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The Panama Canal is in talks with U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers on how to meet increased demand for crossings as water levels recover after a prolonged drought, the canal's administrator Ricaurte Vasquez told Reuters in an interview.The canal is typically used by U.S. Gulf Coast exporters to send LNG cargoes to Asia via the Pacific Ocean, but from last year low water levels forced cuts to daily crossings, driving many producers to seek more costly or longer alternative routes.In April…

The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a May 15 hearing on the federal government's response to the collapse of a Baltimore bridge.The Dali containership crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, killing six people.The hearing will include Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy and senior officials with the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers. The NTSB is expected to announce preliminary findings from the investigation next week.Last month…

The leader of Yemen's Houthis, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said on Thursday the group would target ships of any company related to supplying or transporting goods to Israel regardless of their destination.He said this was a fourth stage of escalation in retaliation to "the Israeli aggression on Rafah" in the southern Gaza Strip."From now on, we are also thinking about the fifth stage and the sixth stage, and we have very important, sensitive and influential choices on the enemies," he added.Months of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer a

The Greek navy on Wednesday extended an advisory effectively banning ship traffic off the coast of the southeastern Peloponnese that two sources said was aimed at deterring ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil off Greece.Greece, in a rare move, over the past weeks has issued two NAVTEX notices for military exercises in the Laconian Gulf area, urging merchant and other vessels to avoid the area. One of them was issued on May 1."It was initially expiring on May 9 but was extended today…

Colombia's majority state-owned energy company Ecopetrol has held talks with big players ahead of a potential bid in an offshore wind auction organized by the country's government, Chief Executive Ricardo Roa said on Wednesday.Roa was speaking during a call with analysts regarding the company's financial results for the first quarter of 2024, where net profit dropped 29% to 4.01 trillion pesos ($1 billion) on the back of lower sales and a re-evaluation of the country's peso.Earlier this week the company told Reuters it was conducting technical…

Australia's resources minister said on Thursday she backs the long-term exploration of potential natural gas projects, setting up a potential clash with opposition lawmakers and some in the incumbent Labor Party that oppose its use.Australia, one of the world's largest producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is committed to reducing its emissions to net zero by 2050.But Resources Minister Madeline King said in a column in the Australian Financial Review on Thursday, ahead of the launch of the government's Future Gas Strategy, that "gas is needed out to 2050 and beyond.""The energy transforma

A U.S. warship sailed through the narrow Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, less than two weeks before Taiwan's new president takes office, prompting an angry denunciation from Beijing.China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.U.S. warships, and occasionally U.S. Navy patrol aircraft, pass through or over the strait about once a month.The latest mission's timing was extra sensitive…

The Olympic flame landed on French soil amid tight security on Wednesday, firing the starting gun on a summer extravaganza of sport that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will showcase the splendours of France and burnish his legacy.The flame arrived in Marseille, a port city in southern France founded by Greek merchants, after a 12-day trip from Greece onboard the Belem, a 128-year-old three-masted tall ship that once transported sugar from France's colonies in the West Indies to the metropole.The torch was brought to land by Florent Manaudou…

The Chinese state-owned company at the center of a dispute over operations of a megaport it is building on Peru's Pacific coast insisted on Tuesday on terms agreed with the government, as some local officials have sought to backtrack on the deal.Hong Kong-based Cosco Shipping Ports will defend its legal rights to provide services as the exclusive operator of the deepwater Chancay Port Terminal under "terms that were agreed at the beginning of this investment," the firm said in…

Aid for Gaza was being loaded onto a ship in Cyprus on Wednesday in what was expected to be the first cargo to be delivered using a U.S. pier built to expedite supplies to the besieged enclave.Containers were being stacked on the U.S. flagged Sagamore, docked at the port of Larnaca, on Wednesday. Some containers to the ship were labelled as aid from the United Arab Emirates.Konstantinos Letymbiotis, a Cyprus government spokesperson, said a U.S jetty built to handle aid shipments to Gaza had been completed."We are completing the loading of aid onto a U.S.

HD Hyundai Marine shares closed up 97% versus their initial public offering (IPO) price in the company's trading debut on Wednesday, after a 742 billion won ($538 million) IPO, South Korea's largest in two years.The successful listing of the ship maintenance and repair firm, backed by U.S. private equity giant KKR, paves the way for other potential offerings to come to market. Sizeable South Korean IPOs had dried up during much of 2023 on uncertain market conditions.HD Hyundai Marine Solution shares opened at 119…

A barge that capsized in February and caused a large oil spill near Tobago that also affected neighboring Caribbean islands might have picked up the fuel from Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago's energy minister Stuart Young said on Monday."The vessels were on the way to Guyana," the minister said of a barge being towed by a tug boat while revealing the results of his government's investigation on the incident.The spill, previously identified by Trinidad's authorities as fuel oil, emerged from a capsized vessel first spotted by the country's Coast Guard on Feb.

Cruise operator Royal Caribbean Group is in discussions with new and existing markets around the world to recruit thousands of workers to staff its ships and private destinations to keep up with record cruise demand.The number of people taking cruises hit a record in 2023, and with the surge in demand and larger vessels, labor needs are growing. Tourism boards and port operators from around the world said Royal Caribbean is looking to hire worldwide and the company confirmed it will hire around 10…

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index extended its rally on Tuesday to hit its highest in more than six weeks, supported by a jump in the large vessel segment.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, added 207 points, or 11.03%, to 2,083, touching its highest level since March 25."The dry bulk market has continued to outperform expectations...

Traffic was suspended in Turkey's Bosphorus on Tuesday after a bulk carrier had an engine failure at the southern end of the straits that run through Istanbul, shipping agent Tribeca said.It said that the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Alexis suffered the engine failure at 5 a.m. (0200 GMT) and that vessels were sent to the area for a likely salvage operation.(Reuters - Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)

Cambodia plans to cut shipping through Vietnamese ports by 70% as a result of a $1.7 billion China-funded upgrade of a canal connecting the Mekong River basin to the Cambodian coast, the country's deputy prime minister told Reuters.Sun Chanthol downplayed environmental concerns about the Funan Techo canal slated to break ground later this year, and dismissed speculation that it could be used to allow upriver access for Chinese warships as "baseless".The project, to be completed by 2028…

Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea.Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the northern German navy base in Wilhelmshaven.Some 40% of Europe's foreign trade flows through the South China Sea."Looking the other way…

Negotiations for the development of Tanzania's $42 billion liquefied natural gas export plant have been delayed by proposed government changes to a financial agreement reached last year, a government spokesperson and two company sources said.The government and investors announced last May they had completed negotiations on the long-delayed project to unlock Tanzania's vast offshore gas resources.Equinor and Shell are joint operators while Exxon Mobil, Pavilion Energy, Medco Energi…

As Big Oil returns this week to the industry's annual showcase for offshore energy projects and equipment in Houston, deepwater discoveries off Guyana, Namibia and the U.S. Gulf Coast will take the spotlight.Offshore exploration had dimmed after the U.S. shale boom ushered in new and cheaper-to-tap supplies of oil, and as past offshore cost overruns pushed deepwater projects onto the industry's backburner.Newer deepwater projects have the attributes oil and gas companies are looking for: longer-term production…

The European Union would ban trans-shipment of Russian LNG, the use of EU ports by vessels transporting goods contributing to Russia's war effort and make EU operators more accountable for any sanctions violations, according to a text under discussion.The text seen by Reuters on Monday covers proposals that would constitute a 14th package of sanctions against Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine now being debated by EU members before it enters force.According to the proposals presented to EU envoys on Friday…

Disruption to Red Sea container shipping is rising, Maersk said on Monday, forecasting this will cut the industry's capacity between Asia and Europe by up to 20% in the second quarter.Maersk and other shipping companies have diverted vessels around Africa's Cape of Good Hope since December to avoid attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militants in the Red Sea, with the longer voyage times pushing freight rates higher."The risk zone has expanded, and attacks are reaching further offshore…

The U.S. Navy's efforts to build a fleet of unmanned vessels are faltering because the Pentagon remains wedded to big shipbuilding projects, according to some officials and company executives, exposing a weakness as sea drones reshape naval warfare.The lethal effectiveness of sea drones has been demonstrated in the Black Sea where Ukraine has deployed remote-controlled speed boats packed with explosives to sink Russian frigates and minesweepers since late 2022.Yemeni-backed Houthi rebels have employed similar vessels against commercial shipping in the Red Sea in recent months…

Workers at Australian state-owned submarine builder ASC Ltd began on Monday a campaign of strikes for higher wages that could disrupt maintenance for Australia's submarines even as it prepares to build the nuclear-powered AUKUS fleet.Roughly 300 workers at ASC's Osborne shipyard in South Australia walked off the job for an hour on Monday, and a separate meeting of union members voted to continue some form of strikes indefinitely, a union official told Reuters.Osborne is where ASC and British firm BAE Systems will jointly build Australia's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines…