Tuesday, May 07, 2024

STOP DEEP SEA MINING
A leadership battle is brewing at deep sea mining’s regulatory body

Bloomberg News | May 6, 2024 |

Miners plan to extract cobalt and other battery metals from the seabed. (Image courtesy of The Metals Co.)

The secretary-general of the International Seabed Authority is set to run for a third term leading the United Nations-affiliated organization that regulates deep sea mining, as control of mineral resources used to make electric car batteries becomes a focus of US-China rivalry.

The ISA’s 168 member nations and the European Union will elect the next secretary-general at what is expected to be a pivotal meeting in July. Secretary-General Michael Lodge, a UK lawyer, will be opposed by Brazilian marine scientist Leticia Carvalho in an election that will shape the future of deep sea mining. It comes as the ISA faces pressure to finish writing regulations that could allow mining to begin within the next two years.

The choice of the next secretary-general could have significant economic and environmental consequences for deep sea mining, if regulations are ultimately approved. The ISA’s charter gives the person in that role authority over the operations of the organization’s administrative arm and the secretary-general negotiates contracts with mining companies.

Lodge’s candidacy emerged Sunday in a diplomatic note from ISA member state Kiribati, a small South Pacific island nation that announced it would sponsor Lodge’s nomination.

Candidates for secretary-general are usually sponsored by their country of citizenship: The UK sponsored Lodge’s first term as secretary-general (though his election to a second term, which happened under a “silent procedure” during the Covid-19 pandemic, is less clear). Carvalho, an official with UN Environment Programme in Nairobi, was likewise put forth by Brazil’s delegate in March.

Lodge’s second four-year term is set to end in December. An ISA spokesperson declined to confirm that Lodge is running for re-election. Officials from Kiribati did not respond to a request for comment.

“Kiribati considers Michael Lodge uniquely well-placed to continue the excellent work he has done to date,” according to the diplomatic note the country sent to UN member nations, which was obtained by Bloomberg Green. Kiribati controls a mining concession, meaning it would receive royalties and other payments if seabed mining proceeds.

If Carvalho is elected in July, she would likely represent a marked change from the administration of Lodge, who has disparaged environmental opposition to mining deep ocean ecosystems for valuable minerals and drawn criticism for his closeness to mining contractors the ISA regulates.

The UK in October called for a moratorium on deep sea mining, joining two dozen other ISA member nations that support a ban or pause until its environmental impacts are understood.

(By Todd Woody)

First Quantum hopes new Panamanian leader brings fresh look to disputed copper mine

Reuters | May 6, 2024 |

Cobre Panama is the largest development ever undertaken by a private firm in Panama. Image courtesy of First Quantum Minerals

First Quantum Minerals said on Monday it is looking forward to talks with Panama’s new government to find a resolution to the Canadian company’s disputed Cobre Panama mine.

Panama on Sunday elected Jose Raul Mulino as its new president.

Analysts see the election result as a positive development for the Cobre Panama mine, which accounts for about 1% of global copper output. Panama’s outgoing government ordered the mine shut down last year after public protests over environmental damage from mining in the Central American country.

Mulino won the election with 34% of the vote, in a campaign mostly centered on his former boss, ex-President Ricardo Martinelli, who had strong popular support, but was barred from running in March due to a money laundering conviction.

While most of the other contenders for the presidency took a hard-line stance against mining, Mulino showed a less conflicted approach.

“We look forward to a dialogue with the new administration and to working together once it takes office to find a resolution that is in the best interests of Panama,” a First Quantum spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Analysts are waiting to see what policy changes the new government will implement when it takes power in July.

“Mulino is viewed as pro-business and has been supportive of mining in the past; however, like all the candidates, he was careful with comments about mining in the election campaign,” RBC Capital Markets said in a research note.

But there is still uncertainty around the Cobre Panama mine, with work to be done to improve public sentiment towards mining and negotiations with the new government before contemplating a re-start, the report added.

Even if Mulino decides to take a different approach to mining, hurdles remain in the Panamanian Congress, where no party secured a majority. The group with the most seats is comprised of independent lawmakers, with many of them having participated and encouraged anti-mining protests last year.

Investment banking firm BancTrust & Co said the current political situation in Panama could make it difficult to revive the mining contract at least in the short-term.

First Quantum shares gave up early gains and were down 0.9% in midday trading. The stock is down about 50% from a 52-week high.

(By Divya Rajagopal and Valentine Hilarie; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Paul Simao)

BHP bombshell puts South African mining in a hole

Reuters | May 6, 2024 |

Aerial view of enormous copper mine at Palabora, South Africa.

BHP has put South Africa and its mining sector on the spot. The $140 billion Australian group’s ambitious swoop on rival Anglo American would see one of the Rainbow Nation’s most familiar companies largely withdraw from the country more than a hundred years after it was founded. The question is whether the government in Pretoria can stop the $39 billion transaction – and whether it should.

South African officials have so far given BHP’s proposal a mixed reception. Gwede Mantashe, the country’s mining minister, told Bloomberg he “wouldn’t support” the deal. But President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson described the approach as “normal market activity”.

In reality, Pretoria has a host of reasons to be awkward. South African mining is in decline: as a contribution of GDP it has fallen from 21% in 1980 to 7.5% in 2022. The country’s platinum, diamonds, coal and iron ore are not integral materials to the all-important energy transition. Corruption scandals at state utility Eskom and issues at freight carrier Transnet have led to frequent electricity blackouts and problems for miners trying to get shipments out of the country.

Anglo, which was founded in Johannesburg in 1917, has tended to be more of a help to the government than a hindrance in dealing with these challenges. The London-listed group, currently run by CEO Duncan Wanblad, has invested $6 billion in its home country in the last five years, including in educational projects. It also acts as a reliable counterparty in the mining sector’s frequent labour disputes.

BHP chief executive Mike Henry’s planned deal would take a crowbar to this arrangement. The Australian group wants Anglo to spin off its controlling stakes in local mining companies Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Kumba Iron Ore, which have a combined equity value of about $13 billion. Except for nuggets like the domestic operations of its De Beers diamond unit, Anglo would effectively check out of South Africa.

Henry has travelled to South Africa to make his case. Yet his initial brusque approach is striking because prominent political figures like Mantashe already had reasons to dislike BHP. After merging with domestic mining giant Billiton in 2001 the “Big Australian” spun off most of its South African assets into a new company called South32 in 2015. It did so under a cloud caused by revelations that Billiton had a secret, decades-long contract to get cheap electricity from Eskom for its aluminum smelters. While stressing he was not expressing an official government position, Mantashe told the Financial Times last month that the BHP Billiton merger “never did much for South Africa” and that his country’s experience with BHP was “not positive”. Throw in the fact that South Africa is holding national elections on May 29, and there’s a fertile backdrop for opposing a foreign takeover.

The government also has the means to do so, even though the country’s Public Investment Corporation owns only 7% of Anglo. South Africa’s Competition Commission must approve all mergers and demergers and can use controversial “public interest” powers to nix a transaction even if it lacks antitrust grounds.

Yet South Africa also has good reasons to be more even-handed. While the share of non-resident holdings of domestic government bonds has fallen from 40% five years ago to 25% now, the country would be ill-advised to spook foreign investors grappling with elevated global interest rates. Blocking a valid deal on spurious grounds may do just that. Throwing up regulatory roadblocks could also prompt other investors in South African assets to fret they might not be able to get their money out.

There’s a smarter way for Ramaphosa to play the situation. Anglo has long suffered from a stock market discount due to its South African roots: breaking up the company could unlock at least $10 billion more than the $39 billion equity value implied by Henry’s approach, a Breakingviews sum of the parts suggests. Shareholders may therefore resist BHP’s current proposal.

Only about a third of Anglo shareholders are domestic South African investors. So if the company spins off Amplats and Kumba, as BHP wants, the value of those two units may well drop. Investors previously hoped that Anglo might at some point buy out minority shareholders at a premium. Meanwhile, overseas investors may be unwilling to hold shares listed in South Africa. In this scenario, assets which account for roughly a third of the value of BHP’s proposal might actually be worth a lot less.

South Africa could also use the threat of its own veto to extract concessions from BHP. Even though the Competition Commission ultimately waved through previous international swoops on local assets, like brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $106 billion acquisition of SABMiller in 2016, it only did so after receiving promises on jobs, local production, long-term commitments to South Africa and payments to the farming sector. Spinning off Anglo’s South African assets could trigger a $2 billion capital gains tax payment to the government; with some other goodies the authorities might look more favourably on BHP’s proposal.

South African politicians may also open the door to a bid from another mining group like Glencore. The $70 billion Swiss miner-trader is studying an approach for Anglo, Reuters reported on Thursday citing two sources. Its smaller size means Anglo shareholders would hold a larger proportion of the combined group in an all-share deal. Glencore also has strong South African connections and may want to keep Kumba and market its iron ore. Boss Gary Nagle could therefore propose a merger which would be more acceptable to South Africa.

Anglo American’s South African heritage weighs on the company’s value. That’s one of the reasons BHP swooped. A takeover will not solve South African mining’s wider headaches, even if a buyer agrees to hold on to Amplats and Kumba. Any new owner would seek ways to unlock the value of Anglo’s assets in ways Pretoria might not like. Still, while BHP has put South African mining on the spot, the government has the power to do the same to any buyer.
Context news

Commodities group Glencore is studying an approach for Anglo American, Reuters reported on May 2 citing two sources.

Glencore has not yet approached Anglo, one of the sources said. The discussions are internal and preliminary at this stage and may not result in an approach, the source added. A Glencore spokesperson said the company did not comment on market rumour or speculation.

South Africa’s independent antitrust authority, the Competition Commission, requires “a mandatory merger notification … where any transaction involves the change of control over the business of Anglo in South Africa”, the Financial Times reported on May 3.

The commission usually assesses whether a deal would reduce domestic competition, and whether it is justifiable on “public interest” grounds. This includes the impact on a sector, on jobs, on historically disadvantaged South Africans, and the ability of industries to compete globally, spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga told the FT.

(By George Hay; Editing by Peter Thal Larsen and Oliver Taslic)

Read More: What’s Anglo worth? For now it’s less than the sum of its parts

U.S. Special Ops Gunship Decimates Fishing Boats in South China Sea Test

U.S. military units are training alongside Philippine forces in the South China Sea this month, preparing for a range of maritime security and shore defense scenarios. Some elements have caught the attention of the Chinese government, like amphibious exercises aimed at retaking and holding islands from a hostile force in the Philippine exclusive economic zone. At least one of these exercises might be applied to countering China's maritime militia - the force of hundreds of government funded commercial trawlers that provide a constant Chinese presence in Philippine waters. In a little-publicized trial, U.S. Special Operations Command dispatched an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship for a sinking exercise targeting small fishing vessels.

Developed during the Vietnam War for close air support, the AC-130 is a conventional cargo plane bristling with heavy weapons. The basic airframe remains the same as it was nearly 60 years ago, but the latest version has an extended range, advanced electronics, a 105mm howitzer in a specially-designed recoil carriage and a 30mm chain gun. It can also deliver a variety of small bombs and missiles from external weapons pylons.

For the test, exercise organizers used several outrigger fishing boats of a traditional Philippine design (bangka boats). The AC-130J's ordnance - designed for destroying hardened targets on shore - functioned as intended.

By treaty, the U.S. is obligated to defend the Philippines in the event of an attack, including an attack on its vessels or military personnel. Over the past two years, China's maritime militia and coast guard have been edging up towards this threshold, and their rules of engagement in the South China Sea have become increasingly confrontational. Escalatory new tactics include shining powerful target illumination lasers at Philippine vessels; swarming and blocking maneuvers; shouldering; installing rope barriers; and water-cannoning. Multiple Philippine personnel have been injured in water-cannon attacks, and at least four vessels have been damaged by high-pressure streams.

Last week, China Coast Guard cutters water-cannoned two Philippine patrol vessels with more force than in previous encounters. Damage included bent railings, torn deck canopies, interior flooding, and a broken radar and radome, reporters embedded in the mission said.

China claims sovereignty over the vast majority of the South China Sea, including waters and land features located hundreds of miles from the Chinese mainland. Most of these areas are within the EEZs of neighboring countries, including the Philippines. In 2016, an international tribunal ruled that China's claims to ownership of Philippine waters were invalid under international law; China denounced the ruling as a "piece of paper" and has ignored it.

The longstanding diplomatic dispute over the Philippine EEZ also has a new wrinkle. Last week, Chinese officials claimed that they reached a secret verbal agreement with the administration of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. Beijing has hinted at a gentleman's agreement before, but this is the first time that officials have described it in detail. The purported agreement allowed Philippine fishermen to access Chinese-claimed areas of Philippine waters, so long as Philippine military vessels stayed out of the Philippines' western EEZ.

Current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has denied that such a deal ever existed, and has dispatched government vessels where needed to maintain a sovereign presence. His decision to carry out patrols and operations in Philippine waters "is the basic reason for the ceaseless disputes at sea between China and the Philippines over the past year and more,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said in a statement.

Conference Agenda Announced for Seatrade Maritime Salvage & Wreck

[By: Seatrade Maritime Salvage & Wreck]

Environmental concerns, ESG, future training needs for maritime emergency response, and a status check on lithium battery fires are among topics up for discussion at Seatrade Maritime Salvage & Wreck 2024, which returns later this year as the UK’s leading annual conference for the salvage and wreck removal sector.

Taking place 11 – 12 December 2024 at Leonardo Royal Hotel London City, the conference will get underway with Allianaz’s annual safety and shipping review before going on to a series of case studies and panel discussions focused on:

Exploring the Options & Potential Changes to LOF in Maritime Operations Industry Concerns
Cargo Fires, Oil Spills and Pollution Issues
Status Check: Lithium Battery Fires
Managing ESG Factors in Emergency Response
Preparedness and Resilience: Future Training Needs for Maritime Emergency Response
Shipwreck Reflotement and Towing with Airbags: Santa Ana and Serenin

The full agenda can be viewed here.

Andrew Chamberlain, Partner at HFW, will once again return as conference chairman. Speaking ahead of this year’s event, Chamberlain said: “As accelerated change across the wider shipping industry continues to impact marine salvage and emergency response, the agenda will provide an opportunity for delegates to reflect on the current landscape, identify opportunities and challenges, and explore current and future trends. I look forward to reprising my role as conference chair throughout what is set to be a lively and engaging programme.”

Chamberlain is set to be joined by over 50 experts and specialists throughout the 2024 agenda, which was programmed in consultation with the Seatrade Maritime Salvage and Wreck Advisory Board.

“This year, and as with each edition of the conference, we work in direct consultation with our Advisory Board, which enables us to deliver a programme that is reflective of the most pertinent and important industry trends and influencing factors,” said Chris Morley, Group Director of Seatrade Maritime.

“We look forward to welcoming delegates back to Seatrade Maritime Salvage & Wreck, and in particular our brand new Parliamentary-Style debate, which we hope will provide a truly exciting and engaging conclusion to this year’s conference,” added Morley.

Registration is now open for Seatrade Maritime Salvage & Wreck 2024, which is supported by long-standing partners HFW and International Salvage Union (ISU). The conference is aimed at professionals who responsible for underwriting, mitigating, and preventing risk, as well as those who respond to and manage emergency situations at sea.

Delegates can save up to £240 when booking before Friday 26 July. To find out more, please visit salvageandwreck.com.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group Launches Long Island Ferry

[By: Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc.]

On Friday, May 3rd, Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. (ESG) successfully launched the ferry LONG ISLAND (ESG Hull 228) at its Allanton Shipyard in Panama City, FL. The new passenger and auto ferry is destined to operate between Bridgeport, CT, and Port Jefferson, NY, traversing the Long Island Sound. The vessel was christened by Rosemary McAllister, Director of Strategy, and attended by representatives from vessel owners Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, a subsidiary of McAllister Towing.

"This launch is a testament to the dedication and expertise of our team at Eastern Shipbuilding Group," said Joey D’Isernia, CEO, and Chairman of ESG. "We are honored to partner with our friends at McAllister Towing and contribute to enhancing the transportation infrastructure for the residents and tourists of Long Island. This ferry will not only serve as a vital link between communities, but also exemplify our commitment to delivering excellence to our valued customers."

The ferry LONG ISLAND, measuring 302 feet, is designed to accommodate both vehicles and passengers, and is designed with several enhancements including Tier IV main engines, increased crew capacity, and an upgraded furniture package. Scheduled for delivery later this year, this state-of-the-art vessel will join a fleet that includes two other Eastern-built ferries: the P.T. BARNUM (1999) and the GRAND REPUBLIC (2003). McAllister Towing has been a longstanding partner with ESG, having commissioned more than a dozen vessels from the shipbuilder.

The Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Company provides safe, scenic, and relaxing transit across Long Island Sound for hundreds of thousands of passengers and cars every year. The addition of the ferry LONG ISLAND will upgrade and expand the service. Buck McAllister, the President of the ferry company, said “P.T. Barnum, the founder of the ferry, once said that the noblest art is that of making others happy. All of those who have worked to make the ferry service what it is today can be very proud of their role helping drivers on the I-95 and Long Island Expressway. Eastern Shipbuilding has provided our company with over a dozen high quality vessels and transformed the maritime services we can offer. We are very thankful to Eastern Shipbuilding and the D’Isernia family for the happiness this new vessel will bring to our employees and customers for generations to come.” The addition of the LONG ISLAND will help ensure that a three-vessel schedule can be provided for the peak periods when demand is most critical, a most welcome improvement.

VESSEL SPECS:
Ferry LONG ISLAND - Hull 228
Customer - Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company
Type - Auto & Passenger Ferry
Length – 302 ft
Delivery - 2024

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive

CIMAC Digitalization Strategy Group Publishes New Position Paper

[By: CIMAC]

Digitalization provides the opportunity to generate optimized technical solutions based on highly integrated intelligent systems. While such solutions have already been realized in several industries such as automotive and aerospace, they are implemented only slowly in the maritime industry. For this very reason, the CIMAC Digitalization Strategy Group has now published a new Position Paper entitled “On enabling the implementation of a ship-wide data ecosystem”. It aims to identify ways in which the potential of digitalization can be fully exploited for process optimization, develops a vision, and provides recommendations.

“The full technical potential of highly integrated, optimized technical solutions that support the reduction of operational costs, identification of hazards, and better transparency on environmental performance is currently not exploited. That needs to change” says Dominik Schneiter (WinGD), Chair of the Digitalization Strategy Group. The Position Paper reflects the intense discussions within the Digitalization Strategy Group and the alignment made. It went through a feedback process that has taken place over the past 2 years, including peer reviews at the CIMAC Circle at SMM in Hamburg, at the panel discussion in Busan during the CIMAC Congress in 2023, and at the digitalization reception during London International Shipping Week. It also takes into account the EU regulation on harmonized rules for fair access to and use of data, known as the Data Act, which came into force in January 2024.

Eero Lehtovaara (ABB Marine and Ports), VP Digitalization, explains: “Integrated data ecosystems have an untapped potential to optimize the efficiency of ship operations. You can only improve what you can measure. Without data exchange, the overall system cannot be optimized. We would like to encourage the maritime industry to embrace digitalization and implement it more quickly.” CIMAC’s Vice-President Communication Christoph Rofka (Accelleron) concludes: “We look forward to a lively dialogue with the entire industry and see the paper as the starting point for a common path.”

The CIMAC Digitalization Strategy Group consists of representatives from engine manufacturers, component suppliers, engineering companies, classification societies, system integration solution providers, and universities. The Position Paper “On enabling the implementation of a ship-wide data ecosystem” can be downloaded here.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

Workers Find Rare Artifact From WWII's "Greatest Raid," Operation Chariot

A museum near St. Nazaire, France is now the proud owner of a hatch from HMS Campbeltown, found about 100 yards away from the drydock where the ship's explosive payload detonated in 1942. The hatch came from the starboard side of the Campbeltown's deckhouse, which largely disappeared in the blast.

On March 26 1942, the WWI-era destroyer HMS Campbeltown departed Falmouth on a mission to damage the drydock in St. Nazaire, France, hoping to take it out of service and deny the German Navy a valuable repair yard. Campbeltown was lightened, armed with extra 20mm guns on deck and packed with 4.5 tonnes of explosives in her bow.

In the early hours of March 26, on a high tide, she navigated over the shoals at the entrance to the Loire, and she successfully fooled German defenders for a few minutes by transmitting a German identification code. The ruse only lasted a short while, and she fought her way into the harbor under heavy fire. She rammed the dock gate at 19 knots, driving her bow up onto the structure about 30 feet. After a timed delay of several hours, the charge in the ship's bow blew up, destroying the gates, killing several hundred German personnel, and knocking the giant dry dock out of action for the rest of the war.

She was accompanied by 16 torpedo boats carrying commandos. Most of the launches were destroyed by German fire as Campbeltown made her final run. The survivors landed and blew up dockside installations, destroying much of the infrastructure around the port.

The raid was an unqualified success, but the cost was high. Of the 611 commandos and sailors who took part in Operation Chariot, 169 were killed and 200 were taken prisoner. Only four motor launches out of 16 made it home, and just 242 men returned to Falmouth after the raid.

Marc Braeuer with Campbeltown's No. 6 hatch (Royal Navy)

The hatch is a rare reminder of Campbeltown's victory. During port upgrades at St. Nazaire, workers found the metal panel about 100 yards away from the Normandie Dock, where the vessel's massive bomb detonated. After cleaning it, they found clear markings reading "Door No.6. Collision. Close and Dog Immediately."

The blast-damaged hatch was saved and stored by one of the managers of the seaport. Eventually it came to the attention of Marc Braeuer, director of the nerarby Musée Le Grand Blockhaus. Braeuer and his brother stepped in to take care of the artifact, and they carefully researched its design to confirm its identity. The exterior hatch is visible in one of the few surviving photos of Campbeltown in the hours just before she exploded.

The exterior bulkhead No. 6 hatch, circled in red (Royal Navy)

Maersk Resumes Liquidation of its Russian Container Shipping Subsidiary

St Petersburg file image — Andrew Shiva / CC BY-SA 4.0

Maersk has resumed the process of liquating its Russian subsidiary, Maersk LLC (St. Petersburg), as part of its final steps of exiting the country. According to a notice published Friday by the Russian Unified State Register of Legal Entities (Fedresurs), A.P. Moller-Maersk made the decision to liquidate Maersk LLC in April.

Maersk had initially started liquidating its Russian container shipping subsidiary in 2022, with all employees dismissed through mutual agreement in February 2023. However, the liquidation process was later canceled in June 2023, according to local media reports.

In its regulatory filings for last year, Maersk LLC stated that it did not receive any revenue for the period, as there were no activities due to being in liquidation.

Maersk formally ceased Russian-related operations in 2022 and went on to divest its key assets in the country. These include selling two key logistics sites - an inland container depot in Novorossiysk and refrigerated containers warehouse in St. Petersburg.

Among the last assets in Russia were four tugboats under Maersk’s towage division Svitzer, which a Russian court had seized last year following a dispute with Svitzer’s customer Sakhalin Energy. However, early this year, Svitzer announced that it had managed to sell the four tugboats to a Chinese buyer.

Equatorial Guinea May Be Holding S. African Engineers Over Seized Yacht

The government of South Africa is working to secure the release of two oil and gas executives who were charged and swiftly convicted of drug trafficking in Equatorial Guinea last year. They were arrested just days after South African courts seized a superyacht belonging to the country's ministry of defense, the Blue Shadow, and their 12-year prison sentence is widely believed to be a politically-motivated form of retaliation.

Authorities and open source intelligence researchers have linked the vessel to vice president Teodoro (AKA Teodorin, Teddy) Nguema Obiang Mangue, son of lifelong ruler Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The Obiang family has controlled Equatorial Guinea for so long that six U.S. presidents have come and gone, making the elder Teodoro Obiang the world's second-longest-ruling national leader (other than royalty). Under his leadership, the Obiang family holds almost all political power, and their government has repeatedly been accused of corruption and human rights abuses. Foreign authorities periodically seize houses, cars, properties and luxury goods allegedly linked to the president and vice president, including a Parisian mansion and wine collection seized in 2012; a $30 million Malibu estate and a Ferarri in 2014; and a $27 million collection of luxury cars in Switzerland in 2016. The younger Obiang is sanctioned in the UK for corruption and has been fined in France for a similar offense. He has denied any wrongdoing.

The latest case stems from a civil suit brought by a South African businessman, Daniel Janse van Rensburg. In 2013, after a business deal with an Equatoguinean politician soured, van Rensburg was arrested by the Obiang regime and detained in a notorious prison. Upon his release and return home, he sued Vice President Obiang in South African courts for unlawful arrest and torture.

In February 2023, van Rensburg won a judgement against the vice president and convinced a South African court to seize two mansions and a superyacht, the Blue Shadow, which was at a yard in Cape Town for repairs. He secured a financial settlement and the vessel was released; AIS shows that it transited back to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

For official purposes, the luxury vessel belongs to the Equatoguinean defense ministry, but transparency campaigners say that there is little difference between the Obiang family's personal holdings and the property of the state. The yacht has no known capability for ISR, interdiction, surface warfare or other applications as a defense-related vessel.

Bellingcat, an established open-source intelligence foundation that made its name unmasking Russian covert operations, has linked the movements of Blue Shadow to the itinerary of Vice President Obiang's private. In one example in late 2023, the yacht and the plane arrived in Sardinia at about the same time. The plane then transited to Milan, where the Vice President released a photo of himself attending the Milan Fashion Week.

In early February 2023, two days after Blue Shadow was seized by the South African court, Equatoguinean police detained two South African oil and gas engineers, Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham. They were one day away from returning home, and the police arrested them in their hotel. They were tried in June 2023 and were convicted - allegedly without evidence or an opportunity to mount a defense - and sentenced to 12 years each.

South Africa's foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, visited Equatorial Guinea over the weekend to discuss the case with the Equatoguinean government and negotiate for the two engineers' release. South Africa's political opposition, the Democratic Alliance, welcomed the news and said in a statement that the diplomatic effort is long overdue.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment