Rebel News

The Australian government refused a request by an Israeli livestock exporter to send a ship carrying around 14,000 sheep and hundreds of cattle on a month-long voyage around Africa to Israel earlier this week, but it left the way open for other options.The Bahijah sailed from Australia for Israel on January 5 but was recalled over a week into the voyage after diverting towards South Africa, unwilling to sail through the Red Sea.The ship has been docked in Fremantle port, Western Australia…

The Australian Department of Agriculture continues to assess an application to re-export the sheep and cattle currently loaded on the livestock carrier Bahijah.The government recalled the vessel after it diverted from the Red Sea over a week into its voyage to the Middle East. The Bahijah had loaded cattle and sheep in Fremantle, Western Australia, and departed for the Middle East on January 5, 2024.The vessel has an Israeli company name painted in large letters along the side of the hull, and it is currently docked in Fremantle taking on supplies.

Houthi rebel drone attacks on vessels traversing the Red Sea and Suez Canal route, accounting for 10% of global trade, have exposed the shortcomings of current ship alert systems.The unpredictability and increased frequency of these attacks have created a challenging security environment for ships passing the area via the Bab el Mandeb strait, posing a substantial risk to seafarers and maritime trade by endangering the safety of the crew and cargo.Initially focused on Israel-related ships in solidarity with Hamas…

Anxiety and uncertainty reign across the shipowning community at large, especially for those with units trading in, or simply passing through the shipping lanes that are currently besieged by Houthi Rebel attacks in the Red Sea, says cash buyer GMS. This is invariably resulting in many owners avoiding the Suez Canal altogether, electing instead to sail around the Cape and subsequently increase voyage times, costs, and inadvertently assist global inflation.On the ship recycling front…

The United States is reviewing "potential terrorist designations" for Yemen's Houthi rebel group in response to its seizure of a cargo ship, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.Kirby's comment was significant because one of the Biden administration's first acts after taking office in January 2021 was revoking terrorist designations of the Houthis over fears the sanctions they carried could worsen Yemen's humanitarian crisis.The Iran-backed Houthis…

Chinese state-run shipping giant COSCO Shipping Development Co said on Tuesday that it holds a 3.74% stake in Bank of Kunlun, which has acted as a key official channel for money flows between China and Iran.The statement was made by the shipping firm on the e-interview platform of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, in response to an investor question on whether it held a stake in the bank.COSCO did not elaborate on when it acquired its holding, although the bank had disclosed the shipping firms stake in its 2019 annual report.COSCO’s comments come days after China and Iran, both subject to U.S.

Damen Shipyard Group has opened its first-ever office in Helsinki, Finland as part of its new venture into building large vessels for the ro-pax, cruise and offshore markets.This follows the group’s entry last year into building large vessels for the RoPax, Cruise and Offshore markets via its new Romanian yard, Damen Shipyards Mangalia.Located in a recently renovated building in central Helsinki, the The office will augment and extend Damen’s engineering capability in this market segment.Finland was selected as the location because, along with Italy, Germany and France, it is one of the leading countries in the world in the design and build of cruise and RoPax vessels…

Designer Tomas Tillberg’s quest for freedom breaks down barriers and expands to China, where his team builds China’s first expedition cruise ships putting Antarctica - and the most remote, mysterious parts of the world - within reach.All for freedom. Freedom for all. Tomas Tillberg could be Harley Davidson’s new poster boy. As he views the open road from behind his handle bars, he’s filled with an amazing feeling of personal freedom.With formal training from Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm, Tillberg’s artistry expresses his aspiration for independence.

Russia's only aircraft carrier was damaged while undergoing repairs in the north of the country after the floating dock holding it sank in the early hours of Tuesday morning and a crane crashed onto its deck.The Admiral Kuznetsov has seen action in Russia's military campaign in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad with its planes carrying out air strikes against rebel forces.It was being overhauled on one of the world's biggest floating docks in the icy waters of the Kola Bay near Murmansk close to where Russia's Northern Fleet is based and was due to go back into service in 2021.Maria Kovtun, Murmansk's governor, said in a statement that a rescue operation had been launched and 71 people evacuated after the floating dock holding the ship had begun to sink.The warship had been suc

Van Oord reported slight drop in its revenues for 2017 having realized of EUR 1.53 billion (2016: EUR 1.71 billion) and a net result of EUR 78 million (2016: EUR 90 million). In particular, the turnover of the group's dredging activities was low from a historical perspective (EUR 923 million, 2016: EUR 1.18 billion). The offshore wind sales amounted to EUR 403 million and remained virtually the same as last year's level (EUR 394 million). Despite the poor market, sales in offshore oil and gas increased to EUR 204 million (2016: EUR 130 million), thanks to a number of large projects in our niche markets. The net result amounted to EUR 78 million (EUR 90 million in 2016). The decrease was mainly related to a lower level of activity in the company.

Ian Taylor, who helped build Vitol into the world's biggest oil trader, will step down as chief executive and continue as chairman, the company said on Friday, naming a long-time ally and insider, Russell Hardy, as the new group CEO. Taylor said two years ago he was battling cancer although he continued to travel the world, chasing deals from Africa to the United States and Australia while also working as chairman of the board of trustees for London's Royal Opera House. Hardy, who started his career at BP and traded fuel oil, was long seen as one of two front-runners to succeed Taylor alongside another Vitol veteran Chris Bake. Vitol said in a statement that Hardy joined the firm in 1993 and held a number of trading and management roles in Singapore and London.

A Saudi-led military coalition and the government of Yemen denied four oil tankers access to a Yemeni port last week, a move that could hurt the flow of aid and exacerbate a cholera outbreak in the country, a United Nations agency said. The vessels were on their way to Hodeidah, a Red Sea port controlled by the rebel Houthi movement that is aligned with Iran. Saudi Arabia, a regional rival of Iran, is leading a military coalition fighting the Houthis. More than 1,900 people have died from cholera in Yemen and 400,000 cases have been reported since the start of the outbreak in April. The disease spreads in polluted water, and fuel is needed to run pumps for clean water and power generators in hospitals, among other uses. Yemen is also facing a looming famine.

Over the last few years, as the design output from Robert Allan Ltd. to the global tugboat community began to border on the prodigious, we were often asked, “How many tugs has your company designed?” Until very recently we really did not have a good handle on that number, so the answer was usually either “a lot” or “many hundreds”, neither of which were particularly illuminating. So a search was begun late in 2016 to review our archives and try to determine the tug tally much more precisely. Would we rival Helen? Where did it all begin?

Paramilitary gendarmes firing in the air sealed off access to Ivory Coast's main port on Wednesday, forcing companies including cocoa exporters to close down, as weeks of unrest in the security forces showed no signs of easing. President Alassane Ouattara, who is also facing a wave of public sector strikes, ordered his defence minister and military chiefs to hold urgent talks with members of the security forces about their grievances in a bid to quell the instability. Ivory Coast has emerged from a 2002-2011 political crisis and civil war as one of the world's fastest-growing economies but the violence, which began with an army mutiny nearly two weeks ago, has hit its image as a post-conflict success story.

Islamist militants in the Philippines allied with Islamic State freed on Saturday a South Korean cargo ship captain and a Filipino member of his crew held captive for more than three months on a southern island, an army spokesman said. Park Chulhong, skipper of the South Korea-registered carrier DongBang Giant 2, and Filipino Glenn Alindajao, were brought to the house of the island's governor after they were released by the militants of the Abu Sayyaf group, Major Filemon Tan said. Members of a Muslim rebel faction cooperating with the government in the south of the predominantly Christian country had helped arrange the release, Tan told reporters.

The United States has started to import small batches of Colombia's Puerto Bahia heavy crude, an unusual development that underscores at least a temporary shift in the type of heavy oil flowing into U.S. refineries. Typically, U.S. refineries have received their heavy oil from Canada, Venezuela and Mexico. But shipments of those grades have been limited by Canada wildfires, and slipping output in Mexico and Venezuela. The first shipment of the Colombian heavy crude arrived at Lake Charles, Louisiana in February co-loaded with Vasconia crude for refiner Phillips 66, followed by a 260,000-barrel cargo in March for the same customer, according to sources and data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

After the oil industry suffered from a severe drought in Venezuela, forest fires in Canada and rebel attacks on oil installations in Nigeria, it is now facing the consequences of a national strike in France, where members of the trade union CGT have organized strikes at the country’s refineries and blocked oil terminals and fuel depots, says the Tanker Research & Consulting department at Poten & Partners. The situation seems to be worsening as more unions join the CGT and clashes break out between protestors and the police. Six out of France’s eight refineries are either shut down or producing at significantly reduced levels. It is estimated that 40% of the gas stations around Paris and about 20% of the stations nationwide have supply problems.

Nigeria’s crude oil production and exports have been hit by severe outages as a result of attacks on oil infrastructure by rebel fighters in the Niger River Delta. Various sources report that Qua Iboe Terminal has shut down operations until further notice. All tanks on the facility were emptied of crude, operations have ceased completely and all personnel have been evacuated from the terminal, which is operated by ExxonMobil. Qua Iboe is Nigeria’s largest crude oil stream and exports usually more than 300,000 barrels per day (b/d). Exports of Nigeria’s other large crude oil grades, like Forcados, Bonny Light and Escravos have also been restricted, primarily due to sabotage and attacks on pipelines. As a result of the outages Nigeria’s oil production has dropped below 1.5 mb/d.

Indonesian government said that the company that owns the hijacked tugboat Brahma 12 has agreed to pay the 50-million-peso ($1 million) ransom demanded by the Philippine rebel group Abu Sayyaf for the release of 10 Indonesian crewmembers who have been held hostage since March 26. Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan confirmed this, saying the company and the militants, believed to be linked to Abu Sayyaf, may next communicate today. Negotiations for the handover of the money and the captives are still ongoing, said Luhut. "They've already agreed that the 50 million pesos will be handed over at a specific location," he said, according to Indonesian newspaper Republika.

Libya has asked the United Nations Security Council to blacklist an Indian-flagged ship that is on its way to Malta carrying crude oil shipped by the rival eastern Libya government, Libya's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday. Libyan Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi told Reuters he had written to the Security Council sanctions committee to complain about the first shipment of oil by the rival authorities, which left the eastern Libyan port of Hariga overnight. The eastern government has set up its own National Oil Company (NOC) to act in parallel to the Tripoli-based NOC that is recognised internationally as the only legitimate seller of Libyan oil. "We mainly asked the designation of the ship," Dabbashi said. India's U.N. mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United Nations Security Council Libya sanctions committee blacklisted on Wednesday an Indian-flagged tanker carrying crude oil shipped by the rival eastern Libya government, said diplomats, which would prevent it from entering any ports. Libyan U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi wrote to the 15-member sanctions committee on Monday asking for the Distya Ameya tanker to be blacklisted, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The ship left Marsa el-Hariga port late on Monday. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the sanctions committee chair had informed them that there were no objections to the Dabbashi's request before a 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) Wednesday deadline so the ship was added to the sanctions list.

The United Nations will start inspecting shipments to rebel-held ports in Yemen in a bid to boost commercial imports and enforce an arms embargo, the world body said on Tuesday, some eight months after announcing it would establish such a procedure. Yemen relies almost solely on imports, but a 14-month long conflict between Houthi rebels and a Saudi Arabian-led coalition has slowed to a trickle commercial shipments to the impoverished country where 80 percent of people need humanitarian aid. The United Nations announced in September it would set up a verification and inspection mechanism. Then in October U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien said the United Nations was still trying to raise some $8 million to fund the Djibouti-based operation. It began operations on Monday, U.N.

International engineering and project management consultancy firm Royal HaskoningDHV is leading a multi-disciplinary team in developing a sustainable coastal protection strategy to reduce flood risks for the cities of Tacloban and adjacent Palo in the Philippines. Tacloban is an important strategic location for the prosperity of the Philippines. It is a regional trading hub and a centre for commerce, industry and education. Until Typhoon Haiyan struck in 2013, Tacloban was the fastest growing city in the Philippines, with a daily population of 1.2 million. The typhoon killed thousands of people and brought devastation on a massive scale to homes, businesses and infrastructure. Even for a typhoon unusually hard winds of up to 378 km/hr and storm surges of 4-6 m high battered the area.