Deepa Babington News

A coalition vessel successfully engaged one anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) launched from the Iranian-backed Houthi "terrorist-controlled areas" in Yemen over the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) said on Thursday.The ASBM was likely targeting the MV Yorktown, a U.S.-flagged, owned, and operated vessel with 18 U.S. and four Greek crew members, USCENTCOM said in a statement."There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships," it added.Separately…

Yemen's Houthis said on Wednesday they targeted four vessels, including what they described as a U.S. warship, with drones and naval missiles in the Gulf of Aden, part of their stated campaign of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.The Iran-aligned group attacked "MSC Darwin ship, MSC GINA, MV Yorktown" along with the U.S. destroyer, the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech.The U.S. military said on Tuesday that it had destroyed an inbound anti-ship…

Yemen's Houthis targeted a fuel tanker, Mado, in the Red Sea with naval missile and Israel's Eilat port and resort region with winged missiles, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Tuesday.Mado is a Marshall-Islands flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker heading to Singapore from Saudi Arabia, maritime shipping trackers showed. The Houthis described it as American, but Equasis's shipping database indicates that it is owned by Naftomar Shipping & Trading Co Ltd of Greece.

Efforts to limit environmental damage from a cargo vessel that sank after a Houthi missile strike and another abandoned during a fiery assault are on hold until attacks on ships ease, the United Nations' maritime shipping regulatory agency said on Monday.The UK-owned Rubymar last month became the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea area in November. The bulk carrier with 21,000 metric tons of fertiliser contained in its cargo hold…

Diplomatic efforts are underway to try to find a "climbdown" for Yemen's Houthis, the special U.S. envoy to Yemen said in a video recording released on Tuesday, in an apparent reference to finding a face-saving solution to ending their attacks on ships in the Red Sea.U.S. Special Envoy Tim Lenderking recorded his comments on Friday for a think-tank conference before flying to Oman for talks on the crisis that has triggered retaliatory U.S. and British strikes against Houthi weapons sites.Oman has been a mediator with the Iran-aligned Houthis…

The Norwegian cruise ship MS Maud suffered a power outage after a rogue wave shattered windows on the bridge while it sailed in the North Sea, causing the vessel to lose its ability to navigate, Danish authorities and the ship's owner said on Thursday.The 266 passengers and 131 crew members were safe, according to the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre."There is no power on the ship. The main engine is functioning but the navigation systems and radars are not," a spokesperson for the centre…

Danish shipping company Maersk on Friday denied a claim by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement that the militia carried out a drone strike on a Maersk vessel sailing towards Israel.The Houthis earlier claimed it carried out a military operation against a Maersk container vessel, directly hitting it with a drone. The Houthis, who made the claim in a statement, did not release any evidence.Maersk on Thursday said ship Maersk Gibraltar was targeted by a missile while travelling from Salalah…

A senior official from Yemen's Houthis on Tuesday warned cargo ships in the Red Sea to avoid traveling toward the occupied Palestinian territories, after the Iran-aligned group claimed an attack on a commercial tanker earlier in the day.The Houthis earlier said they hit a Norwegian commercial tanker with a missile in their latest protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, underlining the risks of a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.In addition to avoid heading toward the Palestinian territories, ships that pass Yemen should keep radios turned on and quickly respond to Houthi attempts

A U.S. court has removed an emissions permit for Sempra's Port Arthur LNG export terminal in Texas, potentially halting construction of the facility.In its decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday found that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) failed to impose the same emissions limits on the Port Arthur plant as on other projects, including the Rio Grande LNG project which is now under construction.The approximately 13.5 million-metric…

The Biden administration is working closely with partner countries over sanctions on a Russian liquefied natural gas project in the Arctic as a January deadline looms on a wind down of transactions with the plant, a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday.The U.S. imposed sanctions last week on the Arctic LNG-2 project in Russia as part of wide-ranging measures to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the Treasury Department, also issued a general license that authorizes the wind down of transactions involving Arctic LNG-2, through Jan.

Before the Ever Max ship carrying lava lamps, sofas, Halloween costumes and artificial Christmas trees could make its inaugural Panama Canal voyage this month, a historic drought forced it to drop weight by offloading hundreds of containers.Weather-related disruptions denied the vessel, owned by Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Marine, a chance on Aug. 1 to set a record for carrying the most containers through the vital maritime shortcut that connects the Pacific and Atlantic…

A Canadian-flagged ship on Wednesday brought ashore debris from the Titan submersible that imploded while on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic earlier this month, killing all five people on board.Video from the Canadian Broadcast Corporation showed what appeared to be the nose of the submersible and other shattered fragments wrapped in white tarp pulled up by a crane off the Horizon Arctic vessel at the St. John's harbor in Newfoundland on Wednesday morning.The debris is expected to shed more light on the cause of the catastrophic implosion that killed everyone on board - OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush; British billionaire Hamish Harding…

An emerging technology to fish for lobsters virtually ropeless to prevent whale entanglements is exciting conservationists, but getting a frigid reception from harvesters worried it will drive them out of business and upend their way of life.Injuries to endangered North Atlantic Right Whales ensnared in fishing gear have fueled a prominent campaign by environmental groups to pressure the industry to adopt on-demand equipment that only suspends ropes in the water briefly before traps are pulled from the water.The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch…

In Cape Cod Bay, 10-year-old Pilgrim and her calf skim the water's glassy surface alongside the Shearwater research vessel to feed on tiny crustaceans.The two are among the last surviving 340 or so North Atlantic right whales left migrating along the U.S. East Coast – down from 480 right whales in 2010.The biggest threats they face include being struck by passing ships or getting entangled in ropes used for lobster fishing off the U.S. East Coast - scientists have recorded 98 such injuries or deaths of whales since 2017.Now, the whales face another threat as the U.S.

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet leaders of Australia and Britain in San Diego on Monday to announce a way forward for Australia to receive nuclear-powered submarines in Canberra's biggest-ever defense project.The three countries announced the so-called AUKUS plan in 2021 as part of efforts to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region.However, questions remain over strict U.S. curbs on the extensive technology sharing needed for the project and about the length of time it will take to deliver the submarines.Australia is expected to buy up to five U.S.

Shell PLC's LNG Canada export project in British Columbia plans to start building its proposed second phase with natural gas-powered turbines and switch to electricity as more renewable power becomes available, a top executive said, a decision that means the expansion project will initially generate high greenhouse gas emissions.LNG Canada, in which Japan's Mitsubishi Corp owns a 15% stake, is set to be Canada's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal. The first phase…

European Union governments tentatively agreed on Thursday on a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil - an idea of the Group of Seven (G7) nations - with an adjustment mechanism to keep the cap at 5% below the market price, according to diplomats and a document seen by Reuters.The agreement still needs approval from all EU governments in a written procedure by Friday. Poland, which had pushed for the cap to be as low as possible, had as of Thursday evening not confirmed if it would support the deal…

A smart buoy that can "hear" the ocean and monitor climate change is part of a new effort to help endangered whales avoid ship collisions on their journey from Antarctica to the equator.The buoy was installed in the Gulf of Corcovado, some 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) south of Chile's capital, in early October and is the first of many planned by the Blue Boat Initiative, a project designed to protect whales and monitor marine ecosystems.The area is teeming with marine life and…

Norwegian oil and gas rig operator Dolphin Drilling filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, leading creditors to seize its key assets in a restructuring that will see the company maintain operations.Formerly known as Fred. Olsen Energy, Dolphin Drilling ASA had debt of just over $1 billion at the end of 2018 and a net loss for the year of almost $300 million, its annual report shows.Once a dominant supplier of drilling rigs to oil and gas firms exploring the North Sea, Dolphin was…

At least 12 people died and 251 were injured in a chlorine gas leak from a storage tank at Jordan's Aqaba port, officials and state media reported on Monday.The leak came after a tank filled with 25 tonnes of chlorine gas being exported to Djibouti fell while being transported, officials said.A video posted on state television's Twitter page showed a storage tank falling from a winch and slamming into the deck of a ship, followed by yellow-colored gas rising into the air as people ran away.Health ministry officials said they expected only a handful of people to remain hospitalized by Tuesday.C

The union and employers negotiating the contract for more than 22,000 port laborers on the U.S. West Coast on Tuesday said they are committed to reaching a deal and are not planning any work stoppages or lockouts that would worsen supply chain logjams.The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) employer group have been in negotiations since May.They said they do not expect to reach a deal before the high-stakes labor agreement…

Around 20 ships are stuck in traffic along Germany's river Rhine, where low water levels have already impeded shipping this summer, after a vessel's engine failure closed part of the waterway, authorities said on Wednesday.A vessel with a 1,660-ton load was forced to drop anchor due to an engine failure, closing traffic between St Goar and Oberwesel, river police said."It's backing up," a spokesperson for the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration told Reuters. "The berths are full all the way to Mainz." Mainz is about 50 kilometres south-east of Oberwesel.Downstream was affected more.

Greece's coastguard has rescued about 2,500 migrants and refugees off the country's eastern islands over the past three days, authorities said on Monday, as the flow of people trying to cross into Europe continued unabated. After a hiatus of a few days last week, Greek authorities resumed ferrying Syrian refugees to the mainland by ship on Saturday and the latest group of 2,500 refugees arrived at the port of Piraeus earlier on Monday. (Writing by Deepa Babington