Piracy – 2 Fishing Vessels freed following Somali pirate hijackings – January 2024

2 fishing vessels, a Sri Lankan and an Iranian one are reported to have been freed following hijackings by Somali pirates. Seychelles forces rescued a Sri Lankan fishing boat on Monday, according to President Wavel Ramkalawan’s office. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy said it had freed an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel. The attacks on the vessels by […]

Local Shipping – Anchor Handling Tug/Supply (AHTS) SEA SERV 501

One of the 8 ships in the fleet of the local company Sea Services Ltd was the 1974 built SEA SERV 501. She was built by Burton Construction & Shipbuilding Corporation at Port Arthur , Texas , USA to Aquamarine Associates based at Houston, Texas as AQUAMARINE 501 with yard number 504 and delivered in […]

Naval News – Iran Converts Containership into Drone Carrier

To add to merchant shipping’s long list of concerns surrounding the security situation in the Middle East, Iran is readying to launch the first drone carrier – SHAHID BAGHERI a former containership. She was built in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in 2000 as the 3,280 TEU container ship IRAN ASFAHAN. Trading until […]

Broken Up – Heavy Load Carrier JUMBO SPIRIT – 29.04.2015

One of the famous Jumbo heavy load carriers that used to call at Malta was the 1995 built Heavy Load Carrier JUMBO SPIRIT. She was built by Bolnes Shipyard BV Capella /d Ijssel in Netherlands as JUMBO SPIRIT for Jumbo Spirit BV ( Kahn Scheepvaart BV Rotterdam as manager ) Rotterdam ,Netherlands with 95.69 m […]

Casualties – 2 Royal Navy Ships Collide at Bahrain – 19.01.2024

On Friday 19th January, 2024 two Royal Navy mine countermeasures vessels (MCMV)  were involved in a collision in Bahrain Harbour, the Royal Navy said. No one was injured in the accident and an investigation into the incident has been opened. The Royal Navy is liasing with the U.S. Navy in the Gulf region in an […]

Aerial Photography – Heavy Load Carrier DONGBANG GIANT No 3

One of the ships that was photographed from the air by MALTA SHIP PHOTOS (MSPAP) in 2019 was the South Korean built and owned Heavy Load Carrier DONGBANG GIANT No 3. She was built in South Korea by Oriental Heavy Industries at Gwangyang with dimensions as 155 metres length overall (loa) and 38 metres beam. […]