Theresa May News

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had captured a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf after Britain seized an Iranian vessel earlier this month, further raising tensions along a vital international oil shipping route.Britain said it was urgently seeking information about the Stena Impero after the tanker, which had been heading to a port in Saudi Arabia, suddenly changed course after passing through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.The Revolutionary Guards said they seized the tanker at the request of Iranian maritime authorities for "not following international maritime regulations," state television reported.Relations…

British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet with Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo later on Wednesday to discuss the detained Iranian oil tanker Grace 1, a spokesman for May said.The tanker was seized earlier this month by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of violating sanctions against Syria.May and Picardo will also discuss Brexit, the spokesman said.Reporting by Elizabeth Piper

There was no incursion by Spanish naval forces during an incident near Gibraltar at the weekend, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday.Gibraltar said that a Spanish warship tried to order commercial shipping to leave anchorages in British waters near Gibraltar on Sunday but was challenged by the British navy and sailed away."There was no incursion on this occasion. We are certain of our sovereignty over the whole of Gibraltar, including British -Gibraltar territory waters, and any incursions are a violation of sovereignty, but not a threat to it ," the spokesman said. (Reuters reporting by William James, writing by Alistair Smout; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

British ship insurer North has received regulatory approval from Ireland's central bank for a new subsidiary in Dublin to ensure continued access to trade in the European Union in case Britain loses single market access, the firm said on Friday.North, which has its headquarters in the northern England city of Newcastle, is the first specialist Protection and Indemnity (P&I) club to announce regulatory approval for Brexit trading arrangements in the EU. It said a team of senior…

Work began on Thursday to extend a small British port that could serve as a back-up if the UK leaves the European Union with no trade deal, providing the government some respite after days of criticism.Less than three months before Britain leaves the EU on March 29, the transport minister has been forced to defend awarding a 14 million pound ($18 million) contract for shipping goods to a new ferry company that has no ships.On Thursday the company, Seaborne Freight, came in for further criticism when its business terms and conditions showed references to placing "any meal/order"…

Britain is recalling two patrol boats from overseas deployments to help deal with an increase in the number of migrants trying to reach the country from France, interior minister Sajid Javid said on Monday.Javid said there had been an increase in the number of migrants crossing the English Channel from France and last week he declared the situation a "major incident".On Monday, following a meeting of officials in London, he said two the additional ships would join three other vessels already working in the channel.He said 230 migrants had attempted to cross one of the world's busiest shipping lanes in December, although almost half were prevented from leaving France.The number is a tiny fraction of those regularly attempting to reach European Union territory by crossing the Mediterranean f

British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O is reviewing its UK-registered fleet and is already re-flagging two vessels to keep European Union tax arrangements ahead of Britain's departure from the bloc, the company said.A P&O spokesman said two of its UK ships operating on the English Channel route to France would be re-flagged to Cyprus."The change is being made to preserve the tonnage tax financing arrangements, under which the ships should remain flagged in an EU member state," a statement said.The spokesman added that P&O was reviewing the flag status of its four other ships operating

British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O is reviewing its UK-registered fleet and is already re-flagging two vessels to keep European Union tax arrangements ahead of Britain's departure from the bloc, the company said.A P&O spokesman said two of its UK ships operating on the English Channel route to France would be re-flagged to Cyprus."The change is being made to preserve the tonnage tax financing arrangements, under which the ships should remain flagged in an EU member state," a statement said.The spokesman added that P&O was reviewing the flag status of its four other ships operating on the Channel route, although no final…

Smaller ports in northern France are ready to absorb more shipping traffic from Britain if congestion builds up due to any fallout from Brexit, a top French official said on Wednesday.The Ports of Normandy Authority (PNA) currently owns and operates Cherbourg and Caen-Ouistreham terminals and will take on operating Dieppe nearby in 2019."We can accept more (traffic) and we would like to accept more if there is congestion on the east side of the UK," Philippe Deiss, managing director of the PNA told Reuters during a trade visit to London.Over 1 million passengers and over 100…

Deal covers nine anti-submarine warfare ships; BAE beat Italy's Fincantieri and Spain's Navantia. Britain's BAE Systems PLC has won a A$35 billion ($25.7 billion) contest to deliver anti-submarine warfare frigates for the Australian navy, the Australian government said on Thursday. The nine ships, to be designed by BAE and built by government-owned ASC Shipbuilding in Australia are expected to underpin the country's maritime combat capability for decades to come, the Australian government said in a statement. "The Hunter class will provide the Australian Defence Force with the highest levels of lethality and deterrence our major surface combatants need in periods of global uncertainty," it said of the ships. Australia is a steadfast U.S.

SOCAR, the the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, and BP signed a new production sharing agreement (PSA) for the joint exploration and development of Block D230 in the North Absheron basin in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The PSA was signed in London, in the presence of UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, by Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, and BP group chief executive Bob Dudley. Speaking at the signing event  Abdullayev said: “We have a long tradition of successful cooperation with BP. I believe that the synergies between modern upstream technology and unique historical experience, embodied in both companies, create a solid basis for our continued success.

European Union leaders called on Friday for a temporary exemption from U.S. import duties on steel and aluminium to be made permanent, saying they reserved the right to respond in an "in a proportionate manner" to protect the bloc's interests. The 40-day exemption granted by Washington was like U.S. President Donald Trump "putting a gun to our head", Belgium's prime minister complained. The EU's trade negotiator demanded that the United States drop "artificial deadlines". Trump said on Thursday he would suspend tariffs for the EU…

The Port of Rotterdam is bracing for a British exit from the European Union without any deal on customs, and looking at measures such as hiring 100 extra customs agents and dozens of fresh produce inspectors. CEO Allard Castelein said he had had two meetings in the past week with "policy makers, the cabinet, the government and supporting officials about the consequences" of a so-called "hard" Brexit, which would move Britain away from EU rules. "If you have 407 days left, then you don't have time to embrace hypotheses that it will turn out pretty good in the end," he told reporters. Britain is due to exit the EU on March 29, 2019. Prime Minister Theresa May plans to take Britain out of the EU's single market and customs union after an initial Brexit transition period.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May reshuffled the cabinet replacing John Hayes as the shipping minister with Jo Johnson. UK Prime Minister on Twitter said: "Jo Johnson MP becomes Minister of State at the Department for Transport and Minister for London."   Later the government sources confirmed that Jo Johnson was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Transport and Minister for London on 9 January 2018.    Jo was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from July 2016 to January 2018. He was elected Conservative MP for Orpington in May 2010 and re-elected in May 2015.   May announced her intention to refresh the cabinet last week. She also tweeted that Chris Grayling MP remains Secretary of State for Transport.

In the week that global maritime leaders gave the UK a vote of confidence, naming it one of the world’s leading maritime centres, PD Ports is urging UK businesses not to develop ‘Brexit blinkers’ but instead to explore significant new global opportunities as the UK negotiates its exit from the EU. Industry data shows UK export performance as a whole has been stronger outside the Single Market than within the EU over the last decade according to PwC’s UK Economic Outlook report. Although Brexit will bring challenges to the UK export market, there are equal opportunities to increase their focus on key emerging markets such as Asia in the medium and long-term, allowing businesses to take a truly global approach rather than limiting themselves to trade within the Union.

The Royal Navy’s new flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth berthed in her home port of Portsmouth early on Wednesday morning and was greeted Prime Minister Theresa May visited the aircraft carrier and hailed it as a symbol of the UK’s maritime might, said a press release from UK Chamber of Shipping. “Britain truly has the best sailors, marines and officers in the world and I believe that you deserve the very best equipment. That is what we have with HMS Queen Elizabeth. This ship is a symbol of the United Kingdom as a great global, maritime nation,” the prime minister said in an address. “Clearly, she is a stunning piece of twenty-first-century engineering and a true testament to British shipbuilding and design. Six shipyards from across the United Kingdom contributed sections of this vessel.

The EU is ignoring the risk of Brexit to European ports, the UK Chamber of Shipping has said. Hard border controls will lead to increased bureaucracy and will threaten prosperity. The Chamber warns that the return of border controls would lead to increased bureaucracy, “guaranteed” lorry gridlock and threats to the prosperity of both EU member states and the UK. It also says that the dangers to major EU ports has been understated. Chief executive of the Chamber, Guy Platten said: “The EU sells £240bn of goods to the UK each year, most of which travels through ports. So the negative impact of a so-called hard Brexit on ports such as Dover will be felt just as severely if not more so by European ports.

As Britain sets sail in uncharted waters on the lookout for post-Brexit trade deals, lawmakers and a former diplomat have earmarked two key weapons: the Duchess of Cambridge and a new royal yacht. Following the vote in June for Britain to leave the European Union, and with the government facing the tricky task of securing new trade agreements, some 100 lawmakers from Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party have called for ministers to back the commissioning of a new royal yacht. "I think we have to ask ourselves what sort of Britain we want to live in and what we can do ...

Britain is to create a 'secure zone' at the French port of Calais to protect lorries heading for England from migrants seeking to enter the country illegally, interior minister Theresa May said on Tuesday. Around 3,000 migrants, fleeing war, political turmoil and poverty are camped in Calais and make daily attempts to board lorries and trains heading towards Britain. The problem has been exacerbated in recent weeks by a French ferry workers' strike which has blocked traffic around the port.

Eversheds International says that UK trade would clearly be impacted by the Brexit vote. "We saw an immediate effect on currency and share prices, although there are signs that the market is settling down after the initial post-vote furore," says a report by Eversheds. In terms of longer term impact, there are some matters which are already tolerably clear, for example that any changes to the cost of trade with the EU are likely to affect freight volumes at British ports. However, the precise nature and extent of the effect on UK trade will depend entirely on the form of relationship which is ultimately agreed both with the EU and with other trading partners.

Britain's first shale gas delivery from the United States sailed into a heated European political debate on fracking on Tuesday and immediately ran into its first practical problem - the Scottish weather. The huge "Ineos Insight" tanker had entered the Firth of Forth at sunrise, a lone Scots piper playing on its bow, as it headed for the Grangemouth refinery, west of Edinburgh. But gusty squalls prevented it from unloading its controversial cargo before an assembled crowd of dignitaries. "The Insight vessel was unable to dock at the port due to high winds," said a spokesman for Zurich-based chemicals giant Ineos. It would arrive at the port as soon as wind died down, he added. Ship tracking data on Reuters showed the vessel had turned back into deeper waters.