FOLLOWING the Covid-19 outbreak and the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine, disruption to global maritime operations continued in 2023.

Sanctions compliance moved higher up the industry’s agenda as regulators started to clamp down on price cap enforcement, the Hamas-Israel war spilled over into the Red Sea and early relief at the International Maritime Organization’s emissions targets being agreed quickly gave way to concerns over how targets will be met and where future fuels will come from.

The following collection of articles provide examples of how the Lloyd’s List team look beyond the headlines to dig deep and provide answers on the key factors impacting maritime markets. Using our expertise and proprietary Lloyd’s List Intelligence data, we provide unique insights and intelligence unavailable anywhere else.

Follow the links in the headlines below to read the full article.

How a south London restaurateur became a nexus for sanctioned Iranian gas trades

An exclusive Lloyd’s List investigation by senior maritime reporter Tomer Raanan revealed how the owner of a south London restaurant became the front for a fleet of ageing gas tankers used to ship hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of sanctioned propane and butane from Iran. Analysis of the ownership links behind an LPG tanker that exploded off the coast of Iran in August provided a rare glimpse into the workings of an operation designed to sidestep US sanctions on Iran through the use of front companies and deceptive shipping practices, much like the dark fleet of tankers shipping sanctioned oil.

Shifty shades of grey: The different risk profiles of the dark fleet explained

In this deep dive into the dark fleet, senior analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann unpacks the difference between tankers belonging to the fleet of anonymously owned, elderly tankers drawn to the high-risk but high-rewards stakes of sanctions-circumventing oil trades, and the vessels that share similarities but no longer fit the catch-all criteria, instead exhibiting various shades of grey. Michelle was named Feature Journalist of the Year for her work on this article at the recent Seahorse Freight Association Journalist Awards.

Shadowy trade in ‘stolen’ grain from Russia-occupied Azov ramps up

Exports from the Russia-occupied ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk were in full swing as the grain harvest got underway in September, potentially exposing shippers to Western sanctions risk. Grain from Russia itself is not sanctioned. But the US, UK and EU prohibit dealing in grain from what Russia calls its “new” territories. Lloyd’s List data analyst Bridget Diakun found evidence the trade was increasing and that supplies are probably being mixed in Azov ports, meaning carriers may be carrying sanctioned cargo. Bridget won the Seahorse Multimedia Journalist of the Year for her work on this analysis.

EU ETS explainer: How will the world’s first carbon tax on shipping work?

The European Union’s Emissions Trading System will begin to include shipping from January 1, 2024, with global ramifications for the industry as vessels calling at EU ports start paying tax for CO2 emissions. This explainer by our sustainability editor Enes Tunagar looks into the detail and what it means for shipping companies

One Hundred Ports: Changing port calls — incarnation of an evolving global trade landscape

Our APAC editor Cichen Shen analysed Lloyd’s List Intelligence data and made some interesting discoveries about shipping traffic between global container ports in 2021-2022 as part of our annual Top 100 Container Ports special report. “Reglobalisation” was evidenced by the sharp decline in US port calls from China, while more boxships arrived in Vietnam, Mexico and Russia

Emanuele Grimaldi expects best-ever year at family-owned shipowner and reiterates global approach for GHG reduction

Strong passenger, ro-ro and vehicle carrier markets are expected to help Grimaldi Group deliver its best-ever financial performance this in 2023, joint managing director Emanuele Grimaldi told Lloyd’s List markets editor Rob Willmington in this interview. Grimaldi said that the introduction of new liner vehicle carrier services from Europe to to Asia, Australasia and Middle East markets have been a major driver in raising revenues this year, because of rocketing Chinese car exports.

Dark fleet tanker Pablo changed flags six days before fatal casualty

The Gabon-flagged aframax Pablo (IMO: 9133587) changed flag six days before a tragic explosion in international waters off Malaysia on May 1, after being cancelled by four other registries over two years for its links to shipping Iranian oil. The tanker also switched recognised organisation, name and registered ownership earlier in March, as it prepared to reflag in Gabon, after being removed from Cameroon, Cook Islands and Tanzania flags from 2020 through to 2022.

Does net zero leave shipping facing a capital-constrained future?

Banks are aligning their lending capacity to the newly increased net zero trajectory for shipping. The natural conclusion of this process will be a reduction in shipping finance from banks. Capital will increasingly only flow in the direction of those companies with the “right” decarbonisation strategies, writes Lloyd’s List editor-in-chief Richard Meade.

Fears of unintended consequences from removal of block exemption

The European Commission’s move to allow the consortia block exemption regulation to expire in October resolved a long-running dispute between carriers and their shipper and forwarder customers. But it remains to be seen whether the result will be as positive for shippers as they had hoped for or whether the law of unintended consequences will apply, writes containers editor James Baker.

One Hundred People 2023: Industry influencers adjust outlook as the difficult detail kicks in

Carbon regulation once again dominated Lloyd’s List’s annual Top 100 most influential people in shipping, but while the International Maritime Organization may have leapt from laggard to leader in 2023, the rest of the industry is having to adjust previous expectations regarding the pace of change. This article breaks down the Top 100 and explains how the tough decisions on who to include were made.