SKOON A (IMO 8592982) detained at Dalian, October 2026
The Panama-flagged general cargo ship SKOON A was detained at Dalian, China on 4 October 2026, her second detention in 18 months under the same Hong Kong-based manager. The vessel, classed by the minor classification society Intermaritime Certification Services, has accumulated 58 deficiencies across 17 inspections since late 2022, a record that made this outcome more predictable than surprising.
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SKOON A was detained at the port of Dalian, China on 4 October 2026. The detention was recorded against Intermaritime Certification Services (ICS) as the vessel's recognised organisation, with Long Win International Shipping Co Ltd listed as ISM company. Specific deficiency codes for this detention have not yet been published. At the time of detention, the vessel's AIS destination was listed as Tomakomai, Japan, with an ETA of 12 October.
The vessel
SKOON A is an 18-year-old general cargo ship built in 2008, measuring 97 metres LOA with a beam of 15.8 metres, 2,972 GT and 5,055 DWT. She flies the Panamanian flag, which she has carried since September 2022, and is classed by Intermaritime Certification Services, S.A., a smaller classification society outside the IACS membership. The vessel has operated under three names: she was originally Wan Mu Chun 16 from 2008, became Jia Liang 16 in September 2018 when she reflagged to China, and took her current name in September 2022 when she moved to the Panama registry. She currently trades in East Asian waters, calling regularly at ports in Vietnam, China, South Korea, and Japan.
Inspection history
The inspection record tells the story of a vessel that is inspected frequently and found wanting consistently. Since October 2022, SKOON A has undergone 17 port state control inspections, all within the Tokyo MoU. Of those, 10 were initial inspections and seven were follow-up inspections, which itself is notable: follow-up inspections are triggered when an initial inspection finds conditions serious enough to require re-examination. The vessel has accumulated 58 total deficiencies across these inspections, yielding an average of 3.4 per inspection. That average is inflated by several high-count inspections. In February 2026 at Osaka, Japan found 13 deficiencies. In September 2025 at Nagoya, Japan recorded 10 deficiencies. In April 2025 at Pohang, South Korea found 13 deficiencies and detained the vessel, the only prior detention on record. That Pohang detention was broad in scope, spanning 10 deficiency categories including fire safety, water and weathertight conditions, ISM-related issues, crew certificates, life-saving appliances, and working conditions. The ISM deficiency is significant: it indicates systemic failures in safety management rather than isolated equipment problems. Fire safety deficiencies recur throughout the record. The first inspection under current management, at Kushiro, Japan in October 2022, flagged fire-fighting equipment readiness and crew certificate issues. The most recent inspection before the current detention, at Haiphong in July 2026, again found fire door deficiencies alongside a MARPOL Annex I alarm issue. Fire safety has appeared in at least four separate inspections across the full history. The pattern is clear: deficiencies are found, follow-up inspections confirm rectification, and then fresh deficiencies surface at the next port.
Ownership and management
The vessel is owned by Skoon Bulk Shipping Co Ltd, a single-purpose entity whose registered address is care of the manager. Ship management, commercial management, and ISM management are all held by Long Win International Shipping Co Ltd, a Hong Kong-based operator with a fleet of just three vessels. Long Win took over all management roles on 20 September 2022, the same date the vessel was re-registered under her current name and Panamanian flag. The company history shows a brief period in August 2022 when the ISM manager was listed as "Unknown," which corresponds to the transition between the vessel's Chinese registration and her current ownership structure. There has been no management churn since the initial appointment in September 2022; Long Win has held all roles continuously for four years. The small fleet size is worth noting for underwriters: a three-vessel operator has limited resources for shore-side technical superintendence and safety management systems compared to larger managers.
Risk profile
VesselScore rates SKOON A at 51 out of 100, placing her in the "Elevated attention" calibration band with a modelled detention probability of 7.4%. Three components drove the score to its maximum penalty. The deficiency rate component scored 15 out of 15, reflecting the persistently high count of findings across inspections. The severity mix component scored 10 out of 10, indicating that the types of deficiencies found are disproportionately serious. The age baseline also scored the maximum 10 out of 10, unsurprising for an 18-year-old vessel. The prior detention at Pohang in April 2025 contributed 10 out of a possible 20 points on the detention component. The flag and class combination added a modest 2 out of 10 points; Panama is a widely used flag, but Intermaritime Certification Services is a smaller class society that carries a higher risk weighting than IACS members. AIS behaviour analysis recorded two loitering events but no signal gaps, adding 2 points. No sanctions exposure or casualty history was identified. Management churn scored zero, reflecting stability in the ownership chain. The overall picture is a vessel where operational condition and age are the primary risk drivers, not corporate instability.
What to watch
The immediate question is the release timeline and what deficiencies Chinese authorities have identified. Given that this is the vessel's second detention in 18 months, Tokyo MoU targeting algorithms will flag SKOON A for priority inspection at her next port call. Her stated destination is Tomakomai, Japan; Japanese authorities have already recorded high deficiency counts at Osaka and Nagoya in recent inspections and can be expected to conduct a thorough examination on arrival. Charterers should request sight of the detention release report and any conditions imposed. Underwriters should note the recurring fire safety deficiency pattern and the ISM finding from the Pohang detention, which together point to systemic condition issues rather than one-off lapses. The vessel's classification status with ICS is listed as "Delivered," and any change in that status would be a material development.
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