Bridget Diakun
Maritime Risk Analyst, Lloyd's List Intelligence
Bridget Diakun joined Lloyd’s List Intelligence in January 2022 as a data journalist. She initially worked on understanding the impact that the war in Ukraine had on commercial shipping in the Black and Caspian seas.
In 2023, she was named 'Multimedia Journalist of the Year' by the Seahorse Freight Association for her extensive investigation into the trade out of the occupied ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk.
Now a Maritime Risk Analyst, Bridget focuses on the intersection of geopolitics and commercial shipping. She assesses the impact of conflict on seaborne trade, how the maritime industry adapts to sanctions and investigates tactics used by vessels to disguise illicit activities.
Latest From Bridget Diakun
Shipment from occupied Sevastopol to Venezuela marks new direction for Russia grain trades
A sanctioned Russian bulker, owned by a sanctioned Russia firm, has loaded grain from a sanctioned occupied port and is headed to Russia’s heavily sanctioned trading partner Venezuela. The shipment comes as Russia is looking to legitimise trade lanes from occupied Ukrainian territories with its international partners
Houthis’ east Mediterranean threat should be taken with pinch of salt
Attacks have so far been concentrated in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Accurately targeting vessels far away from Houthi-controlled territory would be difficult, but the underlying warning should not be dismissed
Houthis deploy new weapons to secure first direct hit in Indian Ocean
UPDATE: Analysis of a video circulated by Houthi following the attack suggest that a Shehab drone may have been used against MSC Orion, suggesting that significantly more accurate weapons with a range of up to 1,600 km are now being used to target ships
Red Sea traffic stable at new ‘normal’ despite spate of attacks
Those not willing to accept the risk of a Houthi attack have diverted and those that remain are likely going to continue sailing the shipping lanes off Yemen regardless of how the situation develops based on behaviour to date
Ukrainian grain exports rebound as ship arrivals near pre-war levels
Fears rose over global food supply when the original Black Sea grain export corridor expired in July 2023. That threat has been averted. The number of bulker arrivals has surged and Ukraine has been able to maintain its exports
Why increasing North Korean shipments have sparked sanctions scrutiny concerns
Deepening diplomatic ties between Russia and North Korea has increased clandestine maritime oil-for-arms trades between the two states, but that comes as Russia is seeking to end UN scrutiny of sanctions compliance and illicit maritime activity