HT GOLDEN (IMO 1015806) detained at Guangzhou, October 2026
The Panama-flagged deck cargo ship HT GOLDEN has been detained in Guangzhou on 12 October 2026, marking its first detention in a short operational life. The vessel, built in 2022 and only four years old, has been under its current manager for barely a month, following a pattern of management turnover that is the single largest risk factor in its profile.
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HT GOLDEN was detained in Guangzhou, China, on 12 October 2026 following a port state control inspection. The detention was recorded in THETIS with Isthmus Bureau of Shipping (IBS) listed as the recognised organisation and Dongzheng Boyang Shipping Co Ltd as the ISM company. No deficiency count or specific deficiency codes have been published at the time of this briefing. The vessel was moored and showing a destination of Port Klang, Malaysia, with an ETA of 21 October.
The vessel
HT GOLDEN is a 2022-built deck cargo ship of 18,218 GT and 12,000 DWT, measuring 130 metres LOA with a 28-metre beam. She was built in China, initially registered under the Chinese flag as Jian Zhou Zhi Xing in May 2022, and reflagged to Panama in June 2022, adopting her current name the following month. Classification is held by Isthmus Bureau of Shipping, with a second class notation from Zianlian Chuen also recorded, though both show a status of "Delivered" with no effective dates provided. At four years old, the vessel is young by any standard, and the age component of her risk score reflects that. The combination of a non-IACS class society and a flag state that routinely appears on Paris and Tokyo MoU grey or target lists is, however, a profile that attracts PSC attention.
Inspection history
The vessel has undergone seven PSC inspections since July 2023, all within the Tokyo MoU region and all conducted by Chinese authorities. Across those seven inspections, 14 deficiencies were recorded, yielding an average deficiency rate of 2.0 per inspection. None of the prior inspections resulted in detention, making the Guangzhou event on 12 October the vessel's first. The deficiency categories are telling for a young ship. Life saving appliances feature in three separate inspections: lifeboat deficiencies at Lianyungang in July 2023 and again at Ningde in March 2026, liferaft stowage at Lianyungang, and survival craft launching arrangements at Ningbo in May 2024. Fire safety deficiencies appeared at Ningbo in May 2024. The March 2026 inspection at Ningde also flagged ballast water crew training and an LRIT system issue. Two follow-up inspections at Lianyungang in December 2023 and one at Taizhou in September 2025 cleared with zero deficiencies, indicating the vessel has been responsive to rectification orders. The September 2025 initial inspection at Taizhou recorded five deficiencies, though the specific categories were not disclosed. That inspection came just days after Dongzheng Boyang took over management on 17 September 2025, and the five-deficiency result was the highest single-inspection count in the vessel's record prior to the current detention.
Ownership and management
The registered owner is Taizhou Chuangxiang Jianzhou, a Chinese company based in Zhejiang province with a fleet of three vessels, holding ownership since May 2023. The owner initially served as ship manager from the vessel's delivery in May 2022. Ship management and ISM responsibility passed to Hongkong Yanxi Shipping Co Ltd in mid-2023, with commercial management from 21 June 2023 and ISM management from 12 July 2023. In September 2025, both roles transferred again to Dongzheng Boyang Shipping Co, a Hong Kong-registered company with a four-vessel fleet operating from Wan Chai. Dongzheng Boyang has held all management roles since 17 September 2025, meaning it had been managing the vessel for less than four weeks at the time of detention. Three different management arrangements in four years of operation is notable turnover for a young vessel. The VesselScore model penalises this heavily: the manager churn component scored 12.5 out of a possible 15 penalty points, the single largest contributor to the vessel's overall risk score.
Risk profile
HT GOLDEN carries a VesselScore of 52.8 out of 100, placing it in the "average risk" calibration band with an estimated detention probability of 3.19%. That probability has now been realised. The three primary risk drivers are management churn (12.5 of 15 points), deficiency rate (11.1 of 15 points), and the detention history component (10.0 of 20 points), which incorporates sector and profile benchmarks even though the vessel had no prior detentions. The severity mix component scored a full 10 out of 10, reflecting the spread of deficiency categories across safety-critical areas including life saving appliances, fire safety, and pollution prevention. The vessel's youth (1.6 of 10 age points) and clean sanctions and casualty records work in its favour. The flag and class component scored only 2.0 of 10, a relatively low penalty, though Panama flag combined with IBS class is a profile that many charterers and underwriters would flag for enhanced due diligence. AIS behaviour showed no anomalies.
What to watch
The immediate question is the nature and number of deficiencies that triggered the detention, which have not yet been published. Given the vessel's recurring life saving appliance issues across multiple inspections, charterers should seek the full deficiency list once released. The vessel's stated destination of Port Klang with an ETA of 21 October will slip if release is delayed. Dongzheng Boyang's ability to manage the rectification process effectively will be an early test of the new management regime. The vessel's next inspection in any Tokyo MoU port will carry heightened targeting priority following this detention. Underwriters should note that the vessel's VesselScore will increase materially once this detention is incorporated into the model.
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