Passengers were stuck on board the new 'Spirit of Tasmania IV', hours after it was due in Geelong, less than a week after the ferry started carrying paying customers. The ferry left Devonport on Nov 4 just after 7 p.m. and was scheduled to dock on Nov 5 at 6.30 a.m. The ship, however, had to wait for a tug, before entering the channel, while it made multiple sharp turns in the Port Phillip Bay for four and a half hours.
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ESPIRITO SANTO EXP
Two weeks after the fire started aboard the 'Espirito Santos Express', carriers have advised customers that they expected the vast majority of the cargo to be either severely damaged by the fire or a total loss. Salvage teams were meanwhole making progress with the fire as well as with another containership, the 'HMM Platinum', which reported a fire around the same time. The container ship was operating under charter to Hapag-Lloyd on a shared route with Ocean Network Express. The full details on the fire were not released by claims consultant WK Webster. The 28 crew members had evacuated the ship on Oct 15, approximately 975 nautical miles northwest of Tristan da Cunha. The crew was rescued by the passing bulk carrier 'Aeolian Arrow', whose the chief officer was thrown overboard from the rescue boat, and the rescue boat was subsequently swamped and lost. Efforts to recover the officer were unsuccessful. Both Hapag and ONE reported that the owners, Seaspan, have advised them the fire remained under control. A team from SMIT had reached the drifting vessel. On Oct 28, Webster had advised it understood the vessel was still ablaze. The Brasilian offshore support vessels 'Maersk Topper' and 'StarNav Delphinus' were deployed to battle the blaze. The Danish tug 'Navvik Leader' took the 'Espirito Santo Express' under tow toward a port of refuge in Brasil. The 'HMM Platinum' has meanwhile anchored off Durban after a fire on board, which had started around the end of September, while the ship was navigating off the southern coast of Lavanono, Madagascar. The vessel was also bound for Brasil, when the fire began. Reports indicated that there were approximately 2,300 TEU aboard. HMM had reported the fire had been controlled, working with a salvage team from SMIT. However, the vessel was delayed by weather and had moved away from South Africa while tugs remained with it as a precaution. The crew was reported to be safe, and the ship appeared to be waiting for space in Durban so that it could complete its survey to determine the full extent of the damage.
SALVAMAR NAVIA
During the night of Nov 3 and the morning of Nov 4, four cayucos have arrived at the port of La Restinga: At 11.29 p.m., the 'Salvamar Diphda' escorted to port a cayuco located four nautical miles south of La Restinga with 111 Sub-Saharan people on board, among them 99 males, nine females and three minors. At 01:45 h, the SAR boat escorted another cayuco, which had been located ten nautical miles south of La Restinga, with 125 people on board. At 08:40 a.m., the 'Salvamar Navia' escorted to port a cayuco, which had bwen detected by an echo-SIVE 12 miles south of La Restinga. At 09:35 a.m., the 'Salvamar Diphda' arrived at La Restinga after escorting another cayuco detected by an echo-SIVE 14 nautical miles south of the island.
CONTSHIP JET
The 'Contship Jet', which was operating under charter to ZIM, has sunk about 12 hours after being attacked by sea drones, after drifting southwards off Schabla, in the night of Oct 28 at around midnight. None of the 18 crew member were injured. They arrived at the port of Varna on the evening, and the joint rescue operation has concluded. It had involved emergency rescue services, the Maritime Administration, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Bulgarian Border Police. The ship's owner had arranged a hotel for the seafarers through his agent in the city. The crew was to undergo medical examinations. 20 of the containers had gone overboard and were adrift at sea. The cargo contained various fuels and other hazardous materials. The Ministry of Environment and Water has launched an investigation into possible pollution of the Black Sea following the incident. So far, however, no visible pollution has been found. According to the submitted cargo manifest, the transported goods included lithium-ion batteries, corrosive liquids and acids, flammable liquids, ethanol solutions, household chemicals, and plastics. Teams from the Directorate of Water Management took seawater samples at five locations along the coast - Durankulak, Shabla, Cape Kaliakra, Byala, and Sozopol - on Oct 29. Judging by its appearance, the unmanned vessel, which sank the container ship, appeared to be a new model that has not previously been seen publicly in the Black Sea. A French reconnaissance aircraft monitored the attack. One sea drone - a matte black, 5-6 meter-long unmanned surface vehicle (USV)- was approaching the vessel at high speed. It was driving alongside the vessel, before turning towards its hull. Its maneuvers indicated it was controlled remotely. The authorities in Bulgaria and Romania had spent more than a month trying to determine what types of unmanned craft have been sinking ships. At least six ships have been attacked by drones off Bulgaria this month, and about two dozen seafarers are feared dead, according to government statements. The USV in the latest case was likely a variant of, or derived from, the Russian Murena-300S design, according to Tomas Alexa, a senior analyst at Ambrey Analytics. Reports with photos and video: https://www.maritimedanmark.dk/containerskib-sunket-ud-for-bulgarian https://maritime-executive.com/article/zim-confirms-loss-of-containership-attacked-in-black-sea-off-bulgaria https://www.euronews.com/2026/11/02/watch-unseen-images-of-drone-sinking-greek-tanker-off-bulgarian-coast https://rtnmedios.com/internacional/iran-presuntamente-hunde-buque-ligado-a-naviera-israeli-desata-sospechas-por-el-uso-de-drones-en-el-mar-negro/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greek-container-ship-sinks-after-drone-attack-off-bulgaria-2026-10-29/ https://www.farodevigo.es/mar/2026/10/30/hundido-mar-negro-buque-mercante-135913016.html https://x.com/InsiderGeo/status/2115736232781050092/video/1 https://twitter.com/i/status/2115789491524812815 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BzmG6VVNs/
SALVAMAR DIPHDA
During the night of Nov 3 and the morning of Nov 4, four cayucos have arrived at the port of La Restinga: At 11.29 p.m., the 'Salvamar Diphda' escorted to port a cayuco located four nautical miles south of La Restinga with 111 Sub-Saharan people on board, among them 99 males, nine females and three minors. At 01:45 h, the SAR boat escorted another cayuco, which had been located ten nautical miles south of La Restinga, with 125 people on board. At 08:40 a.m., the 'Salvamar Navia' escorted to port a cayuco, which had bwen detected by an echo-SIVE 12 miles south of La Restinga. At 09:35 a.m., the 'Salvamar Diphda- arrived at La Restinga after escorting another cayuco detected by an echo-SIVE 14 nautical miles south of the island.

