News

The 'Huihai Pacific' has discharged its Russian oil cargo in Tianjin on Jan 31. It had originally been heading for Dongjiakou, a port in the Shandong province. The tanker has been sanctioned by the US on Jan 10 and berthed in the port following an unusually long journey in which it changed its destination from the Shandong province, a hub for independent refiners. spending almost four weeks at sea, much more than the regular journey from Kozmino to China that usually takes less than a week. The 'Huihai Pacific', which isa regular on the route from Kozmino on Russia’s Pacific coast to China, then unloaded nearly 770,000 barrels of ESPO crude. The USA have imposed broad sanctions on Russian oil exports on Jan 10, blacklisting at least 70% of the fleet that serve Kozmino. While those vessels, including the 'Huihai Pacific', have until the end of February to discharge cargoes loaded before the restrictions were announced, Several of them have been idling off China after the Shandong Port Group Co., which manages multiple terminals in the province, issued a directive. China’s independent refiners, most of which are in Shandong, have been the most enthusiastic buyers of ESPO and Sokol crude from Russia’s Far East due to discounts and short travel times. They may now be faced with considerably higher transport costs to keep taking the oil.

On Jan 28 a statement was published by the British Parliament which confirmed that the UK had deployed Royal Navy and Royal Air Force (RAF) assets to track and monitor the 'Yantar' as it moved through British waters. The operation involved a coordinated effort by maritime patrol aircraft, the Minehunter HMS 'Cattistock', the River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS 'Tyne', and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) 'Proteus', a survey and surveillance ship. In addition, the British Parliament authorized a Royal Navy submarine to surface close to the 'Yantar'—strictly as a deterrent measure—to signal that UK forces had been covertly monitoring the Russian vessel’s every move. Following this decisive action, the 'Yantar' has left UK waters without further loitering and continued its journey towards the Mediterranean.

Three South Korean brokerage firms, including Samsung Securities Co. Ltd., underwrote around 250 billion won ($208 million) of a subordinated debt on Abbot Point coal terminal in Australia in the second investment by South Korean institutions in the export terminal. Samsung and Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. acquired 150 billion won of the five-year debt in aggregate for an expected yield of about 8%. They are selling them down to domestic institutional investors.

Carnival Cruise Line is to fully renovate and significantly expand Cruise Terminal F at Florida’s PortMiami to accommodate its Excel-class cruise ships, which will be the largest in its fleet and will be powered by LNG. Following approval from the Miami-Dade County Commission, Carnival has shared its plans to work with Miami-based design firm Berenblum Busch Architects to create a terminal with a simple and open layout. The terminal will be equipped with various technologies, such as facial recognition systems, to make the embarkation process quicker and safer. Terminal F is set to open in October 2022 to coincide with the arrival of Carnival’s second Excel-class ship (yet to be named) and is one of three dedicated to the line’s operations in Miami.

The blaze aboard the 'Lowlands Diamond' at Aberdeen’s South Harbour was extinguished on the early afternoon Jan 30. Charred cargo from the vessel's cargo hold was piled up on the quayside, ringed by shipping containers. Heaps of burnt cargo were being removed on the afternoon, three days after firefighters first attempted to tackle the complex fire. Multiple fire crews were called to the scene, with specialist marine firefighters also deployed. The fire did not pose any wider threat, and the ship’s crews was safe and well. The ship itself was in no immediate danger either. ThePort of Aberdeen has been supporting the fire service as they tackled the fire at the Dunnottar Quay. There has been no disruption to operations at South Harbour by the fire. Report with photos: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/6682987/burnt-cargo-removed-after-south-harbour-fire/

The captain of the 'Loitador has been arrested by the Caleta Olivia Prosecutor's Office, in the province of Santa Cruz in Argentina, after being investigated in Argentina accused of human trafficking, specifically of Senegalese sailors from his crew for the purposes of labour exploitation. The case dates back to June 5, 2017, when a crew member was medevaced in a coma 135 nautical miles from Puerto Deseado. The 56-year-old detainee was arrested for these events after a red notice was issued through Interpol. The health condition of the Senegalese sailor and his subsequent statement in court allowed the Public Prosecutor's Office to move forward on the criminal hypothesis of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, given that the sailor maintained that he performed exhausting work of up to 22 hours a day, seven days a week, all of this in unhealthy conditions, without adequate clothing and poor food, for which he received a salary below the minimum established by international standards. The employment contract had a duration from a few months to two years. According to the indictment, the captain had accepted and housed a Senegalese sailor on February 15, 2017, among at least three others, whose vulnerable situations were abused. The victims were previously contacted through the shipping company, which paid for their plane ticket from Senegal to Cabo Blanco, from where the ship sailed, to exploit them. All of this was done by depositing a sum of money less than the minimum wage, working around 22-hour work days from Monday to Monday in the filleting area in the hold of the vessel, without rest or appropriate medical assistance. They also had no place to rest or recreation, nor appropriate clothing, nor healthy conditions of hygiene and adequate food. All of this caused the evacuated sailor to suffer from malnutrition, hypothermia and dehydration, until the urgent disembarkation of the victim had to be ordered. He arrived at the hospital in a coma, not located in time and space and with sensory motor impairment (hypothymic), despite having entered the vessel in a fit physical condition. For these reasons, the arrest of the captain of the vessel was ordered on Nov 13, 2024, by the Federal Court of Caleta Olivia, with the man being arrested on Dec 18 in Spain. On Dec 20 the court requested the extradition of the accused. Already in 2019, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested the summons to give a statement from the captain, with a summons order being issued on Dec 26, 2024 and, finally, an arrest warrant. At the end of 2023, the Government of Spain reported the sanction of 25 vessels, most of them Galician companies, for deactivating AIS transmitters while fishing on the high seas near the coast of Argentina, among which was the 'Loitador', from the Vigo shipowner Profesionales Pesqueros. In June 2021, the European Commission sent the Spanish Administration a letter accompanied by a report from the NGO Oceana, which denounced practices on Spanish fishing vessels regarding the switching off of the automatic identification system for illegal fishing purposes. Thus, a serious infringement was detected on the vessel 'Loitador' for sailing during time intervals between 2020 and 2021 without keeping the AIS in operation at all times. The fine imposed was 15,000 euros, with a reduction to 12,000 euros when the company recognised its responsibility and paid it in April 2023. Among these sanctioning files of the General Directorate of the Merchant Navy there was also a fine of 150,000 euros to Grupo Nores, owner of the Villa de Pitanxo, for deactivating AIS.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has signed a contract to supply Infraestructura Portuaria Mexicana (IPM) with two ship-to-shore (STS) and three rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes for the IPM Altamira terminal. The order, which also includes Kalmar SmartPort process automation solutions for the RTGs, was booked in Cargotec’s 2019 Q3 order intake with handover scheduled to be completed during Q1 of 2021. The IPM Altamira terminal is located on the Gulf of Mexico, in the state of Tamaulipas. The terminal’s current equipment fleet already includes one Kalmar STS crane, eight Kalmar RTGs and a variety of Kalmar mobile equipment such as terminal tractors and forklifts. The Kalmar STS cranes will be Super Post-Panamax size with an outreach of 21 container rows and have twin-lift capability with a capacity of 65 tonnes under the spreader.

ECOsubsea, the Norwegian cleantech firm with a unique hull cleaning technology has won contracts to clean in North European ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge thanks to the technology’s ability to remove all hull fouling from the water, the company said in its release. The technologically-advanced system has now been approved for use in the two North European ports following around 500 vessel cleanings in Southampton and Norway and its proven ability to meet strict environmental requirements. While hull cleaning is an important part of vessel efficiency it has become mired in controversy due to the high risk of invasive species being easily transferred across the oceans and becoming an environmental and economic hazard.

The USS 'Stockdale (DDG-106)' used the destroyer’s five-inch gun to shoot down a Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle, the deputy commander of Central Command said on Jan 30, 2025. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper was aboard the 'Stockdale' in November during a Houthi attack on the ship. When he embarked on the ship , Houthi missiles and drones were a regular sight in the Middle East. The 'Stockdale', along with the USS 'Spruance (DDG-111)' and the Littoral Combat Ship USS 'Indianapolis (LCS-17)', were transiting the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, sailing from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden, when a low-flying Houthi drone came at the ship, and the watch stander clocked it, but it was a late detection. A kill order was given, and the sailors prepared to take it out with the five-inch guns. Cooper did not think they would hit, but the guns fired and the drone went down. The first missile was heading off-course, so the sailors let it go. But the remaining three were problems. Debris from the missile collision caused a Sea Sparrow launch. More American missiles were launched to take care of further Houthi missiles. About 11 minutes later, a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile was detected. Aircraft from 'Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)', the aircraft carrier leading the carrier strike group, shot down the missile. An hour and a half later, F-16s under Spruance’s control, handled a land-attack missile. F-16s also shot down drones that were part of a suicide drone attack. The two destroyers USS 'Frank E. Petersen (DDG-121)' and USS 'Michael Murphy (DDG-112)', protected Abe while its aircraft launched an attack on Houthi infrastructure. Based on USNI News’ timeline of Houthi activity in the Red Sea, it likely happened around Nov. 12 to 13.The Houthis launched more than 140 attacks on merchant vessels and 170 on Navy ships over the 15 months of their campaign in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Navy downed 480 Houthi UAVs in that time. The Houthis have ceased action in the Red Sea due to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, although Houthi leadership said it was monitoring the deal and would resume escalatory action if Israel violated it.

The Bulgarian National Security Agency (SANS) has no evidence that there were agents of foreign services or criminals among the Bulgarian crew members of the "Vezhen". This was stated by SANS Director Plamen Tonchev at a hearing on the subject in parliament on Jan 30. Tonchev pointed out that there was no indication in the data of Bulgarian partner services that the incident with the damaged underwater fiber optic cable was sabotage. He added that in addition to a cable used by Latvia, a cable from a non-NATO country was also severed in the same area. "Bulgaria is in no way considered by our partners and allies to be an accomplice in sabotage or sabotage activities, which we all condemn and which we act against as partners and allies," said the Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev in parliament. He called for the case of the "Vezhen" not to be politically escalated. The State Agency for National Security was said to be in contact with Bulgaria's partners in NATO and the Swedish and Latvian services looking into the incident. Tonchev explained that there was no negative information about the eight Bulgarian crew members and the ship's management, which is entirely Bulgarian. Swedish port state control officers had inspected the 'Vezhen' but a comprehensive report and conclusions from the inspection were not available yet. The second mate, the third mate, the chief engineer and the boatswain got off the ship on Jan 28 and were questioned by police. In addition, the captain and the chief mate were questioned aboard the ship.

Container lines Hapag Lloyd, ONE, YML, COSCO and OOCL will jointly run a new direct service from Visakha Container Terminal (VCT), the privately-run facility at State-owned Visakhapatnam Port Trust, to the Mediterranean and Europe, which will also bring connectivity with Africa and the America. The announcement strengthens Visakha Container Terminal’s rising stature as a regional container transshipment hub on the east coast, said shipping industry sources. “The commercial benefits offered by Visakhapatanam Port Trust makes the terminal even more attractive in the long run by being the gateway to the East for both northern and southern regions extending right up to Bangladesh and even Myanmar,” the terminal operator said. The terminal, majority owned by International Cargo Terminals & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, is located centrally and strategically on the East Coast of India between Kolkata and Chennai. The facility handled over 0.45 million TEUs during FY19 and is on the verge of crossing the 0.5-million TEUs in FY20, aided by a 16 pre cent growth in traffic, complemented rail movement and also transshipment.

By the Southern Canal Dock in the inner port of Zeebrugge, a ceremony was held yesterday for the start of the construction of a new 1,071 meter quay wall, an extension of the existing Bastenaken quay. This quay wall is the final missing piece that will connect the Bastenaken quay with the reverse quay at the dock's end, where International Car Operators Zeebrugge is located. When this project is finished, the largest dock in het port of Zeebrugge will be completed.