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Some also said the tragic end, when it came, was precipitated by the actions of the Greek coastguard. after a Greek coastguard vessel attached a rope to the bow of the trawler and began to pull it while picking up speed. The shipping ministry, which oversees the coastguard, told Reuters it couldn't comment on issues that were the subject of a confidential and ongoing investigation by prosecutors. Nikos Spanos, a retired admiral in the Greek coastguard, told Reuters it was unlikely that a coastguard vessel would have attempted such a dangerous manoeuvre as towing the stricken trawler. Three survivors told authorities they paid anywhere from 50 to 200 euros ($55-220) extra for places on the outer deck, considered safer.

Persons: Stelios Misinas, Adriana, haven't, Mohamed, Nikos Spanos, Renee Maltezou, Jonathan Saul, Riham, Rachel Armstrong, Pravin Organizations: Hellenic Coast Guard, REUTERS, Greek coastguard, coastguard, Reuters, GO, Thomson Locations: Greece, Kalamata, KALAMATA, North Africa, Italy, Greek, GO ITALY, Pylos, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, Tobruk, Europe, Tunisia, Libya, Athens, London, Berlin

☆ US confiscates Iran oil cargo on tanker amid Tehran tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

As oil markets remain jittery, the cargo seizure is the latest escalation between Washington and Tehran after years of sanctions pressure by the U.S. over Iran's nuclear program. Tehran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes while Washington suspects Iran wants to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran has previously responded tit-for-tat following seizures of Iranian oil cargo." Last year the U.S. tried to confiscate a cargo of Iranian oil near Greece, which prompted Tehran to seize two Greek tankers in the Gulf. In a step likely to exacerbate tensions, 12 U.S. senators on Thursday urged President Joe Biden to remove Treasury Department policy hurdles that have prevented the Department of Homeland Security from seizing Iranian oil shipments for more than a year.

REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - As Iran's oil exports rise despite U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program, senators from both parties urged President Joe Biden to enable a federal government agency to seize Iranian oil and gas shipments. Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in a letter to Biden that the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office has not been able to seize an Iranian oil shipment for more than a year. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes while the United States suspects Tehran wants to develop a nuclear bomb by enriching uranium. Iran's oil exports have reached their highest level since the reimposition of U.S. sanctions in 2018, Iranian oil minister Javad Owji said last month. Last year the U.S. tried to confiscate a cargo of Iranian oil around Greece, which prompted Tehran to seize two Greek tankers in the Gulf.

Under the pact to create a safe shipping channel, Ukraine has been able to export some 27.7 million tonnes of agricultural products, including 13.9 million tonnes of corn and 7.5 million tonnes of wheat. The leading destinations have been China (6.3 million tonnes), Spain (4.8 million) and Turkey (3 million). Ukraine's grain exports are forecast to fall in the 2023/24 season after the war has meant farmers planted less corn and wheat. The International Grains Council has forecast that Ukraine's corn crop will fall to 21 million tonnes, down from the prior season's 27 million, with exports expected to drop to 15 million tonnes from 20.5 million. CAN UKRAINE EXPORT MORE GRAIN THROUGH LAND ROUTES?

NEW DELHI/LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - Global fuel suppliers are turning to longer and costlier routes that produce more carbon emissions to move their diesel and other products as Western restrictions on Russian cargoes have reshuffled global energy shipping patterns. The ban comes on top of a halt late last year on Russian crude sales into the bloc as well as Western price caps. Also in March, Russian clean products shipped to Togo reached 973 million MT-NM, up from zero in November. Conversely, Russian exports to the Netherlands dropped to 238,200 tonnes in February from 1.15 million tonnes in September. Those longer distances are being done at higher costs for Russian products than for typical shipments from Europe.

[1/2] The landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. Russia has a 51% stake in Nord Stream 1 through a subsidiary of state-owned energy group Gazprom (GAZP.MM). While the import of Russian crude oil and oil products is banned under European Union (EU) sanctions, Russian gas imports are allowed. In September 2022, several unexplained underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and newly-built Nord Stream 2 pipelines, each more than 1,200-km-long, that link Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea. Gazprom and Swiss-based Nord Stream AG did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Spain calls for tougher enforcement of oil transfers at sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, March 31 (Reuters) - Spain has called for tighter scrutiny of oil transfers involving tankers at sea as the number of unregulated ships hit by sanctions grows and raises pollution risks, a U.N. agency session heard this week. Spain's Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines have become hubs for shipping activity including the transfer of oil known as ship-to-ship (STS) operations. Madrid, which has already tightened its rules for STS transfers around its coastline, has called for flag states to step up scrutiny and enforcement of such activity, the source added. A paper submitted to the IMO committee by Australia, the United States and Canada said illicit transfers "undermine the rules-based international order". The IMO committee said the shadow tankers "posed a real and high risk of incident" particularly when engaged in STS transfers.

☆ Oil spills and near misses: more ghost tankers ship sanctioned fuel
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jonathan Saul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

REUTERS/Ronen ZvulunSummary Risk of accidents in focus as 'shadow' fleet growsStirs fears of oil spills, decades after Exxon ValdezHundreds of ships carry oil from sanctioned nationsMany ship certifiers and insurers have pulled servicesLONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - An oil tanker runs aground off eastern China, leaking fuel into the water. Many leading certification providers and engine makers that approve seaworthiness and safety have withdrawn their services from ships carrying oil from sanctioned Iran, Russia and Venezuela, as have a host of insurers, meaning there's less oversight of vessels carrying the flammable cargoes. Reuters was unable to independently verify the numbers regarding the size and growth of the shadow fleet. The U.S. Treasury didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on ships carrying sanctioned oil. SHIP-TO-SHIP TRANSFERSAround 774 tankers out of 2,296 in the overall global crude oil fleet are 15 years old or more, according to data provider VesselsValue.

☆ Insurers count the cost of ships snagged in Ukraine crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Jonathan Saul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Curtailed shipments from major grain exporter Ukraine played a role in the resulting global food crisis. According to shipping and insurance industry assessments, there are still between 40 and 60 ships stranded, and ship owners can claim a total loss for vessels stuck for a year from their insurers. A senior industry source said exposure for the ships currently stuck was estimated at $500 million. "The liabilities for those people who have ships stuck there, to get those ships out - it’s a real headache." "There is going to be some form of constructive agreement I suspect, but then that owner will have to buy war risk insurance all over again."

☆ Shipping industry grapples with ways to cut cargo fires at sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Global shipping companies are exploring ways to boost safety in transporting cargoes as risks grow from fires erupting inside containers or in cars at sea, officials said on Wednesday. Shipping transports around 90% of world trade onboard different vessels including container and Ro-Ro ships with trade routes getting busier. "The main root cause for cargo fires on container ships is the integrity of dangerous goods throughout the supply chain. Therefore it is a problem that can only be improved through industry wide solutions," Maersk's Aslak Ross said separately in a statement. Reporting by Jonathan Saul Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Israeli-linked ship attacked last week in Arabian Sea, manager says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, Feb 18 (Reuters) - An Israeli-linked tanker was lightly damaged in an attack last week by an airborne object while sailing through the Arabian Sea, the ship's manager confirmed on Saturday. Regional defence and security sources suspect the assault was carried out by Iran, which did not comment on the incident. Shipping databases linked the tanker to Zodiac Maritime, which is controlled by Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer. We have made the necessary notifications to the relevant authorities," the manager said. British maritime security company Ambrey Intelligence said unmanned aerial systems had attacked two tankers and one bulk carrier in the Arabian Sea and assessed that Tehran had mounted the attack.

☆ Shipping containers ablaze at Turkey's Iskenderun Port, operations halted
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Antony Paone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ISKENDERUN, Turkey, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Hundreds of shipping containers were ablaze at Turkey's Iskenderun Port on Tuesday, shutting down operations and forcing freight liners to divert vessels to other ports. Leading global container shipping group AP Moller Maersk said there had been significant damage to logistics and transport infrastructure around the earthquake epicentre, including at the Port of Iskenderun. We are currently planning to divert containers to nearby hubs within operational feasibility or hold at transhipment ports - including Port of Mersin (in Turkey) and Port Said (in Egypt)," it said. [1/3] Smoke rises from burning containers at the port in the earthquake-stricken town of Iskenderun, Turkey, February 7, 2023. German container shipping line Hapag Lloyd said it was taking shipments from Mersin given the closure of Iskenderun.

☆ Western tankers ramp up Russian oil shipments under price cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Group of Seven nations (G7), Australia and the 27 European Union countries placed a price limit on Russian crude oil of $60 per barrel on Dec. 5. The cap allows non-EU countries to import seaborne Russian crude oil, but prohibits Western shipping and insurance companies from handling cargoes of the crude unless it is sold at or below that price. Russia has said it will not accept an oil price cap. GREEK RELIEFGreek-owned ships run by Greek management firms handled at least 21 voyages of Russian crude in January to a range of destinations. NGM said its tanker, the Ace, had discharged crude oil in Bulgaria.

☆ Missile hit Turkish-owned ship in Ukraine's Kherson port -video, sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A Turkish-owned general cargo ship was struck by a missile in the port of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, sparking a fire, according to video footage from the scene and shipping sources. The missile hit the bridge of the vessel named Tuzla on Tuesday, maritime security company Ambrey said, causing the fire. A shipping source said there are twelve Turkish ships trapped in Ukrainian ports, including in Kherson, that are not covered by the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal. "There has been an attack yesterday night, most probably to the port, and an explosive charge seems to have hit the ship. Turkish ships in Kherson are manned by a skeleton crew so there are no injuries or casualties," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

☆ Ship insurers to cancel war cover for Russia, Ukraine from Jan 1
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Ship insurers said they are cancelling war risk cover across Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, following an exit from the region by reinsurers in the face of steep losses. P&I (protection and indemnity) clubs American, North, UK and West are no longer able to offer war risk cover for liabilities in the region from Jan. 1, they said in recent notices on their websites. The clubs are among the biggest P&I insurers who cover around 90% of the world’s ocean going ships. "The Club's reinsurers are no longer able to secure reinsurance for war risk exposure to Russian, Ukrainian or Belarus territorial risks," it said. Ships typically have P&I insurance, which covers third party liability claims including environmental damage and injury.

☆ Dozens of merchant ships stuck off Iran as payment snags bite - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Dozens of merchant ships with grains and sugar are stuck outside Iranian ports after weeks of delays as payments snags disrupt flows of goods into the country, according to trade sources and shipping data. The latest payment issues have led to ships being unable to discharge cargoes, with at least 40 bulk carrier ships stuck outside the major Iranian ports of Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas, ship tracking data on Refinitiv showed. In the previous five seasons, imports had averaged just 1.1 million tonnes, the data showed. One Western trade source familiar with the matter estimated that the cargoes stuck outside Iran's port are worth more than $1 billion with charterers of the cargoes also facing delay costs known as demurrage. Broker Paragon Global Markets (PGM) said it was not clear how many of the vessels might have sugar cargoes onboard.

Both Ukraine and the Russia-installed authorities agree that some grain has been exported from occupied Zaporizhzhia via Crimea. Ukraine says at least a part of the grain that passed through Sevastopol was taken from Ukrainian territories after Russia invaded. Prior to the current war, Syria had imported grain from Crimea on previous occasions since Russia took control of the peninsula, Reuters reported. According to the Refinitiv data, Syria imported about 501,800 tonnes of wheat from Sevastopol this year until the end of November, up from about 28,200 tonnes in the whole of 2021. During a visit to Crimea in January, Syria's economy minister said his country needed 1.5 million tonnes of wheat imports, with Russia providing the majority.

[1/6] Commercial vessels, including oil tankers, wait at an anchorage in the Black Sea off Kilyos near Istanbul, Turkey, December 9, 2022. A total of 28 oil tankers are in a queue seeking to leave the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, the Tribeca shipping agency said on Friday. Turkey's maritime authority said it would continue to keep out of its waters oil tankers that lacked appropriate insurance letters. A shipping source said four of the tankers waiting to cross the Dardanelles were scheduled to go on Saturday with tug escorts. Millions of barrels of oil per day move south from Russian ports through Turkey's Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits into the Mediterranean.

☆ Factbox: Why are oil tankers stuck in Turkish waters?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jonathan Saul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Turkey's maritime authority said on Thursday it would continue to block the passage of oil tankers that don't carry appropriate insurance letters, adding that insurance checks on ships in its waters were a "routine procedure". The logjam is creating growing unease in oil and tanker markets and comes as the G7 and European Union introduce a price cap on Russian oil. Millions of barrels of oil per day move south from Russian ports through Turkey's Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits into the Mediterranean. Ships typically have protection & indemnity (P&I) insurance, which covers third party liability claims including environmental damage and injury. Turkish authorities introduced new requirements, which came into effect at the beginning of December, in which every ship must have P&I insurance cover in place for all circumstances when sailing through Turkish waters or when calling at ports.

[1/2] Oil product tanker Lila Fujairah sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Yoruk IsikCompanies Ingosstrakh SPAO FollowLONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Western officials are in talks with Turkish counterparts to resolve oil tanker queues off Turkey, a British Treasury official said, after the G7 and European Union rolled out new restrictions on Dec. 5 aimed at Russian oil exports. "The UK, U.S. and EU are working closely with the Turkish government and the shipping and insurance industries to clarify the implementation of the Oil Price Cap and reach a resolution," the official told Reuters. At least 20 oil tankers continue to face delays to cross from Russia's Black Sea ports to the Mediterranean as operators race to adhere to the Turkish rules. "The (insurers) have agreed that they cannot and should not issue such a letter," UK P&I said in a statement on its website.

LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The market for old oil tankers is booming, and it's all down to efforts by Western nations to curb trade in Russian crude. The European Union banned all seaborne Russian crude imports from Dec. 5, with a fuel import ban to follow in February. PRICE SURGEMajor Western oil companies typically stop using tankers when they are about 15 years old, and many would be scrapped. More tankers are now being used for voyages taking weeks, shipping Russian oil from the Baltic and Black Sea to Asia, whereas Russian oil was mainly sold in Europe previously and the voyages only took a few days. Ship broker Braemar also said that some of the vessels involved in shipping Iranian and Venezuelan oil were shifting to transporting Russian oil.

But satellite images and photos show the Chinese-owned ship had loaded the oil four months earlier in Venezuela, an OPEC nation in South America under U.S. oil sanctions. Two of those tankers, including the Young Yong, were designated this month by U.S. authorities for violating sanctions on Iran, one of Venezuela's closest allies. The U.S. Treasury declined to comment on the involvement of the Young Yong or the other vessels identified by Reuters in shipping Venezuela crude. Indonesian authorities said in early November that the Young Yong had run aground off the Riau Islands on Oct. 26. The United States imposed oil trading sanctions on Venezuela in 2019 after calling Maduro's re-election the previous year a sham.

☆ Stowaways on tanker from Nigeria set for deportation from Spain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LAS PALMAS, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Two of three stowaways who were rescued in Spain's Canary Islands after enduring 11 days on the rudder of a fuel tanker from Nigeria have been returned to the ship with the aim of deporting them. In a photograph on Twitter by the Spanish coast guard on Monday, the three stowaways are shown hunkered on the rudder under the hull, just above the waterline of the Alithini II. The ship's captain confirmed to the Red Cross that it had sailed from Nigeria 11 days earlier. The stowaways were treated for moderate dehydration and hypothermia, the Canary Islands emergency services and the Red Cross said. The Spanish-owned Canary Islands are a popular but dangerous gateway for African migrants attempting to reach Europe.

☆ Russia oil turmoil seen driving tanker market higher
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jonathan Saul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In the latest action against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine that began in February, the European Union will ban Russian crude imports from Dec 5, and Russian oil products from Feb 5. Maersk Tankers Chief Executive Christian M. Ingerslev told Reuters he expected demand to be healthy as Russian oil continues to flow, but to different markets. "With new sanctions coming into place, we expect that Russian oil will continue to be moved. Freight rates have hit record highs in recent weeks and analysts expect them to stay supported for both crude and oil products tankers, potentially driving inflation that has hit multi-decade highs. A G7 plan, intended as an add-on to the EU embargo, will allow shipping services providers, such as insurers, to help enable Russian oil to be exported, but only at enforced low prices.

However the talks aim to remove remaining obstacles in the initiative extended last week and ease global food shortages by unblocking Ukrainian and Russian exports, they added. Putin said on Wednesday that Russian officials would work to unblock Russian fertilisers stuck in European ports and to resume ammonia exports. The export of Russian ammonia would be via an existing pipeline to the Black Sea. Neither Russia nor Ukraine have released official figures on how many prisoners of war they have taken since Russia invaded in February. On Oct. 29, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy said that since March, Russia had freed a total of 1,031 prisoners.

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