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New Delhi News

20 Mar 2024

Reliance Refusing Sovcomflot Oil Shipments

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India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, will not buy Russian oil loaded on tankers operated by shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF) after recent U.S. sanctions, according to two sources familiar with the matter.The development adds to oil export problems for Russia as its oil firms may face difficulties finding ships to sell surplus oil after recent Ukrainian drone attacks on the state's refineries. Russian companies are already struggling to collect payments for oil exports due to banking restrictions.The U.S.

01 Mar 2024

New US Sanctions More Likely to Curb Indian Imports of Russian Coal

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New U.S. sanctions on Moscow are more likely than previous ones to cut Indian imports of thermal coal from Russia because they specifically cite top exporters SUEK and Mechel, three major traders of Russian coal said.Russia, historically a minor exporter of the fuel to India, began boosting shipments to the south Asian country after Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.The latest U.S. sanctions also include Russia's payment system, financial institutions and energy production."With the new sanctions…

31 Jan 2024

India Deploys Unprecedented Naval Might Near Red Sea

(Photo: Indian Navy)

India has deployed at least a dozen warships east of the Red Sea to provide security against pirates and has investigated more than 250 vessels as Western powers focus on attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, Indian officials said.India has not joined the U.S.-led task force for the Red Sea and does not have any warships there. But it currently has two frontline warships in the Gulf of Aden and at least 10 warships in the northern and western Arabian Sea, along with surveillance aircraft…

22 Jan 2024

India Keeps Close Watch on Chinese Research Vessel

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A Chinese research vessel is on its way to the Maldives, according to an Indian military official and an independent researcher, as new Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu deepens ties with Beijing, distancing from New Delhi.It is likely to raise concern in New Delhi, which has previously viewed the presence of such vessels close to its shores, including in Sri Lanka in 2022, as problematic.These vessels are not military ships, officially, but India and others worry about the military use of their research.Relations between traditional friends New Delhi and Male have soured since President Muiz

05 Jan 2024

India Navy Rescues Bulk Carrier Crew After Arabian Sea Hijack Attempt

(Screenshot from a video shared by the Indian Navy on social media)

The Indian Navy on Friday rescued the crew of a merchant vessel after its attempted hijack in the Arabian Sea and said it had not found any pirates on board.An Indian Navy warship intercepted the Liberian-flagged MV Lila Norfolk bulk carrier less than a day after it had received a report that the vessel had been hijacked about 460 nautical miles off Somalia.About five to six armed people boarded the vessel on Thursday, according to a report received by the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency…

08 Dec 2023

OpEd: Shipping Seeks Safe Waters in Era of Deadly Geopolitics

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As tankers, car-carriers and other merchant vessels pass through the Malacca Strait, unlit fishing boats criss-cross the shipping lanes at night, making it one of the most challenging sea areas of the world to transit, even during peacetime.Should a major war ever come to Asia, those challenges could be magnified spectacularly, with hundreds of vessels abruptly leaving the international waters in the middle of the Strait for what they hope might be the relative safety of the national territorial waters of nearby neutral nations.The Strait – between Thailand…

10 Oct 2023

Israel Highlights Fragility of New Trade Corridors

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A new and deadly chapter of the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict is a reality check for an ambitious trade route. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), championed by Washington last month on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi and dubbed a Western rival to China’s Belt and Road, had much to prove anyway. The latest conflict presses pause on any grand financial visions involving the neighbourhood.IMEC’s chief backers waxed lyrical about the potential of the trade route involving railways, ports and green energy. U.S.

13 Sep 2023

India, Russia to Widen Maritime Cooperation

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India and Russia will explore the possibility of using new transport corridors such as the Northern Sea Route and Eastern Maritime Corridor between Vladivostok and Chennai to widen maritime cooperation, the Indian government said on Wednesday.A decision to work towards this was made during a meeting between India's Ports, Shipping and Waterways minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Russia's Development of the Far East and Arctic minister, A.O.

11 Sep 2023

UK Says Russia Fired Missiles at Civilian Cargo Ship

Britain on Monday accused Russia of targeting a civilian cargo ship at port in the Black Sea on Aug. 24 in a previously unconfirmed missile attack it said was successfully thwarted by Ukrainian defences.Ukraine has been making efforts to allow vessels stranded in Odesa port since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to sail into open waters after the collapse of the UN-backed Black Sea grains corridor.The remarks, made in Britain's parliament by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, are the first time an official has commented on a ship being targeted since those Ukrainian efforts began. Since Aug. 18, four cargo ships have sailed from Odesa."Thanks to declassified intelligence…

22 Aug 2023

Philippine and Indian Coast Guards to Enhance Cooperation

Source: ICG

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance maritime cooperation at the ICG Headquarters in New Delhi, India, on August 22.PCG Commandant, CG Admiral Artemio M Abu, and ICG Director General, DG Rakesh Pal, presided over the signing ceremony. The aim of the MoU is to strengthen the professional bond between the two organizations by sharing best practices, conducting joint exercises, and enhancing training collaborations.

03 Aug 2023

India's GAIL Close to Finalizing Qatar LNG Purchase Deal

Credit: Anatoly Kolodey/AdobeStock

GAIL (India) Ltd is close to finalizing a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) import deal with Qatar to buy at least 1 million metric tons per year, potentially for more than 20 years, three industry and trade sources said.The deal would be part of GAIL's plans to lock in new supply contracts by 2030 to diversify its gas imports and hedge against supply disruptions like those seen after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, when LNG prices surged to a record high.Neither state…

25 May 2023

Lloyd's Register Drops Ships of Top Indian Carrier of Russian Oil

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Lloyd's Register has told India's Gatik Ship Management, which has become a major carrier of Russian oil since the Ukraine war, that it will withdraw certification of 21 of its vessels by June 3, the maritime services company told Reuters.It is the latest setback for Gatik, which was also been forced to find new flags for 36 of its ships after they were deflagged by the St. Kitts & Nevis International Ship Registry."Lloyd's Register is committed to facilitating compliance with sanctions regulations on the trading of Russian oil," it said in an email to Reuters.

06 Apr 2023

Western Restrictions on Russian Oil Reshuffle Global Shipping Patterns

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Global fuel suppliers are turning to longer and costlier routes that produce more carbon emissions to move their diesel and other products as Western restrictions on Russian cargoes have reshuffled global energy shipping patterns.As a result of the European Union ban on Russian fuel that started on Feb. 5, tankers carrying clean oil products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha are traveling between 16 and 18 days to bring Russian supplies to Brazil or U.S. cargoes to Europe…

21 Dec 2022

Many Dead Among at Least 100 Rohingya Stranded on Boat off India's coast, Activists Report

For Illustration - Credit: Amnesty International

At least 100 ethnic Rohingya are stranded in a boat off India's Andaman Islands and as many as 16-20 may have have died of thirst, hunger or drowned, said two Myanmar Rohingya activist groups. Each year many Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority, risk their lives boarding rickety vessels to escape violence in Myanmar and squalor in Bangladesh refugee camps. Many attempt to reach Malaysia. The stranded boat was approached by five Indian ships late on Tuesday, a source told Reuters.

10 Oct 2022

Baltic Index Falls on Dip in Larger Vessels

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The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell on Monday, pressured by a dip in the Capesize and Panamax vessel segments. The overall index, which factors in rates for Capesize, Panamax, and supramax shipping vessels, was down 17 points, or 0.9%, at 1,944.The capesize index lost 55 points, or 2.3%, at 2,341.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as coal and steel-making ingredient iron ore used in construction, was down $456 at $19,418.

15 Aug 2022

US Says India Hid Russian Origin of Fuel Shipped to US

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The United States has expressed concern to India that it was being used to export fuel made from Russian crude, through high-seas transfers to hide its origin, to New York in violation of U.S. sanctions, a top Indian central banker said on Saturday.The U.S. Treasury Department told India that an Indian ship picked up oil from a Russian tanker on the high seas and brought it to a port in Gujarat on the west coast, where it was refined and shipped on, said Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Michael Patra.U.S.

18 Jul 2022

Adani Ports to Boost Trade Lanes with Joint Haifa Port Acquisition

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Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone said its acquisition of Haifa Port with a local Israeli partner will boost trade lanes with the company's Indian ports and could better connect Europe and the Middle East in the longer term.After a two-year tender process, Adani Ports and local chemicals and logistics group Gadot clinched the 4.1 billion shekel ($1.18 billion) winning bid for Haifa Port, Israel announced on Thursday.Adani Ports will have a 70% stake and Gadot will hold the remaining 30%…

15 Jul 2022

Israel Sells Haifa Port for $1.2B

 Haifa Port - Credit: Rostislav Ageev/AdobeStock

Israel said on Thursday it will sell Haifa Port, a major trade hub on its Mediterranean coast, to winning bidders Adani Ports APSE.NS of India and local chemicals and logistics group Gadot for 4.1 billion shekels ($1.18 billion).Gadot and Adani made it to the end of a two-year tender process that Israel hopes will lower import prices and help shorten notoriously long wait times at Israeli harbors."The privatization of the port of Haifa will increase competition at the ports and lower the cost of living…

30 May 2022

India's Imports of Cheap Russian Crude Surge Since Ukraine Invasion

Credit: Oleksii

India has received 34 million barrels of discounted Russian oil since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, more than trebling the value of total imports from Russia, including other products, compared with the same period of 2021.The volumes of India's seaborne oil imports from Russia exclude CPC Blend oil, which is also exported via Russia's Black Sea port, but mostly supplied by Kazakhstan's subsidiaries of western countries as transit volumes.India's oil imports from Russia have been rising since February…

07 Jan 2022

DP World to Build Dry Port in India's Jammu and Kashmir

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Dubai ports giant DP World is set to build an inland port in Jammu and Kashmir as part of plans by the emirate to invest in the Indian territory, the head of the region said on Thursday.The Indian government last year said Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), would invest in infrastructure and other projects in the disputed region claimed by India and Pakistan but ruled in parts by both.Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who is in Dubai this week to promote investment…

26 Oct 2021

India Receives First LNG Cargo from Yamal LNG Project

Marshal Vasilevsky carrier - Credit: Vladimir Belyaev

India received its first import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Yamal LNG project over the weekend, Refinitive Eikon LNG flows data showed.The cargo was supplied by Russian gas company Gazprom under its long-term LNG sales deal with GAIL (India) Ltd, an industry source said.The cargo on board the Marshal Vasilevsky sailed through the Northern Sea Route, Pacific Ocean, and Indian Ocean before arriving at GAIL's Dabhol terminal over the weekend, the ship-tracking data…

18 Oct 2021

Report: As Power Crisis Worsens, India Presses Qatar for Delayed LNG Cargoes

File Photo: Qatargas

India, grappling with its worst power crisis in five years, has asked Qatar to expedite delivery of 58 delayed liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes, two sources familiar with the matter said.Asia's third largest economy is suffering its worst power shortage since March 2016 due to a crippling coal shortage amid high global energy prices.Infrastructure maintenance at supplier Qatargas prevented it from delivering 50 LNG cargoes to India this year, the sources said, prompting India's…

20 Jul 2021

SOS: Stranded, Shattered Seafarers Threaten Global Supply Lines

By Alexey Seafarer/AdobeStock

"I've seen grown men cry," says Captain Tejinder Singh, who hasn't set foot on dry land in more than seven months and isn't sure when he'll go home."We are forgotten and taken for granted," he says of the plight facing tens of thousands of seafarers like him, stranded at sea as the Delta variant of the coronavirus wreaks havoc on shore."People don't know how their supermarkets are stocked up."Singh and most of his 20-strong crew have criss-crossed the globe on an exhausting odyssey: from India to the United States then on to China…