Israel News

Australia will join the United States in a security mission to protect merchant vessels travelling through key Middle East waterways after Iran seized a British-flagged vessel, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.Foremost among the areas to be patrolled is the Strait of Hormuz, between Oman and Iran, through which about one-fifth of the world's seaborne crude flows out of the Gulf.Global commodity trading has been rocked in recent months by the seizure of the British tanker and a series of attacks on international merchant vessels that the U.S. and Britain have blamed on Iran, though it denies involvement. Britain this month became the first U.S.

The Middle East is cruising into the second half of 2019 with spectacular gas production, and is expected to surpass powerhouse Russia by the end of the year.According to Rystad Energy, the Middle Eastern region will produce over 730 billion cubic meters of gas by 2020, increasing to about 920 billion cubic meters by 2030.Nevertheless, international markets may not feel the full effect as demand in the region is also expected to see rapid growth. Iran and Saudi Arabia alone could…

Cargotec subsidiary Kalmar has supplied Ashdod Port Company, Israel with a total of eight Kalmar G generation medium forklifts and seven Kalmar Gloria reachstackers.The provider of cargo handling solutions and services to ports said that the order was booked in Cargotec’s 2018 Q3 order intake and delivery of all machines was completed during Q2 2019.Opened in 1956, Ashdod Port is Israel's largest marine port by cargo volume and is a major gateway for goods and cargo to and from the State of Israel.

Two Iranian vessels have been stranded for weeks at Brazilian ports, unable to head back to Iran due to lack of fuel, which state-run oil firm Petrobras refuses to sell them due to sanctions imposed by the United States.The vessels Bavand and Termeh came to Brazil a couple months ago carrying urea, a petrochemical product used as fertilizer. They were expected to load corn and return to Iran, but lacked enough fuel for the trip, the port operator in Paranaguá told Reuters.Food is not covered by U.S. sanctions, and Iran is one of the largest buyers of Brazil's agricultural commodities, importing more than 2.5 million tonnes of Brazilian corn so far this year — more than any other country.However, that trade is not usually carried by ships flying the Iranian flag.

The global container shipping line Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd (Zim) announced a further expansion of its strategic cooperation with the members of the 2M Alliance, Maersk & MSC, to the Asia - US Gulf Trade."The new services, catering for both Central and South China and South Korea, offer significant advantages for customers, including direct connections to major ports in Asia and the US Gulf; best-in-market transit time with reliable dedicated service; Two weekly cutoffs in Houston & Mobile to better serve growing US exports requirements…

The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow shipping lane between Iran and Oman named after the fabulously wealthy ancient kingdom of Ormus, has fascinated oil traders since the Iranian revolution in 1979. Iran has periodically threatened to close the strait to enemy shipping, while the United States and its allies have pledged to keep it open and maintain freedom of navigation, by force if necessary.The strait has become a symbolic flashpoint in the region-wide confrontation and indirect…

Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease. It is so contagious that 90% of non-immune persons will become infected if an infected person is in the immediate vacinity. It is an airborne disease spread through coughs, sneezes, and contact with saliva or nasal secretions. The virus can live for up to two hours in infected airspace or on infected surfaces. Individuals are infectious from four days before symptoms appear until four days after the patient is symptom-free. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, inflamed eyes, and a red, flat rash.

The EuroAsia Interconnector, the Israel-Cyprus-Greece electricity link remains on the official list of European projects of common interest (PCI) making it eligible to receive some €300 mln in EU grants for the Crete-Attica sector of the cable.The EuroAsia Interconnector remains committed to the timely implementation of the project, as submitted to the European Commission, with the Crete-Attica interconnector commissioned in June 2022 and the Crete-Cyprus Interconnector in December 2023…

As spot prices in the region have remained near or below zero, natural gas flaring and venting in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico reached a new all-time high in the first quarter of 2019, averaging as much as 661 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd).According to research conducted by Rystad Energy,  this widespread waste of a valuable commodity is the result of persistent infrastructure challenges, a lack of sufficient takeaway capacity and an unexpected outage on a key…

The GEBCO NF- Alumni Team was announced as the $4 million grand prize winner of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, a three-year global competition that challenged teams to advance deep sea technologies for autonomous and unmanned, fast and high-resolution ocean exploration. The team's winning concept includes the use of a unique unmanned surface vessel (USV) / autonomous underwater vessel (AUV) and associated combination of communications hardware and software to process and transmit data remotely.

The Israel-headquartered container carrier Zim Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) is expanding its ZIMonitor containers fleet in 2019 and adding advanced “Star Cool” containers manufactured by Maersk Container Industry (MCI).MCI informed that it has secured an order of 500 Star Cool Integrated Reefers from ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, establishing a strong relationship with the customer.For decades, ZIM has been offering advanced transport of fruit, meat, medicines, and other frozen or refrigerated cargo to its customers.

The launching of the new corvette “Ins Magen” in Kiel marks an important step in the ongoing program of Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems as general contractor to build four next-generation SA’AR-6 class missile vessels for the Israeli Navy.The ship was named by Mrs. Eti Sharvit, wife of Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit, Chief of the Israeli Navy, in presence of high-level representatives from the Israeli Government and Navy as well as high-ranking German Navy officials.Dr. Rolf Wirtz, CEO of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems: "We are very proud to be contributing to Israel's security.

The Israel-headquartered container carrier Zim Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) reported  a first-quarter net loss of $17.5 million compared with a net loss of $26.1 million in the first quarter of 2018.The global container shipping company said in a stock exchange annoucement that its first-quarter revenues were $796.2 million, an increase of 6% over the $751.4 million reported for the first quarter of 2018.In Q1 2019, ZIM carried 668 thousand TEUs (reflecting a decrease of 4.3% compared to Q1 2018)…

Israel cargo shipping company Zim Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) announced that it has joined the Digital Shipping Association (DCSA) dedicated to digitization and standardization in the container shipping industry.ZIM CIO, EVP Eyal Ben-Amram, said: "We are excited to join DCSA and to contribute to the digital transformation. We firmly believe that digital innovation will shape the future of the shipping industry, and our multi-service approach embodies this belief. Standardization is the right way to improve the eco-system of all stakeholders".A month ago…

The cargo shipping company in Israel, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services announced that it has signed on as a member of TradeLens, a blockchain-enabled digital shipping solution jointly developed by A.P. Moller - Maersk and IBM.TradeLens uses blockchain technology to enable trust between multiple trading partners – from carriers to freight forwarders, customs officials, port authorities and more -- when transacting in a digitized global trade documentation process.TradeLens ecosystem members get a single shared view of a transaction without compromising details…

Since committing to go global in September 2018, US based Harvey Gulf said on Thursday it has been awarded contracts in Mexico, Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname.The company noted it also has bids for work in Mozambique, Angola, Senegal, Israel, Ghana and Nigeria.Harvey Gulf, which completed a financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings in 2018, said it will continue to look for merger opportunities as they present themselves.

The biggest cargo shipping company in Israel, Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd (ZIM) reported a revenue of nearly $3.25 billion in 2018, the highest in the last 4 years, reflecting an increase of 9.1% compared to $2.98 billion in 2017.However, the global container liner had a net loss in 2018 of $119.9 million, including an impairment loss of $38.0 million with respect to vessels classified as held for sale, compared to net profit of $11.4 million in 2017.Adjusted earnings before interest…

Totem Plus signed a license agreement with Naval Dome for use of its cyber security software across a range of its automation and navigation solutions. Under the agreement, Totem Plus is licensed to integrate the Naval Dome software with the hard drives across several hundred systems in the Totem Plus portfolio, providing the highest level of cyber protection at the system build stage, prior to shipment to end-users. The Totem Plus systems leave the factory fully cyber protected…

Iran is running short of options to replace its ageing fleet of tankers and keep oil exports flowing because renewed U.S. sanctions are making potential sellers and flag registries wary of doing business with Tehran, Western and Iranian sources said.Since U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions in November, exploratory talks with South Korea for up to 10 new supertankers have stalled and Panama has also removed at least 21 Iranian tankers from its registry forcing Tehran to put the vessels under its own flag…

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…

Israel’s largest cargo shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has opened its blockchain platform for electronic bills of lading (eB/Ls) to all clients in selected trades.Over the last year, following ZIM’s November 2017 announcement regarding the first-ever pilot of paperless Bills-of-Lading based on blockchain technology, ZIM and selected leading customers have been testing the new Platform as a solution for trade activities on multiple shipping lanes.Following the successful pilot, accomplished with the cooperation of Wave Ltd.

UK-based oil and gas exploration and production company Energean Oil & Gas  has signed a Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with I.P.M. Beer Tuvia Ltd. (IPM) to supply an estimated 5.5 BCM of gas from its Karish and Tanin FPSO over a period of 19 years.According to a release, the contract is subject to necessary approvals and is contingent on results of the 2019 drilling programme, which includes the drilling of four wells in Israel and commences with the spud of Karish North in March 2019…

South Korea's largest shipping firm Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) is likely to part ways with the 2M Alliance which will expire in April 2020 and join  a new ocean alliance said a local media report.According to a report in Business Korea, the 2M Alliance (consists of Maersk Line and MSC) is disadvantageous to HMM as it is not a full member of the alliance. HMM's status fell as the 2M Alliance inked a partnership deal with Israel's Zim Integrated Shipping Services, the report…