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Catherine Evans News

18 Jan 2024

Indian Navy Rescues Crew from US-Owned Ship After Attack Off Yemen

(Photo: Indian Navy)

The Indian Navy said on Thursday it had rescued the crew of a U.S.-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden after an attack by Yemen's Houthi movement as tensions in the region's sea lanes disrupted global trade.Following the attack on the U.S. Genco Picardy late on Wednesday, the U.S. military said its forces had conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region".Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on…

16 Jan 2024

Another Ship Hit in the Red Sea

© ID1974 / Adobe Stock

Disruptions to Red Sea shipping caused by Houthi attacks will push up prices of consumer goods, an executive from port and freight operator DP World said on Tuesday as a missile struck another vessel in the region.The Iran-allied Houthi militia has threatened to expand its attacks to include U.S. ships in response to American and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.Attacks by the Houthis on ships in the region since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers - an escalation of Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

15 Jan 2024

Houthis Say They Will Target US Ships

© Andrea Izzotti / Adobe Stock

Yemen's Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include U.S. ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after U.S. and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.Attacks by the Houthis on ships in area since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers in an escalation of Israel's more than three-month war with Hamas militants in Gaza. The group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians.British…

14 Jan 2024

Tesla, Volvo Car Pause Output as Red Sea Shipping Crisis Deepens

© Björn Wylezich / Adobe Stock

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…

02 Jan 2024

Shipping Firms Continue to Pause Red Sea Shipments

© hit1912 / Adobe Stock

Global Denmark's Maersk and German rival Hapag-Lloyd said on Tuesday their container ships would continue to avoid the Red Sea route that gives access to the Suez Canal following a weekend attack on one of Maersk's vessels.Both shipping giants have been re-routing some sailings via Africa's southern Cape of Good Hope as Yemen-based Houthi militants attack cargo vessels in the Red Sea. The disruption threatens to drive up delivery costs for goods, raising fears it could trigger…

22 Dec 2023

Shipping Firms Impose Surcharges as Red Sea Attacks Hit Global Trade

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

Maersk and CMA CGM, two of the world's largest shipping firms, will impose extra charges after deciding to re-route ships following attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, as worries about the disruption to global trade grow.The surcharges, designed to cover longer voyages around Africa compared with routes via the Suez Canal, will add to rising costs for sea transport since Yemen's Houthi militant group started targeting vessels.Maersk and CMA CGM are among leading shipping lines to have suspended the passage of vessels through the Red Sea that connects with the key Suez Canal…

21 Dec 2023

Shipping Industry in the Dark Over US-led Red Sea Navy Force

(Photo: Samantha Alaman / U.S. Navy)

Shipping companies remain in the dark over a new international navy coalition being assembled by the United States to combat attacks in the Red Sea, with many vessels continuing to avoid the area or cancelling contracts, sources said on Wednesday.The sources, who include shipping and maritime security officials, say few practical details are known about the initiative launched on Tuesday by Washington or whether it will directly engage in the event of further armed attacks at sea.Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have since Nov.

23 Dec 2022

Italy's LNG Import Capacity and New Terminals

Italy plans to boost its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity to 27 billion cubic metres (bcm) from nearly 17 bcm currently as it seeks to completely replace Russian gas supplies following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.In 2021, Moscow provided Rome with 29 bcm of gas via pipelines, equal to around 40% of Italy's total imports but Russian supplies have fallen in recent months to around 10% of total imports. Italy, which can now count on three LNG terminals, has mandated gas grid operator Snam SRG.MI to buy and set up two additional floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) near the cities of Piombino and Ravenna.A timely start for the Piombino FSRU is crucial to allow Italy to fill gas storage facilities in time for winter 2023…

28 Jul 2022

Staff Vote to Strike at UK's Biggest Container Port

© Andy Sears / Adobe Stock

Staff at Britain's largest container port, Felixstowe, have voted in favor of strike action in a dispute over pay, the Unite union said on Thursday, warning of huge disruption across the supply chain.The dockworkers join a growing wave of employees, in a range of sectors from rail to telecoms, resorting to industrial action as pay rises fail to keep pace with inflation which is expected to hit double digits in Britain by the end of the year."Strike action would bring Felixstowe to a standstill and would cause major logistical problems for maritime and road haulage transport entering the port,"

26 May 2022

Russia Ready to Set Up Corridor for Ships Leaving Ukraine, With Conditions

© glebzter / Adobe Stock

Russia is ready to provide a humanitarian corridor for vessels carrying food to leave Ukraine, in return for the lifting of some sanctions, the Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as saying on Wednesday.Ukraine's Black Sea ports have been blocked since Russia sent thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24 and more than 20 million tonnes of grain are stuck in silos in the country.Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global…

23 Mar 2022

Food Supplies Running Low on Foreign Ships Stuck in Ukraine

© Ann Stryzhekin / Adobe Stock

Food and medical supplies onboard over 100 foreign flagged ships stuck in Ukraine due to the conflict are running low, with little progress on creating a maritime corridor to allow them to sail away, industry officials said on Wednesday.London's marine insurance market has widened the area of waters it considers high risk in the region as the conflict intensifies and perils to merchant shipping grow.The UN's shipping agency said this month it would work to create a safe maritime…

27 Dec 2021

At Least 16 Dead in Greek Shipwreck

(Photo: Hellenic Coast Guard)

At least 16 people died when their boat overturned off the Greek island of Paros in the central Aegean Sea on Friday, in the third maritime disaster involving migrants this week, the country's coastguard said.Authorities scrambled a search and rescue operation overnight northwest of Paros. Air and sea assets were deployed to the area, the coastguard said.Greece is one of the main routes into the European Union for migrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East and beyond, though the flow has tapered off since 2015-2016…

15 Oct 2021

Russia Says it Chased US Naval Destroyer From its Waters

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) (Photo: Daniel Barker / U.S. Navy)

Russia said one of its military vessels chased away a U.S. naval destroyer that attempted to violate Russian territorial waters during Russian-Chinese naval drills in the Sea of Japan on Friday.There was no immediate comment from the U.S. side.The Russian defense ministry said the crew of a Russian anti-submarine vessel, the Admiral Tributs, had radioed a warning to the USS Chafee that it was "in an area closed to navigation due to exercises with artillery fire".The U.S. destroyer failed to change course and instead raised flags indicating it was preparing to launch a helicopter from its deck…

06 Jul 2021

Deal Reached to Release Cargo Ship that Blocked Suez Canal

© Cnes2021, Distribution Airbus DS

The owners and insurers of the Ever Given container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March said on Sunday a formal settlement had been agreed in a compensation dispute, and the canal authority said the vessel would be allowed to sail on July 7.The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has held the giant ship and its crew in a lake between two stretches of the waterway since it was dislodged on March 29, amid a dispute over a demand for compensation by the SCA.The Japanese-owned Ever Given had become stuck in high winds and remained wedged across the canal for six days…

29 Jun 2021

Russian Jets Harass Dutch Frigate in Black Sea

(Photo: CC BY-SA 2.5 / User:Heb on Wikimedia Commons)

The Netherlands' defense minister said on Tuesday that Russian fighter jets armed with air-to-surface missiles had harassed a Dutch navy frigate in the Black Sea earlier this month, conducting mock attacks and jamming communication systems.The Russian defense ministry said it had scrambled fighter jets and bombers to prevent the frigate from entering Russian waters, according to news agencies.The Russian military said the warplanes flew at a safe distance from the vessel and in…

26 Apr 2021

Britain's New Aircraft Carrier Queen Elizabeth to Embark on Maiden Deployment

(Photo: U.K. Royal Navy)

Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier will lead a flotilla of Royal Navy ships through Asian waters on port visits to Japan and South Korea on its maiden deployment, the British embassy in Tokyo said on Monday.The high-profile visits, aimed at bolstering security ties in East Asia, come amid tensions in the region as concern grows in Japan over any threat posed to neighboring Taiwan by China.Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden issued a…

29 Mar 2021

Traffic in Suez Canal Resumes After Ever Given Refloated

(Photo: Svitzer)

Shipping was on the move again late on Monday in Egypt's Suez Canal after tugs refloated a giant container ship which had been blocking the channel for almost a week, causing a huge build-up of vessels around the waterway.With the 400-meter-long (430-yard) Ever Given dislodged, 113 ships were expected to transit the canal in both directions by early Tuesday morning, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie told reporters.He said a backlog of 422 ships could be cleared in 3 -1/2 days.The Ever Given had become jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal…

19 Jan 2021

Germany 'Regrets' U.S. Plan to Sanction Vessel Linked to Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

The United States has informed Germany that it plans to impose sanctions on a Russian pipe-laying ship involved in construction of the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, the German Economy Ministry said on Monday."We're taking note of the announcement with regret," an Economy Ministry spokesman in Berlin said.German business daily Handelsblatt had earlier reported the U.S. sanctions would go into effect on Tuesday as part of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).It said the sanctions would be imposed on the Russian pipe-laying ship "Fortuna" and its owner, KVT-RUS.Nord Stream 2, designed to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline, would bypass Ukraine, depriving it of lucrative transit fees.

08 Jan 2021

Ireland Eases Customs Rules as Low Demand Stops Ferry Sailings

A Stena Line Vessel - Credit:Stena Line

Ireland's tax authority temporarily eased post-Brexit customs arrangements after some trucks were unable to deliver goods from Britain, difficulties that prompted the largest Irish Sea ferry operator to cancel some sailings from Friday.Britain's departure from the EU's orbit introduces reams of paperwork and costs that must be completed to move goods across the new customs border. For Irish firms, it means a 12-fold rise in the number of import and export declarations, the tax…

14 Dec 2020

'External source' Causes Explosion, Fire on Oil Tanker in Saudi Arabia

BW Rhine (File Photo) - Author:Comrade King/Flickr - CC BY-SA 2.0

Shipping company Hafnia said on Monday that one of its oil tankers, the BW Rhine, had been hit by an unidentified "external source" that caused an explosion and a fire while the ship was discharging at Jeddah port in Saudi Arabia.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on its website that investigations into an explosion involving a tanker were underway, and that Jeddah's port was closed for an unknown duration."BW Rhine has been hit from an external source whilst discharging at Jeddah…

25 Nov 2020

Eight Dead, More Missing as Boat Capsizes Off Canary Islands

© Peter Hermes Furian/AdobeStock

At least eight people were drowned after a boat carrying more than 35 migrants from the Maghreb region of North Africa and heading towards the Canary Islands capsized on Tuesday, emergency services said on Wednesday.Four people were found dead late on Tuesday and another four bodies were rescued on Wednesday morning. The emergency services said they were searching for any more missing persons.One of the 28 migrants rescued had to be transferred to a hospital.A Reuters reporter…

26 Oct 2020

UK Special Forces Storm Oil Tanker, Detain Stowaways in English Channel

British special forces stormed a Greek-operated oil tanker in the English channel on Sunday to wrestle control of the vessel from seven stowaways who had threatened the crew in a suspected hijacking.Troops from the Special Boat Service, a navy special forces unit whose headquarters in just a few miles away from where the vessel began showing signs of distress, boarded the Nave Andromeda near the Isle of Wight off southern England.Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel authorized the armed forces to board the ship “to safeguard life and secure a ship that was subject to suspected hijacking”, the defense ministry said.“Armed forces have gained control of the ship and seven individuals have been detained,” the ministry said.

23 Sep 2020

Sweden Protests Russian Breach of Its Waters

© JGade / Adobe Stock

Sweden has protested to Russia after two warships entered its territorial waters without permission, a defense department spokesman said on Wednesday, as Sweden agreed with two neighboring countries to deepen military cooperation.The spokesman said Sweden had called in Russian diplomatic representatives to protest the breach on September 14 by “two Russian corvettes which entered territorial waters near Gothenburg”.The Swedish military has also reported that a Danish military…