the day. The driver and nine other tourists from the United States, France and Germany were rescued by nearby boats shortly after the accident.

The sightseeing boat was on its way to visit the Cai Rang floating market, a popular tourist attraction, where tropical fruits and vegetables are sold by vendors on travelling boats.

District police have detained the freighter's crew and the captain of the sunken sightseeing boat for questioning.

The Thien Nien Ky tour company, which organized the trip, brought the surviving tourists back to Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese newspaper Lao Dong reported Monday that the company said the tourists would not be compensated because the tour did not include travel insurance.




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http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/261057,boat-collision-kills-two-in-vietnam.html
© 2009 earthtimes.org. All Rights Reserved.

Canoeists recovered from water

London, 22 March/GNN/ --

MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY News Release (Duty Notice 1) issued by COI
News Distribution Service. 22 March 2009
At quarter past two this afternoon Humber Coastguard were alerted to two canoes off the Redcar shoreline whose occupants appeared to be in great difficulty and needed assistance.

One of the canoeists had abandoned his craft and his colleague was attempting to assist him ashore.

The Redcar Coastguard Rescue Team was immediately sent to the area and the Redcar inshore lifeboat was requested to launch.

By ten minutes to three both canoes had been retrieved with their occupants to Coatham Sands. Both men in the early 30s were from the Berwick Hills area.

Tony Tuton, Duty Watch Manager at Humber Coastguard said:

"It was very fortunate that someone spotted them from the shoreline and alerted us to the predicament the two canoeists found themselves in.

"They have both taken some safety advice from us, most particularly ensuring the next time they put to sea they have adequate communications equipment in the form of a hand held VHF transceiver, upon which they can communicate with the emergency services if they get into difficulty again, but check the weather forecast before setting off."

US Navy: 2 vessels collide in Strait of Hormuz

Friday, Mar 20, 2009
Posted on Fri, Mar. 20, 2009





The Associated Press
Two U.S. Navy vessels - a submarine and an amphibious ship - collided early Friday in the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet reported.
The military said in a statement that the collision occurred around 1:00 a.m. local time on Friday (5 p.m. EDT, Thursday).

The USS Hartford, a submarine, collided with an amphibious ship, the USS New Orleans.

According to the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, 15 soldiers (SIC) aboard the Hartford were slightly injured but able to return to duty. No injuries were reported aboard the New Orleans.

The New Orleans suffered a ruptured fuel tank, resulting in an oil spill of approximately 25,000 gallons (95,000 liters) of diesel fuel. Damage to both vessels is still being evaluated.

Both ships are currently operating under their own power.

The Navy said both ships were on regularly scheduled deployments to the region and conducting security operations.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet says two of its vessels - a submarine and an amphibious ship - collided in the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Arabian peninsula early Friday.

The military says in a statement that the collision occurred around 1:00 a.m. local time on Friday (5 p.m. EDT, Thursday).

The USS Hartford, a submarine, collided with an amphibious ship, the USS New Orleans.

According to the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, 15 soldiers aboard the Hartford were slightly injured but able to return to duty. No injuries were reported aboard the New Orleans.

The New Orleans suffered a ruptured fuel tank, and damage to both vessels is still being evaluated.

Both ships are currently operating under their own power.

Ship collides with yacht in fog in the English Channel

Wednesday 18 March 2009 16:10
Maritime And Coastguard Agency (National)




At midday today Falmouth Coastguard received a call on VHF from the crew of a yacht called Maelys reporting that they had been hit by a cargo vessel in fog 15 miles south east of Lizard Point.

Falmouth Coastguard requested the launch of The Lizard RNLI Lifeboat and scrambled the Royal Navy helicopter R193 with a salvage pump on board. Warship Tyne was also nearby and offered assistance to Falmouth Coastguard.

Falmouth Coastguard was able to quickly identify using their AIS (Automatic Identification System) a ship nearby, to the position given by the yacht's crew. The ship is a small cargo vessel called Helen, and is eighty metres in length. It has six crew onboard who subsequently admitted that they had hit the yacht.

The ship was on passage to Bonnieres in ballast and the MAIB (Marine Accident Investigation Branch) have been notified.

The yacht was 34 foot in length, and had just been purchased. It was on passage from the UK to France with two crew on board who are French nationals.

Further communications with both vessels ascertained that there were no injuries, but that there was damage to the yacht's hull. The yacht's crew confirmed that they were happy to continue to France.

Subsequent communications with the yacht's crew confirms that they have heeded Falmouth Coastguard's advice to return to Falmouth and have their yacht properly assessed before attempting their journey.

Henry Purbrick, Watch Manager, Falmouth Coastguard said:

"We are pleased that everyone is safe and well, given that this situation could have had a different outcome.

The collision danger is ever present in poor visibility, all vessels are reminded to keep a sharp lookout at all times and to only make their journey if strictly necessary."

Fishing boat is escorted to shore

The lifeboat service has escorted a Kilkeel fishing boat to shore after it got into difficulty on the Irish Sea.

The Crystal Star, a prawn-trawler, was 19 miles south east of Kilkeel, County Down, when it starting taking on water at about 1000 GMT on Wednesday.

A salvage tug and rescue helicopter also assisted.

The Kilkeel boat helped pump out the water. Roy Teggarty of the RNLI said a skipper and two crew were onboard.

"When the lifeboat reached the scene, the Crystal Star had taken in a substantial amount of water and was rolling heavily," he said.

"Its three-man crew had already donned survival suits and lifejackets in preparation to abandon the vessel.

"The swift actions of the fishing boat's crew in calling for help at the earliest opportunity and the swift response of the emergency services ensured that both the vessel and its crew were saved."

A pump from salvage tug Intrepid B was winched onto the rescue helicopter and transferred the Crystal Star by Kilkeel Lifeboat. A lifeboat crew member also boarded the fishing vessel to assist with the pumping.



Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7950339.stm

Published: 2009/03/18 15:19:00 GMT

© BBC MMIX

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Navigation restricted on the Mississippi River following vessel sinking

Date: March 11, 2009




ST. LOUIS - The Coast Guard has established a temporary Safety Zone on the Upper Mississippi River to all vessel traffic from the Chain of Rocks Lock & Dam at mile marker 185.5 to mile marker 197.5 following the sinking of the tug boat Hartford Beaver at mile marker 197 earlier today. Vessel traffic is permitted to transit with restrictions through the area.

Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River received a call at 3:30 p.m. from a representative of National Maintenance and Repair, the owner of the tug boat, stating that one of their vessels had sank. All three crewmembers aboard the vessel were rescued with minor injuries by company personnel that were on scene at the time of the incident.

The Hartford Beaver has been located and marked with a lighted buoy. National Maintenance and Repair, Okie Moore Salvage Company, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard will meet tomorrow to discuss salvage and recovery operations. Minor pollution has been reported at the site of the sinking and the Safety Zone will remain in place until the river is deemed safe for normal operations by the captain of the port.

Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River dispatched two investigating officers to the National Maintenance and Repair main facility and are currently investigating the cause of the incident.

1 dead, 6 missing after Thai dive boat capsizes

3/10/2009, 3:47 a.m. EDT
The Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Rescuers retrieved a body floating in the sea Tuesday after a boat carrying 30 people capsized off Thailand's southwestern coast, officials said. The search continued for six more people, including five foreigners, reported missing.

Authorities and fishermen plucked 23 divers from the sea a few hours after the boat sank early Monday and rushed them to local hospitals, said marine police officer Parinya Kaewplung. The boat was about 12 miles (19 kilometers) off the coastal Phang Nga province when it went down.

"We found a female Caucasian body near where the accident occurred," said Parinya. "But the body has not been identified." Parinya said rescuers were searching for six others.

Earlier, authorities said two Swiss nationals, two Austrians, a Japanese, a German and a Thai were missing. All were tourists who were on a diving expedition except for the Thai national, who served as the boat's cook.

Authorities were investigating the cause of accident.

Boating accidents in Thailand are normally blamed on rough seas during the monsoon season or overcrowding and poorly enforced safety standards. The seas were calm before the accident, Parinya said.

The boat was returning from the Similan islands, located 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of Phuket, an island that is one of Thailand's top tourist destinations.

© 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

3 dead, 17 missing in Egypt cargo ship sinking

Agence France-Presse
Cairo, March 09, 2009
First Published: 20:12 IST(9/3/2009)
Last Updated: 20:15 IST(9/3/2009)

Three sailors perished and 17 others including Indians are still missing after a cargo ship sank off the Red Sea coast of Egypt on Monday shortly after leaving port, a maritime official said.

Six people were rescued when the 5,600-tonne Ibn al-Battuta went down in the sea about 35 nautical miles off the port of Safaga, a port official told AFP.

He said two vessels and helicopters were involved in the search for the missing members of the crew, which include Sudanese, Indians and Pakistanis.

The ship was carrying a shipment of silicon and had set sail from the port of Abu Dhunaima, near Safaga, on its way to the United Arab Emirates, the official said, without giving details about the vessel's ownership.

In February 2006, a ferry sank as it was travelling to Safaga from Saudia Arabia, drowning 1,000 passengers in one of the deadliest disasters in modern maritime history.

In 1991, another Egyptian ferry sank in the Red Sea en route between Jeddah and Safaga, leading to the loss of nearly 500 lives.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=0b12410f-0a0a-4056-9ce7-31732485c66b
© Copyright 2007 Hindustan Times

Two saved after tugboat sinks

Crew survives on raft for two hours, finds refuge at Hardwicke Island, north of Campbell River

By Katie DeRosa, Times ColonistMarch 8, 2009



Two tugboat operators found refuge at Hardwicke Island, north of Campbell River, when their veseel sank.
Photograph by: Map, Government of British ColumbiaAs winds raged, waves knocked around a tugboat struggling under the weight of two barges, finally pulling it under, leaving two shivering tugboat operators floating in a life-raft for more than two hours before they finally drifted onto an island north of Campbell River.


"They were cold, but otherwise OK," said Mike Stacey, a coast guard maritime search-and-rescue co-ordinator who was not part of the crew that rescued them.


The 42-foot tugboat, Island Provider I, was supposed to arrive at Kelsey Bay near Sayward in the Johnstone Straits early yesterday morning.


At 8:16 a.m., the coast guard in Comox alerted the Victoria Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre that the tugboat, owned by Campbell River- based West Coast Tug and Barge, was missing.


Shortly after, a search-and-rescue contingent of about 18 people set off to find the missing crew. It included a team from the rescue centre, a coast guard cutter crew out of Campbell River, a Canadian Forces Buffalo fixed-wing aircraft and Cormorant helicopter and an assist tugboat contracted by the company.


The two tugboat operators last talked to the coast guard in Comox at 2:20 a.m., saying bad weather had hit and they were going to remain in the Sunderland Channel -- about five kilometres from Kelsey Bay -- until morning.


Rescuers would later discover the tugboat never left the channel. A strong, northwesterly wind overnight was likely blowing at more than 55 kilometres an hour, said Stacey, with the Victoria rescue centre.


The weight of the barges and the treacherous weather proved too much for the tugboat, which sank around 3:30 a.m., he said.


The rescue centre couldn't confirm one report that breaking seas over the bow blew out the tug's windows, flooding the vessel and short-circuiting the bridge's wiring, so it wasn't able to issue a mayday call.


They do know it was sudden and that the two men weren't able to put out a radio call to the coast guard saying they were in trouble.


They only had time to hop into a life-raft and drift to safety amid near- freezing conditions.


It was the assist tugboat that finally spotted two men in a life-raft on the shore of Hardwicke Island, about six miles from Kelsey Bay.


The two barges, one carrying building materials and the other equipment, were found stranded in the Sunderland Channel, anchored by the sunken tug.


One man aboard the barge was rescued by the coast guard cutter and taken to Kelsey Bay.


It's not unusual for a tugboat to pull two large barges, Stacey said, but it can be difficult during extreme weather.


"The good part of this is that there were no fatalities," he said.


The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.


kderosa@tc.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Fire aboard a ship wintering in the Port of Montreal

Fire aboard a ship wintering in the Port of Montreal

MONTREAL, March 1 /CNW Telbec/ - Fire broke out Sunday at about 2:30 pm in the engine room of a ship wintering at the Port of Montreal at a dock located not far from the lower end of Pie-XI Blvd.
Processing work was underway in the engine room at the time.
The ship, the Maple Glen, is a Great Lakes ship that winters at the Port of Montreal.
Those present immediately left the premises and closed the hatches to the machine room. The fire was extinguished with the help of CO2 gas.
No-one was hurt.
Montreal firefighters were on site.