To transfer salvage crew and tools to the stricken MSC Baltic III, they had to rig up a whole zip line to the ship. Video from last autumn. (TT Mike)

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Emotional stuff #maritimepilots

Severe weather impacted the MSC Baltic III site last week. The port-side crack has extended toward the stern and starboard buckling has progressed forward. Debris washed ashore and was removed.

January 28, off the island of San Pietro, the 116m livestock carrier Blue Ocean, with 33 crew members on board sent a distress call for an engine failure. The rescue was coordinated by the Cagliari Coast Guard. The vessel was then secured with the help of local tugboats.

Cutting a ship in 2 and lengthening with 30m ... (jumboizing)

A Chinese shipyard has completed the construction of a 10,800-CEU (car equivalent unit) vessel for South Korean shipping company Glovis, breaking the current capacity record held by the 9,500-CEU Chinese Anji Ansheng. maritime-executive.com/article/chin...

From Antwerp to Alexandria In this video, Mohamed Emad, Export Trade & Project Cargo Manager at MSC Egypt, takes us behind the scenes of a complex project cargo operation in the Port of Antwerp.

1/x So you probably saw this footage of the cruise ship Scenic Eclipse II being rescued by the USCG Cutter Polar Star. So when can a ship sail in ice? A small 🧵(translated and updated form an earlier thread in Dutch)

According to reports, the Dutch-flagged cargo ship Eikborg touched bottom as it was departing the Figueira da Foz port, Portugal, on January 26. The ship got only a few miles off the coast before reporting it had lost the function of its rudder. maritime-executive.com/article/tugs...

1/x The "GREENLAND" problem" ... OK, maybe not the political one, but the "why is it so big?" problem. We can all blame it on one Belgian (Flemish guy) who has been dead for almost 450 years: Gerardus Mercator or Gerard De Kremer #maritimehistory

An inch is as good as a mile....I guess...

1/x 🇫🇷🇺🇸🇯🇵In Japan, four French officer cadets from Saint-Cyr set fire to an American merchant ship during a training exercise in Okinawa. Filmed, identified, and now facing charges, the officers, who acted without orders, are at the center of a diplomatic incident.

If you love maritime photography, you need to visit mathieurivrin.com Amazing footage of the Abeille Bourbon (now Abeille Bretagne). Abeille Bretagne is a high seas salvage tug , 80m (260ft) long with a tractive power of 200 tonnes(F). She is stationed on the coast of Brittany to aid ships in peril.

Officials in Scotland are confirming that they were advised that the USCG removed the captain and first officer of the seized tanker Marinera (Bella 1) from Scotland overnight as court hearings were underway for an injunction to prevent their extradition. maritime-executive.com/article/capt...

1/x A fire broke out on board the car carrier MS THAMES HIGHWAY. The fire started in the engine room, shortly after the ship had left the port of Emden. The ship became rudderless and anchored outside the channel of the Eems estuary for safety reasons.

BOKA Vanguard is a semisubmersible heavy-lift ship owned and operated by Boskalis. She is the largest vessel of her type ever built, and is able to carry cargoes up to 110,000 tonnes. She has a flat, bow-less deck measuring 70 by 275 m (230 by 902 ft),

1/x A previous thread I published in Dutch, translated: Today we're going to talk about the barrel. No, not a whiskey barrel, but an oil barrel. We all hear on the news sometimes "the price of a barrel of oil." But what is that barrel, and what does it mean, for example, for an oil tanker?

Ice

At least 18 people have died after a ferry, MV Trisha Kerstin 3, carrying more than 350 passengers and crew members onboard sank in the waters off Philippines' southern coast. 317 people were rescued, but at least 24 people are still missing. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Russia has admitted for the first time that a Ukrainian missile sank its prized Black Sea flagship, later deleting the statement and returning to the official narrative that the guided-missile cruiser Moskva went down because of a freak accident. edition.cnn.com/2026/01/26/e...

1/x The Tara Polar Station is a drifting scientific research platform designed specifically for long-term studies in the Arctic Ocean. It's not a fixed station on land but a reinforced vessel that intentionally freezes into the Arctic sea ice to drift with the currents.

View from a gantry crane at Deurganckdok, Port of Antwerp-Bruges, working on MSC Germany. Height of the view is 70m (230ft) above de quayside . MSC Germany is 366m (1200ft) long and has a 16,000 TEU capacity. She was delivered on April 2025 (IG freddydhollander)

1/x Some of you saw this post and assumed this is how they clean the cargo tank of an oil tanker as well... Not really... A small 🧵 on how they do it there...

MT ELANDRA SOUND entering Berendrecht Lock, Antwerp. Elandra Sound - IMO L9821706 - Liberian flag - length 249.90m (820ft) - breadth 44.04m (145ft) with a draught of 14m (46ft) - GT 62370

I did tell you about prop wash, didn't I... Why didn't you listen?

1/x Another great video by @mercoglianos.bsky.social . If you haven't done so, go like and subscribe to his channel... But what about privateering? What does international law say about this? A small 🧵

Cleaning the hold of a bulk carrier is tedious work. This is a new magnetic wall climbing Hold Cleaning robot by AKA Robotics, WallHiker CH-02

Shipbuilder Sues Owner of Lost Superyacht Bayesian. The shipbuilder alleges that the crew of the vessel caused the sinking through negligence, thereby damaging the builder's reputation and causing the loss of valuable business relationships. maritime-executive.com/article/ship...

MV Mini Star, on her way from Italy to Lebanon with a cargo of heavy machinery and marble, experienced shifting of cargo during heavy swells. She has sunk off the coast of Derna in eastern Libya after suffering a complete power failure. All 11 crew members were rescued.

1/x As a result of new fiscal measures, the Belgian Merchant Navy added 50 ships to its register last year, bringing the total to 168 ships (>GT500 - SOLAS) with an average age of 11y per ship and a total gross tonnage of 8.6 million

On 8 January 2023, a Humber pilot fell from a pilot ladder after likely suffering a cardiac event while boarding the roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel Finnhawk from the pilot vessel Humber Saturn. www.gov.uk/maib-reports...

The crew of the Liberian-flagged tanker Horten, working with U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders in San Juan, rescued a Belgian ocean rower late Wednesday after his vessel capsized in heavy seas more than 1,100 nautical miles east of Puerto Rico. gcaptain.com/tanker-crew-...

Hengli Heavy Industry, China is a new shipbuilding giant. It was founded in 2022. Hengli currently has 70 vessels under construction. The shipyard holds 176 vessel orders totalling 28 million DWT, ranked first globally, and targets an annual capacity of 20 million DWT

1/x The media likes to freak out about Tsunamis, but for mariners they're less of a problem. What is a problem? Rogue waves or "killer waves"... A small 🧵

MT Grinch was carrying around 730.000 bbl of crude oil. Last port of call was Murmansk, RUS

French Navy intercepts shadow fleet tanker Grinch in the Mediterranean.

Just be aware of your surroundings and especially prop wash... (tugboatwheezy)

Maritime Piracy Surges in 2025 as Singapore Straits Emerges as World's Most Dangerous Waters gcaptain.com/maritime-pir...

Rainbowing is the process in which a dredging ship propels sand that has been claimed from the ocean floor in a high arc to a particular location. This is used for multiple purposes, ranging from building up a beach to prevent erosion to constructing new islands.

1/x Let's assume you cause some damage with your car. The claimant wants their money, but you sell your car. Would the claimant have to come to you or the new owner of the car? In the maritime business they would have to talk to the new owner. It's what we call a "maritime lien" #maritimehistory

MT Anwaar Benghazi (250m x 44.09m) with a draught of 14.9m entering Berendrecht Lock. 3 tugs assisting. 2 fwd, 1 aft. Aft tug is a carousel tug = Multratug 33

On January 14, 2026, the multipurpose cargo ship Maria Francisca (IMO 9235361) suffered a cargo shift and lost a "significant number" of containers overboard while navigating through a storm off the coast of Aveiro, Portugal.

European Colonial Shipping Lanes (1700‒1850). Work & Credit: PythonMaps

Pilot - helmsman interaction

The Manly ferry service operates on Sydney Harbour, connecting the Sydney suburb of Manly with Circular Quay in the CBD, a journey of seven nautical miles. (IG piershaskardphoto)

A harbor pilot has died after falling from a pilot ladder by St. Andrews Pass on Monday night. The USCG reported that the pilot was found within 5 minutes, and CPR was performed. The pilot was later pronounced dead by EMS. www.mypanhandle.com/news/local-n...

The same location in Flushing (Vlissingen), NL. Ship is trying to make the turn in to the North bound fairway and doesn't make it. Has a beach holiday... (had to speed up the video slightly to stay below 3min posting limit)

Salvage efforts on "shadow fleet" MT Qendil - IMO 9310525 - still aground near Turkiye's Bozcaada Island. She was the target, on December 25, of a long-range Ukrainian aerial drone strike and on her way to a shipyard.