Local Media Reports News

Australia’s Department of Agriculture (DAFF) has stated that testing has returned negative results for Lumpy Skin Disease and Foot and Mouth Disease, after over 150 cattle died on a voyage to Indonesia on Vroon’s Brahman Express.Australia has received confirmation from the Indonesian authorities that the export of live cattle from a particular registered establishment in the Northern Territory has been suspended pending further investigations to determine the cause of the deaths.The department continues to investigate…

A worker died on Monday after becoming trapped under a forklift at the Port of Los Angeles, according to local officials.The Los Angeles Fire Department said it received report of the incident around 10:40 a.m. at Berth 270.Emergency responders pronounced the trapped person dead on scene. The cause of incident is unknown at this time.The deceased individual has been identified as a man in his 30s, according to local media reports.Authorities from multiple agencies are investigating.

Shipping traffic on Belgium's Scheldt River was halted until at least Tuesday morning 10am local time (0800 GMT) after a Dutch ship sank on Monday morning, a spokesperson for the Flemish agency for waterways said, confirming local media reports.The captain of the ship, which was transporting bricks, was the only person on board and was missing with rescue efforts underway to find him, the spokesperson, Max Verdonck, said.Verdonck added that five to 10 boats were currently stuck behind the sunken boat but couldn't confirm how many of those were leisure boats and how many were carrying cargo.He

Survivors of a boat disaster that likely killed hundreds of migrants near Greece have given accounts of traffickers in North Africa cramming them into a clapped-out fishing trawler. They recounted hellish conditions above and below deck, with no food or water.Some also said the tragic end, when it came, was precipitated by the actions of the Greek coastguard. They have told judicial authorities of a doomed attempt to tow the overloaded trawler that caused the vessel to capsize…

Companies working on a $300 million logistics facility in Guyana that will support offshore oil operations said on Wednesday the shore base will help reduce shipping costs for supplies by as much as 12% by allowing larger supply vessels to dock.A consortium consisting of U.S. companies Exxon Mobil Corp and Hess Corp and China's CNOOC began production in Guyana in 2019 and has ramped up output since, aiming at 1.2 million barrels per day of crude and gas capacity by 2027.But onshore…

Three Japanese insurance companies that are set to halt marine coverage of risks related to the war in Ukraine starting next month are in talks with reinsurers to resume those operations, they said on Monday. Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Sompo Japan Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance on Friday told shipowners that they would stop offering marine war insurance, which covers damage to ships from war in Russian waters, from Jan. 1, spokespeople at the companies said. Their comments confirmed local media reports on Saturday.

Six people were rescued near the coast of Louisiana after a commercial [lift boat] capsized about eight miles off Port Fourchon on the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard said late Tuesday.About a dozen people are still missing after the 234-foot commercial lift vessel [reportedly Seacor Power] capsized in a storm, according to local media reports citing authorities. There was no immediate response from the coast guard to a Reuters request for comment on the number of missing people and potential casualties."We're still searching for more people…

A cruise ship linked to a third of Australia’s coronavirus deaths has left the country after a month docked in local waters, the authorities said on Friday, as an emergency cabinet meeting was expected to ease some social distancing measures.The Ruby Princess, owned by Carnival Corp, has become a flashpoint of public anger after being allowed to unload thousands of passengers in Sydney without health checks on March 19.Hundreds of its passengers later tested positive to COVID-19, about 10% of the country’s roughly 6,600 infections, and a third of the country’s 77 coronavirus deaths have been traced to the ship.Separate criminal, coronial…

Several workers on a BP Plc oil platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico have tested positive for coronavirus, the company said on Wednesday, a day after a worker at BP's operations in Alaska also tested positive.The cases are the first recorded among oil workers in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, and follow a positive test at an Equinor offshore project in the North Sea.A case of the coronavirus was also reported at BP's Whiting, Indiana refinery, according to local media reports.More than 850…

The Dutch registered container ship OOCL Rauma lost at least five containers on Tuesday afternoon, 25 miles north of Ameland off the coast of the Netherlands, said Netherlands Coastguard.1,425 TEU vessel was sailing from the Port of Kotka in Finland to the Port of Rotterdam.According to local media reports, the container ship had some trouble sailing due to the heavy weather conditions, which led to some containers falling into the sea.The authorities said that five containers — containing paper and cardboard, — were reported lost.The coastguard dispatched the tug AHTS Guardian and an aircraft to locate the containers.The coast guard sent navigation warning to the shipping industry…

An oil spill was contained at the Shell Puget Sound, Washington refinery's dock on Fidalgo Bay late on Friday, the company said in a statement on Saturday.The source of the crude spill was identified as a pressure relief valve on a barge and the source was secured, the company said, adding the spill volume was yet to be determined.About 20 gallons of oil was spilled when crews were transferring nearly five million gallons of oil from the barge to the refinery, local media reports said.Reporting by Sumita Layek

Pirates attacked an Italy-flagged offshore supply vessel in the southern Gulf of Mexico, injuring two crew members, the Mexican Navy said on Tuesday, in the latest outbreak of robbery and piracy to hit oil platforms and infrastructure in the area.One of the crew members of the vessel, Remas, received a bullet wound, and the other suffered a concussion, and both were transferred to a nearby hospital, the Navy said in a statement.Owned by Italian offshore contractor Micoperi, Remas…

Ferguson Marine Shipyard in Port Glasgow, Scotland, is now set to enter public ownership.The Scottish Government has announced that it has reached an agreement with administrators to take the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow into public control.According to government sources, the agreement means two ferries currently under construction at the yard for Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) will be completed.A program board has been set up by Scotland's economy secretary Derek Mackay to ensure effective completion of the two ferries being built at Ferguson Marine shipyard.More jobs could be created at newly nationalized Ferguson Marine in order to complete the two vessels which nearly sank the shipyard…

Shareholders of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) have approved the South Korean shipbuilder's split-up plan amid fierce opposition from its labor union.According to local media reports, Hyundai Heavy Industries, , South Korea's largest shipbuilder, is now divided into mid-holding companies and subsidiaries engaged in shipbuilding, special ship, offshore plant, engine and machinery business.HHI changed its name and mission to the Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (KSME) and decided to use Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) as its new subsidiary.KSME will be a listed company with a 100% shareholding in the newly-split company.HHI…

The Estonian government has refused to start the permitting process for the building of a $1.9 billion, 600-MW offshore wind farm off the west coast of the island of Saaremaa, citing national security concerns.The Estonian developer Saare Wind Energy OU had been drawing up plans for four years and had applied for a 50-year building permit for 100 six-megawatt turbines off the island of Saaremaa, said a report in Bloomberg.The wind farm was to consist of 100 turbines of 6 MW each 10 to 27 kilometers off the western coast of the island. The company sent a request to the government at the end of 2017 asking it to initiate a construction permit issuance procedure.“The reason for refusal is a suspicion that the applicant may threaten public order…

Two Chinese shipbuilding companies have expressed intent to invest in the largest Philippine shipyard, debt-riddled Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines, the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) said.Drowning in debt,  the Philippine business of the Hanjin Group of South Korea, has asked the government for help in search of an investor who would take over the business and save the troubled shipbuilder.Philippines Rodrigo Duterte administration has stepped in to help save the troubled investor in Subic.According to local media reports, which quoted Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo, two Chinese firms contacted the Board.“They’re interested in the shipbuilding industry in general ...

Canadian petroleum company Husky Energy submitted a preliminary report about the largest-ever oil spill in Newfoundland and Labrador and said it is “deeply sorry” for the incident.According to local media reports, the oil and gas company admitted that on November 16, there were two separate oil spills at the Sea Rose FPSO.“The initial release occurred during the approximately 20 minutes offshore teams were troubleshooting a drop in flowline pressure,” Husky said on its website.The spill happened when a flowline connector failed, spilling two separate releases into the ocean, it said.Newfoundland’s largest-ever oil spill saw about 1,570 barrels leak into the ocean.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has entered into an agreement with energy giantsShell and BP over gas pricing and LNG activities.According to local media reports, the agree­ment in­volves new pric­ing arrange­ments, the ex­ten­sion of the At­lantic LNG Train 1 by a fur­ther five years, and the abil­i­ty of the Na­tion­al Gas Com­pa­ny (NGC) to ex­port liqui­fied nat­ur­al gas (LNG) on be­half of T&T.The government sources quoted min­is­ter in the Of­fice of the Prime Min­is­ter Stu­art Young said the agree­ment will lead to “significant” financial benefits to the twin island republic.The gas pricing formula agreed to by Shell…

An Iranian warship crashed into concrete wave breakers at a port in the Caspian Sea and two of its crew members are missing, according to local media reports. The 100-meter long warship, called Damavand, crashed at the harbour town of Bandar Anzali during stormy seas which kicked up waves as high as four meters, Gilnegah, a website focused on news about the northern province of Gilan, reported. Six crew members from the warship were initially knocked into the water during the accident and four were recovered from the sea. Pictures posted on Gilnegah show the damaged warship listing to one side near wave breakers that protect the port. No official statement has been issued on the number of dead or injured from the accident.

A Russian flagged vessel  reportedly with 13 crew still aboard is listing 'significantly' outside of Portsmouth Harbor may have to await further rescue attempt, as the weather forecast is poor with severe gales and rough seas expected later today according to various local media reports. The ship MEKHANIK YARTSDEV as identified in locla images from the scene reportedly has power and is reported stable, at anchor in the Solent.

Product tanker Agia Zoni II reported water ingress, sinking, in the early hours of Sunday  in Saronikos Gulf, south of Athens at anchorage west of Piraeus, with some 2500 tons of fuel on board, and two crew. The local media reports that Aghia Zoni II took on water while it was anchored and sank at 2.45 a.m., after sailing from the Aspropyrgos distilleries in the early hours of Saturday carrying 2,200 metric tons of fuel oil and 370 metric tons of marine gas oil. It is not yet known what caused the sinking. According to eKathimerini, its crew of two were rescued by a nearby ship and taken to shore, where doctors at Piraeus’s Tzaneio Hospital gave them the all-clear.

Canadian National Railway Co said about 20,000 gallons of oil was released following a freight train derailment at Plainfield, the U.S. state of Illinois on Friday, according to a filing with state pollution regulators. The cause of the derailment was unknown, a filing with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said on Saturday. Local media reports estimated the spill to be 45,000 gallons. The incident occurred when 20 cars of a Canadian National Railway Co freight train, carrying crude for Exxon Mobil Corp to Louisiana…

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Sunday launched a ferry route that will connect the two countries. The Davao-General Santos-Bitung roll on/roll off shipping service from Mindanao to North Sulawesi, Indonesia at the Sasa port in Davao City is launched in a bid to further boost trade in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region. According to local media reports, the vessel sailed off for the Davao-GenSan-Bitung sea route with initial 50 containers, five of which are flour cargoes produced by Pilmico Foods Corp. This new route will shorten shipping lead time from five weeks to two and a half days, Jakarta Globe reported Jokowi as saying.