On Monday, a freight train with 28 passenger buses powered by new energy sources departed from the Dulain International Land Port Station in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, to Vientiane, capital of Laos. Guizhou /Southwest China/ to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. This is the first time that a special train has been launched in Guizhou Province. Guizhou Province has launched a special train to export vehicles to Laos since the opening of the China-Laos Railway.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) today at approximately 04:00 shot down a cargo airplane in the Malha area of North Darfur, claiming that they had eliminated an Antonov airplane used as a bomber by the Sudanese military.

However, evidence from the wreckage suggests that this airplane actually was part of an airlift sponsored by the United Arab Emirates in support of the RSF itself. Jubilant fighters on the ground who filmed the wreckage seemed not to have realized that they had shot down a cargo plane used for their own supply and logistics.

Ali Rizkallah ‘Savannah,’ a prominent RSF commander in North Darfur, appeared in one video at the scene of the crash (below), saying they had used “guided missiles” to bring down the “Egyptian Antonov.” (This rhetoric follows the lead of the RSF commander-in-chief, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who recently accused the “treacherous Egyptian Air Force” of bombing his troops).

In fact, the wreckage is that of an Ilyushin-76, and one of the crew members was carrying a crew badge (in the video below) identifying him as the main engineer for “Airline Transport Incorporation FZC,” a company based in the United Arab Emirates, with has ties to Kyrgyzstan. The crewman’s badge said “Manas International Airport,” which is the main international airport of Kyrgyzstan.

Another crewman had a Russian passport. Although these documents survived the wreck, there were no reported surviving crew, and the aircraft was largely incinerated, creating a large impact crater. The typical IL-76 crew has five members.

Another piece of wreckage belonged to New Way Cargo Airlines, which has taken part in a UAE airlift to Amdjarass in eastern Chad, according to a recent investigation by the Conflict Observatory, a research consortium funded by the U.S. State Department.

Conflict Observatory identified several Kyrgyz Ilyushin-76 aircraft involved in the UAE’s airlift to Amdjarass, Chad, including two operated by New Way Cargo Airlines (EX-76010 and EX-76015), which has aircraft based in Ras al-Khaima, UAE.

In total, the investigation identified seven flights by known cargo planes and an additional 35 unidentified cargo flights to Amdjarass Airport between June 2023 and May 2024, when the research period ended. The UAE claims this airlift was for humanitarian purposes, but the researchers at Conflict Observatory said almost certainly the cargo plaines were bringing military supplies, corroborating previous findings by other sources, including a UN Panel of Experts, and The New York Times.

Conflict Observatory noted that one of New Way Airlines’s airplanes previously took part in an airlift supporting General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army forces in violation of a Security Council arms embargo, according to a UN report. The UAE’s arms deliveries to Darfur likewise violate an arms embargo, which the Security Council imposed in 2004 during the previous war in Darfur.

Additionally, unidentified cargo planes have landed recently in Nyala, South Darfur, which observers have speculated were bringing supplies and evacuating wounded RSF fighters. The last such flight landed at Nyala Airport four nights ago, according to eyewitnesses living in the Jabal neighborhood.

RSF troops in North Darfur likely would not have known anything about secret nighttime flights in South Darfur coordinated by the paramilitary’s leadership. Instead, they would have been on the lookout for Sudanese Air Force warplanes, which have routinely carried out bombings in North Darfur against both civilians and RSF targets.

Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023 between the Sudanese military and its former ally, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which originated as a collective of ethnic Arab militias in Darfur. The war has gutted the nation’s capital, displaced a quarter of the population, wrecked the economy, and plunged parts of Sudan into famine.

Turkey’s Ministry of Internal Affairs responded to last week’s capture of a Turkish-owned cargo ship involved in drug smuggling promising cooperation with the ongoing investigation by Spanish and French forces. A Turkish-owned cargo ship drew the attention of the authorities after it embarked on what the Spanish authorities termed a unique “uneconomical” voyage.

Working together as part of an ongoing operation in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, Spanish and French authorities apprehended the Ras while the vessel was 130 miles from Lanzarote. Built in 1994, the cargo ship is 2,500 dwt and 230 feet (70 meters) and is currently registered in Tanzania. According to databases, the ship appears to have changed owners in July 2024.

Spain’s police and tax authority reports it was attracted to the vessel because of the unique nature of its movements, something the Turkish authorities are also confirming after the investigation. Spanish and French forces patrolling in the region were alerted to the ship after an EU monitoring operation based in Lisbon and Spanish forces detected the movements of the ship.

“On this occasion, investigators were struck by the fact that the cargo ship was undertaking an uneconomical voyage, having set sail from Turkey, sailed across the Mediterranean to the Atlantic front, then to Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau without having loaded or unloaded any merchandise and, after carrying out erratic maneuvers, heading for the Iberian Peninsula,” stated the Spanish authorities.

The Special Operations patrol boat Petrel of Spain’s Customs Surveillance Service and the French customs patrol boat DPF-3 intercepted the Ras on October 4. Aboard they found a crew of 10 consisting of seven Turkish nationals including the captain, two Azerbaijani nationals, and one Dutch citizen. All of them were initially detained and questioned and now have been arrested as part of the ongoing investigation.

BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) have developed a guide aiming to help the shipping industry understand and reduce underwater radiated noise from ships and help the industry implement the underwater noise guidelines from the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The attention to underwater radiated noise from ships has significantly increased over the last few years and the demand for action has risen due to its negative effects on marine creatures and the environment, according to the two industry bodies.

Commercial shipping is one of the main contributors to underwater noise at low frequencies and research has shown that the noise is harmful to the critical life functions of a wide range of marine life.

“Ocean noise harms the critical life functions of a wide range of marine life, including marine mammals, fish and invertebrate species, which many coastal communities, especially indigenous communities, depend on for their food, livelihoods and cultures. Reducing underwater radiated noise from ships is not merely a matter of environmental stewardship; it is of critical importance to ensure ocean health,” said Michelle Sanders, Alternate Permanent Representative of Canada to the IMO.

To support action from the shipping industry, BIMCO and ICS encourage all shipowners and operators to recognise the importance of reducing underwater noise and to take the necessary steps to successfully implement the IMO guidelines.

To facilitate this, the “Underwater Radiated Noise Guide” from BIMCO and ICS explores the sources of underwater noise and its far-reaching impact on marine life. It also explains the content of the IMO guidelines and how to set up a noise management plan and looks at the scope of regional regulations and voluntary measures.

Lastly, the guide explores the relationship between various energy efficiency measures and underwater noise. Various studies, including one sponsored by ICS, have found that the majority of energy efficiency measures also reduce underwater radiated noise. This guide provides a list of such measures together with estimates of the energy efficiency and underwater radiated noise improvements. For the few measures that do not produce this co-benefit, the guide gives practical advice on how to avoid or mitigate these.

“Energy efficient ships are quiet ships. As our industry cuts greenhouse gas emissions through the uptake of energy efficiency measures, the level of underwater radiated noise will also reduce and help protect marine life and the environment,” commented David Loosley, BIMCO Secretary General & CEO.

The BIMCO/ICS guide is aimed at technical superintendents and ship officers to help them understand what underwater radiated noise is and how they can help reduce it.

Kazakhstan’s Transport Ministry hosted the first meeting of the working group on cargo transportation along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route between Kazakhstan and China, Kazinform News Agency reports.

According to the ministry's press service, the sides discussed and agreed on the projected volumes of cargo flow from China along the TITR on from China to Europe and back until the end of 2029. Through joint efforts, the parties are set to raise the volume of transportation along the TITR in 2025-2026 to 600 container trains each year, to 1,000 in 2027, and to 2,000 in 2029.

On top of that, the Kazakh side will take measures to build appropriate infrastructure in the domestic ports to ensure timely transportation of containers and prevention of delays.

Thus, it is projected that at least 50 thousand standard containers will be transshipped per year in 2025. In 2026-2029, this figure is expected to increase to at least 85 thousand containers per year.

“Today we are actively working to ensure transit flows between Europe, Central Asia and China. In 2023, the volume of cargo transportation amounted to 2.76 million tons, which is 65% more than in 2022 (1.7 million tons),” the Kazakh side noted.

Kazakhstan is currently implementing a number of projects on its section of the route, such as the construction of the second track on the Dostyk-Moiynty railway section, Almaty bypass railway, and the new Darbaza-Maktaaral railway line between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Measures are also taken to develop capacity of the Aktau and Kuryk seaports. A container hub is set to be built in the Aktau Port, which will let additionally increase the volume of transportation to 300,000 TEU per year. A grain terminal will be commissioned in the Kuryk Port this year.

Sarzha multifunctional terminal is under construction as well.

The working group expressed confidence that these measures will increase the throughput capacity of Kazakhstan's ports to 30 million tons per year (+ 10 million tons).