Red Sea News

An explosion has damaged a Turkish vessel carrying wheat to Yemen's Houthi-controlled port of Saleef, with varying accounts attributing the incident on Thursday to an unexplained blast aboard the ship or a possible missile strike.A naval ship of a Saudi-led military coalition received a call from the captain of the vessel, the Ince Inebolu, who reported an opening had appeared in the middle of the ship on the left side, a spokesman for the alliance said."Coalition forces conducted a survey of the incident and visited the ship and found an explosion from the inside to the outside…

Using data collected from underwater drones, merchant ships, fishing boats and even explorers, a new scientific project aims to map the ocean floor by 2030 and solve one of the world’s enduring mysteries.With 190 million square km (73 million square miles) of water - or about 93 percent of the world's oceans with a depth of over 200 meters (650 feet) - yet to be charted, the initiative is ambitious.Satinder Bindra, director of the Seabed 2030 project, said the work can be completed within the period and will shed light on everything from tsunami wave patterns to pollution…

Rayan Qutub, CEO of King Abdullah Port, has announced that the port has achieved new heights in container handling this year, already showing a 45% increase during the first four months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Qutub confirmed that the substantial increase will play an important role in promoting King Abdullah Port as a logistics hub strategically located on the Red Sea. He added that the progress at King Abdullah Port falls in line with Vision 2030’s logistics goals to link the continents of Asia…

South Asia container trade with Europe continues to outpace the Middle East, says Drewry in its Container Insight Weekly report.Container shipments in the combined eastbound Europe to the Middle East and South Asia trade performed well in the first quarter, rising by 5.2 percent year-on-year according to Container Trade Statistics. However, that aggregate rate hides two very different performances by the two destinations. CTS reports that inbound traffic to South Asia soared by 18 percent in 1Q18 to reach approximately 410…

New pre-arrival clearance protocols and reduced terminal handling charges for containers in transit, mean that Jordan’s deep-water Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT), located on the Red Sea, is now a realistic alternative maritime gateway for Iraq-bound cargo. Containers imported into Iraq will no longer have to be trans-loaded onto new trucks as they cross the Jordanian/Iraqi border. “The Aqaba Container Terminal has been working hard over the years to develop a competitive gateway to Iraq," says ACT Managing Director Steven Yoogalingam.

Navis, a part of Cargotec Corporation, announced that DP World Jeddah has upgraded from Navis SPARCS to N4 3.5 terminal operating system (TOS). The implementation of the updated TOS is a move by the terminal to leverage the latest technology to meet continuous customer service demands and address the need for increasing operational support as incoming cargo volume rises. DP World operates the South Container Terminal (SCT) at Jeddah Islamic Port, a crucial link in the world’s busiest East-West trade routes through the Red Sea and catering to a rich domestic cargo base. The port is the main import destination for Saudi Arabia, handling 59 percent of its imports by sea and serving its main commercial centers.

Four new escort tugs designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and constructed at the Triyards SSY facility in Saigon, Vietnam, by contract to Greenbay Marine Services Pte. of Singapore, have been delivered to owner Star Marine Ltd. of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.The four RAstar 3400 escort tugs, named Murjan 1, 2, 3, and 4, will be stationed in the Red Sea port of Rabigh, Saudi Arabia, and managed by Marine Services Co. Ltd.According to the designer, the RAstar 3400 escort/offshore terminal tug designation is reserved for a distinctive class of high-performance ASD tugs…

The United States said on Friday it was concerned about a Houthi missile strike on a Turkish vessel carrying wheat to Yemen this month and another attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea. "The United States is alarmed by the Houthi missile strike against a Turkish cargo ship 70 miles off the coast of Yemen that was attempting to deliver 50,000 metric tons of wheat to Yemen’s Saleef port near Hudaydah," the White House said in a statement. "This proves yet again that missile proliferation in Yemen is a real threat to all countries and underscores the need to fully enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216."  Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe

Tanker shipping: Added uncertainty is not helpful to the struggling tankersDemandJust when you thought it could not get any worse for the tanker shipping industry, the U.S. is reimposing sanctions on Iran coming into force after a six months wind-down period ending on November 4, 2018. The immediate effects are less tangible but sure to add more uncertainty to the whole shipping industry that has plenty of uncertainty to deal with already.At the same time, freight rates for both crude oil tankers and oil product tankers are mostly in loss making territory.

Unidentified forces attacked a U.N. aid vessel off the main Yemeni port of Hodeidah at the weekend and started a fire in the engine room, port authorities said on Monday.The United Nations aid chief, Mark Lowcock, confirmed there had been an incident but said it was now over and everyone was safe, without elaborating.The vessel used by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) was attacked after delivering a shipment at Hodeidah, Yemen's Red Sea Ports Corporation said. The port is held…

After its first year of cooperation, the members of THE Alliance announced the details for their enhanced product effective from April 2018. THE Alliance plans to deploy a fleet of more than 250 modern ships in the Asia /Europe, North Atlantic and Trans-Pacific trade lanes including the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf/Red Sea. “After one year of cooperation we are proud to say that our services and the network improved significantly“, said the member carriers Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming in a statement.

The Ocean Alliance has launched its new Day Two Product with an estimated 3.6 million TEU carrying capacity provided by approximately 340 containerships deployed on 41 services. The new offering will commence in April 2018. Alliance partners CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen and OOCL will offer 20 Transpacific services, six Asia-Europe services, four Asia-Mediterranean services, four Transatlantic services, five Asia-Middle East services and two Asia-Red Sea services. “Ocean Alliance…

More than 10,000 people killed in Yemeni conflict. The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said on Wednesday it would keep Yemen's Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port open for a month, despite a fresh missile attack at Riyadh, but it kept up air strikes that killed at least nine people. The Western-backed coalition, which controls Yemen's airspace and port access, said last month it would allow humanitarian aid through Hodeidah following a nearly three-week blockade imposed because of a missile attack towards the Saudi capital's international airport. The Saudis say the Red Sea port, which is Yemen's main entry point for food and humanitarian supplies, is also a hub used by the Iran-allied Houthi rebels to bring in weapons.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said on Wednesday it had thwarted an attack on a Saudi oil tanker over the weekend by Houthi fighters near the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. The coalition destroyed a boat carrying explosives as it headed towards the tanker on Saturday, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said. Yemen lies on the southern mouth of the Red Sea, one of the world's most important trade routes for oil tankers, which pass Yemen’s shores while heading from the Middle East through the Suez Canal to Europe.

In response to the threats arising from the conflict in Yemen, BIMCO, ICS and INTERTANKO have published interim guidance on maritime security in the southern Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb. Shipowners and operators should be aware of new threat patterns in the area. The European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) and the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) have advised that a range of threats other than piracy, such as sea mines and water-borne improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs), are potential risks in the area.

In response to the threats arising from the conflict in Yemen, BIMCO, ICS and INTERTANKO have published interim guidance on maritime security in the southern Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb. Shipowners and operators should be aware of new threat patterns in the area. The European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) and the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) have advised that a range of threats other than piracy, such as sea mines and water-borne improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs), are potential risks in the area.

South Korea's Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) announced it is beginning its cooperation with Singapore based carrier, AAL Shipping, for Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV) service. Specialist multipurpose carriers and long-standing collaborators, AAL and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), are entering a global cooperation that will see both carriers expand their trade route coverage, sailings frequency, and MPV fleet capacity. The cooperation will create a joint Far East – Middle East MPV Liner Service, served by five MPV vessels and a scheduled bi-monthly rotation.

Pacific International Lines (PIL), Singapore’s leading containership operator, announces two upgraded weekly services on the Far East – Red Sea service route. Done in collaboration with Ocean Alliance, the routes named RSS and RES will commence operations in March 2018, superseding the current three services RSS, RS3 and RS5. The route will be operated with a series of 17 x 11,000 to 14,000TEU vessels including its latest newbuilds, the 11,923TEU P Class in the service. The highly efficient and versatile P Class were purpose-built for Red Sea…

Following the announcement of the 2018 service network in December the members of THE Alliance, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, and Yang Ming have worked to refine the product offerings. Several services will see additional enhancements to improve transit times, boost reliability, and deliver more choice to the marketplace. “The fine tuning of the 2018 product package will further strengthen our already robust portfolio and allow THE Alliance members to provide enhanced value tailored to exceed the need of the marketplace” the members said in a statement.

Djibouti's container port will remain in state hands as the government seeks investment, a senior official said on Wednesday in comments likely to reassure Washington where lawmakers say they fear it could be ceded to China. The Doraleh Container Terminal is a key asset for Djibouti, a tiny state on the Red Sea whose location is of strategic value to countries such as the United States, China, Japan and former colonial power France, all of whom have military bases there. Djibouti last month terminated the concession of Dubai's state-owned DP World to run the port…

DP World Sokhna recently welcomed the largest bulk cargo vessel to ever arrive to the port and enter the Red Sea, said a press release from the company. Known as a capesize vessel, the M/v Seafarer originally came from Malta carrying steel cargo weighing more than 140,000 MT. Prior to its arrival, DP World Sokhna conducted a bathymetric survey of the port’s topography to ensure its depth relative to sea level was adequate to receive vessels of this size. Ajayy Singh, CEO of DP World Sokhna…

Saudi Arabia's shipping group Bahri said on Thursday that one of its vessels, oil tanker Abqaiq, was targeted on April 3 in international waters south west of the port of Hodeidah in Yemen. "The VLCC (very large crude carrier) suffered only minor damage and there were no injuries to our crew aboard. The cargo was unaffected and there was no loss of containment. The crude carrier successfully resumed her northward journey across the Red Sea," Bahri said in a statement.     Reporting by Marwa Rashad and Rania El Gamal

CMA CGM Group, a world leader in maritime transport, is pleased to announce the start of the Ocean Alliance Day Two Product. Based on the success of Ocean Alliance, the Ocean Alliance Day Two Product strengthens CMA CGM’s service offering by providing even better services and upgrades to the Group’s customers. The Ocean Alliance Day Two Product has a carrying capacity of around 3.1 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) with 331 containerships deployed on 41 services. CMA CGM will continue to play a major role within the alliance, deploying a fleet of 121 ships.