Reports on safety incidents, updates, and rescue operations. To encourage safer operations, we gather facts, dates, and lessons learned. Espect updates that are written about all parties affected and information for people who are at risk at sea regarding inspections, casualty and injury reports, crew safety, and best practices.
25 articles
FeaturedAt least 139 people died and 84 remain missing after an overcrowded boat capsized off Djibouti while heading toward Yemen. More than 80 survivors, all Ethiopian nationals, were rescued as search operations continue.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Oct 12, 2026
Russia carried out a large airstrike on Ukraine's port city of Odesa, disrupting shipping in the Black Sea and affecting the export of commodities. The attack has severely constrained shipments of wheat, oil, fertilizers, and coal.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Sep 13, 2026
Two seafarers have been killed in an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing the known death toll from attacks on commercial shipping in the region to at least 18 since the conflict escalated earlier this year. The incident occurred on the Saudi-owned VLCC Sidr, which was one of two supertankers carrying Saudi crude reported hit late Monday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Sep 2, 2026
INTERTANKO has warned that mine clearance in the Strait of Hormuz is not sufficient on its own to bring commercial shipping back to normal, despite the US military's clearing of mines from the internationally recognized shipping lanes.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Sep 1, 2026
Russia and Ukraine have increased attacks on each other's commercial ships and ports in the Black Sea area, disrupting grain exports and raising concerns about global grain supplies. Ukraine's ports in the Greater Odesa region handle about 90% of its grain shipments, but the country has exported only about 500,000 tons of grain since the start of August.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Aug 24, 2026
A Panama-flagged bulk carrier has sunk off the coast of eastern India, leaving 22 crew members missing. The Indian Coast Guard and Navy are conducting a joint search operation.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Aug 23, 2026
Strikes on Azov and Black Sea terminals have knocked out more than 97% of Russian and Ukrainian grain export capacity, forcing buyers in Cairo, Ankara, Dhaka and Jakarta to look at longer, costlier voyages from the Americas and Australia.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Aug 20, 2026
Three China-linked VLCCs have reversed course inside the Strait of Hormuz as the threat picture in the Gulf deteriorates. A laden VLCC does not U-turn casually, and the market is pricing that signal into war-risk premia and Middle East freight rates.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Aug 19, 2026
Two bulk carriers were struck by projectiles in separate incidents while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, killing one seafarer and injuring another. The attacks push the confirmed crew death toll past 15 for the year and drag dry-bulk operators into a war-risk theatre that until recently was almost exclusively a tanker problem.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Aug 18, 2026
Nine workers were killed after being exposed to toxic gas while dismantling an LNG carrier at a shipbreaking yard in Bangladesh. The accident occurred at the Ferdous Steel shipbreaking yard in Chattogram, where workers were breaking down the LNG carrier Rasi. The incident highlights concerns over safety conditions at South Asian recycling facilities, despite some yards being certified as compliant with international conventions.
Kemal Can Kayar|1 min read|Aug 17, 2026
The Strait of Hormuz has stopped behaving like a shipping lane and started behaving like a bargaining chip, and the projectiles landing on hulls are leverage over the one stretch of water the global economy cannot route around.
Kemal Can Kayar|3 min read|Aug 16, 2026
A vast oil spill in the Gulf is quickly becoming one of the world's worst in years after being allowed to spread almost unchecked for weeks. The slick off the coast of Oman from a grounded tanker carrying Russian crude had reportedly reached the mainland by Wednesday.
Kemal Can Kayar|2 min read|Aug 12, 2026