A Viking Ocean Cruises cruise ship with about 1,300 people on board is in distress in heavy weather just off the coast of western Norway. Search and rescue teams have begun evacuating passengers by helicopter. As of now the ship is holding anchor with one engine running approximately 2 km from shore. As of 1826 UTC, it appeared from AIS (below) that the ship may be underway … [Read more...]
Petrochemical Fire Halts Ship Traffic on Houston Ship Channel
By Gary McWilliams HOUSTON, March 22 (Reuters) - A petrochemical fire re-ignited Friday afternoon at a fuel storage facility outside Houston, adding to the danger from a containment wall breach earlier in the day that spilled chemicals and halted ship traffic in the nation's busiest oil port. Smoke filled the sky over Mitsui & Co.'s Intercontinental Terminals facility in … [Read more...]
Hapag-Lloyd Charts Course to Strong 2019 Earnings
By Vera Eckert HAMBURG, March 22 (Reuters) - German container group Hapag-Lloyd is on course to achieve better earnings and further reduce debts this year as it cuts costs and benefits from merger savings in an improving shipping industry, it said. "We see fairly stable demand growth and the fundamentals are favourable," Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen said on a call with … [Read more...]
Mitsui Petrochemical Unit Probed After Texas Fire Rages for Days
Update: Residents of Deer Park in the Houston-area were issued a shelter-in-place advisory Thursday after the petrochemical plant fire that burned for days released high levels of volatile organic compounds into the air. By Collin Eaton and Erwin Seba HOUSTON, March 20 (Reuters) - State and local investigators have begun probing a petrochemical storage company outside … [Read more...]
Australia Clears Iron Ore Ports as Cyclone Approaches
MELBOURNE, March 21 (Reuters) - The operator of Australia's key iron ore exporting ports said it was clearing ships from the sites as a severe tropical cyclone heads towards the northwestern coast, while miners were also bracing for a separate cyclone in the northeast. The northwestern ports of Port Hedland, Dampier and Ashburton were beginning to clear anchorages and … [Read more...]