Mark Potter News

Merchant ships and seafarers are increasingly in peril at sea as attacks escalate in the Middle East and the United Nations must do more to protect supply chains, the industry said in a letter released on Friday.Tensions have soared across the Middle East since the start of Israel's campaign in Gaza in October, with Israel or its ally the United States clashing repeatedly with Iranian-aligned groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.In a letter sent on Thursday to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres…

Italian defense group Leonardo is close to finalizing a deal to sell its submarine unit Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS) to shipbuilder Fincantieri, Leonardo's chief executive said on Monday."We are talking days, not months," Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani told reporters in the port city of Genoa, in remarks confirmed by a spokesperson.The deal, expected to be worth between 200 million and 300 million euros ($213 million-$320 million), would be part of Fincantieri's broader strategy to grow through acquisitions and focus more on the fast-growing defence sector and strengthen its posit

Howden has started offering war risk cargo insurance to cover vessels sailing through the Red Sea against drone and missile attacks as geopolitical tensions escalate in the region, the UK-based insurance broker told Reuters on Tuesday.The cost of insuring a seven-day Red Sea voyage has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars since Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis began attacking shipping in the area in November in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.Howden said the new…

U.S. National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said at a Senate hearing Wednesday that investigators had conducted interviews with key cargo ship personnel in the investigation of the March 26 Baltimore bridge collapse.The Dali cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, sending it crashing into the harbor and killing six people. Work to clear the wreckage and restore traffic through the Mid-Atlantic state's shipping channel is ongoing.Homendy said investigators remained on site and had interviewed the pilots…

Tanker company Euronav will exit Belgium's blue-chip Bel-20 index after just two days of trading, as it no longer meets the membership conditions after its takeover by Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), bourse operator Euronext said on Tuesday.CMB, owned by the Saverys family, and affiliates together hold 88.61% of the outstanding shares in Euronav, which exceeds the maximum allowed for the index."The Bel 20 rulebook prescribes that should the acquiring party own more than 85% of the shares, the company being acquired will exit the index," Euronext said.Belgium's Euronav announced in October that

The Houthi Transport Ministry in Yemen said on Saturday there had been a "glitch" in undersea communication cables in the Red Sea as a result of actions by U.S. and British naval vessels.The actions "endangered the security and safety of the international communications and the flow of information," the ministry said in a statement, reported by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, without giving details."Any glitch in these cables as a result of the militarization of the Red Sea by U.S.

The UK-owned Rubymar, attacked by Houthi militants last month, has sunk in the Red Sea, Yemen's internationally recognized government said on Saturday, warning of an "environmental catastrophe" from the ship's cargo of fertilizer.The vessel is the first lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial shipping in November, forcing shipping firms to divert vessels on to the longer, more expensive route around southern Africa.The Iranian-backed Houthis, who control the north of Yemen and other large centers…

Mauritius will allow a ship belonging to Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to dock after no trace of cholera was found in samples taken from passengers on board, a senior health official said on Monday.Authorities on the island nation off the coast of east Africa prevented the Norwegian Dawn from docking over the weekend over what they said were "health risks," without elaborating.Samples were taken from around 15 passengers who were experiencing a mild stomach illness.Bhooshun Ori…

The European Union launched on Monday a naval mission to the Red Sea "to restore and safeguard freedom of navigation" there.The "defensive maritime security operation", dubbed Eunavfor Aspides, comes after Iranian-aligned Houthi militants started attacking international shipping in the Red Sea in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas in its war with Israel."The European Union is responding swiftly to the necessity to restore maritime security and freedom of navigation in a highly strategic maritime corridor"…

Maersk warned on Thursday that container shipping overcapacity would hit profits more than expected this year and that it didn't see a major boost from the jump in freight rates due to Red Sea disruptions, hammering its shares.The warning, which also led the Danish shipping giant to suspend its share buyback programme, is in stark contrast with investors' recent optimism about the sector.Container shipping companies have been among the best-performing stocks in Europe this year…

Chevron is sending cargoes of Kazakhstan's CPC Blend oil to Asia around Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than via the Red Sea to avoid the risk of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, according to three industry sources and LSEG ship-tracking data.The Iranian-aligned Houthis have stepped up attacks on shipping despite U.S.-led air strikes on the group's positions in Yemen, leading more vessels to avoid using the Red Sea and the Suez Canal - the shortest sea route between Europe and Asia.CPC Blend crude is loaded at the Russian Black Sea terminal of Yuzhnaya Ozereevka, near Novorossisk.

Container shipping rates for key global routes have soared this week, with U.S. and UK air strikes on Yemen stirring concerns of a prolonged disruption to global trade in Red Sea, one of the world's busiest routes, industry officials said on Friday.U.S. and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched dozens of strikes across Yemen overnight in retaliation against Iran-backed Houthi forces for attacks on Red Sea shipping, widening regional conflict stemming from Israel's war…

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly discussed developments in the Red Sea with officials from shipping group Maersk in a video conference and ways to enhance cooperation, a statement from the Egyptian cabinet said on Wednesday.Madbouly stressed the centrality of the security and safety of maritime navigation in the Red Sea to Egypt's national security in light of its close connection to the Suez Canal, which is used by roughly one-third of global container ship cargo, the statement added.Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have stepped up attacks on vessels in the Red Sea since Novemb

German utility RWE on Jan. 1 handed over floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure at Brunsbuettel on the North Sea to state-owned Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET) as agreed when first imports arrived 10 months ago, it said.DET is now the sole operational manager and markets the capacity of the Brunsbuettel Elbehafen LNG project.Germany's quest to increase LNG capacity for regasification on its shores has intensified as it seeks to end reliance on Russian pipeline gas…

Britain will deploy a naval ship off Guyana later this month, its ministry of defense said on Sunday, as the South American nation faces a border dispute with neighbor Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo region.The deployment follows a visit by a British junior foreign minister to Guyana earlier this month, intended to offer the UK's support for the country, an ally and former British colony.Guyana and Venezuela agreed earlier this month to avoid any use of force and not to escalate tensions in the long-running dispute.Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said in a social media post

Norwegian cruise ship MS Maud is being towed to Bremerhafen in Germany after a violent North Sea storm shattered windows on the bridge, causing a power outage late on Thursday, Danish authorities said on Friday.The ship's 266 passengers and 131 crew members were safe, a spokesperson for the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (DJRC) told Reuters, adding that a vessel from civil rescue firm Esvagt had managed to connect a tow line to the cruise ship."An Esvagt ship is towing it slowly towards Bremerhafen in Germany at around 8-9 knots," the spokesperson said.The vessel was sailing some 260

Maersk and CMA CGM, two of the world's largest shipping firms, will impose extra charges after deciding to re-route ships following attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, as worries about the disruption to global trade grow.The surcharges, designed to cover longer voyages around Africa compared with routes via the Suez Canal, will add to rising costs for sea transport since Yemen's Houthi militant group started targeting vessels.Maersk and CMA CGM are among leading shipping lines to have suspended the passage of vessels through the Red Sea that connects with the key Suez Canal…

U.S. officials have begun informal talks to prepare for new negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), David Cohen, the country's ambassador to Canada, told CBC News in an interview published Saturday."On the U.S.

Danish energy company Orsted's South Fork offshore wind farm off New York State delivered its first power to the state's power grid, according to a press release by New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday.The announcement is a bit of positive news in what has been a tough year for the nascent industry in the United States, which has faced financial troubles in recent months."East Hampton has now made history as the first community in New York to receive clean energy from an offshore wind farm…

Russian oil tankers are not targeted in the European Commission's proposal for tightening the implementation of a price cap on the country's crude oil, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.The Financial Times reported earlier on Wednesday that Denmark will be tasked with inspecting and potentially blocking Russian oil tankers sailing through its waters under new European Union plans as a way of enforcing a $60 per barrel price cap on Moscow's crude.The FT said that Denmark would target tankers carrying Russian oil that did not have Western insurance…

Denmark will be tasked with inspecting and potentially blocking tankers carrying Russian oil through its waters under new European Union plans, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing three unidentified sources.Russia sends about a third of its seaborne oil exports, or 1.5% of global supply, through the Danish straits so any attempt to halt those supplies would send oil prices higher and trigger a confrontation with Russia. The FT said that Denmark would target tankers carrying Russian oil that did not have Western insurance…

Ships sailing for Israel face a 10-fold jump in war risk premiums as the conflict in Gaza intensifies, prompting industry calls for the government to help ensure vital imports keep coming.Israel has vowed to annihilate Islamist group Hamas after its fighters stormed through Israeli towns from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people and seizing more than 220 hostages.Israeli forces have hit back with deadly air strikes and now a ground offensive on the narrow coastal strip, with growing fears the conflict could escalate and pull in the whole region.Israel…

Shipping agent Cargonave said on Tuesday Berth 201 on the West Corridor of Brazil's port of Paranagua would tentatively resume operations on Saturday, according to a note to clients based on information it said it received from the local port authority.The port authority did not have an immediate comment on Cargonove's new note to clients.Previously, Cargonave had said operations would resume on Thursday, a decision that the port authority "revoked," according to an updated statement from the shipping agent.Paranagua…