Ezadeen, the livestock and migrant carrier
The worse has happened. The smugglers used a livestock carrier to transport men, women and children. The Ezadeen was expected at the port of Sète (France), the leading European port for the export of livestock. Sète came near to import surviving human beings. Like the Blue Sky M and the East Sea, the Ezadeen is an old hull, she is 49 years of age and maritime inspectors in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea have pointed out 204 deficiencies from 2007 to 2014. Initially built as a general cargo carrier, she was converted to livestock carrier in 2010. Her call papers show she is a regular visitor to the port of Beirut and to the Syrian port of Tartous.
Christos XXII, the salvage tug which brings bad luck
Unable to tow the Victoriaborg (*) to Saint Malo port of refuge, the salvage tug Christos XXII had yet won fame in the Channel Sea. Exactly one year ago, the Greek tug was towing a German training ship, the Emsstrom, bound to a Turkish ship-breaking yard.
The towed Emsstrom collided with Christos XXII following a wrong move of the latter off Torbay along the Devon coastline. Emsstrom took on water after the collision and sunk.
Christos XXII took on water too. The eight crewmen were evacuated and the salvage tug had to be towed and stationed in the Weymouth Bay. An oil spill was feared. The incident happened in January 2013.
Cherbourg Alarms
N°1
The Russian tuna seiner Marginella has been immobilized at Cherbourg since July 2007. After leaving Kaliningrad (Russia), she was heading towards South Africa via Ghana to fish bluefin and tropical tuna, under dubious conditions in regard with the conformity to the regulations of ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas). She suffered outbreaks of fire in the machinery space in the North Sea and the English Channel, resulting in a total propulsion failure. She had to be towed to port by Abeille Liberté.
Hansa Brandenburg: another container ship riddled with Problems
On July 15th 2013 a fire broke out onboard the Hansa Brandenburg (IMO 9236236), a container ship 176 m in length with a capacity of 1,740 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) operating under the Liberian flag. The ship was sailing from Singapore to Durban (South Africa) and was located 200 miles off the coast of Mauritius. The crew of 17 was unable to extinguish the fire that continued to spread. Another container ship, the Donau Trader, deviated to rescue the crew and bring them safely to Port Louis in Mauritius. The burning ship drifted for several days until the fire was brought under control by Five Oceans Salvage and Smit Salvage on July 19th. The Hansa Brandenburg was towed towards Port Louis after permission was granted for assessment and potential repairs to be carried out.
Mol Comfort
The total loss of MOL Comfort and its cargo is a new kind of disaster. Thousands of containers are awash, some are in the seawater column or at the bottom. They all contain materials that are entirely incompatible with the ecosystem of the Arabian Sea. Both wrecks of the MOL Comfort are now underwater disposals of hazardous waste, common waste and oil wastes.
The exact inventory of hazardous materials has not been disclosed by the owner. The ship had previously reached four Japanese ports. At the middle of its round trip, the container ship was supposed to reach Northern Europe. Japan is an exporter of chemicals and electronic equipment; the giant container ship was transporting all classes of hazardous materials, the only unknown being radioactive material. The fallout from the fire in the front part will contaminate the marine food chains. Containers adrift endangered navigation and when they will be gradually dislocated they will release hundreds of thousands of litters more or less floating in the sea.
