From Cosco bulker, US seizes $70k in unreported currency
Officials of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized a large amount of unreported cash from a Chinese-owned bulker while it was in the port of Baltimore. While it is not a crime to have the cash aboard the ship, U.S. officials highlighted the reporting requirements while contending the captain of the ship had made the appropriate reports at other U.S. ports.
The incident began simply enough with a routine inspection of the bulker Sheng Ning Hai (56,716 dwt) when it arrived in the Port of Baltimore on January 21. CBP conducted a routine enforcement boarding of the bulker after it reached the port.
CBP highlights that one element of these inspections is for the vessel’s captain to report to CBP officers how much currency the vessel is carrying. The master of the bulker did not report any currency to CBP officers, although he had filed a report days earlier in Maine.
Under the law, those entering and departing the United States may carry any amount of currency and other monetary instruments that they choose. However, any amounts over $10,000 must be reported on a U.S. Treasury Department Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments form.
Beijing accepts to assist police the sale of Chinese outboards to smugglers
Unprecedented criticism over the growing numbers of illegal migrants crossing the English Channel using small boats has forced the UK Labor government to rethink strategy on how to deal with the menace, and one novel new solution centers on stopping the flow of engines and components.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants Beijing to stop supplying engines that power small boats used by human smuggling gangs to transport immigrants to the UK via the English Channel. During the first visit to China in eight years for a British prime minister, Starmer sealed a border security deal with Beijing to tackle the flow of Chinese-made small boat parts.
Few black sea tankers are hugging the turkish coast for protection
For Ukrainian maritime intelligence officers looking to do the Russians damage, the passage of shadow fleet tankers through the Black Sea to the crude loading terminals near Novorossiysk presents a target selection challenge, and a process where mistakes can be made.
A review of AIS tracking data covering the Black Sea in recent days illustrates the nature of the problem.
There is a steady flow of legitimate tanker traffic heading for the three Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) loading berths at the Novorossiysk-2 Marine Terminal. Of the oil loaded from the CPC Novorossiysk berths, historically about 85 percent is Kazakh crude from the Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak fields, and this flow represents about 80 percent of Kazakh oil exports. Some of the balance of Kazakh production is piped through the CPC’s eastern gateway at Alashankou directly to China.
OP-ED: Fully-compliant fire systems may fall short against latest risks
Inspection reports across much of the commercial fleet paint a reassuring picture. Fire detection systems are operational, fixed firefighting systems are in good working order, equipment is serviced on time and instructions are correctly posted. On paper, vessels are doing what is required of them.
The problem is that paper compliance is increasingly being mistaken for operational readiness.
Most of the fire detection and firefighting systems in service presently were designed for a risk profile that has changed very little over several decades. Engine rooms, accommodation spaces and conventional cargoes are well understood, and the industry has become comfortable relying on smoke and heat detection, CO? systems, water spray and foam to manage those risks. When inspections confirm these systems are maintained and functional, vessels pass, as they should.
What inspections cannot resolve is whether those same systems are suitable for the fires the industry is now worried about.
President slashes tariffs on Indian goods in trade deal linked to Russian oil exit
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday announced a trade deal with India that slashes U.S. tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent from 50 percent in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.
Trump announced the deal on social media following a call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, noting that India would now buy oil from the U.S. and potentially Venezuela.
A White House official told that the U.S. was rescinding a punitive 25 percent duty on all imports from India over its purchases of Russian oil that had stacked on top of a 25 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate.
U.S.-listed shares of major Indian companies rallied on the news. IT consulting firm Infosys INFY.K closed 4.3 percent higher, consultancy Wipro WIT.N rose 6.8 percent, HDFC Bank HDB.N gained 4.4 percent and the iShares MSCI India exchange-traded fund rallied 3 percent.
Japan accelerates a decade-old plan to extract rare earths
Japan is accelerating a decade-old plan to extract rare earths from the deep seabed, an ambitious initiative given extra impetus by the country’s drive to cut reliance on Chinese supply.
A state-owned vessel is scheduled to return to port this month after fitting equipment below the surface of Japanese waters, near a coral atoll 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) from Tokyo. The aim is to pull metal-bearing mud from the seabed for tests as early as February 2027, according to the government body running the project.
“It’s about economic security,” said Shoichi Ishii, program director for Japan’s National Platform for Innovative Ocean Developments. “The country needs to secure a supply chain of rare earths. However expensive they may be, the industry needs them.”
Rare earths — a set of metallic elements used in smartphones, electric vehicles and fighter jets — have become a political flashpoint, with China using its dominance of the global supply chain as a crucial bargaining chip in last year’s trade war with the US. More recently, Beijing banned exports to Japan of products destined for use in military applications, marking an escalation of a diplomatic spat between the countries.