The number of piracy and armed robbery at sea incidents was down in first nine months of 2019, but piracy hotspots like the Gulf of Guinea continue to pose a threat to the safety of mariners and ships, according to the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) report for the third quarter of 2019. Overall, a total of 119 … [Read more...]
France Urges Tax on Ship and Airplane Fuel
By Leigh Thomas PARIS, Oct 15 (Reuters) - France wants the European Union to work on creating a tax on airplane and ship fuels as part of a push to rein in carbon emissions, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday. Le Maire said the tax would complement plans supported by France and Germany for a carbon border tax that would shield European companies from … [Read more...]
Oil Trading in U.S. Gulf Dries Up as Tanker Rates Skyrocket
By Sheela Tobben (Bloomberg) --Soaring oil-tanker costs are drying up activity in the U.S. export market as sellers are slow to lower offers and buyers are skittish, according to market participants. Some sellers have held back from offering cargoes, while others have yet to reduce their offers enough to accommodate the rising cost of shipping oil, according to 10 market … [Read more...]
COSCO Supertanker Wins Temporary U.S. Waiver
SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Reuters) - A supertanker owned by COSCO Shipping Tankers (Dalian) has received a temporary waiver from U.S. sanctions that has allowed the ship to discharge crude oil cargoes, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. The Very large crude carrier (VLCC) Coswisdom Lake, which discharged some crude in Singapore last week, offloaded its … [Read more...]
U.S. ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Chinese Tankers Going Dark
By Timothy Gardner and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The White House is warning Chinese shipping companies against turning off their ships' transponders to hide Iranian oil shipments in violation of U.S. sanctions, two senior administration officials said. "We've been messaging very heavily to the shipping companies, you don't want to do this, it's not worth … [Read more...]