posted on: Feb 28, 2025

‘Losing hope with every day that passes’: torment of the ships’ crews abandoned at sea ‘Losing hope with every day that passes’: torment of the ships’ crews abandoned at sea When Vihaan* set off from his home in Tamil Nadu, south India, to work on a vessel crossing the Bay of Bengal into neighbouring Bangladesh, he told his family he would be gone a few months. After delivering his cargo of stone to Bangladesh’s Kutubdia Island, the marine engineer was due to head home in March 2024 to disembark at Thoothukudi port, India. But that month, the rusting tug, the Navimar 3, which was being operated by Middle East Marine (MEM), was detained by the authorities in Bangladesh due to unpaid fees. For almost a year, Vihaan has become a virtual prisoner on board, he says, forced to work without pay to keep the vessel safe, amid strong currents...

Lighter vessels ordered to leave Chattogram port limit within 72 hours...

posted on: Feb 28, 2025

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has issued a directive requiring lighter vessels to leave the port limit within 72 hours after loading goods from mother vessels at the outer anchorage. This measure aims to prevent artificial supply chain disruptions and price manipulation by importers. On Wednesday (26 February), Captain Faridul Alam, deputy conservator (DC) of the Chittagong Port Authority, issued a notification stating that the order is in the public interest to ensure market stability. The notice warns that failure to comply with the 72-hour deadline will result in legal actions under the Chittagong Port Authority Ordinance and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. The notification highlights that many lighter vessels remain anchored within port limits for extended periods without valid reasons. This practice adversely affects the supply chain, creates artificial shortages, increases prices, and negatively impacts consumers. The manipulation of product availability to increase prices...

Vizhinjam port vies for global stature

posted on: Feb 26, 2025

The deepwater Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala is in the spotlight, as industry leaders and policymakers envision it as a premier logistics and transshipment hub driving the State’s economic transformation. At the recently concluded Vizhinjam Conclave 2025, senior officials from Adani Ports & SEZ and the Kerala government laid out a roadmap to position the port as a cornerstone of India’s maritime trade. With a natural depth of 18-20 m and proximity to international shipping routes, Vizhinjam is equipped to handle large mother vessels, a critical factor in transshipment efficiency. The port has handled 144 ships and 2.9 lakh containers within six months of the arrival of the first cargo ship in July 2024. The Adani Group announced its plan to develop a special economic zone at Vizhinjam, on the lines of Mundra Port in Gujarat. Harikrishnan Sundaram, head of container business at Adani Ports & SEZ, said, “Mundra generates ₹32,000...

Container sector set to take biggest hit from US plans to charge Chinese-built vessels...

posted on: Feb 26, 2025

 Sam Chambers Shipping is reeling from what could be the most seismic decision to effect the industry yet in the opening weeks of Donald Trump’s second term in office. The American president will make a decision, likely in around a month’s time, on whether to carry out suggestions made by the office of the US Trade Representative following an investigation carried out over the past year into China’s growing dominance in maritime, especially in the realm of shipbuilding. The USTR report cites artificially suppressed labour costs, forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft among a raft of accusations levelled at Beijing. The trade office has recommended potential fees of up to $1.5m per port call for Chinese-built vessels, $1m per port call for operators of Chinese-built ships, and mandatory US-flag shipping requirements with March 24 set as the deadline for public comments to be made after which the president...

U.S. Sanctions Indian Firms Shipping Iranian Oil...

posted on: Feb 26, 2025

Irina Slav The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control has added four Indian companies to its latest list of entities sanctioned for their involvement in the international trade of Iranian crude oil. The companies are Austinship Management Pvt Ltd, BSM Marine LLP, Cosmos Lines Inc, and Flux Maritime LLP. The designation of the four entities was part of the latest sanction sweep against Iran’s so-called shadow fleet that the country uses to sell its oil abroad. In that latest sweep, the U.S. sanctioned more than 30 individuals and vessels for their involvement with Iranian oil, including oil traders in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, as well as the head of Iran’s National Oil Company. The move marks Trump’s return to a maximum-pressure approach to Iran, which has turned into one of the few bullish factors for oil prices out there. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month...

Bulker caught up in cocaine seizure freed after 15 months...

posted on: Feb 26, 2025

A handysize bulker is free to leave India 15 months after cocaine was found on board. The Hindustan Times reported that Orissa High Court ordered the release of Asia Pacific Shipping’s 37,200-dwt vessel Debi (built 2012) at the port of Paradip. The 21 Vietnamese crew members were released in December last year and this January. The bulker was carrying steel plate from Indonesia to Denmark when it was detained in November 2023 during a stopover over the seizure of 22 kg of the drug worth INR 2.2bn ($25.2m) that was hidden on board. The release order was made after the owner settled a debt owed to Paradip International Cargo Terminal, where the vessel had been docked. The terminal had been seeking INR 80m in berth fees in an admiralty case. Article continues below the advert The ship was arrested last February. Admiralty judge Murahari Sri Raman said: “The admiralty...

Argentina Deploys Military As China Leads Fishing Swarm Near Waters...

posted on: Feb 26, 2025

CLOSE XPauseUnmute Argentina is carrying out naval patrols in a warning to the hundreds of foreign fishing vessels lingering just beyond the nation’s maritime zone. Newsweek reached out to Argentina’s Defense Ministry and China‘s Foreign Ministry by email with requests for comment. Why It Matters With local fish stocks dwindling, China’s distant-water fishing fleet—by far the world’s largest—has rapidly expanded in recent decades and, by 2020, numbered around 17,000 vessels, according to the London-based Overseas Development Institute; this figure is widely considered a low estimate given the common practice of operating under foreign flags. These vessels are frequently accused of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and depleting marine resources in developing nations like Argentina, home to the world’s second-largest squid fishery. Beijing has rejected these criticisms, claiming it enforces the world’s strictest oversight of its distant-water fishing fleet. What To Know Argentina’s navy has deployed two turboprop aircraft—a C-12 Huron and a...

পাকিস্তান-বাংলাদেশ বাণিজ্য ছাড়াল ১০০ কোটি মার্কিন ডলার...

posted on: Feb 25, 2025

পাকিস্তান ও বাংলাদেশের মধ্যে বাণিজ্যের পরিমাণ এক বিলিয়ন মার্কিন ডলার বা ১০০ কোটি মার্কিন ডলার ছাড়িয়ে গেছে। এছাড়া উভয় দেশই আরও বেশ কিছু পণ্যের বাণিজ্যে আগ্রহী এবং এই কারণে বাণিজ্যের পরিমাণ ভবিষ্যতে আরও বৃদ্ধি পাবে। পাকিস্তানে নিযুক্ত বাংলাদেশের হাইকমিশনার মুহাম্মদ ইকবাল হুসাইন খান রাজধানী ইসলামাবাদে দেশটির সংবাদমাধ্যম দ্য নিউজ/জং-এর সাথে কথা বলার সময় একথা জানান। সোমবার (২৪ ফেব্রুয়ারি) এক প্রতিবেদনে এই তথ্য জানিয়েছে সংবাদমাধ্যমটি। দ্য নিউজ ইন্টারন্যাশনাল বলছে, হাইকমিশনার মুহাম্মদ ইকবাল হুসাইন খান রোববার দেশটির পাঞ্জাব প্রদেশের কাসুর ও ফয়সালাবাদ সফর করেন এবং ব্যবসায়ী সম্প্রদায়ের সাথে দেখা করেন। সেখানে তিনি দুই দেশের মধ্যে ব্যবসা-বাণিজ্য আরও ত্বরান্বিত করার বিষয়ে তাদের সঙ্গে বিস্তর আলোচনা করেন। পাকিস্তানে নিযুক্ত বাংলাদেশের এই হাইকমিশনার পাঞ্জাবের এই দুই শহরে তার সফরকে ফলপ্রসূ ও লাভজনক বলে অভিহিত করেন। ছাত্র-জনতার গণআন্দোলনে শেখ হাসিনা সরকারকে ক্ষমতাচ্যুত করার পর ইকবাল হুসাইন গত মাসে রাষ্ট্রদূতের দায়িত্ব গ্রহণ করেন এবং হাসিনা পরবর্তী সময়ে তিনিই পাকিস্তানে বাংলাদেশের প্রথম রাষ্ট্রদূত। হাইকমিশনার ইকবাল হুসাইন খান...

বাংলাদেশ শিপিং কর্পোরেশনের নির্বাহী পরিচালক হলেন মুহাম্মদ আনোয়ার পাশা...

posted on: Feb 25, 2025

চট্টগ্রামের অতিরিক্ত বিভাগীয় কমিশনার (সার্বিক) মুহাম্মদ আনোয়ার পাশাকে বদলি করা হয়েছে নৌ পরিবহন মন্ত্রণালয়ে। তাকে বাংলাদেশ শিপিং কর্পোরেশনের নির্বাহী পরিচালক পদে বদলি করা হয়। রবিবার (২৩ ফেব্রুয়ারি) এ সংক্রান্ত একটি প্রজ্ঞাপন জারি করেছে জনপ্রশাসন মন্ত্রণালয়। মন্ত্রণালয়ের উপসচিব আবুল হায়াত মো. রফিক স্বাক্ষরিত প্রজ্ঞাপনে এ তথ্য জানা যায়।  এর আগে, মূল দায়িত্বের বাইরে স্থানীয় সরকার বিভাগের চট্টগ্রামের পরিচালক পদে অতিরিক্ত দায়িত্ব পালন করে আসছেন মুহাম্মদ আনোয়ার পাশা। গত বছর সরকার পতনের পর গত ১৮ আগস্ট অন্তর্বর্তীকালীন সরকার দেশের সব জেলা পরিষদের চেয়ারম্যানকে অপসারণ করে। তখন চট্টগ্রাম জেলা পরিষদের প্রশাসকের দায়িত্বও চাপে আনোয়ার পাশার ওপর। এরপর তাঁকে চট্টগ্রাম চেম্বারের প্রশাসকের দায়িত্বও দেওয়া হয়। সর্বশেষ সরকারি প্রতিষ্ঠান চট্টগ্রাম ওয়াসার ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালককে অপসারণের পর সেই পদে গত ৩১ অক্টোবর নিয়োগ দেওয়া হয় আনোয়ার পাশাকেই। তারপর থেকে এখনো পর্যন্ত একাধারে পাঁচটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ পদ সামলাতে হচ্ছে। প্রশ্ন উঠেছে— বাংলাদেশ শিপিং কর্পোরেশনের নির্বাহী পরিচালক পদে বদলির মধ্য দিয়ে কি ভারমুক্ত হচ্ছেন তিনি। যদিও এ বিষয়ে সঠিক...

Mysterious Airfield on Gulf of Aden is Now Fully Operational...

posted on: Feb 25, 2025

The airfield on Yemen’s Abd Al Kuri in the Socotra Archipelago now appears to be fully operational. On February 16, the Sentinel 2 satellite caught a large transport aircraft on the northern end of the runway.  With the resolution available to common users, the aircraft configuration and wingspan is compatible with that of a C-17 transport aircraft. The “missing” section of the runway at its northern end has been completed in concrete and now has white-painted runway markings similar to those applied to the rest of the runway. It appears that this section of runway has been constructed with concrete in order to bear the weight of heavy aircraft such as the C-17 on its impact with the runway at touch-down. Completing the whole runway in concrete to a similar load-bearing capacity would have been a considerable logistic challenge, given the lack of construction infrastructure and raw materials (including water) on...

Ukraine’s Dry Bulk Exports Surge as Black Sea Corridor Proves Resilient...

posted on: Feb 25, 2025

FILE PHOTO: Cargo ships are seen from a patrol boat of Ukraine’s coast guard as they sail in the Black Sea, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, February 7, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo Three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a dramatic shift in Black Sea shipping patterns has emerged, with Ukraine’s dry bulk shipments surging 87% year-over-year despite ongoing regional tensions, according to shipping industry association BIMCO. The remarkable recovery stems from Ukraine’s successful implementation of a coastal corridor initiative launched in August 2023, follow Russia’s withdrawal from the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative. Despite Russian attacks on vessels in September and October 2023, this alternative route has proven effective, though overall volumes remain 36% below pre-war levels, BIMCO says. “Three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the volume of dry bulk shipments from the two countries combined is 6% below pre-war levels,” reports Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO. “While Ukraine has seen...

Pakistan Navy commences maritime security exercise in Karachi...

posted on: Feb 25, 2025

Pakistan Navy on Monday inaugurated the Sea Guard-25 security exercise in Karachi, aimed at tackling challenges within the maritime sector, a statement from the Pakistan Navy said. The second in its series, Exercise Sea Guard is a Pakistan Navy initiative aimed at bringing together representatives from the country’s diverse maritime sectors, including shipping, fisheries, law enforcement agencies, private entities, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under one platform to collectively address multifaceted challenges in the maritime domain. “During the opening brief, participants were apprised of the aims and objectives of Exercise Sea Guard, as well as the critical role of the Joint Maritime Information Coordination Centre (JMICC) in ensuring maritime safety and security along Pakistan’s coastline,” the statement said. It added that the exercise sought to enhance coordination among national stakeholders while operating within their respective legal frameworks, using JMICC as a common platform to strengthen the security of Pakistan’s maritime...