Matthias Williams News

A cargo ship from Russia earlier detained in Germany on suspicion of breaching sanctions is now free to leave the port of Rostock, the Stralsund main customs office confirmed on Friday without providing any further details.The Atlantic Navigator II carried 251 containers of birch wood destined for the United States, which is subject to EU sanctions against Russia, but not to the US ones, prosecutors have said.The vessel, which is managed by Canada-based CISN and sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, also has enriched uranium for some US clients, exempted from both US and EU sanctions, The O

Berlin is reviewing its decision to allow China's Cosco to take a stake in one of logistics firm HHLA's three terminals at the Hamburg port, a spokesperson for the German economy ministry said on Wednesday.Responding to a question about the reported classification of Tollerort as critical infrastructure, the spokesperson said it was being determined whether and under what conditions Cosco would be allowed to take a stake in the terminal named Tollerort.The German cabinet gave Cosco the go-ahead to take a 24.9% stake in the port in October last year.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave the green

The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) has closed the port to large ships because of a strike announced by the Verdi union over wages, it said on Wednesday."Due to the massive restrictions to be expected from the announced warning strikes, the administration has decided to block the Elbe for ships requiring pilotage from around 10 a.m. today until further notice," a spokesperson for HPA said.From 5.30 p.m. (1630 GMT) onwards, such ships will no longer be able to leave the port because the crews of boats that bring pilots on board container ships are taking part in the protests…

Western allies on Wednesday warned against reaching premature conclusions on who was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, with Germany suggesting the attack could also have been a "false flag" operation to blame Ukraine.A New York Times report, citing intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials, said on Tuesday a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the blasts that became a flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.The report…

Container freight rates will keep declining in the current realignment of shipping demand and supply, said the chief executive of Germany's liner Hapag Lloyd, the world's number five by transport capacity."The party is over. We are back to a normal shipping business," CEO Rolf Habben Jansen told reporters at a briefing late on Tuesday on the state of the market, in which his company reported sky-high profits for three years running."Now we have to fight for every box again to get our ships full," he said.

A floating terminal to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived in the port of Brunsbuettel on Friday, the third such vessel to start up in recent weeks as Germany rushes to diversify away from former top supplier Russia.The Hoegh Gannet floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) arrived at the Brunsbuettel Elbehafen port near Hamburg.It will allow LNG tankers to land and their cargoes to be regasified and fed into the country's grid."Floating LNG terminals enable the import of gas and thus strengthen Germany's security of supply," said Markus Krebber, chief executive of RWE RWEG.DE, which has spearheaded the project."The strong…

Germany may allow China's Cosco to take a smaller stake than originally planned in a Hamburg port terminal, in what an economy ministry source on Tuesday described as an "emergency solution" to approve the deal but mitigate the impact.Shipping giant Cosco made a bid last year to take a 35% stake in one of logistics firm HHLA's three terminals in Germany's largest port, but the German coalition has been divided over whether to let the deal go ahead.The compromise would see Berlin approving a sale of 24.9% of the terminal to Cosco, several government sources said.

The European Commission warned the German government last spring not to approve an investment by China's Cosco into Hamburg's port, German daily Handelsblatt reported on Friday, citing sources.Shipping giant Cosco last year made a bid to take a 35% stake in one of three terminals in Germany's largest port in the northern city of Hamburg.Germany's ruling coalition is divided over whether to approve the investment, government sources say, even as Beijing urges Berlin not to politicize the bid and the port authority warns this could hurt the economy.According to Handelsblatt…

Sweden sent a diving vessel on Monday to the site of Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that ruptured last week following blasts in the area, to probe an incident that has added new tension to Europe's energy crisis.Europe is investigating what caused three pipelines in the Nord Stream network to burst in an act of suspected sabotage near Swedish and Danish waters that Moscow quickly sought to pin on the West, suggesting the United States stood to gain."The coast guard is responsible for the mission…

The Danish authorities on Monday asked ships to steer clear of a five nautical mile radius off the island of Bornholm after a gas leak overnight from the defunct Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 pipeline drained into the Baltic Sea.The German government said it was in contact with the Danish authorities and working with local law enforcement to find out what caused pressure in the pipeline to plummet suddenly. Denmark's energy ministry declined to comment.The pipeline has been one…

Ukraine criticized Russian naval exercises near its southern coast on Thursday, saying the presence of warships were part of a "hybrid war" that had made navigation in the Black Sea and Azov Sea virtually impossible.In a statement by the foreign ministry, Ukraine said Russia's actions "show blatant disregard for the rules and principles of international law" and that Kyiv would work together with partner countries to prepare a response."Such aggressive actions by the Russian Federation as part of its hybrid war against Ukraine are unacceptable," the statement said.

A U.S. naval command ship entered the Black Sea on Thursday as part of NATO maneuvers that drew a warm welcome from Ukraine but close scrutiny from the Russian navy. The U.S. navy said the Mount Whitney was in the region to conduct routine maritime operations with NATO allies and partners. The Black Sea - in particular the area near the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 - is a sensitive security zone for Moscow. "The forces and means of the Black Sea Fleet have started monitoring the actions of the Mount Whitney command ship…

Three people were reported missing after an explosion took place on a Russian oil tanker travelling through the Kerch Strait towards the port of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday, the Russian federal maritime agency said.The General Hazi Aslanov was not carrying any oil, and the explosion was likely triggered by leftover fumes, the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport said.A rescue operation was underway, the emergencies ministry said, adding that the emergency services had sent three vessels to help.There were 13 people on board, of whom six had been rescued and three were missing overboard. Four remained on deck, the ministry said. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Matthias Williams and Alison Williams)

Russia on Monday ignored Western calls to release three Ukrainian naval ships it fired on and captured near Crimea at the weekend and accused Kiev of plotting with its Western allies to provoke a conflict.Kiev in turn accused Russia of military aggression and put its armed forces on full combat alert, saying it reserved the right to defend itself. Ukrainian lawmakers were due to decide whether to introduce martial law for two months later on Monday, a move President Petro Poroshenko…

Ukraine is refitting and expanding its naval fleet, including repairing its flagship, the frigate "Hetman Sahaydachnyy", to counter a Russian military build-up in the annexed territory of Crimea, the commander of the Ukrainian navy says. The upgrade will be helped by $30 million worth of U.S. aid, part of a $500 million package from Washington for the Ukrainian military which Kiev expects to receive next year. "Step by step we will rebuild our fleet from the beginning," Vice Admiral Ihor Voronchenko told Reuters in an interview. Ukraine lost two-thirds of its fleet, which had been mostly based in Sevastopol, when Russia seized Crimea from Kiev in 2014. Since then it has fought Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass region in a war that has killed nearly 10,000 people.

Greece will ask the European Union for about 700 million euros to build infrastructure to shelter the hundreds of refugees and migrants arriving on its shores daily, the government said on Thursday. The cash-strapped country has seen a rise in the number of refugees and migrants -- mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan -- arriving by sea from nearby Turkey. Aid agencies estimate about 2,000 people cross over to Greek islands including Kos, Lesbos, Samos and Chios every day. The interim government said it planned to set up a new operations centre and take steps to improve conditions at existing refugee centers. Economy Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said the country will seek EU funds earmarked to address the crisis.

Greek authorities have seized a freighter carrying an undeclared shipment of weapons en route from Turkey to Libya, coast guard officials said on Wednesday. A coast guard patrol boat raided the vessel on Tuesday, 20 nautical miles northeast of Crete. The freighter, with a crew of seven and which had sailed from the Turkish port of Iskenderun, was escorted to Heraklion port on the island. The United Nations has imposed an embargo on weapons shipments to Libya, which is plagued by factional conflict. "The ship's crew is being questioned and the content of its containers will be checked," a coast guard official said, declining to be named. The coast guard provided no further details of what kind of arms the freighter had on board, or its ownership.

A joint exercise involving U.S., Bulgarian and Romanian naval forces in the Black Sea started on Wednesday just across the water from the Crimean Peninsula, where Russian military groups have seized control from Ukrainian authorities. The United States says the naval exercises were planned before the crisis in Ukraine. But they send a message of resolve to NATO members nervous about Russia's intentions in its former Cold War backyard, along with reconnaissance flights over Poland and Romania near the Ukrainian border and U.S.-Polish wargames.

Another U.S. warship will come to the Black Sea after destroyer USS Donald Cook will leave, Romanian president Traian Basescu told reporters in the Black Sea port of Constanta on Monday. Donald Cook arrived in the Black Sea last week for exercises and operations to improve interoperability, increase readiness and enhance relationships. A French vessel is also in Constanta to show support, Basescu said. Last month, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer conducted naval drills with Romania and Bulgaria in the Black Sea, in a show of Washington's military reach, in operations officials said were planned before Russia's annexation of Crimea. Reporting by Matthias Williams