Amnesty international wants ship loaded with explosives for Israel stopped
The human rights organization Amnesty International is calling for a small cargo ship to be blocked from entering ports in Europe due to the belief the vessel is transporting explosives bound for Israel. The group says that permitting the vessel to transport these materials violates international regulations.
The ship has been the center of a controversy since it departed Vietnam in late July. The ship named Kathrin (8,000 dwt) registered in Portugal and operated by a company based in Germany has been hounded by activists as it made its trip to Europe. It made a stop in Singapore for fueling before making the transit across the Indian Ocean to Africa.
China coast guard spotted in the bering sea, farther north than ever
The U.S. military has been keeping a close eye on increased levels of Russian and Chinese activity in the North Pacific and the Bering Sea, even deploying an Army guided-rocket unit to Shemya Island in response. Over the weekend, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted an unusual joint Russian-Chinese patrol near U.S. waters – a combination of Russian and Chinese coast guard cutters.
On Saturday, while on patrol along the U.S.-Russian EEZ boundary line, a U.S. Coast Guard Hercules aircrew spotted a formation of two Russian Border Guard ships and two China Coast Guard cutters at a position about 400 nautical miles southwest of St. Lawrence, in the center of the Bering Sea. The flotilla remained about five miles inside of the Russian side of the line.
Houthis damage vessels in new wave of attacks
The Houthis are taking credit for attacks on several merchant ships with reports saying that at least two vessels have suffered damage in the new barrage. These are the first attacks in nearly a month on merchant ships and come as the Houthis threatened escalations after Israel attacked Yemen’s seaport over the weekend and launched its attacks on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
UK Maritime Trade Operations is confirming attacks on two vessels, a tanker and a bulker, in the same general area of the Red Sea and both damaged but with no reported crew injuries. The vessels are both reported proceeding according to UKMTO.
French politics and markets cause cancellation of sail box ship order
An innovative project to build five innovative containerships that would have combined sailed and methanol-fueled propulsion has been canceled due to French politics and the overall downturn in the cargo markets. Planned by the firm Zéphyr & Borée, they however said they remain committed to the project and will continue to seek financing.
Last week, the Hyundai Mipo Shipyard in South Korea reported the cancelation of an order in a stock exchange announcement saying it was “upon the shipowner’s request to cancel the contract.” They said it was for five vessels with a value of nearly $315 million. The order was placed in May 2023.
Zéphyr & Borée confirmed that it has withdrawn the contract for the ships which were to be an initial class of five feeder ships with a capacity of 1,300 TEU that would have deployed a wing sail design as well as methanol-fueled engines to achieve one of the first zero-emission containerships.
Global schedule reliability remained stable in 2024 ahead of U.S. strike
Carrier schedule reliability stabilized in 2024 after the shocks coming from the Red Sea diversions and issues at the Panama Canal. By pressing extra vessels into operation and management carriers were able to level off after significant drops from 2023 but that is before the anticipated impacts of the strike at U.S. East/Gulf Coast ports starting at midnight tonight, September 30.
“Schedule reliability in 2024 has stabilized within the 50 to 55 percent range,” highlights Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence. “While disappointingly low, the minimal volatility this year does give shippers a relatively good idea of what to expect month to month.”
In August 2024, global schedule reliability improved by just 0.7 percentage points month over month up to 52.8 percent. It was the smallest percentage movement of 2024 but it is down over 10 percentage points from a year ago. The average year-to-date for 2024 is just over 53 percent versus a 62 percent average for 2023.
UK is latest to track movement of cargo ship laden with ammonium nitrate
The Malta-registered cargo ship Ruby continues to attract worldwide attention with the UK maritime authorities being the latest to be observing the ship’s movements. Laden with 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate which was reportedly destined for the Canary Islands as fertilizer the hazardous nature of the cargo has created international attention aboard the vessel which was damaged in an Arctic storm.
After being turned away from ports in Norway, Lithuania, and Sweden and placed under restrictions for its movements by the Danish authorities, Ruby instead started south declaring its destination as Malta. Managed by a company from the UAE, the vessel is registered in Malta and the local authorities as the vessel’s port state have been involved in the efforts to find it a port of refuge.
Captain receives eight-month U.S. prison term for marpol violation
The master of a product tanker who committed a MARPOL violation and then attempted to conceal information from the U.S. Coast Guard was recently sentenced to eight months in a U.S. prison by a federal court in New Orleans. Yesterday, the court completed the case accepting a guilty plea from the vessel’s operators and ordering them to pay a $2 million fine and four years probation.
The charges pertain to the investigation of the Panama-flagged tanker P/S Dream which was operated by Prive Overseas Marine and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret. One of the crewmembers working aboard the vessel alerted the Coast Guard and shared videos of the vessel illegally discharging waste oil and the resulting oil sheen. When the ship arrived in Louisiana, another crew member came forward and gave the Coast Guard a recording of an officer discussing the discharge.