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Detailed guidance on navigating Argentinean Customs inspections, emphasizing meticulous declaration to avoid penalties and costly delays.

The Argentinean Customs House is rigorously checking vessel Store Lists and has unfortunately demonstrated an unusual diligence in identifying minor errors and omissions. While they frame this as an effort to ensure regulatory compliance, the subsequent penalties and procedural delays often result in significant financial consequences for the vessel.

Despite their willingness to thorough searches, the margin for mistake in the Store Lost drafting can be highly reduced if the following key points are taken into account. Pay close attention when declaring the following categories of goods. These items will be subject to meticulous inspection:

Goods requiring utmost attention

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Below you will find a weekly report dated 3 December 2025, covering the period of 27 November to 3 December 2025, where the following incidents were reported:

  • 2 maritime security incidents in West Africa in the last 7 days
  • 0 maritime security incidents in the Indian Ocean/Middle East in the last 7 days. 

Full advisory at the following link.

https://britanniapandi.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ARC-Weekly-Report-03.12.25.pdf

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Twelve crew members have reportedly been kidnapped from a tanker off Equatorial Guinea.

According to reports, the Portugal-flagged LPG carrier CGas Saturn was boarded on 1 December while transiting about 50 nautical miles west of Mbini.

The vessel, owned by Christiania Gas, was en route to Malabo at the time of the attack. Four crewmembers remained onboard and one was reportedly injured during the incident.

The Gulf of Guinea remains a major hotspot for maritime crime, particularly around Nigeria’s Niger Delta. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), 15 incidents were recorded in the region during the first nine months of 2025. While incident numbers remain curbed, crew safety remains a concern. Fourteen crew were kidnapped in these waters from January to September 2025. 

To remind, a general cargo ship was boarded on 7 November, approximately 75 nautical miles west of Bata, Equatorial Guinea. The vessel was underway from Houston, United States, to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with an estimated freeboard of 4.25 meters at the time of the incident.

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Port of Antwerp-Bruges and North Sea Port have launched awareness campaigns urging all port users to pause before responding to seemingly harmless requests in a bid to combat maritime drug trafficking.

A dominant method of smuggling in Belgium is the rip-on/rip-off technique, where drugs are inserted into legitimate containers, often at the point of origin, and later removed by “insiders” with authorized access, either voluntarily or under coercion from gangs.

Once a container is loaded, a vessel’s ability to detect or prevent smuggling becomes very limited. As a result, the emphasis is on maintaining vigilance in port and fully cooperating with authorities.