Edmund Blair News

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday its forces on Feb. 10 had carried out strikes on two unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and three anti-ship cruise missiles north of Yemen's port city of Hodeidah that were threatening ships in the area."CENTCOM identified these USVs and missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region," it added.(Reuters - Reporting by Nayera Abdallah, Editing by Edmund Blair)

A tanker in the Red Sea off Yemen's coast was fired on by gunmen in a speedboat and targeted with missiles, maritime sources said on Wednesday, the latest incident to threaten the shipping lane after Yemeni Houthi forces warned ships not to travel to Israel.A second commercial vessel was also approached by the speedboat in the same area though not attacked, British maritime security firm Ambrey and other sources said.Separately, a U.S. defence official in Washington said the U.S.

Russia said on Sept. 21 that it had temporarily banned gasoline and diesel exports to all but four ex-Soviet states in response to domestic shortages, a move that will disrupt global trade that has already had to adjust to Western sanctions on Russian fuel exports.Russia eased some of the restrictions on Sept. 25, saying it would allow the export of bunkering fuel for some vessels and diesel with high sulphur content. The government has yet to give a timeline for any further easing…

Canadian safety officials on Friday opened an investigation into the undersea implosion of a tourist submersible that killed all five people aboard while diving to the century-old wreck of the Titanic, raising questions about the unregulated nature of such expeditions.A debris field from the submersible Titan was found at the bottom of the North Atlantic on Thursday by a robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian search vessel, ending an intense five-day international rescue effort.Fragments of Titan…

The desperate search for a missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic entered a critical juncture on Thursday when air was expected to run out for the five people aboard, but officials vowed to continue scouring the remote North Atlantic.A remotely operated vehicle deployed from a Canadian vessel to the ocean floor discovered a "debris field" near the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday morning on Twitter, adding that experts were "evaluating the information."Another…

Rescuers searching for a missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic on Wednesday concentrated their efforts on a remote area of the North Atlantic where a series of undersea noises have been detected, though officials cautioned the sounds may not have originated from the vessel.With estimates suggesting the air supply on board the submersible could run out by Thursday morning, an international coalition of rescue teams has swept a vast expanse of the ocean for signs of the Titan…

A French robot that can dive to 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) underwater is on its way to help find a tourist submersible that vanished as it descended to the Titanic wreck and it could help free the sub if it is trapped, its operator said on Wednesday.The unmanned robot, called Victor 6000, can dive deeper than other equipment now at the site in the North Atlantic and has arms that can be remotely controlled to cut cables or perform other maneuvers to release a stuck vessel, the operator said.The robot…

Rescuers were in a race against time to find a missing submersible on Tuesday, two days after it lost communication while taking wealthy tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic in deep waters off Canada's coast.One pilot and four passengers were on board the submersible that disappeared on Sunday. The operating company said it had the capacity to stay underwater for up to 96 hours - giving those aboard until early on Thursday before air ran out.U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral…

Amazon.com has granted 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) to a Dutch project testing the viability of commercially growing seaweed in between turbines of offshore wind farms, the company and organizers said on Thursday. The project, led by the non-profit group North Sea Farmers, will also research the potential of using seaweed for carbon capture. Hundreds of thousands of hectares (acres) of the Dutch North Sea have been earmarked for wind parks as the government seeks to build 21 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030 and will be closed for shipping.

At least four Chinese-owned supertankers are shipping Russian Urals crude to China, according to trading sources and tracking data, as Moscow seeks vessels for exports after a G7 oil price cap restricted the use of Western cargo services and insurance.China, the world's top oil importer, has continued buying Russian oil despite Western sanctions, after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched what they called a no-limit partnership before the war in Ukraine.The sources said a fifth supertanker…

Damage to the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Europe was caused by powerful explosions, Danish police said on Tuesday, echoing earlier findings into leaks that erupted in the network under the Baltic Sea and that have been blamed on sabotage.In what a Swedish newspaper described as the first publicly released footage of damage to the system, film from a private drone appeared to show a gaping rupture in one pipe. Expressen reported a 50-meter section missing from one area of pipeline.Dwindling flows of gas from Russia…

Major leaks that suddenly erupted in the Nord Stream gas pipelines that run from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea have generated plenty of theories but few clear answers about who or what caused the damage.Here is what we know and what has been said so far:WHO IS BEING BLAMED?As probes by European authorities continue, the Swedish security police said on Thursday that suspicions of gross sabotage on the pipelines had been strengthened following a crime scene investigation.

The first ship to bring a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a new terminal at the Dutch port of Eemshaven has docked and has started the unloading process, the gas grid operator said on Thursday, part of Europe's bid to cut reliance on Russian gas.The LNG tanker Murex berthed alongside the regasification unit at the new EemsEnergyTerminal, which can handle 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year, a Gasunie spokesperson said."Everything is going perfectly," Marie-Lou Gregoire of Gasunie said.The terminal, near Groningen, has two Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRUs) that Gasuni

Dubai-owned ports giant DP World reported on Thursday a record $721 million first-half profit boosted by elevated shipping rates but said it expected its profit, revenue, and container growth rates to moderate in the rest of the year.The company, one of the world's biggest port operators, said profit climbed 51.8%, up from $475 million in the same period a year ago.The shipping industry has seen record profits recently due to tight shipping supply caused by a surge in consumer demand and pandemic-linked supply chain disruptions.

A Maltese-flagged ship carrying Russian coal and petroleum coke has docked in the northern Spanish port of Gijon, port authorities said on Monday.Another Maltese-flagged ship, loaded with Russian crude, docked in Cartagena, southern Spain, on Friday, authorities confirmed.The European Union approved sanctions against imports of coal, wood, chemicals and other products such as vodka from Russia on April 8 in a bid to cut trade after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, although the sanctions are not yet fully enforced.On April 27, another Maltese-flagged vessel tried to enter the Port of Barcelona but

The United Arab Emriates wants to bolster trade with Morocco to reach $7 billion within 10 years from $800 million in 2021, UAE Economy Minister Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri said on Thursday in Rabat.For that purpose, the two countries will speed up container shipping to seven days from 40 days, Al Marri told Reuters before a visit to Africa's largest port in Tangier, northern Morocco.The UAE is one of the largest investors in Morocco, pouring $15 billion into the North African…

Portugal's Sines port is ready to start onward shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which arrives in large tankers and will be transferred to smaller vessels to head to other European states, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.He said a government feasibility study concluded that "with the existing infrastructure and simultaneous operations, Sines could transfer to central and northern Europe up to 10 billion cubic meters (353 billion cu ft) of LNG annually" within six to 12 months.That amount…

Unions at Shell Plc's Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) site off Australia have extended industrial action to Sept. 1 over a long-running pay dispute, the company said on Thursday. Shell shut down the 3.6-million-tonne-a-year site in July and told customers it would be unable to supply LNG cargoes for the duration of work stoppages approved by Australia's Fair Work Commission, or Protected Industrial Action (PIA). "We can confirm it's been renewed until Sept. 1," a Shell spokesperson said of the protected industrial action. The work stoppages began on June 10 and no cargoes have been shipped from the site in about five weeks, worsening a global LNG supply crunch amid the Ukraine conflict.

Iran urged Greece on Tuesday to cooperate to resolve a crisis over the seizure of ships without involving the United States, after Iranian forces seized two Greek tankers in the Gulf following the seizure of an Iranian vessel off Greece.Tehran seized the Greek ships on Friday after Athens impounded the Iranian-flagged Pegas in April. The United States, which has imposed a tough sanctions regime on Iran, confiscated the Iranian oil cargo that was on the Pegas.U.S. and Greek diplomats have called on Iran to immediately release the Greek tankers, their cargoes and their crews. U.S.

Russia's state-run Sovcomflot has insured all its cargo ships with Russian insurers and the cover meets international rules, the chief executive said, after Western insurers withdrew cover.Western insurers halted insurance cover for Russia's biggest shipping group when Sovcomflot was hit by sanctions after Moscow sent troops across the border into Ukraine.Sources told Reuters this month that state-controlled Russian National Reinsurance Company had become the main reinsurer of Russian ships…

Norway's Hammerfest LNG plant is now expected to restart on May 23, six days later than the previous plan and further delaying operations since a fire in 2020, Norwegian gas system manager Gassco and operator Equinor said on Monday."During the weekend, a minor fault was discovered on a compressor that needs to be rectified prior to start-up," Equinor said in a statement. Read full story"The component is now being replaced, and the stepwise process towards operations continues through the week."Europe's only large-scale LNG plant…

A Singapore trade data sharing platform backed by banks, commodity houses and state firms has signed up 70 participants as part of the city-state's attempts to bolster confidence after a spate of commodity trade finance frauds in recent years.The Singapore Trade Data Exchange (SGTraDex), whose founders include banks DBS and Standard Chartered, commodity trader Trafigura and the local tech regulator, Infocomm Media Development Authority, was launched on Wednesday after plans were announced last year."We're trying to replicate what's happening in the physical world…

World oil demand will rise more than 2% to a record high of 101.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday, although sky-high oil prices and weakening economic forecasts dimmed the future outlook.The Paris-based IEA also said in its monthly report supply was being constrained because of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine."Economic fears persist, as various international institutions have recently released downbeat outlooks…