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Seventeen people were injured when a Bulgarian cruise ship crashed into a concrete wall in a sluice on the River Danube in the northern Austrian town of Aschach an der Donau, local police said on Saturday.Some 160 passengers were aboard the ship traveling from Bavaria in Germany to the Austrian city of Linz, a spokesperson for police in the nearby town of Eferding said.Eleven of the injured were taken to hospital and the ship was able to continue onwards after the accident, the spokesperson said.It was not immediately clear how serious the injuries were, the spokesperson said.Local media said

Mexico plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export hub worth between $4 billion and $5 billion in the Gulf of Mexico that will help serve European demand, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday.The planned LNG facility in the port of Coatzacoalcos, in the eastern state of Veracruz, would transport gas by boat to Europe, Lopez Obrador said."We're about to promote private sector involvement, it's going to be an investment of $4-5 billion this plant," he told a regular news conference.Lopez Obrador had previously floated the idea of an LNG plant in Coatzacoalcos, alongside

Mexico on Tuesday allowed a cruise ship to dock and disembark tourists in spite of an outbreak of COVID-19 on board, as the government vowed to keep the country open to cruise vessels provided sanitary precautions are met.The ship, Ms Zuiderdam, with some 2,000 passengers and crew, docked in the port of Guaymas in the northern state of state of Sonora, state and federal authorities said.In a statement, the Mexican government said it would accept cruise ships that sought permission…

The U.S. government on Wednesday issued a warning about the threat posed by pirates to boats and oil installations in the southern Gulf of Mexico, in the latest sign of concern about ongoing security challenges facing Mexico."Armed criminal groups have been known to target and rob commercial vessels, oil platforms, and offshore supply vessels in the Bay of Campeche area in the southern Gulf of Mexico," the U.S. State Department said in an updated travel advisory.The overall risk level for Mexico remained the same in the bulletin…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Florida officials to open an Atlantic Coast port to a Dutch cruise ship stuck at sea with a deadly coronavirus outbreak onboard, urging the governor to drop his opposition.Weighing in on the fate of Holland America Line’s MS Zaandam during a White House briefing, Trump said he would call Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has declared the vessel unwelcome to prevent its sick passengers from being “dumped” on his state.“They’re dying on the ship…

A cruise ship stuck off Panama’s Pacific coast after four passengers died and more than 130 others developed influenza-like symptoms, including at least two with the coronavirus, will be allowed to proceed through the Panama Canal, the government said on Saturday.Holland America Line’s 238-meter (781-foot) MS Zaandam vessel can now continue its trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but Panama’s government underscored that no passengers or crew members would be allowed to set foot…

Four passengers have died on board the MS Zaandam, a cruise ship currently off the coast of Panama with dozens of guests suffering from influenza-like symptoms, at least two of whom have coronavirus, the vessel's operator said on Friday.Zaandam had been on a South American cruise that departed Argentina on March 7 and had been scheduled to end in San Antonio, Chile on March 21.

The Panama Canal will allow vessels coming from Venezuela to transit the waterway provided they present the necessary paperwork, the canal authority's chief said on Wednesday, suggesting a new round of U.S. sanctions on the South American country may not make any difference to canal traffic.President Donald Trump's administration last week issued an executive order freezing all Venezuelan government assets in the United States. Shortly thereafter, U.S. officials ratcheted up threats against companies that do business with Venezuela.The measure did not explicitly place sanctions on non-U.S.

The Iranian tanker that sank after a collision in the East China Sea, causing the worst oil ship disaster in years, had its paperwork in order, according an initial review by maritime authorities in Panama, whose flag it was sailing under. The large tanker Sanchi (IMO:9356608) sank on Sunday after crashing into the freighter CF Crystal (IMO:9497050) and drifting ablaze for days. The ship's crew of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis are believed to have been killed. Fernando Solorzano…

The Pentagon named a senior general to command military relief operations in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Thursday and the Trump administration sent a Cabinet emissary to the island as U.S. lawmakers called for a more robust response to the crisis. The U.S. territory of 3.4 million people struggled through a ninth day with virtually no electricity, patchy communications and shortages of fuel, clean water and other essentials in the wake of Hurricane Maria, the most powerful storm to hit the island in nearly 90 years. The storm struck on Sept. 20 with lethal, roof-ripping force and torrential rains that caused widespread flooding and heavily damaged homes, roads and other infrastructure. The storm killed more than 30 people across the Caribbean, including at least 16 in Puerto Rico.

Shipments of gasoline and diesel into Puerto Rico have resumed after Hurricane Maria, with ports restarting operations, though there were still long fuel lines around the island on Thursday, according to traders and Thomson Reuters tracking data. Residents lined up for diesel for power generators and to fill cars with gasoline, while at least one tanker discharged at the port of San Juan as oil terminals reopened some facilities. The territory still faces logistical hurdles to distribute food, fuel and water. Critics called for more resources and a single authority to oversee relief efforts. Most of the Caribbean island's 3.4 million people still lacked electricity. Gasoline stations have been unable to remain open for more than a few hours at a time, the U.S.

A fire broke out on an oil tanker of Mexican state oil company Pemex in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, forcing all the crew to be evacuated in the latest accident to plague the struggling firm. The blaze on the tanker "Burgos" occurred off the coast of Boca del Rio in Veracruz state and all the crew were safe, Pemex said in a tweet. Mexico's Navy said there were 31 crew members and that all had returned to port. Images tweeted by Pemex showed the vessel giving off plumes of smoke as another boat hosed the tanker. Early on Saturday evening, Pemex said that firefighting teams were still working to put out the blaze. The tanker was carrying 80,000 barrels of diesel and 70,000 barrels of gasoline, Mexicos Communications and Transport Ministry said.

Hurricane Paine formed in the Pacific more than 300 miles off the coast of Mexico early on Monday and is forecast to begin weakening later in the day, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Mexico has no coastal warnings in effect for Paine, which is expected to weaken substantially before it hits the upper portion of the Baja California peninsula by early Thursday, the Miami-based center said. At 0900 GMT, Paine was 340 miles (547 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, blowing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (121 kilometers per hour) and moving northwest at 15 mph (24 kph), the NHC said. According to the NHC forecasts, the storm will gradually arc toward land over the next day or two, and be a tropical depression by the time it reaches the coast.

Tropical storm Carlos threatened Mexico's Pacific coast with heavy rain on Monday as it churned west near the port of Lazaro Cardenas, and it is forecast to become a hurricane again by early Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Early on Monday, Carlos was 75 miles (121 km) south of Lazaro Cardenas, blowing maximum sustained winds of about 70 miles per hour (113 kph) with higher gusts, and moving west-northwest at around 6 mph (10 kph), the Miami-based NHC said. Carlos was a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday, but was later downgraded to a tropical storm after weakening. NHC projections showed Carlos could end up near the tourist resort of Puerto Vallarta by Wednesday, though by then it is predicted to be just a tropical depression.

Tropical storm Polo barreled nearer on Friday to the Mexican Pacific resort of Los Cabos where thousands of troops were restoring order following widespread chaos caused by Hurricane Odile at the start of the week. Odile plowed into the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula on Sunday as a category 3 hurricane, causing major damage to beach resorts and sparking widespread looting. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said a tropical storm warning was in effect from Santa Fe to La Paz on the normally arid peninsula, adding that Polo could dump rains from Jalisco state to the southern port of Baja California. At around 2100 GMT, Polo was moving northwest at 6 miles per hour (10 km per hour) and is expected to veer further westward over the next 48 hours…

Mexico's finance minister said on Thursday that if state oil giant Pemex opted to sell its 9.3 percent stake in Spanish peer Repsol, it would "not be a bad decision" because the money could be invested in Mexico. In an interview with Mexican radio, Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said Pemex's board would take the decision on whether to sell the stake in Repsol. "Irrespective of what the board decides, if the decision is to disinvest in a company like Repsol that operates outside of Mexico so as to get this capital and invest it in the opportunities which Pemex will have in Mexico, it wouldn't be a bad decision," Videgaray said. Pemex…