United States News

Pertamina International Shipping (PIS), a unit of Indonesian state energy company Pertamina, has welcomed two new very large gas carriers (VLGCs) to its fleet, named Pertamina Gas Caspia and Pertamina Gas Dahlia.The new vessels are specifically optimized for transporting vital commodities like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as well as other petrochemicals such as propylene and ammonia, intended for international trade routes.Both tankers measure 300 meters in length, with a capacity of 91,000m3.

The leader of Yemen's Houthis, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said on Thursday the group would target ships of any company related to supplying or transporting goods to Israel regardless of their destination.He said this was a fourth stage of escalation in retaliation to "the Israeli aggression on Rafah" in the southern Gaza Strip."From now on, we are also thinking about the fifth stage and the sixth stage, and we have very important, sensitive and influential choices on the enemies," he added.Months of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer a

The United States reserves its domestic maritime trade to vessels “built in the United States” under a set of laws popularly referred to as the “Jones Act.” What qualifies as “U.S. built” under the law and U.S. Coast Guard interpretations was recently tested in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit case of Diamond Services Corp. v. Curtin Maritime Corp.Coast Guard regulations provide a two-part test to determine whether a vessel constructed in the United States meets the “U.S. built” test.

The Greek navy on Wednesday extended an advisory effectively banning ship traffic off the coast of the southeastern Peloponnese that two sources said was aimed at deterring ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil off Greece.Greece, in a rare move, over the past weeks has issued two NAVTEX notices for military exercises in the Laconian Gulf area, urging merchant and other vessels to avoid the area. One of them was issued on May 1."It was initially expiring on May 9 but was extended today…

A U.S. warship sailed through the narrow Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, less than two weeks before Taiwan's new president takes office, prompting an angry denunciation from Beijing.China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.U.S. warships, and occasionally U.S. Navy patrol aircraft, pass through or over the strait about once a month.The latest mission's timing was extra sensitive…

Grady Hurley, a partner and co-leader of the maritime litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution team at Jones Walker LLP, has been elected president of the Maritime Law Association of the United States (MLA) during the organization’s general meeting held in New York City on May 3, 2024.Hurley is the fourth president elected from New Orleans during the MLA’s 125-year history. He most recently served as the organization’s first vice president.“I am privileged to serve as the…

Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea.Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the northern German navy base in Wilhelmshaven.Some 40% of Europe's foreign trade flows through the South China Sea."Looking the other way…

The crew of U.K. Royal Navy’s offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent has seized over $250 million worth of cocaine in the latest drugs bust in the Caribbean Sea, bringing the total drugs seized by the vessel so far to over $640 million.The latest bust came after HMS Trent was alerted to potential smugglers by a United States maritime patrol aircraft and used her powerful radars to track down the suspicious vessel.With the Royal Navy ship closing in, the vessel started throwing bales of cocaine into the sea to try and evade capture.The crew of HMS Trent then had to recover the drugs thrown overboard…

The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a contract worth more than $87 million for repair work aboard the dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50).The nearly 30-year-old vessel will undergo a year of restorative work at BAE Systems’ shipyard in Norfolk, Va., which is also the ship’s homeport. The company said it will begin working aboard the 610-foot-long ship in July 2024, performing a combination of maintenance and preservation work on the ship’s hull, its internal fuel and ballast tanks and the engineering plant.

Lloyd's of London insurers Hiscox and Lancashire do not expect large insurance claims from the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March that caused widespread disruption, they said on Thursday.Some estimates for the total insured losses from the bridge collapse run into billions of dollars, given the loss of lives, bridge repair costs and traffic re-routing.The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday insurer Chubb was preparing to make a $350 million payout to the state of Maryland.Hiscox does not have direct exposure to the business interruption policy of the port…

In 2018, convicted cocaine trafficker Slobodan Kostovski fled a Brazilian prison and made his way back to Europe with a fake passport.The Serbian senior quickly fell into old habits, police allege. Last August, Kostovski was arrested in Belgrade, accused of shipping 2.7 metric tonnes of cocaine from Brazil aboard a 22-meter vessel apprehended near Spain’s Canary Islands.Nicknamed “the General” by his associates, he had been trafficking “large amounts” of powder to “Europe for a long period of time,” Serbian police wrote in a 2022 intelligence report obtained exclusively by Reuters.

Russia has been quietly shipping refined petroleum to North Korea at levels that appear to violate the mandates of the United Nations Security Council, a U.S. official said on Thursday, adding the U.S. is planning new sanctions in response.The disclosure came on the first day after a U.N. panel of experts monitoring enforcement of longstanding U.N. sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear weapons and missile programs was disbanded after a Russian veto."At the same time that Moscow vetoed the panel’s mandate renewal…

At the Maritime Risk Symposium 2024, scheduled for June 11-13 at Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, RADM Matt Bell, USCG (Ret.) facilitates a panel entitled: Multi-Service and Maritime Industry Collaboration in the Arctic, to better understand how the changing dynamics in the Arctic region will necessitate increased collaboration between the maritime services and industry to mitigate the risks of Arctic maritime operations. Joining RADM Bell on the panel are:RADM Megan Dean, Commander, U.S.

Dominion Energy has announced that any reports that the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project has been delayed are false and grossly misrepresent the facts.“On April 29, anti-wind groups filed a petition in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to delay CVOW construction using the same meritless arguments as have already been rejected before by the courts, including last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in relation to an offshore wind project in Massachusetts.

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…

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…

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…

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…

Dredging of the Cleveland Harbor federal navigation channel by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District and its contractor, Michigan-based Ryba Marine Construction Co., will begin in May. Dredging of harbors like Cleveland’s ensures accessible depths for large vessels, the continued flow of commodities across the Great Lakes, and the economic viability of United States waterways.“Keeping our nation’s ports open for safe navigation is critically important to maintain the environment and economy of the United States,” said Lt. Col. Lyle Milliman, USACE Buffalo District commander.

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

A Malta-flagged container ship was reportedly targeted with three missiles while on route from Djibouti to the Saudi city of Jeddah, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Monday.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it was informed by the Company Security Officer of an explosion in close proximity to a merchant vessel.UKMTO added that the vessel and its crew were safe and authorities are investigating the incident.Iran-backed Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping in the Red Sea region since mid