Christmas Day news: Augusta Luna

 News coverage is hard to find on Christmas Day as most news outlets and reporters are enjoying a well earned day off. Thanks to Facebook and a few enthusiast posts some news does seep out. It was from these sources that I learned that the ship Augusta Luna en route from Moa, Cuba (via Halifax) for Bilbao, Spain put into St.John's, Newfoundland this morning, December 25, due to a medical emergency.

 

The ship operates between Europe and Cuba and is a regular caller in Halifax for Nirint Lines. It carries nickel sulfides for processing in Canada, as well as some other export cargo from Cuba. Its most recent call was on December 22.

The ship put into St.John's at about 0900 hrs NST this morning and the local fire department used an aerial ladder to extract the seafarer from the ship. I have no further information except that the ship was in port for less than an hour and returned to sea.

When the Augusta Luna sailed from Halilax it was ahead of some very bad weather. From the sound of the news, it would seem that the seafarer was injured (instead of suffering some disease or ailment), and that evacuation by helicopter was not practical, perhaps due to weather.

To quote from several previous Shipfax posts:

 A versatile ship of 12,772 gt, 17,370 dwt, Augusta Luna has a capacity of 903 TEU (nominal) including 60 reefers. It also carries two 150 tonne and one 80 tonne cranes. Built in 2011 by the Xinshun Shipyard Group in Yueqing, China, it started life as Rickmers Yokohama. In 2015 it became Lolland and Augusta Luna in 2019. 

 It is unfortunate that incidents such as this occur and at Christmas too, but it is a reminder that going to sea on ships can be a dangerous job. Many people must do that work - and on holidays too - often to make life easier for the rest of us. Our hopes are for a safe recovery of the seafarer.

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