A Bulk Carrier Attacked by Houthi 突发！一艘散货船遭遇胡塞袭击！

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On October 28th, a bulk carrier flying the Libyan flag was attacked by Houthi armed forces while crossing the Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. The ship's captain reported an explosion nearby, just 150 meters away from the vessel. Within the following two hours, two more explosions occurred within 200 meters of the ship.

10月28日，一艘悬挂利比亚国旗的散货船在穿越红海曼德海峡时遭遇胡塞武装袭击，该货船船长报告称附近发生了爆炸，距离该船仅150米，在之后的两个小时内附近又发生了两次爆炸，在距离船只200米的地方。

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations stated that the ship was not hit, the crew was safe, and the vessel continued to its next port of call.

英国皇家海军英国海上贸易行动（UKMTO）称，该船没有被击中，船员安全，并正在继续前往下一个停靠港。

On the evening of October 28th, a Houthi spokesman confirmed the attack on the ship and claimed unverified attacks on two other container ships in the Arabian Sea.

10月28日晚，胡塞武装发言人证实了对该船发动了袭击，并声称对阿拉伯海的另外两艘集装箱船进行了未经证实的袭击。

As early as March of this year, a cargo ship flying the Barbadian flag, departing from China, suffered a Houthi anti-ship missile attack near the Port of Aden in Yemen, causing severe damage to the hull, three crew members were unfortunately killed, and four were injured.

早在今年3月，一艘悬挂巴巴多斯国旗的货轮从中国出发，当其行驶至也门亚丁港附近时，遭受了胡塞反舰导弹的袭击，导致船身遭受重创，三名船员不幸死亡，四人受伤。

From the various actions of the Houthi armed force, it is evident that terrorist attacks have caused irreversible harm to global shipping. In addition to terrorist attacks and piracy, shipping also faces other risks.

据胡塞武装种种行为可知，恐怖袭击已对全球航运造成了不可逆转的危害。除恐怖袭击和海盗外，航运还存在其他风险。

International trade goods may be subject to various risks during the process of maritime transportation, loading and unloading, and storage. The first is maritime risk, which is mainly natural disasters and accidents, and external risks, which are mainly theft, moisture, damage, etc. of goods during transportation, or risks and losses caused by political, national bans and regulatory measures such as war, strikes, and refusal to deliver goods.

国际贸易货物在海上运输，装卸和储存过程中，可能会遭到各种不同风险。首先是海上风险，主要就是自然灾害和意外事故，还有外来风险，主要是货物在运输途中被偷窃或者受潮、碰损等，或是由于战争、罢工、拒绝交付货等政治、国家禁令及管制措施所造成的风险与损失。

It is worth noting that there are also risks of maritime fraud in the trade process. Generally defined as one party in international goods trade and shipping intentionally providing false information or deliberately concealing the truth, promising to fulfill certain trade, transportation, or financial obligations for another party, in order to induce the other party to make incorrect expressions, thereby illegally obtaining the other party's money, goods, or ships. It is mainly divided into the following aspects:

值得注意的是，在贸易过程中还存在海事欺诈风险。普遍定义为，在国际货物贸易和航运过程中，一方当事人故意告知对方虚假情况或故意隐瞒真实情况，承诺为另一方当事人履行某项特定贸易、运输或金钱方面的义务，以诱使对方当事人作出错误的表示，从而借机以非法手段谋取对方当事人的金钱、货物或船舶的行为。主要分为以下几个方面：

1.Document Fraud

1.单据欺诈

Document fraud, is the most common and primary form of international maritime fraud. It mainly includes bills of lading, commercial invoices, insurance policies, certificates of origin, quality certificates, inspection certificates, consular invoices, etc. Unscrupulous merchants forge these documents to meet the requirements of letters of credit and use them to defraud payment for goods.

单据欺诈又称文件欺诈，它是国际海事欺诈中最常见、最主要的形式。主要包括海运提单、商业发票、保险单、原产地证明书、质量证明书、商检证明书、领事发票等。不法商人通过伪造符合信用证要求的上述文件，用以结汇骗取货款。

2.Vessel Fraud

2. 船舶欺诈

Vessel fraud refers to fraudulent acts carried out by shipowners using vessels, mainly in the form of sinking ship fraud and phantom ship fraud. Due to the high cost, great risk, and potential for leaks associated with sinking ship fraud, unscrupulous shipowners tend to use phantom ship for scams. The owner of a phantom ship is essentially a shell company, sometimes established just two days before the operation begins, and using temporary office locations, making such shipowners untrustworthy and extremely dangerous for transporting goods.

船舶欺诈是指船东利用船舶进行的欺诈行为，主要有沉船欺诈和鬼船欺诈两种方式。由于沉船欺诈成本高、风险大、易泄密，故而不法船东更倾向于利用“鬼船”进行诈骗。鬼船的船东实际上是一家皮包公司，有时甚至在开始行动的前两天才设立，并且采用临时性的办公地点，因此这类船东不可信，若让这种船东运输货物，则是非常危险的。

3.Charter Party Fraud

3.租船合同欺诈

Charter party fraud can be divided into two types: time charter fraud and voyage charter fraud.

租船合同欺诈可以分为定期租船合同欺诈与航次租船合同欺诈两种。

In time charter fraud, fraudsters first register a shell company in a distant tax haven, then sign a time charter contract with the shipowner as the charterer. After receiving the initial rent and taking possession of the vessel, the fraudster renames the ship and re-leases it as a second shipowner in a voyage charter. Once the vessel is loaded with goods at the port of loading, issues a prepaid shipping bill of lading for the goods, and deposits the prepaid freight into their own account, they declare bankruptcy or flee.

在定期租船合同诈骗中，诈骗者先在遥远的避税港登记成立一间皮包公司，然后以承租人的身份与船东签订定期租船合同。诈骗者交付首期租金将船租到手后，再将船舶重新命名并以船舶的二船东身份将其以航程租用方式转租出去。在装运港满载货物，签发货物的预付装船提单，并将所收预付运费存入自己的账号后，宣布破产或者干脆逃之夭夭。

Under voyage charter conditions, the freight is calculated based on the distance of the voyage. The charterer first pays the freight to the shipowner, and the goods are successfully loaded onto the ship. However, during maritime transport, the shipowner demands changes in payment terms or an increase in payment standards for various reasons, otherwise, the ship may deviate from its course or transfer the goods to another region for sale. To avoid greater losses, the cargo owner has no choice but to accept the shipowner's terms.

在航次租船的条件下，租金是以航程远近来计算的。承租人首先预付运费给船东，货物得以顺利装船。可是在海上运输中，船东又以种种理由要求更改支付条件或提高支付标准，否则船舶绕航或者转船把货物在其他地区卖掉。货主为了避免更大的损失，只得接受船东的条件。

4.Marine Insurance Fraud

4.海上保险欺诈

Marine insurance fraud refers to the act of insured or beneficiaries fabricating insurance subjects, intentionally forging or falsely reporting insurance accidents, with the intention of defrauding insurance compensation in marine insurance business. Marine insurance has developed with international trade and maritime transport; it serves international trade and is an integral part of it. However, for a long time, unscrupulous merchants or shipowners have violated the principle of honesty and credit, using the opportunity to insure with insurance companies to cause losses to ships and goods, and then claim compensation from the insurance companies to defraud large sums of compensation.

海上保险的欺诈是指在海上保险业务中，被保险人或受益人以虚构保险标的、故意伪造或谎报保险事故等方法，意图骗取保险赔偿的行为。海上保险是随着国际贸易和海上运输的发展而发展的，它本身服务于国际贸易，并且构成国际贸易的一个不可分割的组成部分。但是，长期以来，不法商人或船东违反诚实信用的原则，利用向保险公司投保的机会，造成船货损失，再向保险公司索赔，从而骗取大笔赔款。

Maritime fraud often involves large sums of money, so measures must be taken to counter its occurrence.

海事诈骗往往伴随着大笔金额，所以必须采取措施应对其发生。

1.Enhance awareness of foreign trade risks and strengthen credit investigations of partners.

1.增强外贸风险意识，并加强对合作方的资信调查。  

Before signing trade contracts with foreign parties, it is necessary to investigate in detail the partner's name, form of responsibility, registered capital, business scope, and the true situation of the legal representative, legal qualification certificates, business licenses, balance sheets, bank accounts, business reputation, operating performance, and even the authorization letter of the contracting representative.

在与外方签订贸易合同前，必须详细调查合作方的名称、责任形式、注册资本、经营范围以及法定代表人的真实情况、法人资格证书、营业执照、资产负债表、开户银行和商业信誉、经营业绩甚至签约代表的授权委托书等等。

2.Choose appropriate trade terms to prevent loopholes.

2.选择合适的贸易条款，防止漏洞的发生。

Ensure that the conditions for contract performance are not easily changed during the execution of the contract; when signing import and export contracts, attention should be paid to choosing trade terms that are advantageous to one's own side. In China's export trade, efforts should be made to use CIF and CFR terms; in import trade, FOB terms can be used.

要确保在合同的执行过程中，不轻易改变合同履行的条件；在签订进出口合同时应注意选择对己方有利的贸易术语。在我国的出口贸易中，应尽量争取采用CIF和CFR条件；而在进口贸易中，可采用FOB条件。

3.Choose safe vessels, strengthen supervision, and keep abreast of shipping status.

3.选择安全的船舶，加强监督，并及时掌握船舶的航运状态。

Choose reputable shipping companies for the transportation of goods, and when goods are loaded at the port of loading, send personnel to verify the goods and the condition of the vessel; after the goods are shipped, the buyer should always be aware of the vessel's course and regularly inquire about the vessel's position from the carrier or shipowner.

要选择资信良好的船舶公司进行货物的装运，货物在装运港装船时，可派人随同核查货物和船舶的情况；货物起航后，买方应该随时了解船舶的航向，并且定期向承运人或船东查询船舶的方位。

4.Strengthen legal protection awareness and actively take legal remedies.

4.加强法律保护意识，积极采取法律救济手段。

Enhance legal protection awareness, strictly review contract terms to eliminate loopholes, and actively seek legal remedies and recover economic losses after fraud occurs. After the incident, the parties should timely file a claim within the claim period. In the case of arbitration, firstly try to conduct it in the country where the shipowner is located. Secondly, choose an international arbitration institution with a good reputation.

加强法律保护意识，严格审查合同条款从而杜绝漏洞，在欺诈发生之后积极寻求法律救济途径和挽回经济损失方面。案发之后，当事人应在索赔期限内及时提出索赔请求，在仲裁方式下，首先要尽量争取在我国国内仲裁机构进行。其次，可选择口碑良好的国际仲裁机构仲裁。

E-PORTS is a third-party platform with rich port and shipping resources that can intelligently match the best ports, service providers, and service plans according to customer needs, reducing manual inquiries and consultations caused by poor information flow, as well as time costs. At the same time, shipowners, shipping agents, or shipping suppliers can all obtain digital service support from the platform, efficiently communicate online with any party in the business in real-time, and effectively avoid operational risks associated with email transactions and online fraud through platform operations, enhancing risk control capabilities. For more information, please call 400-9208810 for consultation.

E-PORTS是拥有丰富港航资源的第三方平台，可根据客户需求智能匹配最优的港口、服务商和服务方案，减少了因信息不通畅而产生的人工查询和咨询,减少了时间成本。同时，船东方和船代方，或是航运供应商，都可以从平台获得数字化的服务支持，高效地与业务内的任意一方进行实时线上沟通，通过平台进行操作可以有效的规避经营中所存在的邮件交易风险和网络诈骗，提升风险把控能力。如需了解更多，可拨打 400-9208810 咨询。