Ukraine has launched another major drone attack on Russia’s port of Ust-Luga, setting fire to port infrastructure, disrupting power supplies. The Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed early on Nov 11, that several drones had struck the port area, triggering a fire and an emergency shutdown of a transformer substation. Three port workers suffered not life-threatening injruies. The extent of damage to individual terminals remained unclear. The attack cane just two days after Ukrainian drones hit the Kirishi refinery, Russia’s second-largest, also in the Leningrad region. The Surgutneftegaz-operated facility, which has an annual processing capacity of around 20m tonnes, caught fire in the attack on Nov 9. As a consequence of the campaign against Russian refining infrastructure, Rosneft has introduced petrol rationing at filling stations as refinery outages and fuel shortages mounted.
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TARIF
The 'Tarif' was struck by a projectile for the second time, while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, on Nov 7. All crew members were reported safe. The vessel remained operational, with its power and engine systems functioning normally. The 12 Filipino seafarers previously assigned to the vessel had already been repatriated following the first attack on August 13.
GEM NO.2
The United Arab Emirates has offered to sell Saudi oil from the 'Gem No. 2'. The crude, identified as Saudi Arab Light, was aboard the tanker. UAE authorities had stopped the leakage from the ship in late October. The energy ministry tendered roughly 1.7 million barrels, later revised to 1.87 million, for loading via ship-to-ship transfer between Nov 10 and 20. The tender closed on Nov 9. Saudi Aramco had authorised the UAE to market the oil on its behalf.
CMA CGM SAHARA
On Nov 9, 2026, the crew of the 'CMA CGM Sahara', enroute from Marsaxlokk to Limassol, rescued 17 migrants, among them 11 men, six women and one minor, from a distressed boat about 15 nautical miles south-southwest of Kaloi Limenes, on Crete’s southern coast amidst extremely difficult weather conditions. Other occupants of the boat had perished. The crew immediately launched a rescue operation, providing humanitarian aid to the survivors, including food, water, and means to stay warm. They were then transferred onto a patrol boat of the Greek Coast Guard. According to the survivors, the boat had been carrying 32 people; who were attempting to reach Greece. However, severe weather, heavy rain, and a lack of water turned the journey into a humanitarian tragedy. As the conditions on board deteriorated, the person steering the boat and another individual took their own lives. The Greek Coast Guard found 13 bodies aboard the boat. A 14th person was taken to a health center unconscious and died after being admitted. Three survivors, including a minor, were hospitalised in Rethymno.
SIGMA PEARL
On Nov 9, the 'Sigma Pearl', which had drifted towards Andhra Pradesh’s Antarvedi coast, has been towed to Kakinada anchorage and was moored in pos. 17° 01' N 082° 20' E. All 20 crew members, who were from Visakhapatnam, had been safely rescued by the Indian Coast Guard’s Chennai unit after the vessel got in distress. After the rescue operation, Smit Salvage was contracted to secure and move the vessel. The company successfully towed the unloaded vessel off the beach on Nov 7 and pulled it to Kakinada. The unloaden condition, the engine failure, combined with the cyclone conditions, had caused it to lose the ability to navigate away from the coast. It was not known whether the vessel would undergo repairs, inspection or further movements after reaching the anchorage. Further operational details would depend on assessments by the maritime authorities, the vessel’s owners and the salvage company. Report with photo: https://urbanacres.in/kakinada-port-secures-cyclone-hit-vessel-after-crew-rescue/

