Behind the Ever Given incident: The Ever Given container ship — the decade’s most high-profile shipping accident — was a result of a poor vessel traffic management system, negligence from the pilot team and the vessel moving at a faster speed than is permitted, according to a Panama Maritime Authority report picked up by Splash. The 20.1k teu — which got stuck in the Suez Canal back in 2021 for six days — significantly delayed international trade on both sides of the canal.

Russia-linked shadow oil fleet is disappearing:Gatik Ship Management, which is known for carrying Russian crude oil on a shadow fleet of tankers, has reportedly shrunk its fleet down to four tankers from 42 last April, Bloomberg reported, citing data from maritime database Equasis. The mysterious firm came under scrutiny earlier this year for transporting Russian oil. The shrinkage of the fleet, the exact reason for which is unclear, comes on the back of Gatik losing access to industry-standard ins. services after failing to meet the G7 price cap for transporting Russian oil. The vessels that are no longer listed under the company’s commercial management are continuing to transport Russian oil under other companies whose ownership is also unknown.

Danger on the high seas:The number of pirate attacks on commercial shipping vessels was up 12% in 1H 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) figures cited by Splash. A total of 65 incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2023, compared to 58 a year ago. Fifty-seven commercial vessels were boarded, four were attacked, two were hijacked, and two were fired upon. Thirty-six crew members were taken hostage, 14 were abducted, two were injured, and one was assaulted.

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