Published by China Dialogue Ocean
Published by Brian Gicheru Kinyua
Published by The Maritime Executive
Published by The Maritime Executive
Published Jul 1, 2020 6:05 PM by The Maritime Executive
In a series of raids across 30 locations in Zeeland Wednesday morning, Dutch police arrested nine suspects in connection with a suspected cocaine smuggling ring at the port of Vlissingen.
A total of about 400 officers were involved in the operation. "Because we do not want to take risks, we deployed SWAT teams," a police spokesperson told NU.nl.
Dutch authorities suspect that there are several related criminal syndicates that are involved in the importation of cocaine via Vlissingen's harbor. One group is believed to handle the cargo operations and another is suspected of working as an intermediary or broker to handle the trade. Wednesday's raids are intended to collect information and evidence in multiple investigations related to this scheme, police said in a statement.
The arrests follow a long string of drug busts in containerized consignments of bananas at Vlissingen and other nearby ports. A cargo of bananas with a hidden cache of 4,500 kilos of cocaine was discovered at the port this April - one of the largest single seizures ever made in the Netherlands. Another 900 kilos were discovered in the same manner in January, another 1,200 kilos in December 2019, and two shipments of 1,000 kilos and 1,550 kilos each in October 2019.
Cocaine is Europe's most popular illegal stimulant and its second-most popular illegal drug after marijuana (by value). The EU has also become a distribution hub for shipments bound for other markets, including Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Turkey and countries in the Middle East and Asia, according to Europol. EU cocaine trafficking has recently been run by a diverse range of European and non-European organized crime groups, not only the Italian and Colombian syndicates which historically managed the trade.
Container shipping is a popular method for transporting cocaine from producing nations in South America to European markets. Last year's record-setting 20 ton cocaine bust aboard the container ship MSC Gayane was carried out by U.S. agents at an American seaport, but it was likely headed for the European ports that came later on the vessel's itinerary, according to investigators.
Published Jul 22, 2022 5:39 PM by China Dialogue Ocean
[By Isabelle Gerretsen] Experts say the shipping industry will have to decarbonize rapidly to keep global average temperature increases below the critical threshold of 1.5C, and find alternative green fuels to the polluting diesel that currently powers most vessels. To keep 1.5C alive, global emissions will need to peak by 2025, halve by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, according to the UN’s climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Shipping is currently responsible for nearly 3% of global...
Published Jul 22, 2022 5:12 PM by Brian Gicheru Kinyua
In the recent past, DP World has been in an overdrive to acquire Indian Ocean ports. Particularly, DP World appears intent to have a firm grip on the African market. However, in the race to ink more deals, DP World is no stranger to controversy, either in the manner it acquires the ports or its style of port management. In June, details emerged that the Kenyan government was in advanced negotiations for DP World to take over some of its...
Published Jul 22, 2022 4:57 PM by The Maritime Executive
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and the union representing subcontractors reached an agreement at the end of the day on Friday ending a 51-day strike that threatened the financial stability of South Korea’s third largest shipbuilder. Faced with mounting losses and increasing costs for steel and other materials, DSMEs’ financial condition has continued to erode with the largest shareholder suggesting that the company might need to be restructured through bankruptcy. Discussing the shipbuilder’s prospects as the strike dragged on,...
Published Jul 22, 2022 4:53 PM by The Maritime Executive
On Friday, Japan’s nuclear regulator approved a detailed plan for the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant into the Pacific. The stored water amounts to more than 1.3 million tons, and the temporary tank farm at the plant is running out of room. The powerplant experienced a meltdown in 2011 after a severe earthquake and tsunami. Radioactive fuel debris remains at the bottom of all three water-flooded reactor units. and groundwater infiltration creates a constant...
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