Abdullah News

Qatar Gas Transport Company Q.P.S.C. (Nakilat) announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2025 which ended September 30, 2025, with a net profit of USD$360 million (QAR 1.31 billion), compared to USD$352 million (QAR 1.28 billion) for the same period in 2024, an increase of 3.0%. This result underscores Nakilat’s strong operational resilience and strategic discipline in a dynamic global LNG shipping environment.Key financial highlights for the third quarter of 2025:Achieved a net profit of USD$360 million (QAR 1.31 billion)…

The keel laying of the new research vessel, Thuwal II, for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at the Freire Shipyard marks the beginning of a new chapter in marine research in Saudi Arabia, driving innovation in this crucial field for the country. The contract for the newbuild was announced in August 2024.“The RV Thuwal II represents a decisive step in our commitment to strengthen Saudi Arabia's scientific infrastructure and protect the Red Sea ecosystem. This new addition will open the door to high-impact technology collaborations in the region.

The United States will keep attacking Yemen's Houthis until they end attacks on shipping, the U.S. defense secretary said on Sunday, as the Iran-aligned group signaled it could escalate in response to deadly U.S. strikes the day before.The airstrikes, which the Houthi-run health ministry said killed at least 53 people, are the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. One U.S. official told Reuters the campaign might continue for weeks.Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Sunday that his militants would target U.S.

Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) has held a steel cutting ceremony for eight of its new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers at Hanwha Ocean shipyard in the Republic of Korea.These vessels are part of Qatar’s historic LNG fleet expansion project, aimed at meeting the maritime transport needs of the LNG sector.In February 2024, Nakilat signed agreements with QatarEnergy to charter and operate 25 conventional-size LNG carriers, making Nakilat both the owner and operator of the vessels…

Qatar Gas Transport Company Q.P.S.C. (Nakilat) has achieve a net profit of QAR 1.28 billion ($352 million) in the third quarter of 2024, ended September 30.This represents an increase of 7.2% compared to the same period in 2023.Nakilat says it continues to strengthen its position as one of the world’s largest LNG fleet owners through strategic partnerships, fleet modernization and operational excellence.The company continues to progress with its construction of advanced LNG and LPG/Ammonia carriers, scheduled for delivery in the coming years.

Somali pirates released a hijacked ship, MV Abdullah, and its crew of 23 early on Sunday after a $5 million ransom was paid, according to two pirates."The money was brought to us two nights ago as usual... we checked whether the money was fake or not. Then we divided the money into groups and left, avoiding the government forces," Abdirashiid Yusuf, one of the pirates, told Reuters.He added the ship had been released with all its crew.Somalia government officials did not respond to a request for comment.The MV Abdullah…

QatarEnergy signed time-charter party (TCP) agreements with Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) for the operation of 25, 174,000 cubic meter LNG vessels as part of the second ship-owner tender under QatarEnergy’s historic LNG Fleet Expansion Program.The agreements were signed by His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy and Mr. Abdullah Al Sulaiti, the CEO of Nakilat, in a special ceremony held at QatarEnergy’s headquarters in Doha…

As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline.No one reached them in time. The pirates clambered aboard the Abdullah, firing warning shots and taking the captain and second officer hostage, Chief Officer Atiq Ullah Khan said in an audio message to the ship's owners."By the grace of Allah no one has been harmed so far," Khan said in the message, recorded before the pirates took the crew's phones.

India will bring in and prosecute 35 Somali pirates its navy captured on a hijacked ship off Somalia, a navy official said, in a departure from its recent practice of rescuing vessels and crew but leaving the disarmed pirates at sea.The captured pirates are due to arrive in India on Saturday and will be handed over to the law enforcement agencies, the official said. He declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.The exact charges against the pirates were not immediately clear…

Somali police and international navies were preparing on Monday to attack a commercial ship that was hijacked by pirates last week, the Puntland region's police force said, two days after Indian commandos rescued another cargo vessel held by pirates.The MV Abdullah was hijacked off the coast of Somalia last week, the latest of more than 20 attacks since November by Somali pirates who had laid dormant for nearly a decade.On Saturday, the Indian navy rescued another cargo vessel, the Maltese-flagged MV Ruen, which had been seized in December, freeing its 17 crew members and arresting 35 pirates.

Somali pirates who seized the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo ship Ruen in December may have used the vessel in the takeover of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia two days ago, the European Union naval force said on Thursday.Somali pirates caused chaos in important global waterways for a decade leading up to 2018, but had been dormant until a resurgence of attacks starting late last year.If confirmed, Tuesday's attack from a confiscated ship would mark a return…

Wärtsilä has supplied its latest simulator technology to the prestigious Sharjah Maritime Academy located in Khorfakkan, United Arab Emirates.The comprehensive suite of navigation, engineering, communications and Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) simulators includes full mission, part task and classroom trainers for all levels of training and research, as well as modelling and content creation tools to enable the highly skilled maritime faculty team to offer a complete range of services…

Qatar-based energy shipping company Nakilat has placed orders to with Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI) of South Korea for the construction of six new LNG and LPG carriers.The order includes two LNG carriers with a cargo capacity of 174,000 cubic meters each and four very large LPG/ammonia gas carriers, with a substantial cargo capacity of 88,000 cubic meters.The vessels are set to be delivered between 2026 and 2027, Nakilat said.Upon delivery, Nakilat's LNG fleet will expand to 71 vessels…

Naval architecture firm Glosten announced it has completed the design for the R/V Thuwal II, KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)’s new research vessel optimized for generalized oceanography and tailored to the Middle East’s hot climate.Once built, it will be the largest and most specialized research vessel based in the Red Sea, supporting everything from biology to geology.The new vessel will replace the existing Thuwal, which is more than 20 years old and has served KAUST scientists for as many as 220 days at sea per year since 2013.

The Israel-Hamas war has raised the spectre of a wider regional conflict which could embroil Iran and other regional factions.Analysts and market observers say the conflict could prompt the United States to tighten sanctions on Iran, which may spur Tehran to take retaliatory action against ships in the Strait in Hormuz.The Marshall Islands registry, one of the world's top shipping flags, last week flagged that vessels with links to Israel or the United States may face a heightened threat of attack within Israeli territorial waters…

A containership carrying general commercial goods docked at Yemen's main port of Hodeidah for the first time since at least 2016 on Saturday as parties in Yemen's eight-year war are in talks to reinstate an expired U.N.-brokered truce deal.The conflict, which pits a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia against the Iran-aligned Houthi group, has divided Yemen and caused a humanitarian crisis that has left 80% of the 30 million population needing help.Goods arriving at Hodeidah have to be vetted by a U.N. body established to prevent arms shipments from entering Yemen.

U.S.-sanctioned oil supertanker Young Yong is being towed to an anchorage area in Nipah, Indonesia, after the stranded tanker was successfully refloated, Commander of Indonesia's First Fleet Arsyad Abdullah said on Thursday. The tugboats that had surrounded the ship were also dispersing, data on Refinitiv Eikon and MarineTraffic website showed. On Refinitiv Eikon, Young Yong's status has been changed to "restricted manoeuvrability" from "aground", which would indicate the vessel is floating but that the crew does not have full control of the vessel. The United States allowed some transactions necessary to dock and anchor the Young Yong safely and make repairs as part of the efforts to free the vessel. The supertanker ran aground off Indonesia's Riau Islands on Oct. 26 near a gas pipeline.

Indonesian authorities said on Monday it could take up to a month to free a crude oil tanker stuck in its waters, while the United States slapped sanctions on the vessel for alleged links to Hezbollah and a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The Indonesian navy has been trying to free the Djibouti-registered vessel, Young Yong, which ran aground off Indonesia's Riau Islands on Oct. 26. The U.S. last week issued sanctions against an international oil smuggling network it said supports Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force, targeting dozens of people, companies, and tankers as Washington sought to mount pressure on Tehran. The Young Yong was among the vessels sanctioned. U.S. embassy officials in Singapore and Jakarta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ships brought grain from Ukrainian ports on Monday, suggesting Moscow had stopped short of reimposing a blockade that might have caused world hunger, despite suspending its participation in a U.N. program to safely export grain from the war zone.Air raid sirens blared across Ukraine and explosions rang out in Kyiv, sending black smoke into the sky as Russia rained missiles down in renewed air attacks. Ukrainian officials said energy infrastructure was hit including at hydro-electric dams…

A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon on Monday under a safe passage agreement, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago.Ukraine's foreign minister called it "a day of relief for the world", especially for countries threatened by food shortages and hunger because of the disrupted shipments.The sailing was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain-and-fertilizer export agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month - a rare diplomatic breakthrough in a conflict that is grinding on with no resolution in sight."The first grain ship since #RussianAggression has left port," Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

International Maritime Industries (IMI), the largest shipyard in the MENA region, has expanded its partnership with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) through a technical service agreement to further enhance its shipbuilding capabilities.Under the agreement, HHI will provide technical assistance and consulting services in Very Large Crude Oil Carrier (VLCC) engineering to IMI, reflecting its commitment to supporting the development of IMI’s shipbuilding capabilities and engineering services since its launch in 2017.The agreement was signed by Dr.

Indonesia's head of the armed forces said on Friday that he is investigating a Reuters report that navy officers asked for a payment of $375,000 to release a fuel tanker detained last week on suspicion of anchoring illegally in its waters.Navy officers at the Batam naval base, just south of Singapore, requested the unofficial payment to release the Nord Joy fuel tanker, two security sources involved in the negotiations told Reuters.The incident comes after Reuters reported a dozen similar detentions last year. In those cases, the ship owners made unofficial payments of about $300,000 each and the vessels detained by the Indonesian navy…

The United Arab Emriates wants to bolster trade with Morocco to reach $7 billion within 10 years from $800 million in 2021, UAE Economy Minister Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri said on Thursday in Rabat.For that purpose, the two countries will speed up container shipping to seven days from 40 days, Al Marri told Reuters before a visit to Africa's largest port in Tangier, northern Morocco.The UAE is one of the largest investors in Morocco, pouring $15 billion into the North African…