3rd January, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) received a distress signal from a registered emergency beacon, with a position showing between Lady Elliot Island and Bundaberg, off the Queensland coast.
Chemical tanker MT TORC experienced a boiler explosion on January 8, while en route from Agio Theodoroi, Greece, to Genoa, Italy, costing the second engineer his life.
According to Besiktas Shipping, the Technical Manager of the vessel, the second Engineer suffered severe injuries and, regrettably, passed away shortly after the incident.
The World Shipping Council and Northeast Maritime Institute held a conference in Houston to discuss the rise in drug smuggling using ships and the abuse of seafarers.
An oil tanker formerly involved in a dispute between Iran and the United States, known as the Suez Rajan and later identified as the St. Nikolas, was boarded in the Gulf of Oman by unauthorized individuals in military uniforms, on 11th January.