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Greek Bulker Hit and Taking Water After Multiple Houthi Attacks

A Greek-owned bulk carrier named Tutor was attacked multiple times by Houthi forces while sailing south in the Red Sea towards India. The ship is now without control and waiting for help from coalition forces. The attack occurred near the northern part of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, about 66 nautical miles southwest of Hudaydah, Yemen. The first attack was by a small surface drone, which struck the stern of the ship. This appears to be the first time the Houthi successfully used such a drone in an attack. These drones carry large explosives capable of causing significant damage. Following this attack, there were reports of a fire in the engine room and that the ship was taking on water. The Tutor, built in 2022 and registered in Liberia, is managed by Evalend Shipping of Greece. U.S. Central Command confirmed the attack, noting that the ship had recently docked in Russia and was headed to India. Later, the vessel was reportedly hit twice by airborne projectiles. The exact number of crew members and any potential injuries are not yet known. The Houthi claimed the ship was targeted due to…

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Report: Indian Class Withdrawn on Sanctioned Russian Tankers

Russian shipping interests continue to shuffle around the registry details of their large crude tankers in an apparent effort to address the Western sanctions on vessels. Reuters conducted an analysis and found that 12 of the 14 tankers listed by the United States in February 2024 have been moved to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, some having changed class societies or flags twice in a matter of months. The U.S. and its allies in the G7 reported at the end of February they were moving against both Russian shipping company Sovcomflot and tankers that had regularly transported oil in violation of the price cap imposed by the West as a punishment for the invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. blocked 14 tankers controlled by Sovcomflot on February 28. Before that, they had listed 20 tankers being run through third-party management companies in locations such as Dubai and elsewhere.  The review of the databases conducted by Reuters shows the Indian Register of Shipping which had stepped in to class the ships now shows 12 of the tankers with the notations class withdrawn. The vessels are appearing in the Russian…

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Japanese Partner Up on Anti-Roll Tank Research for Large Containerships

ClassNK has signed a joint R&D agreement with Nihon Shipyard and IMC to ensure the safety and performance evaluation of anti-roll tanks (ART) installed on large containerships. Under the R&D agreement, Nihon Shipyard, IMC, and ClassNK will work together to expand the application of ART to large containerships. Utilizing the obtained data and knowledge, each party will collaborate to ensure the safer application of ART on an actual ship and performance evaluation. AS part of the partnership, Nihon Shipayard will design of optimal installation plan of ART on large containerships, IMC will conduct demonstration of ART's reduction effect on ship’s roll, while ClassNK establish the appropriate evaluation methods for ART. An ART is a device designed to suppress the ship's roll by moving liquid, such as water, within the tank. Consideration for ART installation on large containerships is advancing due to the expectation of improving container loading efficiency by reducing roll motion and preventing parametric roll, which is regarded as one of the causes of container collapse accidents. The parametric role is a type of resonance phenomenon where ship’s roll amplifies, that occurs when the natural roll period…

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