KeithMacdonald Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Here's an "interesting" situation. US shipping insurers are (apparently) unable to see where their insured shipping is. Quote Iran was able to transport $2.8 billion in oil to customers in 2023 using insurance from a US-based company, despite sanctions imposed on Iranian oil sales by the US Treasury, an investigation published by The New York Times (NYT) on Friday has found. The oil was transported aboard 27 tankers, using liability insurance obtained by the New York-based American Club. Tankers are typically required to have liability insurance to enter international ports, meaning the US Treasury could have blocked the sale of this oil by demanding the American Club revoke insurance for the tankers. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-transported-28bn-worth-oil-2023-under-washingtons-nose Quote "It's impossible for us to know on a daily basis exactly what every ship is doing, where it's going, what it's carrying, who its owners are," One might wonder if the insurers were happy to accept the premium payments, and turn a blind eye, in the hope that any insurance claims could be declared null and void, because whatever. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 4630 Posted February 18 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 18 42 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said: One might wonder if the insurers were happy to accept the premium payments, and turn a blind eye, in the hope that any insurance claims could be declared null and void, because whatever. That’s certainly one possible explanation. The insurers able to invoke ‘plausible deniability’ if anything untoward were to happen. I don’t know enough about this category of insurance risk, but I would imagine that if liability insurance companies themselves were made financially liable, up to the insured value, for all instances where cargoes being carried that were in breach of agreed sanctions, it might concentrate corporate minds a bit more. They might then be more inclined to carry out some due diligence before accepting the risk. It’s a funny old world. I get quizzed by a high street bank about the source of a cheque for about £15k - part of my late mother’s estate - because the bank are following ‘money laundering regulations’ yet any cargo, of any value from any source to any destination, can go through ‘on the nod’. Something definitely isn’t right there. 1 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 6 hours ago, Mol_PMB said: I recall travelling across the English channel on a hydrofoil, possibly called a jetfoil, when I was a child. It was pretty rough even in a fairly calm sea. I can’t remember the exact route or the operator, it would probably have been mid-1980s and possibly to Belgium? We lived in Essex but I think we travelled to the Dover area to catch it, rather than Harwich. I do recall the impressive speed once it lifted up on its foils. On two other occasions we went on the SRN-4 hovercraft but the jetfoil was a quite different experience. Mol That was the Sealink Ostend to Dover Jetfoil service. I travelled on that once in 1985 on the way back from a trip to Poland. Somewhere in the loft I've got a large Sealink advertising poster promoting that service! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted February 18 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 18 11 hours ago, Erichill16 said: A weekend project for someone, if they’ve got the stomach for it! Looks like a 1980s mobile phone, but smaller. 1 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WessexEclectic Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) 11 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said: Here's an "interesting" situation. US shipping insurers are (apparently) unable to see where their insured shipping is. Maybe they should try putting the telescope towards their good eye... From the NYT article referenced by Zerohedge - Quote The (US) Treasury office has publicly enforced sanctions on the American Club only once in the past 20 years. In 2013, the office announced that it found the insurer had processed dozens of claims for ships that violated sanctions on Cuba, Sudan and Iran. Treasury officials calculated the penalty for the apparent violations totalled more than $1.7 million. Ultimately, the office said the American Club did “not appear to have been wilful or reckless” and the case was settled. The company agreed to pay a reduced fine of $348,000. Unfortunately it may take more of the following in the coming years for something to be done. Edited February 19 by WessexEclectic 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgundy Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 On home territory, from a Russian rivers cruise when things were less tense. Best wishes Eric 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted February 19 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19 This story caught my eye: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68337027 The reason I found it interesting was this bit: The crew of a Belize-flagged, British-registered cargo vessel What does that mean? What is a ship which is flagged in Belize but British 'registered'? IMO instruments and most other regulations are clear that the ship is registered to the country of the flag it flies, so in this case it would be registered in Belize. I'm genuinely curious as to what the BBC are talking about, is it country of beneficial ownership? That may well be British but it wouldn't mean the ship was registered in Britain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted February 19 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19 I think it's either slightly disingenuous of insurers to play the 'we don't know' card as it indicates they're either less than entirely honest or a bit inept. P&I Clubs know a lot about their members and their ships, as do hull insurers. Do they know absolutely everything? No, but they do audits prior to accepting a company/ship, do regular surveys of ships, have access to comprehensive databases, can track ships etc. That said, media stories on marine insurance tend to get confused between P&I, hull insurance, oil pollution funds etc. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 24 minutes ago, jjb1970 said: The reason I found it interesting was this bit: The crew of a Belize-flagged, British-registered cargo vessel Did they mean British-owned? https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:463871/mmsi:312168000/imo:9138898/vessel:RUBYMAR https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9138898 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Just lousy sub-editors getting things confused. The actual article does say Quote The 172m-long Rubymar is flagged in Belize, its operators are from Lebanon and its registered owner is Golden Adventure Shipping, with an address in the British port of Southampton. which seems fairly clear. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted February 19 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19 1 minute ago, KeithMacdonald said: Did they mean British-owned? https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:463871/mmsi:312168000/imo:9138898/vessel:RUBYMAR https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9138898 I suspect it does refer to beneficial ownership (the owning entity will be registered in Belize), but the ship is registered in Belize whoever owns it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted February 19 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19 1 minute ago, Hroth said: Just lousy sub-editors getting things confused. The actual article does say which seems fairly clear. Even operator is imprecise. Does that mean the ship manager (which might be considered the technical operator) or the charterer (which will generally be the commercial operator). In regulatory terms that's why the term 'company' is used which is defined in the ISM Code and other instruments, and it is still argued over. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Hroth said: The 172m-long Rubymar is flagged in Belize, its operators are from Lebanon and its registered owner is Golden Adventure Shipping, with an address in the British port of Southampton. Just to confuse some more, Lloyds List says: Quote Crew from the Rubymar cargo carrier abandoned ship after two Houthi missiles hit the Belize-flagged general cargo carrier late Sunday. The ships operator, Blue Fleet Group, says the ship is listing and in danger of sinking https://lloydslist.com/LL1148295/Ship-in-danger-of-sinking-after-being-hit-by-Houthi-rockets Blue Fleet Group does list Rubymar as part of its fleet. https://www.bluefleetgroup.com/fleet Seems like it started in Lebanon (in better times perhaps, while it was a safer place?) but moved to Athens. Quote Having been in the shipping sector since 1976, Roy Khoury crowned his long experience by founding Blue Fleet Management in 1996 in Athens Greece under law 89, as a ship-broking and ship management company. Roy Khoury took over his father’s business, who had established one of the first shipping companies in Lebanon, back in 1961. This ongoing family business has also welcomed Cherif Khoury in 2012, who has completed his bachelor in Maritime Business and Maritime Law at Pymouth UK, as well as his Master's in Shipping, Trade and Finance at CASS Business School London. https://www.bluefleetgroup.com/en/about Edited February 19 by KeithMacdonald 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 13 minutes ago, Hroth said: its registered owner is Golden Adventure Shipping, with an address in the British port of Southampton. Anyone found any such company? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 That ownership question has been annoying me. Quote The registered owner of the vessel is a company called Golden Adventure Shipping, with an address of Bow Square in Southampton. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/southampton-registered-ship-attacked-by-houthi-rebels/ar-BB1iwNWU Bow Square? Quote In the central hub of Southampton, Bow Square is a large development acquired in 2023. Currently undergoing a revamp, Bow Square consists of 279 apartments, a residents lounge, gym, outdoor terrace and meeting rooms. Home to students, families, young professionals and more, Bow is an eclectic community who benefit from our resident events and resident-led community groups. https://www.compassrock.com/home-1/bowsq Well, maybe it's just a correspondence address for a UK shipping agent. So where's the main company? is it this one? Quote Company Name Full GOLDEN ADVENTURE SHIPPING SA ActivityOwner, Manager AddressMajuro MH Marshall Islands https://world-ships.com/company/bf012118aefd9e7786bbd47f7ec75288 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands Is this another dummy/front company? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted February 21 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 21 The key legal text is article 91 of UNCLOS: Article 91 Nationality of ships 1. Every State shall fix the conditions for the grant of its nationality to ships, for the registration of ships in its territory, and for the right to fly its flag. Ships have the nationality of the State whose flag they are entitled to fly. There must exist a genuine link between the State and the ship. 2. Every State shall issue to ships to which it has granted the right to fly its flag documents to that effect. Note that UNCLOS only imposes obligations and grants privileges to parties of the Convention, so in the case of the USA for example things are not the same. So the ship is registered in the country of the Flag it flies. However, the 'genuine link' clause is significant, which causes many countries to operate a ship register with a linked corporate register and require ships flying their flag to be owned by a company on their corporate register. Hence the proliferation of 'brass plaque' companies and having multiple companies registered to an apartment. However, ownership of those registered companies is much more complicated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 I barely knew the Marshall Islands even existed until today. Quote The Marshall Islands plays a vital role in the international shipping industry as a flag of convenience for commercial vessels. The Marshallese registry began operations in 1990, and is managed through a joint venture with International Registries, Inc., a US-based corporation that has offices in major shipping centers worldwide. As of 2017, the Marshallese ship registry was the second largest in the world, after that of Panama. Unlike some flag countries, there is no requirement that a Marshallese flag vessel be owned by a Marshallese individual or corporation. Following the 2015 seizure of the MV Maersk Tigris, the United States announced that its treaty obligation to defend the Marshall Islands did not extend to foreign-owned Marshallese flag vessels at sea. As a result of ship-to-ship transfers by Marshallese flag tanker vessels, the Marshall Islands have statistically been one of the largest importers of crude oil from the United States, despite the fact that the islands have no oil refining capacity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands#Shipping 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 It looks like the Houthi are not the only ones who give special attention to Marshallese flag vessels. Quote On 28 April 2015, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy intercepted and seized the ship, then sailing as Maersk Tigris, while it was transiting through Iranian territorial waters via the Strait of Hormuz. An initial instruction by the IRGC Navy to the Maersk Tigris to proceed further into Iranian territorial waters was not complied with, after which the Iranian Navy fired a warning shot across the bridge of the ship. The ship was then taken into Iranian custody. Given that the vessel is flagged under the Marshall Islands, which the United States bears security responsibility for, the U.S. Navy dispatched the destroyer USS Farragut after receiving a distress call from the Maersk Tigris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Maersk_Tigris With yet more murky confusion between (a) ship owner (b) charterer (c) manager (d) operator Quote The vessel's charterer, the Danish shipping company Maersk, said Iran's seizure of a commercial vessel engaged in innocent passage through Iran's territorial waters in the internationally recognized shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz was illegal. Maersk said it presumed the ship was detained because of an ongoing court case between Maersk Line and an Iranian company, but that Iran erred not only by failing to engage in normal protocol for arresting a ship, but by seizing property and personnel that do not belong to Maersk. The ship is chartered by Maersk Line and Maersk owns the ship's containers, but the ship itself is owned by Wide Golf Ltd, registered in Luxembourg, and is managed by Singapore-based Rickmers Shipmanagement. Plus the names have changed Quote Rickmers Shipmanagement (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. has now been renamed ZEABORN Ship Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. The company is part of Bremen-based ZEABORN Group since September 2017 and has been trading under its new name with effect from 30 August 2018. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted February 22 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 22 The Marshall Islands shipping registry is privatized, it's operated by a company called IRI based just outside Washington DC. IRI actually started life operating the Liberian ship registry but a few years ago there were various political issues and they abandoned Liberia, who then contracted a company called LISCR to operate their register, also an American outfit. There was some discussion about privatizing the UK register a few years ago to try and grow it but it never went anywhere as it was never going to work given the government and MCA would have insisted on maintaining control. It would have ended up like the railway sector with government using private entities as body armour to take the blame for government policies and decision making. The term 'flag of convenience' is rarely heard within shipping these days, the term now used is 'open register'. That may sound like PR and semantics but it's a valid change. Originally 'flags of convenience' were perceived as shifty outfits which would flag anything and which had no standards while more traditional flags were seen as insisting on certain standards and were seen as much more professional and reputable. Now, with the exception of the US flag, all the traditional flags implement whatever is agreed at IMO with no additions as do the open registers like Panama so there is no difference in standards, they've all opened the gates to flag anything in the search for numbers and if anything flags like the Marshall Islands, Liberia and Bahamas have more technical and operational expertise than the more traditional flags. Flags like the UK and other European flags are just as much flags of convenience as Liberia or Panama these days. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted February 22 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 22 I saw a 'BBC Verify' article report that the 'British' Rubymar is still afloat, it's a shame their fact checkers couldn't verify the fact it flies the flag of Belize so is not a British ship. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Good news chaps! Astonishing news from Scotland! Quote A CalMac ferry being built at Ferguson shipyard on the Clyde has sailed under its own power for the first time, eight years after construction began. MV Glen Sannox made a short journey downriver as it begins sea trials ahead of delivery this summer. But for the first time it was powered by its own engines, running on diesel. The dual-fuel ship, the first of its type to be built in the UK, will eventually be capable of also running on liquefied natural gas once the gas systems are commissioned. What have they tested so far? Quote "She sounded her horn and began the first in a series of rigorous sea trials. We began with the anchor and moved onto propulsion and manoeuvring tests. This will continue for the rest of the week. All good so far, the engine starts, the horn works, and they've pulled up the anchor. Quote During initial sea trials over the next few days Glen Sannox is expected to travel as far as Gourock. Higher speed and "endurance" testing is planned after the ship goes into dry dock in April. Back into dry dock, to sort-out those gas engines perhaps? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-68283629 Quote Ferguson Marine is doing subcontracting work on Navy warships but has no new ship orders at present. Ferguson Marine is hoping it will be asked to build a new fleet of all-electric small vessels for CalMac. I think that means these? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-67536095 Although it's not clear what "all-electric" means. Perhaps onboard solar panels and windmills? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium J. S. Bach Posted February 22 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 22 No, they will hang catenary! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mol_PMB Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 For short crossings they could have a fast-charge battery on board, charged from a battery bank each side that would be fed from solar panels, wind turbines etc. Best buy shares in Lithium! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 35 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said: No, they will hang catenary! Been done before....... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straussee_Ferry There used to be a maritime equivalent of Dodgem Cars (Think they are called Bumper Cars in the USA) in a fairground on Lowestoft seafront in which lasted well into the 1970's. The boats took their electric power from an overhead wire mesh arrangement, just like Dodgems, and I assume the voltage was low enough for the current return to be via the water. Bet elf & safety wouldn't allow that now........! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said: For short crossings they could have a fast-charge battery on board, charged from a battery bank each side that would be fed from solar panels, wind turbines etc. Best buy shares in Lithium! Too late, we've missed that boat (sic). Quote Crashing lithium prices turn the industry from 'euphoria' to 'despair.' ~ Lithium prices are down more than 80% from their 2022 peak https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/crashing-lithium-prices-turn-the-industry-from-euphoria-to-despair-whats-next/ar-BB1iATd3 Quote After a frenzied rush by electric vehicle makers to secure raw materials over the past two years, which drove prices for lithium carbonate up more than six-fold and spodumene up nearly ten-fold, the bubble has burst. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lithium-price-slide-deepens-china-battery-giant-bets-cheaper-inputs-2023-02-28/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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