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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Nick Macfie News

26 Mar 2024

Baltimore Bridge Collision Sends Vehicles Tumbling Into Water

Collapsed Key Bridge in Baltimore  (Credit: Screenshot/StreamTime Live)

A container ship smashed into a four-lane bridge in the U.S. port of Baltimore in darkness on Tuesday, causing it to collapse and sending cars and people plunging into the river below.Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one in a "very serious condition," and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.The ship "lost propulsion" as it was leaving port, and crew on board notified Maryland officials they had lost control of the vessel, ABC News reported, citing an unclassified U.S.

26 Mar 2024

LiveStream: Rescuers Search Water for Survivors After Ship Collides with Baltimore Bridge

(Credit: Screenshot/X)

A major bridge collapsed in the U.S. port of Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday after being struck by a container ship, plunging cars and as many as 20 people into the river below.Rescuers were searching for survivors in the Patapsco Riverafter huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.As many as 20 people could be in the river along with "numerous vehicles, and possibly a tractor-trailer or a vehicle as large as a tractor-trailer…

20 Mar 2024

Pakistan Port Attack Kills Two Soldiers, Eight Militants

© Rayzeeuddin / Adobe Stock

Pakistani security forces on Wednesday repulsed a gun and bomb attack by militants on a complex outside the strategic port of Gwadar, which killed all eight militants and two soldiers, officials said.China has invested heavily in the mineral-rich southwestern province of Balochistan, including developing Gwadar, despite a decades-long separatist insurgency.Armed with guns and bombs, the militants stormed the complex just outside the port that houses offices of government departments…

03 Mar 2024

Malaysia Says MH370 Search Must Go On

© atulvermabhai / Adobe Stock

Malaysia is pushing for a renewed search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the transport minister said on Sunday, as the 10th anniversary of its disappearance in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries approaches.Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.Malaysian investigators initially did not rule out the possibility that the aircraft had been deliberately taken off course, and debris…

28 Feb 2024

German Warship Shoots Down Two Drones in the Red Sea

(Photo: Yvonne Albert, courtesy Bundeswehr / Leon Rodewald)

A German warship shot down two drones in the Red Sea on Tuesday amid escalating attacks by Yemen's Houthis and efforts by the European Union to protect international shipping, German officials said.Shipping risks have increased due to repeated strikes by the Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since November in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.U.S. and British forces have responded with several airstrikes on Houthi facilities but have so far failed to halt the attacks.The German navy frigate Hessen…

27 Feb 2024

Houthis Say They Can Reassess Red Sea Attacks if Israeli 'Aggression' Stops

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

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they could only reconsider their missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Seaonce Israel ends its "aggression" in the Gaza Strip.Asked if they would halt the attacks if a ceasefire deal is reached, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters the situation would be reassessed if the siege of Gaza ended and humanitarian aid was free to enter."There will be no halt to any operations that help Palestinian people except when the Israeli aggression on Gaza and the siege stop…

14 Feb 2024

Video: Ukraine Says It Sunk a Russian Warship in the Black Sea

(Photo: Defense Ministry Ukraine)

Ukraine destroyed a Russian landing warship off the coast of occupied Crimea in an operation with naval drones that breached the vessel's port side on Wednesday and caused it to sink, Kyiv's military spy agency and armed forces said.There was no immediate comment from Russia, which said earlier that it had destroyed six drones in the Black Sea. The Kremlin declined to comment."The Ukrainian Armed Forces, together with the Defense Ministry's intelligence unit, destroyed the Tsezar Kunikov large landing ship.

06 Feb 2024

Houthis Fire Missiles at Two Ships in Red Sea

© woodpencil / Adobe Stock

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they had fired missiles at two vessels in the Red Sea, causing damage to the ships.The Houthis have been targeting commercial vessels with drones and missiles in the Red Sea since mid-November, in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.The group's military spokesman said it had fired naval missiles at the Star Nasia and Morning Tide, identifying the Marshall Islands and Barbados-flagged ships…

06 Feb 2024

Houthis Fire Missiles at Two Ships In The Red Sea

© Federico Rostagno / Adobe Stock

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis fired missiles at two vessels in the Red Sea, they said on Tuesday, causing minor damage to a cargo ship that was sailing off the coast of Yemen's Hodeidah.The Houthis have been targeting commercial vessels with drones and missiles in the Red Sea since mid-November, in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.The group's military spokesman said it fired naval missiles at the Morning Tide and Star Nasia…

31 Jan 2024

India Deploys Unprecedented Naval Might Near Red Sea

(Photo: Indian Navy)

India has deployed at least a dozen warships east of the Red Sea to provide security against pirates and has investigated more than 250 vessels as Western powers focus on attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, Indian officials said.India has not joined the U.S.-led task force for the Red Sea and does not have any warships there. But it currently has two frontline warships in the Gulf of Aden and at least 10 warships in the northern and western Arabian Sea, along with surveillance aircraft…

25 Jan 2024

UK and US Sanction Senior Houthis Over Ship Attacks

Bulk carrier Genco Picardi was hit by a Houthi drone attack on January 17. (Photo: Indian Navy)

Britain and the United States on Thursday said they had imposed coordinated sanctions on four key Houthi figures for their roles in supporting or directing attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.Attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis have disrupted global shipping and stoked fears of global inflation. They have also deepened concern that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war could destabilize the Middle East.Those sanctioned were Houthi Defence Minister Mohamed Nasser al-Atifi…

12 Jan 2024

Houthis Mistakenly Target Tanker Carrying Russian Oil

© MrAVP / Adobe Stock

Houthi militants mistakenly targeted a tanker carrying Russian oil in a missile attack on Friday off Yemen, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said it had received a report of a missile being fired 90 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's port city of Aden."The master reported a missile landing in the water 400-500 metres away, and being followed by three small craft," the UKMTO advisory note said, adding…

11 Jan 2024

Shipping Attacks Push US and Allies to Mideast Crunch Point

© Vladimir Bartel / Adobe Stock

When the United States and 11 allies published a joint statement last week calling for an end to Houthi attacks from Yemen on Red Sea shipping, they hoped the implicit threat of force might at least reduce the intensity of fire on foreign vessels.Instead, Wednesday saw the largest single attack yet on foreign vessels, according to Western defence officials, launched seven days after the joint statement. It appeared a clear attempt to call the West's bluff, just as other tensions across the Middle East appear to be on the rise.In Iraq and Syria, U.S.

05 Jan 2024

India Navy Rescues Bulk Carrier Crew After Arabian Sea Hijack Attempt

(Screenshot from a video shared by the Indian Navy on social media)

The Indian Navy on Friday rescued the crew of a merchant vessel after its attempted hijack in the Arabian Sea and said it had not found any pirates on board.An Indian Navy warship intercepted the Liberian-flagged MV Lila Norfolk bulk carrier less than a day after it had received a report that the vessel had been hijacked about 460 nautical miles off Somalia.About five to six armed people boarded the vessel on Thursday, according to a report received by the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency…

27 Dec 2023

Shipping Firms Take First Steps Toward Red Sea Return

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

France's CMA CGM is increasing the number of vessels travelling through the Suez Canal, it said on Tuesday, joining Maersk in returning to the area after U.S.-led efforts to prevent attacks.The world's top shipping companies, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, stopped using Red Sea routes after Yemen's Houthi militant group began targeting vessels this month, disrupting global trade through the Suez Canal.Instead they have rerouted via southern Africa, a longer and more expensive journey.

26 Dec 2023

Shipping Companies Take First Steps Towards Red Sea Return

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

France's CMA CGM is increasing the number of vessels travelling through the Suez Canal, it said on Tuesday, joining Maersk in returning to the area after U.S.-led efforts to prevent attacks.The world's top shipping companies, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, stopped using Red Sea routes after Yemen's Houthi militant group began targeting vessels this month, disrupting global trade through the Suez Canal.Instead they have rerouted via southern Africa, a longer and more expensive journey.

15 Dec 2023

Warship Rushes in to Investigate Suspected Pirate Attack off Somalia

(Photo: EUNAVFOR)

A Spanish navy ship is sailing at full speed towards a Maltese-flagged commercial vessel that may have been hijacked by pirates off Somalia, the European Union's Somali counter piracy force said on Friday.If confirmed, it would be the first successful hijacking involving Somali pirates since 2017 when a crackdown by international navies stopped a rash of seizures in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.EUNAVFOR's joint operations centre in Spain said it received an alert on Thursday about the "alleged pirate-hijacked vessel" Ruen, which was approximately 500 nautical miles east of Socotra Isl

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.

11 Dec 2023

Yemen's Houthis Warn They Will Target All Ships Headed to Israel

© allegro60 / Adobe Stock

Yemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.The Iran-aligned group is escalating the risks of a regional conflict amid a brutal war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.The Houthis have attacked and seized several Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and its Bab al-Mandab strait, a sea lane through which much of the world's oil is shipped…

05 Oct 2023

Britain Says Russia May Target Civilian Shipping with Mines in Black Sea

© Travelstock / Adobe Stock

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…

12 Sep 2023

Luxury Cruise Ship Runs Aground in Remote Greenland

A luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people has run aground in remote eastern Greenland with the nearest help by sea days away, the Danish military's Joint Arctic Command (JAC) said on Tuesday.The Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in a national park some 1,400 km (870 miles) northeast of Greenland's capital Nuuk, the JAC said in a statement.There were no reports of injuries, JAC said."A cruise ship in trouble in the national park is obviously a worry.

27 Aug 2023

China's Behaviour in South China Sea must be Challenged - U.S. Navy Official

© Alejandro / Adobe Stock

China's "aggressive behaviour" in the South China Sea, including the use of water canon by its coast guard against a Philippine vessel, must be challenged and checked, the commander of the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet said on Sunday.Vice Admiral Karl Thomas assured the Philippines of U.S. backing in the face of "shared challenges" in the region, saying: "My forces are out here for a reason."The largest of the U.S. Navy's forward-deployed fleets, the Seventh Fleet, headquartered in Japan…

15 Aug 2023

Global Conservation Mission Sets Sail from UK in Darwin's Wake

(Photo: Darwin200)

Almost two centuries after Charles Darwin's voyage around the world, environmentalists plan to follow in his footsteps by undertaking a two-year journey across four continents to study endemic wildlife and boost conservation.The group will set sail on board a 105-year-old schooner on Tuesday from the southern English port of Plymouth, from where British naturalist Darwin's own expedition began in 1831, leading him to develop the theory of evolution by natural selection.The 40,000 nautical mile "Darwin200" expedition hopes to anchor in 32 ports, including all the major ports visited by Darwin's