HOPA (IMO 9684213) detained at Vancouver, September 2026
The Malta-flagged bulker HOPA was detained in Vancouver on 27 September 2026, marking only the second detention in the vessel's 13-year service life. The first, at Tangshan in June 2015, was over 11 years ago, making this a notable break in what has been one of the cleaner PSC records among Turkish-managed tonnage.
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HOPA was detained at the port of Vancouver, Canada, on 27 September 2026. The detention was recorded via THETIS, with Lloyd's Register listed as the recognised organisation and Ciner Ship Management as the ISM company. No deficiency codes or deficiency count have been published at the time of this briefing, so the specific grounds for the detention remain undisclosed. The vessel's AIS destination at the time of reporting was Vung Tau, Vietnam, with an ETA of 25 October.
The vessel
HOPA is a 63,301 dwt geared bulk carrier built in 2013 at Dayang Shipbuilding in Yangzhou, China. She measures 199.99 metres LOA with a beam of 32.26 metres, with a gross tonnage of 35,812. The vessel is powered by a MAN B&W 5S60ME-C8 two-stroke diesel and fitted with four cranes. She has sailed under the Maltese flag since delivery in November 2013 and has never changed flag. Originally named Hopa I, she was renamed HOPA in July 2018. Classification is with Lloyd's Register; a Bureau Veritas entry on record has a status of "withdrawn" dating from December 2013, consistent with a class transfer at or shortly after delivery.
Inspection history
The vessel's PSC record is extensive and, until now, remarkably clean. Across 48 inspections spanning January 2014 to March 2026, the vessel accumulated just 30 deficiencies and a single detention. That detention came early in the ship's life, at Tangshan, China, on 3 June 2015, when four deficiencies were recorded; a follow-up inspection two days later cleared the vessel. In the 11 years since, HOPA passed through 40 inspections without being held. The deficiency rate of 0.6 per inspection is low. Of those 48 inspections, 34 returned zero deficiencies. The most notable recent blemish was a nine-deficiency inspection at Qinzhou, China, on 23 March 2026, though that did not result in detention. A follow-up inspection a week later in Nghe An, Vietnam, found no deficiencies. The vessel has been inspected across eight MoU regimes: Tokyo (14), Vina del Mar (12), Paris (7), Mediterranean (5), USCG (4), Abuja (2), Black Sea (2), and Indian Ocean (2). She cleared all four USCG examinations with zero deficiencies. The Qinzhou inspection in March 2026 is the highest single-inspection deficiency count on record and, viewed alongside the Vancouver detention six months later, represents a deterioration from the vessel's long-standing baseline.
Ownership and management
Ciner Ship Management, headquartered in Istanbul, has managed HOPA commercially since delivery in November 2013 and has served as ISM manager since March 2014. This is a long and stable management tenure of over 12 years, and the VesselScore model records zero manager churn. Ciner operates a fleet of seven vessels. Registered ownership changed in February 2025, when Tack Shipping SA, a Panama City-registered entity with a fleet of 17 vessels and a country code indicating Greek interests, replaced the original owner, Hopa Navigation Ltd. The ownership change is the only significant corporate event in the vessel's history.
Risk profile
HOPA carries a VesselScore of 64.8 out of 100, placing her in the "average risk" calibration band with a modelled detention probability of 3.24%. The score is dragged down principally by three components. The detention history component (c2) scores 10.0 out of 20, reflecting the 2015 Tangshan detention, which, though distant, still weighs in the model. The deficiency rate component (c1) scores 8.3 out of 15, consistent with the vessel's low but non-zero deficiency accumulation. The age baseline component (c6) contributes 5.9 out of 10, reflecting the vessel's 13 years of service. On the positive side, flag and class risk (c5) scores zero penalty, consistent with the Malta flag and Lloyd's Register classification, both well-regarded. Manager churn (c4) also scores zero, reflecting Ciner's long tenure. Sanctions screening is clear, and no marine casualties are recorded. AIS behaviour analysis detected three loitering events but no dark-activity gaps. Hull condition shows only 4.2% degradation, scoring just 0.7 penalty points out of 5. Overall, the profile is that of a solidly average vessel where the current detention was not strongly predicted by the model.
What to watch
The immediate priority is the release from Vancouver and the nature of the deficiencies once Transport Canada publishes full details. The nine-deficiency inspection at Qinzhou in March 2026, followed by this detention six months later, is a pattern worth monitoring; two elevated events in a single calendar year is new territory for this vessel. The ownership transfer to Tack Shipping SA in February 2025 predates both events. Charterers should request the full deficiency breakdown from Vancouver and confirm current certificate validity, particularly the SMC and ISSC, whose most recent recorded expiry dates in the data are from the 2019-2024 cycle. A clean follow-up inspection will be essential before the vessel resumes trading in jurisdictions with concentrated PSC targeting.
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