Tag: maritime crime

BIMCO informs the shipping industry of the alarming risk of unwarranted arrests and severe prison sentences faced by crews when drugs are found on ships in certain ports. 

InterManager expressed concern over the increasingly harsh treatment of ship crews in some parts of the world, and is actively participating in industry discussions to assess the extent of the problem and address seafarers’ criminalization.

According to Windward's new report for the Q4 of 2024, the maritime industry and trading ecosystem continued to grapple with disruption.

On December 23, 2024, a crew member aboard the MV Al-Bakhera killed seven of his colleagues after drugging them with sleeping pills, allegedly due to frustrations over unpaid wages and mistreatment, while the vessel was on the Meghna River.

The third meeting of the Joint ILO IMO Tripartite Working Group to identify and address seafarers’ issues and the human element, which met in Geneva, Switzerland (26–28 November 2024) adopted Guidelines on Fair Treatment of Seafarers detained in connection with alleged crimes.

Freight crime in Italy has surged dramatically, with theft incidents quadrupling in the past two years, according to a report by TT Club, BSI SCREEN, and TAPA EMEA.

On October 4, 2024, Spanish and French security forces conducted an operation against a Tanzanian-flagged vessel near the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, seizing approximately 4 tons of cocaine.

According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), two shipping companies were sentenced to pay a $2 million criminal penalty and complete four years of probation for illegally discharging oil into the ocean.

The Information Fusion Centre (IFC) reports that in the first half of 2024, it recorded a total of 1095 incidents, a 27% decrease from the same period in 2023 (1500 incidents), which is likely due to increased enforcement efforts, leading to fewer MARSEC Incidents at sea. 

According to U.S. Department of Justice, two related companies that operated the motor tanker PS Dream – Prive Overseas Marine LLC and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret – pleaded guilty. As explained the companies pleaded guilty to conspiracy, knowingly violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice related to the falsification of the tanker’s Oil Record Book, which is a required log. The guilty pleas were entered in federal court in New Orleans before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown. If the court approves the plea agreement, the companies will be fined a total of $2 million and serve four years of probation. Separate charges have been filed against Captain Abdurrahman Korkmaz, a Turkish national who was the ship’s master. The criminal case stems from the report of a crew member who, on Jan. 11, 2023, contacted the Coast Guard in New Orleans, which was the next port-of-call, and shared a video showing oil being pumped overboard and trailing behind the tanker. When the ship arrived in New Orleans two weeks later, this individual and another crew member blew the whistle and provided evidence to the Coast Guard. Video and photographic images were filed ...