This week, Philippine fishermen recovered a Chinese surveillance drone off the coast of Ambulong Island, well within the archipelago's internal waters. The small island is about 400 nautical miles away from the nearest Chinese bases in the South China Sea, including at least 100 nautical miles of coastal pilotage through the Philippines' central islands. 

The drone is about six feet long, and is marked "HY-119." The police have turned it over to the Philippine Navy for further analysis, and an investigation is under way, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. 

"The recovery of the HY-119 system has significant implications, as it provides insights into advanced underwater technology and naval capabilities," said the Philippine National Police in a statement. 

Col. Xerxes Trinidad, a spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, thanked the local fishermen for finding the suspicious device and turning it in. Philippine Navy sources told local media that the drone sub is believed to be a Chinese ISR device, capable of monitoring, recording and transmitting data. 

Images courtesy Philippine National Police

The device's "wings" and its lack of propeller identify it as a seaglider, a submersible that changes its buoyancy in order to rise up through the water column, then "glide" at an angle on the way back down. This is a slow but energy-efficient method of propulsion for unmanned underwater vehicles, and has been developed extensively by the U.S. Navy. 

Because this type of drone rises and falls through the water column, it is useful for collecting certain oceanographic data - salinity, temperature, currents and other physical measurements - that are essential for hiding submarines from acoustic detection. Seagliders can also be used to covertly carry out hydrographic surveys, or to listen for the movements of enemy submarines. 

The glider found Monday is similar in appearance to three suspected Chinese spy drones that were recovered in Indonesia in 2019-20. All of these drones share a resemblance to the "Sea Wing" (Haiyi) UUV developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

Courtesy Chinese Academy of Sciences

Courtesy Chinese Academy of Sciences / IOCAS

"If this is a Chinese drone, as seems likely, it indicates a troubling level of Chinese interest in the Philippines' internal archipelagic waters," Chinese maritime strategy expert Ray Powell told the Philippine Star. "[This] could mean that China intends to deploy submarines into Philippine waters, or perhaps wants to have that option if conflict breaks out."

In the closing days of 2024, China's navy made several unusually muscular deployments in sensitive locations, including the strait bordering the U.S. Navy's base on Okinawa. 

According to Yomiuri Shimbun, Chinese forces carried out previously-unseen maneuvers in the Miyako Strait, which passes through Japan's southwest islands. On December 22, three Chinese PLA Navy frigates sailed between the main island of Okinawa and Miyakojima, heading toward the East China Sea. They were accompanied by three China Coast Guard vessels, including CCG 2901, the largest armed cutter in the world (tied with sister ship CCG 5901). 

The movements are meaningful because of the strait's location - adjacent to the largest concentration of U.S. forces in Japan. Constructed in the waning days of WWII, the sprawling complex of bases on Okinawa has supported American power projection in East Asia for 80 years. Kadena Air Base, located near the center of the island, was essential for U.S. operations in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and its location would give it a central role in any conflict over the future of Taiwan. Okinawa also hosts the U.S. Marine Corps' Third Marine Expeditionary Force, the core of the USMC's rapid-reaction forces in the First Island Chain. 

A Chinese blockade of the Miyako Strait could separate the Marine Corps' stand-in forces from their supply chain. The U.S. Marine Littoral Regiment has plans to deploy HIMARS rocket artillery launchers to disbursed locations in Japan's southwestern islands in the event of a "highly imminent" Taiwan contingency, according to Kyodo News. This plan includes sites on the far side of the Miyako Strait from Okinawa. 

"This [patrol] is an unusual move that indicates China's intention to impose a naval blockade," a Japanese government source told Yomiuri Shimbun. 

Stronger presence at Scarborough Shoal

China's military also ramped up its patrols at contested Scarborough Shoal over the holidays. On January 2, CCG 5901 - sister ship to CCG 2901, the world's largest armed cutter - arrived at Scarborough for a show of force, Ray Powell of Stanford's Gordian Knot Center told RFA. The CCG 5901 joined an existing fleet of more than half a dozen maritime militia trawlers and three midsize CCG cutters at the shoal. Scarborough is within the Philippine EEZ, but it has been effectively occupied by Chinese forces since a standoff in 2012. 

In November, China published a set of detailed maritime and airspace boundaries for its claim to Scarborough Shoal, the first time Beijing has laid out the precise coordinates of its demands for control of distant waters. (Beijing claims sovereignty over the vast majority of the South China Sea, though its assertions have been rejected by an international tribunal.)

In support of the newly-detailed claim over Scarborough Shoal, the PLA Air Force conducted rarely-seen bomber and fighter overflights over the reef on December 29. The PLA Navy also dispatched three warships to reinforce its patrol units around the reef, including a Type 055 destroyer - the service's largest and most capable surface combatant.  

The China Coast Guard has also begun helicopter training in the area, according to Chinese defense commentator Yang Xiao - sending a message to U.S. and Philippine forces that control of the skies will also be contested. 

"Beijing is putting real teeth behind its ‘indisputable sovereignty’ claim over the shoal," Powell told RFA. 

Singaporean oil trader OK Lim, once a leading player in the city's busy bunker trading sector, has been declared bankrupt after consenting to a multibillion-dollar court judgment in favor of his former company's creditors. 

Lim and his children - Evan Lim Chee Meng and Lim Huey Ching - owe a combined $3.5 billion in connection with the collapse of Hin Leong Trading, the family's energy brokerage and shipping firm. Hin Leong operated at a loss for years, and to fill the gap, Lim had one of his executives create fake sales orders in order to apply for accounts receivable financing from his bankers. The fraudulent scheme collapsed in 2020 after a large trading bet went bad, and the firm quickly went bust. 

Hin Leong's bankers lost billions on the company's unsecured debt, making the scheme one of Singapore's biggest trade financing frauds ever. To recover their losses, the creditors took control of Hin Leong, and the firm's tanker fleet, its real estate and its other assets were sold off. OK Lim's family has faced a string of legal actions ever since. 

In September, Lim and his children agreed to pay a court judgment sought by Hin Leong's creditors, who wanted to hold the family responsible for the balance of the firm's unsecured debt. Without admitting fault, Lim consented to settle the matter for $3.5 billion, cutting short a civil trial before the beginning of testimony. However, the family admitted that they did not have resources to pay the total amount. They formally declared bankruptcy in late December, and their assets will now be managed by a trustee. 

OK Lim was also prosecuted on criminal charges for the Hin Leong fraud, and he received a stiff sentence. In May 2024, he was convicted of three counts of cheating and forgery (out of an initial indictment of 130 charges). Six months later, Judge Toh Han Li of Singapore’s State Courts sentenced Lim - who is 82 - to serve 17.5 years in prison. Lim is appealing the verdict, and will not serve any time until after the appeal process is completed. 

Vietnam is closing in on a $700 million deal to purchase the BrahMos cruise missile, a supersonic antiship missile built by an Indian-Russian joint venture. If completed, the sale would be the second BrahMos export agreement to Southeast Asia, following a deal to sell the system to the Philippine military in 2022.  

The sale has been a long time coming. Russian and Indian defense firms formed a JV - BrahMos Aerospace - to develop and market the missile back in 1995, and export sales were part of the plan from the early days, subject to approval from the Indian and Russian governments. As early as 2016, Moscow and New Delhi signed off on export talks with a wide variety of potential customers, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Chile, Egypt and half a dozen more. To meet expected export demand and reap billions of dollars in new sales, the Indian-managed manufacturing arm of the company is investing in a major expansion of production capacity with a new 200-acre factory campus in Uttar Pradesh, which will come online in 2026. 

For years, Beijing has quietly expressed reservations about export sales of Brahmos to Vietnam because of long-running maritime boundary conflicts. Though they have close economic and diplomatic ties, China and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, and have clashed many times over the years - notably in 1974, when Chinese forces seized the Paracel Islands from the U.S.-backed government of South Vietnam.  

Last year, Deutsche Welle reported that  Beijing's concerns were still active, and China was still believed to be pressuring the government of Russia to scuttle any sale of the BrahMos missile system to Vietnam. Despite Russia's increasing dependence on China, these objections appear to have been dismissed: after Russian President Vladimir Putin conducted a high-profile state visit to Hanoi in June, rumors of a Brahmos deal accelerated.

No outcry from Beijing

China has not announced a formal objection to Vietnam acquiring the BrahMos missile system.  Both Hanoi and Manila have claims that overlap with China in the Spratly Islands, but China does not publicly protest Vietnam's operations in the area - even though Vietnam is expanding its footprint in Chinese-claimed waters, and much faster than any other regional actor. 

When the Philippines acquired the same missile system from India in 2022, China responded with a cautionary note. 

"China always believes that defense and security cooperation between countries should not harm the interest of any third party and should not harm regional peace and stability," Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in April 2024, when the first batch of BrahMos missiles reached the Philippines. 

The Chinese foreign ministry had a much different reaction when  Manila announced plans to buy the American-made Typhon shore battery system, a missile launch platform that can fire off SM-6 antiaircraft missiles and Tomahawk land-attack/antiship missiles. The latest generation of the Tomahawk (TLAM Block V) has a range of more than 1,000 miles, putting a large swathe of China's mainland southeast in reach; the antiship variant can hit moving targets at sea. 

"By bringing in this strategic offensive weapon, the Philippines is enabling a country outside the region to fuel tensions and incite geopolitical confrontation," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning in late December. "We urge the Philippines to correct its wrongdoings, pull out the Typhon missile system as publicly pledged, and stop going further down the wrong path."

Guest posts and opinion pieces are an important part of the content we share with readers at The Maritime Executive. We are grateful to our guest authors for contributing their stories. 

Here are the most popular editorials of 2024, with topics ranging from naval developments to geopolitical confrontation to shadow tankers, AIS spoofing, and pollution. Read on to find out more about the news and views that maritime professionals were most interested in hearing about this year.

The editorials of 2024 that drew the most reader interest:

1)    Iranian Naval Forces Go Dark

2)    China's Navy is Using Quantity to Build Quality

3)    Preparing the U.S. Coast Guard for China's Gray-Zone Operations

4)    Russia’s Shadow Tanker Fleet Runs into Trouble

5)    Op-Ed: U.S. Navy's Newest Carrier Continues Tradition of Power Projection

6)    In Baltimore, Ship Strike "Never Occurred to Anybody"; In Delaware, It Did

7)    Military Challenges to China's South China Sea Claims are Increasing 

8)    Mass AIS Spoofing Event "Moves" Dozens of Ships to Crimean Airport 

9)    Vietnam and Cambodia Clash Over New Mekong Canal 

10)    Ocean Plastic Cleanups May Do More Harm Than Good
 

The controversial contract for the Danish ferry company DFDS to take over ferry service to Jersey in the Channel Islands has been completed despite a pending challenge. The contract was awarded at the beginning of December after a competitive bidding process and the selection of the Danes marks the end of more than 60 years of service by Condor Ferries, a UK company that was acquired in December 2024 by France’s Brittany Ferries.

The 20-year contract is due to begin service on March 28, 2025, with DFDS providing both freight and passenger services connecting Jersey of the Channel Islands to the UK and France. DFDS’ Jersey fleet will comprise one Ro-Pax vessel, two high-speed crafts, and a dedicated freight vessel to meet the needs of the island, and support tourism and the hospitality sector in Jersey as well as in France? and the UK with frequent sailings. DFDS also committed to increasing the frequency of ferries to address high demand in peak periods, introducing high-speed ferries to the UK, and investing in three new vessels by 2032.

"We are excited to embark on this journey with Jersey and the local community,” said Torben Carlsen, CEO of DFDS. “The lifeline ferry service is a vital link for the island, and we are fully committed to delivering reliability and an enhanced travel and transport experience for islanders, businesses, and visitors. We look forward to building a strong partnership with Jersey and serving the community.”

The execution of the contract came as Brittany Ferries, which had also bid, announced it would challenge the award to DFDS. Government officials in Jersey told the BBC they were "disappointed" by the pending court challenge but would defend their decision. 

The Royal Court has set hearings for January 13 and 14 for the claims from Brittany Ferries that government officials did not make clear the concerns before the bidding process and did not provide reasons for their concerns about the company’s bid. Brittany Ferries was granted a judicial review while the court rejected wider claims. 

DFDS which dates to 1866 and operates a wide array of routes and ferries said it is committed to Jersey. It looks forward to launching the new service which it says will improve transportation to the islands.
 

Senegal and Mauritania are set to become major producers of natural gas after oil major BP marked a significant milestone with the first gas flow from the offshore Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project. It is the first gas development in the new basin offshore Mauritania and Senegal and is expected to put the two West African nations on the map as major hydrocarbon producers.

BP is the operator of GTA, a project that is being developed at a cost of $4.8 billion and which it jointly owns with U.S operator Kosmos Energy, Mauritanian hydrocarbons company SMH, and Senegal’s state-owned Petrosen. The project is one of the deepest offshore developments in Africa, with gas resources in water depths of up to 2,850 meters (9,350 feet). When fully commissioned, GTA Phase 1 is expected to produce around 2.3 million tonnes of LNG annually for more than 20 years.

The first gas from the project is being introduced to the FPSO approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) offshore, where water, condensate, and impurities are removed. 

“This is a fantastic landmark for this important megaproject,” said Gordon Birrell, BP EVP production & operations. “First gas flow is a material example of supporting the global energy demands of today and reiterates our commitment to help Mauritania and Senegal develop their natural resources.”

The project employs a large FPSO, constructed by China’s COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry yard in Qidong, China. The vessel, which is designed for a 30-year service life, is 70 meters (230 feet) long and has an oil storage capacity is not less than 1.44 million barrels. The living quarters can accommodate 140 people.

The FPSO being towed into position in June 2024 (BP)

The FPSO arrived at its permanent location offshore Mauritania and Senegal in June 2024. It is expected to process over 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The gas will be transferred via pipeline to the Gimi FLNG vessel that is moored at the Hub Terminal approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) offshore where it will be cryogenically cooled, liquefied, and stored before being transferred to LNG carriers for export. Some of the gas will be allocated to help meet growing demand in the two countries.

Owned and operated by Golar LNG, the Gimi can store up to 125,000 cubic meters of LNG. The vessel arrived at the GTA project in February having undergone conversion at Singapore’s Seatrium shipyard. The vessel was converted from a 1975-built Moss LNG carrier and is designed for 20 years of operations on-site without dry docking. It features a liquefaction capacity of 2.7 million tonnes per annum and capabilities to operate near shore in 30 meters (100 feet) of water depth.

The project is based on the 2014 discovery of 120 trillion cubic feet of natural gas across the two countries. The first LNG cargo for export markets is projected in the first quarter of this year.
 

Finnish investigators now have two more possible ways to detain the tanker Eagle S, which is suspected of severing multiple subsea cables in the Gulf of Finland on Christmas Day. In addition to the criminal inquiry initiated by Finnish law enforcement agencies, subsea cable operator Fingrid has asked a court to detain the tanker pending separate civil litigation over the cost of the infrastructure damage, which could potentially result in the seizure and sale of the vessel. Finland's port state control authorities are also planning to inspect the aging "dark fleet" tanker for possible safety deficiencies, dozens of which were identified in previous PSC boardings.

Eagle S's attorney, local maritime lawyer Herman Ljungberg, has dismissed the Finnish criminal inquiry as "speculation" and - on the shipowner's behalf - has called for the vessel's prompt release. A separate civil detention order from the courts and a safety-related detention from the Finnish Coast Guard would complicate the shipowner's appeal and make it more difficult for the tanker to depart. The tanker's cargo of Russian gasoline has also been impounded pending the outcome of a Finnish customs investigation. 

In addition to banning the movement of the tanker, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation has issued a travel ban on eight crewmembers (up from the initial seven named earlier this week) in order to ensure that they remain reachable. These individuals are suspected of criminal acts, but have not yet been formally placed under arrest. The travel ban allows them to continue to work aboard the ship and maintain it in safe operating condition. 

On Dec. 25, Fingrid's EstLink 2 power transmission cable from Finland to Estonia and multiple subsea telecom cables in the Gulf of Finland were suddenly severed. Eagle S's AIS trackline corresponded to the damage sites, and a drag line of up to 50 nm long was found on the bottom. The tanker had an anchor chain in the water, but the chain was missing the anchor - just like the NewNew Polar Bear, a Chinese boxship that cut multiple subsea cables by dragging its anchor along the bottom of the Baltic. 

As this was the third potentially ship-related cable damage incident in a year in the Baltic, Finnish authorities acted quickly. They requested Eagle S to divert from international waters and into Finnish territorial seas, and the crew agreed to comply. Finnish police then boarded the vessel in a tactical operation with a military helicopter.
 
Given the repeated occurrence of cable damage incidents in the Baltic, the Finnish Parliament's foreign affairs and defense committees both scheduled meetings for Friday to discuss subsea infrastructure security. Finland's NATO allies met on December 30 for a similar purpose, and reached an agreement to enhance the alliance's military presence in the Baltic. 

The U.S.’s annual supply mission to Antarctica known as Operation Deep Freeze is moving into its next phase as the Polar Star, the U.S. Coast Guard’s only heavy icebreaker, started the final leg of its deployment. It will take her from Australia to the bases in the Antarctic. It marks the icebreaker’s 28th voyage to Antarctica.

Operation Deep Freeze is a joint military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations of the National Science Foundation, which is the lead agency for the United States Antarctic program. The Polar Star provides heavy icebreaking capabilities to facilitate sealift, seaport access, bulk fuel supply, and cargo handling for two of the U.S.’s three research stations in Antarctica, including McMurdo Station which is the largest. The cutter’s icebreaking capabilities enable the delivery of critical supplies to sustain the year-round operations and support international partnership in the harsh Antarctic environment.

Operation Deep Freeze is one of the more challenging U.S. military peacetime missions due to the harsh environment in which it is conducted. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, most inhospitable continent on the planet, and the USCG highlights that each trip requires careful planning and coordination. During the transit, the crew received training and prepared to support the vital mission despite the austere environment. 

The Polar Star started this year’s deployment by departing from its homeport of Seattle on November 22. It has traveled approximately 7,000 miles with a stop in Honolulu, Hawaii, before reaching Sydney, Australia on December 21.  The icebreaker hosts tours and outreach while in Australia while also loading fuel and supplies. She departed on December 27 for the trip across the Southern Ocean to reach Antarctica.

"Polar Star is unique in its ability to operate in the dynamic polar regions and we are looking forward to joining our service partners operating there," said Lt. Cmdr. Rachel Rand, Polar Star’s operations officer.  

She is outfitted with six diesel and three gas turbine engines that produce up to 75,000 horsepower. The USCG highlights she is their most powerful vessel with capabilities to continuously break six feet of ice at 3 knots and ram through ice she can encounter in Antarctica at up to 21 feet thick. The USCG has been working to extend her service while the replacement icebreakers are delayed. In December, approval was finally given to begin construction on Polar Sentinel, the first next-generation icebreaker, but she is not expected till 2029.

The first phase of this year’s Operation Deep Freeze began in October 2024 when a team of Seabees departed to undertake a waterfront construction project in Antarctica. It is the first time since 1994 that Seabees were officially involved in operations on Antarctica.

The current “ice pier” at McMurdo Station the USC reports became unreliable to sustain essential logistics operations. The Seabees were sent to construct infrastructure that supports the installation of a new loading/offload infrastructure project at McMurdo Station. The new project will provide an enduring engineering solution to facilitate the safe and efficient loading and offloading of supplies to McMurdo.

In addition to the Polar Star, the U.S. sends a mission traditionally with two merchant ships that depart around the end of the year. In that phase of Operation Deep Freeze, vital supplies are transported to the stations, and material is loaded for return to the United States.
 

The French Navy recently validated the performance of its top-end torpedo in a rare and dramatic sinking exercise.

In a test-firing in mid-December, an unnamed French nuclear-powered attack submarine launched an F21 heavyweight torpedo at the retired corvette Premier Maitre L'Her. Images released by the Marine Nationale show that the torpedo hit just aft of the deckhouse and broke the ship's keel, as designed. 

Courtesy Marine Nationale

The F21, a heavily-upgraded evolution of the Italian A184 design, is a 20-foot-long torpedo with a 440-pound warhead. With electric propulsion and a single-use aluminum-silver oxide battery, it has a top speed of 50 knots and can reach targets out to 30 nautical miles away; it can dive as deep as 1,600 feet for antisubmarine warfare duties. It is wire-guided with acoustic homing in the terminal approach phase, and can be re-targeted in midcourse. 

Premier-Maitre L'Her was a D'Estienne d'Orves-class light corvette of the Marine Nationale. She was commissioned in 1981 and was 43 years old by the time she exited service. 

Originally designed for antisubmarine warfare in the Atlantic, the class' poor seakeeping performance and limited sonar capability saw them relegated to a patrol and policing role after the end of the Cold War. Premier-Maitre L'Her was deployed for antipiracy duty in the high-risk zone off Somalia in 2009, and conducted one successful interdiction resulting in the arrest of eight pirates. She also served in Operation Sophia, the EU's migrant-rescue mission. Her final overseas deployment was a three-month policing mission in the Gulf of Guinea, followed by a two-month Atlantic patrol. She was decommissioned in July and prepared for sinking.

A project financing package was completed at the end of December to continue the momentum for the development of another of the early, large offshore wind farms off the Northern U.S. Coast. Equinor reports it secured more than $3 billion in project financing for Empire Wind 1 on competitive terms due to strong interest from lenders.

The Empire Wind 1 project, which will be located between 15 and 30 miles southeast of Long Island is already in the first stages of construction. It is expected to reach commercial operations in 2027.

“This is an important milestone for Equinor, in line with our plan to enhance value and reduce exposure in the Empire Wind 1 project. As we now enter full execution mode, we continue our efforts to increase robustness and value-creation in the project,” said Jens Økland, acting executive vice president for Renewables in Equinor.

The lease was awarded in 2017 to Equinor but in 2020 it was part of the company’s agreement with BP to develop a joint venture for offshore wind. The JV however was dissolved in 2024 with Equinor taking full ownership of Empire Wind with the company saying it was moving forward in what is expected to be a $5 billion investment. BP took ownership of the Beacon Wind lease and projects in the swap agreement.

While work is proceeding, Equinor however reports that it intends to take on a new partner for the project to further enhance value and reduce its risk. The company did not indicate where it stands in the search for a partner but in general private equity investors have shown strong interest in projects once they reach the development stage,

The plan for Empire Wind split the lease area into two projects with the first phase having a contracted capacity of 810 MW. A 25-year Purchase and Sale Agreement for the power from Empire 1 was struck in June 2024 with NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority). 

As part of the project, Empire Wind 1 is participating in the redevelopment of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to support the project. New York City is supporting the effort to develop the wind terminal which the company says will create more than 1,000 union jobs in the construction phase.

The second wind farm, Empire Wind 2, is in an early stage of planning and regulatory approval. It has a potential capacity of more than 1,200 MW.

In announcing the project financing, the company said the agreement maintains the momentum toward bringing a significant power source to the New York grid.

A seafarer working aboard a bulker that was bound for Australia is missing overboard from his ship. Mining giant Rio Tinto confirmed the reports before its vessel the RTM Zheng He (205,400 dwt) arrived in Australia. The company issued a statement detailing the efforts while reporting its thoughts were with the family, friends, and colleagues.

The Philippine Coast Guard received a report of a missing seafarer on December 26 from the Singapore-registered bulker which is managed for Rio Tinto by Anglo Eastern. The vessel departed China on December 18 and is due to arrive in Dampier, Australia later this week.

The master of the bulker told the Philippine Coast Guard that a deck fitter named Gel Aguavia had last been seen on December 26 on the port side of the ship. He was reported wearing a dark blue reflectorized suit.

The Coast Guard deployed BRP Capones to conduct the SAR operation while also broadcasting a general alert. Two other bulkers in the vicinity, HL Hope and Federal Sutton, also joined in the search

“Our thoughts are with Gel's family, friends, and colleagues, and we stand with everyone affected by this distressing situation. We are focused on offering all possible support during this difficult time,” Rio Tinto said today confirming the incident. “We would like to thank everyone involved in the search for their tireless efforts.”

The company reports it is cooperating fully with relevant authorities and the ship’s manager on investigations into the incident. It is also conducting its own investigations.

A cargo of nearly 20,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer that drew worldwide attention and created a hysteria over the “bomb ship” quietly arrived in Africa at the beginning of the week. The cargo which was seven times the amount that exploded in 2020 devastating sections of Beirut, Lebanon, became the subject of numerous media reports as the Malta-flagged cargo ship Ruby was repeatedly denied a port of refuge.

The Barbados-flagged cargo ship Zimrida (37,296 dwt) reflects on its AIS signal that it dropped anchor on Monday, December 30, in the Abidjan anchorage in Cote d’Ivoire. The majority of the cargo, which was in bags, was transferred from the Ruby to the replacement vessel in the port of Great Yarmouth in the UK. The Zimrida departed on December 16 and made a provisioning stop in the Canary Islands.

The cargo caused a panic first in Tromsø, Norway after the ship Ruby (37,000 dwt) was permitted to dock in the center of the city after suffering damage during a storm after departing Russia. Norwegian authorities after learning of the cargo ordered the vessel moved to a remote offshore location, which drew the first attention of the media at the beginning of September.

Malta as the vessel’s flag state and DNV as the ship’s class society determined the Ruby while damaged remained seaworthy. It however required immediate repairs due to reports of damage to the hull, propeller, and rudder.

A shipyard in Lithuania won the assignment for the repairs, but the local authorities said the ship would not be permitted to enter the port until the cargo had been offloaded. Sweden and Denmark also placed restrictions on the ship’s movement into the Baltic causing the Ruby to instead divert to an anchorage off England.

Great Yarmouth finally accepted the vessel at the end of October so that the cargo could be transferred to a replacement ship. Even then it caused political controversy and the newspaper the Great Yarmouth Mercury reports at one point local officials contemplated evacuating the city when a portion of the cargo was found to be contaminated.

It was highlighted that the ammonium nitrate was stable and properly packed and stored but the dangers increase when it becomes contaminated. The newspaper says the ship’s fuel had leaked contaminating approximately 300 tonnes. In a carefully planned exercise, accompanied by several tugs, the Ruby put out into the North Sea and dumped the contaminated fertilizer overboard setting out a new controversy and complaints of pollution from environmentalists.

The cargo which was labeled in media reports as a Russian bomb had been destined for Brazil the shipping company’s representatives reported. The cargo instead ended its journey in Africa while the Ruby quietly departed Great Yarmouth on December 5. She was moved to the port of Tyne in England where she remains under repair.

The Vietnamese Navy intervened yesterday, January 1, to rescue the product tanker Petrolimex 11 which was drifting uncontrolled offshore. The report says despite high sea conditions they were able to tow the vessel to a safe anchorage.

The distress call was issued by the Vietnamese-flagged product tanker while it was off the coast of central Vietnam. It had loaded a cargo (likely gasoline) and was traveling from Malaysia to Vietnam. The distress call said the vessel had suffered a critical engine malfunction meaning it was out of control and adrift. It was 20 nautical miles southeast of Cam Ranh Bay with a crew of 25 aboard.

The navy dispatched one of its vessels and reports it had to battle seas running up to approximately 20 feet or higher. The navy was able to reach the vessel overnight and secured a tow line. The Petrolimex 11, built in 2008, is 40,000 dwt with a length of 577 feet (176 meters). It is operated by VITCO (Vietnam Tanker Joint Stock Corporation).

The vessel was towed to the south and placed in the anchorage at Vinh Tan, one of the international ports in Vietnam.
 

A record total of 131 flimsy boats loaded with migrants disappeared at sea while trying to reach Spain in 2024, a year that goes down as the deadliest on record. Roughly 10,500 people died on the Atlantic and Mediterranean routes to Spanish soil over the past 12 monts, according to a report by Spain-based migrant rights group Caminando Fronteras.

The group reports that there has been a 58 percent increase in migrant deaths on the western Euro-African border as more people resorted to the use of rickety wooden and inflatable boats to reach Europe.

Cumulatively, the group recorded 10,457 deaths over the period from January 1 to December 15, an average of 30 victims every day - up from 18 victims daily in 2023. A total of 421 women and 1,538 children and adolescents were among the recorded victims. A majority of the deceased were from Africa, and victims from Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Yemen were also recorded. 

The report shows the Atlantic route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands remains the most lethal in the world, partly due to a sharp increase in boats setting off from Mauritania. A total of 9,757 deaths were recorded on the route with 70 percent of the victims travelling in wooden boats. European agencies have attributed the increased traffic levels to criminal groups dedicated to human trafficking in Mauritania.

The Algerian route in the Mediterranean is the second deadliest with 517 victims while the Strait of Gibraltar has claimed up to 110 lives with another 73 dying on the Alborán route.

The report puts the blame for the significant surge in migrants’ deaths on Spanish authorities, whom it accuses of pursuing policies focused on controlling migration with support from Europe. On the Atlantic route for instance, overloading of flimsy boats that only float for a short time continues to cause shipwrecks when response from rescue services is delayed or inadequate. There have been several tragedies that occurred despite rescue services having the exact coordinates of the boat in distress, the NGO asserted. 

Caminando Fronteras is raising the alarm of the rise of women migrants on the Atlantic route, most travelling aboard inflatable boats that set off from the coast between Agadir and Dakhla. The boats, known as ‘zodiacs’ among migrants, are flimsy and dangerous in the Atlantic, where the sea is much rougher than in the Mediterranean.  

Concerns over the rising migrant crisis on the Atlantic route has forced the European Union (EU) and Spain to take actions to help Mauritania deal with the problem. The EU has for instance invested nearly $220 million to enhance Mauritania’s capacity to manage migration flows.

Spain, alongside Italy and Greece, are the main European countries that have been affected by maritime migration, which has become a hot-button issue in EU politics.  

A U.S Navy submarine that played a central role in World War II is scheduled for dry docking for preservation works in order to continue attracting visitors as a historic museum boat. The Wisconsin Maritime Museum (WMM), the custodian of USS Cobia, is seeking to raise $1.5 million for comprehensive inspection and essential preventative maintenance at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Wisconsin. 

A National Historic Landmark vessel, Cobia has been a museum ship in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, since 1970. The boat is set to be towed to Fincantieri in September for extensive preservation works, which are expected to last up to six weeks. It will be the second time in her post-service career that the ship enters drydock. 

The Gato-class submarine has historic value from its role in WWII. Launched in November 1943, the 312-foot boat completed six war patrols and sank 13 Japanese vessels. One of her notable achievements was attacking an enemy convoy bound for Japanese-held Iwo Jima. Cobia sank two vessels, including a troop transport carrying a Japanese tank battalion of 28 tanks. The sinking was critical to the U.S. Marines' success in capturing Iwo Jima six months later.

Cobia was one of 70 diesel-powered Gato-class submarines that the U.S Navy built en masse. They represented cutting-edge technology at the outset of the war, but they were quickly superseded by upgraded designs with deeper diving capability and longer range. The majority of the surviving Gato-class boats were placed in reserve or scrapped after the war's end. 

Cobia was decommissioned a year after the end of WWII, then recommissioned eight years later to train reservists and Submarine School students at New London, Connecticut. In 1959, the Navy considered Cobia obsolete as a deployable warship and transferred her to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Naval Reserve Center. In 1986, the boat was incorporated as a part of the Manitowoc Maritime Museum, declared a National Historic Landmark, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

WMM wants to ensure that Cobia continues to be a living memory attracting visitors. The museum reckons that while it takes more than $150,000 annually to keep Cobia “ship-shape," it needs donations from well-wishers to raise the $1.5 million required for the upcoming dry docking.

The funds will go towards preparing the boat for the trip to Sturgeon Bay, towage, and time in dry dock. The scheduled works will include inspection of the underwater hull and cleaning and repairing free-flood areas, including spaces around the torpedo tubes. Other works include tank inspections to ensure watertight integrity.

“Part of our obligation to our veterans is to preserve national treasures like USS Cobia so that future generations can acknowledge the debt we owe to the fallen,” stated WMM.

Top image: USS Cobia at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, 2023 (Michael Barera / CC BY SA 4.0)

Singaporean OSV player Vallianz is the latest shipowner to be hit with a cyberattack, and has reported the details of the incident publicly.

In an investor announcement filing with the Singapore Exchange (SGX), Vallianz said that it had been attacked by a ransomware hacking group. The malicious actors gained unauthorized access to the company's servers, but the intrusion was detected and the company took steps to contain and resolve the intrusion. After taking action, Vallianz determined that "there has been no significant impact to the group's business operations."

Assessment of the impact of the cyberattack is ongoing, with expert consulting assistance, and the relevant authorities have been informed. 

Vallianz's stock is thinly traded, and the share price did not move markedly after the announcement. It has traded between about $0.03 and $0.04 since early 2023. 

Vallianz breached financial covenants with some of its lenders in June 2024, and it was provided with six-month conditional waiver notices from these financial institutions, which ended on December 31. One of the lenders has agreed to extend the waiver through the end of 2025, negotiations with the other lenders are ongoing, and Vallianz's parent company has promised to fund the OSV firm's operations and financial obligations through mid-2025. 

The crew of Royal Navy frigate HMS Somerset had their Christmas holiday abruptly cut short when they were recalled to carry out the duty of escorting a Russian naval group that was sailing past the British Isles.

200 crewmembers were recalled to their ship in Devonport Naval Base on Christmas Day and sailed on Friday, December 27 at record speed in foggy weather to meet up and shadow Russia’s corvette Soobrazitelny and her support vessels MV Sparta II and MV General Skobelev.

Somerset, a Type 23 frigate kept ready to deploy at short notice, reached the Russian force in the North Sea and shadowed it for more than 500 miles as it passed through the Dover Strait and into the English Channel.

Owing to the foggy conditions, the frigate used sensors to follow the Russian vessels and deployed her helicopter when the weather cleared to support the shadowing operation. The Russian vessels remained in international waters throughout the five-day shadowing operation, which concluded on New Year’s Eve.

“Personnel returned from leave from all parts of the United Kingdom. Although returning during this period is always emotional, the requirement for the tasking was understood by all onboard,” Warrant Officer 1 Stephen Doyle, Somerset’s Executive Warrant Officer. “Support from our families remains a key factor in allowing the sailors to perform at the highest level.” 

On January 1, the European Union's new carbon-intensity mandate - FuelEU Maritime - entered into force, requiring European shipping interests to make hard choices about fuel-efficiency and low-carbon propulsion. Compliance options include paying more taxes, cutting down fuel consumption or switching to reduced-emissions fuel sources. 

To help achieve its emissions goals for shipping, the EU has imposed a schedule of progressively-higher fees on emissions per tonne of transport work for ships over 5,000 GT. The fee structure is part of the bloc's broader plan to reduce greenhouse gas intensity from shipping by 80 percent by 2050 (compared with 2020 levels).

The legislation requires shipowners to record and report the well-to-wake greenhouse gas intensity of each vessel's operations. Non-compliance is a legal option, but comes with a high price penalty: €2,400 per tonne of VLFSO energy equivalent - about triple the price of bunker fuel - for emissions over the limit. Repeated, multiyear noncompliance increases the penalty.

To avoid these steep fees, operators can pool emissions among multiple ships, allowing one low-carbon vessel to compensate for several high-emitting legacy hulls. Shipowners can also borrow from their future year compliance in order to reduce costs, though they are required to make up the difference later. 

The final option is simple compliance with the FuelEU intensity targets, either by increasing vessel efficiency, adding wind propulsion or switching to green fuels. The target starts with a two percent reduction this year, then rachets down every five years to reach an 80 percent reduction by 2050. 

FuelEU Maritime is unique to Europe, and many European owners believe that if it stands alone as a regional requirement, it will make them less competitive on the global market. Danish Shipping, the representative body for operators like Maersk, Torm and Stena, supports the new regulation but says that there is a need for global climate regulation of the shipping industry.

"I hope FuelEU Maritime can help drive both the demand for and production of green fuels for shipping. Currently, the lack of green fuels at competitive prices is the biggest challenge for the green transition of shipping," said Nina Porst, director of environment at Danish Shipping. "While the EU’s regulation of shipping emissions is undoubtedly a step in the right direction towards climate neutrality, it is crucial that EU countries also push for international rules within the IMO, applicable regardless of where ships operate."
 

Seven crewmembers of the tanker Eagle S, which allegedly damaged subsea infrastructure in the Baltic last week, have been banned from leaving Finland and are suspected of committing a crime. The travel ban allows the suspects to remain working aboard the ship, unlike an arrest.  

"The police have an interest in securing the preliminary investigation and ensuring that the parties involved remain reachable during the investigation. However, the investigation is ongoing and the situation is becoming more specific, meaning that it is possible that the number of people subject to a travel ban will change," said inspector Elina Katajamaki of Finland's Central Criminal Police Office.

The tanker Eagle S has been detained by Finnish authorities in connection with a subsea cable damage incident that occurred on Christmas Day. In a matter of hours on Dec. 25, Fingrid's EstLink 2 power transmission cable and multiple subsea telecom cables were severed. Eagle S's AIS trackline corresponded to the damage sites, and a drag line of up to 50 nm long was found on the bottom. The tanker had an anchor chain in the water and was missing an anchor.

The Eagle S was asked to divert to Finnish territorial seas, and though it was located in international waters, the crew agreed to comply. Finnish police then boarded the vessel in a tactical operation with a military helicopter.

It is the latest of three nearly-identical cable damage incidents in the Baltic over the past year, and it is the first in which the coastal state successfully detained the suspect vessel. The ship has been relocated to a sheltered anchorage at Porvoo for further investigation, and authorities say that on-site forensic work is proceeding more quickly now that the weather is improving.

Legal advice

Eagle S's operator has retained a local maritime attorney, Herman Ljungberg, who claims that the crew have not received fair treatment. In an interview with YLE, he said that the authorities have made it difficult for the crew to access their right to legal advice. 

"Apparently some interrogations have taken place. I have pointed out that they should have legal counsel. The authority decided that they do not need to," Ljungberg told YLE. "The ship's crew has been very effectively prevented from communicating and receiving legal assistance."

Inspector Katajamaki denied this allegation to YLE. "The police have conducted a preliminary investigation according to the letter of the law, meaning everyone has been offered the help they are entitled to receive," she said.

Ljundberg has called for the ship and the crew to be released to carry on with their commercial voyage.