Anna News

As U.S. shale oil boomed last decade, an oil pipeline company pitched an ambitious multi-billion-dollar export port off the Texas coast to ship domestic crude to buyers in Europe and Asia.In April, Enterprise Products Partners' SPOT became the first project to receive a license from the U.S. maritime regulator for a deepwater port that could load two supertankers, each of which can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil at a time.But multi-year regulatory delays, a loss of commercial backers and slowing U.S.

Danish shipping and logistics firm DFDS said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy the international transport network of Turkey's Ekol Logistics for 1.9 billion crowns ($277 million) and lifted its sales growth forecast for the year.The network connects Turkey and Europe and the acquisition will add road transport to its Mediterranean ferry network, DFDS said in a statement, adding that it was in line with its strategy to move goods in trailers by ferry, road and rail."Turkey's role…

Dozens of oil tankers used by Russia have stopped sailing under the Liberian and Marshall Islands flags in recent weeks after the United States ramped up sanctions enforcement on ships linked to those registries, according to shipping data and interviews with industry and government officials.The shift reflects the close relationship between the U.S. and the flag administration companies of Liberia and the Marshall Islands, which are headquartered not in their home countries, but in Virginia, just miles from Washington D.C. and within the jurisdiction of U.S.

Lithuania said on Thursday it had been informed by a subsidiary of Polish oil refiner Orlen PKN of an oil spill in the country's waters in the Baltic Sea and had launched a probe into the incident.Lithuania's Environmental Protection Department said in a statement the subsidiary, Orlen Lietuva, had informed it on Wednesday of a 300-litre spill near the Butinge oil import terminal in connection with the loading of a tanker.It said an inspection by Lithuania later on Wednesday showed the spill measured nine kilometers by two kilometers with at least 1.8 tonnes of oil on the surface…

Sweden on Wednesday dropped its investigation into the explosions in 2022 on Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, saying it lacked jurisdiction in the case but had handed evidence it had uncovered over to German investigators.The multi-billion-dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of blasts in the Swedish and Danish economic zones in September 2022, releasing vast amounts of methane into the air.Russia and the West…

The world's largest cruise ship is set for its maiden voyage on Saturday, but environmental groups are concerned that the liquefied natural gas-powered vessel - and other giant cruise liners to follow - will leak harmful methane into the atmosphere.Royal Caribbean International's Icon of the Seas sets sail from Miami with capacity for 8,000 passengers across 20 decks, taking advantage of the surging popularity of cruises.The ship is built to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which burns more cleanly than traditional marine fuel but poses greater risks for methane emissions.

Automakers Tesla and Geely-owned Volvo Car said they were suspending some production in Europe due to a shortage of components, the first clear sign that attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are hitting manufacturers in the region.The United States and Britain launched a series of strikes on Yemen on Thursday, aimed at the Iran-backed Houthi militia whose attacks on international shipping have disrupted one of the world's most important shipping routes.Container shipping rates jumped…

Denmark's Maersk said on Tuesday its vessels previously paused and due to sail through the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden would be rerouted around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope due to attacks on vessels in the area. As of Monday, December 18, Maersk had paused around 20 vessels, of which half were waiting east of the Gulf of Aden and the rest were waiting south of the Suez canal in the Red Sea or north of it in the Mediterranean Sea, the company said in a statement.

The RSPCA has welcomed the tabling of the Australian federal Minister for Agriculture's response to one of the largest Australian parliamentary e-petitions in history, calling for an end to live sheep export.Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Murray Watt, stated: “The Australian Government acknowledges the considerable community concerns about animal welfare in the trade of live sheep exports by sea and understands the desire to see action.“The government took the commitment to phase out live sheep exports by sea to two elections…

Danish shipping company Maersk will from Dec. 1 no longer offer shipments to or from Syria, it said on Tuesday.Maersk said in a statement its operations in Syria are already limited as a result of international sanctions."This has recently become even more challenging logistically, and we have therefore made the decision to close our operations down completely," it said.(Reuters - Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Anna Ringstrom)

The animal cruelty charges that were brought against livestock export company Emanuel Exports have been dropped by prosecutors in Perth, Australia.Around 2,400 sheep died on the Awassi Express (subsequently renamed the Anna Marra) on a voyage from Fremantle to the Middle East in August 2017.The situation was brought to public attention when Animals Australia obtained whistleblower footage which was broadcast on a 60 Minutes program in April 2018. Footage from five separate voyages showed sheep suffering heat stress, some bogged in feces.

Finland on Wednesday said China had promised to fully cooperate in the investigation of the destruction last month of the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which happened on the same night that three subsea telecoms cables in the area were also damaged.Finnish police have said they are investigating whether a Hong Kong registered container vessel, the NewNew Polar Bear, damaged the pipeline by dragging its anchor over the sea bed, but have not concluded whether this was an accident…

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Tuesday that China was cooperating in Finland's investigation of the Hong Kong-flagged NewNew Polar Bear vessel's role in the Oct. 8 damage to the Balticconnector pipeline.Finnish police leading the criminal investigation have named the NewNew Polar Bear container carrier as the prime suspect in damaging the gas pipeline early on Oct. 8, saying it was too early to tell if this was an accident or a deliberate act.A large anchor, believed to belong to the NewNew Polar Bear…

Finland's foreign ministry said on Friday it had contacted China and Russia via diplomatic channels regarding the investigation of damage to a pipeline and a telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea.Early on Oct. 8, a gas pipeline and a telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia were broken, in what Finnish investigators say may have been deliberate sabotage. The Finnish foreign ministry in a statement to Reuters on Friday said it had contacted China to seek help to get in touch with the NewNew Polar Bear vessel, a ship named as a subject of investigation by Finnish police.Regarding Russia, Finland contacted the Russian foreign ministry, "stating the seriousness of the matter"…

A report into the security of Western Australia's supply chains has recommended policy and regulatory reforms to support Australian-owned shipping lines competing for domestic sea-freight work.The recommendation has been made in a report by the Western Australian (WA) Government's Shipping and Supply Chain Taskforce. Co-chaired by Kyle McGinn and Jessica Stojkovski, the Taskforce was established following the floods in South Australia in early 2022 that cut off supplies of essential…

An oil tanker registered under the flag of the Marshall Islands was suspected to have been involved in an 'accidental collision' with a Philippine boat in the South China Sea that killed three fishermen, the Philippine coast guard said on Wednesday.Philippine coast guard spokesperson Armando Balilo said that the incident was under investigation but that coast guard monitoring pointed to the Pacific Anna, registered under the flag of Marshall Islands, as the likely vessel that collided with the fishing boat.The coast guard said in a statement the Philippine boat "failed to detect" the approaching foreign vessel because of poor weather, resulting in a collision that caused the boat to capsize.

Ukrainian officials said Russia struck Ukrainian port infrastructure and grain storage facilities on Tuesday, but also reported some progress on the front lines in the three-month old counteroffensive by its forces.President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke of "good details" from the front without further explanation and said Ukraine clearly understood where to apply pressure to make it felt in Moscow."Sanctions are not enough. There will also be more of our own Ukrainian actions against the terrorist state," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

A cargo vessel carrying grain has left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk for the first time since a grain deal collapsed, a top government official said on Tuesday, in a test of Ukraine's ability to unblock its seaports for grain export."The vessel RESILIENT AFRICA, carrying 3,000 tons of wheat, has left the port of Chornomorsk and is heading towards the Bosphorus," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook."This is the first of two vessels that entered Chornomorsk last week through a temporary corridor for civilian vessels established by the Ukrainian Navy."Kubrakov posted a photo of the ship on the open sea.Ukraine…

Russian drones struck Ukrainian grain facilities at the Danube River port of Izmail overnight in what a senior official said on Wednesday was a systematic attempt by Moscow to prevent Kyiv exporting grain to the world.Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the port's export capacity had been reduced by 15% and that 13,000 metric tons of grain had been destroyed.Grain facilities in the Odesa region on the Black Sea also came under fire in the eighth wave of attacks on Ukrainian…

The Turkish and Ukrainian foreign ministers said on Friday that other solutions to the export of Ukrainian grain than the Black Sea grain deal, which ended after Russia quit last month, were less optimal.The deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations last year had allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain. Ankara has been trying to persuade Moscow to return to the agreement.Ukraine announced earlier this month a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release cargo ships that have been trapped in its ports since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb.

Poland's Orlen has signed a contract with state-owned pipeline operator Gaz-System for the regasification of up to 58 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes per year at a planned floating gas terminal, the energy company said on Friday.Poland has turned to seaborne LNG as well as gas piped from Norway via Denmark and the Baltic Sea to replace supply from Russia.The planned terminal is to be built on the Baltic Sea near Gdansk by the end of 2027 with an initial regasification capacity…

The southern Ukrainian region of Odesa, which has ports on the Black Sea and Danube River, is introducing a new export control mechanism for grain, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Thursday."From now on, vessels (barges) will be loaded only after a preliminary analysis of the legality of the grain's origin," he said, adding that all customs declarations would have to be registered prior to the loading of export goods.The measure is aimed at strengthening discipline, accounting and reporting in foreign economic activity, he said.Analysts have said that a significant amount of grain is bough

Two ships have been spotted leaving port in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, local lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said on Friday.LSEG interactive map data showed two vessels, both more than 10 km (6 miles) from the shore on Friday, underway using their engines and heading south-east. If they successfully leave Odesa's ports through the Black Sea, they would be the third and fourth vessels to do so since Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea Grain deal in July. The UN-brokered deal had previously allowed Ukraine…