Eric Beech News

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to back the anti-automation stance of some 45,000 union dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, whose labor talks are at an impasse over that polarizing issue.The ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group are facing a Jan. 15 deadline to finalize talks, which stalled over automation. That cutoff comes just five days before Trump's inauguration.The ILA says automation kills jobs while employers say it is necessary to keep U.S. ports competitive in a rapidly changing global economy."The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen," Trump said of automation projects in a post on Truth Social.

The owner and operator of the cargo ship that struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, killing six people, have agreed to pay $102 million to the federal government, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.The department in September filed a civil claim seeking $103 million from two Singaporean companies, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited. The claim was intended to recoup the money the U.S. government spent responding to the disaster…

Iran-allied Houthi militia launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned tanker ship on Thursday night that hit the water near the vessel, causing no injuries or damage, U.S. Central Command said.The incident, the latest amid growing tensions in the Red Sea that has disrupted global trade and raised fears of supply bottlenecks, took place at around 9 p.m. Yemen local time (1800 GMT), according to the post on X, formerly Twitter.The Houthis, who control most of Yemen…

The U.S. military said on Wednesday that its forces conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired from Yemen.U.S. Central Command said on social media platform X that the Houthi missiles presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.(Reuters - Reporting by Eric Beech and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Caitlin Webber)

U.S. and UK forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday into the Southern Red Sea towards international shipping lanes, the U.S. military's Central Command said.U.S. Central Command said there were no injuries or damage reported, adding that this was the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since Nov. 19.Iranian-backed Houthi militants have stepped up attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in protest against Israel's war in Gaza.

The United States on Thursday said it shot down one drone and one anti-ship ballistic missile in the Southern Red Sea that were fired by Houthis in the 22nd attempted attack on international shipping since October 19.There was no damage or reported injuries, U.S. Central Command also said in its post on X, formerly known as Twitter.(Reuters - Reporting by Eric Beech and Costas Pitas)

The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) on Friday announced the seizure of a 2,734-ton tanker it said was owned and operated by a Singaporean national and used to make shipments of petroleum products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions.A DoJ statement said the M/T Courageous was seized by Cambodian authorities in March 2020 in accordance with a U.S. warrant, having been used to transfer oil products to North Korean vessels and to make direct shipments to the North Korean port of Nampo."Criminal charges of conspiracy to evade economic sanctions on the DPRK and money laundering conspiracy are pending against the alleged owner and operator of the Courageous…

Israel appears to be behind a cyberattack earlier this month on computers at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port that caused massive backups on waterways and roads leading to the facility, the Washington Post reported on Monday.Citing unnamed U.S. and foreign government officials, the Post said the May 9 disruption of Iranian computers was presumably in retaliation for an earlier attempted cyberattack on rural water distribution systems in Israel.The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not…

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that he had accepted Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly’s resignation.“This morning I accepted Secretary Modly’s resignation. He resigned on his own accord, putting the Navy and the Sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy, as an institution, can move forward,” Esper said in a statement.Esper said that with President Donald Trump’s approval, Army Undersecretary Jim McPherson would take over as acting Navy Secretary.(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Eric Beech Editing by Chris Reese)

China accused the United States of bullying and warned it would hit back after the Trump administration raised the stakes in their trade dispute, threatening 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods.China's commerce ministry said on Wednesday it was "shocked" and would complain to the World Trade Organisation, but did not immediately say how it would retaliate. In a statement, it called the U.S. actions "completely unacceptable".The foreign ministry described Washington's…

The United States has decided to impose tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China after efforts to negotiate a solution to the trade dispute failed to reach an agreement, senior administration officials said on Tuesday.U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the United States would impose tariffs of 10 percent on the additional Chinese imports.The move would be the latest in the escalating trade skirmish between the world's two biggest economies.Trump said last…

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his infrastructure plan will likely have to wait until after the November congressional elections.   "You'll probably have to wait until after the election, which isn't so long down the road," Trump said in a speech. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Eric Beech Editing by James Dalgleish)

Lockheed Martin Corp is being awarded a $481 million U.S. defense contract in support of the construction of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatant ships, the Pentagon said on Monday. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Tim Ahmann)

The commanding officers of two U.S. Navy destroyers involved in deadly collisions last year in the Pacific Ocean face courts-martial and military criminal charges including negligent homicide, the U.S. Navy said in a statement on Tuesday. Filing charges against the officers marks the Navy’s latest effort to address the problems that led to collisions involving its warships in Asia, in which 17 sailors were killed. The Navy has already dismissed several senior officers, including the commander of the Seventh Fleet, as a result of the collisions.

The U.S. Navy has decided to delay by a year until fiscal 2020 the awarding of a design and construction contract for a planned new frigate, according to congressional testimony on Wednesday by two Navy rear admirals. The delay resulted from a decision to set up a frigate evaluation team to look at how to make the vessel more lethal and survivable, Rear Admirals Ron Boxall and John Neagley said in their prepared testimony. Navy analyses have determined that the U.S. fleet needs 53 small surface combat ships to supplement the larger aircraft carriers and destroyers, undertaking tasks like antisubmarine warfare and mine countermeasures.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it charged on Monday shipping conglomerate Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) and its former chief financial officer Myles Itkin with failing to recognize some $512 million in tax liabilities.   OSG, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012 after the discovery of the tax liabilities, has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty subject to bankruptcy court approval, and Itkin agreed to pay a $75,000 penalty, the SEC said in a statement.     (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Eric Beech)

The United States does not want China to use its navy to intimidate fishing vessels from other countries in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the State Department said on Wednesday. "We are aware of these press reports regarding the Chinese vessels operating near Jackson Atoll in the contested areas of the South China Sea," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said at a news briefing. "We don't want them using ... Philippine officials said on Wednesday China had sent as many as seven ships to Quirino Atoll, also known as Jackson Atoll, in recent weeks, preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing traditional fishing grounds.

The South China Sea issue is likely to come up on the sidelines of the APEC summit if it is not on the formal agenda, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Tuesday.   The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is scheduled for Nov. 17-19 in Manila. China has said it is not aware of any plan to discuss the issue at the leaders' summit, a Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday.     (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed and David Alexander; Editing by Eric Beech)

A life ring has been found from the cargo ship El Faro, which went missing on Thursday after sailing through Hurricane Joaquin in the Bahamas, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Twitter on Saturday. The Coast Guard did not say where the life ring had been found. This is the first trace of the El Faro, a 735-foot (224-meter) cargo ship with 33 crew on board. (Reporting by Eric Beech)

The sea trial schedule for the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has been delayed six to eight weeks after shipboard tests fell behind schedule, the U.S. Navy said on Tuesday. The aircraft carrier, being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy on March 31, 2016. "The exact impact on ship delivery will be determined based on the results of sea trials," the Navy said in a statement. It said the work on the carrier, which is being built at a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia, was 93 percent complete. Reporting by Eric Beech

The White House said on Tuesday it does not support a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal the 40-year-old ban on exports of crude oil. "This is a policy decision that is made over at the Commerce Department, and for that reason, we wouldn't support legislation like the one that's been put forward by Republicans," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a briefing. "The administration believes that the American people are better served by making sure that we pursue the kind of approach that also invests in renewable energy," he said.

The second of two major California beaches that were closed after a ruptured pipeline spewed some 2,400 barrels of crude oil will be reopened next week, state parks officials said on Friday. Refugio State Beach, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Santa Barbara, was closed along with nearby El Capitan State Beach after they were fouled when an underground pipeline that runs along the coastal highway burst on May 19. "We're obviously excited to get the park open again," said Eric Hjelstrom, California's state park superintendent. El Capitan State Beach was reopened on June 26. Hjelstrom said officials had completed a site assessment of Refugio State Beach and had determined that it was safe for members of the public to use again.

Seattle activists say police have dismantled a tent on Monday used as a staging area to organize local protests over Royal Dutch Shell Plc's  use of the city's port as a home base for a drilling rig that could depart this week for the Arctic. Over the last month, activists have staged demonstrations against the oil company's Arctic drilling plans, including on May 16 when hundreds of protesters in kayaks and small boats fanned out on a Seattle bay. Seattle police dismantled but did not seize the 16-foot (5-meter) by 32-foot (10-meter) logistics tent central to organizing the launch of a planned rig-stopping flotilla, said Backbone Campaign Executive Director Bill Moyer. He said discussions with the U.S.