shipping

The Chinese Ministry of Transportation on Tuesday summoned representatives of shipping giants Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) to discuss how “international shipping operations” have been disrupted by the Iran war and the Panama Canal legal dispute.

Seemingly under intense pressure from China, Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) modified its threats to close the vital Strait of Hormuz to worldwide oil shipping, claiming that it would only attack American, Israeli, and European ships.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced Saturday the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz was closed to all shipping traffic.

Shipping giant Maersk said on Tuesday that it was close to resuming shipping through the Suez Canal almost two years after terrorist attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen forced many transport companies to avoid the route through the Red Sea that leads to the canal.

Iranian forces seized an oil tanker named Talara as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.

Rep. Andy Biggs is introducing a House resolution denouncing a U.N. plan that would establish a global tax on maritime shipping emissions, warning that it would undermine American sovereignty.

Shipping rates on routes that could be affected by the Israel-Iran conflict skyrocketed by up to 76 percent in June.

Threats to commercial vessels around the Arabian Peninsula are growing after U.S. airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

South Korean Acting Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said on Sunday that his government will “swiftly take any necessary measures” to cope with economic fallout from the conflict with Iran.

A 440-foot-long cargo ship ended up in the garden of a water-front resident, but incredibly beached without waking the sleeping householder.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a dissident group based in Europe, has accused the regime in Tehran of lying about the true death toll from the massive explosions at the port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Saturday quoted reports from Chinese exporters and port officials who said traffic is visibly slowing down at China’s big port cities of Shanghai and Guangdong, while some factory production has virtually “ground to a halt.”

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) held a meeting in London on Friday at which member nations agreed to impose the world’s first global carbon tax, a fee of $380 per metric ton on “greenhouse gases” emitted by ships up to a certain limit and $100 per ton beyond that.

Visibility was as low and neither ship involved had a dedicated lookout at the time of the smash, accident investigators say. 

A badly damaged cargo ship arrived in the Scottish port of Aberdeen Friday, following a fire that lasted for nearly a week.

Russian captain of a ship that rammed into a U.S. govt-contracted jet fuel tanker off England has been arrested on a Manslaughter charge.

Foul play “not been ruled out” by White House after jet fuel-carrying tanker ship indirectly contracted to D.O.D. burns off east coast of UK.

Danish shipping giant Maersk posted an update on the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden situation on Friday that said the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab-el-Mandeb strait are still too dangerous for commercial vessels, despite promises by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen to discontinue their attacks.

Shipping giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd told reporters on Thursday they are not yet prepared to return to the Red Sea shipping lanes after the peace deal announced between Israel and Hamas.

President of Panama José Raúl Mulino on Thursday ruled out any possible discussions with President-elect Donald Trump about control of the Panama Canal or any reduction in the transit fees imposed to U.S. ships that pass through it, asserting that there is “nothing to talk about” regarding the matter.

Chinese dictator Xi Jinping began a week-long tour of South America on Thursday in Peru, where he joined President Dina Boularte to inaugurate a new deep-water port in Chancay that was financed with a $1.3 billion investment from China. 

Freight is piling up at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, as freight rail delays hit a two-year high, owing to record levels of imports on the West Coast, as strikes and the Houthi threat have diverted East Coast shipping.

Maersk said that disruptions to global shipping that attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen have caused are worsening. 

Canada’s much-feared railroad stoppage has begun after a last-ditch round of talks between railroad companies and unions failed.

Shipments of Russian liquified natural gas to France more than doubled the first half of this year, according to new analyses of trade data.

The Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen took responsibility on Tuesday for attacking the container ship Maersk Sentosa in the Arabian Sea.

Vincent Clerc, CEO of Danish shipping giant Maersk, informed his customers that he expects Iran-backed Houthi terrorism to continue disrupting Red Sea shipping into the third quarter of 2024, and perhaps beyond.

Representatives from China and Russia worked out a deal for safe passage with the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen.

A string of Houthi missile and drone attacks demonstrates the ineffectiveness of President Biden’s “Operation Prosperity Guardian.”

Insurance costs for Red Sea transit have risen by up to 50 percent since the Houthi terrorists began attacking commercial vessels.

The Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen launched six more anti-ship missiles into the Red Sea, defying U.S. warnings to halt their attacks.

Houthi terrorist attacks are currently blocking a ship bound for Israel carrying 14,000 sheep and 2,000 cattle from completing its voyage, leaving the crew uncertain where its live cargo sourced from Australia will be taken.

The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development reported that the volume of freight passing through the Suez Canal has dropped by 45 percent.

Chinese state media on Friday mocked the Biden administration for requesting China’s help with the Red Sea shipping crisis.

Danish shipping giant Maersk suspended U.S.-flagged Red Sea shipping after the latest Houthi missile attack.