Incidents

Solomon Islands Submarine Cable Company Limited (SISCC) is a government backed joint venture company which owns and operates Submarine Cable services in Solomon Islands. Photograph: Solomon Islands Submarine Cable CompanyBroadband, mobile services hit in Solomon...

A cargo ship arrived in Emden, Germany with a massive hole in its hull after reportedly striking a wind farm. Photograph: Wasserschutzpolizeiinspektion OldenburgCargo ship strikes turbine at Ørsted's offshore wind farm, Germany.According to the German water police, a...

Fair Isle which lies south of the Shetlands. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The GuardianEmergency communications impacted by subsea cable damage to Shetland Islands, UK.Police declared a major incident after the south subsea cable between the islands and the mainland was...

Legal fighting over the Huntington Beach oil spill escalated Monday as the operator of the broken pipeline sued companies that own and operate cargo ships. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)Blame game over O.C. oil spill heats up as pipeline company sues shipping...

PAKISTAN INTERNET SPEED DOWN 25%Dec 2021: Internet speeds in Pakistan suffer a 25% reduction during peak hours due to a damaged submarine telecommunications cable. One of six international submarine cable systems to Pakistan, Cable AAE-1 was severely damaged by...

Tanker strikes underwater wreck, BangladeshDec 2021: The oil transport Tanker, MT Monowara, struck an unmarked sunken wreck in the Mongla Port channel. The vessels water tank burst and part of an oil tank was damaged in the collision. The Monowara was transporting...

MSC DANIT INVESTIGATED FOR HUNTINGTON Beach OIL SPILLOct 2021: Following a significant oil leak in Orange County, California in early October, The US Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board determined the MSC Danit was involved in an anchor-drag incident...

VOCUS CABLE IN PERTH CUT by Maersk vessel, $1.5m repair costAug 2021: The Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) was cut on 1 August 2021,  The cut was 10km offshore from Perth City Beach inside the Perth Submarine Cable Protection Zone. Arnnet.com.au reported: Police claim...

MAJOR SHIPPING CHANNEL BLOCKEDDec 2020: The Volga River entrance was repeatedly blocked in the first week of December 2020. Three times in three days a vessel ran aground as reported by Fleetmon: PORT OLYA2 was exiting the Volga, en route to Iran.  Amazingly, this was...

Ship collides with platform - USD225m damageOct 2020: In the early hours of October 17, the crude oil tanker Atina was either anchored or in the process of anchoring when it drifted towards the Cox Oil Platform 58-B.  Despite being clearly lit, the tanker struck the...

11,000 square feet of damage Oct 2018: The superyacht, Formosa, dropped anchor in the Kailua Bay Zone of the Kona Coast Fishery Management Area. The swinging anchor chain caused considerable damage to a large area, breaking 432 coral colonies.   If the crew had...

WAYMON L BOYD EXPLODES AFTER HITTING GAS PIPEAug 2020: Dredger WAYMON L. BOYD caused an explosion and major fire in Corpus Christi Ship Channel, Texas, USA.  The dredger struck an underwater gas pipeline. 4 crew members died in the explosion. The fire onboard the...

Wakashio grounding and spill possibly "caused by poor seamanship"Jul 2020: The MV Wakashio oil spill occurred offshore of Pointe d'Esny, south of Mauritius, after the Japanese bulk carrier ran aground on a coral reef. The captain, the chief engineer and the first...

OFFSHORE TENDER HITS WIND TURBINEApr 2020: High-speed offshore tender NJORD FORSETI allided with the basement of a wind turbine at Borkum Rifgrund wind farm, North Sea.  The Jersey Maritime Administration determined that the incident occurred because "the Master, who...

ENEMALTA CONFIRMS ANCHOR STRIKE CAUSE OF POWER DISRUPTIONSJan 2020: After spending 1 million Euros on a survey by the vessel, Polar King, Enemalta confirmed that the interconnector power cable between Sicily and Malta had been damaged by an anchor. “The footage of the...

Offshore tug collided with oil platform, personnel evacuated Jun 2019: Offshore supply tug Sjoborg collided with the Statfjord oil platform in the North Sea. All 276 people on the platform have been airlifted to nearby platforms by helicopter and production has been...

Ship’s anchor damaged GPL submarine cableJun 2019: A ship’s anchor has damaged the submarine cable of Guyana Power and Light Inc. that connects Georgetown with Vreed-en-hoop, West Bank Demerara substations. Customers were without electricity and the onshore...

Internet speed affected as cable breaks in VietnamApr 2018: Dredger Jonathon King Boyd hit a natural gas pipeline and caught fire. The crew of 10 escaped but a trail of burning gas and a closed Intracoastal waterway caused heavy environmental and financial losses.

Solomon Islands to refloat ship after oil spill Feb 2019: MV Solomon Trader was servicing a bauxite mine when it hit a reef and leaked an estimated 100 tonnes of oil causing the largest man-made environmental disaster the country has ever faced.

World’s Largest Offshore Oil Field Partially Shut DownFeb 2019: The Safaniyah oil field in Saudi Arabia—the world’s largest—is producing at a reduced capacity after a ship’s anchor cut a main power cable.

Severed cable sends Tonga 'back to beginning of the internet'Jan 2019: Tonga was in virtual cyber darkness after an undersea cable connecting the archipelago to the wider world was severed by a ship’s anchor. The Pacific island kingdom was cut off from almost all cell...

Large cargo ship runs aground on French Polynesia reefJun 2018: A large cargo ship Thorco Lineage ran aground on Raroia atoll, a French Polynesia reef. The vessel carrying 20,000 tonnes of zinc and 500 tonnes of fuel oil, could have caused significant damage to the...

5 Die in Balikpapan Pipeline Anchor StrikeApr 2018: MV Ever Judger Cargo Ship dropped anchor, dragging a pipeline 120 meters. The resulting fire killed 5 fishermen and a 13000-hectare oil spill damaged mangroves and marine habitats for 60 km of coastline. The Captain...

CSD Jonathon King Boyd Catches Fire at Port O’ConnorApr 2018: Dredger Jonathon King Boyd hit a natural gas pipeline and caught fire. The crew of 10 escaped but a trail of burning gas and a closed Intracoastal waterway caused heavy environmental and financial losses....

Schuette to sue over Line 5 anchor strike Apr 2018: Tug Clyde S. Vanenkevort anchor hit a pair of power transmission cables in the Straits of Mackinac. As a result the cable leaked about 600 gallons of dielectric oil.

Dredger Cai Jun 3 sinks March 12, 2017 Mar 2017:  The dredger Cai Jun 3 sank outside the inbound traffic lane and the wreck posed a significant hazard to shipping in the 2nd busiest port in the world. Read how Vesper Guardian helped to alert vessels of the navigation...

Ship incorrectly directed to anchor in prohibited zone - breaks cable May 2017: The Bulk Carrier ALEX A broke a Telefonica cable into Spain after anchoring at a location directed by the local traffic control center. Upon realizing they had directed the ALEX A to a...

CARRIER Cuts POWER CABLE Mar 2017: The Island Garden City of Samal in the Philippines lost total power after the M/V Ecuador cut the submarine power cable to the Island.  Generators provided limited power for 9 months, until the cable could finally be restored.

"Navigation Error" leads to cargo vessel grounding Jan 2017: The Levant Horizon ran aground while departing Lisbon. After a mistake by the navigation officer the Levant Horizon ran aground on a muddy shallow. 2 tugboats were required to pull the vessel into deeper...

Second time in a year, Jersey Cables cut by anchor Nov 2016: After being damaged in January, the three main internet cables to the Channel Islands were damaged by a dragging anchor. The area is clearly marked in marine charts with warnings against fishing or...

Inadequate planning and monitoring results in grounding Aug 2016: While on approach to the Port of Southampton, UK, the large container vessel CMA CGM Vasco de Gama ran aground. The UK government Marine Accident Investigation Branch that a lack of planning and use of...

CARRIER Cuts fiBRE OPTIC CABLE Oct 2015: Telecommunications into Algeria were severely impacted when a carrier cut a major fibre optic cable.  The Master of the PAVOSA ACE was found guilty of violating navigation regulations.

ANTARES ROCKET LAUNCH SCRUBBEDOct 2017: The launch of fresh supplies to the International Space Station was delayed due to a sailing ship entering the downward range of the rocket trajectory. "Boats violating restricted rocket safety zones periodically cause launch...

Lawsuit says anchor caused $30M in damage to NY power cable Jan 2014: Vessel Ellen S. Bouchard and barge B. No. 280’s anchor hit the 693- megawatt Y-49 Long Island Sound transmission cable. The cable leaked 5 gallons of dielectric oil an hour. 

A long list of failures resulted in OSV hitting an unmanned gas platformFeb 2014: In poor visibility due to fog, the OSV Tristan Janice were only 200 yards away when they realised they were heading directly towards an unmanned offshore gas platform. The resulting...

Rena captain and officer sent to jailOct 2011: MV Rena ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty, spilling its containers and 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel, the worst maritime environmental disaster in New Zealand.

CONTAINER VESSEL, RENA, STRIKES REEFOct 2011: he cargo vessel Rena struck Astrolabe Reef 12 nautical miles off Tauranga and grounded. Rena was carrying 1,368 containers and 1,733 tonnes of heavy fuel oil (HFO) on board at the time of grounding. An oil leak was...

Cruise ship sinks after hitting rockFeb 1986: Despite being piloted by the local Harbourmaster and Pilot, the Mikhail Lermontov struck a rock and sank. This was despite charts showing the channel depth.