The 43,158gt/2007 built bulk carrier Star Maria suffered a fire aboard whilst she was docked at the port of Venice’s Fusina Terminal on 20th January. The fire broke out in a cargo hold due to spontaneous combustion.

The Russian general cargo ship City (4,359gt/2004 built) was evacuated after grounding on a breakwater at the approach to Sakata port in Japan. Strong currents and winds pushed the 107m long ship onto the breakwater and she suffered significant damage to her hull, causing water ingress.

On 28th January a Dutch warship joined Padstow and Appledore RNLI lifeboats to rescue a stricken cargo vessel, the 2,601gt/2001 built low air draught coaster verity amid rough seas and force eight gales. The ship was drifting closer to the North Devon coast and RNLI crews stood by for over 24hrs in atrocious conditions. The vessel was carrying 3,000 tons of scrap metal when her engine failed four miles off Hartland Point. Padstow lifeboat established a tow to the ship on the morning of 29th January, which later parted. The tow was maintained until the Dutch Frigate HNLMS De Ruyter arrived on scene at the request of the Coastguard to manage the tow.

The 158m long, 14,236dwt containership E. r. Visby (12,514gt/built 2012) ran aground on the Kiel Canal near Schinkel, Germany on 4th February. The ship was en route to Rotterdam from St. Petersburg when she ran onto an embankment blocking traffic on the canal. Authorities were alerted and dispatched several tugs from Kiel to the scene. The tugs were able to refloat the vessel a few hours later before towing the container ship to Kiel for inspection.

Following her grounding on 23rd October 2015, the Mexican government is hoping to dismantle the bulk carrier Los Llanitos in situ. The new plan is a change from the earlier predictions that the ship would be able to withstand being refloated and scuttled in an area nearby. The 223m, Mexican-flagged Los Llanitos is stranded along the rocky Pacific coastline near Barra de Navidad, Jalisco.

The Nissan car carrier City of Rotterdam (21,143gt/2011 built), was severely damaged in a collision with the DFDS ferry Primula Seaways on 3rd December in the Humber Estuary, departed from the Tyne at the end of January after visiting the A&P group’s ship repair facility. The streamlined vessel sustained serious damage to her portside bow and underwent a 5-week programme of structural steel repairs before returning to service.