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A guidance on the latest amendments to the International Code for the Safe Carriage of Grain in Bulk, introducing a new loading condition for especially suitable compartments partly filled in way of the hatch opening, with ends untrimmed.

Background

As explained by ABS, on May 23, 1991, the International Code for the Safe Carriage of Grain in Bulk was adopted by resolution MSC.23(59) (Grain Code) and clearly described, defined, and provided specific requirements for loading conditions in three classifications:

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The shipping industry of the alarming risk of unwarranted arrests and severe prison sentences faced by crews when drugs are found on ships in certain ports. 

Misguided assumptions

There have been instances where ships and their crews arriving from South and Central America have been detained seemingly without valid justification. In two recent court cases, crew members were given very long prison sentences with judges concluding that hiding drugs onboard or attaching them to the ship’s hull is impossible without the crew knowing.

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Over the past week, 11-17 March, four incidents of armed robbery against ships in Asia (one CAT 3 incident and three CAT 4 incidents).

One incident occurred on board a general cargo ship while berthed at the port of Jakarta, Indonesia, and three incidents occurred onboard ships while underway in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait (SS). The crew was not injured in any of the four incidents. Two incidents involved the theft of scrap metal from barges, one incident reported missing generator spare parts, and nothing was stolen in the other incident.

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A suspected piracy related incident on a Yemeni-flagged dhow off Durdura, in the vicinity of Eyl, Northern coast of Puntland (Somalia).

The incident is under investigation and has been classified as hijack. According to the latest information, up to seven hijackers remain on board. The dhow has a crew of eight Somali nationals. EUNAVFOR ATALANTA is monitoring the event and coordinating closely with the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and with the Yemeni Coast Guard.