The Benita was refloated by Five Oceans Salvage on 24th July, over five weeks after the ship ran aground off Mahebourg, Mauritius. The ship was towed 20 miles off the coast where a skeleton crew assessed the ship following her grounding on 17th June after an apparent deliberate attack on the ship by one of her crew. A tow to the beaches of Alang was the vessel’s next destination, to be run aground again. However, in one final twist to this tale, the ship sank whilst under tow on 30th July in waters with a charted depth of 4,400 metres. The vessel sank by the stern having developed a severe stern trim, prompting the 2,070gt/1982 built tug Ionian Sea FOS to use the tow line quick release in anticipation of an imminent sinking.

The Dali, a 300m long and 94,730gt/111,032 dwt and 2015 built container ship’s stern struck the quayside at Antwerp as she was attempting to depart for Bremerhaven on 11th July. The ship sustained significant damage to several metres of hull and was detained for inspection.

The 174m long, 25,143gt/ 38,115dwt and 2014 built LPG Carrier Waasmunster collided with the fishing vessel Gros LouLou off Le Havre on 15th July. The LPG ship was loaded with 18,000 tons of butane gas when struck by the fishing vessel. The Waasmunster sustained hull damage below the waterline and suffered water ingress whilst the Gros LouLou sustained damage to her bow and sustained some water ingress. The salvage team was able to patch the hull of the Wassmunster a few hours after the collision.

On 18th July the China COSCO Shipping owned Neopanamax containership Xin Fei Zhou suffered a breach of her hull (left) after hitting the wall of one of the new locks making up the expanded Panama Canal. According to reports the 90,757gt/2008 built and 8,500 TEU capacity containership was damaged during a transit of the Agua Clara locks on the Atlantic side during a northbound transit of the canal. Many experts had warned of such occurrences as the ships are guided through by tugs whereas the original lock system uses locomotives (aka mules). An independent study had warned that the dimensions of the new lock chambers are too small for the configuration of the tugs under various environmental conditions. The Panama Canal Authority has dismissed the conclusions of the ITF study as false, saying that the study lacked scientific accuracy and credibility.

The Astute-class nuclear powered submarine HMS Ambush (right) collided with the 183m long, 23,843gt/1999 built and 35,966dwt tanker Andreas off the coast of Gibraltar in July. The submarine was conducting a training exercise when she had a glancing collision with the hull of the Andreas. HMS Ambush sustained hull damage, but no injuries or damage to its nuclear power plant. No reports of injuries or pollution released on the Andreas. The Royal Navy has launched an investigation into the incident.

Late on the evening of 3rd August two giants of the sea collided in the busy Singapore Strait. The 164,241gt/2008 built Iranian VLCC Dream II struck the aft portside quarter of the 153,115gt/2010 built and 13,998 TEU capacity VLCV MSC Alexandra (left). The incident occurred around 3km (1.8 miles) southeast of Sebarok Island. The Dream II is owned by Iran’s state-owned National Iranian Tanker Company. The Supertanker sustained damage to her bow in the collision whilst the MSC Alexandra was left with a large hole and the loss of 10 empty containers overboard, four of which fell onto the bow of the Dream II. Both vessels were left in a stable condition and anchored in Singapore waters for inspection. The Port Operations Control Centre alerted the Masters of both vessels of the risk of collision prior to the impact. The MSC Alexandra had just departed Singapore for Chiwan, China. The five of the stray containers were retrieved with one entering Indonesian waters.

The 1,602 dwt cargo vessel Emine Anne ran aground near Bozcaada, Turkey. The Emine Anne was en route to Ancona from Constanta with 1,300 tons of iron when the crew lost control of the steering and the vessel struck the breakwall. The Turkish Coast Guard dispatched a lifeboat to the scene.