Bridget Diakun
Senior Risk and Compliance Analyst, Lloyd’s List Intelligence
Bridget Diakun joined Lloyd’s List Intelligence in January 2022 as a data journalist. She initially worked on understanding the impact that the war in Ukraine had on commercial shipping in the Black and Caspian seas.
In 2023, she was named 'Multimedia Journalist of the Year' by the Seahorse Freight Association for her extensive investigation into the trade out of the occupied ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk.
Now Lloyd’s List’s senior risk and compliance analyst, Bridget focuses on the intersection of geopolitics and commercial shipping. She assesses the impact of conflict on seaborne trade, how the maritime industry adapts to sanctions and investigates tactics used by vessels to disguise illicit activities.
Latest From Bridget Diakun
Flag states to receive due diligence support amid pressure to crackdown on shadow fleet
Efforts to strengthen compliance processes at the flag state level are welcomed, although some are sceptical about the uptake among certain registries
Bab el Mandeb transits hit highest level in nearly two years
Sentiment has been building for a Red Sea return for some time now, and while the traffic is trending upwards it also suggests that this is not a quick rebound
Iran and Venezuela are the shadow fleet’s top recruiters
Sanctioned crude barrels in floating storage are at an all-time high while there is less non-designated tonnage available, which is putting pressure on Iran and Venezuela to replenish vessel supply to keep up their exports
From zombie tankers to fake IMO numbers: the identity frauds now playing out at sea
Sanctioned tankers wanting a second life are actively stealing and inventing identities, abusing the global ship-tracking system itself
Red Sea shipping traffic growing but box bosses still weighing up a big bang return
Yemen’s Houthis have signalled a halt to their attacks on ships, and shipowners appear to be responding with a five-month uptick in vessels transiting the Bab el Mandeb. But an end to more than two years of disruption to global maritime trade is realistically only going to end once the major lines return, potentially en masse
Peak shadow fleet is still to come
As long as there is demand for sanctioned barrels the shadow fleet will continue to expand