We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to form an international maritime surveillance mission involving 55 vessels in a key waterway off Iran in November, a source familiar with the plan said Thursday.
The plan came to light amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran following recent attacks on major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, an incident Washington has blamed on Tehran.
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Source: mainichi.jp
CAIRO, Sept 19 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates is joining an international maritime mission to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and other areas, state news agency WAM said on Thursday.
The operation area for the International Maritime Security Construct covers the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandab, the Sea of Oman and the Arabian Gulf, WAM said.
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Source: reuters.com
DUBAI, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Iran will hold its annual military parade on Sept. 22 in the Gulf with 200 frigates of its elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran Front Page reported on Wednesday, at a time of spiked tension between Tehran and Washington.
“Some 200 IRGC frigates will take part in a parade of military units in the Persian Gulf… on Sept. 22 to mark the beginning of Iran-Iraq in 1980,” the IFP cited military sources as saying.
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Source: yahoo.com
Reports come amid raised tensions after weekend attack on major Saudi oil installation
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have seized a vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 250,000 litres of diesel fuel to the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA has reported.
“It was detained near Iran’s Greater Tunb island in the Persian Gulf … the crew have been handed over to legal authorities in the southern Hormozgan province,” ISNA said on Monday, without elaborating on the nationalities of the crewmen.
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Source: theguardian.com
Insurance and shipping leaders said specific targeting of UK and US crew by Iran has left the industry to grapple with escalating tensions between Tehran and the West.
Nick Busvine, a partner at the strategic intelligence firm Herminius, told The National the drive from Tehran to take British and American hostages while targeting commercial shipping in the Arabian Gulf “changes the game” for the insurance industry.
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Source: hellenicshippingnews.com
By Jim Wilson
Three major international ocean shipping representative bodies — the International Chamber of Shipping, the Asian Shipowners’ Association and the European Community Shipowners’ Association — have called for the international community to stop the escalation of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
They also have called for the international community to fully respect international law.
“All countries should ensure the safe passage of merchant vessels by respecting the freedom of navigation enshrined in Article 87(1)a and the right of innocent passage defined in Article 19 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS],” the joint statement reads.
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Source: americanshipper.com
By AMIR HAVASI
Britain planning joint force to escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz after seizure of UK-flagged vessel
Iran on Sunday slammed as “provocative” a British proposal for a European-led naval mission to escort tankers in the Gulf, amid soaring tensions over the seizure of ships.
“We heard that they intend to send a European fleet to the Persian Gulf, which naturally carries a hostile message, is provocative and will increase tensions,” said government spokesman Ali Rabiei.
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Source: asiatimes.com
To judge by the propaganda of the Iranian regime, the brave warriors of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had captured a Royal Navy guided-missile destroyer. Video footage shows the IRGC men rappelling down to a ship while other fearless comrades, looking on from speedboats racing alongside the vessel, cheer them on with shouts of “Allah Akbar!” Still images show the men advancing cautiously down the deck, automatic weapons pointed forward in preparation of a fierce gun battle.
Stirring stuff for an Iranian audience raised on stories of Albion’s many historical perfidies against their nation! Except the captured ship was not the mighty HMS Duncan, bristling with missiles and men-at-arms, but the Stena Impero, a small oil tanker with a motley complement of 23 civilians—and not a single man jack among them holding a British passport.
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Source: hellenicshippingnews.com
‘If other countries have clear information, I am sure the international community will easily listen to them,’ says Emirati foreign minister on Wednesday
The United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said on Wednesday that no country could be held responsible for the latest attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf.
Speaking during a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Al-Nahyan said his country needs “clear and convincing evidence” regarding the recent attacks that targeted four vessels off the UAE coast last month, including two Saudi oil tankers.
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Source: middleeasteye.net
The recent spike in attacks on tankers near the Persian Gulf is inflating insurance premiums for ships transiting through the wider Middle East, increasing the cost of transporting oil from the region.
Insurance rates for crude oil tankers loading in the Middle East are now up to 20 times higher following the latest attacks.
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