The Philippine Coast Guard is engaged in a slow-motion standoff with the world's largest coast guard cutter, CCG 5901, which has been loitering off the coast of Luzon and broadcasting a legal mandate to patrol "Chinese" waters.  

CCG 5901 is a symbol of the China Coast Guard's "gray zone" campaign in the western Philippine exclusive economic zone. At 12,000 tonnes displacement and 540 feet long, it is as large as a cruiser, with range, endurance and an intimidating appearance to match. Last year, it anchored off Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands and stayed for months, outlasting the patrol ship that Manila dispatched to monitor it. 

The "monster ship," as it is known in Philippine media, is a familiar sight in the region - but its latest patrol is out of character. Shortly after the new year, CCG 5901 changed course and sailed to within 50 nautical miles of Luzon, home to the Philippines' capital city. 

????Since arriving on station yesterday, @coastguardph's 330-ton ????????BRP Cabra has been driving circles around the 12,000-ton "Monster" #China Coast Guard 5901. Cabra has been moving at 5-9 knots, while the "Monster" has been lumbering at 2-5 knots, 55-70nm from the Luzon coast. ???? https://t.co/avXUphaSoG pic.twitter.com/l82eAfcRhO

— Ray Powell (@GordianKnotRay) January 6, 2025

The Philippine Coast Guard dispatched a fixed-wing aircraft and a patrol vessel, the BRP Cabra, to track the CCG 5901 and to challenge its activities. The Cabra's crew made contact to push back on the China Coast Guard, but received a troubling response: the CCG 5901 asserted that "it is conducting law enforcement duties within what it considers the jurisdictional waters of the People’s Republic of China," 600 miles southeast of the Chinese mainland. 

BRP Cabra Maintains Vigilant Monitoring of Chinese Coast Guard Monster Ship

On its second day of patrol, the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra continues to actively monitor the movements of Chinese Coast Guard vessel 5901. The CCG vessel has been challenged regarding its… pic.twitter.com/j06qXBl23i

— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) January 5, 2025

Video courtesy PCG

"The PCG will continue to take deliberate and appropriately measured actions to challenge the illegal presence of the Chinese Coast Guard until it ceases its violations of the Philippines’ sovereign rights in these waters," said PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela in a statement. 

China claims the vast majority of the South China Sea as its own, citing historical patterns of Chinese trade and maritime activity in the region. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled against China's claims and found that they had no basis in international law. China has ignored the ruling and continues to assert sovereignty over the region, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan. 

Many Philippine defense commentators are concerned at China's muscular new approach in Philippine waters, including more aggressive PLA naval and coast guard patrols near Scarborough Shoal. "Since the beginning of the year, we have been shown: 'Don't challenge us, don't pick on us because we can match you,' in fact crush you. It's a real show of force," Prof. Renato de Castro of De La Salle University told ABS CBN. 

 

A number of recent developments have combined to suggest that the risk to Russian military cargoes at sea has risen markedly in recent weeks. Indeed, the sinking off Oran of the Russian military cargo auxiliary Ursa Major on December 23, shortly after it had passed through the Straits of Gibraltar, may be the first manifestation of this increased threat.

The Russian war effort in Ukraine has now become highly dependent on armament shipments from abroad, given that the Russian military industry, hindered by Western sanctions and a shortage of manpower, is failing to keep up with the ammunition demands of the front line. Two of Russia’s foreign suppliers rely on seaborne freight as part of their delivery routing into Russia. 

North Korea ships ammunition from its port at Raijin to Dunai near Vladivostok, where it is loaded onto the Russian rail network.  Via this route, North Korea is believed to have been exporting about 300,000 122mm and 152mm shells per month, shipped in about 1,000 containers. Shipments are increasing and now include missiles and armored vehicles as well. Estimates vary, but Ukrainian Military Intelligence (GUR) believes North Korea may be providing as much as 50% of Russia’s artillery ammunition expenditure.

Iran is also supplying 122mm and 152mm ammunition shells, in lesser quantities, but its principal exports have been of drones, which have had a major impact on the battlefield. Iran cannot rely on rail routes through Azerbaijan into Chechnya, and ships through the Caspian ports of Bandar-e Anzali and Amirabad to either Kaspiysk in Dagestan or the Volga-Don transshipment port at Olaya. 

On January 2, Iranian social media images (of uncertain provenance) were shown of Iranian air defense systems and truck-mounted Fath-360 tactical ballistic missiles (comparable in capability to the M142 HIMARS) at the dockside at Bandar-e Anzali prior to loading.  Again, these supplies are critical to the Russian war effort.

??????????Iranian sources write that Iranian Fath-360 missile launchers and Arman air defense systems are allegedly being sent to the ????????Russian Federation with vehicles that were spotted in the port of Bandar-e Anzali on the Caspian Sea. pic.twitter.com/vfePL6UlJo

— ????MilitaryNewsUA???????? (@front_ukrainian) January 2, 2025

Fath-360 systems under tarpaulins at the Bandar-e Anzali IRISL dock facility

From the Ukrainian perspective, it is much more cost-effective to attack a concentrated cargo of munitions at sea than before they are dispersed and delivered to protected ammunition storage sites. Moreover, Ukraine has demonstrated that it has no compunction in attacking Russian targets outside Russia. 

Putting aside any attribution of the attack on the Ursa Major in the Straits of Gibraltar through lack of any evidence, Ukraine is believed to have had technical and material input in operations against Russian Africa Corps mercenaries deployed in Sudan, Niger and Mali, and is reported to have provided drone assistance to HTS forces in their victorious campaign in Syria. By mounting drone attacks on Russian naval vessels Tatarstan (F691) and Dagestan (F693) in Kaspiysk on November 6, the Ukrainians have already demonstrated a capability to attack shipping in the Caspian Sea.

Mounting attacks on any of these sea routes – and potentially on the imminent sea evacuation of Russian military equipment from Tartus - would be a high priority, but technically challenging. Nevertheless, the Ukrainians have a well-proven capacity to field ingenious solutions to such complex military requirements, and this particular challenge would offer a high-value return on the resource investment necessary. Moreover, an increasing number of nations may be willing to provide covert technical assistance and support to the Ukrainians in such endeavors, now that evidence is emerging that the Russians themselves may be orchestrating covert attacks on seabed cables in the Baltic.

 

Taiwan's coast guard believes that a Chinese freighter severed a telecom cable off the island's northern coastline last week, and analysts have flagged the possibility of a gray-zone attack - the same subsea security concern that Baltic nations have wrestled with over the past year. 

On Friday at about 1240 hours, Chungwha Telecom notified Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) that a subsea communications cable had been severed just off the coast of Keelung. The CGA sent a patrol boat to intercept the Hong Kong-owned freighter Shunxin-39 (registered as Xing Shun 39, IMO 8358427), which was just off the coast of Yehliu. 

The CGA ordered the freighter to reverse course and head back to Keelung for an investigation; however, the vessel has since departed for Busan, South Korea. The CGA has passed all collected information to a prosecutor for a criminal inquiry, and the FT reports that Taiwanese authorities have asked their Korean counterparts for help in investigating the vessel when it arrives. 

Subsea cables are accidentally cut dozens of times a year in locations around the world, typically because of anchor-dragging and trawling in cable crossing areas. Similar damage can be inflicted by dragging anchor along the bottom under power. This puts tremendous strain on the anchor - even twisting or breaking it - but if the ship continues its transit, it can sever multiple subsea cables or pipelines in a single pass, evidence from multiple ongoing investigations suggests.

In this particular case, the FT released trackline data for Xing Shun 39 showing that it criss-crossed multiple subsea cable routes off the northern end of Taiwan, loitering and changing course multiple times over a period of days. 

Over the past 15 months, three different merchant ships allegedly dragged anchor for long distances along the bottom of the Baltic, severing more than half a dozen cables and one gas pipeline between NATO countries. All three called in Russia before or after a questionable transit; two had ownership links to China; and one was a previously-identified member of Russia's "dark fleet" of shadowy tankers. At least one of these incidents is suspected of a connection to Russian intelligence, an EU security source told the Wall Street Journal.  

Marco Ho Cheng-hui, CEO of the Taiwanese self-defense advocacy group Kuma Academy, told Taipei Times that China has a long history of using ships to damage Taiwanese subsea infrastructure. He suggested that last week's incident involving the Xing Shun 39 was a probe, intended to determine how much covert subsea sabotage China can carry out without attracting international pushback. 

Xing Shun 39 is a 3,000 dwt coastal freighter owned in Hong Kong and flagged in Tanzania. The vessel was Chinese-flagged from the time of its entry into service in 2006 up until early 2024, when it changed owners and registries. 

 

The U.S. Navy has released new footage of a counterstrike against Houthi rebels in western Yemen, the latest in a series of actions intended to blunt the group's attacks on merchant shipping and naval vessels. 

The footage was recorded on New Years' Eve, and it shows several  Tomahawk (TLAM) missile launches carried out by destroyers in the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group. From the composition of the task force, these destroyers are likely USS Stout and USS Jason Dunham; the cruiser USS Gettysburg is also part of the strike group. 

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers from the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, operating in the Red Sea, launch Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) at Iranian-backed Houthi command and control, weapon production and storage facilities in Yemen on December 31st, within the… pic.twitter.com/cGLffIHVEX

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 3, 2025

The launches were one part of a larger mission targeting the terrorist group's assets in Sana'a and along the coastline over the course of Dec. 30-31. The operation targeted command and control facilities, along with the group's drone and missile production and storage sites. U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force aircraft also destroyed a Houthi coastal radar site, along with seven cruise missiles and suicide-drone UAVs over the Red Sea.

With backing from Iranian sponsors, the Houthi group has launched more than 100 attacks on merchant shipping since late 2023, when it announced a campaign against Israeli-linked vessels in protest of the military operation in Gaza. Over the course of this "blockade," Houthi fighters have frequently exchanged fire with the U.S. Navy and have targeted allied European naval forces in the Red Sea.

In addition to striking at Israel-linked shipping, the Houthi group has also attacked Israel directly with missiles and drones. It has ramped up these targeted attacks over the past month, despite punishing Israeli bombing missions that have destroyed critical infrastructure targets in Houthi-controlled western Yemen. 

On Sunday, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree announced that the group had targeted the Orot Rabin power plant south of Haifa with a missile launch. The Israeli Defense Forces reported that the missile was shot down before crossing Israel's border. 

"We will continue our supportive military operations for the mujahideen in Gaza," Saree said in a statement.

 

 

[By Cynthia Mehboob]

Last month’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake near Vanuatu caused widespread devastation and left at least a dozen people dead. The disaster also exposed a critical vulnerability in Vanuatu’s digital infrastructure, specifically the over-reliance on a single undersea cable, ICN1. A fire at the cable landing station temporarily interrupted the power supply, disabling internet traffic. The connection was restored 10 days later, after what was described as “a multilateral effort under extreme conditions”.

Vanuatu’s heavy dependence on a single point of failure for its connectivity was not a surprise. The 2022 volcanic eruption in Tonga, which similarly disrupted communications across the Pacific, raised concerns about the need for redundancy in submarine cable systems. Despite this, securing funding for additional cables in Vanuatu is an uphill battle.

The Vanuatu government has long recognised the importance of diversifying its digital infrastructure, yet progress remains slow. Since 2018, the government has advocated for a second cable. The challenge lies in financing. A new cable would require substantial capital and maintaining it could raise telecommunications prices for Vanuatu’s already vulnerable population. Hence, Vanuatu requires funding for new cable infrastructure alongside financial commitment from external development partners to pay for the operational costs.

This difficulty is not unique to Vanuatu. Western governments, including Australia and the United States, have acknowledged the need for increased investment in submarine cable infrastructure across the Pacific, including Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. These countries are seen as strategically important in the face of rising Chinese influence in the region. Yet, despite this recognition, the funding for second cables remains elusive. With competing priorities – healthcare, education, and transport – Pacific governments often struggle to allocate the necessary resources.

With the government faced with financial difficulties, the private sector is providing connectivity solutions.However, geopolitical competition has posed challenges for Vanuatu's submarine cable sector since at least 2018. At that time, Simon Fletcher, CEO of The Interchange Group – a Vanuatu-based consortium rolling out the nation’s internet cables – stated that Australia’s intervention in the Solomon Islands Coral Sea Cable project had adversely impacted its privately funded projects. Fletcher tweeted that it was “very hard to compete with a free cable”.

Despite the challenges, Interchange Limited is implementing the TAMTAM system, the world’s first Science Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications (SMART) cable set to connect Vanuatu to New Caledonia, a project contracted to Alcatel Submarine Networks. Meanwhile, Google has proposed a third cable connecting Vanuatu to the broader Pacific network.

However, until these projects are completed, Vanuatu lies exposed.

 

Satellite solutions often considered the fallback for cable outages, offer limited relief in Vanuatu. Geostationary (GEO) satellites, used historically for island communications before any cable, have reduced bandwidth and high operational costs, so are typically reserved for critical services such as government, airlines, banking and healthcare. During major outages, commercial services such as social media and entertainment are sacrificed. As a result, the country remains heavily dependent on its sole undersea cable.

The arrival of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites such as Starlink has introduced new possibilities. Starlink’s higher bandwidth and lower cost make it an attractive alternative for countries such as Vanuatu. Yet not without complex policy questions.

Starlink offers direct-to-consumer broadband, bypassing traditional telecom providers and disrupting local markets. Additionally, the dual-use nature of Starlink – serving both civilian and military purposes – raises significant security and legal concerns. In light of its involvement in conflicts like the war in Ukraine, questions emerge over whether Starlink could be considered a legitimate target under international law, especially if its services become integral to military operations. This concern extends to countries relying on Starlink for resilience during undersea cable outages, where the line between civilian and military use becomes increasingly blurred.

Furthermore, while Starlink may be useful as a backup in times of crisis, it cannot replace the capacity and reliability of submarine cables. The service is finite, with bandwidth limitations that could lead to congestion, particularly in densely populated regions where demand for high-speed internet is growing. Unlike cables, which offer scalable infrastructure, Starlink’s network is constrained by the number of satellites in orbit and the number of users accessing the system at any one time. As Vanuatu’s digital economy grows, a satellite network may provide insufficient capacity when it is needed most.

The case for a second submarine cable in Vanuatu is clear. Satellite systems, while effective for temporary outages, cannot provide the high-capacity, low-latency connectivity that a robust undersea cable offers.

Cynthia Mehboob is a PhD Scholar based at the Department of International Relations at the Australian National University. Her research interrogates the international security politics of submarine cables in the Indo-Pacific region.

This article appears courtesy of The Lowy Interpreter and is reproduced in abbrebiated form. The original may be found here. 

 

Spilled bunker fuel from two Russian tankers that broke up last month is now washing ashore in Russian-occupied Crimea, and local authories have declared a state of emergency to deal with the cleanup. Russian-appointed mayor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, described the problem as "traces of minor pollution." 

Last month, the aging river-sea tanker Volgoneft 212 sank in a severe storm about five nautical miles outside of the Kerch Strait. The tanker Volgoneft-239 went aground off Taman shortly after, and it gradually broke up and began leaking its cargo. Both vessels were more than 50 years old, and the head of Russia's maritime trade union told state outlet TASS that they were never designed for the rough conditions of the Kerch Strait in a winter storm. 

The two tankers were each carrying thousands of tonnes of mazut, a Russian grade of heavy fuel oil, and within days, the thick sludgy substance began polluted beaches around Anapa on the strait's eastern side. 

With a change in wind direction, the oil has been migrating southwest towards popular tourist beaches on the Crimean peninsula. "Fuel oil has already washed up on the beaches of Lyubymivka and Orlivka, which is the western coast of Sevastopol," independent news outlet Crimean Wind reported. 

Residents of affected communities have complained about the official cleanup response and the amount of help that local communities are getting from federal authorities. Around Anapa, hundreds of bags of cleaned-up sand and sludge were left on the beach in a storm, and split open to release their contents in heavy surf. 

Over 10,000 people have joined the cleanup effort, and more than 80,000 tonnes of sand-oil mix have been collected to date, according to Russia's emergencies ministry. 

Mazut (M100) solidifies at room temperature and often sinks to the bottom, where it rests until disturbed by currents or wave action. Russian cleanup experts have warned that it will be years before the last of the oil breaks down and stops washing ashore. 

 

Algeria’s shipbuilding industry is poised for a revamp with the government hoping to tap domestic shipyards for upcoming procurement deals. The Algerian Defense Ministry has previously revealed plans to build Chinese Type 056 corvettes at local shipyards.

In mid-2020, the Algerian Navy placed an order for six Type 056 corvettes with China’s Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). Part of the contract included building some of the vessels at Algerian yards.

In 2023, the Algerian Navy took delivery of the first corvette, the El Moutassadi. Analysts believe that the two-year gap in delivering the other vessels is a deliberate strategy to transition production from Chinese to Algerian yards. The local production will happen under a license from China.

The new corvette class is designed for patrol, escort and maritime protection missions. They have a length of around 95.5 meters and a displacement of 1,500 tons. The corvettes have a crew capacity of 78 people and a range of 3,500 nautical miles.

In the past decade, Algeria has been trying to diversify its oil-driven economy, with expansion of sectors such as shipbuilding top on the agenda. Recently, Algerian Transport Minister Saïd Sayoud ordered a study on the feasibility of expanding shipbuilding facilities in the country. Algeria has significant potential for the development of its shipbuilding and ship repair industry, thanks to its location in the Mediterranean.  

Algeria is keen on expanding its defense industry, which includes empowering local production of naval platforms to reduce dependence on foreign yards. Algeria’s defense spending for 2025 surged to a record $25 billion, near the top of the charts in the Middle East and North Africa. Partly, the high defense bill is due to the changing security situation in the Sahel region as well as escalating border conflicts with the neighboring rival Morocco.

However, the key driver for the high defense budget is the ongoing modernization of the Algerian military. This includes fleet renewal for the country’s navy in response to increasing cases of smuggling, illegal migration in the Mediterranean and terrorism.

 

Taiwan's coast guard has rescued four injured survivors from a bulker that caught fire off the coast of Kaohsiung, including one seafarer who needed treatment for serious burns.

At about 1700 hours on Saturday, Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) received notice that the 50,000 dwt bulker Panoria had suffered an engine room fire off the coast of Pintung County. The crew managed to put it out, but three crewmembers sustained minor burn injuries and one more had serious burns. The master requested evacuation for all 21 personnel on board. 

The CGA dispatched five response vessels to the scene, but wave heights of more than 12 feet made it impractical to conduct a ship-to-ship transfer of personnel. A helicopter aircrew from the Ministry of National Defense also joined the response. At about 1700 hours, the aircrew safely hoisted all four men aboard and delivered them to Kaohsiung's airport, where they were transferred onward to a hospital. 

The 17 uninjured crewmembers had to remain aboard the vessel because of the risk of attempting further flight operations in the prevailing conditions. The tug Salvage Rigger got under way to take the bulker in tow, and as of Sunday the towing vessel was off Taiwan's coast, heading northwest at a slow bell. 

Panoria is a geared bulker built in 2008 and owned and operated in Greece. Her last two port state control inspections - in France and Indonesia, respectively - turned up a combined 19 deficiencies, including problems with fire pumps and availability of firefighting equipment.

Panoria was detained in Indonesia two months ago for firefighting system deficiencies, along with issues with her sewage treatment and oil filtering equipment. All were checked off as corrected in a followup inspection before her departure. 
 

 

[By Kirsten Freja Young and Brendan Godley]

At the most northerly tip of the UK, looking north from the island of Muckle Flugga, Shetland, the cold wind whips up the sea and gannets dive.

While biodiversity loss in the Arctic Ocean may seem like a distant issue, the Shetland Islands lie further north than the Arctic Ocean’s southernmost waters. The Arctic Circle is only 380 miles (610km) north of British waters – the same distance as London to Edinburgh by road.

Arctic wildlife is changing in ways that scientists like us don’t yet fully understand. Better protection for these species is urgently needed.

Establishing a new North Pole marine reserve where industrial activities such as shipping, oil and gas exploration and fishing are banned could provide an ocean sanctuary for wildlife.

Explorer-turned-conservationist Pen Hadow wants to create an internationally agreed marine reserve in the Central Arctic Ocean by 2037. He was the first person to trek solo from Canada to the geographic North Pole 21 years ago. The route he took in 2003 is no longer possible due to climate change.

In 2021, Hadow founded the 90 North Foundation, an environmental charity that is campaigning for a North Pole marine reserve to protect the Arctic’s peoples, its wildlife and its natural landscape.

Our team of marine researchers at the University of Exeter is collaborating with Hadow to explore how climate change will affect the ice and oceans in the Arctic and beyond.

Projected climate change poses great peril for wildlife such as polar bears and narwhals which are highly adapted to Arctic waters, relying on multi-year ice for foraging and breeding habitat.

So far, we have completed two ten-day surveys for whales and dolphins using both visual sightings and acoustic or sound monitoring underwater. We have also collected water samples to test for “environmental DNA” or eDNA. By filtering water and collecting small fragments of biological material, we can identity the presence of species by sequencing the trail they leave behind in the water in the form of fish scales, poo, skin or mucus, for example.

Once we have built a picture of where wildlife lives and how it moves about, changes in the Arctic ecosystem can be more easily monitored.

Arctic animals are also regularly spotted in British waters.

Ringed seals have been seen as far south as Cornwall. Beluga whales have been spotted off the coast of Shetland, and Atlantic white-sided and white-beaked dolphins frequently move between UK waters and the low Arctic. Bearded seals have been spotted in UK coastal waters, as have walrus and harp seals.

Brent geese, barnacle geese and pink-footed geese plus eider ducks, red knot, ringed plover and bar-tailed godwits all migrate between the Arctic and the UK. These birds breed in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, then overwinter in the UK and Ireland. These birds are particularly vulnerable because climate change is leading to wetter springs that can reduce their breeding success.

The wildlife living along UK’s shores is already changing as a result of climate change. Some species might expand their range northwards and this could further disrupt the Arctic ecosystem.

As well as monitoring wildlife, we are tracking the changing volume and routes of ships travelling through the Arctic Ocean. While our research is at an early stage, it’s already clear that industrial vessel activity in the Arctic Ocean is increasing as fishing vessels and cargo ships take advantage of the receding ice to make swifter routes across the globe.

The Arctic albedo

As the Arctic changes, the ramifications will be felt globally. The Earth’s northernmost white cap acts as a reflective shield against solar radiation. As the ice recedes, and the surface of the Earth darkens, so too does the planet’s in-built ability to reflect the sun’s warming rays.

Standing on a boat at the edge of the Arctic ice, we can see the powerful glow of sunlight reflecting from the icy surfaces. Any loss of this albedo (the ability of white ice to reflect sunlight and heat from the sun) triggers further warming, catalyzing a negative feedback loop with profound implications. Rising temperatures can only be tackled by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Alongside this, we must protect the unique wildlife that have made the Arctic their home. A broad and encompassing approach to conservation of northern ecosystems could help limit the effects of human activities and the changing climate across the Arctic region and beyond. A well-connected global network of marine reserves that includes the Arctic Ocean is urgently needed.

Kirsten Freja Young is a Senior Lecturer, Ecology, University of Exeter.

Brendan Godley as a Professor of Conservation Science, University of Exeter.

This article appears courtesy of The Conversation and may be found in its original form here. 

 

As great-power competition intensifies in Antarctica, Chilean President Gabriel Boric opened the new year by visiting the region. The historic trip saw Boric reach the South Pole, becoming the first Latin American leader (and third leader globally) to visit the world’s southernmost point. The other two visits by heads of state include the 2007 trip by then-New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg in 2011.

Boric was accompanied by other senior government and military officials to mark the start of Chile’s new Antarctic mission, Operation Polar Star III. The expedition is a move by Chile to expand its research from the northern areas of the Antarctica Peninsula, where historically it has been involved, to include other parts, such as the Bellingshausen Sea and the Weddell Sea.

“Operation Polar Star III is a diplomatic, scientific, environmental and aeronautical milestone for Chile, which consolidates our position in the eyes of the entire world as a gateway to Antarctica. Our country’s role in the White Continent is crucial for international scientific research and to help in tackling challenges such as climate change,” said Gabriel Boric.

Notably, the expedition was also supported by other international partners such as the British Antarctic Survey and the United States’ National Science Foundation. The highlight of this international cooperation is President Boric on Friday touring the U.S Antarctic research station in the South Pole, the Amundsen Scott Station.

During the next 90 days, the Chilean research vessel Karpuj will be supporting the scientific team of the National Antarctic Science Program on trips across the Antarctic Peninsula. Chile has also recently bolstered its Antarctic research capacity by commissioning a new icebreaker Almirante Viel. The delivery of the vessel marked a major milestone for Chile as it was built in a domestic shipyard. It is the largest scientific ship to be built in South America.

With countries such as China and Russia seeking expanded influence in Antarctica, the region’s governance system is steadily shifting from a state of cooperation to competition. Historically, Antarctic states have pledged to conserve this pristine region, but this is quickly changing. Russia has reportedly been exploring Antarctica for oil and gas, an activity that is against the 1959 Antarctic Treaty.

 

[By Bill Sweetman]

The speed, agility, range, and stealth of an individual aircraft type are still important, but they’re no longer the whole story of air combat. Advances in sensing, processing, and communications are changing military operations.

The Chengdu J-36, the big Chinese combat aircraft that first appeared on 26 December, has been developed to exploit these changes and support China’s strategic goal: establishing regional dominance, including the ability to annex Taiwan by force.

If J-36s can fly supersonically without using afterburning, as the prototype’s shape suggests they will, each will be able to get into and out of battle faster and more safely than conventional fighters and bombers, which cruise subsonically. A high degree of stealth will greatly help J-36s in penetrating defenses. Supersonic cruise would also mean each J-36 could fly more missions in a given period.

The design’s big main weapon bays are sized for considerable air-to-surface missiles, which J-36s could launch against such targets as airfields, aircraft carriers and air-defense batteries. With great speed and height, J-36s could also throw inexpensive glide bombs farther than other aircraft could.

The main weapon bays are big enough to carry unusually large air-to-air missiles for engaging aircraft at great ranges, including vital support units such as tankers and air surveillance radar planes. Targeting data for this might come from other aircraft, ships, satellites, or ground sources. The missiles might also be launched at fighters at ranges that keep J-36s safe from counterattack.

J-36s are themselves likely to be sources of targeting data for other aircraft and for ships, using large passive and active sensors that aircraft of such size can easily carry. They may command aircraft that fly with them. In all this, they’d use radio links that are hard for an enemy to detect.

To call the J-36 an airborne cruiser may not be far off the mark—and may call into question the West’s decision to prioritize the development and production of fighters that are, by comparison, mere torpedo boats.

For the Taiwan mission, China’s principal opposing force is US-led air power, comprising the US Air Force and the US Navy’s aircraft carriers, with support from Japan, Australia, Taiwan, and maybe South Korea and others. Air power from China’s opponents can hinder its maritime and amphibious operations, resulting in slower progress and higher casualties.

So, counter-air capability is crucial for China. This is what the US thinks of as China’s anti-access and area denial capability. It includes surface-to-air weapons, fighters, air-base attacks and the information realm.

To understand where the J-36 fits in, start by considering China’s current force, of which the Chengdu J-20 is the spearhead. The J-20 is fast and stealthy, with good range for a fighter, but its weapon bays are limited to short-range and medium-range air-to-air weapons. Like the F-35, it is more detectable outside its forward quadrant. That becomes a greater vulnerability in a networked environment, where a sensor platform on your beam may not be well placed to launch a weapon but will pass your track to one that is.

The long-range Xi’an H-6 bomber, used as a missile carrier, can launch attacks at air bases throughout the Western Pacific. But its effect is limited to the warheads of up to six costly missiles that must fly far enough to keep their vulnerable launch aircraft safe.

The J-36 combines speed and range with all-aspect stealth. Potential internal loads include such long-range air-to-air missiles as the PL-15, which the J-20 cannot carry internally. Heavier, air-to-surface missiles would be aimed at airfields and warships. It also probably supports the kind of mass-precision attacks made possible by accurate, more autonomous weapons, or—as autonomous technology advances—the carriage of loitering munitions and jammers.

The J-36’s smaller outboard weapon bays might accommodate defensive and support weapons, possibly on extending rails like the J-20’s side bays.

The large transparent side apertures in the forward fuselage could be wide-field-of-view passive warning and cueing systems. But there’s another possibility: if you wanted to integrate a high-energy anti-missile laser into an aircraft, with a hemisphere-plus field of fire but without unstealthy turrets, it might from the outside look like those transparencies. A single optical chain could feed left and right steerable heads under the conformal windows. Cue panic.

Speed is not just valuable for survivability, although it does erode missile engagement envelopes. Even Mach 1.8 supersonic cruise halves flight time and greatly increases sortie rate compared with a subsonic-cruise aircraft.

The US considered developing a supersonic strike aircraft in the early 2000s. But with 9/11 and the cost of the F-35 program, a high-speed project could not get funded. ‘Response time, and cost per target killed, were the two holy grails,’ a Northrop Grumman engineer commented in early 2001. The supersonic aircraft was big and complex, but the sortie generation rate was far higher than that of subsonic alternatives, and fewer aircraft were needed. And it could use cheap, unpowered glide weapons with a stand-off range estimated at 170km from a Mach 2 launch.

Speed on one side of a conflict is an important advantage. If the J-36 can penetrate to threaten bases in the second island chain, forcing the US to move B-21s, B-52s and other high-value assets further back, US strike sortie rate and effectiveness will diminish.

It’s important to keep in mind that the J-36 will be part of a family of systems and a network of capabilities. The appearance over the holiday season of the KJ-3000 airborne early warning and control system, based on the Xi’an Y-20 airlifter, is significant.

China has produced five different airborne radar systems since 2003, more than any other nation, all based on the technology of active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs). It has expanded their role beyond that of forward-passing adversary track data to fighter aircraft. AESA radars can update tracks much faster than a rotating-antenna radar, so these systems can provide guidance-quality midcourse updates to missiles.

Compared with the propeller-driven KJ-500, the KJ-3000 can be moved faster and farther forward to support an operation, and it can fly higher for greater sensor range. Working with a KJ-3000, the J-36s could launch missiles while remaining radar-silent.

If its speed and stealth allow it safely to get close to the enemy, a J-36 itself will be able to provide targeting data to other weapons, such as missiles launched by H-6s that prudently stay well behind it. It will also be the command and control hub for other aircraft, crewed and uncrewed. If it is a two-seater, the second crew member will likely be a force manager.

As for how to classify the J-36, too many people have rushed to call it a ‘sixth-generation fighter’.

The ‘fifth-generation’ term, invented in Russia, was picked up by Lockheed Martin as a marketing tool in the early 2000s. What Lockheed Martin would call 5-gen fighters combine supersonic speed and maneuverability with some degree of stealth. The Chengdu J-20 fighter is fifth-generation by that standard.

But this ‘generation’ taxonomy misleads more than it informs, because combat aircraft designs need not and do not fall into discrete sequential groups of characteristics.

And ‘fighter’, ‘bomber’ and ‘strike’ definitions are getting less clear. Most Boeing F-15s, nominally fighters, have been built as strike aircraft, and the fighter-derived Sukhoi Su-34 is another step down the same path. Designed against air and land threats, the J-36 is even larger than the Su-34. Its size and flight performance put it into its own category, for which there is no name. Maybe ‘airborne cruiser’ will catch on.

Bill Sweetman is a veteran, award-winning journalist and aerospace industry executive. This article appears courtesy of The Strategist and may be found in its original form here. 

Environmental and community advocates in Massachusetts argue that making too much room for biofuels in a pending state plan to decarbonize heating systems would slow the transition from fossil fuels and cause more pollution than a plan that prioritizes electric heat pumps.

As the state works on the creation of a Clean Heat Standard, a report released last month by Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility raises questions about the effects using biodiesel in fuel-oil heating systems could have on air quality and public health, saying there is not enough information available about the pollutants released in the process. 

Advocates say there is no such uncertainty about electric heat pumps, which create no direct emissions and should therefore be heavily favored in the new state policy. 

“We absolutely think the thumb should be on the scale of electrification,” said Larry Chretien, executive director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance. “If they give credit to biofuels, it ought to be conditional.”

Oil heating is much more prevalent in the Northeast than in the rest of the country. In Massachusetts, 22% of households are heated with oil, as compared to less than 5% nationwide. Moving homes and businesses off oil heat, therefore, is an important element of the state’s plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, which sets a target of reducing emissions from heating by 93% from 1990 levels in that timeframe. 

The process of developing a Clean Heat Standard began when then-Gov. Charlie Baker convened the Commission on Clean Heat in 2021. In 2022, the board recommended the creation of the standard, which was also included in the state’s Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050, released later that year. A stakeholder process began in 2023, and in the fall of that year the state released a draft framework for the standard that included the expectation of issuing credits for some biofuel use. 

Open questions about public health

The program is expected to require gas utilities and importers of heating oil and propane to provide an increasing proportion of clean heating services like home heat pumps, networked geothermal, and other options, or buy credits from other parties that have implemented these solutions. 

Whether the other options that qualify as clean heat will include biofuels — fuels derived from renewable, organic sources — has been a matter of contention since the idea for the system was first raised.

Climate advocates have tended to oppose the inclusion of much, if any, biofuel in the standard. Though biodiesel creates lower lifetime greenhouse gas emissions than its conventional counterpart, the recent Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility report contends that there are many unanswered questions about how burning biodiesel impacts public health. 

“Given the sheer amount of doubt, there’s more research that should clearly be done before these fuels are subsidized by the state government,” said report author Carrie Katan, who also works as a Massachusetts policy advocate for the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, but compiled the report as an independent contractor for the physicians group. 

The physicians’ report notes a study by Trinity Consulting Group that found significant health benefits to switching from fossil diesel to biodiesel for building heating. The physicians’ report, however, questions the methodology used in that study, claiming it cherrypicks data and fails to cite sources. 

Katan’s report also notes that the health impacts of biofuels can vary widely depending on the organic matter used to create them, and points out that most of the research on burning biofuels is focused on the transportation sector. 

Climate advocates also argue that embracing biofuels in a Clean Heat Standard would unnecessarily prolong the transition to electric heat pumps while encouraging the continued burning of fossil heating oil. Typically, a heating oil customer using biodiesel receives a blend that is no more than 20% biofuel. Providing credit for that fraction of biofuel would therefore improve the economics of the entire heating oil system, contrary to the overall emissions reduction goals of the policy, Chretien said.

“We’re trying to create a system that is rewarding steps towards greenhouse gas reduction,” he said. 

Making the case for biofuel

Advocates of biofuels, however, say they are confident that existing science makes a solid case for the health and environmental benefits of biodiesel. 

“There’s a decades-long body of work showing the overall benefits to public health of biofuels, specifically biodiesel,” said Floyd Vergara, a consultant for Clean Fuels Alliance America, a national trade association representing the biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel industries.

Vergara, who was involved in the Trinity Consulting study, called out in the physicians’ report, also defended the methodologies and sourcing of that paper. 

Further, he said, though biodiesel is typically limited to 20% in current blends, it is quite possible to run a heating system entirely on biofuel, with just a few tweaks to the equipment. These conversions could yield immediate reductions in emissions, he said, rather than waiting for the slower process of replacing thousands of heating oil systems with electric heat pumps.

The difference could be particularly acute in low-income or other traditionally disadvantaged neighborhoods, where many residents can not afford to make the switch to heat pumps, he said. 

“You’re getting those benefits immediately, and you’re getting them while the states are pursuing zero-emissions technologies,” he said.

State environmental regulators expect to release a full draft of the clean heat standard for public comment some time this winter.

Physicians group warns against propping up biodiesel as part of Massachusetts’ clean heat transition  is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

 

U.S.-based shipping giant Crowley is expanding its operations at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma in Washington State with the acquisition of Main Line, a vessel mooring company based in Seattle. Crowley highlights the acquisition of Main Line will further enhance its market position owing to the company’s years of experience in providing vessel mooring services in the Pacific Northwest for ship operators who value safe and dependable service.

Crowley announced the acquisition of Main Line saying it will enable it to expand its harbor services capabilities. They said it will expand its offering for vessels calling at the two ports with comprehensive solutions for their mooring and ship assist needs.

“For decades, our customers have put their trust in Crowley to ensure their vessels arrive and depart ports safely and reliably,” said James C. Fowler, Crowley Shipping senior vice president and general manager.

He added the addition of vessel mooring to the company’s harbor services product offering ensures the highest levels of coordination between the critical services of vessel mooring and ship assist. “As a result, Crowley customers can have even more confidence their vessels will be docked and sailed without delay or incident.”

Main Line was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Seattle. It will be absorbed by Crowley as part of the asset purchase agreement. The two companies did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Crowley has been operating on the Pacific Coast tracing its origins in the Pacific Northwest to the 1920s in addition to its operations at the major port complexes including the San Francisco Bay, Long Angeles-Long Beach complex, and San Diego. It currently shows on its website seven tugs based in the Pacific Northwest.

It notes the region is challenging presenting some very distinct environmental and physical challenges for shipping. Crowley provides escort and docking services for tankers, containerships, and other vessels throughout the region, including in Seattle and Tacoma. In North Puget Sound, it also assists tankers, ATBs, and other large vessels in and out of berths and provides escort services throughout the rugged coastal region, which, at times, it highlights can experience extreme weather conditions.

The acquisition is strategic considering the port of Seattle performs a critical function in U.S. international trade with a large percentage of inbound cargo crossing Seattle’s docks bound for destinations in the Midwest and East Coast. Seattle is also a top export gateway with container liners operating services to and from Asia, Europe, Latin America, Oceania, Africa, and the Caribbean, while Tacoma operates five major container terminals that boast of calls by some of the world’s largest container shipping lines.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance which oversees the ports highlights that container volumes at the two ports have been on a growth trajectory, reaching 290,210 TEU in November last year. That is a growth of 26 percent compared to November 2023. Annualized volumes were up 12 percent to 3 million TEU.

Privately held, Crowley reports $3.5 billion in annual revenue and operates over 170 vessels mostly in the Jones Act fleet, employing approximately 7,000 people around the world. The company invested more than $3.2 billion in maritime transport, enabling it to serve customers in 36 nations and island territories, and in 2024 it launched a new joint venture, Fairwater Holdings with SEACOR which integrates the two companies’ petroleum and chemical transportation vessels, capabilities, and personnel to provide U.S. Jones Act shipping solutions.
 
 

 

In the final weeks of the Biden administration, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is still pushing forward with its development efforts for offshore wind energy. BOEM on Monday, January 6, will release a Call for Information and Nominations for possible wind energy leasing off the coast of Guam, a Pacific Island territory located approximately 6,000 miles to the west of California.

The call initiates a 90-day comment period which will run till April 7, 2025, and into the next Trump administration. It comes as the President-elect made his most recent criticism of wind energy. Yesterday, January 2, Trump wrote on his social media platform “The U.K. is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!,” in response to news the UK government was extending a North Sea tax designed to accelerate the transition for the oil and gas industry to renewable energy. During the campaign, Trump promised to stop the “windmills.”

 

Call is broadly encompassing the areas around Guam (BOEM)

 

BOEM has been in discussions and hosting forums in Guam and elsewhere noting that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 contained several provisions relevant to BOEM’s offshore energy program including expanding the efforts to Guam, Hawaii, and elsewhere. BOEM highlights it is facilitating the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, and 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy capacity by 2035.  

The Government of Guam and BOEM initiated the first planning step in the renewable energy authorization process by establishing an intergovernmental renewable energy task force at the request of the Honorable Lourdes “Lou” Aflague Leon Guerrero, the Governor of Guam since 2019. The task force had its last meeting in September 2024 and public engagement and environmental studies have been initiated.

The southernmost and largest island in the Mariana Islands, as well as the largest in Micronesia, Guam is just over 200 square miles. A U.S. territory since 1898 and the U.S. victory over Spain in the Spanish-American War, the island is home to a vital U.S. Navy base providing the U.S. a territory in Asia.

The call seeks to analyze potential use conflicts before designating specific wind energy areas. Using the input, BOEM would select the areas with the least impact and greatest potential/interest. One contagious area around the island that comprises approximately 2.1 million acres is included in the call. The area begins about three nautical miles from shore and encompasses water depths from approximately 350 to 2200 meters (approximately a quarter of a mile to 1.4 miles).

In addition to the input from public and government agencies, BOEM notes wind energy companies can use the call period to nominate specific areas they would like to see offered for leasing. 

The bureau notes if it receives commercial interest in wind leasing offshore Guam, the next step would be to identify WEAs for leasing consideration within the larger call area. BOEM would then conduct environmental reviews of the WEAs in consultation with appropriate federal agencies, the Government of Guam, and other key stakeholders. After completing its environmental reviews and consultations, BOEM may propose one or more competitive lease sales for areas within the WEAs.

Always at the ready, HM Coastguard turned out on New Year’s Eve for a rescue call, but after some tense moments realized it was a “dummy.” Having some fun with the callout, the team posed with the “rescued” subject and posted it online for a lighter moment.

HM Coastguard Fleetwood, covering a section of the Lancashire coast above Blackpool in the North West of England on the Irish Sea, got the callout at 1030 on December 31. It was a report of a person or “person-shaped object” drifting in the water off the coast.

When they arrived in the cove, the informant pointed out the object which was “suspiciously, person-shaped but clearly not a person,” reports HM Coastguard. “Upon closer inspection of a video taken by the informant, we immediately recognized it as the type of dummy used for man overboard drills by maritime organizations and training schools.”

The Coastguard admits, “from a distance, this made for a very concerning sight in the water.” Based on the sighting they said the informant “did absolutely the right thing” in calling it in for investigation.

 

HM Coastguard Fleetwood rescuing a "dummy"

 

“Since it was only in a couple of feet of surf, the officer in charge took the decision to send a rescuer into the water to perform a tethered rescue to prevent the dummy from causing more concern and confusion as it drifted up the shoreline,” report the Fleetwood team. “After we had safely recovered our casualty to the promenade and made sure they didn't require any further assistance, we handed them over to wyre council for disposal.”

Happy it was not a more difficult situation, the crews posed with the “dummy” and posted the pictures to social media.

The Canadian Coast Guard has finally contracted with a metal recycler to dispose of its patrol ship CCGS Corporal McLaren six years after vandals damaged the ship. The Financial Post newspaper located the awarding of the contract on the government’s website bringing to a close a strange interlude in the history of the service.

The notice spotted by the newspaper reports the contract was awarded under an amendment to a contract first awarded to the Marine Recycling Corporation of Port Colborne, Ontario. Awarded in October 2024, the contract is valued at C$412,467.25 (US$285,525) stipulating a “requirement to recycle, through ship breaking, the CCGS Corporal McLaren M.M.V. The contractor will be required to prepare the vessel for transportation, transport the vessel to the approved site and subsequently break and recycle the vessel in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner.”

The vessel had laid at various Nova Scotia shipyards for the past six years while the Coast Guard worked to determine its fate and the Canadian government pursued a lawsuit related to the November 2018 incident in which the ship was damaged. 

Built in 2013, the vessel was commissioned as a patrol boat operating from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. It was 140 feet (43 meters) in length and operated with a complement of nine with an endurance of up to two weeks to maintain Canada’s maritime border and maritime safety. Officially entering the fleet in June 2014, the government said the patrol would be used to support the Department of Fisheries and Oceans conservation and protection programs.

The vessel was sent to the Canadian Maritime Engineering shipyard in November 2018 for an overhaul. Workers arriving at the shipyard on November 18 found the vessel out of its cradle and lying partially submerged. An investigation into how it had become dislodged from the cradle quickly discovered guidelines appeared to be cut and the Halifax Police later declared it an act of vandalism.

The shipyard did not have a security fence and the closed-circuit cameras proved unreliable. Global News later reported that the police believed the vandals used power tools to cut the two main wires. According to the news outlet “the remaining anchors snapped, with power cables being torn from the vessel as it slid into the water.”

The police were unable to identify the perpetrators but believed vandals entered the yard and cut the cables. 

The vessel remained submerged for a week before it was salvaged. Subsequent reports set the estimated repair costs at C$11 million (US$7.6 million). The survey showed the electrical systems had all been damaged and would require replacement. A contract was initially set for the remediation of mold and contamination from oil on the interior of the vessel. 

After being patched up it was moved to different shipyards. However, in 2023 the National Post reported the Coast Guard had paid C$520,000 (approximately US$340,000) to the same Nova Scotia shipyard company it was now suing to store the “dead” ship. The determination was finally made in 2024 that the cost of the repairs was too high and the vessel should be disposed of by recycling.
 

 

The Russian evacuation of troops and equipment from Syria after the fall of the government is continuing. The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports a flotilla of Russian ships will be arriving in the Syrian port of Tartus in the coming days with some destined for Africa.

“On January 5, 2025, the Russian large landing ships Ivan Gren and Alexander Otrakovsky, as well as the dry cargo ship Sparta, are scheduled to arrive in the Syrian port. They are currently on their way to Tartus in the Mediterranean Sea,” GUR wrote in a posting on Telegram.

Among the personnel they believe are heading to Syria to oversee the next phase of the evacuation is the Russian Chief of Staff of the landing ships fleet. GUR reports Russia has been massing at Tartus its long-time outpost after withdrawing from forward positions to continue the evacuation that began shortly after Bashar al-Assad fled the country turning up in Moscow.

According to the tracking data from GUR, two other Russian vessels, a second cargo ship Sparta II, and the tanker Ivan Skobelev are set to transit the Strait of Gibraltar toward Syria. It expects those vessels will reach Tartus on January 8. The Russian frigate Admiral Golovko also plans to refuel GUR reports.

The Ukrainians assert that Russia will load military equipment and weapons aboard the two cargo ships Sparta and Sparta II which will then transport the equipment to Libya. It is part of a report that Russia is strengthening its ties to Libya after the fall of Syria. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Russia will also be shipping modern air defense systems to Libya.

The other vessels are being prepared to remove military personnel or equipment, although Bloomberg has also reported that Russia continues to negotiate with the emerging Syrian regime. The report says Russia is seeking to maintain a base in Syria.

It has also been reported that Russia has an ongoing airlift evacuating troops and equipment. It was suggested as many as 25 more military transports would be required to complete the transfers. GUR reports armored personnel carriers have been seen arriving in the Vladimir region probably taking material from Syria.

The Sparta was spotted in December going to the rescue of the Russian cargo ship Ursula Major when it began sinking off Gibraltar on December 23. After the Ursa Major's sinking, Sparta resumed her eastward journey declaring her destination as Port Said, Egypt.

 

 

The NGO United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which is at the forefront of tracking Iran’s dark tanker fleet and oil exports, is out with its year-end review citing continued dramatic growth in the dark tanker fleet supporting Iran’s oil exports. The group is calling for global cooperation and strategies that go beyond “traditional enforcement methods” in response to Iran’s ability to quickly adapt to the current sanctions and lax enforcement.

UANI details key trends and shifts in the sanction-busting oil exports in its final Tanker Tracker of 2024 while highlighting continued strong growth in the number of tankers involved in the illicit trade. The group says in November 2020 it identified 70 foreign tankers involved in the Iranian oil trade while saying it has now grown to 477 tankers. UANI says it identified 132 new vessels engaged in the trade in 2024.

The intelligence efforts they report led to 330 flag revocations as well as the U.S. designating 139 tankers in the sanctions regime. UANI says of the 139 tankers sanctioned this year, 110 were identified in its listing of the “ghost armada.” It says that 325 vessels however have yet to be designated.

Despite the efforts and in part due to lax enforcement, the group calculates that Iran’s oil exports grew by 10.75 percent to 587 million barrels. China remains the largest destination and has grown its percentage of the trade receiving 533 million barrels, which UANI highlights is up 24 percent from 2023. UANI says China accounts for 91 percent of Iran’s total oil exports up from 83 percent in 2023.

One major shift it observed is a greater reliance on Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) to transport the oil from Iran. In part because of the sanctions, the role of foreign-flagged vessels has shifted to ship-to-ship transfers. UANI is now calling for efforts to identify and sanction repeat offenders who have engaged in multiple transfers.

Another step UNAI calls for says that the “authorities should focus on holding captains accountable through targeted sanctions, fines, and potential legal action.” The group cites the captain’s role in sanction-avoiding techniques such as AIS manipulation, presenting false documents, and illicit ship-to-ship transfers.

They also call for a continued crackdown on “flag hopping” by tankers. They acknowledge “a notable increase in due diligence by certain flag states” in 2024. UANI noted the St. Kitts and Nevis International Ship Registry de-flagged all eight vessels identified by UANI. The group also noted a “good track record” from flag authorities including the Tanzania-Zanzibar International Register of Shipping, the Maritime Administration of Gabonese Republic, and the Tuvalu Ship Registry. UANI reports it will provide monthly updates and continue to make public its data in the Tanker Tracker while encouraging flag states to routinely check its list. 

According to the group, the Iranian regime has demonstrated the ability to adapt quickly to enforcement measures. They say the efforts must go beyond traditional methods such as satellite and AIS monitoring, blockchain-based trade verification, and “name and shame” campaigns. UANI says the response must be “equally dynamic” in 2025 to have an impact on the oil trade which keeps the current Iranian regime “financially afloat” and provides the means to support proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
 

Legal activities around the “dark fleet” tanker Eagle S continued to intensify in Finland as a court heard arguments for the release of the tanker and additional complaints were filed. The authorities have said the investigation could take months and have now increased to eight the number of crewmembers under a travel ban while the interviews continue.

The appeal for the release of the tanker by a Finnish lawyer representing the Cook Island-registered tanker and registered operators Caravella was rejected Friday afternoon by the Helsinki District Court. The lawyer argued for greater transparency and questioned where the tanker had been boarded. He suggested the vessel was in international waters on December 28 when Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized Eagle S and the Helsinki Police first directed the ship to the Port of Kilpilahti and then to the Svartbeck inner anchorage near Porvoo.

The lawyer told the media after the court rejected the filing that he would be making an additional filing to the court for the release of the vessel. He said the ship is not owned by Russians but declined to name the owners.

The criminal case is being investigated by the NBI, which declined to provide additional details on its status or timeline. However, the police revealed that the number of crew now under a travel ban stands at eight and told the media it could be revised again. Previously, it was reported seven crewmembers had been placed under the travel ban, which is the least restive measure under Finnish law but ensures they do not leave the country.

In addition to the criminal case, court filings showed that telecom firms Elisa and the state-owned Cinia have also filed claims. They are demanding the vessel remain impounded joining with Finland’s national power grid operator Fingrid and Estonian grid operator Elering, all of which are seeking compensation for the damages to their cables.

All of this came as Finland’s Defense Committee conducted a special, closed-door meeting to discuss the issues. The Chair of the committee later told reporters efforts were being made to update public information to ensure the locations of cables and pipelines are not available. He told the reporters “We have been naïve,” but said the committee still believes the greater danger from the “dark fleet” is environmental. He said the aging tankers have the potential to cause a major oil spill in the Gulf of Finland. 

The committee said it was pleased with the progress of the investigation and that the proper systems were responding to the situation. They said they have confidence in the authorities while calling for the government to introduce stricter measures to parliament to protect Finland’s underwater infrastructure.

Late on Friday, January 3, the Finnish National Criminal Police reported it is completing an underwater technical investigation. Detective Inspector Elina Katajamäki from the Central Criminal Police reported the imaging of the seabed has largely been completed. The report said repairs to the cable damage have begun, and that samples will be taken for forensic investigation during the repair.

 

CELEBRATING MARINERS

Our final edition of the year features a lengthy interview with Finn Amund Norbye, the dynamic CEO of OSM Thome, the third largest ship management company by fleet size and a leader in almost all the areas that matter in shipping - reliability, safety, resiliency, sustainability, caring for seafarers. The result of a major merger in 2023 between OSM Maritime and the Thome Group, the company had a banner year in 2024 and anticipates another good year in 2025. 

Read all about it in our Executive Interview and enjoy!

Energy was much in the news this year, and it's the subject of a number of articles you won't want to miss. Energy guru Allen Brooks details the shortcomings of EVs and the growing backlash against clean energy mandates in his incisive "Energy Politics" article. News Editor Allan Jordan recounts the challenges and opportunities facing the offshore wind industry in “Tipping Point,” and master mariner Sean Hogue sings the praises of a new generation of wind service vessels in “Offshore Wonders."

Senior Editor Jack O'Connell interviewed Brent Bruun, President & CEO of satcom leader KVH Industries, for his Executive Achievement article. The satcom industry - like much of maritime - is undergoing dynamic change, and Bruun and his team are up to the challenge. Jack also penned “The State of Maritime," a concise overview of the industry in 2024 and his own version of a "state of the union” address for maritime (hint: Jack was a former speechwriter). 

More on satcom comes from Senior Editor Paul Benecki, who explains how Starlink and other advances in connectivity are benefiting seafarers and operators alike in "Floating Offices."

The wonders of technology are featured in Sean Holt's eye-popping article, "Maritime's Nuclear 'Tomorrowland’," and in Erik Kravets' “AI: Taking the Helm?” Sean argues that there is no net-zero future without nuclear while Erik pops the question on everyone's mind: Is Al good or bad for shipping? Don't miss these two gems!

Meanwhile, Chad Fuhrmann's feature on Propulsion says that maritime is evolving at the pace of technology, reducing its environmental impact while improving speed and efficiency. Heady stuff. 

Rounding out this thought-filled edition are Pat Zeitler's "Barging Ahead" on the often overlooked role played by tugs and barges - the "ox and cart" - of the maritime industry, and Tom Peters' column on "Zero-Emissions Ports," demonstrating that it's not just ships are going emissions-free but ports as well. 

It's been quite a year, and we've enjoyed every minute of it. Shipping continues to deliver the goods despite every challenge and deserves all the accolades it can get. And a big shout-out to seafarers everywhere. They're the lifeblood of the industry, and the industry is the lifeblood of global trade and the global economy. Time for celebration! – MarEx
 

Tony Munoz is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Maritime Executive

To read the latest edition of the magazine, go to The Maritime Executive November/December 2024 Offshore Services Edition.  To subscribe to the magazine, please go to https://www.maritime-executive.com/subscribe.