The M/V Dystos (Greek-registry 6,197-dwt bulk carrier built in 1972, converted to a cement carrier in 1985, classed with Lloyd's Register, owned and operated by Heracles Shipping Co.) capsized 28 Dec. off Kimi, Evia Island, Greece, in bad weather. The vessel sank 30 Dec. Seventeen people were killed and three are missing. Christos Anagnostou, 22, was the only survivor. A member of a maritime training academy, he said a large wave struck the ship causing it to list 45 degrees. Before the ship had recovered, a second large wave struck and the ship capsized, probably after the cargo shifted. Anagnostou jumped overboard and fired flares. The M/V Dystos was carrying 5,300 tons of cement from Volos to Piraeus. In addition to the crew, one crewmember was travelling with his wife while another crewmember's wife and 12-year-old daughter were also aboard. Six divers entered the ship 29 Dec. while vessels and aircraft continued searching the area. Five Greek Coast Guard personnel have been suspended pending an inquiry into allegations of delays in responding to the capsizing. They are accused of delaying informing senior Greek Merchant Marine Ministry officials. The first Greek Coast Guard personnel arrived at the M/V Dystos 10 hours after the capsizing. A Greek court on 30 Dec. ordered an invesigation into the allegations by Deputy Prosecutor Nikos Makris.

At least nine people were killed and several are missing in an explosion on a wooden barge carrying 60 metric tons of gasoline in Guangdong Province, China. The barge exploded and caught fire early 29 Dec. while moored at Leizhou. The gasoline was reportedly being carried without permission.

The M/V Sydney Express (7,000-dwt, 592-TEU capacity containership built in Germany in 1996, owned and operated by Tasman Express Line Ltd.) collided with the F/V Maria Luisa (17-meter/56-foot trawler) at the entrance to the Port of Wellington, New Zealand, the night of 29 Dec. Five people aboard the trawler, all of the same family, were killed. One crewmember survived. Weather conditions at the time were said to be clear and calm. The master of the M/V Sydney Express has been exempted from pilot requirements since 1985.

The M/V Jutha Jessica (Thai-registry 6,677-gt, 13,579-dwt general cargo vessel built in 1972 by Nakskov Skibs Entrepriser A/S, operated by Jutha Maritime Co.) ran aground on a rock outcropping in high winds at 1340 1 Jan. as it entered the Port of Pusan, South Korea, to avoid a storm. Twenty-four crewmembers, including the master, were rescued. Some suffered minor injuries. Three crewmembers are missing and two were killed. The crew consisted of Thai citizens, and South Korean personnel rescued the survivors from ropes draped over the hull. A helicopter also rescued several crewmembers from the stern. The ship has reportedly broken in half and is partially submerged. The M/V Jutha Jessica left Nagoya, Japan, with steel pipes on 28 Dec. It anchored off Pusan 30 Dec. The ship previously carried the names M/V Charlottenborg, M/V Afrika and M/V Unisierra. Perhaps amazingly, a ship of the same name operated by the same firm sank under similar circumstances in 1991. That M/V Jutha Jessica was raised from a Japanese anchorage, repaired and sold to Chinese interests.

A small Bangladeshi-registry vessel sank after colliding with another vessel near Chittagong, Bangladesh, late 31 Dec. The vessel was carrying 1,200 tons of fertilizer to Chittagong, which had been unloaded from a bulk carrier in the Bay of Bengal. Fifteen crewmembers were rescued but the master is missing.

The crew of the M/V Nakhodka (Russian-registry 13,157-gt, 20,471-dwt tanker built in 1970, operated by Primorsk Shipping Co.) abandoned ship at 0250 2 Jan. in the Sea of Japan, about 106 kilometers/65.7 miles northeast of the Oki Islands, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. Thirty-one of the 32 crew were rescued after they boarded lifeboats and were spotted by two Japanese Maritime Safety Agency aircraft about 0935. The 31 were aboard three lifeboats, while two others had capsized. Six vessels and aircraft are continuing to search for the missing crewmember, master Valery Melnikov. The ship developed a 20 degree port list and an oil slick 1.8 kilometers/1.1 miles by 300 meters/1,000 feet is leaking from the forward area of the ship. It is estimated that two-thirds of the 19,000 tons of C oil has spilled. The M/V Nakhodka was sailing from China to Russia. Conditions in the area included six-meter/20-foot seas and fog.

The M/V Reliable II, a small gasoline tanker owned by Eklof Marine, ran aground off New York the night of 25 Dec. The ship, carrying 1,500 barrels of gasoline, ran aground on sand off East Rockaway Inlet. The M/V Great Gull, another Eklof Marine tanker, lightered the M/V Reliable II. By dawn 26 Dec., the two had sailed to the RAD Oil Co. terminal at Oceanside.

The U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class Guided-Missile Cruiser U.S.S. Chancellorsville (CG 62) rescued the crew of the F/V Socrates (Ecuadorian-registry) in the southern Caribbean Sea early Dec 18. The vessel had been adrift for 10 days when a crewmeber on the naval vessel saw an F/V Socrates crewmember waving a burning flag above his head. A small boat was sent to the fishing vessel, which found to have damaged reduction gear. After providing food and water, the vessel was taken in tow to Colombia. During the tow, a seam in the forward bilge of the F/V Socrates split and a shaft seal began leaking. A P-250 pump was set-up, which removed the water while the vessel's own pump was repaired.

New information has become available about the sinking of the M/V Jahan (Belize-registry 8,757-gt, 15,022-dwt SD14-type general cargo ship built in 1972, classed by Hellenic Register, owned and operated by Seatime Shipping Pte. Ltd.) at 0445 27 Dec., reportedly at 32 degrees south, 0 degrees 45 minutes east (about 1,090 kilometers/680 miles west of Cape Town, South Africa). All 28 crewmembers are missing. The ship left Santos, Brazil, on 25 Nov. for repairs outside the port limits. The repairs were completed 9 Dec., and the ship, on charter to Glencore, London, sailed from Santos for Iraq with 14,000 tons of sugar. The ship then apparently took 17 days to sail about 4,800 kilometers/3,000 miles. The M/V Jahan sent a distress call at 2345 26 Dec. in what were said to be fair weather conditions. The Ghanian master reported that the ship was experiencing uncontrollable flooding and the crew, mostly Bangladeshi citizens, would be forced to abandon ship. The distress call was not a general call, however, but was sent via normal telex to Seatime Shipping in Singapore. Seatime Shipping then passed the information to the Australian Marine Rescue Coordination Center, and then to the South African M.R.C.C. The ship had an Inmarsat C system, but it was not used. South African Air Force C-130B Hercules aircraft from the No. 28 Squadron at Waterkloof Air Base, Pretoria, headed to the area, with three ships - the M/V Cape Falcon (161,475-dwt bulk carrier built in 1993, operated by Soc. Anon. Monegasque), the M/V Captain Panagiotis and the M/V Southgate (25,417-dwt bulk carrier built in 1982, operated by Soc. Anon. Monegasque) - arriving 28 Dec. The search was abandoned 29 Dec. after a 7,800-square kilometer/3,000-square mile area was covered. Nothing was found.

The wreck of the M/V Herceg Novi (Maltese-registry 14,714-dwt bulk carrier built in 1981, operated by Milena Ship Management Co. Ltd.) has been removed by Smit International Singapore Pte. Ltd. and Semco Salvage and Marine Pte. Ltd. The ship collided with the M/V Ming Galaxy (Taiwanese-registry 31,264-dwt containership built in 1980, owned and operated by Yangming Marine Transport Corp.) on 18 Aug. about five kilometers/three miles east of the Raffles Lighthouse, Singapore. Despite precautions, the wreck was hit on 19 Aug. by the M/T Andaman Sea (Panamanian-registry 89,039-dwt crude oil tanker built in 1980, owned and operated by Tanker Pacific Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.) and on 26 Aug. by the M/V Stefanos (Greek-registry 15,767 bulk carrier built in 1978).