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☆ North Korea slams UN meeting on satellite launch, 'robbery' US demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] People watch a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing what it called a space satellite toward the south, in Seoul, South Korea, May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiSEOUL, June 4 (Reuters) - North Korea denounced the U.N. Security Council for holding a meeting on its recent satellite launch upon "robbery demands" from the U.S., vowing to continue rejecting sanctions and taking "self-defensive" action, state media KCNA said on Sunday. She said the satellite launch was a "legitimate, self-defensive countermeasure" against increasing threats from the U.S. and its allies, which Pyongyang have accused of rekindling tension with their annual springtime military drills. North Korea will never acknowledge U.N. sanctions resolutions "even if they slap them hundred, thousand times," she said, pledging to continue exercising its sovereign rights, including launching spy satellites. North Korea had informed the IMO of a time frame of its planned satellite launch, and the resolution "strongly" condemned the isolated country's missile tests "which seriously threatened the safety of seafarers and international shipping."

Persons: Kim Hong, Ji, KCNA, Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Kim Myong Chol, Hyonhee Shin, Nick Zieminski Organizations: REUTERS, . Security, UNSC, KCNA, International Maritime, Thomson Locations: North Korea, Seoul, South Korea, Ji SEOUL, U.S, United States, Pyongyang, Korea

The latest surge of dark fleet ships began after Russia invaded Ukraine and the West tried to limit Moscow’s oil revenue with sanctions. The ships most likely sell their Russian oil to China above a price limit set by the sanctions. “The price cap is achieving its dual goals: restricting Russia’s oil revenues while keeping Russian oil flowing, and markets stable and well-supplied,” a U.S. Treasury spokesperson told The Times. The spoofing tankers using American insurance show that the practice is not limited to Russian oil alone. The company, Gatik Ship Management, owns a fleet of 50 newly acquired tankers dedicated to the Russian oil trade, the report said.

Persons: ”, David Tannenbaum, it’s, Samir Madani, Daniel Tadros, Russia Lady Ella, Russia Snow, Price, Konstantin Zavrazhin, Tannenbaum, Mr, Tadros, what’s, Min Chao Choy Organizations: Cathay, Labs, Copernicus Sentinel, Maxar Technologies, The New York Times, The Times, U.S . Treasury, Times, American Club, Club’s, Alma, Cargo, Russia Cathay Phoenix, Hong, International Maritime Organization, American, ”, AIS, telltale, Treasury’s, Foreign, Control, Maritime, C4ADS, Gatik Ship Management Locations: Japan, Kozmino, China, U.S, Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Ukraine, ”, Hong Kong, Niigata, Russia Ginza, Varna, Bulgaria, Taman, Niigata Port, Siberia, Cathay Phoenix, O.F.A.C, South Korea, Washington, Ginza, Oman, India

☆ Iran seizes second oil tanker in a week in Gulf, US Navy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, May 3 (Reuters) - Iran has seized a second oil tanker in a week on Wednesday in Gulf waters, the U.S. Navy said, the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019. In Iran's first response, Tehran's prosecutor announced the oil tanker was seized on a judicial order following a complaint by a plaintiff, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said. The incident comes after Iran on Thursday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman called the Advantage Sweet. The Niovi oil tanker seized on Wednesday had been travelling from Dubai toward the UAE's Fujairah port when it was forced by IRGCN boats to change course towards Iranian territorial waters, the Navy said. Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in the strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran.

☆ US says Chinese Coast Guard is harassing Philippine vessels
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday called on China to stop harassing Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, pledging to stand with the Philippines at a time of simmering geopolitical tension. "We call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. The Philippines on Friday accused China's coast guard of "aggressive tactics" following an incident during a Philippine coast guard patrol close to the Philippines-held Second Thomas Shoal, a flashpoint for previous altercations located 105 nautical miles (195 km) off its coast. In February, the Philippines said a Chinese ship had directed a "military-grade laser" at one of its resupply vessels. China's foreign ministry on Friday said the Philippine vessels had intruded into Chinese waters and made deliberate provocative moves.

☆ 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.

☆ Iran seizes Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in Gulf, U.S. Navy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in international waters on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, the latest in a series of several seizures of commercial vessels in Gulf waters in the past couple of years. The navy said the seizure of the Advantage Sweet by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy disrupts regional security and stability and called on Tehran to immediately release the tanker. Iranian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment by ReutersThe ship, a Suezmax oil tanker built in 2012, issued a distress call during the seizure, the navy statement said. The navy said Iran has in the past two years unlawfully seized at least five commercial vessels in the Middle East. Iran in November released two Greek-flagged tankers that it seized in the Gulf in May.

☆ Iran seizes oil tanker in Gulf, U.S. Navy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet, which, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data, is a Suezmax crude tanker which had been chartered by oil major Chevron and had last docked in Kuwait, sails at Marmara sea near Istanbul, Turkey January 10, 2023. Iran's army said it had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian boat, injuring several crewmen, Iranian state media reported. The vessel's destination was listed as the U.S. Gulf of Mexico port of Houston, ship tracking data showed. Iran last November released two Greek-flagged tankers it seized in the Gulf in May in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker off the Greek coast. The U.S. Navy, whose Fifth Fleet is based at the Gulf island state of Bahrain, called on Iran to immediately release the tanker.

☆ Royal Caribbean's CEO made over $10 million in 2022 — 705 times more than company's median worker
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty made $10.76 million in 2022, regulatory filings show. Meanwhile, crew members onboard Royal Caribbean's ships made a median annual wage of $15,264. Royal Caribbean Group's CEO Jason Liberty made over $10 million in 2022, approximately 705 times the median annual wage of the cruise giant's shipboard crew members, regulatory filings show. Meanwhile, crew members working onboard Royal Caribbean's ships took home a median yearly salary of $15,264 in 2022, according to the company's estimates. On a single cruise ship, crew members may represent over 100 countries around the world.

Collisions are more likely in such cases, raising the odds of a devastating oil spill. It’s also harder to tell whether the vessels with murky ownership comply with the strict rules governing oil transfers at sea, according to Kenney. Group of Seven nations have imposed a cap on the price of Russian oil and oil products, and a smaller pool of buyers can also negotiate greater discounts. China’s imports of Russian oil in the first quarter of the year rose 38% compared with a year prior, according to Kpler data. As trade of Russian oil has become more complex, many Western shippers have pulled back.

☆ New propellers with looped blades could help make the oceans quiet again, sparing both marine life and the climate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Sharrow Marine sells them for small boats but would need to scale up to reach the shipping industry. A traditional ship propeller that has blades in a screw-like form. That's what Sebastian realized when he put loop propellers on a drone. Sharrow began selling propellers to recreational boaters in 2020 through a company he founded called Sharrow Marine. Testing led by the company BoatTEST found that the Sharrow Propeller was up to 30% more efficient than a standard blade propeller.

☆ 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.

☆ Column: The ironic side effects of the rapid global energy transition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

This chorus of support for the energy transition has ignited an almost frantic renewable energy development spree across the world, with green energy generation capacity growing at a record pace in every major economy. On January 1st, 2020, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) implemented ship emissions standards that slashed the maximum level of sulfur allowed in shipping fuels. As sulfur levels dropped more radiation was absorbed. Old solar panels face a similar predicament, especially ones that lack the efficiency of newer models and in the eyes of resellers are not worth collecting from old sites and homes. They can also face volatile market prices for the recycled and reclaimed materials they do manage to gather.

☆ 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."

☆ Saudi Aramco backs Brooklyn-based startup turning ammonia into fuel
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

New technology and new companies are working on turning ammonia into hydrogen to power tractors, trucks and even ships. The technology enables the on-board "cracking" (or decomposition) of ammonia into hydrogen, which is then sent into a fuel cell to power a vehicle. "We are partnering a lot with industry stakeholders in shipping and heavy manufacturing in heavy industries. One of Amogy's investors, Saudi Aramco, is the largest petroleum producer in the world, but sees ammonia as part of its future. In addition to Saudi Aramco, Amogy is backed by Amazon 's Climate Pledge Fund, AP Ventures, SK Innovation and DCVC.

☆ For the 2nd year in a row, Iran is sailing its biggest warship around the world to show off its growing navy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Iranian warships left Iran in September on what one official said was a journey around the world. Visiting far off landsIranian navy Makran near the Strait of Hormuz in May 2021. They have repeatedly seized Iranian arms shipments bound for Yemen and have often had tense encounters with Iranian warships. Iran has also started an indigenous shipbuilding program to grow its navy, which is designed to defend the Persian Gulf. "Yet the focus of Iran will continue to be the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Indian ocean.

☆ 5 NATO carrier strike groups, including the US Navy's newest supercarrier, are patrolling waters around Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NATO carrier strike groups are patrolling waters around Europe. One of the five groups operating in the area is led by the US Navy's newest supercarrier. Bush and Gerald R. Ford, the service's newest supercarrier, the British Royal Navy's HMS Queen Elizabeth, France's Charles De Gaulle, and Italy's ITS Cavour. The strike groups, which include not just carriers but their escorts as well, are carrying out routine patrol missions in the Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea. The Navy said in a Thursday statement on the carrier operations that each country has its own mission objectives and that it is not uncommon for multiple carrier strike groups to be deployed at the same time since NATO countries maintain a continued presence in waters around Europe.

☆ Days after Biden's face-to-face meeting with Xi Jinping, Kamala Harris is making a rare trip to a South China Sea hotspot
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Palawan looks over the South China Sea, where Beijing and its neighbors have competing claims. "This is another historic visit, as the vice president is the highest-ranking US official ever to visit Palawan," a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday. It divides the Sulu Sea and the South China Sea, where the Philippines is one of several countries that dispute Beijing's expansive claims. The Philippine province of Palawan separates the Sulu Sea and the South China Sea. Asked on Tuesday how China should view the trip, the US official said, "China can take the message it wants.

☆ Exclusive: Kamala Harris to visit Philippine island at edge of South China Sea dispute
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The visit, scheduled for next Tuesday, will make Harris the highest-ranking American official to visit the island chain adjacent to the Spratly Islands. Beijing claims some territories in the waters off Palawan and much of the South China Sea as part of China, citing domestic historical maps. Harris' trip marks her second to Asia in three months and follows Biden's week-long trip to the region. The Harris trip also includes a stop in Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting. During her last trip to the region, Harris accused China of actions to "coerce and intimidate" neighbors.

☆ 2 'dark ships' were spotted near the Nord Stream pipeline leaks days before the explosions were detected, satellite data analysis firm says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two "dark ships" were spotted near the Nord Stream leaks, a satellite data analysis firm says. It detected 25 ships near the leak sites, two of which had turned off their trackers, Wired's Matt Burgess reported. The International Maritime Organization mandates that ships with cargo of 330 tons or more, as well as passenger ships of any size, have to turn on their AIS trackers on international voyages. Javornicky's claims come as Western European nations continue to investigate the leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines, which make up the largest network supplying natural gas from Russia to Europe. Several underwater explosions in late September ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, but it's still unclear what — or who — is responsible for the damage.

☆ Ship captains held by Indonesian navy decry bribes and betrayal
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Joe Brock | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Most of the captains were freed after a few weeks once ship owners made unofficial payments to navy intermediaries of between $300,000 and $400,000, the people said. The Indonesian navy has said it never requests or receives money to release vessels. Ledoux, 57, questioned why more wasn't being done by ship owners and governments to raise awareness of the issue. An Indonesian navy spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters has not seen what evidence was presented at the trial to prove the ship was in Indonesian waters.

☆ Despite Biden's assurances, Middle East militaries are buying their own weapons to take on Iran at sea and in the air
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been investing heavily in new military hardware in order to Iran. The Royal Saudi Air Force's core strength are its 232 F-15 Eagles, at least 84 of which are F-15SA variants designed specifically for Saudi Arabia. A Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 at King Faisal Air Base in Saudi Arabia in February 2021. US and Bahraini officials in front of unmanned naval vessels at at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in Manama in January. US Navy/MCS1 Mark Thomas MahmodIMX 2022 was also the first time Israel and Saudi Arabia, which don't have diplomatic relations, officially took part in an exercise together.

☆ Trial to start for sailor accused of setting Navy warship on fire
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

SAN DIEGO — According to prosecutors, Ryan Sawyer Mays was a young, arrogant sailor angry about being assigned to deck duty after failing to become a Navy SEAL — and he made the Navy pay in a big way. Barthel said the Navy’s case relies largely on the account of a fellow sailor who has acknowledged changing it repeatedly. Still, he said he is speaking out because the Navy case is unjust. Navy leaders disciplined more than 20 senior officers and sailors in connection with what it described as widespread leadership failures that contributed to the disaster. The Navy spread blame across a wide range of ranks and responsibilities and directly faulted the ship’s three top officers.

☆ Hidden Monopoly, Offshore Money and a Clash of Interests in the Giurgiulești Port
▼ + stars: | 2020-03-02 | by ( Nemerenco Daniela | ) www.zdg.md time to read: +29 min

ZdG debunked the hidden monopoly, an offshore company, and business interests, including those of a deputy of Moldova’s Parliament, in the Giurgiulești Passengers and Goods Port, operated by the Ungheni River Port. The State Enterprise Ungheni River Port operates the Giurgiulești Passengers and Goods Port. Any attempts by other economic agents to obtain the status of port agency in the state-controlled port failed. How the state enterprise explains the monopoly in the port We went to the Ungheni company headquarters to discuss with the administration of the Ungheni River Port. A conversation between the tugboat owner and the Ungheni River Port administration The tugboat stations within the state-owned port since June 2018.

Persons: ZdG, ”, Moldova’s, Molincom, Medvedev, Daniil Șevcenco, “, didn’t, Vladimir Medvedev, Gheorghe Țurcanu, Veaceslav Ioniță, Igor Macari, Denis Dobrioglo, Leonid Karagheaur, Sergei Raevski, Țurcanu, Pîrlog, Ruslan Baciu, Iurie, Marcelian Pîrlog, Anatolie Balan, Alexandru Maximov, Condaline, Marcelian, Nicolae Dimitrachi, Translogist Sistem, Baciu, Translogist, Sergiu Gheceanu, ” ZdG, Marina Polasek, Reni, ” Medvedev, Anatolie, ” Vladimir Medvedev, Ion Chicu, Anatol Usatîi, Ludmila Guzun, Anatolie Labuneț, Igor Zaharia, Labuneț, Carolina Lipskaia, Oleg Lipskii’s, Evghenii Labuneț, Veaceslav Macaidenco, ” Labuneț, Zaharia, Mr Medvedev, Chicu, “ Mr Medvedev, slandering, Preluarea, maximă, trebuie, Instituțiile, Materialele, inclusiv Organizations: Goods, National Anticorruption Center, Port, Moldova’s Government, Logistics, State Enterprise, Naval Agency, Customs Service, Mr, Agro Factor, United Arab, UAE, Agro, United, Public Property Agency, ILM Logistic, Port Agency Service, Register, DB Translogist, Translogist, Ministry, Socialist, Security and Intelligence Service, Economy, Infrastructure, Democratic Party, Medvedev, Moldova’s Socialist Party, “, Navigation Company, Marine Engineering, Socialist Party, Anticorruption Center, Naval Agency of, National Anticorruption, Naval, Moldova’s Naval Agency, Jurnalistului din Republica Moldova Locations: Port, “, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Russian, Zurich, Switzerland, Moldova, United Kingdom, Chișinău, Moldova’s, Consideea, Ciocana, Translogist, Condaline, Ungheni, Canada, PPMG, Naval Agency of Moldova, Jurnalistului din

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