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• UN agency says it has paused its initiative to evacuate ships from the Hormuz Strait after vessel attack

  After a vessel in the Gulf of Oman was attacked, the United Nations' shipping agency paused an evacuation effort on Thursday to move hundreds of stranded vessels?and thousands of seafarers through the Strait of Hormuz. "I was informed of an attack on a vessel that passed through the Strait of Hormuz today, in the Gulf of Oman." The vessel was not evacuated under the IMO framework," Arsenio?Dominguez, Secretary General of?the U.N. International Maritime Organizatio (IMO), stated in a press release. "I've decided to temporarily pause the implementation of this plan in order to confirm that the necessary safety measures continue to be in place for all ships in the area and those on our list of evacuation." The initiative was launched on Tuesday and offered ships and crews the option to leave the Gulf via two different routes - via Iranian waters and Omani waters - under U.S. supervision. (Reporting and Editing by William Maclean, Jonathan Saul)

• The US FCC tightens rules on submarine cable communication

  The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to tighten the oversight of submarine cables that carry?99% international internet traffic. They proposed rules that would make it more difficult for Chinese companies to supply equipment, and to 'fast-track' approvals for trusted U.S. technology firms. The 'FCC' said it planned to require licenses to operate submarine line terminal equipment. This equipment performs the most important function of a subsea cable system, connecting with U.S. terrestial facilities. U.S. firms such as Facebook parent Meta, and Alphabet's Google unit will benefit from the approval process for additional?undersea cables systems to handle increasing internet traffic. Brendan Carr, FCC chairperson, said: "We will presumptively exclude cable applications from lengthy and intensive reviews if they can demonstrate that they adhere to strict security standards and accept ongoing monitoring and oversight." The message is "simple": adopt national security standards and enjoy a smooth path to approval. Fast-track means that companies operating cables must be vigilant against espionage and other security incidents, and monitor compliance with national and data security. Operators will also have to agree to not use foreign equipment which could pose security threats. The FCC banned the use of undersea cable equipment and services from companies that it had listed as being a threat to U.S. National Security. The companies that were banned included Huawei, ZTE, China Telecom, and China Mobile. But the new rules will likely expand the ban to include equipment from China, or any other country the U.S. considers to be a foreign enemy, in its submarine cable systems. Since more than a decade, the?U.S. Officials have expressed concern over the network of 400 subsea cable that 'handles nearly all international internet traffic,' claiming that China and Russia pose a threat. The Justice Department stated that in 2021 it would be necessary to enter into national security agreements with Google and Meta on submarine cables, given China's "sustained attempts" to obtain the sensitive data of millions of U.S. persons." China has said that the U.S. must treat Chinese firms fairly. In a?statement in June, the Commerce Ministry said that China was "strongly dissatisfied" and firmly opposed?this. "China urges the U.S. immediately to stop their erroneous practice, withdraw the relevant measures, and return to the right track in building a constructive and stable China-U.S. relationship." relationship." The Chinese Embassy did not respond immediately to a comment request.

• No tsunami warning following M6.9 earthquake in Japan's northeast

  The Japan Meteorological Agency announced on Thursday that no tsunami warning had been issued following an earthquake of magnitude?6.9 which struck the east coast of Japan's northeastern Tohoku area. The agency stated that the epicentre was located off the coast of Iwate Prefecture at a depth of 50km. No tsunami damage is expected except for "slight changes in sea level". It said that the earthquake in Aomori had an intensity of 6+, which is a situation where "it's impossible to stand or move without crawling" on a Japanese scale from 0-7. Tohoku Electric Power has said that no irregularities have been found in the nuclear power plants?Onagawa & Higashidori, which were idled following the earthquake. East Japan Railway said it had halted certain trains, including the high-speed Shinkansen services in?Tohoku?. Japan is one of the most seismically active areas in the world. Japan is home to one-fifth the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. (Reporting from?Kantaro Kommiya in Tokyo, and Natalia Bueno Rebolledo at Mexico City. Editing by Chris Reese, Christopher Cushing and Christopher Reese)

• Baltic Exchange defends their tanker rates during Iran war as reliable

  In a London court document, the Baltic Exchange defended the flagship oil 'tanker benchmark' saying that it accurately reflected the market conditions during the U.S. - Israel conflict with Iran, despite the?disruption of the Strait of Hormuz. The benchmark is used to 'price and settle billions in freight trades around the world. Its reliability is at issue with Mercuria, one of the largest commodity traders in the world, who claims it has mispriced market. Mercuria filed a court document on April 30 stating that it was suing the Baltic Exchange for losses caused by incorrect pricing data. The company claimed the price data did not take into account the "effective closure" of the Strait following the start of the conflict in February. It claimed to have suffered or 'will suffer' losses in the hundreds millions of dollars U.S. on freight and derivative freight contracts related to?the TD3C Route. In a court document, The Baltic Exchange, which is the largest provider of shipping rates in the world, stated that its indexes still reflect market conditions because sailings continue through the Strait. In its defence filed on June 16, the Exchange stated that despite the reduced number of transits, the lawful passage was still possible and the panelists were continuing to assess the freight market. The Baltic believes that input data is representative of 'the market or economic realities and that benchmarks can continue to be published," the company said in a filing that was seen by. Baltic Exchange panelists are shipbrokers that provide independent assessments of rates for freight which are then used to create indexes. According to the Baltic Exchange website,'shipowners and chartered cannot be panelists. The London-based Baltic Exchange, which is owned by Singapore's SGX said it had separately conducted "appropriate consultations with members of the Baltic, as well as other stakeholders". The Baltic is confident in its processes and believes that the claim made by Mercuria lacks'merit'. It will defend this claim?to the maximum extent possible," the company said in a recent statement. Mercuria declined to comment further, saying it would respond to the Baltic Exchange defence in court. Reporting by Jonathan Saul in London and Robert Harvey; editing by Eliza Hardcastle

• Andy Home: The ROI-Congo pivots to the west under the cover of cobalt control

  The ambitions of the Democratic Republic of Congo in cobalt are?becoming more and more clear. Export restrictions have been used by the world's biggest producer of strategic metals, which are used in everything from stealth bombers to mobile phones, to reduce excesses and raise prices. Kinshasa is trying to shift its focus away from Chinese operators and towards the United States, as it gains more control of its cobalt industry. This rebalancing is accompanied by a renewed effort to integrate the artisanal and smaller-scale mining sector (ASM), a minefield of ethical issues for Western cobalt purchasers, into official sectors. MOVING MARKETS Congo has restricted cobalt exports from February of last year. A full ban was replaced by a quota-based system in October. Shipments only started picking up again early this year due to teething problems with the new administrativesystem. China's import numbers are still very low. According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics which collects customs data, the largest buyer of Congolese Cobalt imported only 5,000 metric tonnes between January and April. This is down from nearly 200,000 tons during the same period in 2025. The stock surplus built up by previous years' Congolese production has cushioned the supply shock. Cobalt metal prices have been flat so far this year. However, at $26 per lb they are more than twice as high as before Congo stopped exports in early last year. Supply chain tensions are increasing. The price of cobalt hydrxide, the form in which the metal is shipped by Congo has continued to rise, and it now trades at the same level or even higher than the?metal prices this year. According to Ying Lu of Project Blue consultancy, this price inversion is reshaping supply chains as refineries use more metal to make sulphate - the type cobalt that battery manufacturers use. This may not just be a temporary glitch. Project Blue says that this shift in pricing suggests the market is charging a premium for cobalt units originating from the DRC. Securing Access As U.S. investments increase in Kinshasa, China's refiners will find it more difficult to secure access to Congo cobalt. The Congo's mineral wealth, especially cobalt, was the foundation of the U.S.-brokered agreement with Congo and Rwanda last June to end years' hostilities. Recent announcements indicate that the deal is beginning to work. Virtus Minerals - which describes itself as an U.S. critical minerals platform - bought the privately held Chemaf cobalt and copper mines in may and hopes to resume full operations following years of uncertainty. The Congo's Entreprise Generale du Cobalt has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Trafigura, a trading house in the United States and EVelution for the supply of the latter's new proposed cobalt refinery. The Lobito Atlantic Railway is another U.S.-backed project that links the Congolese Copper Belt with the Angolan Port of Lobito. Western operators now have a viable alternative to the Chinese-backed TAZARA rail, which carries goods to the Tanzanian port at Dar es Salaam. ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANALL 'GOLDSTANDARD' EGC must ensure that ASM it provides to its Western partners are ethically pure. Illegal mining in Congo and the cobalt markets has been a problem for many years. Kinshasa tried to integrate its shadow mining industry before, but with limited success. A new venture between the EGC and Mercuria, a trading house, aims to "establish" a "Gold Standard", for responsible ASM mining at the Kasulo site. If Congo is to reduce its dependency on China by opening up new markets in the United States, it must assure Western consumers that they are not purchasing "blood cobalt". More Power This year, events have conspired in a way that will increase Congo's influence on the cobalt markets. Sherritt International’s Canadian refining operation is under serious scrutiny after the latest round of U.S. Sanctions forced the company's joint venture operations in Cuba to be discontinued. Ambatovy's nickel-cobalt operations are being sold to a new owner after a cyclone knocked them out in February. The nickel refineries in Indonesia, another non-Congo cobalt source, are under pressure due to reduced mining quotas, and problems with sourcing the sulphuric acids they need. The Congo, which is already responsible for 70% of the global mining supply. This power is being used to redefine the cobalt markets and the strategic position of the country in the global race for critical minerals. Andy Home is a columnist at. This column is great! Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.

• UN agency reports that ships have begun sailing through Hormuz as part of the UN evacuation scheme

  A spokesperson announced on Wednesday that ships have started sailing through the 'Strait of Hormuz' under a new scheme by the U.N.'s shipping agency in order to evacuate vessels trapped there by the conflict. International Maritime Organization announced on Tuesday that the initiative, which took months to complete, would allow hundreds of ships and 11,000 seafarers stranded at the Gulf of Mexico to pass through Hormuz. A spokesperson for the IMO said that "ships have already started to pass under this plan", refusing to give any details about the vessels that have crossed. LSEG ship-tracking data showed that at least two dry bulk?ships and one cargo'ship' have sailed past Hormuz in the last 12 hours under this scheme. According to LSEG's and MarineTraffic's ship tracking data based upon analysis of ship movement, at least 35 commercial ships, primarily?dry bulk?, cargo?, and container?vessels?, were preparing for passage through the strait. According to the analysis of?vessels-waiting, these vessels include smaller commercial ships, including five smaller oil tanks, coastal ships, and tugs. The IMO stated that the U.S., Iran and the Sultanate of Oman had reached a ceasefire agreement, allowing the scheme to be implemented. In a Wednesday note, the IMO emphasized that vessels should wait for instructions. "Crowding in the waiting area may?result?in the need to pause further notifications due to?safety." The U.S. Military launched a mission in recent weeks to assist ships get out of the Strait. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Heavens, Philippa Fletcher and Jonathan Saul)

• UN agency reports that ships are already sailing through Hormuz as part of the UN evacuation scheme

  A spokesperson for the U.N. shipping agency said that ships have already passed through 'the Strait of Hormuz' under a newly-launched evacuation scheme. A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a U.N. agency, said that "ships have already started to pass under the plan." He declined to give any 'details' on the ships that had passed. LSEG's ship tracking data revealed on Wednesday that two dry -bulk ships, and one cargo -ship, have sailed through Hormuz in the past 12 hours. According to LSEG & MarineTraffic'ship tracking data' based on an analysis of ship movement, at least 35 commercial ships, primarily dry?bulk, cargo, and container vessels, were preparing for a passage through the strait. The IMO announced on Tuesday that the scheme, which took months to complete, would allow hundreds of ships, with a total of?11,000 seafarers, to sailed through Hormuz. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Heavens; Jonathan Saul)

• Additional oil tankers leaving Hormuz will add to global supply

  Shipping data shows that three stranded oil tankers, each carrying 5 million barrels of crude oil, left the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday. Two of them were headed to Asia. The interim agreement between Iran and the U.S. has released more supply?stuck?in the Gulf, which is bringing down?global?prices. Data from LSEG & Kpler revealed that the VL Breeze (flagged South Korean) is a Very Large Carrier, carrying 2,000,000 barrels of Qatari Condensate & Abu Dhabi Crude. It has passed through the strait on its way to Daesan. The supertanker was chartered by South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank. The data revealed that the VLCC Plata Carrier chartered by Indian Oil Corp is headed?outside the strait, carrying 2 million barrels Saudi crude. It is accompanied by the Suezmax tanker Prudent Warrior which is headed?for Sohar in Oman with 1,000,000 barrels Iraqi Basrah oil. Both vessels are flying the 'Liberian flag. Hyundai Oilbank and IOC were not available for comment. Kpler analysts and Vortexa analysts estimated that last week, close to 90 millions barrels of crude oil were trapped inside the Gulf. The South Korean maritime ministry announced on Wednesday that four vessels operated by South Korean shippers had left the strait, and were sailing towards their destinations. One vessel was bound for South Korea while the other three were headed to third countries. The ministry reported that 18 of the 26 vessels stranded in the Gulf since the beginning of the Middle East conflict are still there. It wasn't immediately clear if the ships were sailing on the temporary maritime routes established by?Oman & the International Maritime Organization in order to help ships safely leave the region. Oman has said that it will keep the Strait of Hormuz free of tolls and open to all shipping. It has also designated two temporary routes to the north and south of existing shipping lanes to help vessels leave the area safely. Shipping data revealed that two empty LNG tankers, the Milaha Qatar and the Shandong Redwood, were the last to be seen heading west of the strait in order to load cargoes at Qatar. Nine LNG tankers have been seen transiting the strait in order to load cargoes at Qatar, which is the highest number of empty LNG vessels since the start of the war. The Financial Times reported that Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani stated the Gulf state will resume normal?LNG output within a few short weeks. (Reporting from Florence Tan and Emily Chow, in Singapore; Nidhi in New Delhi; Jonathan Saul, in London; Additional reporting by Jack Kim, Heejin Kim, and Milla Nissi Prussak in Seoul)

• The Gulf markets are gaining ground as caution persists

  The major Gulf stock exchanges rose in the early trading on Wednesday, amid signs of progress in U.S.Iran negotiations. However, there was still uncertainty about?the durability? of the agreement. The two countries that concluded the first round of negotiations on Monday in Switzerland gave contradictory accounts of some key elements of the Framework Agreement signed last week for the end of the war. These included financial incentives to Iran, control of the Strait of Hormuz, and Israel's war in Lebanon. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that Iran agreed to nuclear inspections in "infinity" on Tuesday. Tehran denied this concession and raised doubts over the viability of the fragile peace agreement. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index rose 0.3%. This was boosted by a 10.0% surge in Umm Al Qura Development and Construction Co and 5.3% in Jabal Omar Development Co. In a Tuesday statement, the kingdom's Real Estate Authority announced that it had begun accepting applications from foreigners to own real estate. This is part of an effort to attract foreign investments in the kingdom. Dubai's main stock index rose 0.1%, thanks to a 1.2% increase in the Salik Company toll operator. The index in Abu Dhabi increased by 0.3%. In choppy trading, the Qatari index was flat. Oman and Iran have agreed to continue discussions on?Tuesday? regarding the future management of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Secretary?of?State Marco Rubio stated that any attempt by Iran impose transit fees will violate international law. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey in Bengaluru, Ateeq?Shariff from Bengaluru)

• Andy Home: The ROI-Congo pivots to the west under cover of cobalt control

  Cobalt ambitions of the Democratic Republic of Congo are becoming more and more apparent. Export restrictions were used by the world's biggest producer of the strategic metal used in everything from stealth bombers to mobile phones, to "drain" the market and raise prices. Kinshasa, as it gains more control of its cobalt industry, is also trying to lessen its reliance on Chinese operators, and pivot toward the West, particularly the United States. The rebalancing is accompanied by new attempts to integrate the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), a minefield of ethical issues for Western cobalt purchasers, into official sector. MOVING MARKETS Congo has restricted cobalt exports from February of last year. A full ban was replaced by a quota-based system in October. Shipments only started picking up again early this year due to teething problems with the new administrativesystem. China's import numbers are still very low. According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics which collects customs data, the largest buyer of Congolese Cobalt imported only 5,000 metric tonnes between January and April. This is down from nearly 200,000 tons during the same period in 2025. Stocks accumulated in previous years due to Congolese excess production cushioned the supply shock until recently. Cobalt prices have been flat so far this season, but at $26.00 a lb they are more than twice as high as before Congo stopped exports in early 2018. Supply chain tension is increasing. The price of cobalt hydrxide, which is the form in which the metal was shipped by Congo has continued to rise, and it now trades at a level that is equal or even higher than the metal price. According to Ying Lu of Project Blue consultancy, this price?inversion is reshaping supply chains as refineries use more metal in order to produce sulphate - the type cobalt that battery manufacturers use. This may not just be a passing trend. Project Blue says that this shift in pricing "suggests the market is charging a premium for cobalt units originating from the DRC". Securing Access As U.S. investments begin to flow into Kinshasa, China's refiners will find it more difficult to secure access to Congo cobalt. The Congo's mineral wealth, especially cobalt, was the foundation of the?U.S. brokered deal last June with Congo and Rwanda that ended years of hostilities. Recent announcements indicate that the deal is beginning to work. Virtus Minerals is a U.S. critical minerals platform that bought privately-owned Chemaf Copper and Cobalt Mines in May. It aims to resume full operations following years of uncertainty. The Congo's Entreprise Generale du Cobalt has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Trafigura, a trading house in the United States and EVelution for the supply of the latter's new proposed cobalt refinery. The Lobito Atlantic Railway is another U.S.-backed project that links the Congolese Copper Belt with the Angolan Port of Lobito. Western operators have a new alternative to the Chinese-backed TAZARA rail, which carries goods to the Tanzanian port Dar es Salaam. ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANALL 'GOLDSTANDARD' EGC must ensure that ASM it provides to its Western partners are ethically pure. Illegal mining in Congo, and often under dangerous conditions, casts a shadow on the market for?cobalt. Kinshasa tried to integrate its shadow mining industry before, but with limited success. A new venture between EGC and Mercuria, a trading house, aims to create a "Gold Standard" for responsible ASM mining of cobalt at the Kasulo Mine site. If Congo is to reduce its dependency on China by opening up new markets in the United States, it must assure Western consumers that they are not purchasing "blood cobalt". More Power The events of this year have conspired together to increase Congo's influence over the cobalt markets even further. Sherritt International’s Canadian refining operation is under serious scrutiny after the latest round of U.S. Sanctions forced the company's joint venture operations in Cuba to be discontinued. Ambatovy's nickel-cobalt operations are being sold to a new owner after they were destroyed by a cyclone that hit Madagascar in February. The nickel refineries in Indonesia, another non-Congo cobalt source, are under pressure due to reduced mining quotas, and the difficulty of obtaining?sulphuric acids, which many require for their processing. Congo is a country that already produces 70% of the world's mine supply. This power is being used to redefine not only the cobalt markets but also the strategic position of the country in the global race for critical minerals. Andy Home is a columnist at. This column is great! Check out Open Interest, your new essential source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.

• Kenya signs $1.2 Billion deal with Chinese firm for Nairobi Airport expansion

  Davis Chirchir, Kenya's Transport Minister, announced on Tuesday that the government of Kenya has signed a contract with China Road and Bridge Corporation for an expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The agreement is worth 154.2 billion shillings ($1.2 billion). East African nation plans to?triple the capacity of the?Nairobi Airport from 7.5million passengers per year to 22million. The project was previously stopped last year when Kenya cancelled an agreement with India's Adani Group for 2024 following the indictment of its founder?in the United States. Chirchir posted on his X page that the project scope included the construction of a terminal building, modernization of the existing infrastructure and improvement of the airside and 'landside operations. Kenya aims to maintain its position?as regional aviation hub, as countries such as?Ethiopia? and Rwanda?invest heavily in the construction of new airports to attract airlines?and travellers? Last week, Chirchir stated that the government had appointed Africa’s Trade and Development Bank and?Africa Finance Corporation as the financial agents for the project.

• UN agency: UN evacuation plan for ships stranded in Gulf underway

  The United Nations shipping agency announced on Tuesday that an evacuation plan is in place to allow hundreds of ships with 11,000 seafarers stuck?in?the Gulf to sail through the Strait of Hormuz. This follows the agreement between Iran and the U.S. to end hostilities. A spokesperson for the United Nations said, "We've started to contact the ships in order to begin the evacuation." The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) spokesperson said that the evacuation would begin as soon as possible. The IMO stated that it had?secured the necessary safety assurances and verified conditions for safe sailing. In a press release, IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez stated that "this?large-scale?operation will be carried out closely in cooperation with Iran and Oman as well as all other coastal'states' in the region. The United States, too, are involved." Oman's Defence Ministry said in a separate advisory that the evacuation process, under the IMO Plan, which has been discussed for months, would be phased. It said that "given the elevated collision risk in the current climate,?a gradual and managed evacuation of vessel traffic was required." The Omani Ministry said that the "so-called Traffic Separation Scheme" was not safe to use at the moment and two temporary routes north and south could be used as evacuation routes. The advisory from the Ministry stated that "parties coordinated by IMO will contact each vessel individually to inform them of the?transit date they have been assigned." The scheme adopted by the IMO in '68 established routes through Iranian - and Omani waters. The waters surrounding Hormuz are a major risk due to floating mines. (Reporting and editing by Gareth Jones, Andrew Cawthorne and Jonathan Saul)