The boat was badly damaged with one crew member killed and three others injured. Four people are missing having been washed overboard by the first wave.

A search and rescue operation is underway into the night involving Coast Guard ships and helicopters with many private vessels also taking part in the search.

CG Aspen and USCGC Sockeye can be seen below:

Coast Guard vessels searching for missing crewmen

The boat was rounding South Farallon Island at around 3 p.m. local time when the incident occurred.

The Full Crew Farallon Race is an annual race around the Farrallones island chain and is run by San Francisco Yacht Club.

The Club posted a statement on their website expressing gratitude to the Coast Guard and thoughts and prayers to the Low Speed Chase crew and their families.

The ship is now reported to have turned back in order to get closer to land and within the range of the Coastguard helicopter.

Is is believed that one person needs to be evacuated after suffering a suspected heart attack.

Sea conditions in the area are reported to be rough to very rough with 15ft waves and strong winds

MS Balmoral was seen leaving Irish waters earlier today on Ship Finder – The AIS destination was set to TITANIC WRECKAGE.

The M S Balmoral cruise is retracing the voyage of RMS Titanic 100 years ago.

Here she is last night leaving Cobh Harbour.

MS Balmoral - Cobh - April 9th 2012 - Photo by Gandfitz

And below setting out on the re-creation of the Titanic voyage in better weather.

Photo by Mark Daniels - Southampton Water - April 08 2012

The Titanic made the same journey setting out from Southampton on April 08 1912.

MS Balmoral departed Southampton on the memorial voyage at 16:00 local time – one hour later than scheduled.

You can see MS Balmoral here on Shipfinder: http://shipfinder.co/ship/308785000

The cruise ship is carrying 1,309 passengers – the same number that were on the RMS Titanic when she sank.

The voyage will go to Cobh, Ireland via Cherbourg, France and then on to the Northern Atlantic Ocean to the exact location where the Titanic sank.

Again this part of the journey will coincide with the 100 year dates and times of the Titanic Disaster.

The Titanic hit an iceberg on 15 April 1912 and sank with the loss of 1,514 lives.

Passengers will gather for a service at the site of the disaster at 02:20 GMT Sunday April 15  – 100 years exactly since the Titanic went down.

Passengers from across the world are on-board the MS Balmoral, The passenger list includes relatives of people that were on the Titanic, historians and Titanic enthusiasts.

The voyage will be an emotional experience and includes a band, meals from the original Titanic menu and a range of talks and presentations by historians and Titanic experts.

Many boarded the liner in period costumes.

This time the voyage will end in New York.

Vessel Comparison

MS Balmoral

Owner: Fred Olsen Cruise Lines

Length: 714ft 11 inches (615ft 10 inches when first built)

Beam: 92ft 7 inches

Draught: 23ft 9 inches (22ft 4 inches when first built)

Launched: November 1 1987 – Rebuilt in 2007

Speed: 25 knots

Max Passengers: 1,778 (1,230 when first built)

MMSI: 308785000

IMO: 8506294

RMS Titanic

Owner: White Star Line

Length: 882ft 6 inches

Beam: 92ft

Draught: 34ft 7 inches

Launched: 31 May 1911

Speed: 24 knots

Max Passengers: 2,435

Lifeboats: 20 (Maximum capacity 1,178 people – 2,224 people were on-board in total.)

The ferry departed Guernsey at 16:15 and had been due to to arrive in Poole at 19:15.

Photo by John Chambers - St Helier Jersey 17 May 2011

The incident is reported to have occurred around 17:30 local time.

A search operation is currently underway and involves the Portland Coastguard helicopter and the Weymouth and Alderney lifeboats.

An aircraft from the Channel Islands is also involved as are the French search and rescue services.

The image below from Shipfinder.co shows the paths of the Condor Rapide and Portland Coastguard helicopter

We saw the Condor Rapide arrive in Poole just before 21:15 local time.

The search is ongoing as seen below on Ship Finder.

Vessel Details

Name: Condor Rapide

Type: Hi Speed Craft
Length x Breadth: 86 m X 26 m
Flag: Bahamas [BS]
Call Sign: C6YK8
IMO: 9161560
MMSI: 311036800

CV6 Geraldton Western Australia is one of 10 68-foot yachts competing in the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race.

Four crew members, three British and One Australian, are reported to have been hurt.

They suffered a range of injuries including broken ribs and are being treated by medically trained colleagues.

A container ship has been diverted to offer assistance to the Geraldton which is still around 400 miles off the Californian coast.

It is also hoped that para-jumpers from the US Coastguard can reach the racing yacht when weather conditions subside.

We have already seen the leaders arrive on Ship Finder over the last few days.

CV1 Gold Coast has won this leg of the race and can be seen as she approached the finishing line on Ship Finder.

http://shipfinder.co/ship/235026123/time/2012-03-30T23:30:00%20UTC

Currently CV9 Qingdao can also be seen nearing the finish line (06:30 UTC April 1 2012)

Geraldton is also on her way into port although is still two to three days away and is underway using secondary steering.

The race takes place every two years ant the teams are currently approaching Oakland, San Francisco having left China last month.

The Clipper Round The World Yacht Race is expected to finish in Southampton, England in July 2012.

This photo was taken as the yachts left Southampton for the start line off Cowes in July 2011..

 A fire aboard the cruise liner Azamara Quest left her adrift in the Sulu Sea around 200 miles off the coast of Borneo, Indonesia without power.

Weather conditions in the area are reported to be good.

The fire broke out in the engine room and was quickly contained; it is however  reported that some crew members required treatment for effects of smoke inhalation.

Passengers were instructed to prepare to leave the ship power but this was not necessary and power has been restored to at least one of the engines.

The cruise liner is carrying 590 passengers and 411 crew. The passengers are mostly Americans and European tourists.

The MV Azamara Quest is currently on a 17 Day cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore that began on March 26th.

She left Manila on Wednesday and is due to visit Balikpapan, Palapo, Benoa Bali, Semarang and Komodo in Indonesia before ending the cruise in Singapore

We are not currently tracking the Azamara Quest on Ship Finder and last saw her setting off from Hong Kong.

http://shipfinder.co/ship/256216000

You can see images of Azamara Quest uploaded to Ship Finder here..

If you are able to help with AIS data for the region please let us know.

Vessel Details

Name: Azamara Quest
Flag: Malta
MMSI: 256216000
IMO: 9210218
Call Sign: 9HOM8
Built: 2000
Length x Breadth: 180 m X 30 m

The incident occurred near the town of Maaloeya, 170 miles north of Bergen, Norway.

There are no reports of injuries to the crew but an oily film has been seen on the water.

The 14 crew members are from Russia, Ukraine and the Philippines.

The Antigua registered container ship has around 280,000 liters of oil and 67,000 liters of diesel on board.

Vessel Facts

Name: Celina

Type: Cargo

Callsign: V2BV3

MMSI: 304372000

IMO: 9235373

Flag: Antigua & Barbuda

The 19 Italian crew were rescued by coastguard helicopters in difficult flying conditions as the ships lifeboats could not be launched.

The vessel was en route from Venice to the Sicilian port of Augusta and was not carrying a cargo at the time.

There have been no reports of injuries or pollution.

We last saw the Gelso M on Ship Finder in the Adriatic late on March 8

http://shipfinder.co/ship/247229900/time/2012-03-08T22:10:00%20UTC

Vessel Details

Name: Gelso M
Type: Oil/Chemical tanker
Built: 2008
Length x Breadth: 147 m X 22 m
Flag: Italy
Call Sign: ICHH
IMO: 9367360
MMSI: 247229900

The ships involved were the Stena Feronia ferry (Liverpool to Belfast) and the cargo vessel Union Moon

The images below show the tracks of the two vessels as recorded on http://shipfinder.co/

Union Moon:

Stena Feronia

Passengers on the Stena Feronia were reported to have been thrown about and frightened by the crash.

Fortunately no injuries have been reported although both vessels have docked in Belfast with substantial damage.

The Bangor and Donaghadee lifeboats  attended the incident and stood by as the vessels made their way back to port.

The Stena Feronia was carrying 51 passengers and 47 crew members from Birkenhead on Merseyside to Belfast.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is carrying out an investigation into the collision.

The Captain of the Union Moon was reported to have been arrested after the crash.

The two vessel involved are shown below.

Stena Feronia

Photo by Nick Mercer

Union Moon

Photo by Steven Oppeel

Vessel Facts

Stena Feronia
Type: Passenger Ferry
Built: 1997
Length x Breadth: 186 m X 26 m
Flag: United Kingdom
Call Sign: MEEJ3
IMO: 9136022
MMSI: 235007370

Union Moon
Type: Cargo
Built: 1985
Length x Breadth: 87 m X 11 m
Flag: Cook Islands
Call Sign: E5U2417
IMO: 8416839
MMSI: 518467000

February 27 2012 – A fire aboard Costa Allegra has left her adrift in the Indian Ocean without power.

The vessel is around 200 miles southwest of The Seychelles.

The fire broke out in the engine room and has been contained; there are no reports of injuries or casualties.

Photo by Tonci Razmilic

It is likely that the liner will now be towed to a port in The Seychelles.

We are not currently tracking this recovery work on Ship Finder.

If you have AIS data for the region please let us know.

Vessel Details

Name: Costa Allegra
Flag: Italy
MMSI: 2478160000
IMO: 6916885
Call Sign: ICRA
Built: 1969
Length x Breadth: 189 m X 25.6 m