On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned ten individuals, entities, and vessels, including two captains for illegally transporting sanctioned oil and other goods. The illegal activity included operations for the Sa'id al-Jamal network, Houthis Finance Facilitator. The OFAC has sanctioned the captain of the 'Olympics', formerly the 'Lady Sofia' (IMO: 9212759), a sanctioned vessel that continues transporting cargo for the Sa'id al-Jamal network. The OFAC stated that in mid-May, the tanker had used forged paperwork that falsely specified that the vessel was loaded with Malaysian cargo from a Malaysian Port at the end of April. Another sanction by OFAC was against the Captain of the 'La Pearl' (IMO: 9174660), also known as 'Elita', and her commercial manager is Saone Shipping Corporation, which is under sanction by the OFAC. The vessel offloaded the sanctioned cargo and is anchored off the China coast. On June 2, it sailed from Dongjiakou. The tanker 'Janet', actually en route from Malacca to Singapore with an ETA as of June 18, and 'Bella 1' (IMO: 9230880), were sanctioned for transporting sanctioned cargo for the Concepto Screen SAL Off Shore to southeast Asia. The OFAC has also sanctioned the registered owners of the tankers, the Lainey Shipping Ltd. and the Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A.
News
ISLE OF ARRAN
A woman fell over board from the 'Isle of Arran', which was travelling between Brodick and Ardrossan in the Firth of Clyde on June 10, 2024,, just before 8:30 p.m., as the ferry was approaching Ardrossan. The crew launched the rescue boat, and the passenger was pulled from the sea and returned to the ferry. When it docked at Ardrossan harbour, an ambulance took her to Crosshouse Hospital. An investigation will take place into the circumstances and a report will be submitted to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.
Beirut
The Port of Beirut (PoB) resumed partial operations on Aug 10 with the first two container ships berthing in the container terminal after the explosion which killed at least 160 persons, injured thousands and made hundred thousands homeless. Out of 16 cranes at the container terminal, 12 were currently operational. The port was gradually resuming operations to ensure the supply of all kinds of goods to citizens. Bassem Al Kaissi, the new Director of the PoB, said that the container terminal will be fully operational by Aug 14. Al Kaissi said that 420 containers were unloaded on Aug 10. The container terminal storage area has been cleaned up and restored to its state before the blast. The container terminal represents 80 percent of the overall cargo movement at the PoB. It is located one kilometer away from the blast epicenter. Container vessels can dock at quay number 16. Shipping movement at the PoB had already plunged by 75 percent due to the economic crisis and has reached 15 percent following the blast. Customs have opened offices in the PoB’s warehouse number 14 which was partially damaged. The customs have become able to carry out the inspection of merchandise- Customs duties are being temporarily paid at the Rafic Hariri International Airport. Tthe PoB is now handling only full containers as groupage consignment requires warehouses which don’t exist now. Amer Al Kaissi said groupage, which represents 15 percent of shipments at the PoB, will be diverted to the Port of Tripoli until the rebuilding of warehouses at the PoB is completed. The first two containerships to berth at the PoB after the blast were the 'Electra' (Gezairi Transport) and the 'Nicolas Delmas' (CMA CGM). The 'Electra', which was carrying 400 containers, was diverted to Tripoli where there was a license to operate but the company insisted to unload it in Beirut when it was told that the PoB has resumed operation. The CMA CGM Group and CEVA Logistics said they are fully operational and ensuring business continuity to serve their customers. The Group has redeployed its employees in its two back-up sites in Beirut Digital District and reinforced its presence in Tripoli. Part of CMA CGM’s vessels has been temporarily directed to Tripoli. Few shipping companies are authorized to operate in other ports such as Tripoli or Saida. BCTC, the Customs and the PoB’s authorities did their best to handle the clearing formalities despite the difficult working conditions. The general cargo area was fully operational on Aug 12 both for imports and exports. This includes wheat and other grains as well as construction steel bars. The cost of rebuilding the port is estimated at around $1 billion.
JAMES II
On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned ten individuals, entities, and vessels, including two captains for illegally transporting sanctioned oil and other goods. The illegal activity included operations for the Sa'id al-Jamal network, Houthis Finance Facilitator. The OFAC has sanctioned the captain of the 'Olympics', formerly the 'Lady Sofia' (IMO: 9212759), a sanctioned vessel that continues transporting cargo for the Sa'id al-Jamal network. The OFAC stated that in mid-May, the tanker had used forged paperwork that falsely specified that the vessel was loaded with Malaysian cargo from a Malaysian Port at the end of April. Another sanction by OFAC was against the Captain of the 'La Pearl', also known as 'Elita', and her commercial manager is Saone Shipping Corporation, which is under sanction by the OFAC. The vessel offloaded the sanctioned cargo and is anchored off the China coast. On June 2, it sailed from Dongjiakou. The tanker 'Janet' (IMO: 9220952), actually en route from Malacca to Singapore with an ETA as of June 18, and 'Bella 1', which was anchoraed off Khor Fakkan as of June 12, were sanctioned for transporting sanctioned cargo for the Concepto Screen SAL Off Shore to southeast Asia. The OFAC has also sanctioned the registered owners of the tankers, the Lainey Shipping Ltd. and the Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A.
LADY SOFIA
On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned ten individuals, entities, and vessels, including two captains for illegally transporting sanctioned oil and other goods. The illegal activity included operations for the Sa'id al-Jamal network, Houthis Finance Facilitator. The OFAC has sanctioned the captain of the 'Olympics', formerly the 'Lady Sofia', a sanctioned vessel that continues transporting cargo for the Sa'id al-Jamal network. The OFAC stated that in mid-May, the tanker had used forged paperwork that falsely specified that the vessel was loaded with Malaysian cargo from a Malaysian Port at the end of April. Another sanction by OFAC was against the Captain of the 'La Pearl' (IMO: 9174660), also known as 'Elita', and her commercial manager is Saone Shipping Corporation, which is under sanction by the OFAC. The vessel offloaded the sanctioned cargo and is anchored off the China coast. On June 2, it sailed from Dongjiakou. The tanker 'Janet' (IMO: 9220952), actually en route from Malacca to Singapore with an ETA as of June 18, and 'Bella 1', which was anchoraed off Khor Fakkan as of June 12, were sanctioned for transporting sanctioned cargo for the Concepto Screen SAL Off Shore to southeast Asia. The OFAC has also sanctioned the registered owners of the tankers, the Lainey Shipping Ltd. and the Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A.
Kiel
The PORT OF KIEL has redesigned the port apron in Ostuferhafen, which is the freight and logistics centre on the fjord. Where once stood a grain silo, there is now an expanded pre-stacking and stand-by area of three hectares for trucks, trailers and pas-senger cars.The State Premier of Schleswig- Holstein, Daniel Günther, visited the Ostufer-hafen on 12th August to hand over the grant notice coming from the State Programme Economy for 5.44 million Euros: The project to redesign the port apron included dismantling three hall areas of the former grain silo, excavation and road works as well as drainage, lighting and security measures and the connection of the area to the infrastructure. Through the new and generous port apron it has been possible to merge formerly separated pre-stacking areas, shorten distances and gain more space for trucks, busses, trailers and passenger cars. Furthermore, IT solutions have been developed to accelerate the handling processes at the gate, which also allow truck drivers to reduce personal contact.Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director at the PORT OF KIEL: “Even under the current circumstances the Ostuferhafen operates in a reliable and safe way. The port of Kiel has proven its systemic importance regarding the transshipment of cross-border freight transport.”In the first seven months of the year 2.1 million tons of cargo have been tran-shipped via the Ostuferhafen (+ 1 %). Additional volumes have been transported by the ferries of the DFDS shipping company to the Baltic States or they have been delivered by the SCA-RoRo-freighters from Scandinavia. Not only general cargo and forest products are unloaded resp. transhipped in Ostuferhafen but also project and heavy cargo, scrap metal and agricul-tural products. The integrated passenger terminal to handle cruise vessels emphasizes the universal character of this port part.