The Ghana Maritime Authority has allegedly detained a vessel on 14 April over suspicions of an illegal bunkering operation within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Ghanaian territorial waters, says the CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
The Marshall Islands-flagged River Oak is a 13,131 DWT chemical tanker owned by OakTree Capital Management and operated by Alliance Tanker Management, according to a shipping database.
The ship was delivering marine fuel to the MT Asian Champion and the MT Atlantic Dreamer at a location about 65 nautical miles offshore in the Ghanaian EEZ on April 14 when approached by the Ghana Navy, reports local media Graphic Online.
Its crew was unable to produce necessary registration documents for operating in the EEZ, leading to the detention of the ship; the vessel was carrying 65 metric tonnes (mt) of marine gas oil (MGO) and 2,209 mt of fuel oil.
Investigations are still ongoing and it was too early to determine if River Oak was operating illegally within the EEZ, says Alhassan Tampuli, CEO of NPA.
“It is still being kept under investigations, pending the Ghana Maritime Authority’s confirmation of its registration documents and other requirements for the ship operating in the EEZ,” he told the paper.
Related: Ghana investigating illegal MGO sales to vessels
Published: 23 April, 2018
Under bunker convention, parties not involved with a ship's technical operation may fall outside liability.
Focuses on the lack of awareness on the importance of recording BDN seal numbers - which protects buyers and sellers in the event of a quality dispute.
Dr Sit Kwong Lam undertook a personal guarantee of over US $30 million in favour of Petrolimex Singapore; however, Brightoil Singapore was unable to repay the debt.
Societe Generale seeks to claim USD 20.5 million from NewOcean Petroleum due to ‘constructive trustee’ relationship with Pacific Dragon (Hong Kong) Energy Limited.
Meeting of creditors scheduled by electronic means scheduled to start on 19 May 2021 at 3.00 p.m. for receiving creditor list and estimated amounts of claims.
Associate Director at Helmsman highlights the need to stay up-to-date with latest protocols / measures introduced by MPA, with continuous education of Master and crew of the visiting vessel.
Additional topics of bunker contamination and OCM services discussed at VPS’ Fuel Management Challenges – The Year of 2021 & Beyond webinar on 23 September; Manifold Times summarises the session.
‘The JMs have failed to discharge their duties by blindly helping the Banks mount a false case against the Defendant,’ wrote defence lawyers representing former IPP Director Dr Goh Jian Hian in court statement.
Lead prosecutor Andreas Myllerup Laursen aims for a fine and a prison sentence in the so-called Syria case scheduled to commence in Odense, Denmark on 26 October, writes the Danish publication.
In a modern re-telling of the story of David versus Goliath, local bunker barge owners/charterers successfully resisted claims brought in the Singapore courts by Phillips 66 for misdelivery of bunkers.
Bunker barge owners and operators; traders and suppliers; banks, including players in other countries, will have to re-examine respective operations, advises Helmsman Associate Director Jonathan Tan.
Vopak BL was a non-essential document with no contractual force and had no effect as a contract of carriage or as a document of title, states written Judgement issued by Singapore Court of Appeal.
