Wednesday 21 June 2017

Disputes between Morocco and South Africa after Cape Town seized a phosphate ship


خلافات بين المغرب وجنوب أفريقيا بعد احتجاز كيب تاون سفينة فوسفات


Disputes between Morocco and South Africa after Cape Town seized a phosphate ship
The relations between Morocco and South Africa have entered into a new crisis after a local court ordered the arrest of a Moroccan steamer carrying Marshall Islands flag loaded with 50,000 tons of phosphate on its way to a port in New Zealand early last month.

Al-Hayat sources said that the seizure of the Moroccan ship Chery Plessum in the Gulf of Alcoa and the approval of the South African government to present the case to the Port Elizabeth Court is "a violation of international law and international navigation" and "the violation of international trade, The 1952 Brussels Convention on Commercial Navigation. "
The group «the Office of the Phosphate» filed by the Court of South Africa to challenge the decision to intercept the phosphate ship, which sailed from the port of Laayoune in the direction of the Cape of Good Hope in May.
"The proceeds of phosphate benefit the inhabitants of the southern provinces for decades, and there is no reason to ask a regional-political problem before the United Nations before courts that are not competent, and in a third country Not related to the issues of North African conflicts (Algeria - Morocco) ".
Rabat has won a similar case this month after a court in Panama decided to release a Moroccan ship loaded with phosphate on its way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
The Panamanian court confirmed that it was not competent in such disputes and disputes of purely political nature.
Rabat expressed its satisfaction with the decision of the Panama Court and considered it fair and respectful of international law.
"The South African court's decision should have been consistent with the Panamanian court's decision in a similar case, because the matter is linked to an international negotiation process," said government spokesman Mustapha al-Khaliji.
He pointed out that «Morocco will deal with the required resolution of the decision of the South African Court, which is hostile to Morocco because of the position on the Sahara issue, and return to the African regular, where Moroccan companies invested about $ 2.2 billion in recent years».
The ship's case conceals leadership differences between Rabat and Pretoria in Africa over who the investment is.

The sources pointed out that South Africa is exploiting the Polisario Front, which opposes Morocco's unity over its Saharan territories, to influence Moroccan maritime trade in African waters, including intercepting a phosphate-laden ship to pressure Rabat, which in recent months has achieved diplomatic success in the continent. After the absence of 32 years, and asked to join the Economic Community of West Africa, which includes 15 countries on the Atlantic Ocean, and the launch of large projects, including gas pipeline between Nigeria and Morocco to the Mediterranean.
The Office of the Sharif Phosphate that it is carrying out economic development projects in the desert regions worth more than two billion dollars to improve Level of services and development of local competencies.

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Marine notes sold for $ 20,000

Two volumes of records from the early nineteenth century, the first entitled "Memoirs of a Journey, from Bristol to the Mediterranean 1819 AD" and "The Memoirs of the Ostria Ship for a Journey from London to the Mediterranean 1821 AD" were exhibited at an auction in New York.

According to the finebooksmagazine site, these records contain 28 handwritten sheets and 35 drawings. Captain William Hodgson, who painted it, not only painted his ship, but painted other merchant ships traveling through the Mediterranean.

The price of the records rose in the auction and sold for $ 20,800.

Monday 19 June 2017


20th Annual Seawork International Opens its Doors for Business

Europe’s leading commercial marine and workboat exhibition, Seawork International, has opened its doors today, at Mayflower Park in Southampton, UK and will welcome attendees from across the globe until Thursday.
Since its inception, Seawork International has been a sell-out success and this year is no exception. It is home to over 10,000 products, equipment and services, together with a range of vessels, plus on-water and onshore demonstrations. It is expected to host around 7,500 international commercial marine professionals.
The Commandant General of the Bolivian Navy, Admiral Yamil Borda Sossa of Bolivia, will officially open the exhibition, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
The exhibition also boasts enhanced and purpose-built exhibition halls, which house 630 exhibitors, providing many opportunities for networking, a broad range of sector-specific new industry-specific debuts, plus valuable contract signings which will announced throughout the three days of the event.
Around 50 international products, services and vessels are being launched, including: Netherlands-headquartered Vanclaes’ (A1) first ever fifth wheel boat trailer with electric brake system with a Full European Type Approval; Ocean Signal’s (PO5) E101V float-free EPIRB with integrated voyage data recorder (VDR) memory capsule which will be unveiled at Seawork, as will MIT’s new Transfluid HM560 hybrid and electric driveline system.  Kort Propulsion and MacDuff will be announcing an exciting development, as will Mainprize Offshore.
Headquartered in The Netherlands, Ravestein BV, will be exhibiting the largest in-water vessel to have been exhibited at Seawork since its inception 20 years ago, namely the giant 60m x 28m semi-submersive jack-up platform, the Skylift 3000. The 1400 Skylift is a submersible jackup platform which has a payload of 3,000t.
Radus Lungu of engine and generator specialist provider, BETA Marine, which supports Seawork each year, comments, “Both national and global export opportunities are key to success and Seawork provides access to customers in both leisure and commercial markets.”
The Seawork Conference and a new onsite awards event, the European Commercial Marine Awards is also complementing the exhibition.
The Seawork Marina will also be home to over 70 vessels and craft suited to a host of operations, whose size ranges from 10m to 80m, will be available for visitors to sea trial, view and experience; being one of the unique features for which Seawork is renowned.
Andrew Webster, CEO of Mercator Media Ltd, cites this success upon the agile nature of the exhibition, “Seawork continually develops and evolves over the years, remaining true to its core, whilst developing additional focus on the emerging sub-sectors, such as the renewables market.”

Exhibiting at Seawork gives businesses the opportunity to both network and develop international relationships with these key decision makers, which is why many business choose to unveil their new offerings at Seawork.
Pictured above, the iXblue (VA51), headquartered in France, is returning to Seawork International for the fourth year, bringing its impressive 25m hydrographic survey vessel. Guillaume Eudeline, Business Development Manager comments, “I believe that Seawork is the epitome of commercial marine and workboat market on a global scale. IXblue both manufactures the vessels and also the navigation equipment that services over 1000 customers in 35 countries  all serviced by Seawork, including the French and Royal Navy. No other exhibition gives us such direct access to this market.”
Seawork is a carefully planned and executed exhibition that delivers unparalleled opportunities to its exhibitors to showcase their products and solutions at this one-stop-shop. 86% of Seawork visitors authorise or influence the purchasing decisions for the companies they represent, being high-calibre, high-spending professionals who recognise the wealth of innovation and expertise Seawork International provides.
As marine products are subject to some of the most challenging of circumstances, I wanted to provide an event that provided the full solution; from launch to demo, to contract. You can’t trial these in a closed indoor environment.” said Andrew Webster.
Seawork International runs from 13-15 June. Visitor registration is free at seawork.com - download the new SeaworkApp.

Discover flaws in the most expensive US aircraft carrier and the Pentagon plans to manufacture 3 ships


اكتشاف عيوب بأغلى حاملة طائرات أمريكية والبنتاجون يخطط لصناعة 3 سفن

The F-A-18 fighter jet can not take off and is fully equipped with fuel and ammunition, and the cost of the aircraft receiving system is provided by the aircraft carrier, the Bloomberg news agency reported. Rose from $ 301 million to $ 961 million.


The estimated price of the aircraft carrier at about $ 12.9 billion, and the presence of these technical and financial problems raises a growing interest in the US Congress, the agency noted that the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) is planning to manufacture three ships of this type at a cost of $ 42 billion, the United States began in 2015 to produce carrier Kennedy, the second aircraft is scheduled to begin the US military in the 2018 third aircraft carrier industry.

The flaws revealed by Bloomberg reinforce fears expressed by US military experts about the fate of US aircraft carriers because they are very expensive and there are weapons that threaten them, such as torpedoes, which can cause significant damage. Historical facts show the possibility of disrupting and destroying aircraft carriers using torpedoes.

In 1939, the German submarine "U-29" managed to flood the British cruiser converted to the "HMS Courageous" aircraft carrier using torpedoes. Also in 1944, the Japanese aircraft carrier "HIJMS Shinano" is also drowning in torpedoes, and precision rockets are another threat to aircraft carriers. Although there is currently no information on the effectiveness of these missiles against aircraft carriers, the magazine acknowledges that serious consequences will result for the occurrence of a winged rocket, and will prevent take-off partially or completely, including aircraft, and during the period of the cold war, the Soviets managed to manufacture weapons of various anti-aircraft carriers, ranging from guard boats and the end of the strategic bomb launchers.


Russia and China currently have a large arsenal of various types of winged missiles capable of attacking aircraft carriers effectively. These missiles vary according to their range and speed of flight, including those that are faster than the speed of sound and invisible to radar anti-aircraft.

According to the magazine "International Intrest" US, "At one moment will become the benefit of war from the aircraft carrier is not vital when compared to the cost of construction and effectiveness and aircraft on board," and that China and Russia do not need to destroy aircraft carriers, because the current means to fight force the US President and the commanders of the forces US Navy to make great efforts to maintain aircraft carriers, that the driving ban on use in combat operations, and thus, the most expensive ships turn to the weakness of President, as so as not to lose the aircraft carrier must be kept far away from the military conflict zone, and in this case Ts H huge amounts spent on the construction and protection, unjustified, while Russia and China Mstmrtan in the manufacture of new ways to destroy aircraft carriers.

Sunday 18 June 2017

"FBI" investigated the incident "dirty bomb" on board a ship arrived from Amman!


"FBI" تحقق في حادثة "قنبلة قذرة" على متن سفينة وصلت من عُمان!

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has joined in investigating a report that turned out to be a lie about a "dirty" bomb on a container ship that arrived in the US port of Charleston after a flight from Oman.

According to ABC News, local and federal authorities are involved in the investigation, despite the US Coast Guard's announcement of a warning about the danger and the removal of the safe zone that had already been imposed at the port on the grounds of fears of a bomb on board a ship. Container "Maersk Memphis" of the Maersk marine line.

The Coast Guard announced in a tweet at its Twitter account that the person in charge of the false communication had been arrested for questioning.

The letter appeared in a video posted on YouTube, in which a person who described himself as a "conspirator" declared a bomb containing radioactive materials on board the ship.

The ship arrived at the port of Charleston on Wednesday, from the port of New York, where it arrived earlier from Oman.

The communication was sent to the Coast Guard to inform Maersk of the emergency situation, the evacuation of the port and the evacuation of all crew members.

A US destroyer collides with a commercial vessel near the Japanese coast


مدمرة أمريكية تصطدم بسفينة تجارية قرب السواحل اليابانية
صورة للدمار الذي لحق بالمدمرة الأمريكية أس أس فيتجيرالد بعد الاصطدام
EPA/JAPAN COAST GUARD HANDOUT

US and Japanese sources said seven US Navy personnel were missing in a devastating collision with a cargo ship off the coast of Japan and that three of the wounded, the commander of the destroyer, who was taken by helicopter to the hospital.

The destroyer, USS Fitzgerald, collided with the ICX Crystal Cargo Shipyard, 56 nautical miles (103 km) off the coast of Yukosuka, on the east coast of Japan.
Aerial photographs showed the damage caused to the US warship by the accident.

Cargo ship damaged after collision with US destroyer Image source JAPAN COAST GUARD HANDOUT
Three crew members were taken to hospital on board a helicopter, including the captain of the ship, belonging to the US 7th Fleet.

The US 7th Fleet is one of the largest US naval fleets operating in international waters, and is responsible for warships and aircraft operating in Japanese and South Korean waters.

A statement issued by the Seventh Fleet Command, the condition of the commander of the destroyer Bryce Banson, was stable after being taken to a hospital in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.

Thursday 15 June 2017

CMA CGM Agrees to Buy Mercosul from Maersk

santos
The Mercosul Santos in Maersk livery (file image courtesy Mercosul)


On Tuesday, CMA CGM announced that it has entered into an agreement to buy Brazilian-flag operator Mercosul from leading ocean carrier Maersk Line. CMA CGM said that the purchase will allow it to strengthen its South American offerings, especially in the Brazilian cabotage market, and will further its strategic goal of developing intra-regional networks and complimentary logistics services. 

CMA CGM did not disclose the terms of the deal, which is still subject to approval by Brazilian regulators. The agreement is also contingent on the successful conclusion of Maersk's acquisition of Hamburg Süd. CMA CGM expects that it will begin integrating Mercosul at the same time as Maersk begins integrating  Hamburg Süd, sometime towards the end of this year. Mercosul Line will continue its normal operations until then. 
"The acquisition of Mercosul represents a milestone in CMA CGM’s development strategy in South America. It is a well-managed company and we will leverage this platform to expand our footprint and service offerings to and from Latin America, seizing opportunities linked to the high growth prospects in this region," said CMA CGM CEO Rodolphe Saadé.
Earlier this year, Maersk agreed to sell Mercosul in order to satisfy Brazilian anti-trust regulators. Hamburg Süd controls Aliança, a Brazilian flag subsidiary that holds about 60 percent of the nation's total capacity by TEU. Mercosul holds another 20 percent, and the merged company would have controlled an overwhelming majority of Brazil's coastwise shipping industry. CMA CGM was on the short list for potential buyers, along with MSC, NYK, COSCO and Hapag Lloyd.
EU regulators approved Maersk's bid for Hamburg Süd in April on the condition that the latter line withdraws from five trade routes. "The commitments offered by Maersk Line and HSDG will maintain a healthy level of competition to the benefit of the very many EU companies that depend on these container shipping services," said EC commissioner Margrethe Vestager in a statement. 

Egyptian parliament finally approves the agreement : "Tiran and Sanafir" to be given toSaudi Arabia

البرلمان المصري يقر نهائيا اتفاقية
The Egyptian parliament on Wednesday formally approved the agreement on the demarcation of the maritime border with Saudi Arabia, known as the "Tiran and Sanafir" agreement.
The House of Representatives, headed by Ali Abdel-Aal, during its plenary session, approved the agreement, where the vote was by show of hands by members.

The newspaper "Al-Ahram" that the vote was chanted by some MPs such as "Egyptian .. Egyptian" in an expression of their opposition to the Convention.


"After reviewing the documents and letters exchanged in the United Nations and the maps, we confirmed the dependence of the two islands on Saudi Arabia, and that was the basis for approving the agreement," Amer, a former army general, told reporters at the parliament building. The Egyptian parliament announced today that the committee approved the Convention and referred it to the plenary session for a vote.

The committee's approval came despite objections to the agreement, which included the transfer of the dependency of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Red Sea to the Kingdom, as well as a final ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court last January nullifying its signature.

Dozens of journalists and activists protested on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Journalists Syndicate in central Cairo. Witnesses confirmed that the security forces forced the demonstrators to enter the union building and not to demonstrate outside it, and arrested a number of them.

Monday 12 June 2017

"Qatar Ports": Launch of a new navigation shipping lines between Amman

"مواني قطر": تدشين خطين ملاحيين جديدين مع عُمان



N4 3.4 Optimizes Performance


By: CBarbera / 2017-5-19 2:00 AM
Our product journey continues with N4 3.4. As we learn from previous releases and we get feedback from our customers, we find new ways to simplify things and remove friction between users and N4. Our new release is another step in our mission to create products that enable our customers to address complex problems with a set of solutions that embrace simplicity.

N4 3.4 aims to optimize performance in all possible aspects. On the operations side, our proactive and continuous analysis of production data enables our teams to incrementally improve our solutions. On the IT side, N4 3.4 provides better system performance to scale better under heavy workload and high volumes. The new release is the perfect blend of operational and technical improvements to make our solution more reliable, faster and more responsive to the business needs.

Below are the themes and goals of the N4 3.4 update.
Automation And Optimization
Optimizing equipment and operations is an ongoing journey for Navis. Our teams keep pushing the envelope on operations analysis to find new areas to improve, reduce waiting times and increase performance.  At the same time, we have started to define the future of the optimization features in N4 to always be ahead of the game.
Scalability & Platform Consolidation
Support mega-terminal operations, reduce workload in XPS and consolidate the platform. Our customers will be able to handle high volumes in a more stable and scalable platform. Every new release is a step forward in scalability.
Performance, Upgrades, Support
Reduce downtime and maintenance costs for our customers. Container terminals manage a mission critical operation hence providing a solid and easy to manage platform is becoming more and more relevant to our customers.
Back Office Processing & BI Monitoring
Administrative work is a significant part of the day-to-day work our customers need to carry out. The Business Administration teams are focused on removing obstacles and friction between users and N4. BI Monitoring will provide real time information on operations status and performance.
New Features
New features and enhancements in N4 3.4 include:
  • Rail operations scheduling by priority and train estimated time of departure. The RGC scheduler now considers track priority and the estimated departure time of the outbound train visit when generating the schedule.  If the priority of a track is set to high,  the RGC scheduler schedules all moves for that track first.  If the priority is not set, the RGC scheduler will schedule moves based on the target completion time set (if any) for the track.
  • Rail operations, cross track moves for empty handlers and straddle carriers. This features focuses on customers which have a yard that is physically split by a track plan. Rail dispatchers will be able to plan a move from a yard stack on one side of the rail track to a yard stack on another side of the rail track. N4 will automatically deck, split and dispatch the moves for the required CHEs. Additionally, users are able to create multiple rail-transfer queues and configure which type of move should be placed in which rail transfer queue.
  • Automated Horizontal Transport improvements. N4 3.4 includes new enhancements in our equipment optimization modules to reduce waiting time in key areas of the terminal, maximize the fleet utilization and increase performance.
  • N4 intrablock decking is now completely integrated with allocations and enables a better yard optimization when decking containers within N4. Better decisions and another step towards consolidating our technology stack.
  • Our EDI performance improvements for load list, stow plan, booking and discharge list will enable our customers to process messages in N4 in a more efficient and timely manner.
  • Support for additional EDI messages, latest versions of existing messages and handling of new message function in existing messages have been added in 3.4.
  • System Troubleshooting Guide: Navis N4 System Troubleshooting Guide is a functional knowledge base of N4 system problems, symptoms, and solutions, based on our experience in the field. This guide is available from the N4 Help menu and also available online outside of N4.
  • Purging and archiving is being improved in 3.4. Now N4 is able to purge service events related to active bomb cart units that are more than 7 days old. In addition, our users will be able to find more information about purging in the N4 Help that is embedded in the product.
  • The In-Place fallback solution makes the upgrade process reliable and reduce downtime, Navis is offering an externalized capability to fall back as a last resort due to upgrade complications. It is available for the customers upgrading from 2.3/2.4/2.5 to 2.6/3.1.
  • System Health Monitoring Solution: Navis is building a general monitoring solution for N4 to reduce potential outage time with early detection of critical failures and by generating alerts as quickly as possible. Navis will be using Zabbix as its primary application monitoring tool. Zabbix is versatile, open-source, extensible, scalable, and well-suited to monitor Navis applications. We offer our customers access to our templates, scripts, and data visualization tools along with the Navis Appliance for Zabbix. Available for early (beta) use through your project contacts.
  • The new N4 System Troubleshooting Guide is an online help file that provides system administrators guidance to help diagnose system problems. The N4 System Troubleshooting Guide is available through the NCC under My Cases>Useful Links>Online Documentation.
  • The performance improvements made in our Business Intelligence module will deliver a better experience to our users, making sure the information is reliable and displayed in a timely manner. In addition, we are working towards improving our technology to provide an almost real time BI experience.
  • Navis released BI Portal version 1.3.1 which comes with improved dashboards, ad-hoc analysis performance and improvements in data load processing. BI portal is now also supports N4 version 3.2. In addition, the architectural groundwork for BI Ops Monitoring is complete. BI Portal for Ops Monitoring is a new solution for near real-time operations monitoring and will be built on this framework. It will be released incrementally during the 3.5 release starting with Vessel Ops monitoring followed by Gate and Yard Operations. source : Navis Blogs

Sunday 11 June 2017

Baplie Viewer with VGM







Many people faced an issue with Baplie viewer after new VGM changes. 

But this tool is resoling the issue

SVM BAPLIE Viewer Introduction


Solverminds (
SVM)
 has developed a standalone SVM BAPLIE Viewer tool, which helps
 the Container Shipping Lines to decode and display the contents of BAPLIE Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) files. SVM Baplie Viewer helps to review the contents of the
BAPLIE EDI File without modifying the contents of the source file.
SVM  Baplie Viewer:
  • Allows you to look through BAPLIE encoded files, as easily viewable spreadsheets.
  • Does not require any special programs / software for installation.
  • Just run the SVM Baplie Viewer setup file to decode seamlessly.
Users just upload the BAPLIE EDI Files and get back the list of container details.
Users can decode the various file formats of SMDG15/BAPLIE 1.5, SMDG20/BAPLIE 2.0, 
SMDG22/BAPLIE 2.2 and SMDG31/BAPLIE 3.1 with the newly upgraded interface from SVM 
Baplie Viewer.
SVM Baplie Viewer provides details of the container such as:
  • Container Number
  • Cell Position (Stowage)
  • Size and Type
  • Weight / VGM Weights
  • Full / Empty signs
  • IMO Class
  • UN number of Hazardous Cargo
  • Operator
  • Port of Loading & Discharge
  • Temperature of Refrigerated goods.
SVM Baplie Viewer is not limited by the line terminator. Even if there is no line terminator, 
the EDI will be read completely and converted by the SVM Baplie Viewer tool. 
Upon uploading a BAPLIE file, the tool validates the file and lets you know if there are any 
incorrect or missing segments which may prevent the file from being read and converted.
Download Here

Japan trying to build smart sailing ships by 2025


اليابان تبني سفنًا ذكية ذاتية الملاحة بحلول عام 2025








Japan's shipping and shipbuilding companies are currently cooperating to build self-propelled vessels by 2025, hoping the global development will lead to a project that will significantly reduce accidents at sea, Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.

The project's participants, including the Mitsui, X-Linz and Nippon Yusen shipping companies, agreed to share costs and exchange experiences, and the development of the technology is expected to cost at least a few hundred million dollars, the newspaper said in a report on its Web site.
The intelligence-based guidance system will use techniques such as "Internet objects" - the connection of various devices to the network - to collect and analyze weather data at sea immediately and serious obstacles, as well as shipping information. Artificial intelligence will use this data to chart the most fuel efficient way The safest and the shortest.
Shipwreckers predict the causes of ship crashes and other problems, helping to avoid maritime accidents. Participating shipbuilding companies such as the United Japanese Navy will integrate the self-navigation system into the new ship models, which are planning to build some 250 of them.
The cooperation between shipping companies and shipbuilding companies is aimed at helping Japan take the lead in technology development that is expected to grow worldwide. Japanese shipbuilding companies, whose global share has fallen, aim to return to technology excellence.

The ship Nabil returns to the sea after the successful re-flotation


السفينة نبيل تعود إلى البحر بعد نجاح عملية إعادة تعويمها



After 47 days on its way to the beach of Sidon and after several failed attempts finally succeeded yesterday night, the process of re-flotation of the merchant ship Nabil after the introduction of a large ship and pulled to the sea and after it was freed from the sand that was settled on them, to be dragged to the port Sidon Commercial in preparation for leaving after completion of the maintenance process and complete the necessary navigation and legal procedures.

The ship Nabil turned throughout the period of its delinquency on the beach north of the city of the northern city of Bollvar to a tourist destination frequented by citizens and visitors from various areas and saw the corniche adjacent to it during that period active tourist movement and attracted the attention of official and navigational and media made it the top events in the city during the same period.

Thursday 8 June 2017

Maersk announces its inability to transport cargo to and from Qatar



ميرسك تعلن عدم قدرتها على نقل البضائع من وإلى قطر



Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, confirmed yesterday that it could no longer transport goods to and from Qatar after Arab countries imposed restrictions on trade with the Gulf state.

Maersk said in a statement yesterday that the ban on shipping cargo from Jebel Ali Port to Qatar, which relies on imports by sea and land to meet its needs, means that it is unable to transport any cargo. "We have an assurance that we will not be able to transport Qatar's cargo to and from Jebel Ali," a company spokesman said.

"We expect disruption of our services to Qatar. The situation could change quickly, "he said, adding that Maersk would inform customers of alternative options as soon as possible.

.. and restrictions on loading ore
Standard & Poor's Global Plats said yesterday it would not automatically include crude from Qatar as part of the Middle East standard after Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries cut ties with Doha.

Any disruption of LNG exports from Qatar, one of the world's top players, could affect prices, but there is no sign yet.

Shaheen ore from Qatar is usually loaded onto giant tankers carrying other Gulf ores, which means that the flexibility of the movement is critical to transporting oil out of the region.

Standard and Poor's Global Plats said in a note to customers that "it is usual in the Gulf to load the giant oil tankers with a mix of oil ores from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman."

"Therefore, the restrictions on ships bound for Qatar and the accompanying fog may affect the intrinsic value of loading crude from Qatar, including shahin," she said.

The dealings, applications and offers of the Qatari Shahin medium sulfur are listed in the Platts valuation of Dubai Standard, which is the basis of the vast majority of oil trading in Asia, since January 2016.

The Standard Dubai Standard is supported by the raw materials of Dubai, Oman, Marban and Zakum Al-Alawi in Abu Dhabi, as well as Al-Shaheen crude.

The company said in an e-mail statement that the loading of the Qatari Shaheen crude may not be nominated in the process of evaluating the Platts Dubai crude prices without the consent of the buyer and seller. "The performance of the Shahin has been good since it was listed in the Dubai Basket in January 2016 as a crude delivery. This review is to ensure that Dubai Standard Standard will not be affected by the current mistrust surrounding Qatar's relations with its Gulf neighbors. "

Platts said buyers and sellers could agree to switch shahine shipments, but sellers should not.

Sellers in the Platts Trading Window were previously allowed to deliver any of the five raw materials that constitute the standard Dubai standard without the buyers' consent.

The company, a unit of Standard & Poor's Global, issues a number of benchmark prices for the crude oil market, including Brent crude.