By Michael Carr – At 23:00 on June 22nd, 1945, the general alarm bell was sounded onboard the USS Halloran, a 289 ft. United States Evarts class destroyer escort (DE). She was sailing escort duty near the Ie Shima Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, supporting the invasion of Okinawa Island, and had been under […]
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Russia, Eyeing Arctic Future, Launches Nuclear Icebreaker
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, May 25 (Reuters) – Russia launched a nuclear-powered icebreaker on Saturday, part of an ambitious program to renew and expand its fleet of the vessels in order to improve its ability to tap the Arctic’s commercial potential. The ship, dubbed the Ural and which was floated out from a dockyard in St […]
Carriers Blank More Sailings as Transpacific Box Rates Continue to Slide
By Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar) – A blanked sailing from the 2M+HMM grouping on the transpacific this week failed to halt the further erosion of freight rates to both the Asia-US west coast and Asia-US east coast destinations. The departure of the 8,500 teu Hyundai Faith, scheduled for this week, was cancelled “to rationalise […]
Unrelenting Midwest Rains Add to Wettest 12 Months Ever for U.S.
By Brian K. Sullivan (Bloomberg) — The rain across the Midwest and Great Plains that’s closed refineries, flooded streets and snarled Mississippi River traffic shows no sign of abating, adding to the U.S.’s wettest 12-month stretch on record. Heavy showers will fall from Texas to the Great Lakes as a months-long pattern of storms continues […]
2020 Fuel Clampdown Risks Nosedive for Middle East Crude
By Serene Cheong and Sharon Cho (Bloomberg) — The global push for cleaner-burning ship fuel is threatening to drive the value of Middle East crude to a record low even as supplies are squeezed. The discount of Middle East’s Dubai crude to London’s Brent could widen beyond $8 a barrel from current levels around $4, according to […]
U.S. Blames Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for Tanker Attacks
By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) – The United States announced on Friday the deployment of 1,500 troops to the Middle East, describing it as an effort to bolster defenses against Iran as it accused the country’s Revolutionary Guards of direct responsibility for this month’s tanker attacks. U.S. President Donald […]
ITF Urges Canada to Halt Lashing on St. Lawrence River After Man Overboard Fatality
The International Transport Workers Federation is calling on Transport Canada to ban foreign-crew from undertaking lashing work while vessels are underway on the Saint Lawrence River the death of a Maersk Line officer earlier this week. The Sri Lankan Second Officer, named Ravindu Lakmal Pieris Telge, fell overboard from the containership Maersk Patras at approximately […]