Foreign Office News

A British Royal Navy ship will supply aid to Gaza as part of an international effort to help set up a new humanitarian maritime corridor in early May, the foreign office and ministry of defence said on Saturday.The multinational effort, involving the United States, Cyprus and other partners, will develop a new temporary pier off the coast of Gaza, British foreign minister David Cameron said."The situation in Gaza is dire and the prospect of famine is real. We remain committed to getting aid to those who so desperately need it…

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will travel to Oman on Tuesday where he is expected to call for stability over ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and de-escalating of tensions in the Middle East, the foreign office said on Tuesday.Cameron, on his fourth visit to the Middle East, will travel to Oman to meet his counterpart Badr Albusaidi to discuss how to diminish tensions across the region.The Houthi attacks on international shipping lines in the Red Sea will be a major focus of his discussions…

Russia may use sea mines to target civilian shipping in the Black Sea, including by laying them on the approach to Ukrainian ports, the British government said on Wednesday citing intelligence.Russia pulled out of a deal in July that had allowed Ukraine to safely ship food products out through what is traditionally its main export corridor.Ukraine responded by setting up a temporary "humanitarian corridor" for cargo vessels, and several ships have left Ukraine's Black Sea ports…

Britain on Monday accused Russia of targeting a civilian cargo ship at port in the Black Sea on Aug. 24 in a previously unconfirmed missile attack it said was successfully thwarted by Ukrainian defences.Ukraine has been making efforts to allow vessels stranded in Odesa port since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to sail into open waters after the collapse of the UN-backed Black Sea grains corridor.The remarks, made in Britain's parliament by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, are the first time an official has commented on a ship being targeted since those Ukrainian efforts began. Since Aug. 18, four cargo ships have sailed from Odesa."Thanks to declassified intelligence…

Since Matloob Hussain from Pakistan went missing during a deadly shipwreck off Greece last month, his brother Adil has left the door of his Athens home open in the hope he appears. It will stay open until his body is found.Matloob, 43, is among hundreds of migrants from Pakistan, Syria and Egypt who are presumed dead after their overcrowded fishing trawler, that set sail from Libya for Italy, sank off the coast of Pylos in international waters on June 14.A total of 104 men were rescued and 82 bodies were found.

Three British tourists were missing and 12 had been rescued after a motor boat caught fire on Sunday off the Egyptian Red Sea coast, Egyptian officials and security sources said.The survivors were brought to safety in the nearby diving resort of Marsa Shagra, about 21km (13 miles) north of the town of Marsa Alam, along with 12 Egyptian crew and guides, according to a statement from the Red Sea State governor's office and two security sources.The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit on the boat…

Britain froze the assets of Russia's Gazprombank and Alfa Bank, and the state-run shipping firm Sovcomflot FLOT.MM, in its latest round of sanctions announced on Thursday.They were among 59 individuals and entities added to the sanctions list which has been used to target Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine.Gazprombank is one of main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas.Alfa-Bank is one of Russia's top private lenders, controlled by Mikhail Fridman, who was sanctioned by Britain earlier this month…

German rescue charity Sea-Eye said on Thursday it had asked Italy for a safe port to disembark some 800 migrants it rescued from boats in distress in the central Mediterranean.The charity vessel SEA-EYE 4 Took onboard another 400 people from a wooden boat on Wednesday night in a seventh rescue operation since it set sail in mid-October, bringing the total to around 800, Sea-Eye said in a statement.It said Rise Above, another rescue ship operated by NGO Mission Lifeline, reached the split-level wooden boat first…

Germany's coordinator for transatlantic relations called on Wednesday for a moratorium on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Europe, breaking ranks with many in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government.The United States is opposed to the project, saying it increases Europe's reliance on Russian energy and U.S. President Joe Biden is dangling the threat of sanctions."The project is a serious obstacle for a new start in transatlantic relations…

Iran's envoy to London said on Wednesday the oil cargo of tanker Adrian Darya 1 was sold at sea to a private company, denying Tehran had broken assurances it had given over the vessel, but he insisted EU's Syria sanctions did not apply to Tehran."At (the) meeting with the British Foreign Secretary, it was emphasised that British authorities' action against the tanker carrying Iranian oil was in violation of international law," ambassador Hamid Baeidinejad said on Twitter after being summoned in London."EU sanctions cannot be extended to third countries. Despite numerous threats by America, the tanker sold its oil at sea to a private company and has not violated any obligation," Baeidinejad added."The private company ...

The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday was searching for a British crew member who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.Arron Hough, 20, went overboard 267 miles (430 km) off the northwest of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Coast Guard 7th District told Reuters in a telephone interview.At the time the Coast Guard became aware of the incident, the Harmony of the Seas ship was traveling from its home port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to its first stop of St. Maarten island on its seven-day Caribbean itinerary, the Miami Herald newspaper had reported earlier.The Coast Guard said it continued…

Maritime UK participated in a Department for International Trade scoping mission aimed at boosting maritime exports to the Nordic-Baltic region. The discussions which took place at the Foreign Office, provided an opportunity to highlight the work of Maritime UK in response to the Maritime Growth Study and the various initiatives being explored to boost the UK's maritime exports and raise the profile of such opportunities both to domestic producers and in international markets. The DIT official outlined that the Nordic-Baltic market is the UK’s sixth most important trade partner and that ambitious modernization and infrastructure development plans and continued economic growth present significant opportunities for UK services companies looking to expand into the region.

Britain and Argentina have agreed to work together towards removing measures restricting the oil and gas industry, shipping and fishing around the disputed Falkland Islands, Britain's Foreign Office said on Wednesday. The two countries fought a war in 1982 over the British-run islands in the South Atlantic, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas, and the issue has continued to cause tensions in the two countries' relationship. The Foreign Office said London and Buenos Aires had agreed their first positive statement about South Atlantic issues since 1999. It said the discussions that had taken place did not affect the sovereignty issue and Britain remained clear in its support of the islanders, the majority of whom want the islands to remain under British control.

The UK Chamber of Shipping remained neutral on the question of the UK’s membership of the EU but we recognise the decision of the British people. The chamber has always argued that the shipping industry is resilient by its nature. Shipping moves 95% of the UK’s international trade and we don’t see that changing. We may now be beginning the process of leaving the European Union, but we are still an island nation that has to make its way in the world through buying and selling, and the shipping industry is here for that very purpose. What we need now are cool heads. We’ve had the political debate, now it’s time for rational and strategic thinking.

The first international container ships began arriving in Iran this week after the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, yet many ship owners remain wary of resuming business until sanctions are removed - still some months away. Iran had depended on foreign ships for much of its imports, but has relied more on land routes and its own commercial fleet, particularly since 2012, as layers of sanctions led to an exodus of Western shipping firms, leading to supply disruptions. In one of the first signs of change, the world's third largest container shipping group, France's CMA CGM, said on Monday it would restart services to Iran in early August.

A week after a terrorist attack in Tunisia, local superyacht businesses are reassuring yachters that security has been increased at Tunisian ports despite numerous cancellations. The attack saw a gunman with alleged links to Islamic State extremists open fire on a tourist beach near Sousse, Tunisia, killing 38, including at least 29 Britons, and injuring at least 39 others. Despite the upped security and the government’s involvement, The UK Foreign Office has updated its travel advice to warn that further terrorist attacks in Tunisia are possible and are urging people to be vigilant.

Traffic was halted through the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France on Tuesday after striking French ferry workers set fire to tires, while Britain's Foreign Office warned of migrants trying to get into vehicles queuing to enter the tunnel. British television showed large crowds of migrants trying to board waiting lorries, while others were held back by riot police. Around 400 workers blockaded the port of Calais to protest restructuring at its MyFerryLink division, the Syndicat Maritime Nord union said. Shipping was halted early in the day, the Calais port authority said. Both Eurotunnel and Eurostar later suspended their services because of the disruption.

Britain said on Thursday it had summoned the Argentine ambassador to explain the latest war of words over the disputed Falkland Islands which included a threat to prosecute British energy firms operating in the area. Last week, Premier Oil Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd said they had made an oil and gas discovery at a well off the south Atlantic islands, the first in a nine-month drilling campaign. Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez called the announcement "almost provocative", and Argentine officials warned they were planning legal action against oil firms operating near the Falklands, which lie 300 miles off the Argentine coast and 8,000 miles from Britain.

The families of four British sailors missing since their yacht capsized in the Atlantic Ocean three days ago appealed to the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday to resume its search. Last contact with the missing yacht, Cheeki Rafiki, was on Friday after it ran into difficulties about 1,000 miles (1,600 kms) off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while returning to Britain from a sailing event in Antigua in the Caribbean. A search was called off on Sunday after two days as the U.S. Coast Guard said it did not have the capability to support a large-scale search. The missing men were named as 21-year-old captain Andrew Bridge along with Steve Warren, 52, Paul Goslin, 56 and James Male, 23. All four were described as experienced sailors.

A search for four British sailors missing in the Atlantic Ocean after their yacht capsized a week ago will be called off by midnight on Friday if no sign of the men is found, British and U.S. authorities said. The four yachtsmen went missing a week ago as they were returning to Britain from a sailing event in Antigua in the Caribbean and reported that their vessel, the Cheeki Rafiki, was taking on water, forcing them to change course for the Azores. U.S. authorities abandoned a search after two days due to treacherous conditions but resumed the hunt on Tuesday after a request from the British government and a public petition signed by over 200,000 people. Captain Anthony Popiel from the U.S.

Switching from coal to gas as the power sector is a significant opportunity to cut emissions. This alternative can save more than 50% of emissions per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. “I think it is both timely and necessary for German to develop a plan for how natural gas can contribute to fulfilling the ambitions of the Energiewende (energy transition). Increasing the use of natural gas will be beneficial both for the German economy and for the climate,” Lund said. On June 24…

Norwegian firm DNO expects its first shipment of oil from Kurdistan to be sold on the international market by the end of the year and said it was committed to its operations in the region despite the recent flare-up in violence. The firm could until recently only sell oil on the local Iraqi market, at lower prices than it would have got on the international oil market, due to a long constitutional fight between the region and Baghdad over independent oil sales. That changed earlier this month when the Kurdish Regional Government allowed oil firms to seek out international buyers. Oil revenue is a lifeline for the KRG, whose peshmerga fighters are fighting Islamic State militants.

A team of researchers led by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries have discovered two significant vessels from World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic. The German U-boat 576 and the freighter Bluefields were found approximately 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Lost for more than 70 years, the discovery of the two vessels, in an area known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, is a rare window into a historic military battle and the underwater battlefield landscape of WWII.