Vessel Hunter · Daily maritime briefing

Wednesday, 28 October 2026

Mein Schiff 3 hits MSC Victorine, Prospector 5 sinks

Storm casualties in the German Bight, a jackup lost off Gabon, a drone sinking off Constanța and Russian diesel bound for New York

8 stories4 sections5 min readVessel Hunter newsroom

Storm and casualties

10 stories

A gust pushed TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff 3 into two moored containerships as she left Bremerhaven on 25 October

MSC Victorine has a ten-metre tear above the waterline, the cruise ship's lifeboats are wrecked and the Canary Islands cruise is cancelled.

Mein Schiff 3 tears open MSC Victorine in storm departure from BremerhavenFull story · Incident

Heavy cranes and ships in a busy harbour

The master and second officer of the heavy-lift ship UHL Freedom were airlifted off after she rolled in a force 9 storm north of Schiermonnikoog

The owner denies the engine failure first given as the cause; the ship has reached Emden.

UHL Freedom master evacuated after heavy-lift ship rolls in North Sea storm off SchiermonnikoogFull story · Incident

An offshore platform at sea under an evening sky

Borr Drilling's jackup Prospector 5 sank off Gabon after a punch-through during preload, with one dead and four missing out of 115 on board

Production on the Dussafu licence is halted.

Borr Drilling jackup Prospector 5 sinks off Gabon after punch-through, one dead and four missingFull story · Incident

A cargo ship sailing through the Bosphorus

The cargo ship Khoryv was sunk by a drone 13 nautical miles off Constanța; one seafarer died and three are missing

Romania's president blames Russia.

Drone sinks cargo ship Khoryv off Constanța, one seafarer dead and three missingFull story · Incident

Ship-to-shore cranes at a container terminal

CMA CGM Pointe Noire knocked a ship-to-shore crane off its rails while berthing at Livorno and has been detained

Two of six cranes at the terminal were left working.

CMA CGM Pointe Noire knocks crane off its rails at Livorno and is detainedFull story · Port activity

The Panama-flagged general cargo ship Seahorse, 9,483 dwt and built in 1997, listed while approaching Sidon with timber from Turkey on 25 October, and seven of her 16 crew jumped overboard

All seven were rescued overnight; the master and eight others stayed aboard. Lebanese authorities found several metres of water in the No. 5 hold, pumped it down to about 50 to 60 centimetres and moved the ship to Beirut, where her cargo is being discharged. She had deficiencies at each of her last six port state control inspections.

The Paris MoU has banned the 42-year-old general cargo ship Lira, IMO 8516744, from every port in its region

Released from detention at Olbia on 3 October on condition that she sail straight to a repair yard at Piraeus, she never arrived. She now flies the Tanzanian flag, having previously been Panamanian, and is classed high risk.

Indonesian police detained the Mongolian-flagged tanker Global 168 off Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra, on 20 October with 1.1 tonnes of ketamine worth $14m aboard

The ship had switched off her AIS for several days; her seven Indonesian crew and one Chinese national are held, and Malaysian police plan to question her two Johor-based owners.

The Durban harbour tug Inyalazi, built in 1984 as Piet Aucamp, partly sank at her Tug Basin mooring overnight

Transnet National Ports Authority has not given a cause.

**The ro-ro ferry Commodore Clipper was safely recovered after drifting at Le Havre,** and the general cargo ship Veerseborg was detained in Kocaeli.

Gulf and sanctions

3 stories

A cargo ship entering a busy container port

Iraq has its own ship on the Gulf again: the 900 teu Basrah now shuttles between Jebel Ali and Umm Qasr every eight days

Off Al Faw, UKMTO reports a ship on fire, the tenth suspected strike on a ship this month.

Iraq restarts Gulf shipping with Basrah shuttle as a tanker burns off Al FawFull story · Port activity

The UK- and EU-sanctioned tanker Leruo is carrying 40,000 tons of Russian diesel towards New York, and seven lawmakers have warned four US ports and six banks to keep their records

The cargoes and the letter.

Sanctioned tanker Leruo heads for New York with Russian diesel as Democrats warn US portsFull story · Sanctions

USTR proposes to keep its port fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-operated ships suspended for two more months, to 9 January 2027

The current suspension runs to 9 November; comments close on 30 October. Chinese yards took 81.8% of global new orders in the first nine months of 2026, over 175 million dwt, up 163% year on year.

Deals, orders and deliveries

8 stories

A ferry seen from the air sailing through fog

Stena has agreed to buy all of Color Line, Norway's largest ferry operator, whose five ships carried nearly 3.6 million passengers in 2025

The brand and the Norwegian flag stay.

Stena buys Color Line, Norway's largest ferry operator and owner of Color MagicFull story · Industry

Chouest Group is buying the Canadian offshore operator Horizon Maritime,

whose fleet includes the AHTS Horizon Arctic, the PSV Horizon Dragon and the icebreaker Polar Prince. The price was not disclosed and Horizon's management stays.

Hengli Heavy Industries has announced agreements with several container lines for 52 LNG dual-fuel containerships

: 20 of 19,000 teu, 12 of 22,000 teu and 20 of 24,000 teu. Customers and prices have not been disclosed. BIMCO puts the global order book at 203.2 million CGT on 1 September, up 13% in a year, with China holding 64% and taking 74% of new orders.

KMTC has ordered six 3,100 teu containerships at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong, its first order in China,

and Greek owner Pavimar has contracted four kamsarmax bulkers at Hengli for delivery through 2029. NYK and K Line will each operate two of four ammonia-fuelled car carriers due in 2030, in a project of seven Japanese companies that includes a bunkering network.

Kawasaki delivered Tsurugidake, its fourth LNG-fuelled VLCC, to Sequoia Navigation at Dalian on 14 October

She is of 310,020 dwt and replaces the bulbous bow with a new bow form.

**Buquebus has put the 130-metre China Zorrilla, the largest battery-electric ferry built, into service between Buenos Aires and Colonia.** The Incat-built ship carries 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles on a 41 MWh battery and charges at the pier on every crossing.

**Dolphin Drilling is selling the semi-submersible Blackford Dolphin to Dubai-based SPM Energy Shipping for up to $25m,** and Seatrium has a contract worth more than S$500m to complete four unfinished rigs owned by Keppel's RigCo. Noble has added about $560m of rig contracts. Holland America Line will take over Arcadia from P&O Cruises in 2029.

UK P&I Club and TT Club completed their joint acquisition of Thomas Miller on 21 October

The two clubs merge as United Transport Mutual on 20 February 2027.

Ports and markets

4 stories

The Panama Canal handled 13,951 transits in fiscal 2026, up 4.1%, and revenue rose 16.6% to $6.6bn

Slot auction bids reached $5.3m, and last-minute reservations for the Panamax locks have been restored.

Dockers' unions at more than 40 ports in Europe and the Mediterranean plan coordinated strikes and demonstrations on 30 October,

including eight Italian ports from Genoa to Trieste, against weapons shipments, port militarisation and automation.

MSC has cancelled two Asia–North Europe Britannia sailings, QB645W and QB646W, in weeks 45 and 46

More than 100 VLCCs a year are scheduled for delivery in both 2028 and 2029, close to the record of 116.

Wärtsilä booked €2,368m of orders in the third quarter, up 33%, and lifted its comparable operating result 19% to €212m

It has set new mid-term targets, with a 14% operating margin for Marine.

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