At least 57 missing in sinking in Indonesia

     At least 57 people are missing after a passenger vessel sank in heavy
seas off Indonesia's Sumatra Island before dawn on 24 Jan. The Sambu
Sakti-1 sank near Tanjungbatu, Indonesia, while sailing between two ports
on the eastern coast of Sumatra. Twenty-three people were rescued. The
number of passengers aboard is unclear.

Three rescued, one killed after fishing vessel sinks off New York

     The fishing vessel Penelope sank at 1400 28 Jan. and the four crew
boarded a liferaft 120 kilometers/75 miles off Montauk, N.Y. Two people
were rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard HH-65A Dolphin helicopter and taken to
Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, N.Y. One of the two had a broken collar
bone. A third person was recovered by a Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod,
Mass., HH-60J Jayhawk and taken to Gabreski Airport on Long Island, N.Y.
Chester Gaskins, 39, of Newport, R.I., was found unconscious and later
died. Weather conditions included rain, 30-knot winds from the northeast,
4.6-meter/15-foot seas and visibility of 14 kilometers/nine miles. The
water temperature was 6 degrees Celsius/43 degrees Fahrenheit. The
20-meter/65-foot Penelope was homeported at Newport and owned by David R.
Greenley of Milford, Del. The three others were identified as Vernon
Bowens, 33, of Newport; Brian Morse, 37, of Kennebunk, Maine; William Sims,
28, of Portland, Maine. Crewmembers said the Penelope may have flooded
through loose stern hatches.

One missing after L.P.G. ship sinks

     The Yu Hwa 2 (Panamanian-registry 1,320-gt, 1,608-dwt liquefied
petroleum gas carrier built in 1974, operated by Yamashita Unyu), sailing
from Pusan, South Korea, to Yosu, South Korea, with butadiene, sank 29 Jan.
at 34 degrees 46 minutes north, 127 degrees 46 minutes east. Eight of the
crewmembers were rescued and one is missing.

Twenty-two rescued as fishing vessel sinks in the Pacific

     The Adriatic-C (U.S.-registry 1,558-gt, 72.8-meter/239-foot fishing
vessel) sank 23 Jan., 166 kilometers/104 miles north of American Samoa. A
vessel from American Samoa rescued the 22 crewmembers.

Tanker, ferry with more than 1,000 aboard collide in Sweden

     The Stena Line ferry Jutlandica and the tanker Brevik collided in
Rivofjord in Gothenburg, Sweden, at 1700 23 Jan. No one was injured. The
ferry had minor damage and it sailed to Denmark after a four-hour delay. It
was carrying 1,053 passengers. The Brevik, carrying heating oil, had more
damage and one tank had a leak. The spill was said to be small. Weather
conditions included strong winds and snow.

Honduran-registry vessel hits rock off Sudan

     The Natacha I (Honduran-registry 3,507-gt general cargo ship) hit a
rock south of Port Sudan, Sudan, on 24 Jan. The location is 18 degrees 44
minutes north, 38 degrees 29 minutes east.

Timber cargo jettisoned after ship develops list

     The Kirre (Estonian-registry 1,798-gt motor vessel built in 1970),
sailing from Riga, Latvia, to Seaham, England, with timber, had a cargo
shift in high winds and rough seas this week, 56 kilometers/35 miles off
Klaipeda, Lithuania. The Kirre had a 10-degree starboard list and 40
percent of its cargo was dumped overboard. The ship sailed to Klaipeda.

Engine room fire disables ship in Greece

     The Hasan Bey (Turkish-registry 10,200-gt, 17,911-dwt motor bulk
carrier built in 1970, operated by Kurtlar Denizcilik) suffered an engine
room fire 28 Jan., 19 kilometers/12 miless off the Cavo Doro Peninsula on
Evia Island, Greece, as it was sailing without cargo from Dakar, Senegal,
to Istanbul, Turkey. None of its 20 crewmembers were injured and the fire
was contained. The Hasan Bey was towed to Izmir, Turkey.

Grounded Turkish-registry ship refuses Greek assistance

     The Barbaros Oktay (Turkish-registry 10,056-dwt bulk carrier built in
1975, operated by Kiran Gemi ve Makine Sanayi-Turgut Kiran) ran aground 28
Jan. 150 meters/490 feet off Cape Ammoglossa, Greece. The ship left
Novorossiysk, Russia, and was sailing with cargo to Haifa, Israel. It has
refused local assistance.

Canadian warship, fishing vessel collide near Boston

     The Canadian Maritime Command's Kingston-class Maritime Coastal
Defense Vessel H.M.C.S. Glace Bay (MCDV 701) and the Matthew John
(U.S.-registry 13.5-meter/44.3-foot fishing vessel homeported at
Gloucester, Mass.) collided at 1200 27 Jan., 40 kilometers/25 miles
northeast of Boston. There were no injuries and visibility and weather
conditions were good. The pilothouse and the port gunwale of the Matthew
John were damaged and it returned to port under its own power. In addition,
some 80 lobster traps were lost overboard. Two people, Don Howarth, 39, and
Dan Teel, were aboard. The vessel is insured for U.S.$85,000. The H.M.C.S.
Glace Bay had minor damage.

Malabo takes on water in engine room

     The Malabo (Belize-registry 539-gt, 495-dwt motor ro/ro built in 1982,
operated by Yugretransflot) took on water in its engine room recently at 47
degrees 43.2 minutes north, 06 degrees 19.5 minutes west. The flooding was
controlled and the ship sailed to Brest, France.

Red Seagull spills oil into Gulf of Mexico

     The Red Seagull (Gibraltar-registry 200,598-gt, 406,258-dwt,
361.8-meter/1,187-foot steam tanker built in 1976, operated by Societe de
Services Maritimes S.A.), sailing from the Juaymah Terminal to the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico, had a leak in its No. 6 port slop tank about 80
kilometers/50 miles off Galveston, Texas, on 23 Jan. Some 500 barrels of
oil were spilled and a sheen five kilometers/three miles by 30 meters/100
feet was seen.

Barge leaks oil off United Arab Emirates

     The Karar 2, lost some of its oil cargo off the United Arab Emirates
while under tow on 14 Jan. Some 20 to 30 tons spilled before it was able to
call at a port.

Grounded ship blocks Texas river

     On 15 Jan., the Kapitan Sokolov (Cypriot-registry 54,500-dwt
combination ship built in 1983, operated by Unicom Management Services
(Cyprus) Ltd.) ran aground in Beaumont, Texas, near Mobil Corp.'s facility.
The ship was loaded with petroleum coke and ran aground when a towing
hawser to a tug parted. The ship blocked the area to navigation and the
Nueches River was closed. Some 1,500 tons of petcoke was lightered and two
tugs attempted to refloat the ship without success. Another 3,500 tons were
removed and a second attempt refloated the ship.

Bonaker grounds near Woods Hole

     The 24-meter/80-foot fishing vessel Bonaker ran aground less than 1.6
kilometers/one mile south of Great Harbor in Woods Hole, Mass., on 28 Jan.
Two people were aboard the vessel, homeported at New Bedford, Mass. Nathan
Davis of Chatham, Mass., and owner John Christensen of Yarmouth, Mass. were
picked up by a 13-meter/44-foot U.S. Coast Guard motor lifeboat from Coast
Guard Group Woods Hole.

Tug submerges in shallow water of Chesapeake Bay

     A U.S. Coast Guard boat assisted the three crewmembers of a tug the
morning of 28 Jan. after it sank in the Chesapeake Bay south of Thomas
Point, Md. The three people boarded the boat from Coast Guard Station
Ananpolis, Md., an hour before the 8.5-meter/24-foot tug sank in 1.2
meters/four feet of water. The tug anchored after losing steering control
and in 30-knot winds and 1.2-meter/four-foot seas, it flooded. An empty
barge under tow broke loose and was later recovered. The three men, Bob
Gazza, 48, from Baltimore; Joe Jordan, 31, from Baltimore; and John Perdue,
38, from Glen Burnie, Md., are employees of Industrial Marine Services,
which owned the tug.

Fishing vessel floods off North Carolina

     The Fighting Lady (10-meter/34-foot fishing vessel homeported at
Morehead City, N.C.) flooded 11 Jan., 56 kilometers/35 miles south of Cape
Hatteras, N.C. The vessel took on water due to a damaged shaft. A U.S.
Coast Guard HH-60J Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station
Elizabeth City, N.C., delivered a pump. Two 12-meter/41-foot utility boats
from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet, N.C., towed the Fighting Lady to
Scotts Boatyard in Buxton, N.C.

Cambodian-registry ship anchors with engine trouble

     The Lidiya (Cambodian-registry 2,736-gt, 3,930-dwt bulk carrier built
in 1967, operated by Altex Shipping Co. Ltd.), sailing from St. Petersburg,
Russia, to Eleusis, developed main engine trouble this week at 57 degrees
30 minutes north, 18 degrees 53 minutes east, in the Baltic Sea. The ship,
carrying timber, later anchored for repairs.

Iberian Coast towed to port with engine problems

     The Iberian Coast (Bahamian-registry 1,029-gt, 1,391-dwt bulk carrier
built in 1979, operated by Charles M. Willie & Co. (Shipping) Ltd.)
developed turbo charger problems 11 kilometers/seven miles off Lizard
Point, England. The ship was sailing from Leixoes, Portugal, to Mistley,
England, with granite and timber and was towed to Falmouth, England, by the
motor tug St. Pirian, arriving at 0510 28 Jan.

Tsavliris hired to refloat the Pulang Lupa

     BHP Transport Ltd. has hired Tsavliris to refloat the Pulang Lupa
(Panamanian-registry 77,332-gt, 149,530-dwt bulk carrier built in 1989,
operated by BHP Transport), which ran aground 11 Jan. on a sandbank five
kilometers/three miles off Port Said, Egypt. Efforts by tugs of the Suez
Canal Authority to refloat the ship failed. Tsavliris has dispatched two
tugs with equipment, the Atlas and the Megas Alexandros (Greek-registry
485-dwt tug built in 1974), from Piraeus, Greece. The equipment reportedly
includes bulldozers, fenders and grabs. The tugs are towing floating cranes
with oversized jibs. Under the salvage contract, Tsavliris is required to
provide a Handysize bulk carrier to lighter about 20,000 tons of ore. After
refloating, both ships will sail to Constanza, Romania, where the Pulang
Lupa was headed.

Aft section of MSC Carla heads to Spain for demolition

     The aft section of the MSC Carla (Panamanian-registry 55,241-gt,
40,912-dwt, 2,868-TEU motor containership built in 1972 at Landskrona,
Sweden; owned by Rationis Enterprises and operated by Mediterranean
Shipping Co.) has left Las Palmas in Spain's Canary Islands under tow for
demolition in northern Spain. The ship broke into two pieces on early 25
Nov. during a storm 176 kilometers/110 miles north of Sao Miguel Island in
Portugal's Azores Islands. The ship broadcast a message late 24 Nov. that
its rudder had failed and two Portuguese military helicopters rescued all
34 crewmembers from the aft section. At least three crewmembers suffered
minor abrasions. The MSC Carla's stern was taken in tow by the Fotiy Krylov
(2,253-dwt tug built in 1989, operated by Tsavliris). The forward section,
with as many as 1,200 containers aboard, sank 30 Nov. The MSC Carla was
sailing from Le Havre, France, to Boston with 2,400 containers.