Marine Link
Friday, March 29, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Alexandra Hudson News

12 Mar 2024

Armed Pirates Board Cargo Ship Off Somalia

© Venera / Adobe Stock

Twenty armed people have boarded a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia and have taken control of it, a maritime security firm said on Tuesday.The vessel is the latest to be targeted following a resurgence of attacks by Somali pirates in recent months although the maritime security firm, Ambrey, did not specify that it was Somali pirates who boarded the ship.Ambrey said the ship was a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier - a type of merchant ship used to transport large amounts of cargo…

07 Mar 2024

US to Build Temporary Port to Deliver Gaza Aid

© UnitedPixels / Adobe Stock

President Joe Biden will announce in his State of the Union speech on Thursday that the U.S. military will construct a temporary port on Gaza's Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian aid by sea, senior administration officials said.Planning for the operation, initially based on the island of Cyprus, does not envisage the deployment of U.S. military personnel in Gaza, the officials told a news briefing.The officials also said that Hamas is delaying a new deal with Israel on…

07 Mar 2024

Ship Evacuated After First Civilian Fatalities in Houthis' Red Sea Attacks

(Photo: U.S. Central Command)

India's navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea on Thursday, after a Houthi attack killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group's campaign against the key shipping route.The Iran-aligned militants fired a missile at the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday about 50 nautical miles off the southern Yemeni port of Aden, setting it ablaze.In a statement, the owners and manager said all 20 crew and three…

28 Dec 2023

Red Sea Shipping Workarounds Add Costs, Delays for Suppliers

© EvrenKalinbacak / Adobe Stock

Toymaker Basic Fun's team that oversees ocean shipments of Tonka trucks and Care Bears for Walmart and other retailers is racing to reroute cargo away from the Suez Canal following militant attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.Suppliers for the likes of IKEA, Home Depot, Amazon and retailers around the world are doing the same as businesses grapple with the biggest shipping upheaval since the COVID-19 pandemic threw global supply chains into disarray, sources in the logistics industry said.Florida-based Basic Fun usually ships all Europe-bound toys from its China factories via the Suez Canal…

28 Dec 2023

Germany in Talks with EU Partners on Red Sea Maritime Mission

© Denys Yelmanov / Adobe Stock

Germany and its European Union partners are examining whether they could mount a new maritime mission to protect commercial vessels under threat of attack in the Red Sea, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday."We as the German government are ready for this. It is important that we as the EU are able to act as quickly as possible in view of the ongoing attacks," the spokesperson said, adding that a decision on the matter had not yet been taken.The Iran-backed Houthis have attacked or seized a dozen ships with missiles and drones since Nov.

30 Nov 2023

bp's Search for New CEO to Extend into Next Year

Murray Auchincloss (Source: bp)

bp's search for a new chief executive is set to extend into the first quarter of 2024, three sources told Reuters, while the board's probe into whether previous CEO Bernard Looney breached the code of conduct in his undisclosed personal relationships with staff drags on.The oil company has been in turmoil since Looney's resignation in September, company sources told Reuters, and the share price has underperformed rival Shell since then amid investor uncertainty over bp's future strategy.bp's shares have dropped 9% since Looney's departure, while Shell's have gained 2% over the same period.

29 Nov 2023

Four Migrants Die After Being Thrown from Speedboat

© Avril / Adobe Stock

Four migrants died after being thrown from a speedboat yards from a beach in Cadiz in southern Spain, Guardia Civil police and rescue service said on Wednesday.The boat was carrying a total of 27 immigrants, 23 of whom arrived alive.Images published on social media and carried by local media, whose authenticity has not yet been confirmed by Reuters, show a black inflatable speedboat circling in heavy tides off the beach and people onboard pushing others off the side, who start to swim in the swell."We saw a drug trafficking boat arriving but they weren't trafficking drugs but with migrants.

14 Nov 2023

Yemen's Houthi Leader Says Group will Target Israeli Ships in Red Sea

© Denys Yelmanov / Adobe Stock

Yemen's Houthi leader said on Tuesday his forces would make further attacks on Israel and they could target Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.The Iran-aligned group made several missile and drone attacks against Israel this month, highlighting the risk of the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas spreading into the wider Middle East.The Houthis, who have been at war against a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, have emerged as a major military force in the Arabian Peninsula…

17 Oct 2023

Evergreen Line Declares Force Majeure on Israel Shipment

Taiwanese container shipping line Evergreen has declared force majeure on a shipment to the Israeli port of Ashdod, with its Ever Cozy vessel diverted to Haifa further north due to safety concerns, according to a customer note.This is one of the first force majeures declared since Hamas Islamists launched attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, amid preparations by Israel's military to launch ground operations into Gaza in retaliation.The Ever Cozy was sailing towards Haifa port on Tuesday, according to data from ship tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic.Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas Islamists after its fighters stormed through Israeli towns from Gaza…

05 Oct 2023

Euronav Says CMB Offers to Buy 26% Stake, Shares Surge

Credit: Euronav

Euronav second shareholder Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) is offering to acquire Frontline's 26.12% stake in the company for $18.43 per share, which will be followed by a mandatory public offer at the same price, the Belgian oil tanker and storage operator said on Thursday.Shares of Euronav, which were suspended earlier in the day after spiking on media reports about the company going private, jumped around 18% as trading reopened at 1330 GMT.The completion of the deal would end the arbitration action started by Euronav against its peer Frontline…

06 Sep 2023

Man Drowns After Being Pushed off Ferry Departing Piraeus

A 36-year-old man who tried to board a passenger ship as it sailed from Greece's Piraeus port on Tuesday drowned after being pushed back by crew members off the vessel's stern ramp, the country's shipping minister said on Wednesday.The incident has shocked the country. Video footage released on social media showed crew members arguing with the man on the stern ramp just as the ferry Blue Horizon was leaving Piraeus for the island of Crete.Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said on Wednesday that the man, who had bought a ticket, had boarded the ship before disembarking for unknown reasons and then tried to board again, which was when he was pushed back by crew members and fell into the sea just as the ship departed."I feel shock and horror for what has happened…

09 Aug 2023

Forty-one Feared Dead in Migrant Shipwreck in Central Mediterranean

Credit: davide bonaldo/AdobeStock

Italian authorities on Wednesday said forty-one migrants are thought to have died in a shipwreck last week in the central Mediterranean, according to accounts by survivors who have been taken to the island of Lampedusa.Local public prosecutor Salvatore Vella confirmed media reports that four people who survived the shipwreck told rescuers they were on a boat carrying 45 people, including three children.Vella's office has opened an investigation into the incident.The 7-meter-long boat set off on Thursday morning from Tunisia's Sfax…

06 Jul 2023

Families of Missing in Greece Migrant Boat Disaster Plead for Recovery of Bodies

 (Photo: Hellenic Coast Guard)

Since Matloob Hussain from Pakistan went missing during a deadly shipwreck off Greece last month, his brother Adil has left the door of his Athens home open in the hope he appears. It will stay open until his body is found.Matloob, 43, is among hundreds of migrants from Pakistan, Syria and Egypt who are presumed dead after their overcrowded fishing trawler, that set sail from Libya for Italy, sank off the coast of Pylos in international waters on June 14.A total of 104 men were rescued and 82 bodies were found.

20 Jun 2023

Missing "Titanic" Submersible - Update

Copyright chocolatefather/AdobeStock

A five-person submersible vessel taking wealthy adventurers on a $250,000 trip to see the wreckage of the 1912 Titanic disaster 12,500 feet (3,800m) undersea is missing in the Atlantic off Canada.Reuters is reporting the following individuals onboard:HAMISH HARDING. The British billionaire and chairman of aviation consultancy Action Aviation is among those missing, according to his stepson. Dubai-based Harding had posted on social media that he was proud to be heading to the Titanic as a "mission specialist"…

27 Mar 2023

At Least 29 Migrants Die When Two Boats Sink off Tunisia

Map of Tunisia in red © harvepino/AdobeStock

At least 29 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died when their two boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, the Tunisian coast guard said on Sunday. Separately, in the last four days, five migrant boats have sunk off the coast of the southern city of Sfax, leaving 67 missing and nine dead, after a significant increase in boats heading towards Italy.Tunisia has taken over from Libya as a main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe.Houssem Jebabli…

08 Mar 2023

Germany Raids Suspected Ship in Nord Stream Pipeline Blast Probe

(Photo: Swedish Coast Guard)

Western allies on Wednesday warned against reaching premature conclusions on who was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, with Germany suggesting the attack could also have been a "false flag" operation to blame Ukraine.A New York Times report, citing intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials, said on Tuesday a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the blasts that became a flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.The report…

30 Aug 2022

Bulk Carrier Aground After Collision with LNG Carrier in Gibraltar

(Photo: Gibraltar Ministry of Transport)

An LNG tanker and a bulk carrier have collided off Gibraltar, leaving the latter beached, authorities in the British overseas territory on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula said on Tuesday.The collision forced the closure of the port for four hours, but it has fully reopened, authorities said, while booms were being deployed around the beached vessel to prevent any potential fuel spill."The Gibraltar Port Authority remains at the scene and is continuously reviewing all aspects of the situation…

22 Jun 2022

Maersk Sees No Let Up In Surging Cost of Shipping Goods

© Val Traveller / Adobe Stock

The cost of shipping goods has surged 25-30% since the start of the pandemic due to array of inflationary pressures that are "unlikely to abate in the short term," world No.

10 May 2022

UN Seeks $144 Million to Offload Decaying Yemen Oil Tanker

Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies

The United Nations will launch a $144 million appeal on Wednesday for an operation to offload a million barrels of crude oil from a tanker stranded off the coast of war-torn Yemen for years which threatens a major environmental disaster.David Gressly, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, said he hoped a donors conference held with the support of Netherlands in the Hague would quickly mobilize funds to avert a catastrophe on the Red Sea coast and its region.He…

05 May 2022

Fiji Seizes Russian Oligarch Kerimov's $300M Yacht

Authorities in Fiji have seized a $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov at the request of the United States, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday, as Washington and its allies press Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.A Fiji court had ruled on Tuesday that the United States can seize a Russian-owned superyacht, weeks after it arrived and was impounded by police. Authorities in various countries have seized luxury vessels and villas owned by Russian billionaires in response to sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a special military operation.Kerimov was sanctioned by the United States in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia's actions in Syria and Ukraine. He has also been sanctioned by the European Union.The U.S.

06 Apr 2022

Carnival Reports Record Week of Cruise Bookings

© A Jaye / Adobe Stock

The world's biggest cruise operator Carnival Corp on Tuesday reported its busiest booking week in history as leisure travel continues to rebound from a long pandemic-led hiatus.The news sent shares of Carnival up nearly 4% in afternoon trading. The stock traded up more than 8% earlier in the session on the New York Stock Exchange. The news also earlier lifted rivals Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.Carnival said in a news release that the week of March 28-April 3 showed a double-digit increase from the previous record 7-day booking total.The U.S.

08 Feb 2022

US Posts Record Trade Deficit in 2021

© jdoms / Adobe Stock

The U.S. trade deficit surged to a record high in 2021 as imports increased sharply amid the restocking of shelves by businesses to meet robust domestic demand.The sharp widening in the trade gap reported by the Commerce Department on Tuesday mostly reflected a shift in spending towards goods from services during the COVID-19 pandemic. With businesses eager to rebuild depleted inventories against the backdrop of stretched global supply chains, the deficit is unlikely to shrink much this year…

21 Jan 2022

Peru Oil Spill Declared an Environmental Emergency

(Photo: Directorate of Captaincies and Coast Guards of Peru)

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo declared an environmental emergency on Thursday as clean-up teams struggled to contain a huge oil spill at the country's biggest refinery, after rogue waves rocked a ship unloading crude there.The spill, blamed on unusual swells caused by a volcanic eruption thousands of miles away in Tonga on Sunday, has dirtied waters and beaches along Peru's Pacific coast, with dead birds and seals washing up on shore."We are at a critical moment in environmental matters," said Castillo, before signing the emergency decree on one of the beaches hit by the spill.