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Malta News

18 Feb 2024

Two Dead in Migrant Rescues off Libya

Source: MSF

More than 80 migrants were saved, but two died and three were missing following two sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said on Sunday.MSF's vessel Geo Barents picked up over 60 people late on Saturday from a rubber dinghy in distress in international waters off Libya. It also recovered one body, and one of the migrants taken on board died shortly after the rescue.Another 19 people were picked up from a nearby abandoned Tunisian offshore oil platform, MSF said.

02 Feb 2024

ICS Publishes Flag State Performance Table

© Paulrommer / Adobe Stock

A new table published by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) indicates continuing positive performance by the vast majority of the maritime industry's flag states.Merchant ships are required to register under a flag state, which determines the vessel's nationality and gives jurisdiction under which to operate. Flag states have the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under their flag, including those relating to inspection, certification…

22 Jan 2024

Suez Canal Authority Carries Out Repairs to Missile-hit Vessel

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said on Monday it had conducted repair work on a missile-hit Greek dry-bulk carrier, highlighting its readiness to restore damaged ships passing through the Red Sea.The Malta-flagged, Greek-owned vessel Zografia had berthed at a floating dock of the authority-affiliated Suez Shipyard Company for repairs after the ship's hull and some components sustained external and internal damage in a Jan. 16 attack by Yemeni Houthi forces.The vessel was sailing…

17 Jan 2024

US Lists Houthis as Terrorists, Business Fears Lengthy Red Sea Disruption

© aerial-drone / Adobe Stock

The United States on Wednesday returned the Yemen-based Houthi rebels to a list of terrorist groups, while business chiefs warned that disruption to shipping in the Red Sea caused by their attacks could affect supply chains for months.Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers - an escalation of Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have threatened to expand attacks to include U.S.

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.

11 Jan 2024

Cyprus Chamber Sees Significant Impact from Houthis on Shipping

© katatonia / Adobe Stock

Sustained attacks by Yemen's Houthis on vessels using Red Sea shipping lanes could have a "substantial" impact on economies and a knock-on effect on prices, a key Cypriot shipping industry group said on Thursday.Attacks by Houthis have disrupted a vital trade route, particularly of oil, as vessels access the Suez Canal via the Red Sea. Some shipping lines have been forced to divert vessels from the Red Sea to longer routes, threatening supply bottlenecks."Where countries heavily depend on raw materials…

02 Jan 2024

Malta-Flagged Container Ship Reports Explosions Nearby

© Kalyakan / Adobe Stock

British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Tuesday that a Malta-flagged container ship reported seeing three explosions towards its port quarter, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Yemen's Mocha.The vessel master was heard over VHF, calling a coalition warship, the firm added.Ambrey said it understood that three missiles had been fired from the direction of Yemen's Taiz Governorate.A nearby vessel reported seeing a small boat, about 50 metres (160 feet) in length, and with two lights…

14 Dec 2023

Bulk Carrier Reportedly Boarded in Eastern Indian Ocean off Yemen

© SerPhoto / Adobe Stock

A Malta-flagged, Bulgarian-owned bulk carrier was reportedly boarded on Thursday after being involved in an incident in the eastern Indian Ocean off Yemen's Socotra Island, British maritime security company Ambrey said in an advisory note.An Iranian-flagged fishing vessel in the area had switched off its AIS transponder six hours before the incident close to where the bulk carrier appeared to come adrift, Ambrey said."The Iran-flagged fishing vessel had previously been operating offshore Somalia," Ambrey added.(Reuters - Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Alex Richardso

13 Dec 2023

Tanker in Red Sea Targeted by Speedboat Gunfire and Missiles

© FER737NG / Adobe Stock

A tanker in the Red Sea off Yemen's coast was fired on by gunmen in a speedboat and targeted with missiles, maritime sources said on Wednesday, the latest incident to threaten the shipping lane after Yemeni Houthi forces warned ships not to travel to Israel.A second commercial vessel was also approached by the speedboat in the same area though not attacked, British maritime security firm Ambrey and other sources said.Separately, a U.S. defence official in Washington said the U.S.

04 Dec 2023

Pakistan Becomes Party to Hong Kong Convention

Source: IMO

Pakistan has become a Party to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (Hong Kong Convention).Vice Admiral (Retd.) Iftikhar Ahmad Rao, Maritime Minister and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Maritime Affairs, Pakistan, deposited the instrument of accession with IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters in London on November 30.The deposit follows an IMO-run national seminar in Karachi to…

27 Oct 2023

VIDEO: Allseas Inaugurates New Barge for Shallow-water Offshore Construction

Credit: Allseas

Offshore installation services firm Allseas has inaugurated 'Sandpiper', its new barge for shallow water offshore construction activities.Allseas said Thursday that the 170-meter barge was inaugurated this week in Singapore with a special ceremony after several upgrading activities in 2022/2023. The vessel is is a flat-bottom, anchored barge for shallow water offshore construction activities, purchased by Allseas in 2022 and upgraded for pipelaying in 2022/23.Sandpiper is equipped with a 10-point mooring system…

05 Sep 2023

Russia's Seaborne Diesel Exports on the Rise

© Arestov Andrew / Adobe Stock

Russia's seaborne diesel and gasoil exports in August rose by 2% from a month earlier to about 3.85 million metric tons on healthy fuel production, data from traders and LSEG showed.Idle primary oil refining capacity for August was estimated at 3.1 million metric tons versus 2.458 million metric tons in July, Refinitiv Eikon data and Reuters calculations showed.After the full EU embargo on Russian oil products took effect on Feb. 5, Turkey remains the main destination for Russian diesel and gasoil seaborne exports…

05 Jun 2023

Egypt Tows Away Stranded Oil Tanker in Suez Canal

An oil tanker that suffered engine failure in Egypt's Suez Canal, briefly disrupting traffic in the vital waterway, has been towed away, the canal's authority said on Sunday. The canal authority's head, Osama Rabie, said in a statement that traffic in both directions had resumed as normal after tugboats managed to move the stranded tanker. The crude tanker, SEAVIGOUR, is a Malta-flagged vessel that was built in 2016, according to Refinitiv Eikon shipping data. It was heading from Russia to China, the canal authority added. Frequent traffic disruptions occur in the Suez Canal due to technical malfunctions, but stoppages are usually brief. Less than two weeks ago tugboats had to move a bulk carrier that had been stranded for several hours in the canal.

26 May 2023

Mediterranean Boat Carrying 500 Migrants has Disappeared, Rescuers Say

Image by Italian NGO Emergency

A boat carrying about 500 migrants, including a newborn baby and pregnant women, has disappeared in the central Mediterranean, two charities said on Friday. Alarm Phone, a group that picks up calls from migrant vessels in distress, said it lost contact with the boat on Wednesday morning. At the time, the boat was adrift, with no working engine, in high seas about 320 km (200 miles) north of the Libyan port of Benghazi and more than 400 km away from Malta or Italy's southern island of Sicily.

24 Apr 2023

Ailing Crewmember Medevaced from Pipelayer in the Gulf of Mexico

(File photo: James Hague / U.S. Coast Guard)

An ailing crewmember was airlifted from a pipelay vessel in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Coast Guard Eighth District and Coast Guard Sector New Orleans command center watchstanders received a report at approximately 10 p.m. Saturday from the Solitaire of a 32-year-old crewmember aboard experiencing severe abdominal pain.Sector New Orleans watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew to assist.

10 Apr 2023

Credit Suisse Wins $41 Million Superyacht Lawsuit Against Saudi Prince

© Yü Lan / Adobe Stock

Swiss lender Credit Suisse has won a $41 million lawsuit against a member of the Saudi royal family over a loan to refinance a super yacht, with London’s High Court ruling there was no viable defense to the bank’s case.Prince Fahad bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud is liable to pay his company Burgundy Sea Ltd’s debts to Credit Suisse, Judge Robert Bright said in a written ruling.The judge had ruled in Credit Suisse’s favor without a trial at a hearing last month, at which the prince and Burgundy were unrepresented…

04 Apr 2023

Finland’s New Inkoo Terminal Accepts First LNG

(Photo: Vitol)

Finland’s new Inkoo floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) terminal on Sunday accepted its first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG).The cargo, which was ordered by Elenger, the largest privately owned energy company in the Finnish-Baltic region, was delivered by multinational energy and commodity trading company Vitol.The cargo, which originates from Vitol’s Venture Global Calcasieu Pass facility in the U.S., was transported aboard Vitol's LNG carrier Vivit Americas LNG.

27 Mar 2023

Italy's Coast Guard Seizes Banksy's Migrant Rescue Ship

A rescue ship funded by British street artist Banksy was seized in Lampedusa on Sunday after Italy's coast guard said the boat had disobeyed its instructions to head to Sicily after carrying out a migrant rescue operation. The coast guard said it had ordered the MV Louise Michel ship to dock in Trapani in Sicily after it performed an initial rescue operation in Libya's Search And Rescue area. The ship instead went to assist migrants on three other boats in Malta's Search And Rescue area. The coast guard added that it was already on its way to assist the three other boats at the time. It ordered the Louise Michel to dock in accordance with a new law passed in Italy this year establishing a code of conduct for migrant charity ships, the coast guard said.

24 Mar 2023

OPV P71 Delivered, New Flagship of Armed Forces of Malta

Image courtesy Cantiere Navale Vittoria

The flag of the Republic of Malta waves on the Offshore Patrol Vessel P71 to celebrate the entry into service of the new flagship of the Armed Forces of Malta built by Cantiere Navale Vittoria.At the AFM naval base in Floriana, Valletta, the official delivery ceremony was held for the largest patrol vessel ever built by Cantiere Navale Vittoria. The 75-m unit, built in Italy, will be used in coastal surveillance operations, extended patrolling on the high seas and Search and Rescue operations.OPV P71 is the result of an order with a total value of more than 50 million euros…

14 Mar 2023

TFG Marine Targets 20% Bunker Sales Rise through Expansion

© Kirk / Adobe Stock

TFG Marine, majority owned by commodities trader Trafigura, aims to increase its marine fuel sales volume by up to 20% this year through expansion in Africa, the UK and the Mediterranean, a senior company executive said.The fuel supplier is looking to expand its volumes to 11-12 million tonnes, up from about 10 million tonnes in 2022, its head of bunkering Kenneth Dam told Reuters on the sidelines of the Fujairah Bunkering and Fuel Oil Forum (FUJCON) 2023.It plans to expand operations in several existing and new markets…

17 Feb 2023

Cyprus Rallies EU Partners to Get Shipping Sector Support

© Art N More / Adobe Stock

Cyprus is speaking to other European Union member states to shore up support for the shipping industry hit by sanctions on Russia, its shipping minister said on Friday.Cyprus has the third-largest shipping fleet in the EU after Malta and Greece. It has seen defections, or itself deflagged, about a fifth of its oil tanker fleet in recent months, connected one way or another to sanctions on Russia.The island's proposals include automatic extensions of so-called tonnage tax systems…

30 Jan 2023

Flag States Increase Seafarer Reporting 25% - ICS

Copyright iQoncept/AdobeStock

The annual Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table, published today from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), highlights a 25% increase in flag states reporting on seafarer labor standards compared to last year. Each year flag states must report on labor standards as part of their ILO audit commitments. Some of the labor standards specific to seafarers include repatriation of seafarers, accommodation provision, health protection and medical care. This year 67.6% of flag states reported on their ILO audit commitments…

26 Jan 2023

Mark Heward Named Director at MITAGS

Mark Heward (Photo: MITAGS)

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) announced that Mark Heward has joined its team as Director. Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.“We are thrilled to welcome Mark Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management and training experience together with being fully STCW qualified and his continuing education experience are a rare combination,” said Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director.

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