Friday, July 28, 2023

US annual inflation posts smallest rise in more than two years

By Lucia Mutikani

2023/07/28

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Annual U.S. inflation rose at its slowest pace in more than two years in June, with underlying price pressures receding, a trend that, if sustained, could push the Federal Reserve closer to ending its fastest interest rate hiking cycle since the 1980s.

The improving inflation environment was reinforced by other data on Friday showing labor costs posted their smallest increase in two years in the second quarter as wage growth cooled. It mirrored reports this month showing the economy shifting into disinflation mode, with consumer prices moderating sharply in June and producer inflation muted.

That, together with labor market resilience, which is underpinning consumer spending, raised cautious optimism of a "soft landing" for the economy envisaged by Fed officials rather than the recession that most economists have been predicting.

"The inflation outbreak is winding down quicker and with less pain for the labor markets than economists could have imagined just a year ago," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York. "This means policymakers can most likely skip a rate hike at the upcoming September meeting."

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 0.2% last month after edging up 0.1% in May, the Commerce Department said. Food prices dipped 0.1% while the cost of energy products increased 0.6%. In the 12 months through June, the PCE price index advanced 3.0%. That was the smallest annual gain since March 2021 and followed a 3.8% rise in May.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the PCE price index gained 0.2% after rising 0.3% in the prior month. That lowered the year-on-year increase in the so-called core PCE price index to 4.1%, the smallest advance since September 2021. The annual core PCE price index climbed 4.6% in May.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the core PCE price index would gain 0.2% and rise 4.2% on a year-on-year basis. They calculated that the "super core" increased 4.1% on a year-on-year basis after rising 4.7% in May. This measure of services less housing is being closely monitored by policymakers to gauge progress in the inflation fight.

The PCE price indexes are the Fed's preferred inflation measures for its 2% target. The core PCE price index reading in June was just above the Fed's recent forecast of 3.9% for the fourth quarter of 2023.

The U.S. central bank on Wednesday raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to the 5.25%-5.50% range, a level last seen just prior to the 2007 housing market crash and which has not been consistently exceeded for about 22 years.

Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices rose.

WAGE GROWTH SLOWS

Annual inflation is easing as last year's surge drops out of the calculations. Food commodity prices are back at levels seen prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed the employment cost index, the broadest measure of labor costs, rose 1.0% in the second quarter. That was the smallest increase since the second quarter of 2021 and followed a 1.2% advance in the January-March period. Labor costs increased 4.5% on a year-on-year basis after shooting up 4.8% in the first quarter.

The ECI is viewed by policymakers as one of the better measures of labor market slack and a predictor of core inflation because it adjusts for composition and job-quality changes.

Wages and salaries rose 1.0% in the second quarter, also the smallest gain in two years, after an increase of 1.2% in the prior three months. They were up 4.6% on a year-on-year basis after advancing 5.0% in the first quarter.

The moderation reflects cooling demand for workers. Wage growth, however, continues to exceed pre-pandemic rates.

"Employers are not feeling the same pressure to increase wages as they have in the past few years," said Cory Stahle, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Inflation-adjusted wages for all workers accelerated 1.7% on a year-on-year basis after being unchanged in the first quarter. The largest increase in real wages in three years gave a boost to households' purchasing power, helping to drive consumer spending and keep the economy afloat.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, increased 0.5% in June after gaining 0.2% in May, the Commerce Department report showed. The data was included in the advance estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product, which was published on Thursday.

Though consumer spending growth decelerated last quarter, that was partly blamed on difficulties adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations following a surge in the first quarter.

The increase was enough to help boost economic growth to a 2.4% annualized rate last quarter from the 2.0% pace reported in the first three months of the year.

In June, consumer spending was lifted by a surge in motor vehicle purchases as well as financial services and insurance outlays. There also were increases in spending on housing and utilities, recreation services, recreational goods and vehicles as well as furnishings and long-lasting household equipment.

After adjusting for inflation, consumer spending rose a solid 0.4% last month, putting it on a higher growth trajectory heading into the third quarter. But with households continuing to run down excess savings accumulated during the pandemic, student loan repayments set to resume and credit conditions tightening, consumer spending will probably not be robust.

"The slowing trends in inflation and wages, and the slowdown in spending we expect, support our expectation that this week's rate hike was the last," said Ellen Zentner, chief U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley in New York.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)

African leaders press Putin to end Ukraine war and restore grain supplies

2023/07/28

By Mark Trevelyan and Kevin Liffey

(Reuters) -African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their peace plan to end the Ukraine conflict and to renew a deal on the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain that Moscow tore up last week.

While not directly critical of Russia, their interventions on the second day of a summit were more concerted and forceful than those that African countries have voiced until now.

They served as reminders of the depth of African concern at the consequences of the war, especially rising food prices.

"This war must end. And it can only end on the basis of justice and reason," African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told Putin and African leaders in St Petersburg.

"The disruptions of energy and grain supplies must end immediately. The grain deal must be extended for the benefit of all the peoples of the world, Africans in particular."

Reuters reported in June that the African plan floats a series of possible steps to defuse the conflict including a Russian troop pull-back, removal of Russian tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus, suspension of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Putin, and sanctions relief.

Putin gave it a cool reception when African leaders presented it to him last month. On Friday, he said Moscow respected the proposal and was carefully studying it, with Ukraine due to be discussed later at a working dinner.

Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso said the African initiative "deserves the closest attention", calling "urgently" for peace.

Senegalese President Macky Sall called for "a de-escalation to help create calm", while South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he hoped that "constructive engagement and negotiation" could help end the conflict.

The stream of calls prompted Putin repeatedly to defend Russia's position and place the blame on Ukraine and the West.

He said it was Kyiv that was refusing to negotiate under a decree passed shortly after he claimed last September to have annexed four Ukrainian regions that Russia partly controls.

'NEW REALITIES'

Russia has long said it is open to talks but that these must take account of the "new realities" on the ground.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected the idea of a ceasefire now that would leave Russia in control of nearly a fifth of his country and give its forces time to regroup after 17 grinding months of war.

AU chair Azali Assoumani offered some support for Putin's line, saying the Russian leader had shown his readiness to talk, and "now we have to convince the other side".

At the summit, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged Russia to revive the Black Sea grain deal which, until Moscow refused to renew it last week, had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its ports despite the conflict.

Egypt is a big buyer of grain via the Black Sea route, and Sisi told the summit it was "essential to reach agreement" on reviving the deal.

Putin responded by arguing, as he has in the past, that rising world food prices were a consequence of Western policy mistakes long predating the Ukraine war.

He has repeatedly said Russia quit the agreement because the deal was not getting grain to the poorest countries and the West was not keeping its side of the bargain.

Russia's withdrawal and its bombardment of Ukrainian ports and grain depots have prompted accusations from Ukraine and the West that it is using food as a weapon of war, and driven the global wheat price up by some 9%.

The Ukrainian Grain Association estimated in May that 4 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain had been stolen since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February last year.

On Thursday, Putin promised to deliver up to 300,000 tons of free Russian grain - which U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called a "handful of donations" - among six of the countries attending the summit.

Assoumani said Putin's offer might not be enough, and what was needed was a ceasefire.

Putin was seeking to use the event to inject new momentum into Russia's ties with Africa and enlist its support in countering what he describes as U.S. hegemony and Western neo-colonialism.

Many of the leaders had warm words for Moscow's record of support for their countries in their 20th-century liberation struggles, and the final declaration promised Russia would help them seek compensation for the damage done by colonial rule and secure the restoration of plundered cultural treasures.

The leaders of Mali and Central African Republic, whose governments have relied heavily on the services of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, both expressed gratitude to Putin.

President Faustin Archange Touadera said CAR's relations with Russia had helped it to save its democracy and avoid a civil war, thanking Russia "for helping us to oppose foreign hegemony".

(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan and Kevin Liffey; Additional reporting by Joe Bavier, Alexander Winning and Reuters bureaux; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Grant McCool)

US Declares Operational New Special Ops Dry Combat Submersible

The United States is expanding its special operations capabilities with the acceptance of a new class of Dry Combat Submersible (DCS). Lockheed Martin, which received the contract for the development of the vessels in 2016, reported that U.S. Special Operations Command recently declared the vessels’ Initial Operational Capability.

The DCS is designed to transport a special operations team for covert insertion and recovery and due to its unique design dramatically increases both the distance and endurance as well as the comfort of the team during the transport phase of their operation.

"The Dry Combat Submersible has the potential to transform undersea warfare for special operators,” said Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager Gregg Bauer. “DCS provides safe, clandestine delivery for occupants over long distances in a completely dry environment and features a lock-in and lock-out chamber. Occupants arrive at the mission warm, rested, hydrated, and ready, making this vessel a key advantage in mission success."

The DCS is a 39.4-foot long submersible able to accommodate up to eight personnel and two crewmembers. It is battery-powered. Other details however have not been released.

A Navy document reviewing the status of the program and the testing noted that “By reducing operator exposure to the underwater environment, the dry environment of DCS improves mission endurance and range over existing small submersibles.”

The vehicle can travel for longer distances below the surface of the ocean while the closed environment means occupants will no longer require wetsuits and will not be exposed to the elements as they are in the current generation of open submersibles uses to transport special ops teams. The lock-in/lock-out technology also permits the team to enter and exit the submersible while entirely submerged and undetected.

“The Lockheed Martin team is proud of the work that has gone into the development and delivery of DCS and supporting U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to this IOC milestone,” says Jason Crawford, senior program manager for Manned Combat Submersibles. “We look forward to delivering the third DCS and supporting DCS into Full Operating Capacity, filling a critical gap for USSOCOM.”

Lockheed Martin has delivered the first two submersibles in a three vessel contract. Testing was delayed due to the pandemic. In February 2022, the status report said the cyber survivability test had been completed and they reported that analysis was underway with testing expected to be completed during FY 2023.

A Dry Combat Submersible, manufactured at Lockheed Martin’s Palm Beach, Florida facility transited to open water sea trials, which were completed in March 2023. The company reports it received notification of the Initial Operational Capability in June 2023.

EU Ombudsman Investigating EU Border Agency’s Handling of Migrant Crisis

The European Ombudsman announced that it will be conducting an investigation into the migrant boat tragedy off Greece in late June that claimed the lives of at least 500 people, sparking widespread criticism of how the ongoing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean is being handled. The Ombudsman, which is an independent and impartial body that holds the EU’s institutions and agencies to account and seeks to promote good administration, is specifically focusing on the role of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and its maritime coordination efforts as they relate to the migrant boats.

Emily O’Reilly, the EU Ombudsman, reports she will be looking at a wind range of documents concerning Frontex’s responsibility to rescue those in distress at sea. She plans to look both at the formal report about how events unfolded with the specific migrant boat off Greece as well as reports of the other recent incidents involving considerable loss of life in the Mediterranean.

“A tragedy of this magnitude requires all those involved to reflect on their responsibilities and to be clear to the public who is accountable for these deaths,” said O’Reilly. “My office will focus on the role of Frontex as we try to piece together the events that led to the capsizing of the boat and the deaths of at least 500 people.”

The Ombudsman’s joined other investigations already underway. She notes that her office will be coordinating with the Greek Ombudsman Andreas Pottakis who has the power to look into how the Greek authorities’ response to the migrant boat. In addition, there have been broad calls within the European Union for an independent investigation into the loss of the overloaded fishing boat. This comes as advocates for the families and survivors call for more to be done and the NGO community continues to call for the European Union to enact a broader program to address the migrant crisis.

The fishing boat was reported to be loaded with as many as 750 people attempting to make the passage from Libya to Italy. Greek authorities confirmed that they had been tracking the vessel after it was reported to be in the area but insisted, they were monitoring. They said they offered assistance but denied the accusations of survivors that the Hellenic Coast Guard was attempting to tow the vessel when it capsized. Just over 100 people survived with critics saying more could have been done to render assistance.

“While the Greek authorities' role is being investigated at the national level, Frontex’s role in search and rescue operation also needs to be clarified,” said O’Reilly. “It has been reported that in this instance Frontex alerted the Greek authorities to the ship’s presence and offered assistance, but it is not clear what else it could or should have done.”

In her letter to the executive director of Frontex, O’Reilly says she has been closely monitoring the detailed reports saying she believes greater clarity is required in relation to Frontex’s role and its broader efforts at providing technical and operational assistance. She asks questions such as how Frontex ensures its duty to rescue those in distress at sea as well as the agency’s role in coordination. She is also asking about specific operational issues such as the use of cameras on boats in the operation.

Looking at the broader handling of migrants at sea in the Mediterranean, the Ombudsman asks Frontex about the reports concerning individuals’ delayed response or refused disembarkation at EU ports during SAR operations. She is also seeking information about Frontex’s protocol on its communications with NGOs that operate in support of SAR operations and reports situations where captains of NGO vessels are required to hand over rescued individuals to the coast guards of non-EU countries.

As part of the investigation, they will also explore the recent EU deal with Tunisia on border management. The focus will be on how the human rights impact. She plans to look at how Frontex ensures compliance with fundamental rights and what it does when it becomes aware of breaches by member state authorities.

Video: Philippine Ferry Boat Capsizes in High Winds, 26 Drowned

Local fishermen and residents respond to the sinking (PCG)

On Thursday, the Philippine Coast Guard launched a rescue operation after a ferry boat sank off Binangonan, Luzon, with at least 26 fatalities.

At about 1910 hours on Thursday, the wooden ferry Princess Aya capsized and went down in Laguna de Bay, a large lake southeast of Manila. Stormy weather and heavy rain from Typhoon Doksuri has been battering Luzon since the beginning of the week, and may have played a role in the casualty. A no-sail order on the lake had just been lifted before the vessel left the dock for a short trip to a nearby island.

The Princess Aya encountered severe winds just after leaving the wharf at Bingangonan, and the passengers rushed to one side in panic, officials told local media. The outrigger broke and the boat quickly capsized just 50 yards off the shore.

The early indications suggest that it was overloaded, a common practice in Southeast Asia. On inspection of the boat's records, the Philippine Coast Guard found that only 22 passengers were declared, and the maximum capacity of the boat was listed as just 42 people. 40 survived the sinking and 26 deceased passengers have been recovered.

The search for survivors and remains of the deceased was suspended overnight, but resumed at 0600 local time on Friday. The number of confirmed fatalities could rise as the search effort continues.

The Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine National Police are investigating the cause of the sinking. The vessel's captain has been taken into custody, and he asserts that he was not aware that the boat was overloaded, according to GMA News.

The Philippines' Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) announced Friday that it has suspended the operating permit of the vessel operator.

The Rescue of the Submarine USS Squalus

L to R: fleet tug USS Wandank, submarine USS Sculpin, submarine rescue ship USS Falcon, naval shipyard tug Penacook, and Lighthouse Service tender Hibiscus, in addition to Coast Guard boats (National Archives)

Most of the rescue missions carried out by the United States Coast Guard and its predecessor agencies (i.e., the U.S. Life-Saving Service, U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, and U.S. Lighthouse Service) were typically associated with marine accidents involving ships or boats. In contrast, the Coast Guard response to the 1939 accidental sinking of the Navy submarine USS Squalus (SS-192) is unique.

Accidental Sinking of the USS Squalus

On the morning of May 23, 1939, the American Sargo-class submarine Squalus was underway for trial maneuvers and dives off the coast of New Hampshire near Isle of Shoals. Earlier test dives had been conducted successfully, and there were no indications of any mechanical or equipment problems.

With a crew of 56 officers and sailors plus three civilian technicians, Squalus commenced a routine dive at 7:40 a.m. Within minutes, the sub experienced catastrophic flooding of the engine rooms, crew’s berthing compartment, and the after torpedo room due to a faulty main induction valve (which allows outside air to enter for diesel engine operation) that did not close properly prior to the dive.

Despite determined efforts to return to the surface, the submarine sank stern-first to 240 feet and sat on the seafloor about nearly four nautical miles south of Isle of Shoals. Immediately releasing a marker buoy with telephone line to the surface, the survivors attempted to signal any nearby ships by means of flares and smoke bombs floated to the surface. Trapped and tragically drowned in the flooded after compartments were 24 officers and sailors plus two civilian technicians. This left 32 officers and sailors and one civilian technician alive in the unflooded forward compartments.

Fortunately, Squalus’s sister submarine, USS Sculpin, was in the vicinity. After being alerted by the naval shipyard that the Squalus was overdue and missing, Sculpin commenced searching and found the marker buoy in the afternoon. After establishing telephone contact with the crew of the Squalus, communications were lost when the marker buoy cable was accidentally severed. Squalus was relocated a few hours later using Sculpin’s sonar gear and a drag hook deployed from the Naval Shipyard tugboat Penacook. From the dragline, a new marker buoy was placed over the Squalus.

Responding Units of the Coast Guard

The Coast Guard’s District One in Boston ordered all available units to proceed immediately to the scene. The first to arrive that evening was Station Isle of Shoals’ picket boat CG-991, which was a powerful ex-rumrunner capable of greater speed than the other available Coast Guard vessels. The boat brought out the first Navy deep-sea divers available in the area from the naval shipyard (two divers, two dive tenders, two mechanics, and their diving equipment). Shortly thereafter, patrol boat CG-158 arrived from its homeport of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Motor lifeboats from Stations Isle of Shoals (CG-4409/CG36382), Portsmouth Harbor (CG-5170/CG36436) and Merrimac River (CG-5139/CG36424) also arrived, along with motorboats CG-5549 and CG43010 from Isle of Shoals. By late evening, patrol boat CG-409 arrived, carrying key personnel and equipment from the Navy’s Experimental Diving Unit, who had flown to Portsmouth from their base in Washington, D.C. And, shortly after midnight on May 24th, cutter CGC Harriet Lane arrived, along with the Lighthouse Service tender Hibiscus.

The Coast Guard vessels and boats were tasked with maintaining a safety cordon around the site. These craft searched for Squalus survivors that might have individually ascended to the surface, while keeping smallboats carrying photographers, reporters, and spectators at a safe distance. The larger Coast Guard picket boats and cutters ferried key personnel and equipment from the naval shipyard to the wreck site. Along with the Hibiscus, they were also used to assist the Falcon and Wandank to set out four-point mooring anchors, lines, and buoys. These were used to position the Falcon directly over the Squalus to carry out dive and rescue operations.

Rescue of Squalus Survivors

The only hope for rescuing the Squalus survivors lay with the recently developed, but never used, McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber (SRC). The only SRC available on the East Coast was aboard the submarine rescue ship Falcon, which fortunately was in port at New London, Connecticut, and quickly arrived on scene. This would be the first use of an SRC for a rescue mission.

With two operators, the SRC descended to the stricken submarine’s escape hatch located in the submarine’s forward torpedo room. Once seated over the hatch with a watertight rubber seal, the SRC’s hatch could be opened. After the submarine’s escape hatch was opened up the eight survivors could be brought into the SRC. After closing the hatches, the watertight seal could be broken and the SRC’s ballast blown, the SRC could float to the surface.

One of the challenges facing the Squalus rescue was the 240-foot depth. At that depth, deep-sea divers using surface-supplied air could only remain on the bottom 20 minutes before risking nitrogen narcosis. However, the Navy’s Experimental Dive Unit had developed deep-sea diving techniques using a helium-oxygen mixed gas and specialized equipment for this technique.

Time was critical for rescuing the survivors before the submarine’s remaining oxygen was exhausted. Once securely anchored over the Squalus, the Falcon commenced dive operations and use of the SRC. Over a period of 14 hours, four trips down were made by the SRC, rescuing 33 survivors. A fifth trip was made to the Squalus’s after torpedo room hatch to verify that no men had survived in the flooded portion of the submarine.

Once brought to the surface, the survivors were transferred to Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane for return to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. This allowed the Navy vessels to remain on scene for the more difficult, challenging, and time-consuming raising and salvage of the Squalus.

Post-Rescue Raising/Salvage Operations

The raising and salvage of the Squalus was one of the most challenging diving and salvage operations ever conducted by the Navy. Today, the final report of this operation is included in the Navy’s salvage handbook.

To raise the Squalus, several floodable salvage pontoons with chain bridles were placed under the bow and stern of the submarine. Once in place, the pontoons were filled with air from the surface with air pressurization hoses. The inflated pontoons provided the buoyancy necessary to lift the submarine off the seafloor and up to the surface. Rigging these pontoons required extensive diving operations, most of which were carried out using the new mixed helium-oxygen gas methods.

Much of this effort was initially trial and error, with the first raising attempt resulting in a spectacular failure consisting of the Squalus rising uncontrolled to the surface, slipping out of the chain bridles, and falling back to the bottom. It took four months (from late May to mid-September 1939) and five attempts to complete the raising and towing of the Squalus from its wreck site back to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. During these attempts, once again, the CGC Hibiscus — along with picket boat CG-991 and other Coast Guard small craft — aided with salvage moorings, towing and safety cordon patrolling. Ultimately, the Squalus was repaired and recommissioned as the USS Sailfish, which had a successful World War II career.

The Coast Guard has, on many occasions, successfully assisted in very different and unique types of rescue missions over its history, including those involving Navy vessels and units. Although the Navy served in the primary role of rescuer and salvager, the Coast Guard provided important assistance that has never been fully related. Although not equipped and trained to carry out underwater rescue operations, the Coast Guard can provide critical assistance in these types of operations, and certainly shared in the success of those efforts for the Squalus rescue.

This article appears courtesy of The Long Blue Line and may be found in its original form here.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

Investigators Raise the Bow Ramp of the Long-Lost Ferry Estonia

A joint Estonian, Swedish and Finnish salvage team has raised the bow loading ramp of the ill-fated ro/pax ferry Estonia, which went down nearly 30 years ago in a storm in the Baltic Sea. The tragedy was one of the most deadly maritime casualties in decades, claiming the lives of 852 people, and investigators hope to lay to rest a longstanding debate over the cause of her loss.

Working from the deck of the Eidesvik research vessel Viking Reach, the salvage team used ROVs to explore the wreck site in detail and obtain video footage from multiple angles. After several days of survey work, they used the robotic vehicles to dredge out sediment from around the damaged bow ramp and rig the piece for hoisting. The 12-tonne ramp was brought to the surface and swung onto deck on Tuesday morning.

The ramp is a key piece of evidence for the investigation. The sinking was initially blamed on the failure of the ship's bow shield, the hinged visor that protected the ramp and gave access to the wide ro/ro decks on the interior. The ship's designer had used the load calculations for typical non-opening bows for its construction, and called for mild steel construction throughout - even for the attachment mechanisms, which were subject to high loads. During the initial site dives in the 1990s, the bow visor was found torn off the ship at a distance from the rest of the wreck; it was recovered and photographed shortly after the accident, but it was scrapped and is no longer available to investigators.

In the years after the sinking, the accident was shrouded in official secrecy: authorities forbade any dive visits to the wreck site and even made plans to cover it in concrete. Victims' families and independent researchers have long maintained that something else might have been to blame, like an explosion or a collision with a submarine.

In a past independent report by news outlet Fokus Estonia, demolition experts suggested that photographs of the (now-scrapped) bow visor showed complex tearing and folding patterns that would only be consistent with explosion damage. Private ROV explorations in 2020 also revealed that the wreck had large openings in its hull, perhaps indicative of damage sustained before the sinking.

A joint Estonian, Finnish and Swedish report released earlier this year pushed back on these controversial claims and endorsed the original conclusion - bow visor failure. The recovery of the ramp will contribute to this debate, as it figures prominently in the official sequence of events: government investigators believe that the flailing bow visor crushed a compartment down onto the top of the ramp, causing the ramp's failure and the subsequent flooding.

The recovered ramp will be brought back to shore, and the authorities intend to undertake a thorough investigation including metal analysis, laser scanning, and chemical analysis. Their hope is that the results will affirm the finding that the disaster was the result of design and construction flaws, not a collision or explosion.

"Naturally, this is a very difficult moment emotionally, because it was certainly a major disaster and a very difficult moment for many people, but I hope that our investigation will provide answers and finally obtain some closure on this matter," chief of the Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau Märt Ots told outlet ERR.

Investigators have also obtained sediment samples from the seabed in the area near the tear in Estonia's hull, which may help confirm their belief that this element of the damage occurred when the wrecked vessel struck the bottom.

Indian Coast Guard Rescues Scientists When Research Ship Breaks Down

The Indian Coast Guard ports it rescued the country’s only ocean-going research vessel after the vessel broke down on July 27 while sailing in the Arabian Sea near the state of Goa on the West Coast of India.

The RV Sindhu Sadhna (4,154 gross tons) is operated by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of the National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO). It was placed in service a decade ago and used for scientific exploration and oceanographic research activities primarily in the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean.

The research vessel is 262 feet long and designed to remain at sea for up to 45 days. It has a normal speed of 13.4 knots. It is outfitted with a broad array of sensors and equipment for oceanographic research. Among the research it is capable of conducting is deep water and sea bed sediment samplings that help deep-water explorations to locate new minerals, hydrocarbon resources, flora and fauna.

The vessel’s AIS signal appears to show the vessel went to sea on July 24 from its base in the Indian city of Mormugao in Goa. The Coast Guard reports it received a call for assistance on July 27 while the vessel was approximately 20 nautical miles offshore. According to the report, the was adrift moving at speeds of up to 3 knots raising the danger of it grounding near the ecologically sensitive Karwar coastline. Eight scientists and a total crew of 36 were aboard.

The Coast Guard sent one of its vessels to assist. Despite challenging weather conditions, they decided to tow the vessel back to Goa. They were able to safely return to port protecting the valuable vessel with its scientific equipment and research data.

Tanker Rescues Woman Suffering From Heat Stroke off Louisiana

Stolt tanker with tug — File image courtesy Stolt Tankers

As the heat dome over the American South continues into its fourth week, heat-related illness is a serious concern in the region - on the water as well as on land. On Friday, a good samaritan merchant ship helped rescue a boater who had developed symptoms of heat stroke off the coast of Louisiana.

At about 1500 hours on Friday afternoon, Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston received a VHF distress call from a man aboard a small pleasure boat. His wife was displaying symptoms of heat stroke and he was concerned for her welfare.

Houston-Galveston issued an urgent marine information broadcast to request help from nearby marine traffic. A product tanker, Stolt Perseverance, received the request and came alongside the pleasure craft to rescue the passenger. The crew brought the victim aboard and gave her medical attention while awaiting a Coast Guard medevac.

Shortly after, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter aircrew out of Air Station Houston flew out to the tanker and hoisted the victim from the ship. The aircrew flew her back to shore and transferred her to a local EMS team, which delivered her to a nearby hospital. She was reported to be in stable condition.

Stolt Perseverance has resumed her commercial voyage, headed southeast out of the Gulf of Mexico.

Rescue at sea is one of the oldest maritime traditions, and Stolt's tankers have provided this service many times over the years. In 2022, Stolt Sea rescued passengers from a sinking boat in the Florida Straits, and in 2012, Stolt Invention rescued two sailors in the Atlantic after their vessel was damaged by a whale.

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