The government is facing calls to cease trading with DP World because of its partnership with Putin’s northern sea route
Ministers are facing calls to review the UK’s financial ties to the multinational logistics company DP World over its business deals in Russia.
The business announced a £1bn expansion of the London Gateway port earlier this month, despite a row over the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, calling its ferry subsidiary, P&O Ferries, a “rogue operator”.
Continue reading...Deal to rescue owner of four UK shipyards, including Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, could save up to 1,000 jobs
Spanish shipbuilding firm Navantia is in exclusive negotiations to buy Harland & Wolff, the owner of the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, in a deal that could rescue up to 1,000 jobs.
It is understood the group could take control of the group’s four yards – in Belfast; Appledore, Devon; Arnish on the Isle of Lewis; and Methil, Fife – as early as next month.
Continue reading...The PM has backed transport secretary Louise Haigh after she called ferry firm a ‘rogue operator’, threatening investment summit
Keir Starmer expressed his full confidence on Saturday in the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, after an explosive cabinet row cast fresh doubt over his Downing Street operation and threatened to overshadow a key international investment summit in London.
Government sources said the prime minister and Haigh had spoken and made up on Saturday after Starmer appeared to rebuke her on Friday for branding P&O Ferries a “rogue operator” in a statement and then calling for customers to boycott the company in a subsequent media interview.
Continue reading...Labour clamps down on poor working conditions at sea with laws on collective dismissal and minimum wage on cross-Channel ferries
Laws to ensure that the P&O Ferries mass sackings scandal can never recur will be laid before parliament this week as Labour clamps downs on poor working conditions at sea, with cruise and cargo ships also in its sights.
The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said the new laws would close the loopholes exploited by P&O when it fired 800 crew without warning in 2022, and any company would now face unlimited fines for acting in such a way.
Continue reading...Oil prices rose by more than 4% as Israeli troops moved into Lebanon and Iran launched missiles on Israel
As Israeli troops moved into Lebanon and Iran launched a missile attack on Israel, the risk of a jump in oil prices that could trigger another global inflation shock appeared to be materialising.
Oil prices rose by more than 4% to about $75 a barrel on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Strike – the first by port workers on US east coast since 1977 – threatens to shut down ports from Maine to Texas
Joe Biden has urged port operators to give workers a “meaningful increase” in pay after tens of thousands went on strike, prompting some of the busiest ports in the US to brace for crippling disruption.
About 45,000 port workers represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began walking off the job after their contracts expired at midnight, with 36 ports along the east and Gulf coasts affected. They typically handle about half of the nation’s ocean shipping.
Continue reading...Contingency plan using sea tankers to deal with future shortages would be paid for from customers’ bills
Southern Water, one of Britain’s biggest water companies, is drawing up contingency plans to tanker water from Norway to deal with future supply shortages and drought.
Southern, which has 2.7 million customers for drinking water supply in the south-east of England, could import water from Norwegian fjords to provide up to 45m litres a day, and would pay for it from customers’ bills.
Continue reading...The Yemen-based militants have denied an Iranian claim that they agreed to a temporary truce but will allow a tugboat to access the Sounion tanker
Yemen’s Houthi group has agreed to allow tugboats and rescue ships to access a damaged crude oil tanker in the Red Sea, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said, after the Iranian-aligned militants attacked the Greek-flagged vessel last week.
The Sounion tanker is carrying 150,000 tonnes, or 1m barrels, of crude oil and poses an environmental hazard, shipping officials said. Any spill has the potential to be among the largest from a ship in recorded history.
Continue reading...Waters around vessel attacked by Houthi rebels last week appear to be free of oil, EU mission Red Sea says
The area around a Greek-flagged tanker attacked last week by Yemen’s Houthi rebels appears to be free of oil, the EU mission in the Red Sea has said.
The tanker came under fire last week off Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah. The Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, said they were behind the attack.
Continue reading...Seven still missing as emergency teams scour south Atlantic after vessel experienced ‘uncontrolled flooding’
Fourteen fishermen stranded in lifeboats off the coast of the Falkland Islands have been saved in a dramatic rescue operation, but seven people remain missing and six others are believed dead.
Late on Tuesday, emergency teams were still scouring the choppy waters of the south Atlantic for survivors after the Argos Georgia, a Saint Helena-flagged fishing vessel experienced “uncontrolled flooding” on Monday evening.
Continue reading...Jonathan Reynolds says he expects Royal Navy ships will continue to be built at the struggling Belfast yard
The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has said he is confident that the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast will continue to build ships for the Royal Navy, despite ruling out government support for the struggling company.
Harland & Wolff is part of a consortium on a £1.6bn contract to build three naval fleet solid support ships to supply the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers. However, it has faced months of uncertainty over its future.
Continue reading...Rescuers including vets rush to save 12 survivors from 77-strong group lying on Sanday shore
Dozens of long-finned pilot whales have died after a 77-strong pod came ashore on an Orkney beach in what could be the biggest mass stranding in decades.
Twelve of the animals at Tresness beach, on the island of Sanday, were still alive, but according to rescuers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), it was thought unlikely they could be saved.
Continue reading...The strike on Tutor from Yemeni militants left the vessel unable to manoeuvre, while one crew member remains missing
The crew of a Greek-owned vessel damaged in an attack by Yemen’s Houthi militants has been evacuated, and the abandoned ship is drifting in the Red Sea, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
One crew member from Tutor, the Liberia-flagged coal carrier, remains missing, officials in the Philippines said, after an attack near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Wednesday caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room, leaving the vessel unable to manoeuvre.
Continue reading...Third parties could be required to do more to block tankers from operating in Baltic and the Channel
Britain and Finland are discussing plans to require third parties to do more to block the Russian shadow oil tanker fleet operating in the Baltic and the Channel, the Finnish foreign minister has said.
The waters around Finland act as a key choke point for the estimated 100 Russian-bought oil tankers that navigate the Baltic monthly using opaque ownership structures to carry 90m tonnes of oil.
Continue reading...Officials made announcement Tuesday, as demolition crews prepared to use explosives in continued cleanup effort
The body of the last missing construction worker killed in the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March has been recovered, officials announced Tuesday, as demolition crews prepared to use explosives in the ongoing cleanup effort.
Officials said the crew of the Dali will remain on board the grounded container ship while crews conduct a controlled demolition to break down the largest remaining span of the fallen bridge.
Continue reading...Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez was one of six construction workers killed when a container ship collided with bridge in March
The body of a fifth victim in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, has been recovered.
Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez was identified as the victim, per Unified Command salvage teams. The group, which is a joint effort by police, the coast guard and other government agencies, had reported one of their construction vehicles missing when the bridge collapsed in March and notified the Maryland department of state police, per ABC News.
Continue reading...Businesses say fees for Dover inspections are much higher than first thought and will push up shop prices
Importers of food from the EU into Britain have said newly introduced post-Brexit checks could increase their costs by up to 60%, pushing up prices for customers and driving some shops out of business.
After five previous delays, the UK government on Tuesday introduced the physical checks on animal and plant products entering from the EU, having revealed at the start of this month that it would be implementing a common user charge (CUC) of up to £145 per consignment.
Continue reading...Foreign minister warns of environmental catastrophe in Baltic Sea as he accuses Moscow of using unseaworthy vessels
Russia appears prepared to create “environmental havoc” by sailing unseaworthy oil tankers through the Baltic Sea in breach of all maritime rules, the Swedish foreign minister has said.
Speaking to the Guardian during his first visit to London since Sweden became a Nato member, Tobias Billström called for new rules and enforcement mechanisms to prevent the ageing and uninsured Russian shadow fleet causing an environmental catastrophe. About half of all Russian oil transported by sea passes through the Baltic Sea and Danish waters, often operating under opaque ownership, and using international waters to try to avoid scrutiny.
Continue reading...Coastguard says chemical tanker was carrying 980 tonnes of acrylic acid but no leaks reported
Eight people died after a South Korean-flagged tanker capsized in rough seas off Japan, the coastguard said.
“They were confirmed dead at a hospital,” a spokesperson told AFP on Wednesday. One other person was in a non-life-threatening condition while two others remained missing.
Continue reading...New minimum wage law to be brought in two years after P&O Ferries replaced hundreds of workers with low-cost crew
Cross-Channel ferry operators will be required to pay their crew at least £9.95 an hour after France implemented a new minimum wage law aimed at preventing the exploitation of seafarers.
The move comes two years after P&O Ferries caused outrage on both sides of the Channel by sacking almost 800 workers and replacing them with low-cost crew.
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