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Paul Tait News

24 Oct 2019

Chinese Ship Exits Vietnam's Waters After Disputed Surveys

A Chinese oil survey vessel that has been embroiled in a tense standoff with Vietnamese vessels in the South China Sea left Vietnamese-controlled waters on Thursday after more than three months, marine data showed.The Chinese vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, was speeding away from Vietnam's exclusive economic zone towards China on Thursday under the escort of at least two Chinese ships, according to data from Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels.China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea but neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.Tension between Hanoi and Beijing…

30 Apr 2019

Activists End Occupation of Arctic Drill Rig

(Photo: Greenpeace)

Greenpeace activists climbed down from a Seadrill drilling rig in Norway on Tuesday and are no longer occupying it, the environmental group told Reuters.The rig, which was boarded by four activists on Monday, will be used next month by Equinor to explore for oil and gas in the Arctic.(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, Writing by Terje Solsvik, Editing by Paul Tait)

11 Feb 2019

Naval Group inks $36B Submarine Contract

© marko okjan/AdobeStock

Australia signed a production contract with French shipbuilder Naval Group for a fleet of 12 new submarines, worth $35.5 billion, ending a two-year wrangle that cast doubt over one of the world's most lucrative defense deals.Australia selected the French builder as its preferred bidder for the fleet of submarines in 2016 ahead of other offers from Japan and Germany.However, final contracts were delayed amid domestic media reports of cost blowouts and production delays.Australia and Naval Group signed a Strategic Partnering Agreement…

08 Oct 2018

Houthis Detain 10 Vessels at Hodeidah Port

Yemen's government said Houthi rebels detained 10 oil and commercial vessels at Hodeidah port, Saudi Arabian state television said on Sunday.There was no immediate reaction from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group.(Reporting by Asma Alsharif Editing by Paul Tait)

10 Jul 2018

More Bodies Found after Thai Tourist Boat Disaster

Thai rescue workers pulled three more bodies from the Andaman Sea, officials said on Tuesday, as the grim task of identifying more than 40 dead gets underway following a boat accident off the coast of Phuket last week."Three more bodies were found. One found near Phi Phi island," Somnuek Prempramote, commander of Naval Area 3, told a news conference in the popular holiday island off Thailand's west coast.The boat, the Phoenix, went down off Phuket in high seas on Thursday with 101 people on board, including 89 tourists, all but two of them from China, during an outing to a small island. Twelve Thai crew were also on board.The death toll…

27 Dec 2017

Japan Considers Refitting Its Largest Warship

The 248-metre (814-feet) Izumo, Japan’s largest warship equipped with a flat flight deck, was designed with an eye to hosting F-35B fighters. (Photo: JMSDF)

Japan is considering refitting the Izumo helicopter carrier so that it can land U.S. Marines F-35B stealth fighters, government sources said on Tuesday, as Tokyo faces China’s maritime expansion and North Korea’s missile and nuclear development. Japan has not had fully fledged aircraft carriers since its World War Two defeat in 1945. Any refit of the Izumo would be aimed at preparing for a scenario in which runways in Japan had been destroyed by missile attacks, and at bolstering defense around Japan’s southwestern islands, where China’s maritime activity has increased.

10 Oct 2016

Mitsubishi Plans to Shrink Ship Building Operations

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is planning to stop taking new orders for large passenger ships, downsizing its shipbuilding operations due to a slump in orders, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday. The plans by Japan's fourth-largest shipbuilder come as new shipbuilding orders have declined 80 percent so far this year, the Nikkei said. Citing unidentified sources, it said the company was considering splitting off its planning and design division and sharing shipyards with other companies. A spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy, which also builds aircraft and defence equipment, said the report was not based on information provided by the company and declined further comment.

08 Oct 2016

Hurricane Matthew Death Toll nears 900 in Haiti, Cholera takes lives

Hurricane Matthew's trail of destruction in Haiti stunned those emerging from the aftermath on Friday, with the number of dead soaring to 877, tens of thousands left homeless and outbreaks of cholera already claiming more lives. Information trickled in from remote areas that were cut off by the storm and it became clear that at least 175 people died in villages clustered among the hills and on the coast of Haiti's fertile western tip. Rural clinics overflowed with patients whose wounds including broken bones had not been treated since the storm hit on Tuesday. Food was scarce and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage. The storm razed homes to their foundations.

08 Aug 2016

Japan Urges China Not to Escalate Sea Tension

Japan said on Monday it would respond firmly after Chinese government vessels intruded into what Japan considers its territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea 14 times at the weekend. Ties between China and Japan, the world's second and third largest economies, have for years been plagued by a dispute over the islands that Japan controls, and the waters around them. The flurry of Chinese incursions into the waters follows a period of sustained pressure on China about its activities in the South China Sea, and a Chinese criticism of what it saw as Japanese interference in that dispute. Chinese activity near the disputed East China Sea islands…

17 Jul 2016

Earthquake Measuring 5.0 Rattles Tokyo, Eastern Japan

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 struck eastern Japan on Sunday and shook buildings in Tokyo, officials and witnesses said, but there was no danger of a tsunami and no immediate report of injuries or major damage. The US Geological Survey (USGS) put the epicentre of the quake 44 km (27 miles) northeast of Tokyo at a depth of about 44 km. There were no were immediate reports of damage. Broadcaster NHK reported that the Tokai No. 2 nuclear power station, which has been shut since 2011, was checked for damage after the quake but none was found. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas, which accounts for a fifth of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger.

08 May 2016

China April Oil Imports Rise 7.6 pct

China's imports of crude oil rose 7.6 percent in April from a year ago, customs data showed on Sunday, lifted by continued strong demand from domestic private refiners. The high April inflows were a result of the strong appetite of small domestic independent "teapot" refineries. Beijing has granted licenses to more than 20 of them since last year to import crude for the first time. China imported 32.58 million tonnes of crude oil in April, data from the General Administration of Customs showed, missing a Reuters forecast. Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts had predicted that the total crude arrivals for April into China would reach 33.14 million tonnes, up from a March reading of 32.61 million tonnes.

29 Aug 2015

China Passes New Pollution Law, Will Cap Coal Consumption

Legislators have approved amendments to China's 15-year-old air pollution law that grant the state new powers to punish offenders and create a legal framework to cap coal consumption, the Asian giant's biggest source of smog. The draft amendments were passed by 154 votes to 4, with five abstentions, Zhong Xuequan, spokesman for the National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, told a media briefing on Saturday. The ruling Communist Party has acknowledged the damage that decades of untrammelled economic growth have done to China's skies, rivers and soil. It is now trying to equip its environmental inspection offices with greater powers and more resources to tackle persistent polluters and the local governments that protect them.

26 Jul 2015

Filipino Fishermen Remove Chinese Buoys near Disputed Shoal

Filipino fishermen found several buoys with Chinese markings near the disputed Scarborough Shoal and towed the devices back to shore northwest of the capital, Manila, Philippines officials said on Sunday. China seized control of the rocky outcrop in the South China Sea in 2012 after a three-month stand-off with Philippine coast guard ships, preventing Filipino fishermen from getting near their traditional fishing grounds. The shoal is about 125 nautical miles (230 km) west of the Philippines. "Yes, there are buoys there," said Desiree Edora, mayor of Masinloc town, which has jurisdiction over Scarborough Shoal. "I already sent the chief of police to investigate the buoys," she told Reuters.

04 Jul 2015

Search for Missing after Philippine Ferry Sinks, 38 dead

Divers will search waters in the central Philippines on Friday for 15 people still missing after a ferry carrying 187 passengers and crew sank a day earlier, killing 38 people, the coast guard said. There were 134 survivors after the MBCA Kim-Nirvana, a motorised outrigger, capsized minutes after leaving the port of Ormoc City. The number on board was revised down on Friday after it was found two crew members did not board the ferry. Search and rescue operations continued through the night, with coast guard personnel reinforced by a Philippine navy ship and two air force planes. A formal marine casualty investigation into the cause of the sinking will begin on Friday, Philippine coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo told local radio.

27 Jun 2015

China says Changing Position on Sea Dispute would Shame Ancestors

Changing position on China's claims over the South China Sea would shame its ancestors, while not facing up to infringements of Chinese sovereignty there would shame its children, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday. China has become increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, building artificial islands in areas over which the Philippines and other countries have rival claims, sparking alarm regionally and in Washington. "One thousand years ago China was a large sea-faring nation. So of course China was the first country to discover, use and administer the Nansha Islands," Wang said, using the Chinese term for the Spratly Islands, which together with the Paracel Islands form the bulk of China's claims.

04 Jun 2015

No Signs of Life as China Starts Righting Capsized Ship

Chinese authorities began late on Thursday to right a cruise ship that capsized on the Yangtze River, after divers sent to search for survivors found no signs of life inside. With only 14 survivors found, including the captain and chief engineer, since the ship carrying 456 people overturned during a freak tornado on Monday night, the rescue mission has now become an operation to recover hundreds of bodies. "In a situation in which the overall judgment is that there is no chance of people being alive, we could start the work of righting the boat," transport ministry spokesman Xu Chengguang told a news conference. State television confirmed that the righting operation had begun.

04 Apr 2015

Missing Sailor Rescued after two months

A man missing at sea for 66 days has been rescued in a disabled boat off the North Carolina coast, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday. A German-flagged vessel alerted the Coast Guard at about 1:30 p.m. that it had spotted the 37-year-old man and the vessel some 200 miles (320 km) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and took him aboard. The man, identified as Louis Jordan of South Carolina, was then airlifted from the ship and was being sent to a hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, the Guard said. He was initially reported missing by his family on Jan. 29, the Coast Guard said. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Paul Tait)

18 Jan 2015

21 dead, 1 missing after tug sinks in Yangtze

Chinese authorities have confirmed that 21 people were killed and one is still missing after a tug boat undergoing sea trials sank in the Yangtze River, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. The boat had 25 people on board when it sank on Thursday and three were rescued. Xinhua reported on Friday that seven or eight foreigners were on the boat, including citizens of Singapore and Japan. A French citizen may also have been among the missing. Sembcorp Marine Ltd, a Singapore-based shipbuilder, said on Friday the tug boat that its subsidiary, Jurong Marine Services Pte Ltd, had planned to charter sank during a sea trial. Three of the company's employees were on board.

18 May 2014

More Than 3,000 Chinese Evacuated From Vietnam After Violence

More than 3,000 Chinese nationals have been evacuated from Vietnam, state news agency Xinhua said on Sunday, following deadly rioting that stemmed from an outpouring of rage over Chinese oil drilling in a disputed area of the South China Sea. The violence was triggered by China's positioning of a $1 billion oil rig in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Hanoi, a move described by the United States as provocative. It is the worst breakdown in ties between the two Communist neighbours since a short border war in 1979. The evacuation followed days of clashes between Vietnamese rioters and Chinese workers. Crowds of thousands massed as rioters turned against Chinese workers and Chinese-owned businesses…

15 May 2014

China Condemns Vietnam Over Violent Riots

China 's Foreign minister condemned Vietnam in an Urgent Phone Call with the Southeast Asian Country's Deputy Prime minister over Anti-Chinese protests that have killed up to 21 people, the Official Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday. Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh in the Call on Thursday night that " Vietnam bears unshirkable Responsibility for the violent attacks against Chinese companies and nationals ", Said the report. China Also sent a working group, led by Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao , toVietnam on Thursday to Deal with the Aftermath of the Riots, Xinhua Said.

08 May 2014

Saudis Keep June Crude Supply Steady To 1 Asia Buyer

Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, will supply full contracted volumes of crude oil to at least one Asian term buyer in June, unchanged from May, an industry source familiar with the matter said on Friday. The OPEC kingpin has supplied full contractual volumes to most Asian buyers since late 2009. (Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Paul Tait)

08 May 2014

NZ's Trustpower Ltd Year Profit Down 75

New Zealand power company Trustpower Ltd's full-year profit fell 7 percent because of lower generation production and margins, as well as a decline in customers, the company reported on Friday. Trustpower said net profit after tax was NZ$115.12 million ($99.50 million) for the year to March 31, compared with NZ$123.3 million in the previous year. The company, around half owned by utilities investor Infratil Ltd, declared a dividend of 20 cents, unchanged from last year. Trustpower has 34 small- to medium-scale hydro plants and two wind farms inNew Zealand, with another two wind farms in Australia. It generates about 5 percent of New Zealand's power. It also provides telephone and internet services. (Reporting by Gyles Beckford; Editing by Paul Tait) ($1 = 1.1569 New Zealand Dollars

23 Apr 2014

Body Of Korean Boy Who Raised Alarm On Sinking Ferry Found

The body of a South Korean boy whose shaking voice first raised the alarm that a passenger ferry with hundreds on board was in trouble has been found, his parents believe, but a DNA test has yet to confirm the find, media said on Thursday. His parents had checked his body and clothes and concluded he was their son, the Yonhap news agency said. The crew had told the children to stay put as the ferry sank. The Sewol sank on April 16 on a routine trip from the port of Incheon, near Seoul, to the southern holiday island of Jeju. Investigations are focused on human error or a mechanical fault, with media saying the ship was three times overloaded, with cargo poorly stowed and inadequate ballast water.