The 'Danstar' plans to set sail from Punta Arenas for the Falkland Islands in mid-November. The ship, actually anchored in Valparíso in pos. 33° 02' N 071° 37' W, was intending to cross the Strait of Magellan and enter directly into Argentina's 12-mile territorial waters. The Drake Passage, where the Humboldt Current from the Pacific meets the South Atlantic, is a complex voyage for ships and not profitable, so choosing the Strait meant passing through the jurisdiction of the Argentine Navy was mandatory, which could unleash the fury of the government. The objective is to supply the Falkland Islands and recapture a multi-million dollar market instead of Uruguay as the archipelago's main supplier, and sell the islanders everything from milk, eggs, and butter to backhoes and construction materials. The Chilean Armed Forces have categorised the departure as a potentially high-risk "critical event" along the border. Regular voyages were suspended in 2012, after Cristina Kirchner and Sebastián Piñera agreed to halt them following a series of Argentine fines and interceptions. At that time, the ships transiting flew the flags of the Falkland Islands or British shipping companies. To prevent the matter from escalating into a military incident, intelligence analysts have set the terms for their own Foreign Ministry. The official position being prepared in Santiago was to defend the right to free trade and international navigation, attempting to confine the issue to the private sphere and distance the State from it.
News
MERRY OCEAN
The 'Merry Ocean' was detained in Humen on Oct 8, 2026, with eight detainable defiencies: 03199 - WATER/WEATHERTIGHT CONDITIONS - Other (load lines) (Panama Classification Bureau (PCB)) 02139 - STRUCTURAL CONDITIONS - Water Level Detectors on Cargo Ships (no responsibility of RO) 13101 - PROPULSION AND AUXILIARY MACHINERY - Propulsion main engine (Panama Classification Bureau (PCB)) 03105 - WATER/WEATHERTIGHT CONDITIONS - Covers (hatchway-, portable-, tarpaulins, etc.) (no responsibility of RO) 06107 - CARGO OPERATIONS INCLUDING EQUIPMENT - Cargo operation (no responsibility of RO) 03108 - WATER/WEATHERTIGHT CONDITIONS - Ventilators, air pipes, casings (no responsibility of RO) 11101 - LIFE SAVING APPLIANCES - Lifeboats (Panama Classification Bureau (PCB)) 06101 - CARGO OPERATIONS INCLUDING EQUIPMENT - Cargo Securing Manual (no responsibility of RO).
BATAVIA VOC
The 'Batavia' was moved about 250 meters from a pontoon, over the Markermeer dike, to its permanent location at the Museum Batavialand on Oct 2. The operation required 56 axle lines with self-propelled modular transporters. The large axle capacity was not primarily due to the weight of the ship, but to the need to protect the more than 30-year-old wooden hull from stress during transport. Before the move, the ship was prepared at Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam and placed on a specially built 101-ton support frame. After arriving in Lelystad, the ship was driven over the dike via a specially built ramp and lowered onto a concrete foundation. Here, the 'Batavia' will be the center of the Museum Batavialand, which is scheduled to reopen at the end of 2028. The 'Batavia' was built between 1985 and 1995 as a full-scale reconstruction of the original Dutch East India Company ship from 1628. Report with photos: https://www.vaarmarkt.nl/vaarnieuws/persberichten/batavia-succesvol-op-land-geplaatst-in-lelystad/
BUCCLEUCH
The 'Buccleuch' was detained in Tianjin on Oct 8, 2026, with two detainable defiencies: 11104 - LIFE SAVING APPLIANCES - Rescue boats (no responsibility of RO) 07105 - FIRE SAFETY - Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions (no responsibility of RO).
OCEAN GLADIATOR
The US Coast Guard medevaced an ailing crew member of the 'Ocean Gladiator' about 86 nautical miles off Hawaii on Oct 7, 2026. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point hoisted the 55-year-old man at 8:35 a.m. and safely transferred him to higher medical care at Hilo International Airport. The JRCC Honolulu had received a notification at 7:50 a.m. on Oct 6 from the ship, requesting the medevac for a crew member who had been experiencing a medical condition, while it was sailing 540 miles of southeast Big Island. After conferring with the duty flight surgeon, who recommended a medevac, watchstanders established regular communications with the vessel’s crew to monitor the patient's status and planned the medevac, when the vessel was 86 miles offshore Big Island the next morning. Report with video: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4623200/coast-guard-medevacs-cargo-ship-crew-member-offshore-hawaii/

