Ukraine's Navy Gifted Two Minehunters to Boost Black Sea Security

The minehunter Narcis, now renamed Mariupol (file image courtesy Lithuanian Defense Ministry)

Published Jun 29, 2025 9:23 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

The Dutch and Belgian governments have moved to strengthen Ukraine's mine countermeasures capabilities with the donation of two minehunter vessels. The development comes soon after NATO allies committed to continue providing support to Ukraine in its war with Russia following the conclusion of the alliance’s annual summit in The Hague.

The Ministry of Defense in the Netherlands is announcing that its decommissioned minehunter Zr.Ms. Vlaardingen together with Belgian minehunter BNS Narcis were recently transferred to the Ukrainian Navy. The donation of the two vessels is intended to enhance the war-ravaged nation’s ability to protect key infrastructure, safeguard trade routes and protect the global grain supply. When eventually transferred through the Bosporus, they will enhance the Ukrainian Navy’s abilities to clear explosives from the Black Sea.

Following the donation, Vlaardingen has since undergone name change and now bears the name of a Ukrainian city, Melitopol. Narcis has been named Mariupol, after the Ukrainian city that fell to a Russian siege early in the war. The Dutch government has also announced it will be donating another decommissioned minehunter, Zr.Ms. Makkum, which will be transferred to Ukraine by the end of the year. The ship will be named after the Ukrainian city of Henichesk. (All of these namesake cities are currently in Russian-occupied territory.)

Both Vlaardingen and Makkum are Alkmaar-class ships that served the Royal Dutch Royal Navy before being decommissioned last year. Both ships have a maximum displacement of 588 tonnes, and their hulls are made from polyester reinforced with fiberglass. The material minimizes the magnetic signature of the ships, helping them to avoid the detonation of underwater magnetic mines.

Narcis is a Tripartite-class minehunter that has been part of the Belgian Navy fleet since 1990 and remained in active duty before its donation. Belgium intends to donate a total of three ships of the class to Ukraine. Transfer of Vlaardingen and Narcis to the Ukrainian navy came after the two aging ships underwent thorough maintenance and conducted a training period with their new crews.

“The major ports of Odessa and the shipping lanes in the Black Sea are the lifeblood of the Ukrainian economy,” said Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans. “And it is constantly threatened. Ukraine may not win the war at sea, but the country can certainly lose the war there. We simply cannot let that happen. That is why it is so important for maritime security and free passage that Ukraine can use the minehunters.”

The Netherlands and Belgium are the latest NATO allies to donate warships to Ukraine. In 2023, the UK government transferred two decommissioned minehunters to the country as part of efforts to help Ukraine detect and disable sea mines.

The Turkish government has closed the Bosporus to warships of combatant nations, as is its right under the Montreux Convention. The UK's gifted minehunters have not been allowed to pass through. 

At the just concluded NATO Summit 2025, leaders of the alliance have committed to continue supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia. The allies agreed to invest five percent of gross domestic product annually on core defense requirements as well as defense-and security-related spending by 2035. Part of the spending will include direct contributions towards Ukraine’s defense and its defense industry.

Ukraine May Pursue Sanctions Against Bangladeshi Buyers of Stolen Grain

Usko MFU, a small bulker seized by Ukraine last year for allegedly carrying stolen wheat (State Security Service of Ukraine)

Published Jun 29, 2025 10:07 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

The government of Ukraine may seek EU sanctions on firms and public officials in Bangladesh for allegedly importing cargoes of grain that are partially sourced from occupied territory. 

Exporters in Russia's Black Sea region routinely mix grain from Russia with grain from parts of Ukraine that are currently under Russian occupation. Ukraine considers agricultural goods from occupied areas to be stolen, and officials in Kyiv regularly pursue foreign buyers to discourage the practice. The former government of Syria was a major customer, before the collapse of the Assad regime, but other nations' importers now buy it as well - including traders in Bangladesh, according to Ukrainian diplomats. 

Reuters obtained several letters that Ukraine's embassy in New Delhi sent to the Bangladeshi foreign ministry about the matter. The correspondence suggests that as much as 150,000 tonnes of stolen grain was shipped from Kavkaz to Bangladeshi ports, mixed in with "legitimate" Russian grain and undetectable to the buyer. The Ukrainian ambassador to India, Oleksandr Polishchuk, told Reuters that officials in Dhaka had not responded - even when threatened the possibility of sanctions and provided with a specific list of vessel names. 

The vessels are not currently under sanctions. To date, the EU, UK and U.S. have focused on sanctioning tankers, which account for the majority of Russia's export shipments by value. 

Ukraine has seized two ships for allegedly carrying stolen grain from Russian loading ports, and is planning to auction off one of them. 

 

Russian Attack Sub Surfaces Right Next to French Trawler off Brittany

Kilo-class sub (file image courtesy Royal Navy)

Published Jul 1, 2025 4:07 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

The crew of a French trawler had an unsettling experience while transiting near Guernsey last weekend: a Russian submarine surfaced within sight, then continued on its way on a transit of the English Channel.

The fishing vessel Belenos was under way off the coast of Finisterre on Saturday when an unidentified attack sub surfaced nearby. It was close enough that the trawler's crew were able to capture detailed images of the hull and conning tower. According to Premar Atlantique, the Russian sub was in transit northbound and was being accompanied by the frigate Normandie. The movement was routine and fully monitored by French authorities, and it "did not cause any concern." 

The sub was en route to its home port after departing Russia's base in Syria, according to Le Telegramme. Based on photos, it was a Kilo-class, but the exact name of the sub remains confidential for now; the task of tracking was passed off to the UK Royal Navy, which typically reveals the identity of Russian vessels several days after each operation.

While there is no indication that the crew of the Belenos was in danger, fatal accidents have occurred during submarine surfacing and near-surface operations in the past. The most infamous disaster was an emergency-blow surfacing test carried out aboard the U.S. Navy sub USS Greeneville. The sub struck and punctured the hull of the Japanese fishery training ship Ehime Maru, and nine people were killed, including four high school students.

 

Germany and Sweden Join in Crackdown on Shadow Fleet Vessels in Baltic

Germany previously seized the tanker Eventin and its cargo for violations (Havariekommando)

Published Jul 1, 2025 6:38 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

The efforts to identify and crack down on shadow fleet vessels breaking maritime regulations are increasing with Germany announcing that along with Sweden it will begin asking passing vessels about insurance coverage. It is joining with other Baltic and Scandinavian countries and the European Union, which have all launched efforts despite strong criticism from Russia to enforce rules on suspect vessels.

"The new inquiries will help further intensify coordination with our friends and partners in the region,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister, Dr. Johann Wadephul. “Our goal is very clear: We will increase the pressure on the Russian shadow fleet and protect the Baltic Sea habitat."

German authorities starting today, July 1, are immediately asking passing tankers about their insurance coverage to protect against oil pollution. They said the effort would be focused on vessels off Fehmarn, a German island alongside the key shipping lane, which is just 12 miles across to Sweden.

We must increase our vigilance in the Baltic Sea regarding the shadow fleet,” said German Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder. "By querying the insurance status of the traffic control centers, we are adding another piece to our situational picture. The more complete the picture, the sooner we can take measures together with our partner countries in the Baltic Sea region, including listing the ships for sanctions."

Unlike Estonia and Finland, Germany is not threatening to stop the vessels for inspections. However, it warns that irregularities may lead to Europe-wide monitoring or actions by the vessel’s flag state. It would also be considered as a basis for future listing under the sanction programs.

Germany in January 2025 took more direct action detaining the Panama-flagged tanker Eventin (152,000 dwt) after the vessel blacked out and had to be rescued in the Baltic. It later moved to seize the vessel and its cargo after saying it was a shadow fleet tanker in violation of regulations. Germany took control of the tanker, which continues at anchor, while the case was to be reviewed by the German courts.

Sweden also said at the end of May that it planned to increase its surveillance of suspect vessels targeting the shadow fleet. Denmark recently tracked and reported a deception by a shadow fleet tanker entering and exiting the Baltic. However, it decided not to attempt to detain the vessel, referencing the legal complications of a seizure.

Russia has said it would take steps to protect the tankers in its oil trade, including several recent incidents where Russian warships have been seen sailing near tankers. In May, a Russian warplane briefly entered Estonia's airspace as the country was confronting a suspicious tanker. 

Speaking at the United Nations, Russia has called the efforts of the European Union and specific countries in the Baltic piracy. It demanded adherence to maritime rules and free navigation, while the countries have cited the subsea cable incidents and the dangers of pollution from the unregulated tankers.

The European Union and the UK have been aggressive in expanding their sanctions against the shadow fleet and a crackdown on the Russian energy sector, while the United States under Trump has lagged. Australia recently joined the efforts by launching its first sanctions against the shadow fleet, but more vessels continue to support the Russian oil trade. Estimates have said that at least 800 tankers have been involved in moving Russian oil, many in violations of the G7 price cap on Russian crude.

 

New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture

University of South Australia

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Award-winning author and University of South Australia academic Dr Debra Dank has unveiled her latest work, Terraglossia, a powerful response to colonial oppression that invites all Australians to reimagine how we engage with the world’s oldest living culture.

Dr Dank, a Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon woman from the Barkley Tablelands in the Northern Territory, launched the compelling follow-up to her acclaimed memoir, We Come With This Place, to challenge entrenched narratives and celebrate the richness of First Nations language and culture.

The title of the small hardback, Terraglossia, is a word coined by Dr Dank herself in response to the colonial notion of terra nullius – a concept used by British colonisers to assert the land of Australia was unoccupied and available to claim and settle.

“There is no result to be found if you Google the term ‘terraglossia’ and you won’t find it in a dictionary yet, or perhaps not ever,” she writes in the book.

“It is a word I have coined because in making the untruth visible, populating the great Australian silence with the sounds that have been yarning here for thousands of years, we must identify the words that illustrate or define Aboriginal and Islander ways of knowing, being, doing and seeing as defined by us through our concepts and not merely non-Aboriginal concepts massaged into something that is close enough.”

Dr Dank, who is based on the Sunshine Coast, has spent 40 years working in primary, secondary and tertiary education roles in urban and remote areas across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Northern Territory.

She also helped establish the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, a charity dedicated to improving literacy among Aboriginal children and young people, especially in remote and isolated communities.

Throughout the new book, Dr Dank explores how an uncritiqued English language – evolved from a comparatively young language literally on the other side of the world ­– continues to silence First Nations’ voices and suppress more-than-ancient knowledges.

She draws on several experiences throughout her childhood and teaching career where she has witnessed firsthand the impact of language loss and cultural disconnection.

“I once worked with a non-Aboriginal teaching colleague who was from a non-English speaking European ancestry. I entered her classroom and found her shaking a small child and saying most aggressively, ‘You will not speak that gobbledygook in my classroom.’ The child, five years old, had spoken their own Aboriginal language,” Dr Dank says.

“In my almost 40 years of working in a range of educational institutions and contexts throughout much of Australia, I have never once by connotation or by explicit statement, heard anyone voice disquiet about English speaking children speaking their own language in the classroom.

“It's time to disrupt a very erroneous narrative that started here when Cook claimed Country that was never his or open for claiming. We need to begin the business of being able to at least communicate a little more effectively.”

Dr Dank’s first book We Come With This Place, a memoir of sorts of her Gudanji/Wakaja family’s connection to Country and culture, won numerous awards in 2023, including four NSW Premier’s Awards, three Queensland Literacy Awards and the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal.

“I’m still a bit befuddled and bemused by the whole thing,” she says. “I didn’t set out to write books, I’m perplexed by the success of it but I am deeply honoured.”

Dr Dank has already started work on her third book, expected to hit the printers before the end of 2025.

Terraglossia, published by Echo Publishing, is available online and at major Australian booksellers.

 

Seasonal allergies caused by fungal spores now start three weeks earlier under climate change

A first-of-its-kind study led by the University of Michigan has 'implications for both ecosystem processes and human health'

University of Michigan

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Research led by the University of Michigan showed how the timing of fungal spore allergy season has changed across the country over the past two decades, driven by climate change. Although the trend varies across areas, the spore allergy season on average has started 22 days earlier over two decades.

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Credit: R. Wu et al., GeoHealth, 2025, DOI: 10.1029/2024GH001323

Although many of us spend allergy season cursing out plant pollen, spores from mold and other fungi also deserve some of that same disdain. These invisibly small agitators tend to fly under the radar, despite being capable of causing the same sneezes, sniffles and, in some cases, severe respiratory issues. 

And these stealthy allergens are sneaking up on us earlier than ever before, according to new research led by the University of Michigan and published in the journal GeoHealth. 

"Over the past two decades, fungal spore seasons in the U.S. have shifted significantly due to climate change. This has implications for both ecosystem processes and human health," said Ruoyu Wu, a leader of the research project while earning her master's degree at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability. She is now pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Florida.

Against a backdrop of changing temperatures and precipitation patterns, Wu and her colleagues performed the first large-scale systematic study of outdoor fungal spore abundance across the continental United States between 2003 and 2022. This was made possible by data collected at 55 pollen counting stations associated with the U.S. National Allergy Bureau.

The researchers found that, on average, spore allergy season was kicking off 22 days earlier in 2022 than it had been in 2003.

"This is the first time that we've been able to show that the fungal spore seasons have changed, and the change is pretty big. That's three weeks over the past two decades," said study senior author Kai Zhu, U-M associate professor of sustainability and environment and of ecology and evolutionary biology.

A 2023 epidemiological study found that, out of clinical samples collected from more than 1.6 million patients in the U.S., roughly 1 in 5 showed signs of sensitivity to fungal allergens. 

That means folks who have suspected their respiratory distress is creeping up in the calendar likely aren't imagining things and may want to start their remedies sooner, the researchers said. This finding is also important for doctors and health care professionals who offer guidance to patients and the public on preparations for allergy season.

"We also know that buildings and vegetation are huge sources of fungal spores in the air," said Yiluan Song, another leader of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at the Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society. That means another practical action item, beyond people preparing earlier for the "natural" spore season, is alleviating and preventing mold in our built environments.

In addition to its public health implications, the study also revealed ecological concerns. Beyond looking at when spore concentrations reached a threshold that would trigger allergic reactions in people, the team also examined a flexible threshold based on the accumulated spore count in the year, which might be more relevant to the timing of fungal reproduction.

Through the lens of that ecological threshold, the team still observed a season shift in spore season: Ecological spore season starts an average of 11 days earlier in 2022 across the U.S. compared with 2003.

Nevertheless, the study found that the accumulated spore count declined over the survey period. Spores are microscopic particles that fungi use to reproduce and fungi are a vital link in many of nature's food webs, as both a food source and decomposers of organic material. As climate change affects the production of these tiny organisms, it could have outsize impacts on broader ecosystems.

It appears that warming temperatures are driving the advance of spore season, while drought conditions may be responsible for decreasing spore production, Song said.

"Here, we see a very visible fingerprint of climate change," she said. "So another key action item is to try to curb climate change."

Collaborators at U-M included Jennifer Head, assistant professor of epidemiology, and Kerby Shedden, professor of statistics. Daniel Katz, assistant professor at Cornell University, and Kabir Peay, professor at Stanford University, also contributed to the study. The research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S Department of Energy, Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society, and the Schmidt Sciences program.

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Journal

GeoHealth

DOI

10.1029/2024GH001323 

Article Title

Fungal spore seasons advanced across the US over two decades of climate change

Article Publication Date

30-Jun-2025

 

Promising solution for detecting money-laundering and collusion in transaction webs

Boost accuracy and cut false alarms in credit-card, insurance, and supply-chain fraud detection

Higher Education Press

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A review by researchers at Tongji University and the University of Technology Sydney highlights the powerful role of Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) in exposing financial fraud. By revealing intricate relational patterns in transaction networks, GNNs significantly outperform traditional rule-based and classic machine learning methods. The study presents a unified framework to guide the understanding and application of GNNs across various fraud scenarios, paving the way for both implementation and future breakthroughs.

GNNs Tackle Complex Fraud Tactics by Mapping Transactional Relationships

As financial fraud grows in both scale and sophistication, it continues to erode confidence in global banking, payments, and insurance systems. GNN-based systems, however, are able to unravel the complex web of interactions between accounts, entities, and behaviors—making them adept at detecting money-laundering schemes, collusion networks, and unusual device usage that often evade conventional detection tools. Broad adoption of GNNs could mean tighter security for consumers, fewer losses for businesses, and more robust oversight for regulators—addressing an urgent need for advanced fraud defenses.

Actionable Benefits for Financial Institutions, Policymakers, and Researchers

This comprehensive review offers practical insights for multiple stakeholders. For financial institutions, embedding GNN modules into existing fraud-detection pipelines can sharpen detection accuracy and cut down on false positives, ultimately enhancing both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Policymakers may find value in GNN-driven analytics to shape smarter data-sharing regulations and transparency standards, while balancing privacy with security. Meanwhile, the research community benefits from a clear roadmap that identifies key challenges—like scalability, interpretability, and adaptability—that will shape the next wave of fraud-detection innovation.

In-Depth Analysis of GNN Types and Real-World Performance

The authors examined over 100 top-tier studies, identifying four primary types of GNNs—convolutional, attention-based, temporal, and heterogeneous—and exploring how each contributes to fraud detection. Their analysis shows that GNNs consistently outperform older methods across diverse scenarios, including credit-card fraud, insurance scams, and supply-chain anomalies. Real-world examples, such as the open-source AntiFraud project on GitHub, demonstrate the tangible benefits of GNNs—while also revealing practical challenges, like the high computational costs of processing large graphs, the need for clear model outputs, and the difficulty of keeping pace with ever-evolving fraud tactics.

A Unified Framework Backed by Rigorous Evaluation and Best Practices

To ensure both scientific rigor and real-world relevance, the researchers conducted a systematic literature review and introduced a unified analytical framework. This framework organizes GNN methodologies by architecture and fraud-detection task. The study also includes evaluations of real-world case studies, performance comparisons against traditional methods, and distilled best practices for building financial graphs—including transaction, relationship, behavioral, and information-flow graphs—and for effective feature engineering.

In short, GNNs offer a powerful and adaptable approach to detecting financial fraud, capable of learning subtle patterns that traditional models often overlook. As fraud tactics become more elaborate, the integration of scalable and interpretable GNN solutions will be critical to protecting economic systems and rebuilding public trust. This review provides a solid foundation for future research and deployment, urging collaboration between academia, industry, and regulators to unlock the full promise of graph-based fraud detection.  The complete study is accessible via DOI: 10.1007/s11704-024-40474-y.

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Journal

Frontiers of Computer Science

DOI

10.1007/s11704-024-40474-y 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Graph neural networks for financial fraud detection: a review

 

Cheese may really be giving you nightmares, scientists find

Scientists find lactose intolerance may link consuming dairy, bad dreams, and poor sleep

Frontiers

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Scientists have found that eating too much dairy could ruin your sleep. Researchers questioned more than 1,000 students about the quality of their sleep, their eating habits, and any perceived link between the two, and found a strong association between nightmares and lactose intolerance — potentially because gas or stomach pain during the night affects people’s dreams.  

“Nightmare severity is robustly associated with lactose intolerance and other food allergies,” said Dr Tore Nielsen of Université de Montréal, lead author of the article in Frontiers in Psychology. “These new findings imply that changing eating habits for people with some food sensitivities could alleviate nightmares. They could also explain why people so often blame dairy for bad dreams!” 

Sweet dreams? 

Although folk beliefs have long held that what you eat affects how you sleep, there’s very little evidence to prove or disprove them. To investigate, researchers surveyed 1,082 students at MacEwan University. They asked about sleep time and quality, dreams and nightmares, and any perceived association between different kinds of dreams and different foods. They also asked about participants’ mental and physical health and their relationship with food.  

About a third of respondents reported regular nightmares. Women were more likely to remember their dreams and to report poor sleep and nightmares, and nearly twice as likely as men to report a food intolerance or allergy. About 40% of participants said that they thought eating late at night or specific foods affected their sleep; roughly 25% thought particular foods could make their sleep worse. People who ate less healthily were more likely to have negative dreams and less likely to remember dreams. 

“We are routinely asked whether food affects dreaming — especially by journalists on food-centric holidays,” said Nielsen. “Now we have some answers.” 

Cheesy culprits 

Most participants who blamed their bad sleep on food thought sweets, spicy foods, or dairy were responsible. Only a comparatively small proportion — 5.5% of respondents — felt that what they ate affected the tone of their dreams, but many of these people said they thought sweets or dairy made their dreams more disturbing or bizarre.  

When the authors compared reports of food intolerances to reports of bad dreams and poor sleep, they found that lactose intolerance was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms, nightmares, and low sleep quality. It’s possible that eating dairy activates gastrointestinal disturbance, and the resulting discomfort affects people’s dreams and the quality of their rest.  

“Nightmares are worse for lactose intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted,” said Nielsen. “This makes sense, because we know that other bodily sensations can affect dreaming. Nightmares can be very disruptive, especially if they occur often, because they tend to awaken people from sleep in a dysphoric state. They might also produce sleep avoidance behaviors. Both symptoms can rob you of restful sleep.” 

Eat well to sleep well? 

This could also explain why fewer participants reported a link between their food and their dreams than in a previous study by Nielsen and his colleague Dr Russell Powell of MacEwan University, conducted eleven years earlier on a similar population. Improved awareness of food intolerances could mean that the students in the present study ate fewer foods likely to activate their intolerances and affect their sleep. If this is the case, then simple dietary interventions could potentially help people improve their sleep and overall health. 

However, besides the robust link between lactose intolerance and nightmares, it’s not clear how the relationship between sleep and diet works. It’s possible that people sleep less well because they eat less well, but it’s also possible that people don’t eat well because they don’t sleep well, or that another factor influences both sleep and diet. Further research will be needed to confirm these links and identify the underlying mechanisms. 

“We need to study more people of different ages, from different walks of life, and with different dietary habits to determine if our results are truly generalizable to the larger population,” said Nielsen. “Experimental studies are also needed to determine if people can truly detect the effects of specific foods on dreams. We would like to run a study in which we ask people to ingest cheese products versus some control food before sleep to see if this alters their sleep or dreams.” 

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Journal

Frontiers in Psychology

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1544475 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

More dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: Food sensitivity and dietary correlates of sleep and dreaming

Article Publication Date

1-Jul-2025