WHITE FIN (IMO 9607291) detained at Yingkou, October 2026
The Malta-flagged Supramax bulker WHITE FIN has been detained at the Chinese port of Yingkou on 10 October 2026. This is the vessel's third detention in a 15-year career, and the second time she has been held by authorities in the Asia-Pacific region, following a high-deficiency detention by AMSA in Australia in December 2020. The vessel has been under the same Istanbul-based manager since delivery, making this a record worth scrutinising for charterers assessing operator quality rather than ownership churn.
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WHITE FIN was detained at Yingkou, China, on 10 October 2026. The detention was recorded in the THETIS system. The vessel's recognised organisation is Bureau Veritas and the ISM company is listed as Finner Ship Management Ltd. No deficiency codes or deficiency count have been published at the time of writing. The vessel's AIS destination was listed as Bayuquan, a port district within Yingkou, with an ETA of 8 October. Notably, WHITE FIN had been inspected at the same port of Yingkou in January 2026 as a follow-up inspection, clearing with zero deficiencies. Returning to the same port and being detained less than nine months later is a significant development.
The vessel
WHITE FIN is a 56,780 DWT geared bulk carrier built in 2011 at Zhoushan Shipyard in Zhoushan, China. She measures 189.99 metres LOA with a beam of 32.26 metres, and has a gross tonnage of 33,042. She is powered by a MAN B&W 6S50MC-C8 two-stroke diesel engine and is fitted with four 30-tonne cranes, making her a self-discharging Supramax. The vessel has flown the Maltese flag and carried the name WHITE FIN since November 2011, with no flag or name changes on record. She is classed by Bureau Veritas, an IACS member, with classification recorded since September 2013. At 15 years old, she sits in the mid-life bracket for bulkers, old enough that maintenance discipline begins to show in PSC results.
Inspection history
The record contains 47 PSC inspections across eight MoU regimes spanning February 2012 to May 2026, with two prior detentions and a cumulative 133 deficiencies (an average of 2.8 per inspection). That headline rate is modest, but the distribution tells a more complex story. The first detention came at Setúbal, Portugal, in September 2016 under the Paris MoU, with six deficiencies recorded during a more detailed inspection. The second, and more alarming, was at Port Kembla, Australia, in December 2020 under the Indian Ocean MoU, where AMSA found 27 deficiencies in a single initial inspection. That figure is exceptionally high for a vessel under ten years old at the time. It took two follow-up inspections on consecutive days before the vessel cleared. Between detentions, the vessel has shown volatility. Many inspections return zero deficiencies, particularly in West Africa (Abuja MoU) and parts of Asia. But European inspections under the Paris MoU have consistently been tougher: Ravenna alone produced inspections with 14 deficiencies (June 2023), 9 deficiencies (November 2022), and 5 deficiencies (January 2024). Rotterdam logged 13 deficiencies in May 2025 without triggering a detention. A pattern emerges: the vessel tends to accumulate higher deficiency counts when subjected to expanded or more detailed inspections in stringent MoU regimes. In the Tokyo MoU area, where this detention occurred, the vessel has been inspected 17 times previously with mixed results. The 2020 AMSA detention aside, deficiency counts have ranged from zero to seven. The January 2026 follow-up inspection at Yingkou itself was clean, which makes this detention less than five months after a clean Abuja MoU inspection in Dakar a notable reversal.
Ownership and management
The vessel is registered to White Fin Shipping Ltd, incorporated in Msida, Malta, which has been the registered owner since November 2011. Prior to that, from the vessel's delivery in July 2011, ownership was recorded under Ulusoy Denizyollari, a Turkish shipping group. The transition to the current Maltese SPV took place within months of delivery. Finner Ship Management Ltd, headquartered in Besiktas, Istanbul, has held both the ship manager/commercial manager and ISM manager roles since 16 November 2011. That is a continuous 15-year management tenure with no changes, which is uncommon in the bulk carrier market. Finner operates a fleet of just four vessels. The absence of management churn means there is no change-of-hands period to which declining standards can be attributed; the full inspection record, including all three detentions, falls under one manager.
Risk profile
VesselScore rates WHITE FIN at 62.6 out of 100, placing her in the "average risk" band with a modelled detention probability of 3.03%. The score was generated on the day of the detention itself, so it does not reflect the current event. The strongest positive signals are zero points lost on manager churn (no changes since delivery), flag and class risk (Malta flag, BV class, both well-regarded), sanctions (clear), and casualties (clean record). The detention history component scores zero penalty because the two prior detentions are outside the relevant rolling window. The score is dragged down by a near-maximum deficiency rate component (14.4 out of 15 points, meaning the rate is low and beneficial), but several mid-range factors erode the total. Age baseline contributes 6.8 out of 10. Fuel efficiency versus peers scores 6.5 out of 10 based on 2024 MRV data against 3,726 comparable vessels. Hull condition shows a 14.4% degradation, scoring only 2.4 out of 5. AIS behaviour records one gap and three loitering events, scoring 4.0 out of 5. The 62.6 score is respectable but not strong. For a vessel with stable management and a solid flag/class combination, the recurring high-deficiency inspections and periodic detentions prevent the score from reaching the upper tier.
What to watch
Charterers and underwriters should monitor the release conditions and the deficiency list once published. The absence of deficiency codes at reporting time means it is not yet clear whether the detention was driven by structural, safety equipment, or documentation issues. Given the vessel's history of high deficiency counts in detailed inspections (27 at Port Kembla, 14 at Ravenna, 13 at Rotterdam), the nature of the findings will be telling. This is the third detention for a vessel under continuous management by a small four-ship operator. While the prior detentions fell outside the rolling calculation window, this new event will reset that clock and increase the vessel's targeting probability in both Paris and Tokyo MoU systems. Any charterer fixing WHITE FIN for European or Australian trades should factor in the near-certainty of expanded inspections on subsequent port calls. The next PSC inspection result, and the speed of release from Yingkou, will be key data points.
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