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The Wall Street Journal News

17 Jan 2024

Shell Halts All Red Sea Shipments

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British oil major Shell suspended all shipments through the Red Sea indefinitely after U.S. and U.K.

16 Jan 2024

Another Ship Hit in the Red Sea

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Disruptions to Red Sea shipping caused by Houthi attacks will push up prices of consumer goods, an executive from port and freight operator DP World said on Tuesday as a missile struck another vessel in the region.The Iran-allied Houthi militia has threatened to expand its attacks to include U.S. ships in response to American and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.Attacks by the Houthis on ships in the region since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers - an escalation of Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

29 Jun 2023

Macquarie to Divest U.S. Port Terminal Operator Ceres

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Australian financial conglomerate Macquarie Group said on Thursday it would divest its U.S.-based port terminal operator Ceres Terminals, with a source familiar with the matter placing the deal value north of $900 million.Macquarie did not disclose any further details on the deal, and declined to comment on Reuters' request seeking confirmation of the sale value.The Wall Street Journal in May reported that Macquarie was looking for about $1 billion from the sale, citing sources familiar with the matter.The deal value could be at the lower end of what the Wall Street Journal reported…

05 Jun 2023

UAE Stops Taking Part in US-led Gulf Maritime Coalition

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The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it was no longer taking part in operations by a U.S.-led task force protecting Gulf shipping, which has been subjected to renewed tanker seizures by Iranian naval forces in recent weeks.The UAE was responding to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday which, citing U.S. and Gulf sources, said the Gulf state was frustrated by the lack of U.S. response to recent tanker seizures by Iran.This was a "mischaracterisation" of conversations between the two countries…

09 May 2023

Macquarie Expects $1 Billion from Sale of US Port Terminal Operator Ceres

(File photo: Ceres Terminals)

Australia's Macquarie Group Ltd is looking to sell its North American port facilities business, Ceres Terminals, for about $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing sources familiar with the matter.The financial conglomerate acquired full control of the general cargo stevedoring operations in 2019 from Tokyo-based shipping and logistics firm Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line).Ceres moves about 4.3 million containers annually at several major ports in the United States, according to its company website.The shipping industry globally has been under pressure as supply-chain bottl

22 Mar 2023

UBS Likely to Shrink Credit Suisse's $10 Billion Shipping Portfolio

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UBS Group AG will likely shrink Credit Suisse Group's $10 billion shipping portfolio that it inherited as part of its emergency takeover on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.UBS could also try to sell the portfolio, but doing so could prompt owners to move their accounts elsewhere, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.About half of the shipping portfolio involves Greek ship owners that use their deposits in the bank's wealth management arm as collateral to finance new ships, the report added."Our wealth management business in Greece is an integral part o

22 Jul 2022

Ukraine, Russia Sign Deal to Reopen Grain Export Ports

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Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased.The accord crowned two months of talks brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, a NATO member that has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine and controls the straits leading into the Black Sea.Speaking at the signing ceremony in Istanbul, U.N. Secretary General Antonio…

28 Jun 2022

US Authorities Make Checks on Oil Tanker Arrived from Russia

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U.S. authorities have stopped an oil tanker traveling from Russia to New Orleans to check whether it is Russian in origin, a source confirmed to Reuters.The Vitol-chartered vessel was shipping intermediate oil products including vacuum gasoil and fuel oil from Russia's Taman port to New Orleans last week, according to a trading source and shipping data.The products were due to reach a Valero refinery in the New Orleans region, two sources said.The cargo was stopped by U.S.

24 Jan 2022

Dredgers Spotted Off Cambodian Base Where China is Funding Work

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Dredgers have been spotted off Cambodia’s Ream naval base, where China is funding construction work and deeper port facilities would be necessary for the docking of larger military ships, a U.S. think tank said on Friday.The United States, which has sought to push back against Beijing's extensive territorial claims and military expansion in the South China Sea, reiterated its "serious concerns" about China's construction and military presence at Ream."These developments threaten U.S.

10 Aug 2021

The Future of MASS is Drawing Closer

(Image: ASKO)

An automated vessel is one where advanced decision support systems onboard the vessel, like the Global Positioning System (GPS) and auto pilot, undertake operational decisions independent of direct human control. A Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) involves both automated systems and remote control operations. In August 2016, The Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Ship Operations Explore Autonomous Sailing.” The article suggested that by 2030 there would be remotely controlled ships and that by 2035 there would be MASS on the high seas.In 1974…

12 Mar 2021

Iranian Containership Attacked in the Mediterranean

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An Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, the state-run shipping company said on Friday, adding it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of what it called terrorism and naval piracy.The ship, Shahr e Kord, was slightly damaged in Wednesday’s incident by an explosive object which caused a small fire, but no one on board was hurt, the spokesman, Ali Ghiasian, said, according to state media.“Such terrorist acts amount to naval piracy…

14 Aug 2020

Four Tankers Carrying Iranian Fuel Cargoes to US for Seizure

Tankers carrying Iranian fuel cargoes covered by a U.S. warrant for seizure are sailing to the United States after talks between U.S. authorities and ship owners, a U.S. government source and a shipping source said on Thursday.Iran had planned to transport the gasoline to Venezuela, a supply line that both Tehran and Caracas have flaunted in defiance of U.S. sanctions. Washington has imposed sanctions on both countries to choke oil exports and deprive their governments of their main source of revenue.Iranian action against another ship on Wednesday in the Gulf was in retaliation against the Greek owner of some of the vessels that were carrying the fuel cargoes, the government source and two shipping sources said.U.S.

02 Jul 2020

US Files Suit to Seize Iranian Gasoline on Tankers Headed to Venezuela

U.S. prosecutors late on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to seize the gasoline aboard four tankers that Iran is shipping to Venezuela, the latest attempt by the Trump administration to increase economic pressure on the two U.S. foes.The government of Venezuelan Socialist President Nicolas Maduro has flaunted the tankers, which departed last month, to show it remains unbowed by U.S. pressure. The United States, has been pressing for Maduro’s ouster with a campaign of diplomatic measures and punitive measures, including sanctions on state oil company PDVSA.Gasoline shortages in Venezuela, like Iran a member of OPEC, have grown acute due to the U.S. sanctions, and the country has undergone an economic collapse.

21 Apr 2020

US Crude Futures Plunge to Lowest on Record

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U.S. crude oil futures collapsed below $0 on Monday for the first time in history, amid a coronavirus-induced supply glut, ending the day at a stunning minus $37.63 a barrel as desperate traders paid to get rid of oil.Brent crude, the international benchmark, also slumped, but that contract was nowhere near as weak because more storage is available worldwide.While U.S. oil prices are trading in negative territory for the first time ever, it is unclear whether that will trickle down to consumers…

03 Apr 2020

Oil Posts Biggest One-day Gain After Trump Touts Saudi-Russia Deal

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Crude prices posted their biggest-one day gains on record on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he expects Russia and Saudi Arabia to announce a major oil production cut, and Saudi state media said the kingdom was calling an emergency meeting of producers to deal with the market turmoil.Trump said he had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and expects Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut oil output by as much as 10 million to 15 million barrels, as the two countries signaled willingness to make a deal.Trump did not specify barrels per day (bpd)…

24 Jan 2020

Coronavirus Places Shipping on High Alert

Ports in Singapore have started screening inbound travelers on passenger and commercial vessels for coronavirus symptoms (© hit1912 / Adobe Stock)

The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has placed the shipping industry on high alert amid a rising death toll in China and reports that the fast-spreading illness is reaching new shores.The flu-like coronavirus, first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China on December 31, has killed more than two dozen people in China and is believed to have infected more than 900 worldwide, according to several media reports. Cases have been confirmed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, and internationally in travelers returning from China to Japan…

10 May 2019

Dozens Drown on Libya Migrant Boat; Italy Impounds Rescue Ship

Dozens of migrants trying to reach Europe drowned in the Mediterranean on Friday and 100 more were sent back to Libya, the United Nations said, while Italian authorities signalling opposition to more migration from Africa seized a rescue ship.The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said 65 people drowned when their boat capsized off Tunisia, and 101 others who had been picked up at sea were returned to Libya, despite repeated warnings that it is not a safe country to send people back to.It was one the deadliest shipwrecks involving migrants trying to reach Europe via north Africa this year.Tripoli, a hub for migrants and refugees hoping to sail to Europe after a perilous trek through the Sahara…

25 Oct 2018

Maritime Rule Change Stirs Fears of Diesel Shortage: Kemp

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The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has so far resisted pressure to soften or postpone the implementation of new regulations requiring ships to use bunker fuels with a lower sulphur content from the start of 2020.That has prompted warnings from some analysts that the regulations will squeeze the availability of low-sulphur diesel and jet kerosene required by trucks, trains, aircraft, farmers and industry, resulting in big price increases.The regulations and any associated rise in fuel prices will occur in the run up to the next U.S.

11 Jul 2018

China Will Hit Back After New US Tariffs

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China accused the United States of bullying and warned it would hit back after the Trump administration raised the stakes in their trade dispute, threatening 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods.China's commerce ministry said on Wednesday it was "shocked" and would complain to the World Trade Organisation, but did not immediately say how it would retaliate. In a statement, it called the U.S. actions "completely unacceptable".The foreign ministry described Washington's…

23 Apr 2018

US Questions COSCO's Long Beach Terminal Takeover

(File photo: OOCL)

A U.S. national security review has raised concerns about a takeover by China's COSCO Shipping Holdings Co of a large container terminal in Long Beach, California, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.The terminal is part of COSCO's planned $6.3 billion deal to buy shipping firm Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL) , the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.COSCO executives met with officials at the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) this week and proposed to divest or carve out the Long Beach terminal to ease U.S.

26 Dec 2017

BSEE Proposes Softening of Offshore Drilling Rules - WSJ

A U.S. regulator has proposed rolling back safety measures put in place after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which would reduce the role of government in offshore oil production, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which regulates offshore oil and gas drilling, proposes relaxing requirements to stream real-time data on oil production operators to facilities onshore, where they are available for review by regulators, the Journal reported. The BSEE has also proposed cutting a provision requiring that third-party inspectors of critical equipment - such as the blowout preventer that failed in the Deepwater Horizon case - be certified by the BSEE, the Journal reported.

26 Jan 2018

Fast-growing Global Trade Boosts Fuel Demand

Freight movements in the United States and around the rest of the world are growing at some of the fastest rates this decade, which should provide a big boost for diesel consumption in 2018. In the United States, the volume of freight moved by road, rail, pipeline, barge and air between September and November was around 6 percent higher than in the same period a year earlier. Freight volumes are growing at some of the fastest rates since 2011, according to the freight transportation services index compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (http://tmsnrt.rs/2DB9aLY). Freight movements are being driven by an increase in coal deliveries to power plants, as well as increases in oil and gas drilling. U.S.

09 Mar 2018

Harvey Gulf Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Louisiana-based Harvey Gulf International Marine LLC, which has more than 50 vessels in its fleet and supplies offshore oil rigs among other services, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Houston. Harvey Gulf did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company said in court papers it had more than $1 billion in debt and has an agreement with lenders to reduce what the company owes. In return lenders would receive the equity in the company when it exits bankruptcy. Other creditors such as suppliers will be paid in full. A sharp drop in oil prices in 2014 cut demand for rigs, and over the past year many offshore drilling and service companies such as Seadrill Ltd and Ocean Rig UDW Inc have filed for bankruptcy.