News

On Oct 12, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has indefinitely suspended the operations of six vessels of the Atienza Interisland Ferries after the fire that gutted the 'June Aster' off the coast of Coron, Palawan. The order was issued to the 'Star San Carlos' (IMO: 9168128), 'September Tulips' (MMSI: 457900394), 'December Poinsettia', 'October Lavender' (IMO: 9969259), 'May Lillies' (IMO: 7900388) and 'Cattleya Express' (IMO: 8804086). Dole officials had inspected the vessels on Oct 10 in Navotas. The work for Atienza Shipping Lines has been suspended. Dole instructed the company to pay the wages of all affected employees during the period covered by this WSO, the issuance of this Order having resulted from violations attributable to the employer. 63 of the 77 people killed in the fire have been identified, while eight people remained missing. The ship had 128 passengers and crew members on board, and 43 of them survived. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) had filed a complaint of alleged falsification of public documents against the Captain Roel Sarmiento. He was found liable for discrepancies in the Master’s Declaration of Safe Departure (MDSD), which contained the vessel’s passenger and crew manifest. The MDSD declared that the vessel complied with safety regulations and had the proper placement of cargo and the correct number of passengers and crew members. The PCG initially tallied 134 occupants. This meant that six passengers listed in the ticket manifest did not board the vessel. Some passengers listed in the manifest reportedly failed to arrive or decided to take other means of transportation, before the 'June Aster' left Baseco Port in Manila on the night of Sep 9.

On Oct 12, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has indefinitely suspended the operations of six vessels of the Atienza Interisland Ferries after the fire that gutted the 'June Aster' off the coast of Coron, Palawan. The order was issued to the 'Star San Carlos' (IMO: 9168128), 'September Tulips' (MMSI: 457900394), 'December Poinsettia', 'October Lavender' (IMO: 9969259), 'May Lillies' (IMO: 7900388) and 'Cattleya Express' (IMO: 8804086). Dole officials had inspected the vessels on Oct 10 in Navotas. The work for Atienza Shipping Lines has been suspended. Dole instructed the company to pay the wages of all affected employees during the period covered by this WSO, the issuance of this Order having resulted from violations attributable to the employer. 63 of the 77 people killed in the fire have been identified, while eight people remained missing. The ship had 128 passengers and crew members on board, and 43 of them survived. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) had filed a complaint of alleged falsification of public documents against the Captain Roel Sarmiento. He was found liable for discrepancies in the Master’s Declaration of Safe Departure (MDSD), which contained the vessel’s passenger and crew manifest. The MDSD declared that the vessel complied with safety regulations and had the proper placement of cargo and the correct number of passengers and crew members. The PCG initially tallied 134 occupants. This meant that six passengers listed in the ticket manifest did not board the vessel. Some passengers listed in the manifest reportedly failed to arrive or decided to take other means of transportation, before the 'June Aster' left Baseco Port in Manila on the night of Sep 9.

On Oct 12, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has indefinitely suspended the operations of six vessels of the Atienza Interisland Ferries after the fire that gutted the 'June Aster' off the coast of Coron, Palawan. The order was issued to the 'Star San Carlos' (IMO: 9168128), 'September Tulips' (MMSI: 457900394), 'December Poinsettia', 'October Lavender' (IMO: 9969259), 'May Lillies' (IMO: 7900388) and 'Cattleya Express' (IMO: 8804086). Dole officials had inspected the vessels on Oct 10 in Navotas. The work for Atienza Shipping Lines has been suspended. Dole instructed the company to pay the wages of all affected employees during the period covered by this WSO, the issuance of this Order having resulted from violations attributable to the employer. 63 of the 77 people killed in the fire have been identified, while eight people remained missing. The ship had 128 passengers and crew members on board, and 43 of them survived. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) had filed a complaint of alleged falsification of public documents against the Captain Roel Sarmiento. He was found liable for discrepancies in the Master’s Declaration of Safe Departure (MDSD), which contained the vessel’s passenger and crew manifest. The MDSD declared that the vessel complied with safety regulations and had the proper placement of cargo and the correct number of passengers and crew members. The PCG initially tallied 134 occupants. This meant that six passengers listed in the ticket manifest did not board the vessel. Some passengers listed in the manifest reportedly failed to arrive or decided to take other means of transportation, before the 'June Aster' left Baseco Port in Manila on the night of Sep 9.

On Oct 15, 2026, four LNG carriers sailed through the Bering Strait and into the Sea of Okhotsk, all with freshly painted letters on their hulls, the 'Oneiroi' (IMO: 9958327), 'Melicertes' (IMO: 9958303), 'Neleus' (IMO: 9958315), and 'Aeolus' (IMO: 9958298). All ships had been renamed shortly before their Arctic voyage. Their previous names were 'North Valley', 'North Moon', 'North Ocean' and 'North Light'. The ships were all built at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, in 2024 and 2025, and were until recently owned and operated by the Korean shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines. Along with the name change came a change of flag state and ownership. On Sep 1, the ships changed flag states from Singapore to Panama. Similarly, they all shared the same ISM manager. Most likely, all four tankers were connected with Novatek, the Russian natural gas company that owns and operates Russia’s two biggest LNG plants, Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2. Three of the ships, the 'North Moon', 'North Ocean' and 'North Light', were added to the EU sanctions list in May 2025, but were excluded from the list in September again, following a guarantee from the company not to participate in the transportation of LNG from Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2. Now the four ships might once again be liable for sanctions. On Oct 19, the tankers sailed into the Kara Sea, likely to proceed to the Gulf of Ob to load LNG at either Yamal LNG or Arctic LNG 2. The four tankers were probably part of the growing fleet of LNG tankers serving Novatek and its Arctic operations. Novatek now has a fleet of more than 18 tankers serving the Arctic LNG 2 project alone.

On Oct 12, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has indefinitely suspended the operations of six vessels of the Atienza Interisland Ferries after the fire that gutted the 'June Aster' off the coast of Coron, Palawan. The order was issued to the 'Star San Carlos' (IMO: 9168128), 'September Tulips' (MMSI: 457900394), 'December Poinsettia', 'October Lavender' (IMO: 9969259), 'May Lillies' (IMO: 7900388) and 'Cattleya Express' (IMO: 8804086). Dole officials had inspected the vessels on Oct 10 in Navotas. The work for Atienza Shipping Lines has been suspended. Dole instructed the company to pay the wages of all affected employees during the period covered by this WSO, the issuance of this Order having resulted from violations attributable to the employer. 63 of the 77 people killed in the fire have been identified, while eight people remained missing. The ship had 128 passengers and crew members on board, and 43 of them survived. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) had filed a complaint of alleged falsification of public documents against the Captain Roel Sarmiento. He was found liable for discrepancies in the Master’s Declaration of Safe Departure (MDSD), which contained the vessel’s passenger and crew manifest. The MDSD declared that the vessel complied with safety regulations and had the proper placement of cargo and the correct number of passengers and crew members. The PCG initially tallied 134 occupants. This meant that six passengers listed in the ticket manifest did not board the vessel. Some passengers listed in the manifest reportedly failed to arrive or decided to take other means of transportation, before the 'June Aster' left Baseco Port in Manila on the night of Sep 9.