Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published Jul 24, 2022 10:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

The U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection recently teamed up for an unusual drug bust at the Port of Seattle: 20,000 pounds of khat. Marijuana, cocaine, fentanyl and heroin are common enough, but only occasionally do border control agents in the United States pick up a shipment of the Middle Eastern stimulant drug. 

A joint Coast Guard-CBP investigation led to the seizure of more than 20,000 pounds of dried khat with an estimated street value of $3.6 million at the Puget Sound seaport. It was the largest seizure of its kind ever recorded in the region. 

Khat is a plant grown in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and it contains the amphetamine cathinone. Its leaves are chewed or dried for tea. Cathinone is habit-forming and psychoactive, and it is classified as a controlled substance in the United States. The class is best known in America as a synthetic powder, marketed on the street as "bath salts" - a cheap and dangerous substitute for methamphetamine. The natural version is a socially-accepted drug in Yemen, Somalia and Ethiopia, and some mariners may remember it as the stimulant of choice for Somali pirates. 

On May 27, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Coast Guard officers at the Port of Seattle conducted an exam on a container that appeared to contain khat. This particular shipment was destined for the United States market, and it was shipped from Kenya disguised as "green tea." Samples were taken for inspection at a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory, and the product tested positive for cathinone. CBP seized all 20,000-plus pounds for destruction. 

“This khat seizure demonstrates Customs and Border Protection officers’ effectiveness, dedication and expertise searching through the tens of thousands of international containers to find the proverbial needle in the haystack,” said J. Rene Ortega, CBP’s Port Director for the Area Port of Seattle.

Published Jul 25, 2022 10:17 PM by Paul Benecki

SHIP REPAIR: Running a ship repair yard requires ingenuity, adaptability and a knack for bringing wornout equipment back to life. These talents work just as well on infrastructure as they do on ships, and many of the best yards expand by acquiring and fixing up underused assets. With technical capabilities available in-house, a shipbuilder can repair a used drydock, gantry crane or workshop complex at a favorable price. Many of the fastest-growing yards on the market expand their footprint using...

Published Jul 25, 2022 10:11 PM by The Maritime Executive

The FPSO Petrojarl Foinaven is just weeks away from decommissioning, but it might still have time for one final labor action before it sails off for scrapping.  The workers aboard the UK North Sea FPSO Foinaven plan to go out on strike over their very last wage - their severance pay. They assert that the company's onshore workers are getting a much better deal for their final payout and are asking for equivalence. Everyone will be laid off, but the union...

Published Jul 25, 2022 7:57 PM by The Maritime Executive

Uniper announced plans to move forward with a first-of-its-kind pilot project In Germany to explore the storage of hydrogen on a large scale. The project will be located near the North Sea and the port of Wilhelmshaven where Germany is developing its first LNG terminal which is also planned to become a hub for future fuels. According to the company, the project aims to provide information across the entire value chain on how the gas can be stored and how...

Published Jul 25, 2022 7:36 PM by The Maritime Executive

A district court in Batam, Indonesia has issued a seven-year jail sentence for the master of the workboat Cramoil Equity for entering Indonesian waters with barrels of hazardous liquid waste. In mid-June 2021, the Batam Port Authority received a tip that the Belize-flagged Cramoil Equity was carrying hazardous waste without a permit in the waters of Batam. The agency's patrol team ordered the ship to leave, but it allegedly did not comply.  Two days later, the patrol team found Cramoil...

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