On 4th May the 9,566gt/2012 built and 141m long SITC Osaka collided with the 97,825gt/2007 built and 338m long NYK Venus near Rokko Island, Kobe, Japan. The SITC Osaka was entering Kobe while the NYK Venus was leaving the port when the collision happened. The NYK Venus largely escaped damage but the SITC Osaka sustained damage to her port side stern quarter above the waterline. The ship was still berthed in Kobe at 10th May unloading containers when a fire broke out in one of the damaged containers on the ship (above). Several containers were damaged before the fire was extinguished.

A Turkish vessel carrying wheat to Yemen was reportedly hit by a rocket or missile on 10th May according to a senior European naval official. The 30,011gt/2002 built bulk carrier Ince Inebolu was damaged by an explosion some 70 miles off the Red Sea port of Salift.

On 18th May, Spliethoffs Bevrachtings B.V’s 16,641gt/2000 built Spaarnegracht was reported drifting about 700 nautical miles north/northwest of the Azores with engine problems. The ship had been underway from Husum in Sweden to Baltimore, USA, with a cargo of paper products. At this time the 365gt/2015 built Dian Kingdom, managed by Seacontractors B.V, was en-route to Rotterdam and, after terms were agreed, the vessel diverted to Flushing for bunkers and stores before setting off on a 1,500nm voyage to rescue the Spaarnegracht. The Dian Kingdom arrived on scene on 26th May and safely delivered the stricken ship to her owners on 4th of June at SCA Logistics Interforest Terminal in Rotterdam.

A fire broke out aboard the Hyundai Glovis car carrier Auto Banner (54,222gt/1988 built) on the morning of 21st May at Incheon port, South Korea. Reports suggest that an overheated engine on one of 200 second hand cars loaded aboard on Deck 11 destined for Libya was the source of the fire, which quickly spread through surrounding cars. Firefighters had to cut several holes in the ship’s hull to get access to fight the blaze as the cargo decks were engulfed by fire and resembled a giant furnace. Some 1,500 cars and 5,000 tyres were affected and it took 67 hours of large-scale firefighting, involving hundreds of firefighters to extinguish the fire.

The 27,996gt/2001 built and 50,170dwt bulk carrier Sirina suffered a fire in her cargo hold while berthed at the former King George V Dry Dock at ABP Southampton on 25th May. The incident aboard the Greek bulker occurred in the afternoon with firefighters alerted at 13:51 to the fire involving 7,000 tonnes of scrap metal which had caused a large smoke plume above the ship. Crews from across Hampshire tackled the blaze aboard the ship, while relevant authorities, including the Environment Agency, Public Health England, Southampton City Council and the Coastguard, removed the scrap metal from the vessel.

A very large ore carrier of Polaris Shipping, owner of the ill-fated Stellar Daisy that sank off Uruguay in March 2017, became stranded some 50 miles off the Brazilian coast on 26th May after a generator fire. The 164,325gt/1994 built Stellar Samba received assistance from a tug on 30th May and the vessel was also monitored by a Brazilian naval vessel. The ship had been en-route from Caofeidian, China to Ponta de Madeira, Brazil when the problem began.

On the afternoon of 26th May a historic stern wheel paddle vessel sank off the coast of North Wales whilst under tow from Gloucester Docks to Coleraine, Ireland. The Oliver Cromwell was built in 1922 and converted into a riverboat hotel in 1993. The vessel began to sink via the bow off Holyhead and was submerged in 50 metres of water within 30 minutes after the Holyhead RNLI crew was unable to save her.

On 3rd June unidentified forces attacked a U.N. aid vessel off the main Yemeni port of Hodeidah, which started a fire in the engine room. The vessel, the 1,678gt/2011 built Vos Theia is used by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) and was attacked after delivering a shipment at Hodeidah. An armed skiff attacked the ship some 38 miles off the coast of Hodeidah as she waited in an anchorage for permission to leave from a Saudi-led military coalition.