Satellite Tracking News

The U.S. Coast Guard and Kiribati police boarded two Chinese fishing boats during a patrol against illegal fishing in the Pacific Islands nation's vast exclusive economic zone this month but found no issues aboard, a coast guard official said.The United States is seeking a bigger role for its coast guard in helping remote Pacific Islands nations monitor millions of kilometres of ocean - a rich tuna fishing ground - a move that also boosts surveillance as a rivalry with China over security ties in the region intensifies.Reuters reported on Friday that Chinese police are working in Kiribati…

Oil tankers formed a traffic jam off the coast of Turkey on day one of the West's price cap on Russian crude, with Ankara insisting on new proof of insurance for all vessels, the Financial Times reported on Monday.Around 19 crude oil tankers were waiting to cross Turkish waters on Monday, the report said, citing ship brokers, oil traders and satellite tracking services.A $60 per barrel price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations, Australia and the 27 European Union states on Russian seaborne crude oil took effect this week…

The market for old oil tankers is booming, and it's all down to efforts by Western nations to curb trade in Russian crude.As Western shipping and maritime services firms steer clear of Russian oil to avoid falling foul of sanctions or harming their reputations, new companies have leapt into the void, and they're snapping up old tankers that might normally be scrapped.The European Union banned all seaborne Russian crude imports from Dec. 5, with a fuel import ban to follow in February.

An Iranian-flagged tanker on Friday delivered an oil shipment to Syria, which the United States had previously confiscated around Greece, ending months of uncertainty about the cargo, a ship tracker said.The seizure from the Lana, formerly the Pegas, prompted Iranian forces in May to seize two Greek tankers in the Middle East Gulf which were released on Nov. 16. Satellite tracking data showed the Lana had discharged the cargo of around 700,000 barrels in the Syrian port of Banias, said Claire Jungman, chief of staff with U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which monitors Iran-related tanker traffic through ship and…

An Iranian-flagged tanker is reloading oil that was confiscated by the United States earlier this year after Greek authorities approved the release of the cargo, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.The case has strained relations between Athens and Tehran amid growing tensions between Iran and the United States after Washington hired a tanker in April to impound the oil onboard the Lana tanker, which had been anchored off Greece.The removal of oil from the Lana, formerly the Pegas…

Greece has impounded a Russian oil tanker off the island of Evia, the Greek coastguard said on Tuesday, as part of European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.Earlier this month, the EU banned Russian-flagged vessels from the 27-nation bloc's ports, with some exemptions, as it adopted new sweeping sanctions against Russia for what the Kremlin describes as a "special military operation".The 115,500-deadweight tonnage Russian-flagged Pegas, with 19 Russian crew members on board, was seized near Karystos on the southern coast of Evia, which lies just off the Greek mainland near Athens.The Russian embassy in Athens…

Insurers have raised the cost of providing cover for merchant ships through the Black Sea, adding to soaring rates to transport goods through the region for vessels still willing to sail after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Ship owners pay annual war-risk insurance cover as well as an additional "breach" premium when entering high-risk areas. These separate premiums are calculated according to the value of the ship, or hull, for a seven-day period.Ship insurers have quoted the additional premium rate for seven days at anywhere between 1% to 2% and up to 5% of insurance costs…

Two tankers have had their environmental and safety classification withdrawn by a U.S. company that provides such certification, after accusations by a U.S. advocacy group that they had shipped cargoes of Iranian oil, documents seen by Reuters show.Countries targeted by tougher U.S. sanctions, including Iran and Venezuela, have responded to the mounting pressure with elaborate strategies to circumvent restrictions on their oil exports.Top oil shipping companies say they have in turn responded by tightening guidelines and deploying technology to prevent accidental sanctions breaches, which U.S. officials have said could lead to them being…

Top oil shipping companies say they have tightened operational guidelines and deployed technology to prevent accidental breaches of sanctions, as the countries hit by ever tougher restrictions fight back with elaborate strategies to dodge them.Washington has ramped up shipping-related sanctions over the last two years to make it harder for countries, such as Iran and Venezuela, to export the oil that provides their main source of revenue.In response, Iran and Venezuela have developed sophisticated methods to bypass sanctions…

Israel accused Iran on Wednesday of being linked to a recent oil spill off its shores that caused major ecological damage, calling the incident environmental terrorism.The spill was caused by an oil tanker that was carrying pirated cargo from Iran to Syria last month, Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said.The vessel sailed through the Gulf and the Red Sea without radio contact, switching its tracking devices back on before passing through Egypt's Suez Canal, Gamliel told reporters.It turned the devices off again before entering Israeli waters in the eastern Mediterranean, and dropped oil into the sea between Feb.

Somali pirates have released three Iranian hostages held for five years, a maritime security official said on Thursday, as conflicting reports emerged whether another ship had been seized after a three-year hiatus in hijackings.The three Iranians are the last of the crew of the Iranian fishing vessel FV Siraj, which was captured by pirates on March 22, 2015.“This marks the end of an era of Somali piracy and the pain and suffering of Somalia’s forgotten hostages,” said John Steed…

A new ground-breaking study by University College London (UCL) Energy Institute, Imperial College and the University of Oxford shows how satellite tracking could be used to monitor compliance with the upcoming IMO 0.5% sulfur emission regulations and Emission Control Areas (ECA).Research conducted by their own researchers, UCL Energy and the University of Oxford and published today in Geophysical Research Letters, has unveiled discoveries that appear important on many levels for they describe the impact of shipping emissions on the climate: because fossil fuel emission particles from ships affect the air including by releasing sulfur…

The global leader of mobile satellite communication antenna systems Intellian is introducing the new 1.5m Ku to Ka convertible VSAT terminal, enabling high-speed broadband at sea and network gateways.The world’s first and only 1.5m Ku to Ka convertible VSAT, v150NX, is a future-proof system supporting 2.5GHz Wide Ka-band networks as well as GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit), MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) and LEO (Low Earth Orbit) constellations.Its design delivers the best RF performance of any 1.5m system on the market today for ship owners, operators and network providers. It is easily converted to Ka-band by changing the RF Assembly and Feed…

New web application provides enhanced analytics and visibility for satellite tracking of shipping vesselsGeodata ecosystem provider cloudeo has launched a new web app that aims to provide enhanced analytics, visibility and a simpler user experience for tracking the location and identification details of seafaring vessels.The new TimeCaster web app, available for purchase now in the cloudeo store, builds on the TimeCaster geoservices solution, which utilizes big data analytics to enhance ship tracking and forecasting methods.

Communications technology and services developer Rock Seven said it has partnered with Blue Sky Network, a provider of mission-critical, satellite-based fleet management, tracking and operational analytics solutions serving private, commercial and government customers worldwide.This long-term cooperation will support growth in Blue Sky Network’s maritime strategy, but additionally has ramifications for clients in the aviation and land sectors.Headquartered in San Diego with a wholly-owned subsidiary in Brazil…

A U.N. monitoring group wants to enlist the help of the world's biggest oil trading companies to enforce sanctions that cap the amount of crude and related products North Korea can import, the coordinator said.The U.N. Security Council ramped up sanctions last year after North Korea said it had conducted missile tests that put the U.S. mainland in range of its nuclear weapons.Under the restrictions, Pyongyang is limited to importing 4 million barrels of crude and 500,000 barrels…

Sam Tucker Will Tell You! There’s a new name in Superyacht valuation, and the name is VesselsValue.com. Last month we spoke with VesselsValue.com’s Sam Tucker for insights on its new Superyachts report. Many of our readers know VessselsValue, but for those who do not, please provide a brief description of the organization and its offering. Launched in 2011 by Richard Rivlin, a ship broker with 40 years of buying and selling experience, VesselsValue provides daily and automated Market…

Taking live monitoring of reefer cargoes beyond temperature and humidity tracking, APL is introducing real-time oxygen and carbon dioxide monitoring capabilities to its industry-pioneering satellite tracking system, SMARTemp. Designed to offer more well-rounded visibility for precise cargo management and protection throughout a voyage, these added features further distinct APL’s groundbreaking SMARTemp® technology which was launched in 2010. Ng Kar Loke, APL Head of Special Cargo said, “As a leading and trusted reefer expert whom shippers have counted on in bringing their exports across the globe, APL deploys only the best reefer solutions that protect cargo integrity during every APL voyage.

When it comes to fishing, Captain Dave Carraro of FV Tuna.com knows a thing or two, having run a successful charter business for the past 37 years, and is now a leading competitor and previous winner of the television show Wicked Tuna. Carraro keeps a busy schedule off land, even flying as a pilot for JetBlue when he isn’t fishing. “Sometimes we are out on the water for four to five days in a row, fishing around the clock, which can be very strenuous, both physically and mentally.

Drew Marine, a provider of technical solutions and services for the maritime, defense and aviation industries, announced its acquisition of NAL Research Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of Iridium tracking and communications equipment. The financial terms of the acquisition were not released. NAL Research will team up with ACR Electronics, Inc., a brand of Drew Marine known as a leader in safety and survival technologies. The acquisition allows Drew Marine to expand its footprint into the Iridium tracking and communication product offering. NAL brings an experienced research and development team that specializes in Iridium satellite modems and tracking terminals from design through integration for the defense, research and commercial sectors.

APL Ltd. to Pay $9.8 Million to Resolve Alleged False Claims Under the Department of Defense Shipping Contract. APL Limited has agreed to pay the government $9.8 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act in connection with a contract to provide GPS tracking of shipping containers in Afghanistan, the Justice Department announced today. APL, an ocean carrier based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a wholly-owned American subsidiary of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines Limited. The Department of Defense contract required APL to affix a satellite tracking device to each shipping container transported from Karachi, Pakistan to U.S. military bases in Afghanistan when the Department of Defense (DOD) requested the tracking services.

Honeywell unveils the TAM-442 satellite terminal for asset tracking and monitoring. This battery-powered terminal from Honeywell Global Tracking, a division of Honeywell Scanning and Mobility, is rugged, versatile and ideally suited for tracking a wide range of mobile and fixed assets, including trucks, vehicles, containers, rail cars and other heavy equipment. The new terminal offers a number of features, including Over-The-Air (OTA) configuration, a vehicle charger that allows users to operate the terminal even when charging, two general purpose input/output ports for connecting external equipment like door sensors and panic buttons…

Scientists have long known that leatherback sea turtles travel thousands of miles each year through open ocean to get from foraging habitats to nesting beaches and tropical wintering grounds, but how the wanderers find their way has been “an enduring mystery of animal behavior,” says marine biologist Kara Dodge. “Adult turtles can pinpoint specific nesting beaches even after being away many years,” she notes. Sea turtles’ ability to identify and maintain appropriate headings affect migration distance, duration and, for reproductively-active adults, breeding schedules, so understanding migratory orientation and potential cues is an important step toward understanding how sea turtles optimize travel routes and minimize energy costs of migration, Dodge adds.