In Colombo, tensions between India and Pakistan increase port operations
Deputy Minister of Ports in Sri Lanka Ruwan Kodithuwakku said rising military tensions between India and Pakistan have led to increased operational activity at the Colombo Port. The government has taken preemptive steps to effectively handle the increase in port traffic, the Deputy Minister acknowledged.
Maritime lines between India and Pakistan have been suspended due to the elevated state of alert in the area, impacting both Indian vessels traveling to Pakistan and Pakistani vessels traveling to India.
U.S. Coast Guard sends icebreaker ‘healy’
The U.S. Coast Guard has responded to two Chinese research vessels operating in waters off Alaska’s northern coast, highlighting growing strategic competition in the rapidly changing Arctic region.
Between August 31 and September 2, Coast Guard assets were deployed to monitor the Chinese-flagged research vessel JIDI, found approximately 265 miles northwest of Utqiagvik, and the Liberia-flagged Chinese research ship Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di, located about 230 miles north of Utqiagvik.
Both vessels were operating over the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf and are part of a group of five Chinese vessels recently active in Arctic waters.
French navy seizes nearly 6 tons of cocaine
A French Navy frigate seized 5,919 kg of cocaine valued at approximately €320 million during an operation off the coast of West Africa last Friday. The operation was conducted under the direction of the Atlantic Maritime Prefect and the Public Prosecutor at the Brest Judicial Court.
The intervention came after the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST) requested naval assistance following intelligence shared by international partners including the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC-N), British National Crime Agency (NCA), and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The visiting team from the frigate, deployed as part of the Corymbe mission, boarded the fishing vessel in international waters in the Atlantic maritime zone.
ITF urges call on UAE maritime authorities
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is urgently calling on UAE maritime authorities to intervene in a severe case of seafarer abandonment in the Persian Gulf, where 19 crew members remain trapped aboard the tanker Global Peace.
The vessel, anchored off Al Hamriyah near the UAE coast, carries 17 Indian nationals along with one seafarer each from Bangladesh and Ukraine. Many have been aboard for 15 months—well beyond the 11-month maximum permitted under the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC).
“This is a shocking case of abandonment that shines a light on how seafarers can be unseen victims of the illicit oil trade – it’s imperative that the UAE’s maritime authorities act now to save these seafarers and put an end to their ordeal,” said ITF Inspectorate Coordinator Steve Trowsdale.
Norway frigate deal focuses on russian subs: Chief
Norway decided to pick the UK as the supplier of its new navy frigates as the Nordic NATO member seeks to deter Russian submarines in the High North, according to the country’s defense minister.
“When we’re buying new frigates, it’s for hunting submarines,” Tore O. Sandvik told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Wednesday. “That’s the main capacity of the new frigates: to deter Russia from going into the Northern Sea and the Atlantic with their submarines.”
The £10 billion ($13.5 billion) deal was announced on Sunday. The British Type 26 frigates are warships specifically designed to detect, track and combat submarines, according to Norway’s government.
Russian union wins compensation for death aboard
The Russian Seafarers’ Union (SUR) has begun publicizing cases of labor rights enforcement against “shadow fleet” tankers, the lightly-regulated and questionably-insured vessels that carry most of Russia’s oil to market. The calibrated “price cap” G7 sanction regime has restricted Russia’s access to Western tanker owners and insurers, creating business opportunities for anonymous players who operate along the edges of maritime law and practice – and are occasionally caught shorting their seafarers.
Last month, the SUR reported that it had secured the detention of the tanker Unity, a sanctioned vessel owned in Moscow and managed in the UAE.
Cybersecurity education for the MTS
The information security industry has lamented the lack of available skilled and talented workers for the last three decades. A common estimate is that there are a million unfilled cybersecurity-related positions in the U.S. alone. The absence of skilled cybersecurity workers has a particular impact on the maritime transportation system (MTS) because “traditional” cyberdefense skills do not directly translate to the maritime information ecosystem, so we are even further behind.
The maritime domain is a highly intertwined system of systems, composed of a complex and interconnected collection of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT). Maritime’s information ecosystem is a mix of data centers, networks, sensors, communication systems, and end-user devices that are subject to the same cyberdefense requirements as the rest of the information universe.
For ship managers, evolving role
Ship management is often identified as a tool for smaller fleets or individual shipowners to run their ships and keep up with the majors. The leading ship managers, however, say the practice is evolving from technical skills to incorporate consulting and advising as the shipping business is confronted with new challenges ranging from geopolitical issues to emerging technologies, increasing regulations and a shortage of seafarers.
The emergence of the ship management industry was driven by a basic desire to achieve cost efficiencies, often through scale, while also ensuring regulatory compliance – all to permit owners to focus on the commercial rather than technical aspects of operations.