Conflict News

Founded as the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and renamed Military Sealift Command in 1970, MSC today not only support the Navy, but we are the Department of Defense's provider of all sealift. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently interviewed Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, U.S. Navy, for insights on the service today and it’s needs to grow in the future.What makes MSC so vital to the Navy’s fleet and our military forces around the world?When we  look at the history of contested logistics in World War II…

Conflict in the Red Sea has brought massive carbon emissions increases in ocean freight container shipping, according to data just released by Xeneta.The Xeneta and Marine Benchmark Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), which measures carbon emissions per ton of cargo transported across the world’s top 13 trades, hit 107.4 points in Q1 2024 - the highest it has been since the index began in Q1 2018.For containers being shipped via ocean from the Far East to Mediterranean, the CEI reveals carbon emissions increased by 63% in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023.

For 15 years the Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS), an annual three-day event, has brought together government and maritime industry leaders, port representatives, international and domestic researchers and solution providers to examine current and emerging threats to maritime security. World events highlight that maritime security is increasingly at risk during the current period of great-power competition and ongoing conflicts. The active competition between nations who are not…

Howden has started offering war risk cargo insurance to cover vessels sailing through the Red Sea against drone and missile attacks as geopolitical tensions escalate in the region, the UK-based insurance broker told Reuters on Tuesday.The cost of insuring a seven-day Red Sea voyage has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars since Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis began attacking shipping in the area in November in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.Howden said the new…

MSC is the manager and commercial operator of a vessel seized on Saturday by Iranian authorities, international shipping company Zodiac Maritime said in a statement."MSC is responsible for all vessel activities including cargo operations and maintenance. Title to the vessel is held by Gortal Shipping Inc as financier, and she has been leased to MSC on a long-term basis. Gortal Shipping Inc is affiliated with Zodiac Maritime," said the company, partly owned by Israeli businessman…

Greenpeace activists painted slogans on an Estonian-owned tanker in the middle of the Baltic Sea on Friday, and said the ship supplied bunker fuel to vessels transporting Russian oil that posed a danger to the environment and would fuel conflict."Oil fuels war," the campaigners, who arrived in small boats, scrawled in large white letters on the side of the Zircone tanker, pictures provided by Greenpeace showed.The vessel, sitting in international waters off the Swedish island of Gotland, has supplied fuel to more than 50 oil tankers travelling to or from Russian ports in the last two months, S

Ukrainian seafarers are experiencing increased levels of loneliness and depression amid fears of conscription if they return home as the war enters its third year, seafarer charity Stella Maris warns.Stella Maris regional port chaplains for Southampton and Southern ports, Charles Stuart and Gregory Hogan, who make multiple daily ship visits report Ukrainian seafarers are under increasing strain.“The initial stresses have been replaced by something else,” Hogan says. “At first…

Global oil benchmark Brent on Tuesday rose above $89 a barrel for the first time since October, albeit briefly, as oil supplies faced fresh threats from Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities and escalating conflict in the Middle East.Brent futures for June delivery were up $1.35, or 1.5%, at $88.76 a barrel by 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 GMT) after touching a peak of $89.08.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for May rose $1.27, or about 1.5%, to $84.98 after touching a peak of $85.46…

At least 10 commercial ships that were sailing to the U.S. port of Baltimore have dropped anchor in waters nearby, data from ship tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic showed on Tuesday.A container ship smashed into a four-lane bridge in the port on Tuesday, causing it to collapse and sending cars and people plunging into the river below.Port traffic was suspended until further notice, Maryland transportation authorities said.The vessels that anchored included container and bulk carrier ships that were signaling their destination as Baltimore…

The containership allision that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore could cause "significant disruption" to shipping supply chains, according to industry analyst Xeneta.The 10,000 TEU Singapore-flagged Dali was operating on a 2M alliance service between Baltimore and the Far East when it struck the bridge around 1:35 a.m. on Tuesday, sending cars and people plunging into the river below."The immediate focus is the rescue operation, but there will clearly…

One of the largest of the international shipping associations BIMCO has reported increased threats associated with maritime shipping amid Red Sea risks related to Houthi strikes and rise of piracy activities offshore Somalia.Since November 2023, the threat to shipping has increased as the Houthis started attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Simultaneously, piracy activity off the East coast of Somalia has risen and since December, two bulk carriers and several fishing ships have been hijacked.

Yemen's Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November, in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, prompting retaliatory U.S. and U.K. strikes against the Iran-aligned group.In the first fatalities reported since the Houthis began their attacks on shipping in one of the world's busiest trade lanes, a Houthi missile on Wednesday killed three seafarers on the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence some 50 nautical miles from Yemen's port of Aden.HistoryIn the late 1990s…

When the Rubymar sank in the Red Sea after a Houthi attack, the ship went down carrying 21,000-tonnes of fertiliser which could trigger massive algal blooms that could create "dead zones" for marine life and starve coral reefs of light.Alongside a slick of leaking fuel, the ammonium phosphate sulphate fertilisers could deliver an extreme pulse of nutrients into waters harbouring rare corals, marine mammals and reef fish, creating a spread of foamy scum on the water.According to a maritime warning circulated to ships in the area…

Container ship MSC Sky II was continuing its voyage to Djibouti on Tuesday after being hit by a missile a day earlier near Yemen's port city of Aden, its operator MSC said.MSC Sky II was hit by a missile about 85 miles southeast of Aden and 170 miles east-southeast of the Bab al-Mandab Strait while it was sailing from Singapore to Djibouti, the Swiss-headquartered MSC said in a statement."The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured. She is currently continuing her journey to Djibouti and will arrive today for further assessment…

One of Turkey's mid-sized Mediterranean oil terminals - the Dortyol terminal - will no longer accept Russian imports after receiving record volumes last year, amid an increase in sanctions pressure by the United States.Turkey has become one of the biggest importers of Russian crude and fuel since 2022, after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. Russia responded by re-routing oil away from Europe and the U.S. to Asia, Turkey and Africa.Global Terminal Services' (GTS)…

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they could only reconsider their missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Seaonce Israel ends its "aggression" in the Gaza Strip.Asked if they would halt the attacks if a ceasefire deal is reached, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters the situation would be reassessed if the siege of Gaza ended and humanitarian aid was free to enter."There will be no halt to any operations that help Palestinian people except when the Israeli aggression on Gaza and the siege stop…

Global ship recycling markets are now being exclusively driven by the relentless and futile shortage of tonnage that is expected to continue until Spring (at the very least), says cash buyer GMS.“The much-anticipated rebound in global recycling volumes that so many in our industry had been waiting (hoping) for before the turn of the year, has unfortunately failed to materialize.”Markets in Turkey and India remain well off the competitive pace, so Pakistan and Bangladesh remain are leading the market despite the continued drop in supply of vessels.

With a fleet of nine U.S.-flag RoRo ships, American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group (ARC), is the U.S.’ premier commercial RoRo carrier of U.S. government and military cargo. As the world becomes an increasingly contentious place, Eric P. Ebeling, President & CEO, ARC, discusses the vast capabilities of the ARC fleet and logistics network, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead for U.S.-flag ships in the international trade.By the numbers’ is a simplistic means to gauge the size and shape of any shipping company…

Britain's Trident nuclear-deterrent system misfired during a test last month, sending a missile crashing into the ocean off the Florida coast near the submarine that launched it, The Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday.The Ministry of Defense confirmed that an "anomaly" had occurred during the test but said Britain's "nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective".With Defense Secretary Grant Shapps on board the HMS Vanguard to witness the test, The Sun said, the first…

A vessel sustained "superficial damage" after being hit by a drone in the Red Sea, 60 nautical miles north of Djibouti, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Monday.British maritime security firm Ambrey also said early on Tuesday that a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier was physically damaged by an unmanned aerial vehicle in an incident approximately 60 nautical miles north of Djibouti.It was unclear if the two incidents reported by UKMTO and…

Seafarers have the right to refuse to sail on ships passing through the Red Sea in a new industry agreement as the situation escalates and further vessels are attacked by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, a labor union and industry groups said on Friday.The Houthis have targeted commercial ships with drones and missiles in the Red Sea since mid-November in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.Seafarers remain in the firing line…

Iran will reciprocate if its ships are seized, the legal adviser to Iran's President told state media on Thursday, in response to a statement by the United States Department of Justice.This month, the Department of Justice issued a statement announcing the seizure of more than 500,000 barrels of Iranian fuel to clamp down on the "Revolutionary Guards' financing network"."If an Iranian ship is seized, we will reciprocate and the legal way is not closed in this regard," legal adviser Mohammad Dehghan said, adding that he was not able to confirm whether U.S.

Operations at the port of Antwerp, one of Europe's biggest container ports, were seriously impacted on Tuesday as hundreds of farmers on tractors blocked the roads around the port to demand better pay and working conditions, officials said.The protest follows a large number of similar actions by angry farmers in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and beyond, as farmers also demand looser environmental rules and better protection against cheap imports."Operations are heavily disrupted," Stephan Van Fraechem, the director of the association of port companies Alfaport VOKA, told Reuters.