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Sonya Dowsett News

23 Mar 2020

Western Supply Chains Buckle as Coronavirus Lockdowns Spread

© THATREE / Adobe Stock

Freight carriers are struggling to deliver goods by land, sea or air as the coronavirus pandemic forces Western governments to impose lockdowns, threatening supplies of vital products including medicines into the most affected areas, such as Italy.While China's draconian steps to stop the spread of the virus are now allowing its economy slowly to come back online, supply chains are backing up in other parts of the world.Problems ranging from finding enough truck drivers to restrictions on seafarers and a lack of air freight are hitting the smooth flow of goods…

18 Nov 2015

Around 20 African Migrants Lost at Sea After Boat Sinks

Around 20 African migrants are missing at sea after their boat sunk in the Atlantic Ocean around 20 miles off the coast of Western Sahara, Spanish sea rescue services said on Wednesday. Spanish lifeguards rescued 22 African men from the sea late on Tuesday in stormy conditions and recovered the corpse of one man. The search continues for the remaining migrants. Survivors say there were over 40 people travelling in the boat, including one woman, the sea rescue services spokesman said. Photographs showed the survivors being transferred from the rescue boat to Gran Canaria island where they were attended to by Red Cross workers in makeshift tents set up in the port.

02 Sep 2015

Boat with 40 African Migrants Arrives on Spanish Island

A boat containing around 40 African migrants including a toddler girl landed on a beach on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, sea rescue services said on Wednesday. The Spanish Canary Islands off the Moroccan coast were a key route around 10 years ago for migrants from Africa trying to reach Europe, but their numbers fell after Spain increased patrolling. Europe is in crisis as hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war and economic migrants escaping poverty are arriving on the continent, crossing the Mediterranean on unsafe boats and over land across the Balkan peninsula. The group of 33 men, six women and the child, were all in good health when they arrived late on Tuesday, a government official said. One of the women was pregnant, the official said.

28 Apr 2015

Passenger Ferry Ablaze in the Mediterranean

Spanish emergency services safely evacuated around 150 people from a burning ferry crossing the Mediterranean from the island of Mallorca to the Spanish port of Valencia, government and port authorities said on Tuesday. The Sorrento ferry, belonging to the Italian company Atlantica di Navigazione although operated by Trasmediterranea-Acciona, sent out distress signals, the Ministry of Public Works said in a statement. Spanish newspaper websites showed pictures of the ferry belching out great clouds of black smoke. Although the captain did not initially want to evacuate the ferry, passengers and crew eventually left the burning vessel in lifeboats, the ministry said. The port authority said 170 passengers were rescued. Sea rescue services could not confirm the number.

16 Apr 2015

Spain Investigates Sinking off Canary Islands

Spain launched an investigation on Thursday into the sinking of a Russian ship off the Canary Islands, as coastguards battled a six-km (3.7-mile) oil slick close to tourist beaches. Environmentalist group Greenpeace criticised authorities for towing the burning fishing vessel out to sea after it caught fire in Las Palmas port early on Sunday. The Oleg Naydenov, carrying 1,409 tonnes of fuel oil, sank late on Tuesday 15 nautical miles south of Gran Canaria. Television images on Thursday showed oil floating on the water. Spain has sent three tugboats and two light aircraft to control the leak, Public Works Minister Ana Pastor told reporters. Experts were trying to locate a robot which could dive 2.4 kilometres deep to inspect the wreck.

08 Dec 2014

Spain Abandons Search for Migrants at Sea

Spanish rescue teams said they had called off their search for more than 20 migrants who fell off their boat into the Mediterranean on Friday. Around 30 others, including a pregnant woman and eight children, were rescued after the vessel got into trouble south of Almeria, and emergency crews carried on looking for the missing until Sunday night, officials said. "We took the decision (to call the search off) after three very intensive days of searching without finding anyone," a source at the rescue services said. The migrants, travelling from Morocco, went overboard after the vessel's engine cut out, a Red Cross volunteer told newspaper El Pais on Sunday.

14 May 2014

Repsol To Sell Argentine Bonds To JP Morgan

Spanish oil major Repsol said on Tuesday it had agreed the sale of Argentine bonds to JP Morgan for $2.01 billion, the company's second sale of Argentine paper to the U.S investment bank in less than a week. The bonds were part of a $5 billion settlement with Argentina after the South American country expropriated Repsol's 51 percent stake in energy firm YPF in 2012. The nominal value of the bonds were $117.36 million, the company said in a statement, and the sale would have no effect on Repsol's financial results. Argentina's recognised debt with Repsol was reduced by $4.815 billion following the company's recent Argentine bond sales, the company said. (Reporting By Sonya Dowsett)