The Newspaper News

Disruption to Red Sea container shipping is rising, Maersk said on Monday, forecasting this will cut the industry's capacity between Asia and Europe by up to 20% in the second quarter.Maersk and other shipping companies have diverted vessels around Africa's Cape of Good Hope since December to avoid attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militants in the Red Sea, with the longer voyage times pushing freight rates higher."The risk zone has expanded, and attacks are reaching further offshore…

Italian defense group Leonardo is close to finalizing a deal to sell its submarine unit Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS) to shipbuilder Fincantieri, Leonardo's chief executive said on Monday."We are talking days, not months," Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani told reporters in the port city of Genoa, in remarks confirmed by a spokesperson.The deal, expected to be worth between 200 million and 300 million euros ($213 million-$320 million), would be part of Fincantieri's broader strategy to grow through acquisitions and focus more on the fast-growing defence sector and strengthen its posit

A cargo ship leaving Russia that made an unscheduled stop at the German port of Rostock is under investigation there for carrying cargo in possible breach of sanctions, German authorities said on Wednesday.The Atlantic Navigator II, managed by Canada-based CSAL and sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, has been detained by German customs. On board are 251 containers of birch wood, which is subject to EU sanctions against Russia, prosecutors said."Investigations are under way against the captain of the freighter on initial suspicion of a violation of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act…

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri is in talks with Leonardo to buy the defense group's submarine unit Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (Wass), several newspapers reported on Wednesday.Spokespersons for Fincantieri and Leonardo both declined to comment.The acquisition would have a value of between 200 and 300 million euros ($217-$326 million), Corriere della Sera and financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported.The move by Fincantieri would be part of the group's broader strategy to grow non-organically and focus more on the defence sector…

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…

Russia energy infrastructure has been hit by drone attacks and fires in the past month, adding to uncertainty in global oil and gas markets already rocked by the conflict in the Middle East.Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other's energy infrastructure in strikes designed to disrupt supply lines and logistics and to demoralise their opponent as they try to get the edge in a nearly two-year-old war that shows no sign of ending.Following are recent major incidents at Russian oil facilities in the past month:* A Russian appointed official said on Jan.

Germany is expected to participate in a European Union naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea that EU foreign ministers will approve this month, the head of the German parliamentary defence committee said.Speaking at her party's reception for the new year on Sunday, Maria-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said the aim of the mission would be for EU frigates to protect commercial vessels passing through the strait.The approaches to the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping lanes…

Chinese state media unveiled new images of China's most advanced aircraft carrier yet, including next generation launch tracks that can catapult a wider range of aircraft from its deck.First shown to the public in June 2022, the Fujian was entirely designed and built domestically.Yet to conduct its first sea trials, the aircraft carrier is larger and technologically more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted domestically.On state television late on Tuesday…

U.S. helicopters repelled an attack by Iran-backed Houthi militants on a Maersk container vessel in the Red Sea, sinking three ships and killing 10 militants, according to accounts by American, Maersk, and Houthi officials on Sunday.The naval battle occurred around 0330 GMT on Sunday as the attackers sought to board the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou, Maersk and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely joined the ship's security team in repelling the attackers after receiving a distress call…

Foreign shareholders suspended participation in the Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions, renouncing their responsibilities for financing and for offtake contracts for the new Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, the daily Kommersant reported on Monday.The project, seen as a key element in Russia's drive to boost its LNG global market share to 20% by 2030 from 8%, was already facing difficulties due to U.S. sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and a lack of gas carriers.China's state oil majors CNOOC  and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) each have a 10% stake in the project…

Russian oil tankers are not targeted in the European Commission's proposal for tightening the implementation of a price cap on the country's crude oil, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.The Financial Times reported earlier on Wednesday that Denmark will be tasked with inspecting and potentially blocking Russian oil tankers sailing through its waters under new European Union plans as a way of enforcing a $60 per barrel price cap on Moscow's crude.The FT said that Denmark would target tankers carrying Russian oil that did not have Western insurance…

Denmark will be tasked with inspecting and potentially blocking tankers carrying Russian oil through its waters under new European Union plans, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing three unidentified sources.Russia sends about a third of its seaborne oil exports, or 1.5% of global supply, through the Danish straits so any attempt to halt those supplies would send oil prices higher and trigger a confrontation with Russia. The FT said that Denmark would target tankers carrying Russian oil that did not have Western insurance…

Estonia said on Thursday it would probe the damage on a Baltic Sea telecoms cable connecting the country to Sweden as part of its ongoing investigation about the rupture caused on another telecoms cable, connecting Tallinn with Helsinki.On Oct.8 a gas pipeline and telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia were broken, in what Finnish investigators believe may have been deliberate sabotage. Helsinki is investigating the pipeline incident, while Tallinn is probing the cable incident.On Tuesday…

The head of German shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd, Rolf Habben Jansen, expects the next three years to be difficult because demand for shipping services is growing more slowly than available shipping capacity, he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.Despite that, he thought the downturn in the sector would be less severe than in the period following the global financial crisis in 2008 when new capacity due to launch amounted to 55% of the existing fleet. Now, the equivalent figure is just 27%.Freight rates had fallen by around 60% year-on-year…

A new floating reception terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) off the German Baltic Coast should be operational from the first quarter of 2024, gas pipeline operator Gascade, which is building its onshore connection, said on Wednesday.Located off Mukran on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, the terminal will host two floating storage and reception units (FSRUs) for LNG deliveries into the German mainland and for exports to eastern European neighbours, as the region ends reliance on Russian pipeline gas."All things going well…

The Spanish coastguard rescued two Nigerian migrants who stowed away on the rudder of a ship that arrived in the Canary Islands from Togo, a coastguard spokesperson and the police said on Tuesday.After being rescued on Monday night in the port of Las Palmas, the migrants were taken to a hospital.

The European Union is considering a proposal for the Russian Agricultural Bank to set up a subsidiary to reconnect to the global financial network as a sop to Moscow, the Financial Times said on Monday.With the bank under sanctions, the move aims to safeguard the Black Sea grain deal that allows Ukraine to export food to global markets, the newspaper said.The European Commission had no comment while the Kremlin on Monday, in response to a question about the report, said it had…

Brazilian shipping company Wilson Sons' controlling shareholder said on Monday it is conducting a strategic review of its investment in the firm, sending shares in both companies soaring 12%.London-listed Ocean Wilsons said in a statement that "all potential strategic options" would be considered as part of the review, but noted the move was at an early stage and there was still no certainty as to its outcome.It was responding to a Sunday piece by Brazilian newspaper O Globo saying that Swiss shipping group MSC was in talks to buy Wilson Sons, in a deal that could total around 5 billion reais

Berlin is reviewing its decision to allow China's Cosco to take a stake in one of logistics firm HHLA's three terminals at the Hamburg port, a spokesperson for the German economy ministry said on Wednesday.Responding to a question about the reported classification of Tollerort as critical infrastructure, the spokesperson said it was being determined whether and under what conditions Cosco would be allowed to take a stake in the terminal named Tollerort.The German cabinet gave Cosco the go-ahead to take a 24.9% stake in the port in October last year.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave the green

Western allies on Wednesday warned against reaching premature conclusions on who was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, with Germany suggesting the attack could also have been a "false flag" operation to blame Ukraine.A New York Times report, citing intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials, said on Tuesday a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the blasts that became a flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.The report…

CMA CGM expects its profit to ease further for the rest of the year after a first-quarter decline, as an uncertain economy and influx of new vessels cool the container shipping market after a record 2022.The company, based in Marseille and privately controlled by the founding Saade family, on Friday reported a first-quarter net profit of $2.0 billion, compared with $7.2 billion in the year-earlier period, and said in a statement it expects the first quarter to be its most profitable of 2023.CMA CGM is among shipping firms to have posted record profits last year, after the COVID-19 pandemic tri

Danish police have searched for a yacht on a tiny Baltic Sea island near the Nord Stream pipeline blast sites, the local administrator said on Thursday.German authorities confirmed on Wednesday they had raided a ship in January that may have been used to transport explosives used to blow up the pipelines."The police was searching for a specific boat that had moored here in September," Soren Thiim Andersen, the highest authority on the island of Christiansö, told Reuters.The Sept.

One of President Vladimir Putin's top allies said on Monday that the United States and Britain were sowing deceptions that a pro-Ukrainian group blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines on the bed of the Baltic Sea last year.Last week the New York Times reported that intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggested that a pro-Ukraine group - likely comprised of Ukrainians or Russians - attacked the pipelines in September. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev cast doubt on that report…