Transshipment at sea
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Transshipment or transhipment at sea is done by transferring goods such as cargo,
personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
, and
equipment Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tools or other objects commonly used to achieve a particular objective. Different job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and ...
from one ship to another. It is a common practice in global
fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
and typically takes place between smaller fishing vessels and large specialized refrigerated transport vessels, also referred to as “ reefers” that onload catch and deliver supplies if necessary. Transshipment at sea is driven by economic and logistic performance as well as the potential to avoid control measures.Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2016
Global Study on Transshipment: Regulations, practices, monitoring and control
19. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
It has been criticized as enabling
illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes pl ...
(IUU), marine life depletion through
overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...
, forced labor,
human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
,
human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
,Environmental Justice Foundation (2010)
All at Sea: The Abuse of Human Rights aboard Illegal Fishing Vessels
'' 9. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
and the smuggling of weapons and
drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
.


Economic importance

Transshipping their catch allows fishing vessels to remain at sea for months or even years and cover large areas of fishing grounds. Many distant-water fishing fleets depend on transshipment at sea as a major factor of their support lines, supplying them with fuel, fishing bait, food, water, and new crew members. Due to their size and freezing capacities, few reefers can service many fishing vessels over a long period of time, making it more economical than having the entire fishing fleet return to a port to offload its catch. The transshipment vessels also guarantee that caught fish swiftly finds its way to the markets, without a decrease in quality. Transshipment at sea is especially important to the profitability of fisheries targeting: *
demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...
- or coastal-pelagic species on the
continental shelves A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...
that generate high-volume catch as it allows vessels with limited hold capacities to continue fishing without returning to a port *
highly migratory species Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...
, such as tuna, sharks and billfishes on the high seas that generate high-value catch as few fishing vessels possess the deep-freezing facilities necessary to preserve the freshness and thus the market-value.


Transshipment detection

Establishing a reliable overview of transshipment at sea encounters is complicated by several factors: * Vessel encounters at sea are not unusual, which is why ships engaging in transshipment seldom attract attention. * International reporting obligations, observing mechanisms, and control capacities are vastly different depending on the regulatory authority in charge. Some regulatory frameworks that restrict transshipment simultaneously provide loopholes such as leaving reporting obligations in the hands of the flag state. * Data on transshipment is often considered sensitive business information and not made accessible to the public. * Detecting transshipment at sea is further complicated by vessels "going dark", for which there can be a valid reason such as the fear of piracy but also the intent to avoid official scrutiny as indicated by the frequency at which this behavior is encountered. Automatic identification system (AIS) signals can be used to track vessels over time and map potential transshipment behavior, especially since most refrigerated cargo vessels are larger than 300 gross tonnage and thus required to carry AIS. To identify transshipment at sea encounters, a team from
Global Fishing Watch ''Global Fishing Watch'' is a website launched in September 2016 by Google in partnership with Oceana (non-profit group), Oceana and SkyTruth "to provide the world’s first global view of commercial fishing activities." At any moment, 200,000 ve ...
synchronized AIS broadcasts with fishery registry entries collected over a period of five years from 2012 to 2017. They narrowed down the refrigerated cargo vessels capable of transshipping fish at sea during that time to a total of 694 worldwide. Furthermore, they found 10,233 likely transshipment encounters between fishing- and transshipment vessels, which is a conservative estimate since it neglects fishing vessels that turn off their AIS. They also reported 46,570 instances of transshipment vessels loitering long enough on their own to potentially receive a transshipment, which while accounting for vessels "going dark", likely overestimates the total amount of transshipment encounters. In 2018, Global Fishing Watch has released an interactive map on its website, showing likely transshipment at sea encounters in near-real time. One way to address the limitations of AIS tracking and detect "dark" vessels is to make use of
synthetic-aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...
(SAR) and electro-optical imagery (EO). However, this requires the target location to be known well in advance, which can be determined by analyzing patterns in the supply chain and vessel behaviors such as focusing on locations where vessels often turn off AIS signals. Skylight, a company founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, has developed a maritime information system for governments and other organizations combining AIS,
satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...
(SAR and EO), machine learning algorithms, and
network analysis Network analysis can refer to: * Network theory, the analysis of relations through mathematical graphs ** Social network analysis, network theory applied to social relations * Network analysis (electrical circuits) See also *Network planning and ...
to detect transshipments and
illegal fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes pl ...
in real time.


Regional distribution and patterns

The transshipment encounters identified by Global Fishing Watch show clear regional patterns of prevalence with Russia listed as its own region due to its disproportionately high share of events (24,9% of the total of likely transshipment events), followed by Africa (8,6%), Oceania (4,9%),
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
(2,8%), Europe (2,6%), South America (2,3%), and Asia (2,1%). There is a particularly high density of events in the
Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...
, and the Russian Barents Sea, which can be explained by standard operations made necessary by the long distances between the fishing grounds and the ports of Vladivostok and Murmansk. Over half of the events occurred on the high seas beyond national jurisdiction (51,8%), frequently in international waters off the coast of Russia,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, Argentina, and Peru in the vicinity of large squid fleets and near the Exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of East-African countries. In the case of Peru and Argentina, events tend to cluster at the edge of their EEZs, raising concerns about fishing vessels "going dark" by turning off their AIS while illegally fishing in national waters. Using a subset of the dataset put together by Global Fishing Fishing Watch, researchers found that regional patterns of likely transshipment behavior can be further discerned by the type of ships used in the encounters:
Trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler, a converted trawler, or a boat built in that style, used for naval purposes ** Trawlers of the Royal Navy * Recreational trawler, a pleasure boat built tra ...
were most common within national waters particularly in the northern hemisphere, purse-seiners were predominant in the Western-Pacific Ocean, longliners mainly amassed in the equatorial regions in tropical and subtropical waters, and squid jiggers clustered along the edges of South-American EEZs as well as off the coast of Eastern Russia and Japan.


Flag distribution and pairings

The fishing vessels involved in likely transshipment encounters as identified by Global Fishing Watch were flagged under a diverse array of nations with Russia (45%) making up almost half of them, followed by
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(14,5%), the United States (US) (12%), Taiwan (8,6%), South Korea (7,3%), and Japan (5,7%). Contrary to fishing vessels, it is a common practice for transshipment vessels to change flag registration over time. This is reflected by a high percentage (43%) of transshipment vessels involved in likely transshipment encounters sailing under a flag of convenience, a flag different than the country of ownership. Among them, there are countries like Panama (20,2% of the total of likely transshipment encounters),
Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
(5,4%) and Vanuatu (13,3%), listed by the
International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...
(ITF) as particularly lax on restrictions and oversight. While Russian fishing vessels predominantly paired with Russian transshipment vessels and the same can be observed for the US, there is a propensity for Chinese, Taiwanese, South Korean and Japanese fishing vessels to make use of transshipment vessels sailing under a flag of convenience country.


Transshipment regulation

Transshipment at sea is regulated by coastal states within their EEZs as determined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) in international waters. Within Zones, that neither fall under national jurisdiction nor that of an RFMO only flag state control measures apply. Several states have imposed a temporary or permanent ban of transshipment at sea within their EEZs or for vessels sailing under their flag: * Europe: The European Union Council IUU regulation prohibits transshipment at sea between third country fishing vessels as well as between third country fishing vessels and fishing vessels flying the flag of an EU member state within community waters. * Latin America: Chile has banned on transshipment at sea within their EEZs. Belize only authorizes the practice in case of a ''
force majeure In contract law, (from Law French: 'overwhelming force', ) is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such ...
'' with an observer or an effective transshipment program in place. * Africa: Guinea-Bissau, as well as
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
and Senegal prohibit transshipment at sea within their EEZs. In Ghana, a variant of transshipment called ''“Saiko”'', that involves foreign vessels selling their catch to local fishing canoes was considered illegal until September 2018. * Asia and Oceania: Transshipment at sea is illegal within the EEZs of Indonesia, and
Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...
. Thailand enforced a number of measures, directed at strengthening their control of overseas fishing including a temporary ban of transshipment for Thai fishing vessels in international waters in 2017. There are considerable variations in RFMO regulations on transshipment at sea. Measures range from requirements related to authorization and notification, vessel monitoring systems, data-sharing, joint inspection schemes, and observer schemes to partial bans, with conditions attached and complete bans. So far, the
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission , motto = , formation = , type = tuna regional fishery management organisation , status = International organization , purpose = Fisheries management , headquarters = La Jolla, San Diego, United Sta ...
(IATTC), the
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas / es, Comisión Internacional para la Conservación del Atún Atlántico (CICAA) , motto = , formation = , type = tuna regional fishery management organisation , status = , purpose = Fisheries manag ...
(ICCAT), the
Indian Ocean Tuna Commission , motto = , formation = , type = International organization , status = , purpose = Fisheries , headquarters = Victoria, Seychelles , membership = 32 state me ...
(IOTC), the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) have issued a partial ban, precluding certain vessels from engaging in transshipment at sea activities under their jurisdiction. The South East Atlantic Fisheries Organization (SEAFO) has prohibited transshipment at sea for all vessels. Major reforms, such as a ban require a vote by the commission overseeing the respective RFMO, carried into force by either a simple majority (e.g. ICCAT), a two-thirds majority (e.g. IOTC), or a unanimous agreement (e.g. SEAFO and WCPFC).


Transshipment at sea and crime

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognizes unauthorized and unregulated transshipment at sea operations as an economic driver with the potential to circumvent existing IUU regulations and has included guidelines on the practice in its International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. To obscure IUU fishing, illegally caught fish can for instance be combined with legal catch, transshipped to vessels that carry legal documentation, and offloaded in ports of convenience, that are known to have minimal regulatory- and inspection standards. Some civil society organizations have been particularly outspoken about the impact of transshipment on human rights.
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
has conducted several investigations revealing widespread human rights abuses in the operations of Thai overseas fishing companies, as well as cases of human trafficking, severe mistreatment and modern-day slavery in Taiwan's distant water fisheries industry. The Environmental Justice Foundation also documented forced labor onboard of Thai fishing vessels as well as the use of mother ships for human trafficking off the West-African coast. These and other inquiries reveal how recruiters use false promises and non-binding verbal agreements to lure
migrants Migrant may refer to: Human migration *Human migration *Emigration, leaving one's resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere *Immigration, movement into a country with the intent to settle * Economic migrant, someone who emigrates from o ...
onboard fishing vessels, where
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
, debt-bondage, and transshipments help to keep them confined for months or even years, often under conditions detrimental to their health Transshipment at sea has also been associated with drug trafficking. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) fishing- and transshipment vessels play a role in the smuggling of cocaine, and
amphetamine-type stimulants Amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) are a group of synthetic drugs that are chemical derivatives of the parent compound alpha-methylphenethylamine, also known as amphetamine. Common ATS includes amphetamine, methamphetamine, ephedrine, pseudoephedr ...
(ATS) The office reported several instances of cocaine seizures on fishing vessels used by South-American, European, and African drug syndicates to transship their illicit goods to smaller speedboats or larger mother ships. ATS and ATS precursor materials like
opiate An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonis ...
s or
coca leaves Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
are also transshipped via fishing boats and have for instance been linked to the illegal
abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...
trade in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, New Zealand and South Africa.United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (2011)
Transnational Organized Crime in the Fishing Industry: Focus on Trafficking in Persons, Smuggling of Migrants, Illicit Drug Trafficking
'' 86-87. Retrieved 29 May 2019.


See also

* Transshipment * Vessel Monitoring System * Flags of Convenience * Fisheries Law * Maritime Security *
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes pl ...


References

Fishing industry Cargo ships Reefer shipping companies Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing