Maritime Directory

Spanish police seized 4.5 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of 105 million euros ($114 million) after raiding a cattle ship off the Canary Islands earlier this week, a statement said on Saturday.The ship had stopped at ports in about a dozen countries before Tuesday's raid, and police said drug smugglers had started using livestock ships because it was more difficult for police to trace their illicit cargo."International organisations are reinventing themselves to transport drugs from Latin America to Europe, using livestock to make the control and localisation more difficult," the Spanish police statement said.

A Russian research vessel which has been prospecting for oil and natural gas in the Antarctic docked in South Africa on Saturday following protests by green campaigners who say its operations in the region violate a treaty banning mineral exploration.Several members of the Extinction Rebellion environmental group held banners reading "Hands off Antarctica" as the polar explorer ship Akademik Alexander Karpinsky arrived as scheduled in Cape Town's port during the morning.Earlier this week, several dozen protesters from Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion demonstrated at the port

Svein Steimler, president and CEO of NYK Group Europe Ltd., will retire on March 31, 2023, and will subsequently become a special advisor of the company. Steimler’s successor as president and CEO will be Carl-Johan Hagman.

With the founding of Lehmann Marine, a subsidiary of Höpen GmbH, a new supplier of innovative maritime products such as the COBRA battery system has entered the maritime market in 2023.The COBRA (Compact Battery Rack) battery system, which is freely scalable and tailored to maritime requirements, has several references in the shipping industry for the hybridization or electrification of vessels. Initially developed by Becker Marine Systems, COBRA has now been incorporated into Lehmann Marine, which was founded on January 1, 2023. Lehmann Marine is a subsidiary of the Family Office Höpen GmbH, which continues to be a shareholder in Becker Marine Systems and eCap Marine.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, marked its fourth consecutive weekly fall on Friday as capesize demand remained numb.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was down one point to 676, levels last seen during June 2020. The index was down 11.4% for the week.The capesize index lost 15 points, or about 2.7%, at 534, a near five-month low. It was down 32% for the week, also a fourth consecutive weekly fall.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $118 to $4,433.