US Coast Guard (USCG) has started investigating how a passenger ferry with 125 people on board grounded in New York over the weekend
A major emergency and rescue operation was started on 5 June when a ferry grounded off Brooklyn. USCG, New York City Police Department (NYPD) and New York City Fire Department (FDNY) were mobilised to grounded Seastreak ferry Commodore.
Crew reported the grounded ferry was taking on water in Bushwick Inlet. Three lifeboats from the USCG station in New York were launched and began rescue efforts with FDNY and NYPD crews.
All passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the ferry. FDNY and coastguard personnel remained on board to conduct dewatering operations.
Coast Guard sector New York commander Captain Zeita Merchant said UCCG will “work with Seastreak on the investigation and inspection of the vessel to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.”
Other ships grounded in Europe and a vessel sank in Egypt over the past week.
On 5 June, a Finnish timber carrier ran aground on Faro island, Gotland in Sweden. General cargo ship Ramona was en route from Klintehamn, Gotland to Riga, in Latvia when it struck the island coast.
In Ukraine, grounded freighter Harun Konan was refloated on 5 June and towed to its initial port of departure, Kherson. It was sailing to Nemrut Bay, Turkey, when it grounded in the river Rvach near Dniepr, according to Fleetmon.
In Egypt, an offshore supply tug sank in the Gulf of Suez. It is thought Inspecta 7 struck an underwater wreck which breached the hull. Of the 13 crew, 11 were rescued and two remain missing.
In Taiwan, an OOCL container ship struck two gantry cranes in a Kaohsiung terminal. The cranes collapsed and damaged the pier, injuring at least three port workers.
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