Asphalt Venture: headed for Haradheere

Asphalt Venture, en route to Durban when radar observation showed her turn suddenly and set a course for Haradheere. There have been no reports of any contact with the vessel Sep. 29.

8875798 ASPHALT VENTURE 3EOU9 Asphalt Tanker 3884 1991 Panama managed by Mumbai-based Omci Ship Management Pvt



[2001]OMI’s vessels are technically managed (excluding insurance provided for vessels, which is managed directly by OMI) by a wholly owned subsidiary, OMI Marine Services LLC (“OMS”), located at offices in Stamford, Connecticut and Houston, Texas. OMS subcontracts several of the day-to-day operations to OMI Crewing Services Ltd. (“OMCI”), located in Mumbai, India (not a related party to OMI or any of its subsidiaries). OMCI is primarily responsible for the crewing, general maintenance and repairs, and the stocking of supplies on vessels.

Under the direction of OMS, OMCI purchases stores and spares for all vessels that they manage (OMCI manages all of OMI’s owned vessels with the exception of the two handysize crude oil tankers). OMS is also responsible for the drydocking of the vessels, including scheduling the drydocks and obtaining bids. OMI is kept apprised of all drydocking schedules and approves all related costs. OMI advances funds to OMCI for expenditures including crew wages, benefits, training, crew travel and airfare, salary, office and other expense of the technical staff of OMCI, allotments, union payments, and other expenditures covered under the process of Advances to Masters (which includes cash reserve on board, cash for bonded stores and provisions purchases and other items).

[2007]Danish shipping company A/S Dampskibsselskabet TORM (D/S TORM) (NASDAQ: TRMD) and Canada's Teekay Corporation (NYSE: TK) have finalised their plan for how to divide the assets of the jointly acquired US shipping company OMI Corporation (NYSE: OMI), D/S TORM said on Friday (3 August 2007).

Under the agreement D/S TORM will take over 24 product tankers from OMI, as well as OMI's technical operations in India and a part of its organisation in the US.

[2010]TORM A/S (TORM), formerly Aktieselskabet Dampskibsselskabet Torm, is a Danish shipping company engaged primarily in the ownership and operation of product tankers and dry bulk carriers. TORM consists of two business segments: the Tanker Division and the Bulk Division. The Company’s product tankers primarily carry refined products, such as naphtha, gasoline, gas oil, jet fuel and diesel oil. Its dry bulk vessels carry commodities, such as coal, iron ore and grain. As of December 31, 2009, the Company’s fleet of owned vessels consisted of 64 product tankers and four dry bulk carriers. The total tonnage of those vessels is approximately 4,146,031 deadweight tons (dwt). In addition, it chartered in 27 product tankers and nine dry bulk carriers, and commercially managed approximately 38 vessels for third-party owners and charterers. TORM’s vessels trade worldwide.

1. OMCI Shipmanagement
OMCI is a ship management brand that currently manages about 36 ships and is also engaged in new building supervision. It is a part of the W-O Shipping Group which spans 5 countries in 3 continents OMCI, the shipmanagement arm of the W-O group.
OMCI Shipmanagement Pvt Ltd, hereafter referred to as OMSL, is a private company that was incorporated in Mumbai, India

Lugela: pirates abandon, crew retakes ship

Crew of a Greek ship which was hijacked deep in the Indian Ocean on Saturday are once again in control of the vessel.

The circumstances of the retaking of the 4,281-dwt Lugela (built 1984)remain a mystery, however, but engine failure is said to have played a part.The ship's all-Ukrainian crew are safe.
The Greek operator received a call from the master of the Panama-flagged ship Sep. 26 to say that the crew was back in control of the vessel.

Lugela IMO: 8410380 (Ex: Thor Sofia) 4,145 DWT, Multi-Purpose, Built 1984
Owners/Managers are TDM Carriers, Panama Flagged.

Arctic Sea: sale of S-300 to Iran banned by Russia

The Kremlin has formally banned the sale of S-300 air defence missile systems to Iran three months after new UN sanctions.

A decree was issued by President Dmitry Medvedev prohibiting the sale, which had been in the pipeline for years.

Earlier, Gen Nikolai Makarov, head of Russia's general staff, confirmed that the missiles were "definitely" subject to the sanctions introduced in June. more earlier

Iceberg 1: hijackers threaten crew

By mobile phone a crew member said the pirates are threatening to harm them. The pirates say their ransom is ten million dollars but from our point of view even if we give them 400,000 dollars they will take”. read earlier
199 7429102 ICEBERG I 3EBE2 Ro-Ro 3960 1976 Panama

Deepwater Horizon: 200 lawyers

NEW ORLEANS (CN sep 17, 2010) - More than 200 attorneys filled three courtrooms Thursday for a pretrial conference to chart the course of litigation for hundreds of lawsuits involving the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. Presiding Judge Carl J. Barbier apologized that the courtroom was not large enough. "Unfortunately, this is the largest we have," he said to the roomful of more than 150 attorneys, packed along walls to the back doors.
The location was changed last minute from Judge Barbier's courtroom to larger courtroom in the Federal Courthouse, and two overspill rooms were opened before the hearing began.
"I'm not sure how many cases we already have," Barbier said, explaining that some cases from other courts have yet to be transferred to the Eastern District of Louisiana.
"Certainly there are currently hundreds and there will be hundreds, if not thousands more, filed," he said. "On top of all that, investigations by the federal government seeking criminal and civil damages are pending."
In August, a federal panel of judges selected New Orleans as the venue for all Deepwater Horizon oil spill-related lawsuits. The panel also appointed Judge Barbier.
FT read more

Magellan Star: in a convoy under USN escort

Magellan Star, container ship en route from Spain to Vietnam, traveled in a convoy of four ships, and they had escort protection by military ships. Therefore, the rescuers got there very quickly. The convoy had spread quite far apart. [Escort include the USN Dubuque and the USN Princeton, as well as Turkish frigate TCG Gokceada ] The problem is that when the military ships are too concentrated around one location. The raid took place about 85 miles southeast of Mukallah, Yemen,
About 20 percent of world trade passes through the Gulf of Aden, a transit point for navigating Egypt’s Suez Canal when sailing between Asia and Europe,

Samho Dream: vessel at large

On September 14 morning, hijacked MV Samho Dream departed from Somalia
with pirates on board ... the tanker was sighted heading east and 80 nautical
miles from Somali coast. On Sep 5, 2010, new demands of the pirates holding the "Samho Dream" were issued, but rejected by the owners. There are two warships keeping a watch close by, staging mock attacks and caused tension on board, which made the pirates to issue a statement that they would blow up the oil-tanker if the harassment would not stop and no ransom would be paid soon. Though negotiations with the owners are ongoing no conclusion has been reached. The vessel was moved from Hobyo, where she was held since her capture until the advancement of Al-Shabaab spearheaded Hizb-ul-Islam groups, to Garacad, but was returned to Hobyo. The 24-member crew with five Koreans and 19 Filipinos is said to be living in sub-human conditions. The abuses are getting worse as the pirates deprive them of sleep and food and threaten to kill them one by one if a ransom is not paid. The captain expressed frustration towards the Samho Shipping Company's silence over the pirates' latest demands. A Samho Shipping official said that the $20 million demanded by the
pirates is too high.