COASTAL NAVIGATOR

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its interim report on the foundering of the Bayesian, saying the yacht may have been vulnerable to high winds and that such winds may have been evident at the time of the accident.On 19 August 2024, the UK registered large sailing yacht Bayesian foundered in high winds 0.5 nautical miles south-east of the port of Porticello, Italy. There were 12 guests and 10 crew on board at the time the vessel sank. Six of the guests and one crew member died.

Woodside Energy’s Scarborough energy project has achieved a major engineering milestone with the joining together of the topsides and hull for the Floating Production Unit (FPU).Constructed separately at two different fabrication yards in China, the joining of the two mega-structures is a significant step forward for the Scarborough energy project as it progresses towards first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo, targeted for the second half of 2026.The floatover required precise planning and extensive collaboration by all stakeholders. Teams from Woodside, McDermott, QMW and COSCO worked closely on the fabrication of the structures and to safely bring them together.

Scientists at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Liverpool have used satellite data to create insight into the Mersey River that will help port operators be smarter about managing complex navigation channels. Through a project focused on Liverpool’s famous river and funded by the UK Space Agency, NOC’s scientists showed that changes in areas exposed at low tide can be mapped from space.The project, run in partnership with the Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) and Peel Ports Group, means port operators could now pre-empt sand or mud moving and blocking their navigation channels, reducing larger remediation works.

One of the world’s most advanced offshore production assets, the Agogo floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, operated by Yinson Production for Azule Energy, made a scheduled technical stop at Walvis Bay in Namibia, while en route to a field offshore Angola.The brief stopover, which took place on May 8, 2025, was part of planned logistics to replenish stores and facilitate crew changes.Built and operated by Yinson Production for Azule Energy, the vessel is expected to reach Angola in mid-May.

Traders have rebranded more than $1 billion of Venezuelan oil shipments to China as Brazilian crude over the past year, according to two tanker tracking firms, company documents and four traders, helping buyers to cut logistics costs and circumvent U.S. sanctions.Independent refiners in China are the main buyers of seaborne oil shipments from countries sanctioned by the United States, with offshore Malaysia serving as a key trans-shipment hub for Venezuelan and Iranian crude.Since July 2024, however, traders have also rebranded Venezuelan oil as from Brazil.