The 17 meter long passenger vessel Monarch ran aground in Otago Harbour, New Zealand. The Monarch was underway to Otago Peninsula to pick up passengers when it left the navigation channel to allow a LPG tanker to enter the harbour. As it left the channel, the Monarch drifted on a mud bank. No reports of injuries, damage or pollution released. The Monarch remained on the mud bank until the rising tide refloated the vessel later the same day.
On January 5, the 41 meter long 194 dwt ro-ro cargo vessel Grigory Lovtsov became stuck in ice in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Shantar Islands. The Grigory Lovtsov sent out a distress call that it was trapped in the ice and was risk of ice damaging the hull. Authorities dispatched a Mi-8 helicopter from Khabarovsk to assist the vessel. The helicopter arrived on scene and was able to safely rescue all 8 of the crew. They were taken to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. No reports of injuries.
On January 2, the 200 meter long, 63301 dwt bulk carrier Madison Eagle became disabled on the Marmara Sea while heading for Tuzla from Iskenderun. The vessel had suffered a mechanical failure and the crew was unable to restore propulsion. Authorities dispatched the tugboat KEGM Kurtarma-3 to the scene and took the Madison Eagle under tow. The vessels proceeded to an anchorage off Tuzla, Turkey. No reports of injuries or pollution released.
