On February 21st, 2023, Skytek recorded that 58 ships aggregating a market value of $440 million remained trapped and unable to sail out from the Ukrainian seaports.
As the milestone of 12 months since the beginning of the conflict is approaching, owners of trapped vessels would be able to claim Constructive Total Loss (CTL) for their assets. To support the insurance industry to accurately update the list of trapped assets in the area, and to cope with the lack of AIS signal of vessels in this area, Skytek tasked and acquired the latest high-resolution satellite imagery, allowing the generation of an accurate updated list of trapped vessels and their conditions. This list can be made available upon request, together with up-to-date satellite imagery and information on the vessel’s conditions.
In November 2020 (MEPC 75), the IMO approved amendments to MARPOL Annex VI to introduce a new technical efficiency standard for in-service vessels – the ‘Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index’ (EEXI). The standard was adopted in June 2021 (MEPC 76), along with the issuance of the necessary guidelines on baselines, methods of calculations and ship-segment-specific requirements.
On July 27th, 2022, the United Nations (UN) secretary general announced the implementation of a UN initiative to allow commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny, valid for three months and due for renegotiation on November 17th.
Skytek recorded 340 unique merchant vessels registered with the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) until October 27th, approved to enter Ukraine, and performed 402 voyages (some ships carried out 5 voyages during the period) under the UN initiative.
The Bosphorus Strait is the narrowest strait used for international navigation, connecting the Black and the Marmara seas and separating Europe from Asia. Around 170 vessels transit each day and the waiting areas both North and South of the strait have always been congested, often ships having to wait hours or days before being planned for transit.
Following Hurricane Ian making landfall on September 28th, 2022, Skytek has collected data and information to provide the industry with the knowledge to assess the scale of damage brought by this event.
Our initial assessment of high-resolution aerial imagery from the Sanibel Island and Fort Myers areas shows a large number of buildings to be structurally intact with roofs remaining in place. This could be related to the reconstruction of several properties in these areas post the Hurricane Charley event in 2004 where stricter building code regulations were then applied.
This report provides an update to the information about the ongoing situation of Hurricane Ian, as previously published by Skytek on September 27th, 2022.
The latest forecast provides an updated trajectory for this hurricane, with a clear shift to the East by comparison with the initial forecast.