YA QING HAI YANG (IMO 1021570) detained at Myrflesan Ankring, October 2026
A four-year-old Chinese-built deck cargo ship has been detained in Norway with its flag register withdrawn, its ISM manager listed as unknown, and its third management change in two years on record. The vessel was already detained in China just ten weeks earlier for 11 deficiencies spanning certificates, fire safety, watertight integrity, and propulsion, making this the second detention in a rapid sequence for a ship whose operational identity has been in near-constant flux since late 2024.
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YA QING HAI YANG was detained on 14 October 2026 at Myrflesan Ankring, Norway. The THETIS record lists the vessel's flag status as "Register Withdrawn," with no recognised organisation and no ISM company identified. The deficiency count and specific deficiency codes for this detention have not yet been published. At the time of the report, the vessel was at anchor in the North East Atlantic, drawing 5.6 metres, with an ETA of 18 October listed for a destination coded "N0ZNY."
The vessel
YA QING HAI YANG is a 2022-built deck cargo ship of 16,809 GT and 24,623 DWT, measuring 153 metres LOA with a 42-metre beam. That beam-to-length ratio marks her out as a wide, heavy-lift or project cargo platform rather than a conventional general cargo vessel. She was built in China and has been registered under her current name only since July 2026. Before that she traded as Ocean 28 from September 2024, having originally entered service as Ya Qing Hai Yang. The vessel is classed by Zianlian Chuen with a status listed as "Delivered." The classification society is not a member of IACS, which is relevant context for any charterer or underwriter assessing survey standards. The flag record is notably volatile: the vessel started under the Chinese flag, switched to Panama in September 2024, returned briefly to the Chinese flag in January 2025, moved to Guyana in February 2025, and then to Guatemala in July 2026. At the time of detention, the flag is recorded as withdrawn entirely.
Inspection history
The recorded PSC history is remarkably thin for a vessel that has been in service since 2022: just two inspections, both conducted in Zhuhai, China, by the Tokyo MoU authority within days of each other. On 31 July 2026, an initial inspection yielded 11 deficiencies and a detention. The deficiency spread was wide, covering seven distinct categories: ship certificates (cargo ship safety construction and continuous synopsis record), fire safety (means of escape and other fire safety issues), safety of navigation (working language), watertight integrity (freeboard marks, ventilator/air pipe closings, and other load line issues), alarms (steering gear alarm), propulsion (main engine), and crew certificates (seafarers' employment agreement). That breadth, across structural, operational, and documentation domains, is not the profile of a single system failure. A follow-up inspection on 2 August 2026 recorded zero deficiencies, indicating the vessel was released after rectification. The average deficiency rate across the two recorded inspections stands at 5.5 per inspection. There are no inspections on record from the Paris MoU or any other regional regime, despite the vessel now operating in North European waters. The current detention in Norway will be the vessel's first Paris MoU encounter in the available record.
Ownership and management
Guangdong Yaqing Shipping Co has been the registered owner since the vessel was delivered in April 2022 and initially served as ship manager as well. The management chain has since changed hands repeatedly. The ISM manager role was listed as unknown from June 2023 before Hongkong Yaqing Shipping Co Ltd took over both the ISM manager and ship manager/commercial manager roles in September 2024, coinciding with the name change to Ocean 28 and the reflagging to Panama. In July 2026, management shifted again: Hongkong Lilac Shipping Ltd assumed the ship manager/commercial manager role, and the ISM manager was once again recorded as unknown. That is four management transitions in four years of service, with the ISM manager role unidentified at the time of both the July 2026 Zhuhai detention and the current Norwegian detention. The registered owner in Guangzhou and the rotating cast of Hong Kong-based managers are linked by name (Yaqing), but the July 2026 switch to Hongkong Lilac Shipping Ltd breaks that pattern.
Risk profile
VesselScore rates YA QING HAI YANG at 44.9 out of 100, placing her in the "Average risk" calibration band with a modelled detention probability of 3.51%. The score is heavily loaded by three components running at or near maximum penalty: the deficiency rate component scores 15 out of 15 (full penalty), severity mix scores 10 out of 10, and flag/class risk scores 8 out of 10. Manager churn contributes 7.5 out of a possible 15 points, reflecting the documented turnover in management roles. The detention component itself scores 10 out of 20, based on the single prior detention at Zhuhai. Age, at just four years, contributes only 1.6 points out of 10, the one area where the vessel would normally benefit. AIS behaviour analysis flagged three loitering events and no transmission gaps. Sanctions screening returned clear. What stands out is that a relatively young vessel is accumulating risk points almost entirely through operational and administrative deficiencies rather than age-related degradation. The withdrawn flag status, non-IACS class society, and unknown ISM manager are precisely the combination that port state control authorities in the Paris MoU will scrutinize closely.
What to watch
The immediate question is whether the vessel can re-establish a valid flag registration and produce a named ISM manager before Norwegian authorities will consider releasing her. Without a recognised flag state and an identified ISM company, the vessel is effectively stateless from a regulatory standpoint. Charterers should note that the vessel has never been inspected under the Paris MoU prior to this detention; the Norwegian inspection will set her baseline in that regime, and any detention will place her on the Paris MoU targeting matrix for heightened scrutiny on subsequent port calls in Europe. The management transition to Hongkong Lilac Shipping Ltd is less than three months old, and the company's track record with this vessel remains untested outside the Chinese PSC system. Marine underwriters should closely monitor the classification status with Zianlian Chuen and whether valid statutory certificates can be produced.
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