Eritrea News

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…

When the Rubymar sank in the Red Sea after a Houthi attack, the ship went down carrying 21,000-tonnes of fertiliser which could trigger massive algal blooms that could create "dead zones" for marine life and starve coral reefs of light.Alongside a slick of leaking fuel, the ammonium phosphate sulphate fertilisers could deliver an extreme pulse of nutrients into waters harbouring rare corals, marine mammals and reef fish, creating a spread of foamy scum on the water.According to a maritime warning circulated to ships in the area…

“During the first seven weeks of 2024, cargo volumes to and from ports in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea declined 21% y/y. The number of ships arriving in these ports significantly declined as merchant shipping increasingly avoided transiting through the region due to concerns over attacks on ships by the Houthis,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Since November 2023, Houthi forces have attacked ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. In December, most container and gas carriers started avoiding the region and by January…

The Australian Department of Agriculture continues to assess an application to re-export the sheep and cattle currently loaded on the livestock carrier Bahijah.The government recalled the vessel after it diverted from the Red Sea over a week into its voyage to the Middle East. The Bahijah had loaded cattle and sheep in Fremantle, Western Australia, and departed for the Middle East on January 5, 2024.The vessel has an Israeli company name painted in large letters along the side of the hull, and it is currently docked in Fremantle taking on supplies.

Maersk said explosions nearby forced two ships operated by its U.S. subsidiary and carrying U.S. military supplies to turn around when they were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait off Yemen, accompanied by the U.S. Navy."While en route, both ships reported seeing explosions close by and the U.S. Navy accompaniment also intercepted multiple projectiles," Maersk said in a statement, adding it was suspending Red Sea transits by vessels of the U.S. subsidiary.A spokesperson for Yemen's Houthi military forces said they fired ballistic missiles at several U.S. warships that were protecting two U.S.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said on Wednesday they had "targeted" a container ship bound for Israel, a day after the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the militant group had fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles in the southern Red Sea.The Houthis, who control much of Yemen including the capital, have since October attacked in the Red Sea commercial vessels they say have Israeli links or are sailing to Israel, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.The Houthis' military spokesman…

Yemen's Houthis have been targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait in attacks that the Iran-aligned group says aim to support the Palestinians as Israel and Hamas wage war.Several freight firms including MSC, the world's largest container shipping line, said they would avoid the Suez Canal as a result, which could mean having to circumnavigate Africa instead.War risk insurance premiums have risen as a result.WHAT ARE THE RECENT HOUTHI ATTACKS?* Dec.

A private yacht with three Russians and two Egyptians on board which had been reported missing in the Red Sea off Yemen turned up in Djibouti on Thursday after what the owner said was an attack by unknown gunmen.The 30 Minutes sent its last signal on Tuesday night off the coast of Jizan, a port in southern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border before appearing to go missing, owner Dmitriy Chuguevskiy had told Reuters,"According to the people on board ... they were going in international waters off Yemen. They were attacked from the Yemen side, shot at ...

The IMO is urging Member States to contribute equipment to help UN-led efforts to prevent a possible catastrophic oil spill from the FSO Safer, an ageing and rapidly decaying floating storage offshore (FSO) unit moored 4.8 nautical miles off the Red Sea coast of Yemen.A converted super tanker, the FSO Safer contains an estimated 150,000 metric tonnes (approximately 1.1 million barrels) of crude oil, four times the amount spilled during the Exxon Valdez incident in 1989. It has been moored at Ras Isa since 1988 where it had been receiving…

Talks on extending a July deal that resumed Ukraine Black Sea grain and fertilizer exports are not making much progress because Russian concerns are not being taken into proper account, Russia’s U.N. ambassador in Geneva said on Thursday.Senior United Nations officials are negotiating with Russia to extend and expand the July 22 deal that could expire next month if an agreement is not reached.“I wouldn’t say that much has been achieved as a result of the latest consultations.

The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea since Russia invaded Ukraine more than five months ago left Odesa on Monday under a safe passage agreement that has raised hopes hundreds of other vessels will follow.But there are many hurdles to overcome before millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain depart from its Black Sea ports, which handle most of the corn, wheat, barley, sunflower seed and rapeseed exports of one of the world's top grain suppliers.Here are some…

A number of bodies washed up at Ras al-Arah on Yemen's Red Sea coast on Monday from a suspected migrant boat that sank offshore, a local official said.The stretch of coast is notorious for the smuggling of migrants from the Horn of Africa into Yemen.Residents in Ras al-Arah said bodies had washed up at dawn on Monday. A boat sank around 18 nautical miles off the coast of al-Mokha, the local official said.The perilous sea journey from Horn of Africa countries including Ethiopia…

An Iranian cargo ship has come under attack in the Red Sea, Al Arabiya TV reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed sources, and semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim said the vessel was targeted by a limpet mine.Al Arabiya cited the sources as saying the vessel was attacked off the coast of Eritrea and was affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, but provided no evidence to support the assertion.Tasnim identified the ship as the Iran Saviz. “The vessel Iran Saviz has been stationed in the Red Sea for the past few years to support Iranian commandos sent on commercial vessel (antipiracy) escort missions,” it reported.Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Is neo-colonialism in the Gulf of Guinea the answer to West Africa’s maritime crime crisis?In October 2020, China’s transport ministry established an ad hoc workgroup to lay down precautionary measures for ships and seafarers passing through high piracy risk West African waters.The move came as China told its vessels to up vigilance and implement a series of precautionary measures to ensure the security of ocea-going vessels and seafarers amid rising attacks and a surge in kidnaps in the Gulf of Guinea.Plans outlined by Wu Chungeng…

Japan will not join a U.S.-led security mission to protect merchant vessels passing through key Middle Eastern waterways, but will consider deploying its naval force independently, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday.Though the United States is Japan's most important ally, Tokyo has fostered economic ties with Iran, and Japanese firms had been major buyers of Iranian oil until U.S. sanctions forced them to find other suppliers.Citing unidentified government sources, the…

A charity rescue ship carrying 134 migrants, mostly Africans, was stranded off the coast of Italy on Friday as a political battle in Rome stopped it from docking and even the medical conditions of those on board were disputed.The migrants, picked up off Libya over the last two weeks, are waiting to disembark on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, but far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has ordered his officials not to let them do so.Salvini, who has built his popularity on a vigorous campaign against illegal immigration, is acting in defiance of his own prime minister and despite six European Union nations agreeing to take…

An Ethiopian commercial ship docked in an Eritrean port for the first time in two decades on Wednesday, state-affiliated Ethiopian broadcaster Fana Broadcasting said, in the latest sign of rapprochement between the two countries.The Mekelle, due to carry 11,000 tonnes of Eritrean zinc to China, docked in Massawa, FBC said.(Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by George Obulutsa)

About 115 people are missing and feared to have drowned and another 134 were rescued by Libyan coast guards and local fishermen after a wooden boat carrying migrants capsized off Libya, a Libyan navy official said on Thursday.Earlier, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said that up to 150 people were feared dead."The worst Mediterranean tragedy of this year has just occurred," UNHCR head Filippo Grandi said in a tweet.There were about 250 people on board, mainly from Eritrea and other sub-Saharan Africa and Arab countries, when the boat capsized off the coast near Komas, east of the capital Tripoli, Libyan navy spokesman Ayoub Qassem said.Libya is a hub for migrants and refugees…

Senior officials from the newly established Kenya Coast Guard Services are undergoing training on coast guard functions at a national workshop in Mombasa, Kenya (24-28 June), said a press note from International Maritime Organization(IMO).The UN body said that fifteen participants are taking part in the training, which is using scenario development methodology and plenary discussions to highlight issues, identify insights and develop deeper understanding of effective ways to meet coastguard functions – with a view to enhancing maritime security in Kenya.The training is organized by the United Kingdom and IMO, under the auspices of the Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct.It is supported by a joint team from the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA)…

An important strategic objective for International Maritime Organization (IMO)  is improve the way its treaties and conventions are implemented, at the national level.Domestic implementing legislation is required but audits carried out by IMO reveal that, in many countries, it either doesn’t exist or is incomplete.To address this need, IMO offers an intensive 5-day workshop for lawyers and legislative drafters. It provides them with the tools they need to understand IMO treaties and how they are developed and adopted. The most recent such workshop was held at IMO Headquarters (1-5 October).Participants from 16 countries (Argentina, Czech Republic…

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced a five-point aid plan for Yemen's Hodeidah port and surrounding areas on Wednesday, after a Saudi-led alliance of Arab states launched an attack on Yemen's Houthi-held main port city.As part of the plan, the two coalition states aim to establish a shipping lane to Hodeidah from the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, and Jizan, a city in southern Saudi Arabia, officials told a news conference in Riyadh.They will also distribute food, provide medical supplies, equipment and staff to hospitals, sustain electrical stations and provide economic support, they

A Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship sank off the Omani coast due to leaked sea water, reported Bahrain News Agency. Twenty sailors were saved.   The report quoted Authorities in Oman saying that the ship was loaded with construction material, consisting of steel bars and sand.   Police and Oman’s Transportation and Communications Ministry said that the boat sank off the coast of Lakabi, a town some 620 kilometers (385 miles) southwest of the sultanate’s capital, Muscat.   The 20 sailors, who were of various nationalities, were rescued and brought to the nearby police hospital in Lakabi. A nearby fisherman saved the sailors.   The ministry said the Tanzanian-flagged ship was heading from the United Arab Emirates to Eritrea in East Africa.

Dryad Maritime is calling on the maritime industry to develop a Standardisation Agreement (STANAG) setting minimum standards for the production of intelligence. "The threat is changing. Ship owners and operators no longer simply face a sporadic pirate threat in the Indian Ocean but are routinely deploying armed security teams to counter the threat of Water Bourne IED in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa," it said in a statement. Without up to-date practical research and development supported by the expert collation of intelligence the industry will be blindsided by asymmetric threats at sea.