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Dan Williams 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…

31 Dec 2023

Israel Says It's Ready to Let Ships Bring Aid to Gaza

© moofushi / Adobe Stock

Israel is prepared to let ships deliver aid to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip "immediately" as part of a proposed sea corridor from Cyprus, the Israeli foreign minister said on Sunday, naming four European countries as potential participants.Under the arrangement first suggested by Nicosia in November, cargo would undergo security inspection in the Cypriot port of Larnaca before being ferried to the Gaza coast, 370 km (230 miles) away, rather than through neighbouring Egypt or Israel.If the plan goes ahead…

12 Dec 2023

Yemen's Houthis Claim Missile Attack on Norwegian Tanker

Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they hit a Norwegian commercial tanker with a missile in their latest protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, underlining the risks of a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.The Iran-aligned group attacked the tanker, the Strinda, because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal and after its crew ignored all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea said in a statement.But the tanker's owner, Norway's Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, said the vessel was headed to Italy with a cargo of biofuel feedstock, not crude oil.

20 Nov 2023

Video: Houthis Seize Car Carrier in the Red Sea

(Photo: Screenshot from video shared by Yemeni Armed Forces)

Israel said on Sunday that Yemen's Houthis had seized a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea, describing the incident as an "Iranian act of terrorism" with consequences for international maritime security.The Houthis said they had seized a ship in that area but described it as Israeli. "We are treating the ship's crew in accordance with Islamic principles and values," a spokesperson for the group said, making no reference to the Israeli account.The Houthis…

22 May 2023

Israel Accuses Iran of Using Civilian Ships as 'Floating Terror Bases'

© Vitalii Vodolazskyi / Adobe Stock

Israel accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Monday of turning commercial ships into platforms for launching missiles, drones and commandos, saying the objective was to spread Tehran's clandestine naval clout well beyond the Gulf.The allegation by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant came as tensions between the regional foes surge afresh over Iran's nuclear drive and support for Palestinian and Lebanese militias.Showing images of six purportedly repurposed Iranian vessels…

02 Mar 2023

Israel Urges Brazil to Undock Iranian Warships

© Thalma / Adobe Stock

Israel on Thursday criticised Brazil's decision to grant berth to two Iranian warships in the face of U.S. pressure, and urged President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government to send them away.The vessels docked in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. Reuters reported that Brazil had declined to admit them in January, in a goodwill gesture from Lula as he flew to Washington to meet U.S. President Joe Biden.Israel and Iran have been locked in a Cold War-style conflict for decades, which has included mutual accusations of maritime sabotage…

27 Oct 2022

Israel, Lebanon Finalize Maritime Demarcation Deal without Mutual Recognition

Prime Minister Yair Lapid has signed the agreement on a maritime boundary between Israel and Lebanon, alongside Israel’s negotiating team.

Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO - Credit: Israel Government

Israeli and Lebanese leaders finalised a U.S-brokered maritime demarcation on Thursday, bringing a measure of accommodation between the enemy states as they eye offshore energy exploration.Leaders from Lebanon, Israel and the United States have all hailed the deal as "historic" but the possibility of a wider diplomatic breakthrough remains slim. As a result, there was no joint signing ceremony: Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a letter approving the deal at his palace in Baabda in the presence of the U.S.

17 Oct 2022

Lebanon Claims Israeli Gunboats Violated Its Territorial Waters

©svarshik/AdobeStock

The Lebanese army said on Sunday that Israeli gunboats violated Lebanese territorial waters several times on Saturday in an area opposite Ras Naqura near the border between the two countries, an accusation Israel denied.The statement said there were four violations where gunboats entered several hundred meters inside Lebanese waters and that authorities were discussing the violations with a United Nations Interim Force.An Israeli military statement said there "was no crossing…

12 Oct 2022

Israel Fast-tracks Lebanese Maritime Deal but Lawmaker Review Looms

Credit: Argus/AdobeStock

Top Israeli ministers on Wednesday endorsed a U.S.-brokered deal to delineate a maritime border with Lebanon, paving the way for a potentially fractious two-week parliamentary review before it goes into force.Prime Minister Yair Lapid's security cabinet said the deal should be "urgently" green-lit, according to a statement following the meeting.If finalized, the agreement - hailed on Tuesday by all three parties involved as a historic achievement - would mark a diplomatic departure from decades of war and hostility as well as opening the door to offshore energy exploration.

21 Jul 2022

Cameras to Replace Peacekeepers at Strategic Red Sea Strait

© Sarit Richerson / Adobe Stock

Remote-controlled cameras will take over responsibility from U.S.-led peacekeepers for ensuring international shipping retains freedom of access to the Gulf of Aqaba, whose coastline is shared by Israel and three Arab nations, officials said.Tiran island, which lies in the straits of the same name at the mouth of the gulf, was handed to Saudi Arabia from Egypt along with next-door Sanafir island in 2017.During a visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia last week, U.S. President Joe Biden…

06 Jun 2022

Lebanon to Invite U.S. Envoy for Maritime Talks After Spat with Israel

Flag of Lebanon - Credit:  Leonid Andronov/AdobeStock

Lebanon said on Monday it would invite a U.S. mediator to Beirut to continue negotiations over a disputed maritime boundary with Israel to prevent any escalation after accusing Israel of encroaching on contested waters.The issue flared up on Sunday when a vessel operated by London-based Energean arrived off the coast to develop a gas field which Israel says is part of its exclusive economic zone but which Lebanon says falls within the contested waters.In Israel's first response to the Lebanese accusation…

30 Jul 2021

Update: Israel Blames Iran for Tanker Attack that Killed Two

© Creuxnoir/AdobeStock

A Briton and a Romanian were killed when an Israeli-managed petroleum product tanker came under attack on Thursday off the coast of Oman, the company said on Friday, in an incident that Israel's foreign minister blamed on Iran and said deserved a harsh response.There were varying explanations for what happened to the Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned ship, with Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime describing the incident as "suspected piracy" and a source at the Oman…

25 Mar 2021

Israeli-owned Cargo Ship Hit by Missile in Arabian Sea

A cargo ship owned by an Israeli company was damaged by a missile in the Arabian Sea on Thursday in what was suspected to be an Iranian attack, an Israeli security official said.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ship was on its way from Tanzania to India and was able to continue its voyage after the attack.The official did not provide further details.According to Israel's Ynet news website, the ship sailing under a Liberian flag did not sustain serious damage and Channel 12 news reported the ship is owned by XT Management, based in the port city of Haifa.Reuters could not reach officials at the company for comment.

06 Apr 2021

Iranian Cargo Ship Attacked in the Red Sea

An Iranian cargo ship has come under attack in the Red Sea, Al Arabiya TV reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed sources, and semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim said the vessel was targeted by a limpet mine.Al Arabiya cited the sources as saying the vessel was attacked off the coast of Eritrea and was affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, but provided no evidence to support the assertion.Tasnim identified the ship as the Iran Saviz. “The vessel Iran Saviz has been stationed in the Red Sea for the past few years to support Iranian commandos sent on commercial vessel (antipiracy) escort missions,” it reported.Reuters could not independently verify the report.

12 Mar 2021

Iranian Containership Attacked in the Mediterranean

© Vladimir Knyaz / Adobe Stock

An Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, the state-run shipping company said on Friday, adding it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of what it called terrorism and naval piracy.The ship, Shahr e Kord, was slightly damaged in Wednesday’s incident by an explosive object which caused a small fire, but no one on board was hurt, the spokesman, Ali Ghiasian, said, according to state media.“Such terrorist acts amount to naval piracy…

22 Jun 2018

Hundreds Surf in Record Offshore Gas Protest

© WavebreakMediaMicro / Adobe Stock

Hundreds of Israeli surfers in black skull-and-crossbones shirts took to the waves on Friday in what they said was a record-breaking protest against potential environmental damage from off-shore gas development.Organizers said 992 people, among them athletes and actors, paddled out and held hands to form a circle opposite Herzliya, promoting their demand that a planned gas rig be relocated further from Israel's Mediterranean coast.A slogan on their shirts read: "Don't poison us."Israeli…

06 Mar 2019

Israeli Navy Could Respond to Iranian Oil Smuggling

Israel's navy could take action against Iranian oil smuggling, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, urging world powers to foil any effort by Tehran to evade U.S. sanctions.The Israeli leader told naval officers that Iran was still resorting to clandestine measures to ship fuel that it first used prior to a 2015 nuclear deal easing Western sanctions on its oil sector.U.S. President Donald Trump last year quit the nuclear deal and reimposed some sanctions, aiming to cut Iran's oil exports to zero."Iran is trying to circumvent the sanctions through covert oil smuggling over maritime routes, and to the extent that these attempts widen…

12 Apr 2021

Lebanon Expands Claim in Maritime Area Dispute with Israel

Flags of Lebanon and Israel (Credit:luzitanija /AdobeStock)

A senior cabinet minister said on Monday he had signed a document expanding Lebanon's claims in a row with Israel over their maritime border that has held up hydrocarbon exploration in the potentially gas-rich area.The amendment would add around 1,400 square kilometers (540.54 square miles) to the exclusive economic zone claimed by Lebanon in its original submission to the United Nations.Negotiations between old foes Lebanon and Israel were launched in October to try to resolve the dispute.

11 Oct 2018

US Navy Returns to Israeli Port in Sign of 'Deep Alliance'

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) transits the Mediterranean Sea Sept. 3, 2018. (U.S. Navy photo by Ryan U. Kledzik)

A U.S. Navy warship has docked in the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, the first such visit there in almost 20 years, in what officials from both sides hailed as a sign of their strong ties in the face of shared adversaries like Iran.Foreign navies generally prefer northern Haifa as their Israeli port of call, so the destroyer USS Ross's arrival at Ashdod potentially signaled Washington's interest in broadened berthing options for its Mediterranean Sixth Fleet."This visit has significance.

02 Dec 2020

Israel Receives Its Most Advanced Warship as Iran Tensions Rise

(Photo: Israeli Navy)

Israel received its most advanced warship on Wednesday, describing the German-made vessel dubbed "Shield" as a bulwark for vulnerable Mediterranean gas rigs as tensions with Tehran soar over the assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist.The Saar-6 corvette that docked in Haifa port, and three of the same model to follow next year, will bring to 15 the number of missile boats deployed by an Israeli navy which, while small, carries out missions as far away as the Red Sea and the Gulf.Israel also wants to protect off-shore natural gas fields close to Lebanon…

26 Feb 2021

Vehicle Carrier Ship Hit by Explosion in Gulf of Oman

An Israeli-owned ship, the MV HELIOS RAY, was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman overnight Thursday and a U.S. defense official said the blast left holes in both sides of the vessel's hull. The cause was not immediately clear.The vehicle-carrier ship is owned by a Tel-Aviv based company called Ray Shipping through a company registered in the Isle of Man, according to a U.N. shipping database."Investigations are ongoing. Vessel and crew are safe," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in an advisory notice on Friday. It urged vessels in the area to exercise caution.The U.S. defense official told Reuters in Washington…

13 Apr 2021

Israeli-owned Ship Attacked in Gulf of Oman -Reports

A commercial vessel owned by an Israeli firm was attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in Gulf waters, pro-Iran media and an Israeli television channel said on Tuesday.Israel’s top-rated Channel 12 TV quoted unnamed Israeli officials as blaming arch-foe Iran for the assault and said there were no casualties.Two maritime security sources told Reuters that an Israeli ship was hit near the UAE’s Fujairah port resulting in an explosion but that there were no casualties.An Israeli Transportation Ministry spokesman said he was aware of the media reports but that he could not confirm them. There was no immediate confirmation from the UAE.The incident comes a day after Tehran accused Israel of sabotaging a nuclear site…

11 May 2015

Germany Subsidizes Warships Sale to Israel

Israel bought four German-made corvette warships on Monday to help secure its Mediterranean gas rigs, with Berlin heavily subsidizing the deal, Israel's Defence Ministry said on Monday. The ships, worth 430 million euros ($480 million), will be built by Thyssen Krupp and delivered within five years, providing significantly more fire power to Israel's navy. The German government will pay 115 million euros towards the cost. As part of its atonement for the Nazi Holocaust, Germany is committed to Israel's security and has often helped pay in the past for the cost of military equipment such as submarines. Thyssen Krupp also committed to buy 700 million shekels ($181 million) worth of Israeli goods under the contract.