- Fire Erupts on Container Ship Pumba in Red Sea, Successfully Contained
A fire broke out aboard the Liberia-flagged container ship Pumba while transiting the Red Sea on the night of 29th July. The fire erupted in the engine room shortly after the vessel completed its bunkering operation at Damietta, Egypt and headed southbound through the Suez Canal.
The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources promptly responded and deployed four specialized tugboats to the scene. The fire was successfully extinguished without any reported injuries. Authorities have since towed the containership to a safe anchorage area, well clear of oil infrastructure and busy shipping routes.
Pumba is a 2006 built containership operated under Mediterranean Shipping Company. The vessel measures 294.1 metres in length, 32.2 metres in width, and has a carrying capacity of 5,060 TEU.
- Evergreen Vessel Suffers Damage Containers in a Storm off Brazil
On 29th July, the Evergreen vessel Ever Feat is berthed at the port of Montevideo, Uruguay after encountering a storm off the coast of Rio Grande, Brazil. The vessel suffered damage to 30–40 of its containers, which are reported to be on the verge of falling off the ship.
Images show containers on one part of the ship stacked unevenly, with some damaged and dented. Other containers also have parts hanging off the ship.
The cargo salvage operation is being carried out by the company Montecon, along with firefighters and the National Port Administration. An exclusion zone has been established for securing the cargo containers aboard the vessel.
The Coast Guard has issued a series of recommendations for handling the containers, as they contain fertilisers and might be toxic or polluting.
Due to the damage to the containers, the insurance policies of the clients have been activated. It is not yet known if any containers fell into the water. The costs of these damages have not been reported yet.
The Ever Feat is a Liberian-flagged container vessel that was built in 2021. The vessel has a length of 333.9 metres, a beam of 48.4 metres, and a gross tonnage of 116,295.
- Dutch Freighter Allides with Lock in Netherlands Port of Terneuzen
On 30th July, an Inland motor freighter, Dythar, allided with the West lock in Terneuzen in the Netherlands. The incident occurred while the freighter was approaching the lock, and it reportedly struck another vessel, causing it to crash into the lock infrastructure.
In the allision, the vessel and lock structure sustained damage. Dythar suffered hull damage to both its bow and stern above the waterline. No injuries or environmental pollution were reported in connection with the incident.
As a precaution, authorities temporarily closed the lock for approximately one hour to conduct emergency repairs, after which normal operations resumed.
Dythar is a Netherlands-flagged freighter that measures a length of 80 metres and a width of 9 metres.
- Cargo Vessel Allides with Kiel Canal Lock Jetty in Germany
The Barbados-flagged general cargo vessel Wilson Gdynia en route from Rotterdam Waalhaven allided with the jetty at the entrance to the small locks of the Kiel Canal in Brunsbüttel, Germany, in the afternoon of 30th July. No injuries or environmental pollution were reported.
The incident occurred while the vessel was approaching the locks from the Elbe River. The extent of the damage to the vessel and the lock infrastructure has not yet been disclosed.
Authorities confirmed that the vessel has been detained by the local Water Police pending an investigation into the cause of the allision.
Wilson Gdynia is a 1994-built vessel that measures 87.87 metres in length, 12.8 metres in width, and has a carrying capacity of 3,632 tonnes.
- Pollution Contained After Hydraulic Oil Spill from Presque Isle in St. Marys River, USA
On 29th July, the USA-flagged tug Presque Isle discharged an estimated 20 gallons of hydraulic oil into the St. Marys River near Neebish Island, Michigan, USA.
The incident occurred at around 11:00 am local time while the vessel was sailing upbound towards the Soo Locks and experienced a steering malfunction. The vessel continued sailing several miles before dropping anchor to investigate the issue. During the inspection, crew members discovered the oil discharge, which created a visible sheen on the river’s surface. Containment booms were deployed around the stern to prevent the spread of pollution.
The authorities conducted the surveys while the vessel traffic was temporarily suspended in the affected section of the river. Traffic later resumed, and reports confirmed the oil sheen dissipated within a few days.
