SeaLead operated vessel transits through Strait of Hormuz

According to Seatrade Maritimes News, the Antigua-Barbuda flagged container ship Paya Lebar has traded both into and back out of the Arabian Gulf between April 13-28.

The SeaLead Shipping operated and owned Paya Lebar transited westbound through the Strait of Hormuz westbound into the Gulf on April 13 having been at anchor in Nhava Sheva, India since late March.

While in the Gulf the vessel called at Jebel Ali and Khalifa ports in the UAE and Hamad in Qatar.

The Paya Lebar crossed the Strait of Hormuz eastbound on April 29 - passing the approximate location of the US naval blockade in the Arabian Sea as it heads back to Nhava Sheva.

The movements of the Paya Lebar would imply a change in policy by SeaLead which said on March 02 in customer advisory it had halted all transits through the Strait of Hormuz for the safety of its crews, ships, and cargoes.

In July last year the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 16 container ships the company had on charter over links with Iran. SeaLead acted to quickly terminate the charters on the 16 vessels and denied it had ties with Iran.

However, in March this year the US Department of Justice filed civil forfeiture complaints seeking to seize US$2.4 million in funds allegedly intended for SeaLead Shipping and its Indian subsidiary, as part of a broader action targeting more than US$15.3 million tied to a sanctions-evasion network linked to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader.

 

 

 

New Red Sea Services Launched

According to Seatrade Maritime News, global line Ocean Network Express (ONE) and regional player SeaLead have announced new services calling at ports in, or at the entrance to, the Red Sea.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) said is launching a new weekly service Red Sea Gulf India 2 (RG2). The new service calls Mundra, Jebel Ali, Jeddah, Sohkna, and Aqaba.

The new service will provide additional coverage as well as increasing connectivity and frequency to the Red Sea, on top of ONE’s existing Red Sea Gulf India Service (RGI).

The largest container lines, including ONE, have rerouted nearly all their long-haul services between Asia – Europe/ Med and the US East Coast via the Cape of Good Hope due to the security situation in the Red Sea and to avoid the threat of Houthi attack.

ONE has also suspended its Asia Red Sea 1 service which normally connects Northeast Asia and Red Sea via Southeast Asia.

However, for trades within the Middle East region to Red Sea ports there are few other viable options than to continue sailing through the Red Sea.

Regional player SeaLead is one of those that has continued to sail through the Red Sea and has add3d a new Far East India Djibouti (FID) service that starts on September 05, 2024.

New service calls Djibouti which is on the African shore of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow waterway at the southern entrance to the Red Sea where the Houthi in Yemen have launched attacks on commercial ships transiting the waters since last November.

Suleyman Avci, Global Chief Executive Officer at SeaLead, said, "This service is a strategic step forward, enhancing our capabilities in China, India, and East Africa. By leveraging Djibouti's crucial maritime hub, which connects the Red Sea, we are providing greater coverage and ensuring faster, more reliable connections for our customers, solidifying SeaLead's role in shaping global trade."

The FID service originates in Shanghai, calling Ningbo, Nansha, Port Klang, Colombo, Nhava Sheva, and Mundra before reaching Djibouti.

According to SeaLead’s website it operates an India – Turkiye service, Turkiye – Red Sea that connects to the Port of Jeddah, and a China – East Asia – Turkiye route, all of which transit the Red Sea.