Anthony Esposito News

Peru's environmental regulatory agency said on Wednesday it was investigating the possibility that Spanish energy company Repsol SA was responsible for a second oil spill in as many weeks off the country's central Pacific coast.The suspected new spill may have occurred on Tuesday as Repsol's La Pampilla refinery was withdrawing oil reception and dispatch equipment as part of an investigation into what caused the initial spill blamed on unusually strong waves triggered by a volcanic eruption in Tonga this month, according to the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA).The age

A fire on the ocean surface west of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula early on Friday has been extinguished, state oil company Pemex said, blaming a gas leak from an underwater pipeline for sparking the blaze captured in videos that went viral.Bright orange flames jumping out of water resembling molten lava was dubbed an "eye of fire" on social media due to the blaze's circular shape, as it raged a short distance from a Pemex oil platform.The fire took more than five hours to fully put out…

Some 200 workers from 27 nations are building a hybrid sailboat on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica designed to carry 350 tons of goods, hoping to demonstrate that in the 21st century it is possible to transport cargo without polluting the environment.Inspired by the historic Finnish trading schooner Ingrid of the Aland Islands, the firm Sailcargo Inc says it designed the vessel named Ceiba “to be the first of its kind in the world.” It will rely mostly on wind power with two auxiliary…

Panama's Maritime Authority said it will impose sanctions on vessels, including fines of up to $10,000 and withdrawing its flag from the ship, if they deliberately deactivate, tamper or alter the operation of their tracking transponders."This General Directorate of Merchant Marine will impose sanctions to all those Panamanian flagged vessels that deliberately deactivate, tamper or alter the operation of Long Range Identification and Tracking System or the Automatic Identification System…

A cruise ship stuck off Panama’s Pacific coast after four passengers died and more than 130 others developed influenza-like symptoms, including at least two with the coronavirus, will be allowed to proceed through the Panama Canal, the government said on Saturday.Holland America Line’s 238-meter (781-foot) MS Zaandam vessel can now continue its trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but Panama’s government underscored that no passengers or crew members would be allowed to set foot…

Panama's Maritime Authority said on Thursday that Grace 1, a giant Iranian oil tanker seized by British Royal Marines in Gibraltar, was no longer listed in Panama's international boat registry as of May 29.The Panamanian authority added that Grace 1 had been de-listed after receiving an alert indicating that the ship had participated in or was linked to terrorism financing. Although the tanker flies a Panama flag, Iran claimed ownership and objected to the seizure of its ship. (Reporting by Elida Moreno; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Anthony Esposito)

The Argentine Navy submarine that went missing a year ago off the country's Atlantic Coast was found by a private company involved in what had been a massive search for the vessel and its 44-member crew, the defense ministry said in a news conference on Saturday.The ARA San Juan submarine was discovered by marine tracking contractor Ocean Infinity, 907 meters (2,975 feet) below the ocean surface. The vessel was found in an underwater canyon with its tail partially "imploded," Argentina's Defense Minister Carlos Aguad said.Given the poor visibility at the site…

Tropical Storm Dora, located off the western coast of Mexico in the Pacific Ocean, is strengthening quickly and is expected to become a hurricane on Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Sunday. Maximum sustained winds were about 70 miles per hour (110 km per hour), with higher gusts. Dora was strengthening quickly and was forecast to become a hurricane on Monday, the NHC said in its latest advisory late on Sunday night. The NHC warned of possible heavy rains along the southwestern coast of Mexico but added that the center of the storm was expected to move parallel to the coast of Mexico but remain offshore. It said no coastal watches or warnings were in effect.

A one-day strike at the Rosario grains export hub in Argentina ended on Friday after the government compelled union and company officials to enter into wage negotiations for 15 days, a union leader said. The strike began at midnight local time and ended around noon after the union agreed to the government mandate for a "reconciliation" period to settle the dispute, said Edgardo Quiroga, an official with the CGT union's San Lorenzo branch. "Operations are back to normal," he said. Rosario handles about 80 percent of Argentina's grains exports. San Lorenzo covers the northern districts of the Rosario hub where multinational companies like Bunge Ltd, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus Commodities BV have crushing plants and ports.

Port workers in Argentina's Rosario grains export hub will kick off a strike on Tuesday to demand salary improvements and union rights, the local port chamber said on Saturday. The strike, which is set to start at midnight local time (0300 GMT) on Tuesday "will take place in such a manner as to interrupt all activities related to the agriculture exporting companies in the jurisdiction," said the San Lorenzo branch of the CGT labor federation. San Lorenzo covers the northern districts of the Rosario hub where multinational companies such as Bunge Ltd, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus Commodities BV have crushing plants and ports. The CGT counts quality control inspectors and dock workers among its members in Rosario.

A significant majority of shareholders in Chilean shipper Compania SudAmericana de Vapores lent their support to the firm's merger with Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, allowing the agreed deal to clear a hurdle. The deal to create the world's No. 4 container-shipping company was conditional on no more than 5 percent of Vapores' total shareholders exercising withdrawal rights by April 20. The Chilean company said on Monday that dissident shareholders exercised withdrawal rights on only 2.7 percent of total shares. "This is another step in the road to completing this transaction, which we're sure will be enormously beneficial for our company and our investors," Vapores chief executive Oscar Hasbun said.

Chilean copper miner Collahuasi said on Tuesday that it has received authorization to reactivate its Patache port in the country's north following a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunami last week. "We just received authorization and a ship has already entered the port to load," Chief Executive Officer Jorge Gomez told Reuters on the sidelines of the CESCO/CRU copper conference in capital city Santiago. Gomez said the impact from the April 1 quake is "minor". (Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Chris Reese)