Kaalbye Shipping International Ltd or Kaalbye Group is a Ukrainian

shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

which is mostly involved in the transport of military equipment.

History

The company is headquartered in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

, Ukraine but officially registered in the

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

. They have branches in other countries such as

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

and work in commercial, chartering and technical management of cargo fleet. In May 1998, they obtained a Safety Management Certificate which permitted them to run passenger ships in compliance with the requirements of the

International Safety Management Code The International Safety Management (ISM) Code is the International Maritime Organization (IMO) standard for the safe management and operation of ships at sea. The purpose of the ISM Code * To ensure safety at sea and prevent damage to proper ...

. Annually Kaalbye Shipping transports more than 800,000 tonnes of cargo. In 2000 they purchased the '' MS Shota Rustaveli'', built in 1968.

List of ships

*215613 – OCEAN FORCE Barge Carrier1983 Belize *9111216 – OCEAN VOYAGER General Cargo Ship1 St Vincent and Grenadines *9117753 – LS AIZENSHTAT Container Ship St Vincent and Grenadines *9179842 – OCEAN ENERGY Ro-Ro Cargo Ship Liberia *9179854 – OCEAN POWER Ro-Ro Cargo Ship Liberia *9512422 – OCEAN WINNER General Cargo Ship Liberia *9512434 – OCEAN FORTUNE General Cargo Ship Liberia

Operations

2008 MV Faina incident

On September 25, 2008, a ship named the ''

MV Faina Merchant vessel, MV ''Faina'' () was a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship operated by a Ukraine, Ukrainian company that sailed under a Belize flag of convenience, owned by Panama City-based Waterlux AG, and managed by Tomex Team of Odesa, Ukraine. On ...

'', heading to

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

(with an alleged end destination of

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

) with

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet Union, Soviet main battle tanks that entered production in 1973. The T-72 was a development based on the T-64 using thought and design of the previous Object 167M. About 25,000 T-72 tanks have been built, and refu ...

tanks and other small arms and ammunition, was captured by

Somali pirates Horn of Africa * Somali Peninsula, a region of East Africa, also known as "The Horn of Africa" * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Greater Somalia ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali culture ...

. A ransom of $3.2 million was paid for the ship's release. Some sources have reported Kaalbye as the owning and operating company of the ship, though a call to the company could not confirm ownership.

Center for Advanced Defense Studies report and lawsuit

On April 11 2014, the

Center for Advanced Defense Studies The Center for Advanced Defense Studies is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal ...

(C4ADS), a Washington, D.C.–based conflict research group, filed a complaint requesting a declaratory judgment and anti-suit injunction in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against Kaalbye Shipping International Ltd, Global Strategic Communications Group (Kaalbye's public relations firm) and Peter Hannaford, senior consultant at GSCP, for shipping arms to Syria, China, Venezuela, and Angola. A report published by C4ADS alleges that Kaalbye Group is closely affiliated with powerful politicians in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The report was cited in the Washington Post and other media.

Arms to Syria

Kaalbye has been accused of sending arms to Syria to be used in that country's civil war. Kaayble Group has disputed the allegations and the Washington Post would post a correction apologizing for supporting the allegations.

Iraq

In February 2018, in a legitimate arms sale, the Kaalbye-owned ship OCEAN ENERGY carried

T-90S The T-90 is a third-generation Russian main battle tank developed from, and designed to replace the T-72. It uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, the 1A45T fire-control system, an upgraded engine, and gunner's thermal sight. Standard p ...

tanks from

Ust-Luga Ust-Luga (, Votic: ''Laugasuu'', both meaning 'mouth of the Luga', , ) is a settlement and railway station in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, near the Estonian border, situated on the Luga River near its entry into the Luga ...

Umm Qasr Umm Qasr (, also transliterated as ''Um-qasir'', ''Um-qasser, Um Qasr. Kurdish: ئومقەسڕ, Ûmqêsir'') is a port city in southern Iraq. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah estuary which leads to the P ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

References

External links

Official site
Shipping companies of Ukraine {{Ukraine-company-stub