OCEAN STAR 7 (IMO 8586983) detained at Hachinohe, October 2026
The Panama-flagged general cargo ship Ocean Star 7 was detained at Hachinohe, Japan, on 9 October 2026, marking her third detention in under four years under the same Hong Kong-based manager. The vessel, classed by Intermaritime Certification Services, has accumulated 123 deficiencies across 29 port state control inspections since early 2022, a record that places her firmly in the very high risk category.
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Ocean Star 7 was detained at Hachinohe, Japan, on 9 October 2026. The number of deficiencies recorded at detention has not yet been published. The vessel's recognised organisation is Intermaritime Certification Services (ICS), and her ISM company is listed as Xiangyu Int'l Shipping Ltd. At the time of the report, the vessel was underway with a destination of Kawasaki, Japan, and an ETA of 16 October, indicating she had been released or was in the process of being released.
The vessel
Ocean Star 7 is a 2009-built general cargo ship of 2,996 GT and 5,186 DWT, measuring 96 metres LOA with a beam of 15.8 metres. She flies the Panama flag, which she has carried since January 2022, and is classed by Intermaritime Certification Services, a classification society outside the IACS membership. The vessel trades exclusively in East Asia, shuttling between Japan, Vietnam, China, and South Korea. She has carried three names in her 17-year life: Hua Xiang 666 from build in 2009, then Yuan Chen 17 under the Chinese flag from March 2017, before becoming Ocean Star 7 under Panamanian registry in January 2022.
Inspection history
The inspection record is extensive and troubling. Since February 2022, Ocean Star 7 has undergone 29 port state control inspections, all within the Tokyo MoU region, accumulating 123 deficiencies and two detentions prior to the current one at Hachinohe. That is an average of 4.2 deficiencies per inspection, a figure well above the norm for a vessel of this type and size. The first detention came at Incheon, South Korea, on 1 February 2023, when inspectors recorded 21 deficiencies in a single visit. The second occurred at Mizushima, Japan, on 1 July 2025, with 13 deficiencies. Both required follow-up inspections before the vessel was cleared. Japanese inspectors have been particularly active. The most recent inspection before the Hachinohe detention took place at Akitafunagawa on 9 July 2026, where eight deficiencies were found spanning fire safety, life-saving appliances, ISM compliance, radio communications, navigation, watertight integrity, and documentation. Oil accumulation in the engine room and problems with survival craft launching arrangements were among the items flagged. That inspection did not result in detention, but the breadth of categories involved is notable. The pattern is consistent: inspections in Japan routinely produce high deficiency counts (8 at Misumi in November 2024, 11 at Niigata in January 2025, 13 at Mizushima in July 2025, 8 at Akitafunagawa in July 2026), while Vietnamese and Chinese inspections tend to yield lower numbers. The December 2023 inspection at Moji/Kitakyushu produced 13 deficiencies without a detention. The September 2023 inspection at Dalian found 14. The vessel has never recorded a clean initial inspection; deficiency counts in the mid-single digits represent her best outings.
Ownership and management
The vessel is registered to Win Star Shipping Co Ltd, a Hong Kong-incorporated entity with a fleet of just two vessels. Win Star's registered address is care of Xiangyu Int'l Shipping Ltd, the ISM manager, ship manager, and commercial manager, which operates from Lockhart Road in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, and controls a fleet of four ships. Xiangyu took over both ISM and commercial management in January and February 2022, at the same time the vessel was reflagged from China to Panama and renamed from Yuan Chen 17 to Ocean Star 7. The previous owner and manager was Weihai Xunda Shipping Co Ltd, a Chinese company that held the vessel from March 2017. The simultaneous change of flag, name, owner, and manager in early 2022 represents a complete identity reset. Since that transition, management has been stable; the score model records zero churn. The problem is not turnover. The record shows that all three detentions and the entirety of the 123-deficiency tally have accumulated under Xiangyu's watch.
Risk profile
VesselScore rates Ocean Star 7 at 40 out of 100, placing her in the very high risk band with a modelled detention probability of 11.8%. Every major risk component is at or near maximum. Deficiency rate scores 15 out of 15 (worst possible). Prior detentions score 20 out of 20. Severity mix, reflecting the spread of deficiency categories across safety-critical areas, scores 10 out of 10. Age baseline contributes another 10 out of 10, reflecting the vessel's 2009 build year. The flag and class combination adds a modest 2 out of 10, consistent with Panama's performance within the Tokyo MoU and the use of a non-IACS classification society. AIS behaviour contributes 3 out of 5, driven by three recorded loitering events rather than any AIS gaps. On the positive side, the vessel shows no sanctions exposure and no casualty record. Manager churn scores zero, reflecting stability in the management chain since 2022. But these clean readings do little to offset the overwhelming weight of the inspection and detention history.
What to watch
This is the vessel's third detention since Xiangyu Int'l Shipping took over management. Under Tokyo MoU rules, a third detention within a rolling period can trigger an extended ban from the region. Charterers and underwriters should confirm whether this detention activates any banning provisions and monitor the release timeline closely. The vessel's AIS track shows her underway toward Kawasaki with an ETA of 16 October, but the terms of release and any outstanding rectification requirements remain to be confirmed. Given the deficiency count at Akitafunagawa just three months earlier, and the pattern of recurring findings across fire safety, life-saving appliances, and ISM, the next inspection in a Japanese port is all but certain to receive heightened scrutiny.
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