Gusts of up to 65mph forecast to hit English and Welsh coasts on Saturday along with prolonged rain
Ferry and rail passengers have been warned of cancellations and delays as gusts of up to 65mph (105km/h) are forecast to batter the English and Welsh coasts at the weekend.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind in parts of England and Wales from 6am on Saturday until 9pm the same day, and prolonged rain was forecast.
Continue reading...Another 40 people have been rescued after boat overturned just after leaving wharf in Rizal province
At least 26 people have died and 40 have been rescued after a ferry capsized in the Philippines, officials have said, as the tail end of Typhoon Doksuri battered parts of the country.
Officials said it remained unclear how many people were aboard the M/B Princess Aya, which capsized on Thursday in Laguna de Bay in Rizal province, east of Manila.
Continue reading...Hours-long delays were reported as IT problems also caused disruption on Dover-Calais ferries
Passengers arriving at major airports in the UK at the start of the bank holiday weekend faced long delays after problems with electronic passport gates.
Travellers expressed their anger on social media over queues of several hours at a number of airports including Heathrow and Gatwick as arrivals had their passports checked by hand instead of the automated machines.
Continue reading...Families of pupils whose foreign trips were cancelled owing to the delays blame border staff, Brexit and ferry companies
Among those angered by the delays at Dover were parents of children setting off on school trips who had to wait for hours on coaches, in some cases only to have to turn back.
Nicola Eslick, 51, from Brighton, pointed the finger at those in charge of border controls after her 14-year-old son had his school trip cancelled on Sunday morning as a result of the chaos at Dover, approximately 14 hours after departing.
Continue reading...School holiday delays of up to 14 hours blamed on ‘French border processes and sheer volume’
Extra sailings are to run overnight at the Port of Dover to try to clear a backlog that left passengers stuck in Easter school-holiday traffic for hours on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the port, which declared a critical incident on Friday, said it was hoping to clear the backlog by lunchtime on Sunday as some travellers said they had been held up for 14 hours.
Continue reading...First of new vessels expected to be seaworthy by the end of 2030s, with Australia receiving theirs in early 2040s
The UK’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet could double in size as plans were revealed for the new “Aukus” vessels to be based on a British design.
In a bid to counter the growing threat from China, the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, vowed alongside his US and Australian counterparts to stand “shoulder to shoulder” to protect peace in the Indo-Pacific given its implications for security across the world.
Continue reading...Fishing boat believed to be resting on seabed after collision with Condor Ferries freight vessel
The search for three fishers whose boat sank in the Channel after a collision with a freight vessel has resumed off the coast of Jersey.
Lifeboats and a search aircraft were launched at first light to continue to scour the area to the west and north-west of the island.
Continue reading...French government calls Italy ‘inhumane’ for refusing vessel but Italian PM hits back as rift deepens
France and Italy have intensified their bitter row over migration after a charity-operated ship carrying hundreds of asylum seekers rescued in the central Mediterranean docked in the French port of Toulon after almost three weeks during which Italy’s far-right government failed to give it safe port.
The French government called Italy “irresponsible” and “inhumane” for not coming to the aid of the ship, which had been stuck in Italian waters for weeks carrying sick passengers who had been rescued at sea between Libya and Italy.
Continue reading...At least 22 people dead, with many more missing, in two separate incidents hundreds of miles apart
Search and rescue operations are under way in the west and east of Greece after refugees desperate to reach Europe were involved in two separate maritime disasters in less than a day, the country’s coastguard said.
Almost 12 hours after two vessels sank in the Aegean sea, rescue workers hampered by inclement weather were in a race against the clock on Thursday to find survivors as authorities reported that at least 16 women and a boy had died when an overloaded boat capsized east of the island of Lesbos.
Continue reading...Number of billionaires interested in superyachts said to have grown despite Russia sanctions and global economic crisis
“Change the TV channels now,” the captain of a $95m (£85m) Albatross superyacht calls out to a deckhand. “That guy has probably lost two mil in the last two minutes and we’re trying to convince him to drop 95.”
“That guy” is a prospective buyer of the 72-metre long vessel floating in Monaco’s Port Hercules where the world’s richest people (and their entourages) have gathered this week for the annual yacht show. With more than €4bn (£3.5bn) worth of marine luxury on display, it is as brokerage firm Burgess puts it: “The chicest way for billionaires to celebrate the end of summer”.
Continue reading...Additional requirements would be time-consuming and threaten capacity, Dover port boss says
Post-Brexit Channel border delays could multiply from next May, with a five-person vehicle being held for up to 10 minutes if the EU goes ahead with a planned biometric entry system, the Port of Dover has said.
The entry-exit system (EES), which is due to start in May 2023, will require all non-EU nationals to register their fingerprints and be photographed before entering the bloc.
Continue reading...Businesses along the river say drought means they are on the verge of having to shut production
Germany’s Rhine, one of Europe’s key waterways, is just days away from being closed to commercial traffic because of very low levels caused by drought, authorities and industry have warned.
Crucially, the impending crisis could lead energy companies to cut their output, one of the country’s biggest gas companies has said.
Continue reading...Kent port apologises for delays and blames French border control as summer getaway kicks off
Holidaymakers have been warned chaos that triggered six-hour queues at Dover could spill into the weekend, after the port declared a “critical incident” that it blamed on “woefully inadequate” French border control staffing.
The Kent port apologised to travellers facing long waits to cross the Channel on an extremely busy day for travel across the UK, as schools across England and Wales break up for the holidays.
Continue reading...At least three people rescued from ship that broke in two during typhoon but more than two dozen still missing
More than two dozen crew members are unaccounted for after their ship broke in two during a typhoon in the South China Sea on Saturday, with rescuers scrambling to find them, officials have said.
Authorities dispatched planes and helicopters to help with the rescue. At least three people from the crew of 30 had been brought to safety as of 5.30pm local time (1030 GMT).
Continue reading...EasyJet cancelled 14 flights, while ferry passengers at Dover face queues, and jams await drivers
Half-term holidaymakers are navigating the busiest day at British airports since the start of the pandemic with some hit by further flight cancellations, while cross-Channel ferry passengers face long queues at Dover and drivers are warned to expect jams.
EasyJet cancelled 14 more flights at London Gatwick in the early morning peak, in the aftermath of IT problems on Thursday that took out 200 of its flights around Europe.
Continue reading...John Lansdown seeking up to £76m, which he will use to set up trust to help fellow seafarers
A former P&O Ferries chef is suing the company for £76m over its decision to sack almost 800 staff without notice last month.
John Lansdown, the only seafarer to launch a legal action, has filed a tribunal claim against the company and its chief executive for unfair dismissal, racial discrimination and harassment.
Continue reading...Union leaders call for employment bill and accuse ministers of failing to challenge sacking of 800 staff
Ministers have serious questions to answer on the growing scandal at P&O Ferries and must make it a catalyst to improve workers’ rights, the Trades Union Congress said on Sunday.
The TUC accused the government of sitting on its hands and failing to protect workers after P&O sacked 800 staff on Thursday with a plan to replace them with cheaper agency workers. It has emerged that ministers were informed in advance about the mass redundancies.
Continue reading...Labour and unions demand immediate action including suspending licences of parent company DP World
Unions and the Labour party have demanded immediate action over the sacking of 800 British crew by P&O Ferries, including suspending the licences of its parent company, DP World, as it emerged the government was made aware of the move the previous night.
Amid public calls for a boycott of P&O and protests at ports, unions demanded the government urge the firm to reverse its decision, and curb DP World’s involvement in planned freeports.
Continue reading...Ministers and unions call for action against transport company’s Dubai owners
Ministers and trade unions have condemned P&O Ferries’ mass sacking of 800 British seafarers to replace them with agency crew as shameful and “completely unacceptable”, amid furious calls for action against the company’s Dubai owners.
P&O Ferries’ services could be suspended for up to 10 days, disrupting its cross-Channel and Irish Sea routes, after an extraordinary day in which the operator sacked its entire British seafaring staff without notice. They learned the news of their redundancy via a pre-recorded video message this morning.
Continue reading...The 334-metre Ever Forward ran into trouble in the Chesapeake Bay, a year to the month after its cousin blocked the canal in Egypt
A year to the month after the Ever Given blocked the Suez canal for a week – prompting global fascination and countless memes – the container ship’s cousin has run aground in the Chesapeake Bay.
Officials are now scrambling to refloat that container ship, ironically named the Ever Forward, after it got stuck on Sunday night as it tried to head from the Port of Baltimore to Norfolk, Virginia, Bloomberg reported.
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