We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Tripoli (AFP) – Libya’s National Oil Company said it had stopped loading crude at a key government-controlled shipping terminal, declaring “force majeure” after a pipeline closure halted operations at its main oil field.
The NOC “hereby declares a state of force majeure on crude oil loadings at Zawiya port,” it said in a statement on its website late Saturday.
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Source: news.yahoo.com
The Marella Discovery picked up 111 migrants, including 33 children, near Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula. Despite a large fall in migrants crossing the Mediterranean, six people die each day making the journey.
Nik Martin
A Maltese-registered cruise ship sailing close to the Greek mainland has rescued more than a hundred migrants, the country’s coast guard said on Sunday.
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Source: dw.com
SEOUL/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Pirates attacked a South Korean-flagged cargo ship in the South China Sea early on Monday, stealing thousands of dollars in cash and even the sailors’ shoes, South Korean authorities said.
Two people sustained minor injuries when seven pirates boarded the CK Bluebell and made off with $13,000 and belongings including mobile phones, clothes and shoes from the 22-strong crew, officials from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said.
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Source: reuters.com
On 19 July Iranian authorities seized the British-flagged vessel, Stena Impero, in Omani waters in clear contravention of international law. Following a ministerial COBR meeting on 20 July, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt gave astatement on iranian actions in the Strait of Hormuz.
The UK Mission to the United Nations in New York, on behalf of the UK government, sent a letter to the President of the United Nations Security Council setting out the facts about the incident.
On 21 July the Foreign Secretary called the French and German foreign ministers. Both agreed with the Foreign Secretary that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is a top priority for European nations, while avoiding escalation in the region.
On 4 July the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 was detained during a a government of Gibraltar-led operation to uphold EU sanctions on Syria. The Foreign Secretary spoke with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar and with the Iranian Foreign Minister about the Grace 1 tanker.
On 15 July the Foreign Secretary attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. Before his visit, he gave a statement on Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal and also commented on the detention of the Grace 1 and the rights of commercial ships in the Gulf.
The UK government is almost certain that a branch of the Iranian military attacked 2 tankers on 13 June. The Foreign Secretary condemned the attacks on civilian shipping, and called on Iran to cease all forms of destabilising activity. Read the UK statement on the attacks in the Gulf of Oman.
Source: gov.uk
BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME
WARRI: SHELL has enjoined stakeholders in the Niger Delta to vigorously campaign against attack on oil crude oil facilities, stressing that effort should be made to save the environment from impact of oil pollution.
General Manager External Relatons, Igo Weli made the appeal in Warri, Delta state at the media launch of the 2019 edition of Shell in Nigeria briefing notes, adding that the oil giant was committed to improving quality of life in its areas of operations.
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Source: vanguardngr.com
COLOMBO: A top official of Sri Lanka’s independent Police Commission was arrested on Thursday for allegedly being involved in a case relating to illegal gun-running and money laundering, the police said…
…The case is related to the alleged illegal transfer of government weapons to Avant Garde, a private firm, from the Sri Lanka Navy. Avant Garde operated a lucrative business of providing sea marshals to protect merchant ships from Somali pirates in the high seas, during former President Mahinda Rajapaksha’s regime.
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Source: newindianexpress.com
Olaleye Aluko
The Nigerian Navy said on Thursday that it had deployed all its units in the creeks and backwaters of Niger Delta to rescue 10 abducted Turkish sailors on MV Paksoy 1 vessel attacked by pirates.
The navy said the vessel was intercepted around 8.30am on Monday by the Ghana Navy Ship, EHWOR, and escorted to the Tema Port in Ghana. The Navy Director of Information, Commodore Suleman Dahun, stated these in a statement on Thursday.
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Source: punchng.com
President Donald Trump has said the US Navy destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz.
He said the USS Boxer amphibious assault ship “took defensive action” on Thursday after the drone came within about 1,000 yards (914m) of the vessel.
Iran said it had no information about losing a drone. In June, Iran downed a US military drone in the area.
Earlier, Tehran said it had seized a “foreign tanker” and its 12 crew on Sunday for smuggling fuel in the Gulf.
Iran has been blamed by the US for attacks on tankers which have happened in the world’s key shipping area since May. Tehran denies all the accusations.
The recent incidents have triggered fears of a military conflict in the region.
Speaking at the White House, Mr Trump said: “I want to apprise everyone of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz today involving USS Boxer, a navy amphibious assault ship.
“The Boxer took defensive action against an Iranian drone which had closed into a very, very near distance, approximately 1,000 yards (914m), ignoring multiple calls to stand down and was threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew. The drone was immediately destroyed.
“This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters. The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, facilities and interests.”
A defence department official quoted by the New York Times said the drone had been brought down using electronic jamming equipment.
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official dismissed the US statement. In an English tweet posted on 19 July, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi even suggested the US may have downed its own drone by mistake.
Mr Araqchi’s comment came after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in New York on Thursday that “we have no information about losing a drone today”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Sepah News site said on Thursday that an alleged fuel-smuggling ship was seized on Sunday during naval patrols aimed at “discovering and confronting organised smuggling”.
Iran’s state media quoted the Guards as saying the vessel had been smuggling one million litres (220,000 gallons) of fuel.
The state media later published footage of Iranian speedboats circling around the Panamanian-flagged Riah tanker.
The vessel was seized south of Iran’s Larak Island, Iran said. Washington called on Iran to immediately release the ship.
Tensions have been high in the Gulf since the US tightened the sanctions that it reimposed on Iran’s oil sector after unilaterally withdrawing from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.
The US has blamed Iran for two separate attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman in May and June – an allegation Tehran has denied.
Iran also shot down a US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran said the aircraft had violated Iranian airspace, and that the incident sent a “clear message to America”.
The US military said the drone had been over international waters at the time, and condemned what it called an “unprovoked attack”.
UK warships have meanwhile been shadowing British oil tankers in the area since Iran threatened to seize one in response to the impounding of an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar.
The UK said the tanker was suspected of breaching EU sanctions against Syria. Iran denied it was en route there.
US Central Command Chief General Kenneth McKenzie, speaking on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, said he was working “aggressively” to find a solution to free passage for ships through the Gulf region, Reuters news agency reports.
Source: bbc.co.uk
Twenty-eight Incidents Reported to ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre from January to June 2019, Marking 32% Year-on-Year Decrease, and the Lowest in Number among 13-Year Period of January to June
The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) today released its Half-Yearly (January to June 2019) Report. Highlights of the report, whose information is verified by the respective government agencies, also known as Focal Points, and regional authorities, include:
Overall Summary
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Source: seanews.co.uk
Olaleye Aluko
The Nigerian Navy has traced the cargo ship on which 10 Turkish sailors were abducted to Ghana, saying rescue efforts were ongoing to bring back the sailors.
The navy said the vessel was at a Ghanaian port while it was working with sister navies to unravel the circumstances around the abduction of the Turkish sailors. The Turkish sailors were reported on Tuesday to have been kidnapped for ransom by armed men off the coast of Nigeria.
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Source: punchng.com
Maritime Security News 