Risk Intelligence News

While U.S. President Donald Trump has recently hailed the resumption of oil flows from Gulf allies, Iran, too, appears to be gearing up to resume exports and trading.At least three tankers carrying some five million barrels of Iranian oil have sailed through the U.S. naval blockade this week, shipping data shows, despite the U.S. military saying its operations against Iran-linked shipping will stay in place until Friday.The oil market has focused on a deal to end the Iran war…

Risk Intelligence has signed an agreement with an unnamed European maritime authority for the provision of its Risk Intelligence System and intelligence reports.The client is a national maritime authority responsible for supervising vessel and seafarer safety and security within its flag state registry, as well as overseeing foreign-flagged vessels calling at the country's ports.Under the agreement, the authority will gain access to the Risk Intelligence System and intelligence reports to support monitoring of security risks affecting vessels registered under its flag.

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stood at well below 10% of normal volumes on Thursday despite a U.S.-Iran ceasefire as Tehran asserted its control by warning ships to keep to its territorial waters while doing so.Hundreds of tankers and other ships have been stuck inside the Gulf since the Iran war began on Feb 28, cutting global oil supply by 20% in the world's biggest-ever supply disruption. Prices for some physical oil grades hit fresh all-time highs on Thursday as the crisis showed little signs of abating.Iran must open the strait without conditions…

It’s time to consider the role of “digital watchkeepers” as the become an increasingly complex tool for bridge teams.Releasing its annual report in July 2025, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch said that significant collisions between merchant vessels show no sign of reducing. The collision between Scot Explorer and Happy Falcon, the fatal collision between Verity and Polesie and the dramatic and tragic collision of the Solong into the anchored Stena Immaculate indicate…

Iranian gas facilities in the Gulf came under attack on Wednesday, state media reported, prompting Tehran to say it would target a range of energy installations across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar "in the coming hours".Oil prices jumped on the news, with Brent crude futures gaining more than 6% to a session high just shy of $110 per barrel.The attacks on Iran's energy industry in South Pars and Asaluyeh have raised concerns that Iran could also target infrastructure of global energy majors across the Gulf…

Dozens of tankers have joined the shadow fleet this year compared with hundreds in previous years as the harshest Western sanctions yet target Russia's oil exports and add to the difficulty of finding suitable vessels, shipping sources said.The European Union and Britain last month imposed further sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.Together with U.S. restrictions, they mean more than 440 shadow fleet tankers face sanctions, including tankers Moscow needs to ship oil to its biggest buyers…

UK maritime intelligence company Pole Star Global has acquired Clearwater Dynamics, a UK-based real-time maritime risk intelligence provider and creator of Coral — a platform for managing marine insurance risk.The acquisition strengthens Pole Star’s position in maritime domain awareness, combining Clearwater’s capabilities in real-time vessel risk monitoring and marine insurance with Pole Star’s expertise in regulatory compliance, voyage optimization, dark vessel detection, and maritime data analytics.The deal also marks Pole Star’s expansion into the marine insurance sector…

Greek shipping companies calling at Russian ports are boosting their vessels' defences after a series of mysterious blasts in recent months have damaged tankers linked to Moscow's oil trade according to six Greek shipping and security sources.The measures include underwater inspections by divers to check for foreign objects, two of the Greek sources familiar with the strategy said.Western countries have hit Russia with waves of sanctions over its war in Ukraine and the Group of Seven major powers has separately imposed a price cap of $60 a barrel on Moscow's oil exports…

A limpet mine may have caused a blast that damaged a Greek tanker sailing off Libya's coast last week, the fifth such incident to hit commercial shipping in the region in recent months, maritime security sources said on Tuesday.The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Vilamoura had left the Libyan port of Zuetina on June 27 to head to Gibraltar with some 1 million barrels of oil when there was an explosion in the engine room, its Greece-based operator TMS said on Monday.According to initial assessments, a limpet mine was a likely cause of the blast, four maritime security sources said.A company rep

Risk Intelligence has signed an agreement with Hamburg-based ship owner the Risk Intelligence System.The unnamed shipowner owns more than 40 bulk carriers, container ships, product tankers and car carriers operating globally, which is why near real-time intelligence is key for their operations managed from Hamburg and Singapore.With the Risk Intelligence System, the client will have access to credible security intelligence to assist planning, managing and adjusting their operations and at the same time reducing risk to people…

Risk Intelligence provides security data, information, analysis and assessment to enable safe navigation in areas of risk in an increasingly uncertain worldSince its founding in 2001, Denmark-headquartered security information specialist Risk Intelligence has developed a fully integrated risk assessment and planning tool that provides valid, actionable intelligence to any fleet, on land, in port or at sea, 24/7/365. The company has three information and intelligence products that together assess security risks at sea…

Risk Intelligence provides security data, information, analysis and assessment to enable safe navigation in areas of risk in an increasingly uncertain world.Since its founding in 2001, Denmark-headquartered security information specialist Risk Intelligence has developed a fully integrated risk assessment and planning tool that provides valid, actionable intelligence to any fleet, on land, in port or at sea, 24/7/365. The company has three information and intelligence products that together assess security risks at sea…

Maritime operations in West Africa are affected by threats from piracy and other maritime crime. It is very complex to get an overview of the different types of maritime security provisions that are legal in the countries throughout the region. Risk Intelligence now provides this insight with a new service, including reports with an overview of the use of private and government security in 18 countries in the region. Risk Intelligence CEO, Hans Tino Hansen, said, “We have provided security analysis for West Africa for more than 10 years. It has always been a complex area with many different types of threats and many different types of security risk mitigation and legal frameworks.

Pirates have attacked the Liberian-flagged 4,360 TEU CMA CGM Turquoise, kidnapping two crew members off the coast of Nigeria, with the remainder of the crew said to be safe. Turquoise, managed by Dioryx Maritime Corp. in Greece, was stormed late on Monday as it travelled between Nigeria's commercial hub Lagos and Douala in Cameroon. According to Ghana-based antipiracy agency Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre (MTISC-GOG), the ship  was boarded in waters about 30 nm off the coast of the Niger Delta. The captain activated the SSAS and the crew retreated to the citadel, but two were captured and kidnapped before they could enter.

Russia’s embassy in Nigeria confirmed on Thursday that the Greek-owned oil tanker Leon Dias has been hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea, reports TASS. There are reports that the oil tanker hijacked by suspected militants from the Niger Delta has been freed and is now located some 7.5 nautical miles near the Cotonou Port in Benin. The merchant ship, MT LEON DIAS that was allegedly hijacked by gunmen is current off the Coast of Cotonou in the Benin Republic. Nigerian military sources disclosed that the ship which is a chemical/oil tanker is currently under the custody of the Beninois Navy. "The name of the ship is MT LEON DIAS. An oil tanker…

Pole Star, a U.K.-headquartered technology company delivering maritime application solutions, has launched its new cloud application platform, designed to facilitate the company’s vision to enable a universal maritime ecosystem. According to its developer, the new Pole Star platform is a highly configurable, extensible and easy-to-use cloud application platform, built upon a powerful, robust and open API, and using enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure. With a wide (and expanding)…

Denmark-based security risk intelligence company Risk Intelligence has launched PortRisk, a service that aims to deliver comprehensive and reliable intelligence on risk in ports. PortRisk provides on-demand security information and threat, vulnerability and risk assessment covering countries, ports and cities. Together with the company’s existing maritime security intelligence tool, MaRisk, the services deliver intelligence for maritime planning, decision-making and operations.

The horrific explosions in the Chinese port of Tainjin illustrated vividly just how volatile port operations can be. But safety issues are only one facet of risk in the complex world of shipping ports. From piracy on the high seas to data thievery in port, players all along the shipping value chain need to be on constant alert for the dangers that nature and human actions can present. Political unrest, theft, smuggling and corruption all figure in to the risk picture that ship owners, brokers, and cargo owners have to consider when planning and executing port calls.

Piracy and armed robbery against ships, corruption and illegal trafficking are well-known maritime security challenges. Now it is time to find solutions. On Tuesday, October 6, an international conference organized for the second year in a row by the Danish Shipowners’ Association, Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) and Risk Intelligence, in cooperation with Clipper, will focus on the biggest and most pressing maritime security challenges facing the maritime industry and governments, aiming to find new solutions to address these threats. At the conference, which is a part of Danish Maritime Days, international maritime experts from both the…

Piracy will increase in the Gulf of Guinea as Nigeria prepares for an election next February in order to funnel ransom money into campaign financing, intelligence experts told a shipping conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday. Risk Intelligence, which advises private shipping companies and governments on security, said two "mother ships" belonging to pirates are currently located just south of Nigeria and five seafarers are know to be held hostage onshore. "Ahead of general elections, kidnap-for-ransom and attacks on offshore targets increase," Managing Director Hans Tino Hansen told Reuters at a special session on maritime crime and the effects on growth and development in Africa.

“In the last five years, pirates have killed at least 411 fishermen and wounded at least 1,000 more, suggested Mujibur Rahman, Chairman of Cox’s Bazar District Fishing Trawler Owners Association (DFTOA). According to the DFTOA, pirates attacked more than 1,000 fishing boats, abducting more than 3,000 fishermen, killed over 45 and collected more than $1.28 million in ransoms from fishery owners of two coastal towns – Chakaria and Maheshkhali, alone from late 2011 to late 2012,” reported a Bangladeshi paper in April 2013.

Well-established local criminal syndicate diversifying its targets rather than undertaking new operations says Denmark-based security advisory and intelligence company Risk Intelligence. The recent hijacking cases of coastal product tankers in Southeast Asia for the theft of their cargos represent a diversification of the threat rather than a new trend. “It’s a case of new diesel in old tankers,” said the CEO of Risk Intelligence, Hans Tino Hansen. Hijacking for product theft can be documented as far back as 1990s in Southeast Asia. The most active syndicate has usually favored boarding the preselected targets in the same general location and always during the region’s dry season between March and October.

Gulf of Guinea piracy presents a radically different picture compared with Somali piracy. Since decades it has been a kaleidoscopic mix of short duration hijackings, militant disruptions, kidnappings, robberies and thefts, depending on the location and the setting. It was not until recently, however, that piracy in the region attracted significant international media attention due to the increase in hijackings of product tankers in the region. It is uncertain when this phenomenon started exactly…