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David Holmes News

25 Mar 2024

China Coastguard Uses Water Cannons Against Philippine Ships

(Photo: Philippine Armed Forces)

China's coastguard said it had taken measures against Philippine vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday, while the Philippines decried the moves, including the use of water cannons, as "irresponsible and provocative".China's actions led to "significant damage" and injury to personnel on a civilian boat hired to resupply troops, the Philippine task force on the South China Sea said in a statement.The incident occurred in the Second Thomas Shoal and Spratly Islands waters, according to the Chinese coastguard.

17 Mar 2024

Indian Navy Seizes Ship from Somali Pirates and Rescues 17 Crew

(Photo: Indian Navy)

Indian naval forces including special commandos seized a cargo vessel that had been hijacked by Somali pirates, rescuing 17 crew members, a spokesperson for the navy said on Saturday.The navy said in a post on social media platform X that all 35 pirates aboard the ship, the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel Ruen, had surrendered, and the ship had been checked for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition and contraband.The Ruen had been hijacked last year and the navy said it had…

03 Dec 2023

Houthis Attack Commercial Ships, US Warship in the Red Sea

RED SEA (Oct. 19, 2023) Sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) stand watch in the ship's combat information center during an operation to defeat a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19, 2023. (Source: US Navy)

The Pentagon said it was aware of reports regarding attacks on an American warship and commercial vessels in the Red Sea on Sunday, as Yemen's Houthi group claimed drone and missile attacks on two Israeli vessels in the area."We're aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available," the Pentagon said.Yemen's Houthi movement said its navy had attacked two Israeli ships, Unity Explorer and Number 9…

24 Oct 2023

Russia Strikes Deal with DP World to Develop Arctic Sea Route

© Viesturs / Adobe Stock

Russian nuclear agency Rosatom said on Tuesday it has set up a joint venture with Dubai's DP World to develop container shipping through the Arctic as part of an initiative heavily promoted by President Vladimir Putin.The deal with one of the world's top port operators is the most tangible sign yet of Moscow's ability to attract big international partners to help it realise its ambitious plans for what it calls the Northern Sea Route.Putin has talked up prospects for the Arctic corridor…

23 Oct 2023

Canada's Seaway Strike Impacts 115 Vessels in Great Lakes Route

© Joe / Adobe Stock

A strike in Canada's St. Lawrence Seaway entered its second day on Monday after workers walked off over a wage dispute, shutting down an important maritime trade route linking the Great Lakes to Montreal port and impacting about 115 vessels.Some 361 workers represented by the Unifor union went on strike on Sunday after failing to negotiate a new labor contract with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp (SLSMC), which along with a U.S. body operates the waterway linking the Great…

28 Sep 2023

Joint Venture to Develop First LNG Ship Bunkering Hub in US Gulf

Credit: Jonathan Saul/AdobeStock

A joint venture is developing the first dedicated liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering facility for ships in the U.S. Gulf amid efforts by the maritime industry to find cleaner fuel solutions, executives said on Thursday.Shipping, which accounts for nearly 3% of global CO2 emissions and is under pressure from investors and environmental groups to accelerate decarbonisation, is exploring a number of other technologies including ammonia, methanol and wind in an effort to move away from dirtier bunker fuel.

13 Sep 2023

Battle Heats Up for Hamburg Port Operator as MSC Makes $1.4 Billion Offer

© Björn Wylezich / Adobe Stock

Swiss-based MSC, the world's biggest container shipping company, has offered to buy almost half of the main operator of Hamburg port in a deal that could be worth nearly 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), setting the stage for a potential bidding war.Shares in HHLA, which runs Germany's biggest port, soared 49% to a 19-month high as shortly after Wednesday's announcement German logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne said he was considering a counter offer."We are examining the submission of a public takeover bid, but would prefer an agreement with the city of Hamburg on privatization - be i

11 Sep 2023

Greek Shipping Minister Resigns Following Comments over Ferry Death

Miltiadis Varvitsiotis - Credit: Greek Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy

Greece's shipping minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis has resigned following a controversy over his comments about the death last Tuesday of a 36-year-old man who had fallen into the sea after being pushed back by crew members of a ship he was trying to board.Varvitsiotis announced his resignation on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday. Video footage released on social media after the incident showed crew members appearing to argue with the man on the stern…

06 Aug 2023

Suez Canal Tugboat Sinks After Collision with Tanker

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

A Suez Canal tugboat sank on Saturday and one of its crew was missing after it collided with a Hong Kong-flagged LPG tanker though shipping traffic in the strategically important waterway was largely unaffected, the canal authority said.Convoys of ships passing through the canal from the north were not affected, while the passage of ships travelling from the south returned to normal by about midnight on Saturday, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.The tanker, Chinagas Legend…

21 Jul 2023

Iran Loses Bid to Host Shipping Event after Vote at UN Agency Meeting

Iran's offer to host a maritime event in October has been rejected after a proposal led by the U.S. to rescind the bid was approved in a vote at the UN shipping agency's Council, an agency spokesperson said on Thursday.The move is likely to further raise tensions between Washington and Iran after Tehran tried to seize the Richmond Voyager tanker, which was managed by U.S. oil major Chevron, earlier in July in international Gulf waters.Iran had proposed to host a shipping event in Tehran in late October this year in conjunction with an annual maritime day hosted by the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO), which was accepted in 2015 by the IMO's executive Council.The U.S.…

20 Jul 2023

US Announces First Offshore Wind Rights Sale in Gulf of Mexico

©Mike Mareen

The United States announced the first offshore wind power development rights sale in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, which President Joe Biden will discuss during a trip to highlight the administration's efforts to boost renewable energy.In February, the United States proposed to expand offshore wind power developments into the Gulf of Mexico, introducing the nascent clean energy industry into a major hub for oil and gas production.The Interior Department said the sale will take place on Aug.

05 Jul 2023

US Navy Says It Prevented Iran from Seizing Tankers in Gulf

Screenshot of video captured of an Iranian naval vessel firing multiple long bursts of rounds from small arms and crew-served weapons during an attempt to unlawfully seize the commercial tanker in the Gulf of Oman, July 5, 2023. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

The U.S. Navy said it had intervened to prevent Iran from seizing two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, in the latest in a series of attacks on ships in the area since 2019.In a statement, the U.S. Navy said that at 0100 local time (2100 GMT), an Iranian naval vessel had approached the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker TRF Moss in international waters in the Gulf of Oman."The Iranian vessel departed the scene when U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul arrived on station…

30 May 2023

QatarEnergy to Sign Long-term Asian LNG Supply Deal on Thursday - Source

©Timon/AdobeStock

QatarEnergy will sign a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deal with an Asian entity on Thursday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.The deal will be one of many to come this year as the major LNG producer secures sales for its North Field expansion project, the source said on Tuesday. Competition for LNG ramped up last year after the Ukraine war, with Europe in particular needing vast amounts to help replace Russian pipeline gas that used to make up almost 40% of the continent's imports.

17 Feb 2023

Cyprus Rallies EU Partners to Get Shipping Sector Support

© Art N More / Adobe Stock

Cyprus is speaking to other European Union member states to shore up support for the shipping industry hit by sanctions on Russia, its shipping minister said on Friday.Cyprus has the third-largest shipping fleet in the EU after Malta and Greece. It has seen defections, or itself deflagged, about a fifth of its oil tanker fleet in recent months, connected one way or another to sanctions on Russia.The island's proposals include automatic extensions of so-called tonnage tax systems…

11 Sep 2022

Iran Guards Seize Foreign Ship for Smuggling Diesel

© Postmodern Studio / Adobe Stock

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 757,000 liters of diesel out of the country, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.The unnamed vessel's seven crew members, who are foreign nationals, have been handed over to legal authorities, IRNA reported without elaborating on the nationalities of the ship or its crew.Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and b

03 Aug 2022

Maersk Sees Weaker Container Demand as Durable Goods Sales Dry Up

© lazyllama / Adobe Stock

Shipping group Maersk expects global container demand to fall this year as sales of durable goods come to a "standstill", leaving flat-screen TVs and furniture piling up in warehouses, the company said on Wednesday.A surge in consumer demand and pandemic-related logjams holding up containers in key ports had boosted freight rates and profits in the shipping industry in recent quarters, yet the cost of living crisis has reversed that trend.Maersk, one of the world's biggest container shippers with a market share of around 17%…

07 Apr 2022

Oil Tanker Players Euronav, Frontline Plan $4.2B All-stock Merger

©Euronav (File photo)

Belgian oil tanker group Euronav and smaller Oslo-listed rival Frontline plan to merge in an all-stock transaction valued at $4.2 billion that they said would cut costs and help in their low-carbon transition.Euronav shareholders will own 59% of the combined group and will also receive a cash dividend before the deal closes, while Frontline owners will hold the remaining 41%, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.The merged company will use the Frontline name and will…

06 Apr 2022

How Much Oil Does the European Union Import from Russia?

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

The European Commission has proposed new sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including a ban on buying Russian coal and on Russian ships entering EU ports. Yet the EU faces an uphill slog to wean itself of energy imports from its Eastern neighbor.Following is a summary of key facts about the EU's use of Russian oil:How much Russian oil does the EU import?Europe is the destination for nearly half of Russia's crude and petroleum product exports, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)…

15 Feb 2022

Case Against Swedes Accused of Disturbing Estonia Wreck to be Tried Again

© fergregory / Adobe Stock

A Swedish appeal court ordered on Tuesday that a district court try again a case against two film makers accused of disturbing the ferry Estonia that sank in the Baltic sea in 1994 with the loss of 852 lives.The lower court in 2021 dismissed charges of disturbing a marine grave against the two Swedes, saying the law that protects the site did not apply to foreign-registered vessels in international waters.The film team had in 2019 lowered a remotely operated vehicle to the Estonia from a German-flagged ship…

15 Feb 2022

Work to Widen Suez Canal is Underway

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

Egypt is working to improve the Suez Canal by making an additional 10 kilometers accessible to two-way traffic, while widening and deepening another 30 kilometers, the chairman of the authority managing the waterway said on Tuesday.Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie, giving the first news conference on the expansion which began in June, said it would be too expensive to widen the entire length of the waterway linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.However, the two-way portion would be lengthened to 85 kilometers (53 miles) from 75 kilometers…

04 Jun 2021

CMA CGM Earnings Jump as Shipping Rush Continues

© eyewave / Adobe Stock

CMA CGM, one of the world's largest container shipping groups, on Friday posted a jump in first-quarter earnings and said it expected strong demand for transporting consumer goods to continue for the rest of the year.French-based CMA CGM's net profit rose to $2.1 billion in the first quarter from $48 million in the same period last year, while core EBITDA earnings rose to $3.2 billion from $973 million, the group said in a statement.Container lines such as market leader Maersk have seen a boom in demand as the COVID-19 crisis has stoked buying of packaged goods by locked-down consumers, while

27 Aug 2021

Bangladesh Ferry Accident Kills at Least 19, Many Missing

© Ruby Rascal / Adobe Stock

At least 19 people were killed and dozens were missing after a boat packed with passengers slammed into a vessel transporting sand on Friday in the latest waterways tragedy to hit Bangladesh."We have so far recovered 19 bodies," said Anisur Rahman, chief police official in the eastern district of Brahmanbaria, where the accident occurred.The dead include nine women and two children, he said, adding: "The rescue operation for those missing is ongoing."Police officials said they did not know the exact number of people missing, but passengers said more than 50 people had been on board, while dist

26 Aug 2021

Cambodia Seeks Return of Ship Carrying Country's First Oil Output

The Cambodian government is seeking the return of an oil tanker and its crew who have been detained in Indonesia, alleging that the ship had loaded oil illegally from an offshore oil field, a government official said on Thursday.The Bahamas-flagged tanker MT Strovolos and its crew were detained in waters near the Anambas islands of Indonesia on July 27, the Indonesian Navy said in a statement.The vessel is carrying Cambodia's first-ever oil production from an offshore oil field which began operation in December 2020. However, the cargo has been stuck onboard the tanker since May as the project developer KrisEnergy entered liquidation in June after being unable to pay debts."I am worried," Cambodia's Ministry of Mines and Energy spokesman Cheap Suor said.