- Fire breaks out on cattle vessel in Brazil; all crew safe
A fire broke out aboard Panama-flagged livestock vessel North Star 1 while it was docked at the Port of São Sebastião, Brazil, on 3 March. The vessel was carrying 2600 head of cattle bound for Turkey. No casualties were reported in the incident.
At around 9:00 pm local time, the fire was reported, prompting a multi-agency emergency response.
Firefighting teams from the local Fire Department, supported by the port’s fire brigade, the Emergency Response Centre (CEATE), tugboats, and the Maritime Firefighters Group (GBMar), brought the fire under control. The affected berth area was isolated during the response.
The Fire Department reported that the fire originated in an upper compartment of the vessel, where hay and animal feed were stored.
There were 28 crew members on board. At least five crew members and one firefighter required medical attention due to smoke inhalation. Authorities reported all the animals were safely disembarked from the vessel.
Authorities and the Brazilian Navy will conduct an investigation into the incident.
- Greenpeace activists block cargo vessel in France
Greenpeace activists on the morning of 2 March blocked a cargo ship carrying Uranium in France accusing French nuclear giant EDF of maintaining business ties with Russia and transporting Uranium from Russia for France’s nuclear power plants.
Around 20 Greenpeace protesters blocked the Panama-flagged general cargo vessel Mikhail Dudin at the port of Dunkirk, France.
According to French news media France24, in 2018, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EDF signed a €600 million contract with Tenex, a subsidiary of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Under the agreement, France sends reprocessed Uranium that is the waste from French nuclear power plants to Russia, where Rosatom’s unique facility in Seversk, Siberia, converts and re-enriches it for reuse in French reactors.
The activist alleged that this trade indirectly supports Russia’s war in Ukraine. French police later arrested four Greenpeace activists, and the blockade was lifted.
Mikhail Dudin is a general cargo ship built in 1996 and measures 89.5 meters in length, 13.4 meters in width and has a carrying capacity of 3,030 tonnes.
- Ukraine strikes Russian port facilities
Ukrainian forces said on Tuesday that they struck a major oil terminal and a naval base in Russia’s southern port city of Novorossiysk.
According to Ukraine’s General Staff, oil loading arms at the Sheskharis terminal and an S-400 air defence system were damaged in the overnight attack.
A large fire was reported in the area.
The full extent of the damage remains under assessment.
The Sheskharis facility was one of the largest oil and petroleum product transshipment terminals in southern Russia.
- Drone strike damages oil tank at Duqm port in Oman
Reuters news media reported that an oil storage tank at the Port of Duqm in southern Oman was struck in a drone attack on 3 March.
Several unmanned aerial vehicles targeted fuel storage facilities at the commercial port, damaging one of the tanks. The damage was contained and no casualties were reported.
The incident marks the second attack on the Port of Duqm in recent days. On 1 March, a drone struck workers’ accommodation at the port, injuring one person, while debris from another drone fell near fuel storage tanks.
- Containership spills 85 boxes overboard forcing suspension at Casablanca
Port officials ordered a suspension of operations overnight at the Port of Casablanca in Morocco as they were dealing with an overboard incident with containers near the entrance to the harbor. It is unclear when operations would resume as daylight revealed numerous containers floating in the port’s fairway.
The National Ports Agency issued the suspension order at approximately 2300 local time on Thursday, February 26, saying transit was unsafe due to the incident. Media reports indicate operations at the port remained suspended on Friday.
A Greek-owned containership operating under charter to Hapag-Lloyd spilled containers into the channel as the vessel was outbound from Casablanca. The ship named Ionikos (52,427 dwt) and registered in Liberia operates on a route running between Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf of Guinea with calls in Nigeria and other regional African ports.
The ship was bound for Barcelona after handling containers in Casablanca. According to the statement, the ship encountered heavy swells, causing it to roll, and an estimated 85 containers went overboard. The ship is currently anchored approximately six nautical miles offshore. Built in 2009, the ship is 258 meters (846 feet) in length and has a capacity of 4,360 TEU.
