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Updates on Developments for Baltimore’s Recovery

Special News Feature: Dredging Contractors of America CEO Bill Doyle updates on the latest developments underway to get the recovery operation started in the Port of Baltimore.  Doyle discussed the range of dredging and other assets now being prepared and the steps required to undertake the salvage of the M/V Dali after the callision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge. While federal, state, and local authorities are on the scene and the investigations have started, Doyle discussed the next steps and how the recovery operation will begin. “I have never seen anything like this,” Doyle who was the previous Ports Director of the Maryland Ports Administration and a merchant mariner tells Publisher Tony Munoz. While much of the discussion is on the Dali blocking the channel, Doyle reports that “about 66-75 percent of the channel is not blocked by the ship. Therefore, clearing the channel of the debris will probably be the first step and given the most attention in order to open the channel as soon as possible. The ship itself could be dislodged and moved later and operations to dismantle the trusses and handle containers could also be done later…

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Houthi Attack on MSC Ship in Indian Ocean Indicates Further Range

Details of the attack on the MSC Orion (158,000) were confirmed today by the maritime security forces in the region after the Houthi claimed an attack on the vessel yesterday as part of their latest barrage. The incident however is raising troubling questions as the vessel was at a much greater distance from Yemen possibly indicating the Houthi have extended the range of their drones. The UK Maritime Trade Organizations and Joint Maritime Information Center are confirming the details of the attack on the MSC Orion which came overnight on April 26 but was only announced between April 29 and 30. According to the JMIC, the vessel was in the Indian Ocean approximately 300 nautical miles east southeast of the Horn of Africa, or more than 170 nautical miles south of Socotra island. The UKMTO puts the vessel’s position up to 400 nautical miles from the mainland of Yemen.  The ship which is registered in Portugal and owned by Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime chartered to MSC reported an explosion and found some debris believed to be from a “Uncrewed Aerial System.” The ship sustained some minor damage with the report that the…

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Maersk Says “Not Yet” for Return to Red Sea Routing

Three months after starting to divert all its vessels from a passage through the Red Sea, Maersk told customers today that it is too soon in its assessment to resume its normal routes. They said the routing around Africa allows the best supply chain stability, in their assessment, saying that a switch is complex and they wanted to make sure it would be sustained over the long term and avoid further disruption. They write that they are aware that Operation Aspides has taken shape and welcome it as a positive development along with the U.S.-led efforts. Maersk writes that they are also in “continuous dialogue” and monitoring developments in the region. “Regretfully, both our internal analysis, as well as insight we received from external sources, still indicates that the risk level in the region remains elevated,” they wrote in their latest customer alert. Maersk vessels were targeted by the Houthi on two different occasions in December leading the carrier to first suspend, then resume, and then suspend again transits through the region around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Maersk Gibraltar had a near-miss incident on December 14 leading to the…

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