Smugglers suspected of evading sanctions on North Korea have turned to schemes to create fraudulent identities for sanctioned ships, a U.S.-based research group said in a report released on Thursday.

Ships suspected of smuggling have long modified their physical appearance or broadcast false position data, said the report from C4ADS, a non-profit group.

But the practice of “vessel identity laundering” is significantly more sophisticated and not only undermines sanctions, but jeopardizes the integrity of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ship registration system, it added.

“Given its complexity, vessel identity laundering presents unprecedented challenges for maritime regulators and risks undermining global shipping practices,” the report said.

When asked about the report, a spokesperson for the IMO, the United Nations’ shipping agency, said any specific unlawful practices should be brought to the organization so they could be addressed.

“IMO has been working to address issues related to fraudulent registration and related unlawful practices including the registration of vessels without the knowledge or approval of the relevant national maritime administration,” the spokesperson added. “This work is ongoing.”

North Korea is under strict international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. Talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up those weapons in return for lifting sanctions have been stalled.

Independent sanctions monitors have reported to the United Nations that North Korea has continued to evade sanctions, albeit at a lower level since the country imposed its own border lockdowns to prevent a coronavirus outbreak since last year.

“The international shipping order has operated on the basis that an IMO number is an authoritative and unique identifier issued to one ship — a real ship, if that has ever needed to be spelled out,” C4ADS said.

But the group’s case studies of two ships allegedly involved in evading North Korea sanctions show how the IMO registration process can be hijacked to issue a registered identity to a non-existent vessel, which in turn can be used to disguise the identity of other ships, the report said.

C4ADS, which says it provides data-driven analysis and reporting on global conflict and security issues, said overall it had observed at least 11 ships engaging in elaborate schemes to create fraudulent ship registrations in recent years.

The C4ADS report outlined ways that law enforcement and civil regulators might detect and disrupt the activities of such vessels using tracking data, satellite imagery, IMO registration records, and other sources of publicly available information.

(Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul; Editing by Pravin Char)

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Liza Unity FPSO, set to become Guyana’s second offshore production unit, has been completed in Singapore and has set sail towards Guyana.

Keppel Shipyard, responsible for the construction and integration of the topside modules with the China-built FPSO hull said Thursday it had delivered the FPSO to SBM Offshore. Once in Guyana, the FPSO will be deployed at ExxonMobil’s Stabroek offshore block.

Keppel O&M’s scope of work included the fabrication of several topside modules, the riser balcony, the spread-mooring and the umbilical support structures, as well as the installation and integration of associated equipment and all topside modules onto the FPSO.

Liza Unity is the second in a series of three FPSOs for the Stabroek block offshore Guyana chartered by the consortium of ExxonMobil, CNOOC, and Hess. The Liza Destiny FPSO has been producing oil off Guyana since December 2019, and is currently producing approximately 120,000 gross barrels of oil per day.

The Liza Unity FPSO, which will be spread moored in a water depth of about 1,600 meters, is designed to produce approximately 220,000 barrels of oil per day, with an associated gas treatment capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of 250,000 barrels per day. Credit: SBM Offshore

The FPSO will be able to store approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil.

Keppel has also started work on the third FPSO unit earmarked for Guyana, the Prosperity FPSO. The vessel hull recently arrived at Keppel O&M’s yard in Singapore and work onboard has started. This FPSO is destined for the Payara development in the Stabroek Block.

The prolific Stabroek block is where ExxonMobil has in the past few years found more than 9 billion barrels of oil, with the latest discovery, at the Pinktail offshore well, announced Thursday. Read more.

At least six FPSOs are expected to be online in the Stabroek block by 2027 with the potential for up to 10 FPSOs on the block to develop the current discovered recoverable resource base.

ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25 percent interest.

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https://www.marinelink.com/news/video-guyanas-second-fpso-sets-sail-490491

Container shipping firm Evergreen Marine has this week ordered 24 container ships for a total price of up to ~$1.1 billion from CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding in China.

In a Taiwan Stock Exchange announcement on Wednesday, Evergreen said the order comprised newly-built 1,800 TEU, 2,300 TEU, and 3,000 TEU container ships.

More precisely, the company has ordered two 1,800 TEU vessels, eleven 2,300 vessels TEU and eleven 3,000 TEU vessels.

The total transaction price is between $958 million and ~1.1 billion.

Evergreen Marine, the owner of the Ever Given container ship which earlier this year blocked the ship traffic in the Suez Canal, did not share any details on the expected delivery dates.

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The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest U.S. privately owned deepwater crude terminal, has fully reopened its marine operations for imports and exports, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The facility closed on Aug. 28 ahead of Hurricane Ida, which caused extensive damages to U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production and processing. More than two-thirds of oil production was shut-in on Friday.

There were no vessels docked at the port on Friday, the spokesperson said. However, at least one tanker, the very large crude carrier Arsan, has been waiting since Tuesday to load crude bound for Asia, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking data.

The largest U.S. offshore producer, Royal Dutch Shell , on Thursday declared force majeure on numerous contracts, leaving at least two cargoes of sour Mars crude oil canceled.

China and South Korea had stepped up purchases of Gulf-produced crude in recent months and now face lengthy delays before shipments arrive. LOOP is one of the largest terminals used for exporting Mars crude, produced in the U.S. Gulf, to Asian clients.

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https://www.marinelink.com/news/louisiana-offshore-oil-port-fully-reopens-490538

This year is shaping up to be a banner year for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel vessel construction contracts, with nearly 30% of the gross tonnage ordered in 2021 comprised of LNG-fueled vessels, according to the latest report from Clarksons.

The trend is expected to continue as major deep-sea sectors of the maritime industry are embracing LNG in efforts to reduce both local and global emissions, said industry coalition SEA-LNG. Notably, LNG-fueled vessels are one of the only options today that meet the reduced emissions required of environmental finance.

It is anticipated that more than 90% of the new pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) that will enter the market in the coming years will be LNG dual-fuel. Likewise, containership owners and operators are moving to LNG-fueled tonnage, with orders for LNG-fueled liners increasing fivefold since January 2020. Tankers and bulkers are also following suit, with increases of sevenfold and twofold respectively over the 18-month period.

LNG has been proven, is available now and reduces SOx and particulates to negligible levels, NOx by up to 85%, and GHG emissions by up to 23%. It can also achieve the IMO’s 2030 target of reducing CO2 emissions by 40% compared to 2008 by the use of bio-LNG products as a drop in fuel. This transition to bio-LNG, and eventually synthetic LNG, will enable the industry to meet the IMO 2050 targets utilizing established LNG infrastructure around the globe.

Peter Keller, Chairman of SEA-LNG said, “The deep-sea shipping industry understands that while LNG may not be the end game, it is the best starting point to get to net zero. It provides a very clear and achievable plan which starts today. We know the need is real and waiting is no longer an option. Recognition for this plan and the pathway forward is continually growing—borne out by the data from both Clarksons and DNV. And the acceleration in uptake of newbuilds fueled by LNG demonstrates confidence in this pathway through its bio and synthetic cousins.

“The advantage of LNG is that both bio-LNG and synthetic LNG are ‘drop-in’ fuels. There are no compatibility issues, and any ratio combination of bio-LNG, synthetic and ‘conventional’ LNG can therefore be used to fuel a large proportion of the deep-sea merchant fleet. It has the potential to scale incrementally in line with the growing availability of biomass and renewable energy, while delivering significant GHG reductions, starting now.”

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https://www.marinelink.com/news/orders-lngfueled-ships-rise-490461

Sep 10 morning UPDATE: towage under way, caravan sailing through head wind storm, destination Durban with ETA Sep 16, but probably caravan will have to shelter in Port Elizabeth area. Best guess is, MSC KATRINA suffered fire (probably preceded by explosion, as is it the most recurrent accident in such cases).

Container ship MSC KATRINA said to be on fire on Sep 9, SW of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The ship was NUC, adrift since morning Sep 9, later she seemed to be taken on tow by SAR tug SA AMANDLA, caravan moving towards Port Elizabeth. MSC KATRINA is en route from Lome Togo to Durban South Africa. No other information available at the moment, awaiting updates, confirmation of fire alert.

New FleetMon Vessel Safety Risk Reports Available: https://www.fleetmon.com/services/vessel-risk-rating/

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https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2021/35229/panamax-bulk-carrier-troubled-suez-canal/

Sep 10 morning UPDATE: towage under way, caravan sailing through head wind storm, destination Durban with ETA Sep 16, but probably caravan will have to shelter in Port Elizabeth area. Best guess is, MSC KATRINA suffered fire (probably preceded by explosion, as is it the most recurrent accident in such cases).

Container ship MSC KATRINA said to be on fire on Sep 9, SW of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The ship was NUC, adrift since morning Sep 9, later she seemed to be taken on tow by SAR tug SA AMANDLA, caravan moving towards Port Elizabeth. MSC KATRINA is en route from Lome Togo to Durban South Africa. No other information available at the moment, awaiting updates, confirmation of fire alert.

New FleetMon Vessel Safety Risk Reports Available: https://www.fleetmon.com/services/vessel-risk-rating/

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https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2021/35233/msc-mega-container-ship-reportedly-fire-south-afri/

LPG tanker FORTE DE SAO MARCOS, docked at Porto de Aratu, Bahia State, Brazil, suffered explosion in one of cargo tanks at around noon LT Sep 9. Explosion was followed by a lot of white smoke billowing from ship’s cargo area. Understood there was no fire, no injures reported so far, extent of damages unknown. Naval Inspection team said there was only one explosion occurred during tank’s degassing procedures, and there is no risk of new explosions.
UPDATE: There was fire after explosion, quickly extinguished by crew.

New FleetMon Vessel Safety Risk Reports Available: https://www.fleetmon.com/services/vessel-risk-rating/

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https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2021/35237/lpg-tanker-explosion-brazil-video/

Cargo of plywood caught fire in cargo hold of general cargo ship LOA FIRTUNE, berthed at Moerdijk, Netherlands, on Sep 10. Firefighting is to last for at least several hours, because first, containers must be removed from cargo deck, in order to get direct access to fire, said Moerdijk emergency official.

New FleetMon Vessel Safety Risk Reports Available: https://www.fleetmon.com/services/vessel-risk-rating/

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https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2021/35241/fire-cargo-hold-chinese-freighter-moerdijk-netherl/