Air France Flight by nemesiscom
Brazilian Air Force and Navy assets are currently being deployed to the crash zone of Air France Flight 447 .
The BBC tells us: [Continue Reading →]
Air France Flight 447 – Commercial Ships Race To Assist
Tags: · airlines, flight447, france, sar
La Ponant Captured By Somali Pirates
The French military are continuing to track a luxury yacht seized, with its crew, on Friday by Somali pirates.
There has been no contact with the Ponant since it was boarded. French officials said they wanted to avoid using force.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said: “Our priority is to protect the lives of the people on board.”
Somali coastal waters are among the world’s most hazardous, with more than 25 ships seized by pirates in 2007.
There were no passengers on board the 87-meter (288-foot), three-masted yacht when it was hijacked Friday, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
There were 30 crew members on board — about 20 of them French and the rest Ukrainian, the spokesman said.
France flew a helicopter over the yacht on Friday but has had no contact with anyone on board, the spokesman said.
The white yacht, named The Ponant, has 32 cabins and four decks. It has lounges, a bar, and a restaurant. The yacht sails on luxury cruises around the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea, according to its Web site.
Ship Specifics:
Wired.com featured a link to the map below of 2007 Pirate Attacks off Somali.
For more information view the full UN PDF , Live Piracy Map or a good video about piracy HERE.
UPDATE:
The La Ponant crew has been rescued, Lloyds List tells us:
SIX of the pirates who took over the French cruise ship Le Ponant have been arrested by French forces following the liberation of the vessel’s 30 crew members.
The head of the French army Général Jean-Louis Georgelin said that the pirates were arrested after having gone ashore about one hour after the freeing of the crew of the Le Ponant.
“We were able to track the pirates, which made it possible to intercept about half the commando through a helicopter action,” he said.
The operation was carried out with the authorisation of the Somali authorities, according to General Georgelin, who indicated that warning and interception shots were fired but said that there had been no direct firing on the pirates themselves.
The arrested pirates were being held off the Somali coast on the helicopter carrier, Jeanne d’Arc, according to a senior French navy spokesman. Continue Reading…
This post was written by John with Piracy map information provided by Richard of Bitterend. Did you know we accept article written by YOU?
Related Posts:
Tags: · africa, france, ISPS Code, piracy, ponant, somalia
Cargo Ship Beached in France – M/V Artemis
Like the Zhen Hua near Rotterdam, the Den Den in India and the Pasha Bulker in Newcastle Australia the Cargo Ship (actually it’s a container ship) Artemis is helping to boost the economy of the French coastal town Les Sables d’Olonne. Motor Boats Monthly tells us:
The storm that battered much of Wales, the southern coast of England, and northern France yesterday left a new attraction on the beach of the French town of Les Sables d’Olonne early on Monday morning – a cargo ship.
The Dutch cargo ship Artemis was approaching the town’s port when a strong swell and high winds drove it onto the beach. No one was hurt in the grounding, and no pollution was caused.
More photos can be found HERE and HERE. Via Maritime Monday 102.
Related Posts:
Tags: · artemis, beach, beached, cargo ship, france, shipping incidents
English Channel Abandoment – M/V Ice Prince
Last night the timber ship M/V Ice Prince became unstable and was abandoned in the English Channel. The Press Association tells us:
Attempts are to be made to take in tow a storm-hit cargo ship from which 20 crew were dramatically rescued in the Channel on Sunday night.
The Greek-registered Ice Prince is still listing heavily and drifting around 33 miles off the south Devon coast.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesman Fred Caygill said salvors were on the way to the abandoned vessel, and it was hoped they would try to take it in tow around mid-morning.
It has not been decided where the stricken ship will be taken, said Mr Caygill, adding: “It depends where we can get her in.”
He said the French tug Abeille Liberte was standing by the vessel, which still had a 40-degree list and was drifting east. Read More…
The BBC has video of the difficult rescue HERE.
It was a bad day for mariners world-wide as tradewinds reports of two more incidents:
Related Posts:
Tags: · english channel, france, ice princes, mca, rescue, survival, timber ship, UK
gCaptain On Twitter
gCaptain On Facebook
gCaptain On LinkedIn