Hai Soon News

Hai Soon Diesel & Trading (HSDT) has taken delivery of the third and final tanker in a series of bunker vessels constructed at Zhejiang Shenzhou Sunshine Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. Built to ABS class, the three 6,060 dwt oil tankers join HSDT’s 21-strong fleet to provide bunkering services to the fishing industry.“Hai Soon is committed to providing bunkering services at high seas and in ports with the highest standards of safety and service quality. We are happy to work closely with ABS in our business expansion with the addition of more energy-efficient vessels to our fleet…

A tanker vessel rescued of 18 Ecuadorians after their 72-foot commercial fishing vessel sank Friday approximately 350 miles north of the Galapagos Islands, the U.S. Coast Guard said.USCG 11th District watchstanders received an alert from an emergency position-indicating radio beacon from an unknown vessel north of the Galapagos Islands at 4:30 a.m. Friday.District watchstanders requested aerial support and notified Ecuador who began to investigate the EPIRB’s registration and…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) launched the first-ever International Safety@Sea Conference in Singapore. The conference will run for two days and concludes on 31 August 2016. Held as part of Safety@Sea Week, over 30 international speakers and industry experts from different sectors of the maritime industry came together to share best safety at sea practices with more than 350 local and international participants. Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure & Minister for Transport  Khaw Boon Wan officiated the opening ceremony and announced that MPA will establish a ‘Community of Practice’ (CoP) comprising international maritime administrations…

The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ReCAPP) May 2016 report  says that only eight incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia for the month, down 65 percent from May last year. Between January and May 2016, a total of 38 incidents were reported in Asia, and this accounts for a 56% decrease in overall number of incidents compared to January-May 2015 when 87 incidents were reported. The number of incidents reported during January-May 2016 is the lowest among the five-year reporting period of January-May of 2012-2016. Of the eight incidents reported in May 2016, one was Category 1 incident involving the hijacking of product tanker Hai Soon 12 off Pulau Belitung, Indonesia on 7 May 16.

On 8 May 16, the ReCAAP ISC received information from the shipping company about the loss of communications with product tanker, Hai Soon 12. Hai Soon 12 , carrying 4,000 metric tons of Marine Gas Oil (MGO), departed Singapore for the Southern Ocean to conduct high seas bunkering/selling MGO to fishing vessels. However, the ship was observed to have deviated from her planned route and moved in an easterly direction towards Sulawesi. Upon receipt of the information, the ReCAAP ISC immediately informed BAKAMLA, who shared the information with the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL). The incident was also reported to the Information Fusion Centre (IFC), who worked closely with the shipping company to monitor the position of Hai Soon 12.

U.K. maritime intelligence provider, Dryad Maritime released its Q3 maritime crime figures which show that piracy is continuing across the globe at similar levels to Q2, with incidents of cargo theft in Southeast Asia continuing to rise. Dryad’s figures show a 27% drop in crime overall between Q2 to Q3, but point to the continuing attacks that are happening across the globe as reported in Q2. Maritime crime across Southeast Asia continues at pace during the period, with a further five hijackings of product tankers in the vicinity of Singapore. In addition, a further eight vessels were boarded while at anchor, taking the total number of similar incidents to 30 so far in 2014 although recent reports indicate that another tanker is currently missing since 3 October, presumed hijacked.

UK-based maritime intelligence provider, Dryad Maritime has released its Q3 maritime crime figures which show that piracy is continuing across the globe at similar levels to Q2, with incidents of cargo theft in Southeast Asia continuing to rise. Dryad’s figures show a 27% drop in crime overall between Q2 to Q3, but point to the continuing attacks that are happening across the globe as reported in Q2. Maritime crime across Southeast Asia continues at pace during the period, with a further five hijackings of product tankers in the vicinity of Singapore.

"In the early hours of Saturday 9th August, a product tanker transiting 200 nautical miles south of the Nigerian shoreline encountered a radar contact of a drifting vessel along its track. After taking normal navigational measures to open the closest point of approach (CPA) from the drifting vessel and passing abeam at 6.5 nautical miles, the tanker’s crew heard a burst of gunfire; first from their starboard quarter when 6 or 7 shots were fired and later from forward of the ship’s accommodation structure, but this time a burst of automatic fire. Although visibility was poor in the darkness and haze, one crew member reported seeing the outboard engine wakes of up to three small craft that engaged in a chase of the tanker, during the period of gunfire.

On Sunday, we heard the good news of the release of Hai Soon 6, following its hijack on 25th July off Ghana. Not long after this news from the IMB, Dryad relocated the vessel in exactly the place we expected – off the Niger Delta and some 200 miles east of where she went missing. The bad news is that this is now looking like the third successful cargo theft this year in West Africa. From Angola in the south, where MT Kerala was hijacked in January, to Ghana in the west, where the latest victim fell prey to organised crime, 2014 has see n Nigerian gangs continue to demonstrate their ability to hijack vessels at considerable range from their homebase of the Niger Delta.

The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) issued a news release stating that four persons are being charged with corrupt practices for conspiring to engage in illegal bunkering activity. The bunkering industry in Singapore is a lucrative business with more than 65,000 bunkering operations taking place here every year. In 2012, Singapore was the world's top bunkering port with bunker sales volume of more than 42 million metric tons (mt). With the present high bunker prices, there is a high temptation for opportunistic individuals to take advantage of the chances to reap large profits and pay-offs. Earlier this year, acting on information received of illegal bunkering activities…