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Boxship detained in Beirut

The "Mayssan" amd the assets of Hapag-Lloyd in the port of Beirut as well as all empty containers at the port's yard were to be detained as a precautionary measure until the owners of the assets deposited at the Court of Beirut a bank guarantee issued by a Lebanese bank amounting to US$12.6 million. Additionally, on Mar 2, 2018, the judge had allowed to discharge the containers destined to Beirut. Up to this moment, the vessel is idle in Beirut Roads. . The ship had arrived at Beirut on Feb 28 to discharge 500 TEUs and load 365 TEUs. After the merger of UASC and Hapag-Lloyd, the latter opted to abruptly dismiss the ship agent of UASC, namely AKAK marine without negotiating a compromise for smooth divorce. As such AKAK Marine had obtained an arrest court order to secure payment of 13.6 million USD due from Owners.

Container ship MAYSSAN troubled in Strait of Hormuz, adrift for 4 hrs

UASC Container ship MAYSSAN went out of control in Strait of Hormuz at around 2300 UTC Aug 21, while sailing in southern direction en route from UAE’s Jebel Ali to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Vessel ran out and veered off course, being disabled and adrift for more than 4 hours. Mayssan resumed sailing at around 0430 UTC Aug 22, though at reduced speed.

Bahraini ship among first in Suez test run

A Bahraini ship bound for Italy from Saudi Arabia was among the first to pass through Egypt’s New Suez Canal in a test-run ahead of its official opening next month. The trial, on Saturday (July 25), was a success – leading the UAE-based National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) to announce completion of the new 72km waterway, which runs alongside the original 146-year-old canal, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication. A total of six container ships from around the world navigated the canal as part of the trial run to ensure its readiness ahead of fully-fledged operations, the company said. Three ships navigated the canal from Suez in the south through to the Mediterranean Sea, while the other three sailed in the opposite direction. Bahrain’s contribution was the container ship Mayssan, which is owned by the United Arab Shipping Company and was registered in Bahrain in 2008, according to the Transportation and Telecommunication Ministry’s Ports and Maritime Affairs shipping and seamanship registry director Mayas Al Agha. The 85,000 tonne, 306-metre long ship took two days to transit the canal, starting Thursday, and was bound for Livorno in Italy with a load of cargo from Jeddah. The $8 billion New Suez Canal was built by the Egyptian army in less than 12 months and will be formally inaugurated by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on August 6. It is hoped that the new waterway will help expand trade along the shipping route, which connects Europe to Asia and earns Egypt around
$5 billion per year. An increase in two-way traffic will reduce navigation time and could triple revenue to $15 billion by 2023, according to official government projections. Meanwhile, the Egyptian government also plans to build an international industrial and logistics hub near the canal that it hopes will eventually make up about a third of the economy. Bahrain has another link to the project in the form of the locally-registered Dar Group (Shair and Partners), which was part of a consortium that last year won the bid to make the general plan for the canal project. Suez Canal Authority chairman Mohab Mamish said previously that the consultancy was chosen out of 14 international firms that met tender specifications. Source: TradeArabia News