USS Essex underway

Amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) is assisted by tugs as she gets underway.

Essex is the only permanently forward-deployed amphibious assault ship and serves Task Force 76. Task Force 76 is headquartered at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, with an operating detachment in Sasebo, Japan.

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Samsung to build largest ever container

Samsung Heavy Industries, Korean shipbuilder, recently unveiled that it will be the first shipbuilder ever to build a 16,000-TEU vessel, which would be the world's largest containership so far.

With 20 percent more cargo capacity than the current largest container vessels of 13,500 TEU, the new ship would be able to hold 180,000 tonnes of cargo. Plus, its length (400 metres) would be greater than the height of the Eiffel Tower (327 metres). The shipbuilder also announced that it has won a US$1.37 billion order from Israeli shipping company Zim Line to build eight 12,000-TEU containerships.

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Scores die as ship sinks

An Indonesian ship that might have been overloaded with passengers capsized off the island of Sulawesi,on October 20th killing around 30 people and leaving many missing, officials said on Friday.

The small wooden ship sank on Thursday night just before reaching the town of Baubau, in southeastern Sulawesi. The mayor of Baubau said 31 bodies, including those of three babies, had been recovered, and 35 people had been reported missing. He said that 125 people had survived. Transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said preliminary investigations indicated that the ship may have sunk because passengers piled onto one side, tipping its balance and causing it to roll over. Authorities are still investigating the cause but Ervan said the seas were calm at the time of the accident.

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Pirates 'overpowered' off Somalia

The crew of a North Korean cargo ship, with US Navy help, have overpowered a group of pirates that hijacked the vessel in waters off Somalia.

Two of the pirates were killed and five captured. Three of the ship's crew were injured, US military officials said. The ship's capture was reported on Tuesday morning by the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program. A helicopter was sent from the warship USS James E Williams to investigate reports of the MV Dai Hong Dan's hijacking. Navy officials ordered the pirates to surrender their weapons by radio, and the ship's 22 crew then managed to overpower the hijackers, the military said. The crew are sailing the ship back to Mogadishu after defeating the pirates.

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