Bernard Orr News

The Philippines summoned China's deputy chief of mission in Manila on Tuesday to protest what it called "aggressive actions" by Chinese naval forces against a resupply mission for Filipino troops stationed on a South China Sea shoal.Manila's South China Sea task force said Philippine vessels carrying out the routine mission to the Second Thomas Shoal were "harassed (and) blocked" by Chinese maritime militia and coast guard ships on Tuesday.Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannon…

Five people were killed after a barge collided with a bridge over a waterway in China's Pearl River Delta near Guangzhou city, causing part of the bridge to break off, plunging vehicles into the water, Chinese state media reported on Thursday.The barge was travelling from Foshan city to a southern district of Guangzhou when it crashed into the bridge at 5:30 a.m. (2130 GMT) on the Hongqili Waterway, the Guangzhou Maritime Safety Administration said in a statement.Images on state…

Heavy fog has suspended the operation of ships travelling through the Qiongzhou Strait off the coast of China's Guangdong province and several cities, including Shanghai, have issued warning advisories, Chinese state media reported on Wednesday.Several ports suspended the flow of traffic starting late Tuesday and the specific time of the resumption of navigation will be determined as sea visibility improves, state broadcaster CCTV news reported.Port cities in the southwestern region of Guangxi…

China's Ministry of Commerce said it was closely tracking developments in the Red Sea in response to the escalating situation there and the country would provide support and assistance to foreign trade enterprises."It is hoped that all parties concerned will restore and ensure the security of shipping lanes in the Red Sea waters," a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement late Thursday.The ministry said it hopes all parties jointly safeguard the smooth flow of global production and supply chains and the normal order of international trade.(Reuters - Reporting by Bernard Orr and Shang

China scaled down a rescue effort for crew missing from a capsized fishing vessel, after concluding that very few air pockets remained to keep alive any trapped survivors, state media said on Tuesday.Seven bodies were retrieved from the fishing vessel, the "Lupeng Yuanyu 028", after it capsized last week in a central area of the Indian Ocean with a crew of 39 aboard, state media have said.The ministries of transport and agriculture, along with authorities in eastern Shandong province…

Seven bodies were recovered from a Chinese fishing vessel that capsized in the central Indian Ocean, according to state media on Monday, days after China President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out search to rescue and recover missing crew members.Several countries, including Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Maldives, and the Philippines, joined in rescue efforts for 39 missing crew members after the Chinese distant-water fishing vessel "Lupeng Yuanyu 028" capsized early last Tuesday…

A Chinese fishing vessel with 39 crew members on board has capsized in the Indian ocean and President Xi Jinping has ordered that all efforts be made to search for survivors, state media reported on Wednesday.The distant-water fishing vessel Lupeng Yuanyu 028, owned by Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co Ltd based in Shandong province, capsized early on Tuesday, state-run CCTV reported.The 39 people on board - 17 Chinese crew members, 17 Indonesians and five from the Philippines - were missing, CCTV said.Xi said all efforts should be made for the rescue and early warning alerts of safety risks would be

China's defense ministry said on Friday that it yet again had to monitor and drive away the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Milius that entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands."We sternly demand the U.S. to immediately stop such provocative acts, otherwise it will bear the serious consequences of unforeseen incidents," a spokesperson said in a statement from the Ministry of National Defence.The U.S. Navy said the guided-missile destroyer was asserting…

CK Hutchison Holdings port unit said on Thursday it would invest about $700 million in two major Egyptian ports, bringing its total investment in the country to more than $1.5 billion.Hutchison Ports said it would invest in the development of a new container terminal in the Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna, and in B100, a new container terminal in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria.In a separate statement, Cosco Shipping Ports Limited said it would invest 25% in the Sokhna New Container Terminal - a new terminal built by the Egyptian government.The operating period for the project is 30 years…

Authorities in China's eastern province of Zhejiang ordered ships to return to port, told schools to close and evacuated tourists from nearby islands, as one of this year's strongest typhoons is set to make landfall on Wednesday.Typhoon Muifa intensified on Tuesday as it barreled towards the twin port cities of Ningbo and Zhoushan, which share the ranking of second-busiest port in China, in terms of cargo handled.State media said China's 12th cyclone of the year was expected to make landfall between the cities of Wenling and Zhoushan…

France energy giant TotalEnergies and U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp were the winners of two offshore wind leases in federal waters off the coast of North and South Carolina on Wednesday, the Interior Department said in a statement.Winning bids amounted to $315 million, with Duke paying $155 million and TotalEnergies paying $160 million.The auction total was far less than the $4.37 billion in high bids generated at a February wind auction off the coast of New York and New…

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd on Wednesday extended the suspension of voyages by another month until July 31 amid sailing curbs imposed to check the spread of the coronavirus.The cruise industry has faced the brunt of the health crisis as major outbreaks in ships were blamed for spreading the disease, resulting in government-mandated “no-sail” orders and trip cancellations.Royal Caribbean, which warned of a second-quarter loss in the face of a mounting debt…

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd forecast a loss in the second quarter on Wednesday as the cruise operator struggles with mounting debt amid trip cancellations due to travel curbs imposed to check the spread of the coronavirus.The company, which posted a bigger-than-expected loss in the first quarter, has faced the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic as major outbreaks in cruises were blamed for spreading the disease.In the past few months, Royal Caribbean has borrowed more than $5 billion, some by pledging its ships, and now expects to pay between $590 million and $610 million in interests for the rest

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc posted a smaller-than-expected loss on Monday, as a fall in revenue was offset by a 15 percent drop in costs.The Houston-based company's total operating expenses fell to $321.2 million from $378.5 million, a year earlier.As oil prices stay above $70 a barrel, oil and gas producers are again showing an interest in expensive offshore projects that can take up to a decade to develop.The rig contractor recorded a loss of $69.27 million, or 50 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, compared to a profit of $15.95 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, the company posted a loss of 33 cents per share.

Subsea affiliate of Singapore's Ezra files for U.S. A subsea and offshore contractor affiliate of Ezra Holdings Ltd, a struggling Singaporean oilfield services firm, filed for U.S. bankruptcy as it ran short of cash due to a lingering downturn in the oil-and-gas industry. The affiliate, Emas Chiyoda Subsea Ltd, said in court papers filed in Houston that the company was suffering from weak demand for its subsea contracting work and tightening credit conditions. Ezra has said it may have to take a $170 million writedown on the value of its investment in Emas Chiyoda.

President Donald Trump will host Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, the White House said on Thursday, a meeting in which trade and a major crude oil pipeline are likely to be on the agenda. The meeting will be the first for the two men since Trump won last November's election. "President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau look forward to a constructive conversation on strengthening the relationship between our two nations," the White House said in a statement. Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States and is keen to avoid becoming the target of protectionist measures. Trump wants to renegotiate the trilateral NAFTA trade pact with Canada and Mexico, which he says has been disastrous for American workers.

A lawyer for Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd , the failed South Korean container carrier, said on Thursday a U.S.-bound vessel was held "hostage" by disputes over payments, adding to the struggles in getting $14 billion of cargo off its ships stranded at sea. "There is no clear visibility yet on what will happen with this business," Hanjin lawyer Ilana Volkov said at a hearing, when asked by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood whether Hanjin was liquidating. Hanjin, the world's seventh-largest container line, filed for bankruptcy last month, leaving more than 100 ships and their cargo at sea and threatening to snarl U.S. freight traffic as the year-end shopping season approaches. Some ships chartered to Hanjin have been sold and more are up for sale.

A U.S. judge said on Friday he will grant Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd provisional protection from creditors in the United States, enabling some vessels to dock and unload at U.S. ports. South Korea's Hanjin asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood to issue an order that would prevent creditors from seizing Hanjin ships or property, and allow cargo owners to make arrangements to retrieve goods stranded in warehouses. Sherwood said he would sign the order later on Friday. Earlier, the company received authority to spend the money needed to dock at U.S.

British oil company BP Plc has loaded a cargo of Alaskan North Slope (ANS) crude for export, according to two trade sources and Reuters Trade Flows data, the latest indication that exports of Alaskan crude are becoming less rare. The crude loaded on the Cascade Spirit, a Bahamas-flagged Suezmax tanker. While its destination was not immediately clear, the vessel is currently moving in the North Pacific Ocean towards Asia, according to Reuters Vessel Tracking data. A spokeswoman for BP declined to comment on the cargo. In July, BP confirmed it had chartered the Tianlong Spirit, another Bahamas-flagged Suezmax ship, for the export of Alaskan North Slope crude. ANS is almost exclusively transported to refineries on the U.S. West Coast using U.S.

Authorities are building a new containment boom to fight an oil spill in a major western Canadian river, officials said on Saturday, after the spill breached a previous barrier and threatened the drinking water of several communities along the coast. The city of North Battleford, which draws its drinking water in part from the North Saskatchewan River, shut its supply intake on Friday and switched to using ground water, provincial officials said in a telephone conference with reporters. Some 1,572 barrels of heavy oil and diluent leaked from Husky Energy Inc's Saskatchewan Gathering System pipeline on Thursday, flowing into the river. The Calgary-based company has shut the line, stopping the leak, and has been working to contain the spill.

Libya has asked the United Nations Security Council to blacklist an Indian-flagged ship that is on its way to Malta carrying crude oil shipped by the rival eastern Libya government, Libya's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday. Libyan Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi told Reuters he had written to the Security Council sanctions committee to complain about the first shipment of oil by the rival authorities, which left the eastern Libyan port of Hariga overnight. The eastern government has set up its own National Oil Company (NOC) to act in parallel to the Tripoli-based NOC that is recognised internationally as the only legitimate seller of Libyan oil. "We mainly asked the designation of the ship," Dabbashi said. India's U.N. mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Britain's largest steelmaker Tata Steel Ltd is expected to announce the sale of its entire UK business, BBC reported citing union sources.   Tata Steel's decision was made at Tuesday's board meeting in Mumbai, BBC said.   Britain's steel industry has been struggling since European Union steel prices hit their lowest since 2004.   Earlier in January, Tata Steel said it would cut 1,050 UK jobs including 750 jobs at Port-Talbot-based operations in Wales.   About 4,000 British steel jobs were lost in October 2015 alone, equivalent to about a fifth of the sector's workforce.     (Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA on Friday said it guaranteed that operations were normal at its main oil port, adding it had provided "uninterrupted" services to an average of 56 tankers per month. Reuters on Thursday reported heavy backlogs in tanker loadings at the port of Jose, which a union leader and a legislator said were the result of technical problems with loading arms. "PDVSA guarantees normal loading and dispatch at the (port of Jose)," the company wrote on its Twitter account. The company said that 70 percent of the production exported from Venezuela, equivalent to around 1.5 million barrels per day, are loaded at Jose.