Iran has seized a South Korean chemical tanker Hankuk Chemi citing oil pollution in the Persian Gulf. The tanker was reportedly underway to Fujairah, in the UAE, from the Saudi city of Al-Jubail on Monday when it got detained. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the reason behind the detainment was st
The recently approved amendments to MARPOL Annex VI to introduce requirements to the operational efficiency of ships, the Carbon Intensity Indicators, promise to introduce a completely new compliance regime in the sector. The introduction of carbon intensity targets to existing ships will be calcula
The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Committee of Experts issued a ruling that governments have failed in their duty of care towards seafarers under international law during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first ruling of its kind, the committee of 20 jurists found that governments failed abj
Forty-five IMO Member States and one Associate Member, Hong Kong, have now designated seafarers as key workers, a key step in resolving the ongoing crew change crisis. Key worker designation is essential to exempt these professionals from specific COVID-related travel restrictions, allowing them to
Member unions of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) have helped recover more than $1.7 million in wages owed to seafarers amid a concerning rise in abandonment cases by shipowners. The national union affiliates have assisted more than 135 seafarers across 12 ships in the Arab Worl
The United Nations has adopted a resolution that calls on its members to designate seafarers and other marine personnel as key workers and implement relevant measures to allow stranded seafarers to be repatriated and others to join ships. The UN pointed to the need for an urgent and concrete respons
The United Nations has received official approval from the Houthi authorities in Yemen to carry out the planned expert mission to the decaying FSO Safer oil tanker, which poses a danger of massive oil spill to the region. The Safer oil tanker is moored north of Hodeidah and is believed to be loaded
Bahri, a national shipping carrier of Saudi Arabia, has signed a five-year framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Presidency of State Security (PSS), the country’s security body.
On 26 October, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), and the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, representing America’s latest attempt to increase economic
The United States is sanctioning six Chinese entities and two individuals over business relations with Iranian shipping company IRISL and its subsidiary Hafez Darya Arya Shipping Company (HDASCO). The State Department designated IRISL and IRISL’s Shanghai-based subsidiary, E-Sail Shipping Company Lt
On 1 October 2020, Saudi Global Ports Company (SGP), one of PSA International’s subsidiaries, assumed the management of both first and second container terminals at King Abdulaziz Port Dammam (KAPD).
Lebanese public prosecutors have asked Interpol to issue arrest warrants for the Russian captain and owner of cargo vessel Rhosus, from which a shipment of ammonium nitrate was confiscated back in 2013, Reuters reported citing Lebanese NNA news agency. Boris Prokoshev has been identified as the capt
An oil spot has been identified some 50 km west of the Safer oil tanker moored off the western coast of Yemen, Reuters reported citing a letter from Saudi Arabia to the UN Security Council. The letter, written by Saudi Ambassador to the UN Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, said “a pipeline attached to the vess
Trafigura, one of the world’s largest ship charterers, has proposed that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduces a carbon levy to help boost competitiveness and uptake of alternative fuels. The company is proposing a levy between $250 and $300 per metric tonne of CO2 equivalent on s
