Evacuate nearly 500 seafarers trapped in Ukrainian ports as soon as possible
On 3 May, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) passed a resolution on actions to facilitate emergency evacuation of seafarers.
Three-quarters of the seafarers previously stranded in Ukrainian ports have been evacuated from stranded ships, according to the latest data compiled jointly by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the IMO.
Less than 500 seafarers are still awaiting evacuation on 109 ships in Ukrainian ports in the Black and Azov Seas, the ICS said. Six weeks ago, the number was 2,000.
The data showed that the seafarers who were evacuated and those who remained on board were from 27 different countries, with the Philippines and India having the most seafarers. Other affected seafarers are from countries including Ukraine, Russia, China, Denmark, Greece and Turkey.
It is reported that ICS is urging the establishment of humanitarian corridors for seafarers stranded in Ukraine and adjacent waters until all seafarers have been safely evacuated. So far, 1,500 seafarers have been safely evacuated through humanitarian corridors on land and at sea.
The International Labour Organization (ILO), IMO, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and humanitarian organisations have coordinated the delivery of food, water and medicine to seafarers stranded in ports. Still, delivering aid is extremely difficult, especially in high-risk areas.
Natalie Shaw, director of labor affairs at ICS, said: “We will continue to do everything we can to help the safe evacuation of seafarers who remain trapped. Open dialogue will enable rescue missions, so we call on all parties involved to continue to communicate and cooperate.”

In the early morning of April 25, a number of trucks caught fire at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal in Hong Kong, with flames rising into the sky and explosions.
It is reported that at about 3 am on the day of the incident, five heavy goods vehicles caught fire in the open-air parking lot opposite the container terminal at No. 1 Container Terminal Road, Kwai Chung, near the underpass of the flyover, and explosions were heard repeatedly. Firefighters arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire about 50 minutes later.
Due to the loud explosion, residents in Kwai Chung and Lai King areas were awakened, and many people called the police for help. When police arrived at the scene, they found 12 heavy goods vehicles, a medium goods vehicle and a trailer on fire.
No one was injured in the accident, but the fire department believes the cause of the fire is suspicious, and the local police criminal investigation team is investigating the cause of the accident, the report said.

The U.S. state of Maryland has asked Evergreen to set up a liability fund to cover losses related to Ever Forward’s stranding in the Chesapeake Bay for more than a month.

Ever Forward, which has been stranded for more than a month, has been out of trouble a few days ago, but the impact of the stranded incident is still ongoing.

South Africa’s state-owned port and rail operator Transnet, which operates the port of Durban, said it had suspended operations at the port of Durban on April 11 after floods damaged the road to the port, Reuters reported.

According to reports, due to the heavy rainfall in the past few days, floods occurred in Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The well-known coastal city of Durban in the province was the most affected area by the flood, and the main transportation roads in the city have been closed.

As the largest container port in South Africa, the Port of Durban has also been seriously affected. The flood washed away numerous containers and some of them were damaged. According to local media reports, someone “stealed” goods from damaged containers and warehouse equipment.

“Due to severe weather damage to some port facilities, vessel loading and unloading operations have been suspended until further notice,” Transnet said in a statement. “Our engineering team will assess the extent of damage to the affected facilities before the port is fully operational.”

Transnet also said the country’s railroads at the port of Richards Bay and parts of Kwazulu-Natal were operating at “limited capacity” due to flooding.

The local Meteorological Department expects heavy rainfall in Kwazulu-Natal province in the next few days.

In response to the sudden situation in Durban Port, Maersk issued an emergency announcement on April 12 to make relevant business adjustments.

Maersk said that due to the flooding, the road into the port was severely damaged, and all vehicles are currently unable to enter the terminal, and the Port of Durban business and warehouse operations have been suspended.

CMA CGM Group announced on April 8 that it is acquiring nearly 100% of the shares of GEFCO (GEFCO), a leader in European automotive logistics. The acquisition will expand the business scope of CEVA Logistics (CEVA), the logistics subsidiary of CMA CGM. At present, the acquisition has been submitted to the European competition authority for approval.
Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of CMA CGM Group, said: “The acquisition of GEFCO is the latest step in our growth strategy and strengthens our market position. Through our partnership with GEFCO, CEVA Logistics will become a global leader in automotive logistics. “
It is understood that GEFCO is a French company that has been operating for more than 70 years. Not only is it a European leader in automotive logistics, it is also specialized in contract logistics and has many customers in the aerospace, pharmaceutical, energy and retail sectors.
At present, GEFCO has established a business network in 47 countries around the world and has about 11,500 employees worldwide.
Luc Nadal, CEO of GEFCO, said: “With more than 70 years of professional experience in the field of logistics, GEFCO is honored to join the CMA CGM Group. Under the leadership of CMA CGM, we will strengthen our transformation. I am confident in the future to bring more opportunities for GEFCO in terms of innovation and sustainability, and to bring benefits to our customers.”
In this acquisition, CMA CGM intends to integrate GEFCO and CEVA Logistics to create a world-leading automotive logistics supplier, while strengthening the leadership of CEVA Logistics in the field of contract logistics.
More importantly, this acquisition is also part of CMA CGM’s logistics strategy to help customers stabilize supply chains by expanding end-to-end logistics solutions.
Not long ago, CMA CGM announced the completion of the acquisition of the majority of Ingram Micro’s commercial and lifecycle services (CLS) business, as well as the Colis Privé Group, a leading French specialist in last-mile logistics. This series of acquisitions will accelerate CEVA’s development in e-commerce and retail, fashion and other market segments.

On March 31, Evergreen Shipping issued an announcement saying that after two unsuccessful attempts to rescue the stranded “Ever Forward”, the ship was declared “General Average” (GA).

Evergreen stated in the announcement that considering the complexity of the follow-up rescue operations, it will continue to invest more manpower, equipment and expenses, and has assigned general average claims company Richards Hogg Lindley to handle general average related matters.

It hoped that the relevant cargo owners and the space affiliated companies would provide the necessary guarantee documents as soon as possible in accordance with the general average claim settlement rules, so that the relevant matters such as the delivery of the goods could be smoothly handled after the ship was rescued and the goods arrived at the port.

Evergreen also said that no one was injured in the grounding incident, neither the ship nor its cargo was damaged, nor did it cause pollution or obstruct the waterway. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the competent authorities.

According to the provisions of the Maritime Law, general average means that the shipowner and the cargo shipper shall share the relevant costs of salvaging the ship proportionally after the ship has a major accident during the voyage. After declaring general average, the shipper of the goods needs to make payment to the general average guarantee fund before the goods can be picked up.

As of the time Evergreen announced the general average, Donjon-Smit, a professional rescue company hired by Evergreen, was still assisting with the rescue work. Dredges continue to dredged around Ever Forward in preparation for the next rescue effort.

On March 13, local time, Ever Forward ran aground at a depth of about 25 feet (7.62 meters) outside the Craighill Channel in the Chesapeake Bay shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore, United States.

The first rescue operation was carried out on the afternoon of March 29, local time, and five tugboats were used to help Ever Forward get out of trouble, but it was unsuccessful.

The second rescue operation was carried out on the evening of March 30, local time, using 6 tugboats and taking advantage of the high tide time on the east coast of the United States to raise the water level around the ship by about 0.5-1 feet higher than usual. Help Ever Forward re-float. But the rescue was unsuccessful.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the next rescue would be from April 3 to April 4 local time. If this is still unsuccessful, some of the containers loaded by Ever Forward may be transshipped.

Once the container is transferred, it means that the ship’s escape time will be delayed again, and the time for the loaded goods to reach the destination port will be further delayed.

Ever Forward is Evergreen’s 12,000TEU-class F-type container ship with a length of about 334 meters and a width of 48.4 meters. It can load 12,118TEU, with an average draft of 13 meters and a design speed of 24.1 knots.

The shipping schedule on Evergreen’s official website shows that Ever Forward is currently deployed on the Asia-US East route, calling at ports including Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cologne, Savannah, New York, Norfolk, and Baltimore. The vessel was en route from Baltimore to Norfolk at the time of the accident and was scheduled to arrive at Xiamen on April 16.

Last year, Ever Given, another large container ship owned by Evergreen, ran aground in the Suez Canal for six days and declared general average at the time.

Some people in the industry said that the stranded situation of Ever Forward is different from that of Ever Given. Ever Given is a run aground at the bow and stern, and then escaped by high-powered dredgers, large salvage tugs and massive high tides. Ever Forward is a complete grounding of the hull, and the lack of external conditions in the rescue work of Ever Given makes the rescue more difficult.

According to foreign media reports, the U.S. Coast Guard said on April 4, local time, that after two unsuccessful rescues with the Maryland Department of the Environment, Evergreen Shipping and the designated rescue company Donjon-Smit, a new plan was developed and will begin Transshipment of containers loaded on Ever Forward.

It is reported that after it was determined that Ever Forward could not get out of trouble due to the current carrying situation, the rescue company Donjon-Smit proposed a transfer plan, which would create the best chance for Ever Forward to re-float.

According to the plan, the container transfer operation will use two crane vessels to lift the containers from the port and starboard sides of Ever Forward, transfer them to the barge, and then transport the containers back to the Port of Baltimore. Meanwhile, dredgers will continue to operate until the channel is excavated to a depth of 43 feet (13.1 meters).

It is understood that Ever Forward is currently carrying about 5,000 containers and only some of them are expected to be transshipped. Transfer operations will begin as soon as the 2 crane vessels are in place. During the operation, the Craighill Channel will maintain one-way traffic and maintain a 500-yard (approximately 457.2 m) operational safety zone around the vessel.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the program is expected to operate for two weeks, but may also be adjusted based on weather conditions and other uncertainties. For safety reasons, transfer operations are expected to take place during the day.

It is understood that Ever Forward’s next rescue operation is expected to take place on April 15.

At present, in addition to the rescue team regularly detecting the fuel tanks and ballast tanks of the Ever Forward to ensure the stability of the hull and monitoring possible signs of contamination, ship engineers and salvage experts are also remotely monitoring the state of the ship for continuous assessment. Hull stability and integrity until the ship is released.

On March 13, local time, Ever Forward ran aground at a depth of about 25 feet (7.62 meters) outside the Craighill Channel in the Chesapeake Bay shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore, United States. As of April 6, the ship had been stranded for more than three weeks. During this period, the rescue team made two attempts to help the ship escape, but were unsuccessful.

Ever Forward is Evergreen’s 12,000TEU-class F-type container ship with a length of about 334 meters and a width of 48.4 meters. It can load 12,118TEU, with an average draft of 13 meters and a design speed of 24.1 knots.

The shipping schedule on Evergreen’s official website shows that Ever Forward is currently deployed on the Asia-US East route, calling at ports including Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cologne, Savannah, New York, Norfolk, and Baltimore. The vessel was en route from Baltimore to Norfolk at the time of the accident and was scheduled to arrive at Xiamen on April 16.

About 356 ships of various types have been stranded in Ukrainian ports or anchorages since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, including 128 non-Ukrainian-flagged ships, Lloyd’s Daily reported.

Relevant data indicate that the number of ships stranded in Ukrainian ports may be much higher than initially estimated.

According to the report, although some seafarers have been successfully evacuated before, more than 1,000 seafarers from more than 20 countries are still trapped in the war zone. Meanwhile, there is a severe shortage of food and medical supplies on board. 

Guy Platten, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), also said: “Seafarers have become a major victim of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.”

He cited the example of a Romanian ship with 20 sailors left with only three days of supplies, affected by the war in the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

Guy Platten said: “It is not safe for these seafarers to continue on or leave the ship.

Previously, ICS also warned that the labor shortage in the global shipping market caused by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict would exacerbate global supply chain risks.

Guy Platten said at the time: “The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has had a major impact on the safety of seafarers and shipping in the region. As with the COVID-19 pandemic, the plight of seafarers is not caused by the seafarers themselves or the shipping industry. Several merchant ships have been hit by missiles. The hit resulted in casualties of seafarers. At the same time, seafarers from various countries were stranded on ships berthed in Ukrainian ports and could not be evacuated. ICS strongly supported the establishment of sea lanes to allow the safe evacuation of ships currently unable to leave the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to avoid humanitarian crisis.”