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Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell more than 12% after the operator's downbeat first-quarter revenue overshadowed a raise in annual profit forecast on Wednesday.Expectations for cruise operators have generally become high after strong booking trends and demand drove up their results and shares last year.Shares of Norwegian and its rival Carnival have seen their growth temper from those highs, in part due to concerns around cost pressures and their brands' exposure to the Middle East conflict.Meanwhile…

Shares of Viking Holdings rose 9% in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, giving the travel and cruising company a valuation of $11 billion.Viking opened at $26.15 compared with its initial public offering (IPO) price of $24 in a stellar debut, amid a rebound in stock market listings and at a time when cruise stocks have delivered outsized returns.Founded in 1997, Viking provides destination-focused itineraries including a shore excursion at every port and an onboard and onshore program through performances of music and art, cooking demonstrations, port talks and guest lect

The United States on Wednesday issued hundreds of fresh sanctions targeting Russia over the war in Ukraine in action that took aim at Moscow's circumvention of Western measures, including through China.The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on nearly 200 targets and the State Department designated more than 80 in one of the most wide-ranging actions against Chinese companies so far in Washington's sanctions aimed at Russia.The U.S. imposed sanctions on 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong…

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index edged up on Wednesday, buoyed by an uptick in capesize and panamax vessel rates.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, ticked up to 1,683.The capesize index gained 16 points, or 0.8% to 2,116.

The El Nino climate phenomenon, not climate change, drove lower rainfall last year that reduced the Panama Canal's water levels and contributed to shipping restrictions that disrupted global trade, a study released on Wednesday found.Prioritizing water for human consumption rather than for the canal also played a role in shipping restrictions, according to the study by research consortium World Weather Attribution.Panama experienced its third-driest year on record in 2023, leading…

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell for a fourth consecutive month to 6.19 million metric tons in April from 7.61 million in March on production outages, preliminary data from financial firm LSEG showed on Wednesday.Recurring mechanical problems have hit Freeport LNG, the second largest U.S. plant by capacity. Last month, the Quintana, Texas, terminal exported five cargoes for a total of 330,000 tons, compared to 21 cargoes and 1.42 million tons in December.Since mid-January, the plant has been operating without at least one of its three gas-processing trains.

China on Wednesday launched sea trials for the Fujian, its third and most advanced aircraft carrier, state media reported.The start of tests by the Chinese navy came nearly two years after the aircraft carrier was first unveiled in June 2022.The Fujian, entirely designed and built domestically, is larger and more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998.The development of the Fujian is part of a build-up central to President Xi Jinping's bid to make China the preeminent military power in the region…

Logistical constraints at the Port of Vancouver mean waterborne oil exports from the highly anticipated Trans Mountain pipeline expansion due to start up on Wednesday may only be around half what the Canadian government-owned corporation has forecast, traders and shipping sources said.The C$34 billion ($24.82 billion) project to nearly triple the flow of crude from Alberta to Canada's Pacific Coast to 890,000 barrels per day is scheduled to start operating on May 1 after years of regulatory delays and construction setbacks.The extra 590…

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they targeted the MSC Orion container ship in a drone attack in the Indian Ocean as part of their ongoing campaign against international shipping in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's military actions in Gaza.MSC Orion was sailing between the ports in Sines, Portugal and Salalah, Oman, according to LSEG data.Reuters found conflicting information about the registered owner of the MSC Orion. According to LSEG and other data providers, the ship is owned by Zodiac Maritime…

Germany's IG Metall union on Tuesday said it had preliminary talks with Carlyle on the investment firm taking a majority stake in Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and agreed to push for an agreement as quickly as possible.In a newsletter seen by Reuters, the union however insisted that a stake sale to private equity investors could only happen if the state stepped in as well to secure the conglomerate's naval shipbuilding activities.The economy ministry was not immediately available for comment."A first round of negotiations in a small group is scheduled for the beginning of May…

The Biden administration on Tuesday unveiled a plan to sell offshore wind leases in waters off the coasts of Maine and Oregon later this year, saying projects in those regions could one day power a total of 6 million homes.The proposed sales are part of a five-year schedule of offshore wind auctions the Interior Department outlined last week. Putting wind turbines along every U.S. coastline is a cornerstone of President Joe Biden's agenda to decarbonize the electricity grid and combat climate change.In a statement…

Carnival's Princess banner is revising itineraries of two of its cruises undertaking a global voyage next year, amid uncertainties in the Red Sea, the cruise operator said on Tuesday.The company said the banner's two "2025 World Cruises"—Island Princess and Crown Princess—would no longer be visiting the Middle East and Asia, and instead would offer new port stops in Africa and Europe.Cruise operators such as Carnival and rival Royal Caribbean are exercising caution as attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants on vessels in the Red Sea disrupt shipping in the Suez Canal…

Enterprise Products Partners on Tuesday said it expects to have two contracts for its proposed deepwater oil export terminal by May 31 and reach a final investment decision before year-end.Enterprise's ambitious Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT), proposed off for a site off the coast of Texas, would be able to load two supertankers at a single time. It received a key government license this month, but is yet to sign any commercial customers.The cost of the project has soared to about $3 billion…

Greece has dropped criminal charges against dozens of international aid workers, ranging from spying to facilitating what authorities had called illegal entry into the country through the island of Lesbos, court documents showed on Tuesday.Most of the 35 people, accused in 2020 of setting up a criminal organization and providing support to traffickers ferrying migrants, were German nationals. The rest included people from Norway, Austria, France, Spain, Switzerland and Bulgaria.

The Philippines on Tuesday accused China's coast guard of harassment and of damaging two of its boats in a disputed area of the South China Sea, rejecting Beijing's position that it had expelled those vessels from the hotly contested shoal.The Philippines' task force on South China Sea issues said a coast guard ship and a fisheries vessel were damaged by water cannons used by Chinese coast guard ships, as the vessels headed to Scarborough shoal to assist Filipino fishermen in the area.The fisheries vessel was rammed thrice both by the Chinese coast guard and maritime vessels…

China's coast guard said on Monday it "expelled" a Philippine coast guard ship and another vessel from waters adjacent to the Scarborough Shoal, Chinese state media reported.The coast guard did not provide additional information, according to the report from Chinese state media broadcaster CCTV, but the incident was the latest to occur between the two countries at the disputed atoll in the South China Sea.Beijing and Manila have repeatedly clashed in recent months at the submerged reef…

The CEO of German container shipper Hapag-Lloyd said on Monday he expects that the Red Sea crisis can be overcome before the end of the year.Ship operators face prolonged disruption as Yemen-based Houthi militants attack vessels travelling on one of the world's busiest routes, causing costly redirections around Africa."It is my personal expectation that the Red Sea crisis will come to an end before the end of 2024," Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen said in an online discussion panel organised by the company.He said he was slightly more optimistic about the duration of the crisis than the ave

Chinese government-linked hackers have burrowed into U.S. critical infrastructure and are waiting "for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow," FBI Director Christopher Wray said earlier this month.An ongoing Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon has successfully gained access to numerous American companies in telecommunications, energy, water and other critical sectors, with 23 pipeline operators targeted, Wray said in a speech at Vanderbilt University on April…

A vessel that reported on Monday an explosion in its proximity, 54 nautical miles northwest of Yemen's Mokha, has sustained damage but the ship and crew are safe and proceeding to next port of call, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.British maritime security firm Ambrey has said that a Malta-flagged container ship in the same location was reportedly targeted with three missiles while on route from Djibouti to the Saudi city of Jeddah.Iran-backed Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping in the Red Sea

The U.S. military's cost estimate to build a pier off Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid has risen to $320 million, a U.S. defense official and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.The figure, which has not been previously reported, illustrates the massive scale of a construction effort that the Pentagon has said involves about 1,000 U.S. service members, mostly from the Army and Navy.Still, the cost has roughly doubled from initial estimates earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the matter."The cost has not just risen.

An Italian navy ship shot down a drone fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels and targeting a European cargo, the Italian defense ministry said in a statement on Monday.The drone was intercepted "in the late morning" near the Bab-el-Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, the ministry said.It was flying toward the cargo ship and taken down while it was 5 kilometers (3.11 miles) away.

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index fell on Monday, hurt by weaker demand across all vessel segments, with rates for capesize vessels hitting its lowest level in nearly three months.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell by 37 points, or 2.2%, to 1,684. The index was down for the sixth consecutive session.The capesize index shed 92 points, or 4.2%, to 2,080, marking its lowest level since Feb.

Yemen's Houthis targeted two U.S. destroyers and the vessel Cyclades in the Red Sea as well as the MSC Orion in the Indian Ocean, the Iran-aligned group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech early on Tuesday.Houthi forces have staged attacks on shipping lanes for months in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in the Gaza war.(Reuters - Reporting by Enas Alashray and Hatem Maher; Editing by Leslie Adler)