Nippon Steel sticks to plan to close US Steel deal by year-end

Reuters | May 9, 2024 | 

Credit: U.S. Steel

Japan’s top steelmaker, Nippon Steel, is sticking to its plan to close a deal by year-end to buy US Steel, which it expects to boost output and profits, the company said on Thursday, despite resistance to the transaction in the US.


In December, Nippon Steel offered nearly $15 billion to take over iconic US Steel, drawing resistance from both President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, his likely challenger in the Nov. 5 election, as well as the United Steelworkers (USW) union.

“US Steel products will remain mined, melted and made in America and will continue supplying further sophisticated steel products to American industry,” Nippon Steel said.

It reiterated its latest guidance to close the deal by year-end, pending US approvals.

This month, Nippon Steel moved the deadline from end-September after the US Department of Justice sought more details and materials in an antitrust review. The European Commission has already approved the deal.

The takeover should bring Nippon Steel’s global crude steel capacity to 86 million tons per year, close to its goal of 100 million, and to boost underlying business profit to 1 trillion yen after March 2025 from 935 billion yen last year.

To win support from the USW, Nippon Steel has pledged to move its US headquarters to Pittsburgh, where US Steel is based, offering specific commitments on job security and additional investments if the deal goes through.

Senators raise concerns over Nippon Steel’s China ties amid US Steel takeover bid

Takahiro Mori, Nippon Steel’s vice chairman and key negotiator on the takeover, told a briefing that thanks to the deal, the US company will grow, adding jobs and profits.

“Nothing has changed in our strong determination to close the deal at the earliest possible,” Mori said, adding that ‘politics is apparently affecting’ delay in the USW’s approval.

US Steel is based in the swing state of Pennsylvania, key for both candidates. “It has already become a political issue and will not become a political issue any further,” Mori said.

As US Steel shareholders have already approved the deal, other contenders cannot buy the company, he added.

Last year, US Steel rejected a $7.3 billion offer from rival steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs, whose chief executive Lourenco Goncalves continued to criticize the deal.
Profit down

Nippon Steel beat estimates on Thursday, but posted a decline of 20.8% in net profit of 549.4 billion yen ($3.53 billion) for the year ended in March, because of losses on inactive facilities at home.

Nippon Steel had been expected to post a net profit of 464.6 billion yen, an LSEG poll of analysts showed.

Excluding the US Steel deal, Nippon Steel forecasts a net profit of 300 billion yen for the year ending in March 2025, amid continuing losses on inactive facilities, while it expects domestic and overseas steel demand to stay low.

To redeem subordinated bonds issued in September 2019 and strengthen its financial position amid the proposed takeover, Nippon Steel plans to raise up to 250 billion yen via subordinated syndicated loans and public subordinated bonds.

($1=155.7000 yen)

(By Katya Golubkova and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Clarence Fernandez)

Panama president-elect rules out First Quantum talks until arbitration dropped

Reuters | May 9, 2024 |

Panama’s president-elect Jose Raul Mulino. (Via X.)

Panama’s president-elect has ruled out talks with Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals until it drops multiple arbitration proceedings it has launched seeking billions of dollars in compensation from the government over a mine shutdown order.


President-elect Jose Raul Mulino spoke about his plans for the major copper mine, once responsible for some 5% of Panama’s economic activity and some 40% of First Quantum’s revenue, in an interview with local news radio program Panama en Directo on Thursday.


“To consider talking about mining, those arbitrations need to be suspended,” Mulino said, stressing the government’s preeminent role in any mining project that operates in Panama’s territory.

“Don’t forget that the owner of that concession is the state,” he said.

The president-elect noted that any solution for the disputed mine will not involve a new concession contract, though he signaled some flexibility to possibly allow the project to temporarily reopen in an effort to reduce its ultimate closure costs.

First Quantum did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Mulino’s remarks, though the miner said earlier this week it is looking forward to talks with his administration to find a solution to the disputed open pit Cobre Panama mine.

The outgoing government of President Laurentino Cortizo had ordered the closure of Cobre Panama last year following a court ruling that voided the miner’s contract, amid widespread national protests for more environmental safeguards and transparency.

(By Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Sarah Morland and David Alire Garcia)

 CANADA

E3 Lithium's Laboratory to Expand to Include Production of Lithium Carbonate

Author of the article:

Published May 09, 2024  •  

Article content

Highlihts:

• E3 Lithium is expanding its Calgary-based lab to manufacture battery products, including lithium carbonate
• E3 Lithium plans to build scaled down equipment to validate lithium carbonate that will support the feasibility study and future operations
• The carbonate produced from this work will allow the Company to refine its process for battery-grade lithium carbonate

Article content

CALGARY, Alberta — E3 LITHIUM LTD. (TSXV: ETL) (FSE: OW3) (OTCQX: EEMMF), “E3 Lithium” or the “Company,” a leader in Canadian lithium, is excited to announce it is expanding the Calgary-based lab to incorporate the equipment to complete the polishing and production of battery products, such as lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide.

E3 Lithium’s development facility, located at the University of Calgary, has been operational since early 2021. The facilities’ focus has been on the development and verification of Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) processing technologies. The internal team of experts has been beneficial in ensuring that E3 Lithium successfully completed the necessary steps towards technology development and selection, including verification testing of third-party DLE processes to support the design and decision making for the commercial facility. E3 also has its own internal analytics team that enables the Company to efficiently and quickly produce consistent results from the various testing processes.

With the definition of the downstream processes utilizing chemical conversion to produce lithium carbonate and then lithium hydroxide, E3 will deploy the same validation, verification and optimization strategy to the conversion processes. This includes building scaled down process equipment that mimics the commercial systems to validate and optimize the production of lithium carbonate. The team will further investigate the necessity to complete the equipment to continue from carbonate to lithium hydroxide. This work will support E3 Lithium’s feasibility engineering study and future commercial operations.

“Developing this capability in-house offers significant advantages in terms of result accuracy, cost-effectiveness and flexibility” said Chris Doornbos, President and CEO of E3 Lithium. “By building and operating scaled down equipment that closely mimics commercial operations, our highly skilled lab team will verify and optimize the process. The results the lab will produce will support the design and operation of the Company’s commercial plant and will bring efficiency to our future commercial operations by offering prompt and accurate data and analysis.”

The Post-DLE to Lithium Carbonate Flowsheet

DLE technology extracts lithium ions from E3 Lithium’s brine efficiently and effectively producing a lithium rich concentrate stream. The process to convert the lithium rich solution (a liquid) to lithium carbonate (a solid) utilizes conventional chemical reactions and industry standard processes and is comprised of two main steps: purification with volume reduction and precipitation of lithium products.

• Purification and Volume Reduction: This step removes the contaminants, mainly calcium, magnesium and boron, from the DLE lithium rich product stream, further concentrates the lithium stream and recovers water for reuse in the process. Example of process technology used in this step can include precipitation, nanofiltration, ion exchange, reverse osmosis (RO) and evaporation.
• Precipitation: The final step involves a conversion process achieved by mixing soda ash with the purified, concentrated lithium solution to produce a solid lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) precipitate.

Miners seek exemption from Canadian tax hike to save equity deals

Bloomberg News | May 10, 2024 |

Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, along with Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Canada’s mining industry is pushing for an carveout to the federal government’s proposed increase to capital gains taxes, warning the hike will make it harder for junior miners to raise money to find new mineral deposits.


Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s new budget includes a measure to raise the capital gains tax inclusion rate to two-thirds from one-half. It applies to all gains made by corporations and trusts, and to individual taxpayers on gains over C$250,000 (about $183,000) in a year.

For many investors, the tax hike would “significantly reduce” the value of a measure called the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, or METC, which is designed to help companies raise money to explore for critical minerals like copper, nickel and lithium, according to the Mining Association of Canada.

The exploration tax credit is part of a basket of incentives Canada has introduced to stimulate financing of higher-risk mining projects in the country. Junior miners can raise equity by issuing flow-through shares, which are structured to allow the company to pass on certain expense deductions to investors — allowing those people to immediately reduce their income-tax bills. When the shares are sold, the proceeds are taxed as a capital gain.

Increasing the capital gains rate “effectively negates the tax benefit associated with the METC,” Pierre Gratton, the mining association’s president, said in an interview.

“Our sense is that the Department of Finance didn’t connect the dots.”

Canada’s junior mining firms, which are responsible for many of the world’s mineral discoveries, typically struggle to attract capital due to the high rate of failure in exploration. Flow-through shares help: Miners raised C$2.6 billion using that vehicle over 2021 and 2022, according to the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada.

The mining association estimates that 90% of junior exploration in Canada is financed with flow-through shares, and that the new capital gains measures could affect 70% of it.

“It’s exploration that we need if we’re going to find the next Voisey’s Bay or Raglan Mine, to provide the nickel and cobalt that automakers like Honda and Volkswagen need,” said Gratton. Voisey’s and Raglan are large nickel projects in eastern Canada.

The mining association met with officials in Freeland’s department last week to make the case for an exemption from the capital-gains increase. “We think there are ways to make the credit work that does not in any way compromise their budget numbers,” Gratton said.

“We are investing in our exploration mining sector,” Katherine Cuplinskas, a spokesperson for the finance minister, said in an emailed statement that didn’t specifically address the mining association’s concerns. “This includes the 15% Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, which was recently extended and will provide $65 million to support mineral exploration investment, and the 30% Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit.”

(By Jacob Lorinc)

Rio Tinto has not ruled out bid for Anglo American — report

Cecilia Jamasmie | May 10, 2024 | 

Rio Tinto’s expertise in the diamond market, could assist in the management of Anglo’s diamond unit, De Beers.

 (Image of Rio’s closed Argyle diamond mine. Courtesy of David Gardiner |Flickr Commons. )

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO) reportedly considered a bid for Anglo American (LON: AAL) in recents months and the world’s second largest miner has not dismissed the possibility of acquiring a portion or the entirety of the company, now a target of BHP (ASX: BHP).


According to the Australian Financial Review, Rio Tinto’s management “has not ruled out making a play for part or all of the mining group and continues to study the day-to-day situation.”

While Rio Tinto has a smaller market capitalization than rival BHP — A$180 billion ($119bn) versus A$218 billion ($144bn) — the company is large enough to make an all-share offer for some or all of Anglo American.

Unlike BHP, Rio already has operations in South Africa, having bought Richards Bay Minerals from BHP itself in 2012.

It also has a presence in the diamond market, which could assist in the management of Anglo’s diamond unit, De Beers.

Another point in Rio’s favour is that, as Anglo American, it has a main listing in the UK, which could simplify any potential transaction.

In terms of copper, Rio Tinto is still working on the expansion of its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia. It also has a 30% stake in Escondida mine in Chile, the world’s largest copper operation, controlled by BHP.

Otherwise it has limited options to increase production of the coveted orange metal, demand for which is expected to boom during the energy transition.

Other than the Oyu Tolgoi factor, Rio’s planned copper output increase will driven by an ongoing expansion in Utah and global exploration efforts, including a partnership with Chile’s owned Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer.

A point of contention would be Anglo’s steelmaking coal assets, which Rio Tinto is highly unlikely to want after successfully exiting the coal business in 2018.
Dealmaker on the sidelines

Another player reportedly considering throwing its hat in the ring is Glencore (LON: GLEN), which is already a partner of Anglo American in Chile with a 44% stake each in the vast Collahuasi copper mine.

The Swiss miner and commodities trader is in the midst of acquiring 77% of Canadian miner Teck’s coal unit for $6.9 billion, which may deter it from further major investments. The company is known for not usually letting potential obstacles stand in the way of an opportunity to add volume and expand its trading business.

BHP’s proposal required Anglo to divest its stakes in Anglo Platinum (Amplats) and Kumba Iron Ore in South Africa as a precondition.

“Unlike BHP, Glencore could benefit from keeping Kumba and marketing iron ore, and Glencore may face less political pushback in South Africa, especially if it were to propose a straightforward all-share deal that does not include Kumba and Amplats demergers,” Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina said in a research note on April 29, where he assessed different takeover scenarios for Anglo American.

The Baar, Switzerland-based firm could also be interested in buying Anglo’s Australian steelmaking coal operations.

Both Rio Tinto and Glencore are most likely to keep monitoring whether BHP’s approach is successful in separating some of Anglo’s assets from the rest of its operations, allowing them to pick those up as opposed to the entire company.

“It will disappointing to lose another large miner from the London Stock Exchange if a deal goes through. [But] it is not unforeseeable that this draws out some competitive bids though,” Charles Bond, a natural resources partner at the law firm Gowling WLG told MINING.COM.

“There are so many moving parts to the deal and so many permutations with possible third parties – which makes predicting what is going to happen difficult,” Bond noted.

BHP has until May 22 to make a formal bid for Anglo American.

BHP-Anglo American deal raises alarm in Japan’s steel industry

Reuters | May 9, 2024 |

Hot steel on conveyor belt – Image from Adobe Stock Photos

Japanese steelmakers have raised concerns with Australian authorities that BHP Group could become too dominant in the global supply of coking coal if it goes ahead with a takeover of Anglo American.


Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coking coal and top supplier to Japan, making up around 60% of its imports, with most of the steel-making ingredient coming from the state of Queensland, where BHP and Anglo American are the two largest producers.

Steelmakers’ concerns about BHP’s coking coal market power could derail a deal if the Australian giant comes back with a revised bid for Anglo American, after being rebuffed with a $39 billion offer last month.

“BHP already has a large share of the supply of high-quality hard coking coal in the seaborne trade, and we will take measures to ensure that further oligopolization will not impede sound price formation and stable supply,” a JFE Steel spokesperson said, declining to elaborate on what measures they could take.

Representatives of Japanese steelmakers met with Queensland government officials raising alarm bells that if a deal went ahead it would concentrate the world’s top quality coking coal mines in the state’s Bowen Basin in the hands of BHP, two people familiar with the talks said.

The combined group would control 44 million tons, or about 13%, of the seaborne coking coal market, data from consultants Wood Mackenzie shows. That comes even as BHP’s production has fallen after sales of some mines in recent years.

“In general, we are against the (BHP-Anglo) union as it would create a supplier with a huge market share, especially in the hard-coking coal market,” said a source at a Japanese steel maker, adding that it was closely monitoring the situation.

“We, for our part, would not want BHP to buy Anglo and gain a stronger price competition power.”

Queensland Deputy Premier and Treasurer Cameron Dick said BHP would need to ensure its coal remains competitive or risk losing state government support. “We work closely with our Japanese customers and are aware of their concerns,” Dick told Reuters.

“BHP needs to explain to Japanese steelmakers and the market more broadly how it will ensure the ongoing supply of steelmaking coal remains competitive,” he said.

BHP declined to comment for this story but has said expanding in high quality coking coal was a main driver of its tilt for Anglo.

Anglo American declined to comment.

Coking coal squeeze

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission has the authority to investigate a BHP-Anglo American transaction and could block a deal if it found it would harm Japanese companies, two anti-trust lawyers in Tokyo said.

However, if a deal was deemed anti-competitive, the commission would likely ask BHP to offer a remedy, which could include a coal divestment, one of the two lawyers said. They both declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The Fair Trade Commission declined to comment whether it has received any request to examine the BHP-Anglo deal.

Like JFE, Kobe Steel said it is keeping a close eye on the proposed deal and a potential increase in BHP’s market power. Nippon Steel was not immediately available for comment.

Key among steelmakers’ concerns is that BHP has stressed it will not invest to expand production in Queensland after the state hiked coal royalties without industry consultation, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

BHP CEO Mike Henry said last year the company “will not be investing any further growth dollars in Queensland under the current conditions”.

Anglo’s Moranbah North and Grosvenor mines are effectively an extension of BHP’s Goonyella mine, which produces a type of coal favoured by Japan and India.

The Japanese are facing growing competition from India for that coal. BHP already sends 40% of its coking coal to India and expects the country’s demand for the steel-making ingredient to double by the end of the decade, CFO Vandita Pant said in March.

Japan could lobby anti-trust authorities in other jurisdictions to block a deal if it believes there will be an impact to the competitiveness of the global coking market, as it did when BHP made a bid for its iron ore rival Rio Tinto in 2007, one of the lawyers said.

Queensland could also complicate a deal.

“The transfer of mineral assets in Queensland are subject to a number of state government approvals. No resources company should take those approvals for granted,” Treasurer Dick said.

(By Melanie Burton, Yuka Obayashi and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Sonali Paul)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Red Pine says former CEO tampered with Wawa gold assays

Staff Writer | May 10, 2024 | 

Core shack at Wawa Gold project. Image from Red Pine Exploration.

Further investigation by Red Pine Exploration (TSXV: RPX) into the reporting inconsistencies on its Wawa gold project assays has led to the belief that its former CEO was the culprit of an “unauthorized manipulation” of certain results.


The conclusion was drawn after reviewing the chain of custody of assay results that were sent from Activation Laboratories of Ontario and those later used for public disclosure, which had shown inconsistencies.

During the investigation, the Canadian gold explorer found that while the correct drill core assays were sent via email by Actlabs from the spring of 2015 to January 30, 2024, they were only addressed to its former CEO, who the company believes tampered with some of the results and sent them to company staff.

The results were subsequently downloaded into Red Pine’s database and later used for a variety of purposes, including in-house resource modelling and the NI 43-101 technical report dated June 21, 2023 (with a resource effective date of May 31, 2019), the company claimed.

In total, 532 out of approximately 98,000 drill core assay results in the overall database appear to have been manipulated since Red Pine acquired the Wawa gold project in 2014.

The news release did not identify the former chief executive. However, Quentin Yarie held the CEO role from July 2015 until Feb. 21 this year.

Shares of Red Pine plunged again on the latest twist, dropping 26.1% to C$0.085 by 11:50 a.m. ET Friday, for a market capitalization of C$15.5 million ($11.3m). Earlier this month, the stock had recorded a 61% drop after the company withdrew the prior gold assay results.

The company divided its investigations over two distinct periods: 1) the assays received between 2014-2019 that resulted in the mineral resource set out in the technical report; and 2) the period from 2019 to the present, during which assay results were disclosed through press releases.

For the first period, Red Pine determined that the reporting inconsistencies resulted in certain reductions of the previously reported mineral resources for the Wawa gold project. The Surluga area would have an estimated loss of 39,500 to 54,000 oz. from the inferred part of the resource, while the Minto deposit would lose 8,000 to 12,000 oz. from the indicated part and 16,000 to 20,000 oz. from the inferred.

For the second period, the company said the investigations are continuing and hopes to provide an overview of the manipulation implications on the drilling results prior to market open on May 15, 2024.

 

China Trounces Korea Taking Three-Quarters of Shipbuilding Orders in April

China is taking the lead in shipbuilding orders (CSSC)

PUBLISHED MAY 8, 2024 6:00 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

The competition for new orders in the shipbuilding market continues to grow with Chinese shipyards pulling dramatically ahead of the South Korean yards for the second consecutive month. Analysts highlight that it illustrates the differences in strategies between the two countries, a position that China is likely to expand on going forward.

Clarkson Research released the latest monthly figures showing the growing divergence. Total orders they calculated reached 4.71 million compensated gross tons for a total of 121 vessels. Overall, the market was up 24 percent year-over-year.

The two countries typically dominate the market with some months a nearly even split in orders or at the beginning of 2024 South Korea was booking larger total orders. However, in April the Chinese yards booked 76 percent of the total orders. Clarksons calculates a total of 91 ships representing 3.58 million CGT. South Korean yards by comparison only received orders for 13 ships or just 670,000 CGT. That represented only a 14 percent market share. By comparison, in March, Chinese yards received 43 percent compared to the South Korean’s 38 percent.

The global order book Clarksons reports stands at 129.9 million CGT, with the backlog down just one percent in April. Chinese yards hold 50 percent of the orderbook (64.9 million CGT). South Korean yards have 30 percent of the orderbook (39 million CGT).

The Export-Import Bank of Korea’s Overseas Economic Research Institute highlights that South Korea’s industry is following a selective order-taking strategy. The yards are focusing on high-value new builds as well as emerging technologies for eco-friendly and technologically advanced vessels. In the first quarter of 2024, just over half of the orders received by the South Korean yards were for liquified petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. The emerging category of very large ammonia carriers was just over 20 percent of the orders. Korean shipbuilders failed to take any orders for VLCCs last year and are now seeing a slowing in containership construction orders.

Analysts are questioning South Korea’s strategy. They note that orders for LNG carriers which have been among the highest-priced vessels have likely peaked driven by the 104 orders placed mostly with the Korean yards linked to Qatar’s expansion.  Qatar Energy reported it has completed the second tranche of its orders signing a massive contract with China for 18 Q-Max carriers, the largest LNG vessels.

China’s yards have built large production capacities and are very competitive on price. Analysts highlight that China is now targeting more of the mid-sized vessel construction orders previously led by Japanese yards. In addition to the Q-Max order last month, Chinese yards received the only large orders for new containerships in 2024. China’s yards are also breaking into new technologies including methanol-fueled vessels.

All of this comes as the United States announced it would start a trade investigation into the Chinese government’s support of its shipbuilders. Five U.S. labor unions lead the protest alleging unfair competition and subsidized steel helping China to build its dominance in shipbuilding. They are calling for tariffs and more U.S. government support to rebuild domestic shipbuilding capabilities. 

 

HD Hyundai Displays Prototype USV Combining AI and Autonomous Navigation

HD Hyundai released a concept for a stealth USV that combines autonomous navigation and AI (HD Hyundai)

PUBLISHED MAY 9, 2024 7:05 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai unveiled its first prototype for its entry into the emerging uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market. It comes as the shipbuilder looks to develop new high-value markets leveraging its autonomous navigation technologies and is also targeting expanded roles in naval shipbuilding.

Called Tenebris the company showed the prototype at a tradeshow in Washington D.C. along with its new partner Palantir, a U.S.-based leader in applications of AI technology. HD Hyundai and Palantir announced a joint development agreement just a month ago for the USV market. At the time, they said the goal was to have their first vessel, designed for reconnaissance operations, on the market by 2026.

They point to the anticipated strong growth in the USV segment. Hyundai cited data that said it was nearly a $1 billion market in 2022 and within a decade could reach $2.7 billion. While the market is growing quickly, they contend that previously developed USVs are difficult to operate in rough environments such as high waves.

They said the intent is to combine autonomous navigation software from HD Hyundai’s subsidiary Avicus with Palantir’s Mission Autonomy system which deploys AI. Planatir they report is considered to be an AI leader with the U.S. Department of Defense, Navy, and Army already customers.

Tenebris is designed for reconnaissance missions where the enemy is nearby. The prototype design is for a vessel 17 meters (approximately 56 feet) in length. It would have a light displacement of 14 tons and combine autonomous navigation and AI capabilities. It uses a high-performance hull.

The concept is to replace manned vessels to perform surveillance and reconnaissance in dangerous areas. It could be used for mine searching and removal as well as other combat tasks. 

HD Hyundai continues to work on the design to maximize the seaworthiness and range of the vessel. The goal is to ensure smooth and uninterrupted operations regardless of the sea conditions. They are also looking to enhance the vessel’s speed, payload, and stealth capacity.

The business plan calls for expanding the applicability of the USV. A second offering would be a combat USV.

Third Mate Ran MSC Auxiliary Aground When Captain Left for Meal Break

Command was left to a junior officer while the master took a meal break (US Navy 2019 file photo)

PUBLISHED MAY 8, 2024 1:24 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

A master’s decision to leave the bridge of his ship while it was maneuvering and a failure to follow navigational procedures are being cited as contributing factors in a U.S. Navy investigation into the 2023 grounding of the supply ship USNS Alan Shepard. While the incident was only a minor embarrassment to the U.S. fleet, the report calls into question the decisions of the civilian officers manning the Military Sealift Command vessel.

The Alan Shepard (23,000 light displacement) has been in service supporting the U.S. Navy as a dry cargo and ammunition ship for fleet replenishment since 2007. The ship is 689 feet (210 meters) in length with a 30-foot (9-meter) draft. She is currently supporting the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Middle East.

The ship arrived in Bahrain in July 2023 for repairs. According to the report, on July 15 she was navigating from a shipyard to a berth in the Khalifa Bin Salman Port. She became stuck on the shoals in the port that afternoon and spent the night stranded. The following day, tugs were able to refloat the vessel on the high tide.

The investigation found that port authority instructed the ship to wait in a holding area in the port until a pilot could join the Alan Shepard. The pilot was going to guide the ship to the berth. 

At 4:49 p.m. the master of the Alan Shepard along with the navigator and the chief mate reported that they were leaving the bridge for a meal break. Heading out for dinner, the master handed the vessel to the third officer instructing him to “stay the course and keep the ship in the waiting area.”

The junior officer on the bridge continued to navigate the ship but became distracted by harbor traffic. He turned the Alan Shepard to avoid a fishing boat in the harbor which caused the vessel to ground on the shoals. The master had been off the bridge for approximately 20 minutes according to the report.

The report highlights the ship’s standing order said the master was required to be on the bridge whenever they were navigating near shallow waters. The investigation cites the master for not following navigation procedures.

After the vessel was refloated, a survey was conducted that found the hull, propellers, and other underwater structures had avoided any damage. Mostly it was reported that the ship had some minor scrapes. None of the 85 crew aboard were injured in the grounding.