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This Week in Maritime Regs: Houthis Declare a Naval Blockade, a Second Tanker Is Hijacked Off Yemen, and PSC Gets a New UK Regulation

🕑 5 min read words Regulatory

Two Security Stories, Both Getting Worse, Not Better

Splash 24/7 reported this week that Houthi forces in Yemen have declared an immediate naval blockade on Saudi Arabia — The Swedish Club moved fast enough to issue its own guidance on the same development within days. Separately, and just as concerning, BBC News reported a second tanker hijacking off Yemen in three months, this time by suspected Somali pirates — a reminder that the Gulf of Aden's piracy risk hasn't gone anywhere just because Red Sea security coverage has been dominated by Houthi attacks for the past two years.

Liberia backed both stories with fresh official bulletins: Marine Security Bulletin 20/2026 on vessel attacks in the Gulf of Oman, and Marine Security Bulletin 19/2026 on multiple security incidents in the Black Sea — two separate chokepoints, two separate flashpoints, in the same week's paperwork. If your next voyage touches any of these waters, treat both bulletins as current briefing material, not background reading.

Port State Control: A New UK Regulation, and a Data Point Worth Sitting With

The UK has released MGN 711 (M) — The Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations 2026, updating the framework PSC inspections in UK ports operate under. Worth reading in full if you're due an inspection in a UK port any time soon, not just filing away.

Timed almost perfectly alongside it: ClassNK's 2025 Port State Control Annual Report, covering detention data across its own classed fleet. The headline number is blunt — 425 detentions in 2025, up from 381 in 2024 and 419 in 2023, even as the classed fleet itself grew (8,948 ships of 500GT+ in 2025). Bulk carriers accounted for the largest single share, 268 of the 425 detentions, with general cargo ships (65) and oil/chemical tankers (33) next. The sharpest single data point: ships over 25 years old had a detention ratio of 16.2%, nearly triple what you'd expect from an even distribution — age and deferred maintenance are showing up together, not separately. As ClassNK put it, PSC readiness depends on daily maintenance, crew familiarity and a living Safety Management System, not last-minute preparation before an inspection.

Rescue Boats and Davits Keep Coming Up — That's Not a Coincidence

Hong Kong released a Merchant Shipping Information Note this week specifically on rescue operations at sea. It lands in the same week that BSU (Germany) published its full investigation into the tanker SEAHAKE's rescue boat davit winch failure at Piraeus in 2023 — a drill run exactly by procedure, ended by a hidden freewheel defect no visual inspection could catch, three crew injured. It also follows a UKMPA-flagged pattern from last month's roundup, where ABS Regulatory News already named manual rescue boat davits as a PSC compliance risk on older vessels. Three separate sources, one theme, in the space of five weeks: LSA launching appliances are due more attention than a routine visual check gives them.

Compliance Items Worth Five Minutes

Marlink (via Digital Ship) reports that 69% of maritime cyber risks stem from compromised identities — not malware, not unpatched systems, but credentials. Worth a second look at who on board still has generic shared logins for anything connected to the ship's network.
Indian Register of Shipping Technical Circular 013/2026 flags that St Kitts & Nevis has extended implementation of the Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on MLC 2006 — relevant if your vessel flies that flag or expects inspection under it this cycle.
NorthStandard reports India has introduced new rules for the sea carriage of plastic pellets — worth checking against your cargo documentation if pellets are anywhere in your trade pattern.
London P&I confirms BIMCO has published a new Biofuel Clause for Time Charter Parties 2026 — another sign that biofuel blending is being treated as routine cargo/bunker business now, not an exceptional case.
Liberia MAN-004 sets manning requirements specifically for Mobile Offshore Units (MOUs) — relevant to anyone working the offshore support sector.

Class Society and P&I Roundup

ABS released updated Guidelines for the Application of the IGC Code Amendments, plus a Letter to Industry on engine-room fire prevention — specifically protection of oil systems and hot surfaces, a routine-maintenance topic that shows up in incident investigations more often than its unglamorous name suggests. Lloyd's Register published five separate pieces this week, including coverage of what MEPC 84 means for net-zero shipping and how war risk insurance is being reshaped by route volatility — both worth a read if you're tracking where regulation is heading over the next few years, not just this week's items. Korean Register issued guidance on secondary means of support for accommodation ladders specifically for vessels calling at the Port of Dampier — a narrow-sounding notice that's exactly the kind of port-specific requirement that catches a bridge team off guard if nobody flagged it in advance.

On the P&I side: Gard published on the risk of taking over a vessel without knowing its full history — timely reading before any change of management or flag. The International Group of P&I Clubs confirmed pooling arrangements now extend to autonomous vessels, a small line item that marks a real shift in how the industry is starting to treat uncrewed operations as insurable, ordinary business. The American Club released loss-prevention guidance on collecting perishable evidence correctly after an incident — worth knowing before you need it, not after.

Test Your Knowledge

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