International Vessel Casualties & Pirates Database For Year 2000

The Forces of Pirates & Weather on Seaborne Commerce

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Year 2000 Vessel Cassualties & Pirate Attacks
December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000	June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 February 2000 January 2000

May God Bless Those At Sea Tonight. God's Speed & Following Seas!

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Vessel Loss Dispatches For January 2000

M/V Straits Peace, the 1st Taiwan vessel permitted to sail directly to rival China in more than 50 years was forced to turn back on New Years Day (Dec. 31 Los Angeles time), beset by heavy seas & mainland red tape. The vessel ferrying more than 50 tourism industry businesspeople from the Taiwan-held frontier island of Quemoy to the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen turned back after sailing for about 15 minutes, passengers said. "The waves are too big, we are on our way back. The boat is rocking stronger and stronger," said one of the passengers on the 20-ton vessel. Some of the passengers are reporters & the mainland will not agree to let them land," the passenger added. Some people on the vessel have been in contact with mainland officials via mobile phones. The vessel would have been the 1st to take advantage of the Taiwan cabinet's decision last month to permit direct travel between the heavily fortified frontier islands of Quemoy & Matsu. (Dec. 31 2000)

IMB PIRATE Alert ___

The Int'l Maritime Bureau announced that ships plying the Straits of Malacca have been alerted to be vigilant following an upsurge in piracy. IMB's Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur said pirate attacks have been recorded in the Malacca Straits between the co-ordinates 01 to 02N-101 to 103E. The most risky area is within 25nm radius surrounding 02N-102E, where pirates are active. The center said ships calling at Davao in the Philippines have also reported men firing rocket-propelled grenades at ships from banca (small canoe with outriggers). In the past 4 weeks, four ships have been attacked this way. Attacks against ships have been reported at Chittagong, Mongla and Chennai while they were at anchor. Ships calling at the Indonesian ports of Belawan, Dumai, Jakarta, Merak, Samarinda and Tanjong Priok have reported numerous pirate attacks whilst at berth & at anchor. The center said persons in small fast boats have been trying to board several ships off Bab Al Mandeb in the southern tip of the Red Sea, around 13N-43E. Masters said small boats wait at the northern end of traffic lane where ships slow down to make a turn. Somalian waters also continue to be a risk-prone area for hijackings. Ships should keep at least 50 miles and if possible 100 miles from the Somali coast. The center has advised that the use of radio communications including VHF transmissions in these waters should be kept to a minimum.(Dec. 31 2000)

All 27 crew members of the 2,731-ton Chinese timber carrier M/V Jia Ding Guan were resued after it listed & shipped water in rough seas about 107 miles (178 km) S. of Hong Kong. The Chinese crew members abandoned ship in a lifeboat & were picked up by the Liberian-registered container ship M/V Dolphin Hope on Dec. 28 afternoon. There is no information about the fate of the Jia Ding Guan (Fri. Dec. 29 2000)

The 4 crew of the Greenock-based tug, Flying Phantom have been rescued by coastguard teams after it was in collision with an Egyptian cargo vessel M/V Abu Egila carrying 1,000 tons of fertilizer. The accident happened on the River Clyde near Clydebank, Dunbartonshire. The cargo vessel is now moored at the King George V dock in Glasgow. Tug is aground further down the river & is due to be moved, when salvage teams will attempt to repair the damage. (Fri. Dec. 29 2000)

The Bangladesh ferry M/V Rajhangshi with nearly 400 passengers sank early Dec. 29 after colliding with another vessel in a dense fog in southeastern Bangladesh. At least 80 people killed & 170 missing. Police recovered the dead from the Meghna River in Chandpur district, about 40 miles southeast of Dhaka, but fear many more bodies were trapped inside. A salvage ship located the sunken ferry about 30 feet below the water this evening. The double-decker ferry sank late at night while most passengers were sleeping. (Fri. Dec. 29 2000)

The 594-foot M/V Dynamic, with potash (potassium carbonate) & the 331-foot M/V Ocean Venus, with grain, collided at Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County, but the 42 people aboard both boats are OK. The Venus is taking water, & the U.S. Coast Guard is on the scene trying to determine what happened & get the situation under control. (Fri. Dec. 29 2000)

Chinese M/V JIA DING GUAN (4,999 gt, built 1985) reported taking water & listing heavily in lat 20 53N, long 114 19E, on Dec 28. Crew of 27 abandoned ship & were rescued by container vessel M/V Dolphin Hope. Jia Ding Guan still adrift. (Fri. Dec. 29 2000)

Seventeen people were injured Dec. 27 when the private charter ferry carrying 44 people M/V Pool Scene hired for a Christmas cruise collided in thick fog on the estuary of the Clyde with the 2,500-ton container vessel M/V Nordsee. A lifeboat & an RAF rescue helicopter were alerted shortly after 10.30 am. The ships, which were travelling in opposite directions, left the bow of the 45ft passenger boat badly damaged. It ran alongside the starboard side of the Nordsee. Both vessels managed return to the port of Greenock, 12 miles from Glasgow, where the injured passengers &endash; suffering shock, cuts & bruises &endash; were met by ambulances. (Wed. Dec. 27 2000)

French sailor Alain Pastor (29), a teacher, was rescued off the south Irish coast Dec. 26 after his 11-meter yacht S/V Saturnin collided with Norwegian tanker M/T Sunstamn. Pastor was sailing solo from Brest to Kinsale, Co. Cork, when the incident happened 5 miles south-east of the Old Head of Kinsale. The Saturnin, was dismasted & capsized before righting itself. However, its rigging had been snagged by the ship, & it was dragged for several minutes before the tanker was able to lose speed. Pastor was shocked & still on board when the lifeboat reached him. The lifeboat crew had to pass him wire-cutters to cut the rigging, while the tanker stood by. The waves were 25 ft - a big sea running - and he had lost all radio contact after he was dismasted. He is a very lucky man. Mr Pastor was preparing for a round-the-world single-handed yacht race. (Wed. 27 Dec. 2000)

The Panama-flagged, Taiwanese-owned 6,788 dwt M/V Melati, bound for China has been abandoned off Vietnam's southern coast, near Vietnam's Dai Hung oilfield, after a fire broke out onboard. Ships working in the Dai Hung oilfield area came in & rescued all 18 crew. Content of cargo is not clear. The ship was last reported late on Dec. 26 drifting south of Vietnam's southern coast, 47 NM S.W. of Dai Hung. The vessel is thought drifting toward Singapore. (Tues. Dec. 26 2000)

The 170-meter (557-foot) Hong Kong-registered M/V Coral Bulker, from Tallinn (Estonia) with wood, ran aground during a storm off northern Portugal on Dec. 26 triggering fears it could spill several hundred tonnes of fuel oil. The vessel ran into trouble as it waited to enter the northern port of Viana do Castelo which was closed due to the bad conditions, officials from the Maritime Safety and Rescue Service said. The Coral Bulker was carrying some 700 tons of fuel although there was no sign yet of any significant leak. The sea was too rough to attempt to remove bunker fuel, aground on a rocky strip of coast near the entrance to the harbor. The 22-man crew was lifted to safety by a Portuguese Air Force helicopter. (Tues. Dec. 26 2000)

WEEEKLY IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

19 Dec. 2000 at Lagos anchorage, Nigeria. Pirates armed with knives boarded a general cargo ship. The ship weighed anchor & proceeded to open sea with two of the pirates on board. The two pirates threatened the master with death when he enters port and escaped by jumping overboard. After checking it was discovered that some of the ship's safety equipment was stolen. The ship informed the port control but received no response. (Tues. Dec. 26 2000)

19 Dec. 2000 at 1000 LT at Kotabaru anchorage, North of Pulau Laut, Indonesia. Five pirates armed with knives boarded a bulk carrier and stole a life raft from the forecastle deck. (Tues. Dec. 26 2000)

18 Dec. 2000 at Cilacap port, Indonesia. Three pirates armed with long knives boarded a tanker & tied the mechanic on duty in the engine room. Pirates escaped with engine spares. Port control did not respond to ship's call for help. (Tues. Dec. 26 2000)

14. Dec. 2000 at 0520 LT in position: 01:46N - 102:28E, Malacca straits. Pirates attempted to board a container ship via a speedboat. The attempt was abandoned when an alert crew directed searchlight at the boat. (Tues. Dec. 26 2000)

13 Dec. 2000 at 2310 LT in position: 01:58N - 102:14E, Malacca straits. Four pirates armed with long knives boarded a container ship. Pirates fled after seeing the alert crew on deck. (Tues. Dec. 26 2000)

12 Dec. 2000 at 2130 LT in position: 01.15.15N - 104:07.10E, Indonesia. Twelve pirates armed with guns 7 sharp knives boarded a tanker. They threatened the crew & locked them in the mess room. The ship was under control of pirates for three hours. Pirates stole ship's stores & crew belongings. They departed at 0030 LT on 13.12.2000 in position 01:14.6N - 104:05.9E. No injuries to crew. (Tues. Dec. 26 2000)

The 300-foot diesel-powered Brazilian navy submarine S-21 Toneleiros sank at its mooring in Rio de Janeiro's harbor, local media reported Dec. 25. Officials said there were no injuries or environmental damage. S-21 Toneleiros was undergoing repairs at a navy maintenance dock in the harbor when a malfunction in the vessel's hydraulic system caused it to fill with water late Dec. 24 night. The vessel was reportedly capable of holding at least 4 missiles, but it was not armed at the time of sinking. (Mon. Christmas 2000)

The 3,500-ton M/V Union Star 17, which was dislodged off Pantai Sri Tujuh on Dec 13, sank off Kuala Besut in Terengganu due to a leakage. The merchant vessel, which was on its way to Batam, Indonesia, for repairs, sank between 4pm and 5pm on Dec 16, six nautical miles off Kuala Besut. The captain and 16 crew members were rescued in their life boats by marine police. Some 1,000 tons of sugar on the vessel were transferred to the M/V Union Star 20. (Mon. Christmas 2000)

The 250,000 deadweight ton M/V John R registered in Cyprus, in ballast, ran aground in winter darkness off Arctic northern Norway. northwest of Tromsø about 1 pm despite reportedly good weather in the area. Initial reports claimed that all 26 crew members had abandoned ship & taken to lifeboats. All 26 aboard were taken onto a Puma or a Sea King helicopter (Mon. Christmas 2000)

Coast Guard teams searched Dec. 24 for survivors of the Haiti-bound 163-foot, Belize-flagged freighter M/V Anita -- presumed lost in rough seas with 8 crew members aboard. The Anita left Miami for Haiti early Dec. 23. About 10 a.m., the Coast Guard received a signal from the ship's emergency beacon. Searchers found life rafts, some of the ship's cargo & an oil slick about 45 miles S.E.of Miami, but no sign of the ship or survivors. The search was being hampered by 12-foot seas & 30-mph winds. (Sun. Christmas Eve 2000) UPDATE: The 7th Coast Guard District in Miami has notified that it intends to investigate the apparent sinking of an island freighter Dec. 23 with its captain & 9 crewmen aboard. The missing include Capt. Jose Carvallo of Mertaire, La., & the crew mostly Haitians & Nicaraquans. The Anita left Miami for Gonaives, Haiti, Dec. 23 with a cargo of cooking oil, 13 new cars, 700 tires, 1,200 cases of liquor, 900 cases of champagne, 4,080 cartons of powdered milk, 1,200 bags of beans & sacks of plastic pellets. More than 14 hours out, the Belize-flagged ship's emergency beacon began pulsing. Speculation on the cause of the sinking include a rogue wave or shifting cargo or both. Seas were heavy in the Gulf Stream but not enough to sink a vessel of that size. (Wed. Dec. 27 2000)

CHRISTMAS EVE AT SEA - Dec. 25 2000

By John Masefield

A wind is rustling 'south and soft,'

Cooing a quiet country tune,

The calm sea sighs, and far aloft

The sails are ghostly in the moon.

Unquiet ripples lisp and purr,

A block there pipes and chirps i' the sheave,

The wheel-ropes jar, the reef-points stir

Faintly - and it is Christmas Eve.

The hushed sea seems to hold her breath,

And o'er the giddy, swaying spars,

Silent and excellent as Death,

The dim blue skies are bright with stars.

Dear God - they shone in Palestine

Like this, and yon pale moon serene

Looked down among the lowing kine

On Mary and the Nazarene.

The angels called from deep to deep,

The burning heavens felt the thrill,

Startling the flocks of silly sheep

And lonely shepherds on the hill.

To-night beneath the dripping bows

Where flashing bubbles burst and throng,

The bow-wash murmurs and sighs and soughs

A message from the angel's song.

The moon goes nodding down the west,

The drowsy helmsman strikes the bell;

Rex Judaeorum natus est,

I charge you, brothers, sing Nowell,

Nowell,

Rex Judaeorum natus est.

The German 5,200 deadweight ton M/V Janra, Finland for Germany with 260 tons of oil & paper products, capsized in the Baltic Sea on Dec. 23. Finnish coastguard authorities said it had probably hit a lighthouse. The 11 crew were all rescued & suffered no injuries. Janra was drifting with the stern visible above the water some 60 km (35 miles) south of the island of Aland in the Baltic Sea. The Troeskeln Vaestra lighthouse has disappeared. The steel lighthouse structure at Troeskeln Vaestra, which stands about 20 meters (yards) clear of the water, has been rebuilt 4 times over the past 10 years after being hit by ships. Visibility at the time of the accident -- around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) -- was low because of rain & snow. (Sat. Dec. 23 2000)

A crane atop M/V Rickmers Tianjin slammed into a bridge over the Houston Ship Channel, injuring at least 3 motorists on a bridge over the waterway. The Ship Channel & northbound lanes of the Loop 610 bridge were closed soon after the 9:30 p.m. Dec. 21 incident.. The deck crane boom's impact with the underside of the bridge left a hole at its highest point, about 135 feet above the water. Two vehicles apparently smashed into debris that was thrust into the northbound lanes. (Fri. Dec 22 2000)

British yachtsman Pete Goss acknowledged on Dec. 22 that S/V Team Philips, the world's largest racing catamaran, was lost at sea and that his dream of nautical greatness was over. After being abandoned during a gale in mid-Atlantic on Dec.10, the US$5.9M Team Philips was tracked until contact was lost Dec. 18. (Fri. Dec 22 2000) Read Our Original Story & Scroll Down < Click

Bulk carrier M/V IRAN SHARIAT (25,168 gt, built 1983), with 31,000 metric tons of wheat for Iran, grounded at 0345, local time, Dec 20, while proceeding out of the Nidera Jetty in front of the El Transito Terminal, San Lorenzo. She is presently obstructing the access channels to both El Transito and Nidera Berths. (Fri. Dec. 22 2000)

6 Polish crew have been rescued from the 75 meter cargo vessel Barbados-registered M/V Botno in lat 59 51N, long 01 33E (1,097 gt, built 1971) laden with 1,246 tons of coke & 34 tons of gas oil, Humber Estuary for Norway, after it began to take on water. Aberdeen Coastguard received an urgent mayday call from the Botno after it experienced problems 90 miles south east of Lerwick in the Shetland Isles. A Norwegian rescue helicopter airlifted 3 of the crew from the vessel, while an Aberdeen coastguard rescue helicopter arrived from Shetland & deployed coastguard rescue pumps to the three remaining crewmen. The Aberdeen helicopter will standby until the situation is resolved. Preparing to abandon(Wed. Dec. 20 2000)

The tug Trey Deloach & the dredge tender M/V J. C. Love Jr. collided in the Houston Ship Channel, killing a deckhand & sending 5 others into chilly waters before they were rescued. The tug was pushing 2 empty barges at 6 a.m. on Dec. 19 when it collided with the dredge tender. The barges slammed into the dredge and opened a large hole above the waterline. The victim, Juvencio E. De La Garza, died of an apparent drowning, Miller said. He was pulled from the 56-degree water but couldn't be revived, Miller said. The deckhands from the dredge were taken to the hospital and released after treatment for hypothermia and exposure, said interim administrator Jack Julius. The collision didn't cause any vessels to sink, but it forced the channel's closure for 3 hours. (Wed. Dec. 20 2000)

A welder was overcome by smoke & died when a fire swept through the engine-room of container vessel M/V MSC ROSEMARY (24,602 gt), which was undergoing repairs in Durban's dry dock Dec. 19 afternoon. (Wed. Dec. 20 2000)

The 610-foot Panamanian-flagged cruise ship M/V Seabreeze I (21, 010 gt), with a crew of 34, but no passengers, sank off the coast of Virginia Dec. 17 after its engine room flooded. The ship's captain had radioed a distress call Dec. 17 saying he was down to one engine & taking on water. Winds were gusting to 60 mph at the time & the Atlantic waves were hitting 30 feet. Two helicopters rescued the crew from the Sea Breeze I shortly before the vessel sank. The Coast Guard received a distress signal from the ship at about 11:30 a.m. The Sea Breeze I, which is owned by Int'l Shipping Partners of Miami, was about 200 miles east of Cape Charles, Virginia. The ship had been owned by Florida-based Premier Cruises Ltd. until Sept. There were no passengers aboard. Two Coast Guard helicopters rescued the crewmembers, hoisting them from the deck in baskets. They were flown to Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. One man with possible cardiac problems was taken to a hospital. All other crew members were checked by Navy medical personnel & released. A review of recent U.S. and Canadian inspection records showed no serious problems. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

Hundreds of British passengers on a Christmas cruise to the eastern Mediterranean Dec. 17 staged a mutiny on the 1st day at sea when the M/V Costa Riviera began to list & her lavatories overflowed. Passengers, including families with children, said that Christmas had been ruined. 200 British passengers opted to leave the ship at Naples, & spent last night in hotels. They said the Costa Line, based in Genoa, had agreed to pay for the stay and "return them to their starting point" today. Most had flown to Savona to join the ship. The rebellious passengers claimed the crew of the Costa Riviera had at 1st refused to give them information or admit that she was in trouble. "There was a near riot. We could see that the liner was listing," said Eric Operti, one of the passengers. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

WEEEKLY IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

11 Dec. 2000 at 2330 UTC at Cochin anchorage, India. Whilst at anchor pirates boarded a tanker via anchor cable & stole Ship's stores. Pirates escaped in a small wooden craft. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

11 Dec. 2000 at 1930 LT at crude oil tanker jetty, Cochin, India. Six pirates with knives, crowbars & other weapons boarded a tanker. They cut & stole a forward mooring rope and escaped. This was the second such attack on the same ship. -- Then on10 Dec. 2000 at 0427 LT while anchored at Cochin, pirates armed with knives & crowbars boarded, stole ship's stores & fled in a 50 meter long boat. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

11 Dec. 2000 at 0130 LT at Tanjong Manis anchorage, Sarawak, Malaysia. While loading duty a/b on a general cargo ship observed six pirates near forecastle. The alarm was raised & the crew mustered on deck. The intruders jumped overboard & fled taking ship's stores with them. The ship tried to contact the port authority but received no response. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

10 Dec. 2000 at 0742 UTC in position: 12:17N - 045:04E, Gulf of Aden. While underway, two small high speedboats each with 2 men in military uniform approached a refrigerated cargo ship. The ship raised alarm and anti-piracy crew mustered on deck. On seeing the crew the boats retreated. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

10 Dec. 2000 at 0440 LT in position: 01:06.57N - 103:28.75E, Malacca straits. While anchored, 5 pirates boarded a tanker & tried to steal ship's stores. Alert crew foiled the attempt. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

9 Dec. 2000 at 0125 LT Atkipevu oil Terminal, Mombassa port, Kenya. One man cut forward mooring ropes tied to a dolphin thus leaving the tanker with unsafe moorings. The ship informed Mombassa port control & the police arrived at 0310 LT. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

8 Dec. 2000 at 1507 LT in position: 00:18.0N - 108:15.0E, Indonesia. While underway, 8 pirates in a speedboat attempted to board a multi purpose car carrier. The master took evasive action & the pirates fled to the nearest island of Pengikik Besar (position: 00:15N - 108:02E). (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

7 Dec. 2000 at 1515 UTC at anchorage, Santan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Pirates boarded a tanker via anchor chain & tried to steal stores. Deck watchman raised the alarm. As a result the pirates fled empty handed. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

5 Dec.2000 at 0545 LT at berth no.18, container terminal, Mombassa port, Kenya. A pirate with long knife attacked the ship's watchman on a container ship. Duty officer went to help & found that some of the ship's equipment was stolen. Water police were contacted by VHF. The pirates fled when the police boat arrived. (Mon. Dec. 18 2000)

Radio Australia reports that Malaysian police have arrested 10 Indonesian pirates in the Straits of Malacca. Marine Police Commander Muhamad Muda said the pirates, aged between 20 and 39, were captured after a nighttime chase. Police seized axes, long knives, swords, hammers & helmets. Three of the 10 pirates were seriously injured trying to flee & were reportedly admitted to a state-owned hospital in the southern state of Johore. Newagencies reported the pirates have been on the wanted list for a long time and had been preying on merchant ships and fishing boats plying the Straits of Malacca. They were also involved in smuggling motorcycles from Malaysia to Indonesia. The group is also suspected of attacking merchant vessels & raiding local fishing boats in the straits. (Sun, Dec 17 2000)

The M/V Steinfalk, with gravel, radioed the Norway National Rescue Center near Stavanger for help in the early hours of Dec. 14 morning, after it had developed a list in gale force winds & heavy seas. Two helicopters & several ships are carrying out a search. Rescue coordinator Terje Langaas at the Rescue Central says to NRK that they are no longer looking for the vessel, but for life rafts & men in survival suits. It is feared that the vessel has gone down, and an oil slick has been discovered in the area. This could be from the missing vessel. A mini sub will be used in an effort to try to locate the wreck. There is bad weather, with heavy rain and poor visability. (Sat. Dec. 16 2000)

The 16 crew of grounded refrigerated Bergen-registered vessel M/V Green Alesund, with 3,500 tons of frozen fish, off western Norway were winched to safety by helicopter on Dec. 15 2000 before the vessal sank & began to leak 400 tons of bunker oil. The Norwegian captain & mostly Polish crew, none of whom was injured, were rescued in high winds just north of Haugesund. Green Alesund had sent a distress signal that it had engine failure & was adrift. The ship with 400 tons of fuel ran aground on an islet just off the west coast & was leaking small amounts of fuel. (Fri. Dec. 15 2000)

The 73 ton Cyprus-flagged ferry M/V Royal Prince sank in rough seas Dec. 13, 125 kilometers SE of Cape Cavo Kiti, Cyprus. The vessel had returned a number of illegal immigrants to Lebanon & was headed back to Cyprus when engine trouble developed in rough seas. Royal Prince began to take in water and sank shortly afterwards. The vessel's 9 crew took to liferafts, from which they were later rescued by a Wessex helicopter from the Akrotiri RAF base in Cyprus. The crew were subsequently transferred to the HMS Herald, a Royal Navy ship responding to the Royal Prince's mayday call. (Thurs. Dec. 14 2000)

Thirty workers on the North Sea drilling rig Stena Spey have been airlifted to dry land after the installation lost an anchor in bad weather & ran across the flow line of a nearby floating production vessel. The workers were taken off the Stena Spey, situated 209 miles east of Aberdeen, when it dragged across the flow line of the Uisge Gorm. (Thurs. Dec. 14 2000)

The damaged M/T Westchester that spilled more than a half-million gallons of oil into the Mississippi river near Port Sulphur has been moved. The tanker has been taken upriver so that the remaining cargo can be unloaded & repairs can begin. The tanker ran aground on Nov. 28 after losing power. As of early this week, crews had recovered almost 524,000 gallons of oil from the river. See Nov. 29 & 30 for original stories. (Thurs. Dec. 14 2000)

The 93-meter German registered M/V Lagik, with steel, is stuck in the River Nene at Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, blocking the Port of Sutton Bridge & at risk of breaking up. Crew managed to get to safety & emergency services are waiting for high tide, expected at 8am this morning, to assess how she can be recovered. The Port of Sutton Bridge has confirmed that the Lagik got into trouble as she was manoeuvring into position at 9.20 pm on Dec. 13. (Thurs. Dec. 14 2000)

Cambodian M/V SALAVAT YULAEV (1,426 gt, built 1969) was towed into Corfu morning of Dec 12 by tug Megalohari after experiencing engine failure approximately 16 miles south of Paxos. Repairs to be effected at Corfu. (Wed. Dec. 13 2000)

Pirate Alert >>> Fears are growing that pirates have hijacked the 17-year-old coastal ship M/V Jasmin 1 which disappeared with its 10 crew over a week ago in the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia. The 57-meter, 1,300 dead weight ton Jasmin 1 with $263,000 cargo of sugar, left the port of Batam, near Singapore, on Nov. 29 and should have arrived at its destination on the northern tip of Sumatra island a week ago. The Jasmin's captain is Burmese & the 9 crew are Indonesian. Thieves could easily sell the sugar. An official at the Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur said on Dec. 12 the center had been informed that the ship was reported missing. In its latest weekly Internet report (www.iccwbo.org), the Piracy Reporting Center said "increasing numbers of piracy incidents have been reported in the Malacca Straits...the same armed gang of pirates seems to have repeatedly attacked ships." The strait is a major shipping route and the most pirate-infested stretch of water in the world. In the first 9 months of this year pirates attacked 32 ships in the strait, making off with goods worth an average US$20,000 in each attack, according to a report by the Int'l Maritime Bureau. (Tues. Dec. 12 2000)

Rough seas & gale force winds forced the cargo carrier M/V BBC Brazil into a Cape Breton harbor for repairs to a 2 meter long crack in its hull on Dec. 10 afternoon. The BBC Brazil, a German-owned carrier, was slammed by 10 meter seas Dec. 10 morning in the Cabot Strait, forcing it to seek shelter along the Cape Breton coast. Earlier in the day the ship -- about the length of a football field -- reported a shift in its deck cargo, which caused the ship to list badly. Vessel subsequently berthed Sydney, NS, for inspection. (Mon. Dec. 11 2000)

Ghost Ship >>> The British-registered Spanish F/V Zorro Zaurre believed to have sunk a week ago has floated 140 miles in to the south-west Irish coast & has landed on rocks close to where its sister ship was wrecked more than a decade ago. Navigational warnings have been issued since Dec. 8, giving the location of the Zorro Zaurre, now submerged on rocks near Roancarrig lighthouse in Bantry Bay. The ship was last heard of when it got into difficulties with 13 crew on board 140 miles south of Mizen Head on Nov. 30th. All the crew were airlifted by the RAF to Cornwall after the vessel sprang a leak. The crew described the ship as being swamped with water and said they believed it was within an hour of sinking. On Dec. 8 the naval ship LE Orla was asked to follow up a report that a slight diesel slick & fish boxes had been seen in Bantry Bay just east of Castletownbere. A Naval Service diving team identified the sunken wreck, which landed 400 metres from its sister vessel, the F/V Nuestra Señora de Gardotza. WOW! (Sun. Dec. 10 2000)

Rescued 1 am Pacific >>> The crew of S/V Team Philips, the world's largest racing catamaran, has been rescued from the US$11M vessel after it was badly damaged in the Atlantic. The container ship M/V Hoechst Express answered a mayday call from the 7 crew aboard the stricken catamaran. The transfer has been effected successfully. The crew are safe and well and now on their way to Halifax, Novia Scotia. The Hoechst Express used a lull between 2 bad weather systems to get alongside the US$11M catamaran and allow the crew to scramble up nets and through the pilot entrance into the ship. The vessel has been secured as far as possible. It will be left to drift around for the moment but a plan is being put together to effect a recovery. (Sun. Dec. 10 2000)

Rescue Update 12 am Pacific >>> The container ship M/V Hoechst Express answered a mayday call & has reached the stricken catamaran. "A transfer is taking place as we speak. We are waiting to hear that everybody has been taken off," the spokesman said from the Team Philips base. The 7 crew sent out a mayday call after the British vessel lost most of its steering control when it was hit by a series of heavy waves in gale force conditions about 750 miles (1,200 km) off the west coast of Ireland. (Sat. Dec. 9 2000)

Rescue Update 11 pm Pacific >>> The crew of S/V Team Philips, the world's largest racing catamaran, will abandon ship at 1st light after the vessel was badly damaged by severe storms in the Atlantic. The British vessel lost most of its steering control when it was hit by a series of heavy, frequent waves in gale force conditions about 750 miles off the coast of Ireland. Help in the form of a container ship M/V Hoechst Express is expected to reach the stricken vessel by 0700 GMT. (Sat. Dec. 9 2000)

Rescue Operation 8 pm Pacific >>> The crew of Britsh S/V Team Philips, the world's largest racing catamaran, are preparing to abandon ship after being hit by storms in the Atlantic Ocean.The spokeswoman said the sailors sent out a mayday call after the British vessel was hit by a series of heavy, frequent waves in gale force conditions about 750 miles (1200 km) off the coast of Ireland. Conditions are very extreme with very large waves. The spokeswoman said the 7 crew members, including Capt. Pete Goss, were safe & were assessing the damage. They were making preparations to abandon the ship, aware that another severe storm was bearing down on their location. The plans were precautionary at this stage. Help is on the way in the form of an unidentified container ship diverted to the scene by the Falmouth Coastguard in England. But at 0100 GMT, help was still nearly 4 hours away from reaching the stricken vessel. This is the latest in a series of problems for the US$11M catamaran. In Oct., it had to turn back 18 hours into a trial voyage to New York when one of its masts began to sway. In March, the catamaran suffered near disaster off the Isles of Scilly when part of its starboard bow snapped off. Team Philips was conducting sea trials in preparation for The Race, a non-stop round-the-world race which starts in Barcelona on Dec. 31. (Sat. Dec. 9 2000)

The damaged Panamanian-flagged tanker M/T Eastern Power that had leaked crude oil off Canada's eastern coast was given approval Dec. 9 to head for Newfoundland for repairs at an oil refinery dock. Federal officials are confident that the Eastern Power won't spill any oil as it enters Placentia Bay bound for the Come by Chance oil refinery in Newfoundland. Upon arrival, the tanker will be inspected and repaired before oil is unloaded from its tanks. It is expected to arrive in Placentia Bay by Monday. Canadian officials had first denied the Eastern Power, carrying 1.9 million barrels of crude, entry into the country's 200-mile sea limit due to fears spilling oil would damage the environment. The ship was in no danger of breaking up as it lurched through 16-foot-high waves driven by hurricane-force winds, said Landry, speaking for the government ministry that handles shipping. The ship sprang a leak late Dec. 6. The ship's Master assured officials the leaking stopped after the crew transferred 13,500 barrels of oil from one tank to another. A Coast Guard reconnaissance flight on Dec. 7 confirmed that the leaking had stopped. But Transport Canada had refused to allow the ship inside Canada's 200-mile jurisdictional limits Dec. 8, as officials considered the company's plan to prevent more oil from escaping once the Panamanian-registered vessel resumed its journey. (Sat. Dec. 9 2000)

WEEEKLY IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

3 Dec. 2000 at 0320 UTC in position: 12:31.5N - 045:00E, Gulf of Aden, five small high-speed crafts each with 2 persons inside approached a general cargo ship. Crew were mustered & the boats aborted attempted boarding & departed towards Aden. (Fri. Dec. 8 2000)

02 Dec. 2000 at 0410 LT at Fazendinha anchorage, Santana port, Brazil. Anti-piracy watch on a bulk carrier spotted 3 pirates armed with knives & guns on the forecastle. Port control was informed but took no action. Pirates escaped with ship's stores. (Fri. Dec. 8 2000)

1 Dec. 2000 at 0130 UTC at Owendo port, Gabon. While berthed, duty crew found 2 pirates on forecastle. Duty officer raised alarm & mustered the crew. Pirates stole ship's stores & jumped Overboard. (Fri. Dec. 8 2000)

30 Nov. 2000 at 2118 UTC in position: 01:42N - 102:34E, Malacca Straits. Pirates armed with long knives boarded a tanker. They stole ship's stores & cash from the crew and escaped in a small boat. (Fri. Dec. 8 2000)

30 Nov. 2000 at 0245 LT at Panjang anchorage, Indonesia. Three pirates armed with long knives boarded a tanker from the poop deck. They were spotted by anti-piracy watch who raised alarm & mustered the crew. The pirates jumped over board & escaped in a small boat. (Fri. Dec. 8 2000)

28 Nov. 2000 at 1530 UTC in position: 25:03.5N - 056:27.9E, 5.8nm from Kalba breakwater, off UAE coast. While at anchor, 4 pirates on a small craft attempted to board a LPG carrier by throwing a line with hooks. The crew chased away the pirates by using high pressurised jet water. The pirate's craft with outboard motor was 7 - 8 meters long, 2 meters wide with white hull & red stripes. (Fri. Dec. 8 2000)

Panamanian tanker M/T EASTERN POWER (126,993 gt, built 1976), Middle East for Come by Chance with cargo of crude oil, sustained crack in No 1 starboard cargo tank below the waterline on Dec 6 due to heavy weather. Vessel continuing on voyage and will be inspected by Transport Canada before she enters Come by Chance, ETA Dec 8. (Thurs. Dec. 7 2000)

Maltese ro-ro M/V NEPTUNIA (8,457 gt, built 1977), Boulogne for Folkestone, had trimethylacetyl chloride drums on a lorry rupture during heavy weather on Dec 4. Neptunia failed to enter Folkestone in very heavy seas & returned to Boulogne. The chemical had spread over the vessel's deck & Boulogne firemen were assessing the situation. Several passengers & crew were being treated in hospital. (Thurs. Dec. 7 2000)

Maltese container vessel M/V ULTRA CONTAINER (6,111 gt, built 1990) was in collision with American bulk carrier M/V LIBERTY SPIRIT (33,337 gt, built 1986) at Haifa on Dec. 3. Bow of Ultra Container struck starboard side of Liberty Spirit, causing a hole 4.5 meters x 2.5 meters at the waterline. Seawater entered cargo hold No 4 & a substantial quantity of soyabean cargo. Seawater entered cargo hold No 4 & a substantial quantity of soyabean cargo. Ultra Container sustained heavy hull damage. (Tues. Dec. 5 2000)

The Antigua flagged M/V Southern Queen anchored at the Jetty No 1 of the Chittagong Port with 2,000 MT of copra caught fire Dec. 3. She arrived in the port on Nov. 28 from Singapore. Almost all the fire fighting vehicles of the port city rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze at about 9.00 pm tonight after 3 hours of frantic efforts. The ship was badly damaged in the fire. The origin of fire could not be immediately known. UPDATE: The vessel sank, being 70% under water on Dec. 5. (Mon. Dec. 4 2000)

Six sailors of an unidentified cargo ship which sank near the estuary of the Yangtze River Nov. 30 evening were rescued. So far, 2 crew have been found dead & 12 are still missing, said officials with the Shanghai Salvage Bureau. There were 20 crew aboard the ship, belonging to Zhenhua Shipping Company of neighboring Zhejiang Province. The ship sank when it encountered strong gale force winds. The rescue efforts are still underway. (Sun. Dec. 3 2000)

There was an early Nov. 29 morning collision between a Japanese tanker M/T Taisei Maru, & a fishing vessel approximately 10 km east of Kamaishi, a major fishing port, approximately 460 km north-east of Tokyo, spilling hundreds of thousands of litres of petrol into the Pacific Ocean. Later reports suggest that the fishing vessel caught fire around 4 hours after the collision. It remains unclear if the fire resulted directly from the collision, the subsequent spill, or another unrelated incident. Seventeen crew members on board the fishing vessel were injured in the blaze, while 5 have been hospitalised in stable conditions. (Sun. Dec. 3 2000)

The 73-foot shrimper F/V Miss Suzanne arrived safely in Ft. Myers on Dec. 1, after taking on water about 45 miles northwest of Key West Nov. 30 when the U.S. Coast Guard was alerted. F/V Captain Adams, another commercial fishing vessel, assisted the Miss Suzanne until a dewatering pump was dropped by a Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater. Then, the USCGC Chincoteague, a 110-foot patrol boat from Key West, arrived on the scene. A rescue team went aboard & was able to control the flooding. Miss Suzanne was escorted by the Coast Guard to Ft. Meyers. (Sat. Dec. 2 2000)

WEEEKLY IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

26 Nov. 2000 at 0530 UTC in position: 12:17N - 044:52E, Southern Red Sea. Seven persons in 3 speedboats made two attempts to board a French sailing yacht. The yacht took evasive action & the boarding was averted. (Fri. Dec. 1 2000)

25 Nov. 2000 at 1400 UTC at port of Nacala, Mozambique. While discharging, duty crew found a stevedore armed with knife lowering ship's stores in to the sea. He was caught & handed over to police. (Fri. Dec. 1 2000)

23 Nov. 2000 at 0330 UTC in position: 05:44N - 095:17E, 3 miles off Pulau We, Northern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia. While underway three speedboats with red & blue stripes chased a general cargo ship. The ship raised alarm and crew mustered on deck. The boats came very close to the ship's port and stbd bow. At 0430 hrs the boats slowed down & retreated. (Fri. Dec. 1 2000)

22 Nov. 2000 at 0230 UTC in position: 08:49N - 076:13E, India. Pirates in 5 speedboats boarded a barge, which was under tow & stole spare parts. An hour later pirates reboarded but did not steal anything. (Fri. Dec. 1 2000)

20 Nov. 2000 at 2335 LT in position: 01:47.2N - 102:25.3E, Malacca Straits. While underway about 15 pirates boarded a tanker & took the master, chief engineer & radio officer hostage. They ransacked the accommodation and stole US$7,000 & personal effects from crew. Pirates left after 40 minutes in a speedboat towards Indonesian coast. (Fri. Dec. 1 2000)

Vessel Loss Dispatches For November 2000

A 13-mile (21-km) section of the lower Mississippi River remained shut to southbound traffic on Nov. 30 after a crude oil spill, keeping some 35 ships from entering the Gulf of Mexico. Northbound traffic was opened up on Nov. 29 evening as planned and the Coast Guard expected southbound traffic would reopen sometime Nov. 30 morning. But 35 ships were queued up & many others up the Mississippi were not leaving their origination points because of the delays caused by yhe groundiing of M/T Westchester. See below for Nov. 29. (Thurs. Nov. 30 2000)

RAF rescue helicopters have winched the 13 crew members of the sinking Spanish trawler F/V Zorro Zaure to safety. The British-registered boat, the Zorro Zaure, was within 30 minutes of sinking as her crew were airlifted off about 200 miles south west of Lands End. She broadcast a distress signal, which was picked up by Valencia radio & passed to Coastguards at Falmouth, Cornwall. The Coastguards scrambled helicopters from RAF Chivenor in Devon & RAF Kinloss in Scotland. At the time of the rescue, there was a Force 8 to 9 gale, with heavy seas & a 9 ft swell. (Thurs. Nov. 30 2000)

Final Tragedy .......... as as a senior shipping executive whose company faced snowballing lawsuits over sinking of the Greek ferry M/V Express Samina that killed 80 people in Sept., plunged to his death from his 6th floor office on Nov. 29. Police said Pantelis Sfinias, VP of the board of directors of Minoan Flying Dolphins, a subsidiary of Minoan Lines, was seen by passersby & employees falling off the building in the port of Piraeus. The Express Samina sank off the island of Paros with 500 people aboard in Greece's worst maritime tragedy in decades. Police said Sfinias stepped out of his office onto the balcony & then threw himself on to a car on Greece's main shipping avenue, Akti Kondyli. They said they had not found a note. Friends told television that Sfinias had been depressed since the sinking & felt unjustly blamed for the tragedy. (Wed. Nov. 29 2000) NOTE: Read The Full Story

The 800-foot M/T Westchester lost power Nov. 28 evening & apparently ran aground about 60 miles south of New Orleans, spilling 546,000 gallons of crude oil & closing traffic to a 26-mile stretch of the Mississippi River. The cause of the spill was not known. A cargo tank lost about 13,000 barrels of Nigerian sweet crude. A standard barrel contains 42 U.S. gallons. Closures stretched from the accident site to near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The cleanup could last for weeks. (Wed. Nov. 29 2000)

The 81-foot tugboat Sea Way 10, apparently abandoned since summer, broke free of its illegal mooring during the weekend & drifted 20 miles through heavily traveled Puget Sound. The rusting derelict eventually ran aground in Useless Bay on southern Whidbey Island. A marine towing company was hired to haul the 146-ton Sea Way 10 back to the site it had been moored. Coast Guard inspectors boarded the derelict last month & found that it has no fuel or oil on board, although its batteries still contain acid. Coast Guard officials said they hoped to board the vessel Mon. to confirm that no fuel was on board. The Sea Way 10 appeared in midsummer when it was illegally moored to a Corps of Engineers buoy near the mouth of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in northern Seattle. (Mon. Nov. 27 2000)

Turkish M/V DENIZ KIZI (1,596 gt, built 1976), Le Havre for Algeria with cargo of bagged sugar, had water ingress into one ballast tank on Nov 22. Tug Abeille Flandre escorted vessel to anchorage off Camaret. On Nov 24, Port State Control inspectors concluded it was necessary to divert vessel to Brest. Vessel anchored off Brest the same evening to await representatives from owners & Classification Society. (Mon. Nov. 27 2000)

Pollution experts were on standby Nov. 26 after a partly disabled Chinese cargo M/V Hebei Treasure, for the Irish port of Cork, drifted close to the rocky English coast in high winds. The vessel sent out a distress call Nov. 25 night after it suffered steering problems off the Cornish coast. But the ship then recovered some power, and was being escorted by tug to the southern English port of Falmouth. Hebei Treasure was carrying a cargo of metal ore, including magnesium, which reacts violently with water. But the major pollution threat came from 370 tons of diesel & oil aboard. (Mon. Nov. 27 2000)

RESCUE OPERATION >>> The South African hydrographic survey navy vessel SAS Protea proceeding, in rough seas, for the remote South Atlantic -- Gough Island to rescue 3 fishermen stranded for a week with the body of a drowned shipmate. SAS Protea, with helicopter aboard, is due to reach the British-administered island -- 2,350 kM southwest of Cape Town -- by Nov. 28 . The fishermen have been on the island since 2 of their colleagues drowned, & were living on emergency rations sent on a "rocket line" fired from their vessel F/V Edinburgh. The men, who had apparently been fishing for crayfish, were stranded and unable to be rescued by their ship. (Sun. Nov. 26)

French naval authorities have sent a tug to rescue the 264 ft Cypriot general cargo M/V Olivia with motor trouble as it drifted at sea. Olivia was bound for the Scottish port of Leith with a shipment of corn. She is floating about 12 miles from the city of Biscarosse in south-west France with 8 crew. France has been especially mindful of reports of trouble at sea since a tanker broke in two off the coast of Brittany in December, spilling millions of gallons of oil into the Atlantic and on to the region's beaches. On October 31, another tanker, the M/T Ievoli Sun, sank in the English Channel with a cargo of dangerous chemicals. (Sun. Nov. 26 2000)

Riverboat M/V Princesa Amanda believed to be carrying more than 80 passengers capsized Nov. 25 in the northern Brazilian jungle state of Amazonas, officials said. At least 16 people drowned, with 14 more missing. Princesa Amanda apparently struck a sandbar on the Solimoes River near the city of Manaus, 1,640 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. Many of the passengers -- sleeping on hammocks strung up on the boat's upper deck -- were hurled into the river's murky waters. Some managed to swim to shore, and others were rescued by residents of small villages located along the river's margins. (Sat. Nov. 25 2000)

WEEEKLY IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

18.Nov. 2000 at 0130 LT at Panjang Pilot station, Indonesia. About 8 pirates from a small boat boarded a bulk Carrier via forecastle and entered the engine room. They tied up the duty oiler, stole engine spares & escaped in their boat. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

18 Nov. 2000 at 2156 LT in position: 01:16N - 104:07E, Singapore. A small unlit craft came alongside a tanker but was noticed by crew who switched on the aldis lamp. The attempted boarding was abandoned. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

17 Nov. 2000 in position: 22:10.2N - 091:45.9E, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Eight pirates in a boat approached the stern of a General cargo ship. One pirate boarded & stole Ship's stores. When challenged by crew the pirate threatened the crew. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

On 16 Nov.2000 at 1400 UTC in position: 01:6N - 102:9E, Malacca straits. Several persons in four fishing boats came close to a multi purpose ship and tried to board. They aborted the attempted boarding seeing the alert crew. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

16 Nov. 2000 at 0700 UTC at position: 04:21N - 049:49E, approximately 80 miles off Somalian coast. A suspicious supply boat/fishing trawler, chased a general cargo ship for 2 hours. The ship took evasive action until the chase was aborted. The suspicious boat had white accommodation & grey hull. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

15 Nov. 2000 at 1115 UTC at Vott veg oil terminal, jetty No.3, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Pirates stole zinc anodes on rudder of a chemical tanker. The duty engineer heard a knocking sound at stern & alerted the crew. Pirates fled seeing the crew on deck. Theft took place although shore Watchmen were stationed on the poop deck.

14 Nov. 2000 at 1040 LT position: 08:05.79N - 077:02.56E, off Cape Comorin, India. Four pirates on a wooden boat boarded a barge which was being towed by a ship. They stole emergency towing wire and fled at 1105 LT when the alarm was raised. They tried to board the barge again at 1155 hrs. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

12 Nov. 2000 at Mongla, Bangladesh. While at anchor, four wooden boats each carrying about 5-6 pirates tried to board a general cargo ship. The Ship's own anti piracy watch & 6 shore guards prevented the boarding. However, the pirates stole zinc anodes welded to the hull. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

Tanker M/T DESTINY (23,333 gt, built 1980), in ballast, bound Ishigaki, grounded in strong winds in lat 24 28.8N, long 123 48.61E, on Ishigaki Shima, off coast of Taiwan, on Nov. 21. Crew evacuated by Japanese Coast Guard helicopter. Salvage tug is on scene together with representatives of the ship management company. Hoped vessel will be refloated at 1800, local time, Nov 24. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

Ole Mindor Myklebust, the 51-year-old skipper of the whaler M/V Kato, was given a suspended 6 month jail sentence and fined US$2,100 plus costs by the Stavanger City Court for shooting at Greenpeace activists during a confrontation at sea. The Winchester rifle he used was also confiscated. He has a month to decide whether to appeal. Confrontations between environmentalists & Norwegian whalers have become commonplace since the nation resumed its hotly protested hunts in 1993, despite a global ban. However, the July 1999 conflict off Norway's west coast was among the most serious, when a shot fired from the Kato hit a rubber boat with 2 Greenpeace activists aboard in the North Sea. The demonstrators had tried to get between the Kato and a harpooned whale. Myklebust had said earlier that the activists were at fault for getting in between him and the wounded whale he was trying to kill. He was not available for comment. (Fri. Nov. 24 2000)

The Master of Swedish (1,700 gt) Ro-Ro car ferry M/V Britta Oden, Southampton for Vigo, Spain, made a Mayday call at 2:07 a.m. after suffering engine failure 30 miles south of Portland Bill. With 16 passengers & the cargo of cars in danger in the severe force 9 winds, Portland Coastguard issued a Mayday Relay to area vessels. Rescue helicopter from RAF Chivenor was in the air &1st to arrive. Britta Oden now under tow by the ET/V Anglian Earl, assisted by ET/V Anglian Duke, escorted by HMS Kent. (Thurs. Nov. 23 2000)

Greek passenger vessel M/V N. KAZANTZAKIS (11,174 gt, built 1972), from Piraeus with over 550 passengers on board, grounded in the port of Iraklion on November 18. Vessel was safely refloated & inspected by divers. Vessel subsequently effecting repairs at Iraklion. (Wed. Nov. 22 2000)

The ro-ro cargo/ferry M/V ASIA MALAYSIA (2,439 gt, built 1974) was in collision with M/V SULPICIO CONTAINER V (2,677 gt, built 1978) at Fort San Pedro port area in Iloilo on Nov. 17. Both vessels sustained damage. Asia Malaysia holed at upper port quarter, Sulpicio Container V sustained dents in bow. (Wed. Nov. 22 2000)

Bahamian M/V MILLENIUM AMETHYST (14,153 gt, built 1978), in ballast to load grain at Duluth, contacted lock wall while entering Eisenhower Lock & vessel docked at Wharf 2, Welland Canal, for repairs to starboard bow. (Wed. Nov. 22 2000)

Firefighters are still trying to extinguish a 2 alarm blaze aboard the 280-foot F/V Pacific Scout at Portland's Swan Island which started about 10:30 Nov. 20 morning after a piece of molten metal from a cutting torch fell down a vent & into the ship's living quarters. Firefighters worked through the night to contain the fire. Crews cut holes in the hull to allow water spill inside, hopefully putting out the flames. Pacific Scout was being scrapped at the Cascade General Shipyard. (Wed. Nov. 22 2000)

WEEEKLY IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

13 Nov. 2000 at Anowra Thana, Bangladesh. An Indonesian ship was attacked when the local agent refused to hand over "toll" to the pirates. A number of persons on the ship were injured. Local police arrested 3 pirates. The ship was attacked again by another group of pirates a day later & goods worth millions of Takas were looted. The pirates attacked the guards on board & one guard is in a critical condition. (Fri. Nov. 17 2000)

13 Nov. 2000 Berthed at C.I.B. no. 2, Cilacap, Indonesia. Three pirates armed with knives boarded a tanker. They were spotted by anti piracy watch who raised the alarm. The pirates jumped overboard & escaped in a small motorboat. (Fri. Nov. 17 2000)

12 Nov. 2000 at 1220 LT at Tg. Priok anchorage, Indonesia. 5 pirates armed with long knives boarded a chemical tanker & stole valuable engine spares. (Fri. Nov. 17 2000)

9 Nov. 2000 at 0340 LT in position: 01:46N - 102:27E, Malacca straits. 15 pirates from2 speedboats boarded a container ship. They stole cash, documents, ship's property & crew's valuables. (Fri. Nov. 17 2000)

9 Nov. 2000 at 0055 LT at Chennai outer anchorage, India. 6 pirates boarded a bulk carrier. Duty crew observed them & raised the alarm. Off duty crew joined the deck patrol & chased the pirates who fled in their boat. (Fri. Nov. 17 2000)

8 Nov. 2000 at 1730 UTC in position: 22:15N - 091:44E, Chittagong 'A' anchorage, Bangladesh. Pirates boarded a chemical tanker from the stern. Duty officer raised the alarm. The pirates jumped into the water & escaped in a waiting motorboat with 2 other accomplices. The ship tried to call port control for reporting the incident but there was no response. (Fri. Nov. 17 2000)

The 8,450-ton ferry M/V Neptunia (Folkestone for Boulogne) collided with the Dutch tug, Pieter in the English Channel early today, 6 miles (10 kms) off the southeastern English port of Dover. Both vessels were slightly damaged, but were able to continue their journeys, and the ferry which took in a small amount of water. A member of the tug's crew suffered a minor head injury. (Tues. Nov. 14 2000)

Tug boats towed the Malaysian 23,150-ton M/V Bunga Teratai Satu with dangerous cargo off the Great Barrier Reef on Nov. 14, 12 days after it ran aground on the coral. Bunga Teratai Satu became stuck Nov. 2 on a section of the reef near Cairns in N.E. Australia. Four tug boats dragged it off the reef at high tide. The ship was loosened over the weekend when salvage teams set off small explosive charges around the hull to blast away coral - a move that environmental groups worried could damage the fragile marine ecosystem. There is no immediate sign of pollution from the ship, whose cargo included chemicals-based products listed as "dangerous". First officer, Mashkoor Hussain Khan of Pakistan, has just pleaded guilty to charges of negligently navigating a ship & damaging the coral reef. Indeed, there is word that the Capt. was not aboard at the time of loss. Khan & the company face fines up to US$53,000 for each violation of environment laws protecting the reef. The incident prompted conservation groups to call for ships carrying dangerous cargo to be banned from the Great Barrier Reef. The 1,200-mile Great Barrier Reef is the largest complex of coral reefs & islands in the world, comprising more than 2,600 individual reefs & some 300 islands off Australia's east coast. The reef, listed as a World Heritage Site, is a magnet for scientists as well as snorkelers & divers & a major tourist draw card for Queensland state. Indeed, we love this place as quite "one of a kind" and to be protected at all costs. (Tues. Nov. 14 2000) Follow our coverage of this story << CLICK HERE. ,

The Maltese-registered 150,000 ton bulk carrier M/V XL, drifting off northwestern Australia since a fire killed 2 crew on Nov. 10, is due to be towed to Singapore Nov. 16. Tug dispatched. Fire broke out in the XL's engine room on Nov. 10 night when the carrier, believed to be unladen, was sailing to Port Hedland in Western Australia from Singapore. The bodies of the 2 men who died in the engine room were taken to Port Hedland on today. The ship had probably been en route to pick up a cargo of iron ore from BHP Ltd. (Sat. Nov. 11 2000)

WEEEKLY IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

06 Nov. 2000 at 0128 LT in position: 01:56.5N - 102:19.0E, Malacca Straits. While underway, about 20 armed pirates boarded a bulk carrier and took hostage all crewmembers & robbed their valuables & cash. (Sat. Nov. 10 2000)

05 Nov. 2000 at 0300 UTC in position: 09:10N - 013.44.7W, Conakry, Guinea. Pirates armed with machine guns boarded a general cargo ship and robbed the master of USD 3,000 and ship's equipment. (Sat. Nov. 10 2000)

05 Nov. 2000 at 0125 LT in position: 01:49.5N - 102:23.2E, Malacca Straits. While underway, pirates boarded a general cargo ship and robbed cash & valuables from crew. They escaped at 0445 by a speedboat. (Sat. Nov. 10 2000)

04. Nov. 2000 at 0510 LT in position: 01:45.9N - 102:32E, Malacca Straits. While underway, duty officer of a general cargo ship spotted pirates on board and a 10 metre long red boat alongside on the starboard quarter. The duty officer fired one warning shot from his shotgun and mustered all crew. The pirates jumped over board & escaped. (Sat. Nov. 10 2000)

04 Nov. 2000 0200-0400 LT Tg. Priok, Indonesia. While at anchor pirates boarded a bulk carrier & stole 2 life rafts. (Sat. Nov. 10 2000)

3 Nov. 2000 at 0325 LT at Sandakan inner roads, Malaysia. A speedboat approached a bulk carrier's bow and a pirate boarded by using a rope & a hook. A crewmember spotted him, the alarm was raised and crew mustered. The pirate jumped into the water and escaped in a boat, which had 6 other pirates. (Sat. Nov. 10 2000)

30 Nov. 2000 at 2300 in position:00:31S - 103:24.4E at inner harbour anchorage, Kuala Enok, Indonesia. Eight pirates in a wooden boat approached a tanker within five meters of ship's side. The duty officer raised emergency alarm; all crew mustered & fired 3 rockets. After 30 minutes the boat retreated.

All 14 crew of Russian cargo M/V Yelena were rescued after their vessel sank near Iran's Caspian Sea port of Bandar Anzali today. Yelena, carrying 3,200 tons of cargo including iron goods & wood, sank 3 miles out to sea after a container broke loose and smashed a hole in the ship's hull. (Fri. Nov. 9 2000)

An explosion on the Turkish tanker M/T Olcay S. in balast on Nov. 6, Istanbul for Libya, off the Greek island of Crete killed 1 crewman & injured 2 others. The injured crew were taken to hospital on Crete. The tanker, currently in Int'l waters, is now returning home. (Mon. Nov. 6 2000)

All 25 crew members were rescued Nov. 5 from cargo vessel M/V Ryazan that began listing when its cargo shifted in a severe storm in the Bering Sea in Russia's Far East. Ryazan sent a distress signal when it reported a list of about 40 degrees after the cargo was displaced. Two fishing trawlers safely removed the crew from the listing ship, anchored off the coast of Cape Navarin in the northern Kamchatka Peninsula. The Ryazan was still afloat late Nov. 5, and the icebreaker Krasin was expected to arrive on the scene Nov. 6 to possibly tow the stricken cargo ship to port. (Mon. Nov. 6 2000)

RECENT IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

29 Oct. 2000 at 2030 UTC in position: 05:31S - 105:19E, Tarahan anchorage, Indonesia. Pirates boarded a bulk carrier. They entered the engine room, broke into the storeroom by destroying locks and stole a large quantity of spare parts. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

29 Oct. 2000 at 0220 UTC in position: 05:33S - 104:38E, Teluk Semangka, Indonesia. While at anchor a pirate boarded a tanker but was caught by anti piracy watch. Later he was transferred to a police boat. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

29 Oct. 2000 at 1900 LT in position: 00:14.0S - 117:34.8E, Samarinda anchorage, Indonesia. Seven pirates armed with long knives boarded a bulk carrier via stern and stole ship's stores. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

26 Oct. 2000 at 0510 LT in position: 01:43N - 102:46E, Malacca straits. While underway, persons in a speedboat attempted to board a general cargo ship. Boarding was avoided by alertness of the crew. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

26 Oct. 2000 at 0510 LT in position: 01:27N - 103:11E, Malacca straits. While underway, a speedboat approached a container ship. Pirates from the boat attempted to board but alert crew prevented boarding. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

25.10.2000 in position 00:44.8N - 103:42.2E, Malacca straits. About 60-80 pirates boarded a ship at anchor. The ship's crew fought with the pirates & eventually the pirates left the ship. Two crewmembers were slightly injured. The ship cut off anchor chain and proceeded to Singapore. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

25 Oct. 2000 at 0730 UTC in position: 12:43N - 043:17E, Northern end of Bab El Mandeb, Red Sea. Several speedboats surrounded a chemical tanker & persons from two boats attempted to board. The ship's crew mustered & activated fire hoses. On seeing crew alertness, the boats retreated. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

25 Oct. 2000 at 0740 LT at Vott terminal, RM-no.3, Chittagong, Bangladesh. During discharging operations, pirates in 2 boats approached the stern of a chemical tanker. They stole zinc anodes welded to the sternpost. Theft took place although there were 10 local watchmen on board. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

24 Oct. 2000 at 2315 LT at Haiphong, Vietnam. Duty officer on a LPG carrier noticed pirates trying to open the forecastle store. He raised the alarm and crew were mustered. On seeing the crew the pirates climbed down into their boat using own rope & escaped. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

24.10.2000 at 0045 LT in position: 22:11.9N - 091:44.8E at anchorage 'B' Chittagong, Bangladesh. About 25 persons armed with long knives in 3 boats boarded a tanker. Crew tried to resist but the pirates outnumbered them. Pirates threatened the crew and stole ship's stores. Port control was informed and one and half-hours later a coast guard ship arrived on the scene. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

The Brazil oil tanker M/T Verginia II smashed into a pier as it tried to dock at Sao Sebastiao on Nov. 4, spilling more than 22,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean at a port in southeastern Brazil. Sao Sebastiao, is a tourist resort area some 120 miles east of Sao Paulo. Workers set up floating barriers & used vacuums in an effort to remove the stains from the beaches. The fine will be US$515,000. (Sun. Nov. 5 2000)

Panamanian asphalt tanker M/T TOWA (1,202 tons gross, built 1973) sank in lat 24 38.5N long 119 18.4E on Nov 2. Crew rescued from lifeboat. (Sat. Nov. 4 2000)

The Panamanian-registered cargo ship M/V Manila Spirit sank during Typhoon Xangsane (the storm's name means "elephant" in the Thai language) off Taiwan's northeastern Sanhao Point on the northeast coast & only 1 of the 24-member crew had been found. One crew member swam to shore and was in hospital. The sailor, Tahar, who like many Indonesians uses one name, told reporters at a hospital that the ship broke into 3 pieces after being hit by very strong winds. Two helicopter searches failed to turn up any more survivors and a rescue ship had been sent to the area. Xangsane, which left Taiwan on Nov. 1, dumped rain on Taiwan for 3 days causing landslides and flash floods that killed at least 53 people. (Thurs. Nov. 2 2000)

The Malaysian container M/V Bunga Terati Satu, Singapore for Sydney, carrying an unspecified dangerous cargo ran aground on Australia's World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef today, but there were no reports of pollution. The 184-metre (603-feet) vessel ran aground in int'l waters on Sudbury Reef, 50 km (31 miles) east of Cairns in Australia's tropical north. Some chemicals are on board & 1,300 tons of fuel. Attempts to refloat the ship had been put off until divers could further assess the extent of damage to the ship's hull. The ship had suffered damage to at least the port side of its hull. It was resting above water on the reef and was believed to have suffered substantial damage to its hull. Port ballast tanks, which had been emptied, were reported to be full of water. The vessel is owned by Malaysian Int'l Shipping Corp Bhd. Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park covers the biggest coral structure in the world. Home to complex coral reef systems, dugong habitats, seabird nesting colonies, reef systems, rocky headlands and sandy beaches, it runs almost 2,000 km (1,250 miles) from near Papua New Guinea down Australia's northeast coast. The Marine Park, set up in 1975 to protect the reefs, is the largest in the world. (Thurs. Nov. 2 2000)

Italian chemical tanker M/V IEVOLI SUN (4,189 tons gross, built 1989) sank in lat 49 26W long 04 05W on Oct 30. 14 crew recovered from vessel. Manifest show 6,000 tons of dangerous chemicals. "Styrene that has escaped from a forward storage tank,'' said Shell France managing director, referring to the hydrocarbon -- a recognized pollutant -- used for making synthetic plastics. Officials threw a 4 km (4 miles) exclusion zone around the site. Surveillance flights reported an iridescent film 700 by 10 yards spreading from the wreck site. The ship is about 200 to 250 feet below the surface. Plan may be to raise the vessel. (Wed. Nov, 1 2000) UPDATE >> Initial results from air & water samples taken at the site of the M/V IEVOLI SUN that sank in the English Channel show no presence of a highly toxic chemical that was feared to have leaked into the water. (Thurs. Nov. 2 2000)

Vessel Loss Dispatches For October 2000

M/V Grandeur of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean Int'l cruise ship carrying 2,040 passengers, lost electrical power on Tues. & being towed to Curacao, off the coast of Venezuela. Emergency generators had restored air conditioning, plumbing & lighting aboard Grandeur by late morning, about 4-1/2 hours after the outage began some 7.5 miles (12 km) from Curacao. Tugboats have been dispatched to tow Grandeur, at sea since leaving San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sat., to Willemstad on the Dutch island of Curacao. Repair staff were being flown to Curacao to help crew aboard the 74,410-ton vessel. (Tues. Oct. 31 2000)

In the worst English Channel area storm since 1987, the 33-year-old skipper of the Dutch-registered vessel M/V Almenum was killed after falling into the ship's hold as it was tossed on heavy seas as it anchored off Torbay on Oct. 29 evening. Offshore, 6 ferries were forced to seek shelter in a bay on the southeast coast of England after gale-force winds & high seas made docking unsafe at Dover. By late Monday afternoon, all but one ferry had docked, allowing about 4,300 shaken passengers to disembark. (Mon. Oct. 30 2000)

The 14-man crew of the Italian tanker M/T Ievoli Sun was evacuated by helicopter on Oct. 29 after the ship sank off Brittany's Ile d'Ouessant. Rescuers spotted a pool of chemicals from the cargo polluting the waters around the ship. (Mon. Oct. 30 2000)

The Luxembourg-registered M/T Manuella stranded in heavy seas off northern France has taken advantage of a lull in stormy weather to head toward a British port. Manuella & it's 9c rew ran into problems soon after leaving the port of Boulogne late Oct. 28. Initial attempts by 2 tugs to tow it away from the coast & out to sea failed. The 109-meter (363 feet) tanker had managed to push clear of shore under its own power thanks to a break in the weather this afternoon. The Manuella's tanks were empty & no threat of an oil spill. A 2nd vessel that ran into problems late yesterday, the Cyprus-registered M/V Krems carrying a cargo of salt, was being towed to the French port of Le Havre. France is highly sensitive about the dangers of shipwrecks after the Maltese-registered oil tanker M/T Erika broke in half in stormy seas off Brittany in Dec. last year, spewing up to 15,000 tons of oil onto the rocky shoreline. The environmental disaster wrecked local tourism, killed tens of thousands of sea birds & forced almost all sea salt producers and oyster farms in the area to close until they were sure there was no more risk of pollution. (Sun. Oct. 29 2000)

RECENT IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

23 Oct. 2000 at 1245 LT in position: 13:20N - 042:58E, 17 nm off Ras Fatuna (Eriteira), Southern Red Sea. Four pirates in a speedboat tried to board a general cargo ship. The persons inside were armed with swords & other weapons. The ship took evasive action, sounded whistle, mustered the crew and activated fire hoses. On seeing the crew alertness, the boat retreated. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000)

23. Oct. 2000 at 1000 LT in position: 22:26.55N - 089:35.5E, off Khulna, Bangladesh. About 12 pirates armed with long knives boarded a general cargo ship. The port police onboard fired warning shots in the air. Pirates escaped taking ship's stores & equipment. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000)

22. Oct. 2000 at 2330 LT at Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh. Ten pirates in two unpainted wooden boats approached a RO/RO ship. Alert duty officer raised general alarm & crew mustered on upper deck. As a result the boats retreated. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000)

21 Oct. 2000 at night at anchorage in open sea between Singapore & Indonesia. Eight armed pirates, reportedly Indonesians, attacked a fishing vessel. Master & injured & hospitalized. Further details awaited. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000)

21 Oct. 2000 at 0450 LT at 00:08.1N - 117:34.9E, Bontang, Indonesia. While at anchor 2 pirates armed with knives boarded & locked the seaman on duty inside the crane post. The chief officer raised alarm and pirates fled. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000)

18 Oct. 2000 at Sandakan, Malaysia. While berthed, pirates boarded a tanker & attempted to steal ship's stores. Alert crew repelled the attack. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000)

18 Oct. 2000 at 0500 LT at Kandla, India. While berthed, pirates boarded a tanker & broke open the storeroom at the stern. They stole a large quantity of ship's stores & equipment. Police were informed. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000)

18 Oct. 2000 at 2030 LT at Chennai, India. Six pirates in a speedboat attempted to board a bulk carrier via stern. Alert crew on anti piracy watch foiled the attempted boarding. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000)

Going Home >> The damaged USS Cole will be loaded onto a Norwegian ``heavy lift'' M/V Blue Marlin under contract to the U.S. Navy in the Gulf of Aden on Oct. 30 for transport to the US. Blue Marlin, which normally is used to lift & transport commercial cargo such as oil rigs, is expected to arrive in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, on Sunday from the Dubai, where it was outfitted for the job. The Navy signed the US$4.5M contract with the Blue Marlin's owner, Offshore Heavy Transport of Oslo, Norway, just a few days after the Cole was attacked while refueling in Aden, Yemen, on Oct. 12. The schedule calls for the Blue Marlin to take the crippled Cole onto its deck in a process that will take at least 24 hours. The Cole has a hole in the port side estimated at 40 Ft. wide & 40 Ft. high. The explosion killed 17 sailors, wounded 39 & tore much of the midsection of the ship to shreds of metal & wire. Most of the crew of about 300 has remained aboard the 8,300-ton ship since the attack. A small number will stay aboard for the voyage back to the U.S.; the rest will be flown home. (Fri. Oct. 27 2000) Read The Full Story

Oct 25 >> SUB Kursk DOWN UPDATE: Oct 25 (Intial Reports below) >> Laboring in the frigid murk of the Barents Sea on Oct. 24, divers found & removed the 1st bodies from the wreckage of the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk. The bodies of 3 crew were found several hours after 2 Russian divers entered the submarine, where 118 sailors died on Aug. 12. The remains were taken from the wreckage. A team consisting of one U.S. diver, one Norwegian diver, one South African, & 10 British divers -- the rest being Russian divers worked for 5 days to enter the submarine. The bodies were found after the team finished cutting the 1st hole in the thick double hull of the Kursk. There is virtually no chance of recovering all the dead, as all were probably pulverized by a massive explosion that tore through the Kursk. (Wed. Oct. 25 2000) READ OUR ORIGINAL COVERAGE

Oct 24 >> SUB Kursk DOWN UPDATE: Oct 24 Rising winds & high seas halted divers' attempts Oct. 23 to cut into the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine & remove remains of the crew. Winds of 56 mph were buffeting the M/V Regalia mother ship, which serves as the HQ for retrieval operation. Divers working on the dangerous operation are attached to the Regalia by tethers, & risk being jerked about if the storm intensifies. Deep-sea divers were working for a 4th day to recover any remains of the 118 seamen who died when the vessel was ripped by explosion & sank. The divers hope to cut 7 holes through both hulls around the mangled submarine to pull out bodies or body parts. Russian officials have warned that safety concerns - including fears about the Kursk's 2 nuclear reactors & threats to divers from jagged debris - might force the Navy to call off the difficult work 330 feet below. Divers have carved a passage as far as the thick, pressurized inner hull in the 8th compartment, aft. On Oct. 23, divers cut through the 2.5-inch-thick sheet of steel, but had not enlarged the hole enough to enter. Divers over the weekend punched a test hole & found no radiation, oil or air bubbles inside the compartment. Work began to set up equipment for cutting through the outer hull leading to the 7th compartment. The 7th & 8th compartments are packed with mechanical equipment used to power the submarine's 2 screws. The Regalia, normally used for underwater work in Norway's offshore oil industry, was at anchor above the Kursk about 100 miles north of Russia's Arctic Coast. Teams of divers have been working around the clock since Oct. 19, manipulating robot arms & specialized cutting equipment that sprays pressurized water & diamond dust to slice through the submarine's hull. (Tues. Oct. 24 2000) READ OUR ORIGINAL COVERAGE

Some of this history was precdictd by The Cargo Letter back on 15 Aug. 2000. CLICK HERE

United States yacht SEAS THE DAY sank approximately 18 NM Southest of Cape Lookout, NC, USA, on Oct 17. Survivors were flown to U.S. Coast Guard Group Fort Macon in good condition. Coast Guard cutter remains on scene picking up debris. (Tues. Oct. 24 2000)

The freighter M/V Mary Star sunk near Government Cut, Miami, just before Midnight, Oct 22, after reported taking water. All 5 crew rescued by U.S. Coast Guard. (Mon. Oct. 24 2000)

Tamil Tiger rebels in boats carrying explosives launched a suicide attack on a naval base today & shot down an air force helicopter coming to the base's aid. Fourteen people, including 8 rebels, were killed and 43 were injured. A Sri Lankan navy personnel carrier anchored at Trincomalee port where the attack took place was badly damaged & sinking after it was rammed by a rebel boat. Shortly afterward, an MI-24 helicopter coming to the aid of the embattled base was shot down by the rebels 6 miles from Trincomalee & the 2 pilots & 2 gunners are dead. Trincomalee is one of the finest natural harbors in South Asia. The military uses it for transporting troops & material but it is rarely used for commercial trading because of the separatist war. (Mon. Oct. 24 2000)

RECENT IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

16 Oct. 2000 at 0100 UTC in position: 05:45.8N - 096:28.3E, off northern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Five speedboats approached a general cargo ship simultaneously from head on & port side. They came within 30m from the ship. Boats were blue in color with white red horizontal stripes. Each boat had two men onboard. Chief officer spotted them and raised alarm and took evasive action by altering course. Crew mustered at poop deck & near port gangway. After ten minutes, the boats retreated. (Sun. Oct. 22 2000)

14 Oct. 2000 at 1930 UTC at Chennai anchorage, India. Four pirates in a speedboat attempted to board a bulk carrier via anchor chain. Due to the alertness of the crew on watch at forecastle deck, the pirates aborted the attempt and fled. (Sun. Oct. 22 2000)

12. Oct. 2000 from 1050 - 1140 LT in position: 12:36N - 043:01.3E, Southern tip of Red Sea. Five high-speed boats with 6 - 7 persons in each boat attempted to board a tanker. The duty officer noticed the boats & raised alarm. Crew mustered on deck and activated fire hoses with jets of water. As a result the boats fled. (Sun. Oct. 22 2000)

12.10.2000 in Int'l waters off east coast of Sri Lanka. A 40 ft fishing boat operated by motor & sail approached a U.S. naval ship. The fishing boat came within 20 ft from the warship & her crew demanded money from the warship's crew. Two persons in the boat appeared to be concealing weapons in their waistbands. The warship's crew displayed small arms & the fishing boat retreated. (Sun. Oct. 22 2000)

The Liberian tanker M/T Knock Dun that ran aground off Antigua on Oct. 13 the ship has resumed its journey to St. Croix after being re-floated Oct. 19. Antiguan authorities had ordered the vessel held pending a court hearing on damage to a prized coral reef caused by the impact of the tanker when it ran aground on Oct. 13. But officials for Red Band, the Olso company that manages the Knock Dun, said the ship left Antiguan waters on Oct. 20 night after posting a bond with the Antiguan government. (Sat. Oct. 21 2000)

The entire crew of Russian F/V Taifun-1 that sank in freezing, stormy seas early today has been rescued. A life raft carrying the last 8 missing sailors from the sunken Taifun-1 had been found & the crew members were now on board another fishing boat, along with 12 rescued from a life raft earlier in the day. The ship had been out of contact since early morning near the Kurile Islands, north of Japan, when the captain reported that the vessel was listing & in danger of sinking. Heavy winds, rain, snow & choppy seas had hampered rescue efforts. Two of the ship's 6 life rafts were found empty. Japan helped in the rescue, dispatching ng a reconnaissance plane & a patrol boat. (Thurs. Oct. 19 2000)

A Greek sailor died after the Greek-flagged M/V Ytong I, sank Oct. 15 in the latest deadly accident to plague this maritime country. The Ytong I, sank near the north Aegean Sea island of Samothrace, the merchant marine ministry said. Nine other Greek crew members were rescued by a passing Turkish merchant vessel and a navy search operation involving a frigate & 2 helicopters. The sinking was apparently caused by displacement of the ship's cargo of plywood. (Sat. Oct. 16 2000)

RECENT IMB PIRATE REPORTS ___

9 Oct. 2000 at 0135 LT in position: 14:36.7N - 120:53.7E, Manila anchorage, Philippines. Eight pirates from an unlit boat boarded a container ship. They broke open forward store & stole ship's stores. Crew noticed them & sounded alarm. As a result the pirates fled. (Sun. Oct. 15 2000)

7 Oct. 2000 at 1330 LT in position: 14:38.64N - 042:03.92E, Red Sea. About 40 pirates in 5 boats attempted to board a tanker. Another ship passing by came to scene to assist the tanker. As a result the pirates aborted the attempted boarding. (Sun. Oct. 15 2000)

6 Oct. 2000 at 0057 LT in position: 22:14.3N -091:44E, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Two boats with six pirates in each approached an offshore supply ship.