News

The 'Louise 1', inked to Russia's Shadow Fleet, was targeted with two limpet mines, which were attached to its hull on Oct 29, 2026, when the sanctioned tanker was approximately 25 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman, transiting outbound from the Strait of Hormuz. At around 10:12 p.m. UTC the tanker was approached by a small boat, which then attached two explosives to the hull above the waterline. When the devices detonated, they sparked a fire in the engine room, disabling the vessel. The location of the blast damage was above the waterline, reducing the risk to the ship. The crew was able to extinguish the fire, and the 'Louise 1' got back under way to its destination. All crew members were reported safe. No pollution has been reported. Babak Taghvaee, a security analyst with the Greek defense industry publication Flight, reported that the assailants were members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy special forces, and that the attackers used a Maham 7 - a 220-kilo bottom mine. The tanker belongs to the Aquarius Maritime Ventures SA, based in Panama, is operated by the PRY Shipping LLC, based in the United Arab Emirates, and its technical management is handled by Anagha Ship Management, of India. Its last available AIS signal in the reviewed records was registered near Khor Fakkan on Sep 28, leaving its movements immediately before the attack unclear. The tanker had transported approximately 735,000 barrels of Russian crude oil from the Urals in February 2026, more than one million barrels to India in March, and another shipment exceeding one million barrels in May, including oil associated with Lukoil.

The Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Maritime Accidents (BEAmer) has released its report on the collision between the 'Ghjulia des Slops' and the mooring launch 'CB21' on Dec 5, 2025, in the Port of Marseille, which caused the launch to sink. The launch was in transit at Lavera in the port of Marseille-Fos. The vessels collided without seeing each other clearly. It was dark, and the service vessel only saw the launch at a distance of ten meters. While the 'CB 21' sank, only minor damage was caused to the 'Ghjulia des Slops'. The two mooring crew members were rescued by the service vessel, as well as by two pilot boats and another mooring launch that arrived on the scene. BEAmer has published its findings and recommendations regarding this accident. In particular, the 'CB 21' had failed to properly communicate its activity on the port's surveillance channel. Other vessels were not informed of the launch's movements. For its part, the 'Ghjulia des Slops', which was too focused on the 'Cap Pinède', with whom it had agreed on a maneuver and did not monitor the port side from which the 'CB 21' was coming. It did not use detection equipment such as radar. The investigation could not determine whether the service vessel had properly activated its navigation lights at the time of the collision. The BEAmer reiterated that it was preferable to change course or reverse in a situation of an imminent collision. It also recommendeds implementing a procedure to ensure the proper functioning and activation of navigation lights. The bureau also ordered the Port of Marseille Authority to study the implementation of a relevant communication procedure to inform all port users of vessel movements, including mooring crews. Report with photo: https://lemarin.ouest-france.fr/shipping/une-mauvaise-communication-a-cause-le-naufrage-dune-vedette-de-lamanage-au-port-de-marseille-rapporte-lenquete-88d8e90e-d6dc-11f1-84f3-5611f158a658

On Nov 2, the owner of the 'Villa de Pitanxo', Pesquerías Nores Marín, has deposited with the court the €6.2 million it had offered as compensation to the families of 20 of the sailors who died in the vessel's sinking off the coast of Newfoundland in February 2022, after the majority of claimants rejected the company's proposal. This was clarified on that day by the lawyers for the Nores Group, who explained that the offered amounts were calculated according to the traffic accident compensation scale, which is usually applied by analogy to workplace accidents. In a statement released through the law firm Amya Abogados, the company indicated that the offer was made to the families who had proven their right to claim compensation, with the aim of resolving disputes related to civil liability, without prejudging potential criminal liability or requiring the families to waive their right to legal action. However, the shipping company acknowledged that, with a few exceptions, the families rejected the proposed compensation. Therefore, it decided to deposit the funds with the court and request that they be distributed to those who had properly submitted documentation proving their familial relationship with the victims. The company emphasised that accepting these amounts would not prevent the claimants from continuing with the criminal proceedings related to the shipwreck. Regarding the families who did not submit the required documentation correctly, it has been indicated that they have been asked to rectify the identified deficiencies so that, if applicable, the corresponding compensation offers can be made. Last week, the insurer of the 'Villa de Pitanxo', the shipowner, and the fishing vessel's captain, Juan Padín, announced an offer of a total of 6.2 million Euros to the families of 20 of the victims who had sufficiently proven their right to claim. The families, for their part, demanded a "fair" trial and asserted that they were not negotiating anything and would not meet with anyone, thus rejecting the shipowner's compensation proposals.

The monohull yacht 'Initiatives-Cœur' (MMSI: 228115260), skippered by Violette Dorange, returned to Roscoff, just hours after the start of the Route du Rhum on Nov 1, 2026, after a collision at sea with Romain Pilliard's trimaran 'Use it again' for a technical stopover and a check-up of her monohull with her team. The force of the collision caused significant damage to both yachts. The 'Initiatives-Cœur' had to head to Lorient (Morbihan), the home port, to repair the IMOCA and try to continue the journey to Guadeloupe. It had suffered a few cracks in the foil, all along the starboard side, a little bit at the stern, but the most serious damage was that the crash box, the watertight compartment at the front of the boat, which was completely fractured. The team was now trying to analyse the situation to know when the yacht can set sail again. To carry out the repairs, the yacht had to proceed to Morbihan. To get there, the team had to plug the leak and secure the boat in Roscoff. The yacht has to cross finish line before it closes on Dec 3. Dorange in 2024 became the youngest participant in the Vendée Globe.

The Gabonese Navy announced on Nov 1 that the body of the fifth and final person reported missing after the sinking of the 'Prospector 5' has been recovered. Four bodies were recovered inside the submerged wreck between Oct 29 and Oct 31, under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of Tchibanga. The search operations for the missing persons have thus ended. A judicial inquiry was opened on Oct 25 to determine the circumstances and causes of the accident.