Tag: ship detentions

M/V FIONA was banned by Italy after failing to call at an agreed repair yard

MT Vanessa earlier claimed to be carrying 8.5 million barrels of stolen crude oil has no crude The seized MT Vanessa earlier claimed to be carrying 8.5 million barrels of stolen crude oil has no crude on board, it emerged yesterday.The Defence Headquarters (DHq) has rolled out new directives for owners of boats and barges operating in the Niger Delta.The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ola Ibrahim, who appeared yesterday at the House Joint Committee investigating the upsurge in illegal bunkering, debunked reports on the seized ship.Chairman of the Committee Muraina Ajibola said the seized ship contained 8.5million barrels of crude oil.The Committee subsequently constituted a sub-committee to find out the veracity of that claim.In addition, the Navy was directed to hand over the ship to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for safekeeping."We don't want to hear that the content of the ship has disappeared," Ajibola said.Contrary to the claims of the Committee, the CNS said there was no crude oil on board the ship.He also disputed claims about the ship, saying it is Belgian and not French.Ibrahim blamed the boom in bunkering on insiders who worked in oil companies, lack of information sharing among security ...

Agents are currently investigating allegations of stowaways A cargo ship believed to be carrying stowaways was seized at a New Jersey port on Wednesday after it arrived in the United States following stops in India and Egypt to pick up freight, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Agents said they heard what sounded like people in a container buried beneath others in the ship's hold, Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe said.The container had not been opened hours after the ship was stopped and was being moved by crane to a dock so it could be checked, he said.The ship's manifest said the container was loaded onto the vessel on June 7 in India and was carrying machine parts.At least seven ambulances waited outside Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, where dozens of containers were moved to the dock for inspection. Authorities knocked on the outside of the red, blue or gray containers, listening for noises, and opened and searched them.The vessel was identified as the Ville D'Aquarius, according to Anthony Bucci, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs & Border Protection."Agents are currently investigating allegations of stowaways," Bucci said in a statement.Rowe said authorities determined the container could not be opened in the ship's hold, ...

Nigerian Navy arrests MT St Vanessa crew for oil theft The Nigerian Navy has confirmed the arrest of a Belgian ship, MT St Vanessa and her 15 member crew for alleged oil theft in Bayelsa.The navy said the ship was arrested off the Brass/Akassa coast in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa.Parading the crew members before journalists in Yenagoa, the Flag Officer, Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Johnson Olutoyin, said the vessel had 15 crew members on board.Rear Admiral Olutoyin said the crew comprising six Romanians and nine Philippines, was intercepted on Tuesday by men of NNS Zaria (a naval ship) stationed at Brass.He said between June 5 and June 18, the command's Regional Maritime Domain Awareness Centres (RMAC) at the coastline, spotted the vessel loitering aimlessly off the Akassa/Brass area, notorious for illegal bunkering and crude oil theft."The MT St Vanessa, was reported to have departed Lome Port in June 5 and arrived at Akassa area on June 6 without any authority from Nigerian Ports Authority, NIMASA or the Nigerian Navy, to enable it operate on the Nigerian territorial waters."Olutoyin said that "for about 10 days, the vessel kept moving between a location of 100 nautical miles off Brass/Akassa ...

Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.The British marine insurer Standard Club said it had withdrawn cover from all the ships owned by Femco, a Russian cargo line, including the MV Alaed."We were made aware of the allegations that the Alaed was carrying munitions destined for Syria," the company said in a statement. "We have already informed the ship owner that their insurance cover ceased automatically in view of the nature of the voyage."British security officials confirmed they had told Standard Club that providing insurance to the shipment was likely to be a breach of European Union sanctions against the Syrian regime.They said they were continuing to monitor the ship, which has been the subject of a fierce international row since US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week revealed it was adding to the arsenal of weaponry available for Mr Assad to use against rebellious Syrian towns."We have various ways of keeping track of this ship and that is ...

FIVE people have been charged after a shipping container holding 20kg of heroine was discovered Police say the drugs, concealed inside sports bags, were smuggled from Thailand and may have been bound for Sydney or other Australian cities.Senior detectives seized the container on May 29 and arrested five alleged members of a distribution syndicate in Sydney yesterday after raiding seven properties on the city's west and southwest.During the raids police uncovered 2.6kg of the drug ice, a further 1kg of heroin and a substantial amount of cocaine and cash.A 49-year-old Belfield man and two other men, aged 55 and 52 from Mount Annan, appeared in Sydney courts today charged with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity heroin.Two men, aged 66 and 64 from Narellan Vale, also appeared in Sydney courts charged with attempting to traffic heroin.The arrests were made after a seven-month surveillance investigation involving the Australian Federal Police (AFP), NSW Police, the NSW Crime Commission and Customs.Crime Commission Commissioner Peter Singleton called it a "textbook" example of how to catch serious criminals."The Crime Commission's role was one essentially of intelligence analysis," he said in Sydney."We've managed to identify persons of interest, intercept telephones and ultimately we were able to ...

With a detention ratio of 0% The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has published its Annual Port State Control (PSC) Report and Annual Class Performance List for 2011. Germanischer Lloyd (GL) is again in the top performing group with a detention ratio of 0%. In over 1,500 distinct vessel arrivals there was no determination of class responsibility in any USCG detention of a GL classed vessel. In May the Toyko MOU's Annual Report on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region was also released. The class performance rankings list for2009-2011 once again saw GL placed among the top performing ROs, with a performance level of "high."Port State Control (PSC) is an instrument for the inspection of foreign ships in national ports to verify that the condition of the ship and its equipment complies with the requirements of international regulations and that the ship is manned and operated in compliance with these rules.To effectively develop and maintain the PSC system, coastal countries in various areas of the world have established regional agreements on Port State Control: Memoranda of Understanding or MoUs. These regional agreements now cover most of the world's oceans, with each administration having their own data base of information. ...

To ensure the continuation of a positive safety record in future The Liberian Registry has introduced a new programme to screen advance notice of ship arrivals, in an effort to ensure the continuation of a positive safety record in future, while reducing detention rates, particularly in Australia, China, the EU and the United States.Liberia's Advanced Notices of Arrival and Zone Notification schemes are designed to build on the mandatory IMO Long-Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system introduced in 2009, under which all flag states are required to ensure their flagged vessels transmit their location. The Flag said its objective is to be proactive by preventing a vessel detention by Port State Control or by other inspection bodies. The schemes are designed to increase awareness on the part of ship owners and operators and to ensure compliance with international requirements governing safety, security and environmental protection.All Liberian vessels calling at US, EU, Australian and Chinese ports must provide an Advanced Notice of Arrival (ANOA), which can be used by the Liberian administration to assess the probability of a PSC boarding. Thereafter, appropriate steps can be taken if necessary to prevent a detention. Under Liberia's Zone Notification programme, meanwhile, if the Liberian ...

Overall detention rate has declined gradually during the past three years The Tokyo MOU on Port State Control posted its Annual Report for 2011. The report notes that its members conducted 28,627 inspections during the year, an increase of 11% over 2010. The overall detention rate has declined gradually during the past three years.However, more attention needs to be paid by owners and operators to the areas of maintenance of ship and equipment and to development of plans for shipboard operations related to the ISM Code.For more information, click here.Source: Tokyo MOU

Due to the ship's 76-day detention at Kochi Naples-based Dolphin Tanker Srl, owners of Italian oil tanker Enrica Lexie which was involved in the killing of two Indian fishermen on February 15 off the Kerala coast, is planning to approach the court to seek compensation from the Kerala Government for the alleged losses it suffered due to the ship's 76-day detention at Kochi.The company says that it had suffered losses to the tune of several crores of rupees in terms of handling charges paid to the Kochi Port Trust, other expenses and loss of business due to the long and allegedly unnecessary detention. The company's counsel said that they would approach the court "at the earliest".The ship, which berthed at Kochi port on February 17 some 40 hours after the killing of the fishermen, was in detention till May 4, the day it left the Indian shores on the basis of a Supreme Court order after furnishing a bond for Rs 3 crore and a demand draft for equal amount, which itself was cause of a dispute.The company says that the State Government had extended the detention of the vessel unnecessarily even after all legal procedures for which it was ...