Latest News
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US states FAA oversight of Boeing production 'ineffective'
A federal guard dog on Friday criticized the Federal Aviation Administration's. oversight of Boeing aircraft production, stating it does. not have an efficient system to oversee the planemaker's. private manufacturing facilities. The Transport Department's Workplace of Inspector General. stated in a report the FAA's present audit processes are not. detailed enough to properly determine crucial disparities. and noncompliances within the Boeing assembly line and said. the FAA has not resolved longstanding weak points in Boeing's. oversight of suppliers in spite of long-known risks. The FAA's oversight of Boeing has gotten new scrutiny after. a door plug missing crucial bolts blew off a new Alaska Airlines. 737 MAX 9 jet at 16,000 feet in January, prompting the. Justice Department to open a criminal investigation. The report issued 16 recommendations. The FAA said it. concurs with all of them and is committed to continuously. enhancing our oversight procedures. The FAA added it is. presently conducting a detailed, systemwide evaluation of our. oversight designs.. The report stated the FAA has actually not been able to fix accusations. of excessive pressure on Boeing employees acting upon FAA's behalf in. a prompt fashion since it has not enforced requirements that. Boeing supply adequate information on the accusations. Boeing did not instantly comment. The report that evaluated oversight of the Boeing 737 and. 787 said the FAA has yet to move from a reactive approach. focused on addressing private manufacturing issues to a more. proactive, data-driven model to identify and resolve risk within. Boeing's manufacturing processes at all levels.. A series of reports in the last few years have raised concerns about. the FAA's oversight of Boeing. Last month, a U.S. Senate panel. examining Boeing's culture faulted oversight by the Federal. Air travel Administration mentioning files obtained in a continuous. investigation. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said last month he will. revamp its own safety management program. He said formerly the. company was too hands off in oversight of Boeing before. January. He took the unmatched step in January of disallowing. Boeing from expanding 737 MAX production until he pleased they. have actually made substantial quality enhancements.
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Germany working to ward off UniCredit's bid for Commerzbank, sources say
Germany is working to annoy a possible takeover of one of its greatest banks by an Italian competitor, a stance that pits Berlin versus Rome and Europe's regulators, a number of people acquainted with federal government and regulators' thinking informed Reuters. Berlin was surprised by UniCredit's swoop to construct a big stake in state-backed Commerzbank, a. relocation the Italian bank says might lead to a merger. Officials are now bracing for a potential hostile quote that. might connect Berlin's fortunes to those of Italy, whose debt load. overshadows Germany's. Integrating the banks poses a possible danger to monetary. stability, they say, as UniCredit owns 10s of billions of euros. of Italian government bonds. A number of individuals in the German government are now pinning. their hopes on a regulatory evaluation by the country's manager. BaFin, and are lobbying the regulator versus a deal. One key argument is that Berlin may end up footing the. expense if UniCredit were to be dragged into an Italian debt. crisis. BaFin, which plays a crucial function in whether UniCredit can. try to acquire control of Commerzbank, has actually begun to analyse. UniCredit's request to permit it to develop its approximately 9.9%. shareholding to practically 30%. The guard dog will make a proposal to the European Central. Bank, the lenders' regulator, which has the last word, based on. a handful of criteria such as the monetary strength of the. buyer and the reputation of supervisors. While Rome carefully supports the offer, Berlin hopes its. concerns may prevent or at least delay the approval of. UniCredit's plan by the ECB. BaFin has a delicate balancing act. While it is duty-bound. to deal with UniCredit's application even-handedly, it needs to likewise. consider the issues of the German federal government, as the. company reports to the finance ministry. Numerous sources with understanding of the ECB's thinking, stated. there was prevalent difference with Germany's opposition,. although the nation stays prominent and can depend on. effective figures within the organization. The ECB has said large, European banks can much better support. the economy and take on bigger rivals in the United States. Even though the 20 countries of the euro zone share a. currency, banking remains primarily national. For the ECB, its handling of UniCredit's interest in. Commerzbank, balancing the interests of two of the bloc's. biggest countries, will be one of its most significant tests because. ending up being the area's main watchdog a years ago. BaFin and the European Reserve bank work closely together,. stated a spokesperson for BaFin, including that BaFin had a right to. advise to the ECB whether a deal need to be approved, leaving. the final say with the ECB. This treatment makes an essential contribution to financial. stability, he stated. BaFin declined to talk about the particular. case. A spokesperson for the ECB stated it was in consistent. interaction with national authorities on such matters,. describing choices as collective. The ECB's chief supervisor Claudia Buch stated recently the. organization would do anything to get rid of hurdles to. cross-border bank mergers, after president Christine Lagarde. explained such deals as desirable. Italy's Treasury, Germany's finance ministry, Commerzbank,. and UniCredit decreased to comment. Italy's main banking union FABI, warned on Friday that a. successful bid by UniCredit would usher in an age in which. governments would be unable to stop foreign takeovers. DANGER BaFin has a seat on the ECB's supervisory board along with. authorities from the 20 other nations that form the banking. union plus a smattering of ECB agents. The ECB has. roughly 90 days to review the case. At the heart of Germany's issue is UniCredit's 40 billion. euros ($ 44 billion) of Italian government bonds. This is seen as a possible threat since Italy is greatly. indebted. Commerzbank, which is smaller and financially weaker. than UniCredit, likewise has billions of euros of Italian bonds. If Italy were to run into problem after a merger, authorities. fear Germany might need to action in. However some ECB officials see a service. Commerzbank could. became a subsidiary within UniCredit, with clear plans on how to. deal with it individually in a crisis. In the sovereign debt crisis of the early 2010s, some. European nations had to bail out their banks, which were also. deteriorated by their sovereign, illustrating how intertwined they. were in a crisis that nearly reduced the euro. Berlin's reaction signals an absence of faith in the European. architecture put in place to prevent a repeat of the 2010-11. debt crisis, as well as a deep-seated scepticism over Italy. The German government thinks UniCredit's move on. Commerzbank was aggressive and anticipate a hostile bid within. months, 3 sources acquainted with federal government thinking informed. Reuters. Individuals near the government likewise stated trust between. Berlin and UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel had almost collapsed. They indicated Orcel's surprise proceed Commerzbank,. consisting of utilizing derivatives that offer him an option to get more. shares, despite earlier recommending he was acting in line with. Berlin's wishes. Orcel just recently informed an audience he had actually spoken consistently. with stakeholders in Commerzbank and was eager to resume. dialogue. 2 of the people with knowledge of the federal government's. believing stated Berlin and Commerzbank's working assumption was. that UniCredit could try to buy the bank within months.
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Lula slams US ask for info on Brazil fighter jet deal
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday it made no sense for the U.S. Department of Justice to inquire from Saab over Brazil's purchase of the Swedish firm's Gripen fighter jets in 2014. Saab revealed the U.S. demand on Thursday and said it planned to comply, without providing further details, sending out its shares moving. I think this is the U.S. meddling in another country's. affairs, Lula told a radio interview. Lula is in the middle of his 3rd non-consecutive term,. having formerly worked as president between 2003 and 2010. The handle Saab, which beat U.S. planemaker Boeing. and France's Dassault to protect the contract, was inked. under Lula's handpicked follower, former President Dilma. Rousseff. Brazilian prosecutors in 2016 officially accused Lula of utilizing. his influence to assist Saab win the tender for the 36 fighter. jets worth $5.4 billion. The case was tossed out by Brazil's. Supreme Court in 2022. Saab said in its Thursday statement that Brazilian and. Swedish investigations into the procurement process had been. closed without indicating any misdeed by the firm. Lula noted he initially planned to buy Dassault's Rafale. fighter, however left the decision to Rousseff as he only had a couple of. months left in his 2nd term. He recommended the United States. was unhappy with Brazil's sovereign option. They didn't like it when I said I was going to purchase the. Rafale and definitely didn't like it when Dilma bought the. Swedish airplane, as they desired us to purchase the U.S. aircraft, the. president said. The arrangement with Saab enabled Gripens to be produced in. Brazil. In 2015, Saab and Embraer released a. assembly line for the fighter at the Brazilian planemaker's. Gaviao Peixoto plant. BRAND-NEW GOVERNMENTAL AIRCRAFT Lula also said he plans to purchase a brand-new governmental airplane. after his 20-year-old Airplane A319 jet faced an. concealed technical issue this month during a flight from. Mexico City to Brasilia. The airplane experienced concerns after departing the Mexican. capital and was required to circle the area for hours to burn off. fuel before landing securely at the airport it had actually just left. Lula said among the engines had problems and guests felt. unusual vibrations. I have actually asked my defense minister to collect a proposition. We. will buy a presidential airplane and likewise some other aircraft. for ministers to take a trip on, he said.
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DP World pauses 1 bln pound investment in Britain after minister's criticism, Sky News reports
Port and logistics firm DP World has actually stopped briefly a 1 billion pound investment in Britain after ministers criticised practices at its subsidiary P&O, Sky News reported on Friday, in a blow to the government on the eve of a. flagship financial investment summit. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hoping to utilize Monday's. worldwide financial investment summit to pitch his goals of creating. growth and supplying the stability that companies need to. invest. However his government's pro-business, pro-worker effort. deals with a stern test after the criticism by Deputy Prime Minister. Angela Rayner and transport minister Louise Haigh of P&O Ferries. appeared to disrupt preparations for the top. Dubai-based DP World are evaluating the planned investment. that had actually been because of be a major plank of Monday's announcements. for the top, Sky News and Bloomberg reported. The reports. likewise stated that DP World's chairman, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem,. had pulled out of his planned presence at the summit. DP World declined to discuss the reports. In 2022, Britain's P&O Ferries made 800 staff redundant with. instant result and suspended crossings for the next couple of days,. triggering a reaction from politicians and unions who criticised. plans to employ cheaper firm employees instead. P&O at the time said it had to make swift and. significant changes since the business was not sustainable. otherwise. On Wednesday, Rayner and Haigh announced new protections for. seafarers, and ended what they stated was a loophole used by P&O. Rayner said the government was on a mission so no employer can. abuse the system, while Haigh stated the mass sackings were a. national scandal. In an interview with ITV News, Haigh called P&O a rogue. operator and stated she had actually been boycotting them for years. Asked by broadcasters about DP World's decision to pull the. financial investment as a result of the comments by ministers, Starmer. decreased to comment, and indicated a raft of other financial investments. announced by the federal government in the run-up to the top. The transport ministry and the business ministry did not. instantly respond to requests for comment. The opposition Conservative Celebration stated that the dispute. revealed that Labour ministers do not understand organization. On the eve of this much vaunted inward investment event,. this is a body blow for the Federal government, the party's service. representative Kevin Hollinrake said.
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France seeks to balance green objectives, household expenses amidst budget cuts
France will cut research funds for green technology, trek gas and electrical power taxes and extend help in a quote to balance home expenses with promoting renewables, the energy minister said on Friday. We should prevent public money making contaminating energy services more affordable than decarbonised ones, and that means attacking certain historical advantages given to fossil energy, Agnes Pannier-Runacher said at a press conference. However it needs to be done in a well balanced method so as not to destabilise the system or threaten purchase power, she included. The French federal government provided its 2025 budget plan on Thursday with plans for 60 billion euros ($ 65.5 billion) worth of investing cuts and tax hikes on the rich and big business to deal with a spiralling financial deficit. At 21.95 billion euros, the new energy ministry budget plan is 2.8 billion euros greater than in 2024 and will allow for more support to renewables. Pannier-Runacher called it a go back to normalcy after rates took off following Russia's full-blown intrusion of Ukraine in 2022 and the loss of Russian gas supply. That increase involves treking taxes on polluting cars and trucks, airplane tickets and private jets, and bring back taxes on electricity and gas-fired boilers that had been rolled back. A dividend tax on state-owned power energy EDF will likewise generate 2 billion euros. France's 2025 green fund designated to research on ingenious technology was slashed to 1 billion euros, versus 2.5 billion euros this year. We must deal with looking for more European Union funds, they have much to offer in terms of green shift jobs, and other nations are far better at requesting these than we are, Pannier-Runacher stated. The minister stated that, despite the taxes, power bills would fall 9% general for most consumers due to lower wholesale costs. Energy checks to susceptible homes will likewise be preserved. The budget plan will likely change in coming weeks throughout parliament settlements.
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Airlines suspend flights as Middle East tensions rise
Concerns over a wider dispute in the Middle East have prompted international airlines to suspend flights to the area or to prevent afflicted air space. Below are a few of the airline companies that have changed services to and from the area: AEGEAN AIRLINES The Greek airline cancelled flights to and from Beirut until Oct. 31 and to and from Tel Aviv till Oct. 21. AIR ALGERIE The Algerian airline suspended flights to and from Lebanon till further notice. AIRBALTIC. Latvia's airBaltic cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until. Oct. 31. AIR EUROPA. The Spanish airline company cancelled flights to Tel Aviv up until Oct. 20. AIR FRANCE-KLM. Air France extended its suspension of Paris-Tel Aviv flights. until Oct. 15 and Paris-Beirut flights up until Oct. 26. KLM extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until the end. of this year a minimum of. The Franco-Dutch group's inexpensive unit Transavia cancelled. flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut up until end-March. AIR INDIA. The Indian flag carrier suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv. until more notice. BULGARIA AIR. The Bulgarian carrier cancelled flights to and from Israel until. Oct. 31. CATHAY PACIFIC. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific cancelled flights to Tel Aviv. up until Oct. 25, 2025. CYPRUS AIRWAYS The Cypriot carrier cancelled flights to Tel Aviv till Oct. 13. DELTA AIR LINES. The U.S. provider paused flights between New york city and Tel Aviv. through Dec. 31. EASYJET. The UK spending plan airline stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in. April and will resume flights on March 30, 2025. EMIRATES. UAE's state-owned airline company cancelled flights to Beirut through. Oct. 15 and flights to and from Iraq and Iran until Oct. 16. ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES The Ethiopian provider suspended flights to Beirut until. further notice, it stated in a Facebook post on Oct. 4. FLYDUBAI. The Emirati airline company suspended Dubai-Beirut flights till Oct. 31, a flydubai spokesperson said. IAG. IAG-owned British Airways cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv. through Oct. 26. IAG's low-cost airline Iberia Express cancelled flights to. Tel Aviv till Oct. 31, while Vueling cancelled operations to. Tel Aviv up until Jan. 12, 2025, and to Amman till further notice. IRAN AIR. The Iranian airline cancelled Beirut flights up until additional. notification. IRAQI AIRWAYS. The Iraqi national carrier suspended flights to Beirut up until. even more notice. ITA AIRWAYS. Italy's ITA Airways extended the suspension of Tel Aviv flights. through Oct. 31. LOT. The Polish flag provider cancelled flights to Tel Aviv up until Oct. 26, while its first scheduled flight to Beirut is prepared for. April 1, 2025. LUFTHANSA GROUP. The German airline group suspended flights to Tel Aviv until. Oct. 31, to Tehran up until Oct. 26 and to Beirut till Nov. 30. It will not use Iranian and Iraqi airspace up until even more. notice, aside from a corridor used for flights to and from Erbil. in Iraqi Kurdistan. Israeli airspace will not be used up until Oct. 31. SunExpress, a joint endeavor between Lufthansa and Turkish. Airlines, suspended flights to Beirut through Dec. 17. PEGASUS. The Turkish airline company cancelled flights to Beirut till Oct. 28. QATAR AIRWAYS. The Qatari airline momentarily suspended flights to and from. Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, while flights to Amman will run. during daytime hours only. RYANAIR Europe's most significant budget plan airline cancelled flights to and. from Tel Aviv until completion of December. Group CEO Michael. O'Leary on Oct. 3 informed journalists the suspension was likely to. be extended till the end of March. SUNDAIR. The German airline company cancelled flights from Berlin, Bremen and. Muenster/Osnabrueck to Beirut till Dec. 8. UNITED AIRLINES. The Chicago-based airline suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the. foreseeable future. TAROM Romania's flag provider extended the suspension of Beirut. flights until Oct. 22. VIRGIN ATLANTIC. The UK provider extended suspension of Tel Aviv flights up until. end-March 2025. WIZZ AIR. The Hungary-based airline suspended flights to and from Israel. and Jordan through Oct. 13.
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Boeing's year of turbulence in 5 charts
Boeing has actually been stuck in crisis all year. The year started with a mid-air panel blowout on a brand-new 737 MAX jet that exposed safety and quality problems; in March, then CEO Dave Calhoun chose to step down, and now brand-new president Kelly Ortberg is competing with a progressively acrimonious standoff with about 33,000 unionized workers. Here are 5 charts that show the deepening difficulties at the U.S. planemaker: DELIVERIES The U.S. planemaker has actually even more delivered ground to arch-rival Airplane in the shipment race this year as production fell due to quality checks and audits by the air travel regulator. Boeing had currently slipped behind the European planemaker this decade as overlapping crises strike production. Deliveries are key for jet makers, as they get the majority of payment when an airplane is transferred to a client. Year-to-date, it has delivered an overall of 291 airplanes vs. Plane' 497. CAPITAL The planemaker has burned through $8.3 billion in cash in. the very first half of 2024 and expects free cash flow to be negative. this year. S&P Global estimates Boeing's cash outflow will concern. about $10 billion in 2024, presuming that the strike ends in the. fourth quarter. The company posted three consecutive years of unfavorable cash. flow from 2019 to 2021 following a set of crashes and throughout. the coronavirus pandemic. Boeing has a forward 12 month price-to-earnings ratio of. 214.7, compared to 18.8 for Airbus, according to LSEG data. A. high P/E ratio might suggest the stock is misestimated. DEBT Boeing's debt currently stands at approximately $60 billion, with. more than $4 billion due in 2025. The business had to obtain greatly to tide over overlapping. crises triggered by a different stop in production of MAX jets due. to the 2018 and 2019 crashes and the COVID-19 pandemic, which. hammered international flight. Earlier this year, Boeing tapped financial obligation markets to raise $10. billion. STRIKE Employees at Boeing's factories in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. went on strike in September after declining a labor offer they. considered as inadequate. The lead arbitrator for the union informed Reuters on Wednesday. that members were prepared to suffer the planemaker after. talks collapsed. According to TD Cowen, a 50-day strike might cost Boeing $3. billion to $3.5 billion of capital. The last strike at Boeing. remained in 2008 and lasted nearly two months. SHARES Shares are down more than 40% in 2024, due to a combination. of regulative analysis, production issues and damage to Boeing's. credibility. The fall has actually erased roughly $60 billion in market. value. Shares climbed 36.8% in 2023, the only year they have. acquired in value this years. The stock is the second-worst entertainer in the Dow Jones. Industrial Average this year, after Intel Corp. .
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Germany working to prevent UniCredit's quote for Commerzbank, sources say
Germany is working to irritate a possible takeover of among its biggest banks by an Italian competitor, a stance that pits Berlin against Rome and Europe's regulators, several people knowledgeable about federal government and regulators' thinking told Reuters. Berlin was taken aback by UniCredit's swoop to develop a large stake in state-backed Commerzbank, a. move the Italian bank says could cause a merger. Officials are now bracing for a potential hostile bid that. could tie Berlin's fortunes to those of Italy, whose financial obligation load. overshadows Germany's. Integrating the banks poses a prospective risk to monetary. stability, they state, as UniCredit owns 10s of billions of euros. of Italian government bonds. Numerous individuals in the German federal government are now pinning. their hopes on a regulatory review by the country's manager. BaFin, and are lobbying the regulator against an offer. One essential argument is that Berlin might wind up footing the. costs if UniCredit were to be dragged into an Italian debt. crisis. BaFin, which plays a crucial role in whether UniCredit can. attempt to get control of Commerzbank, has begun to analyse. UniCredit's demand to enable it to build its roughly 9.9%. shareholding to nearly 30%. The watchdog will make a proposition to the European Central. Bank, the lenders' regulator, which has the last word, based upon. a handful of requirements such as the financial strength of the. buyer and the reputation of managers. While Rome meticulously supports the deal, Berlin hopes its. concerns may ward off or at least delay the approval of. UniCredit's plan by the ECB. BaFin has a delicate balancing act. While it is duty-bound. to deal with UniCredit's application even-handedly, it should likewise. consider the issues of the German federal government, as the. firm reports to the finance ministry. A number of sources with knowledge of the ECB's thinking, said. there was extensive dispute with Germany's opposition,. although the nation stays prominent and can count on. powerful figures within the organization. The ECB has stated large, European banks can better support. the economy and take on larger rivals in the United States. Despite the fact that the 20 nations of the euro zone share a. currency, banking stays mostly national. For the ECB, its handling of UniCredit's interest in. Commerzbank, balancing the interests of two of the bloc's. biggest countries, will be one of its biggest tests because. becoming the region's primary watchdog a decade ago. BaFin and the European Reserve bank work closely together,. stated a spokesperson for BaFin, including that BaFin had a right to. suggest to the ECB whether a deal need to be authorized, leaving. the last word with the ECB. This procedure makes an important contribution to financial. stability, he said. A spokesperson for the ECB stated it remained in consistent. interaction with national authorities on such matters,. explaining choices as collaborative. The ECB's chief manager Claudia Buch stated just recently the. organization would do anything to remove hurdles to. cross-border bank mergers, after president Christine Lagarde. explained such deals as desirable. Italy's Treasury, Germany's finance ministry, Commerzbank,. and UniCredit declined to comment. HAZARD BaFin has a seat on the ECB's supervisory board along with. authorities from the 20 other nations that form the banking. union plus a smattering of ECB representatives. The ECB has. approximately 90 days to evaluate the case. At the heart of Germany's issue is UniCredit's 40 billion. euros ($ 44 billion) of Italian government bonds. This is seen as a prospective danger due to the fact that Italy is greatly. indebted. Commerzbank, which is smaller sized and financially weaker. than UniCredit, also has billions of euros of Italian bonds. If Italy were to face trouble after a merger, authorities. fear Germany might have to step in. However some ECB authorities see an option. Commerzbank could. ended up being a subsidiary within UniCredit, with clear plans on how to. deal with it individually in a crisis. In the sovereign financial obligation crisis of the early 2010s, some. European nations had to bail out their banks, which were likewise. compromised by their sovereign, showing how linked they. were in a crisis that almost brought down the euro. Berlin's response signals a lack of faith in the European. architecture put in place to avoid a repeat of the 2010-11. debt crisis, in addition to a deep-seated scepticism over Italy. The German government believes UniCredit's move on. Commerzbank was aggressive and expect a hostile quote within. months, 3 sources knowledgeable about government thinking told. Reuters. Individuals near to the federal government likewise stated trust between. Berlin and UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel had actually almost collapsed. They indicated Orcel's surprise carry on Commerzbank,. consisting of utilizing derivatives that offer him an alternative to get more. shares, in spite of earlier recommending he was acting in line with. Berlin's wishes. Orcel just recently told an audience he had actually spoken repeatedly. with stakeholders in Commerzbank and was keen to resume. dialogue. Two of individuals with knowledge of the federal government's. thinking stated Berlin and Commerzbank's working presumption was. that UniCredit might try to buy the bank within months.
Risky salvage of Sounion tanker to restart in Red Sea today, sources state
Experts will today resume a dangerous operation to salvage the Sounion tanker which was assaulted by Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea last month and still holds about one million barrels of crude oil, maritime sources stated on Thursday.
The towing of the Greek-registered vessel - which was struck, lost power and caught fire on Aug. 21 - was paused after it was considered risky by the companies at first associated with the task.
Authorities have stated the towing operation will be particularly fragile, provided the complete load and a host of other elements.
Any spill could be the largest from a ship in taped history and could trigger an environmental disaster in a location that is especially dangerous to get in.
The Houthis - who state they are acting in uniformity with Palestinians caught up in the Israel-Gaza war - likewise detonated charges on the tanker after the attack, triggering more fires, and it is uncertain if any dynamites are still active.
At least 2 tugboats owned by a Greek-based salvage company are currently in the location and will deal with the towage, one of the sources stated.
There is an action strategy in location and there is progress, another source included. The towing operation is anticipated to begin in the next 2 days.
The ship's team has been left. Greece has also been in touch with local power Saudi Arabia to request for support.
The Iran-aligned Houthi militants have stated they would permit salvage teams to tow the ship to safety.
The EU's marine mission in the Red Sea, Aspides, will protect the vessels associated with the towage and monitor the whole operation, an Aspides authorities reiterated on Thursday.
A French frigate and a Greek frigate participating in Aspides were already in the location, one of the sources said.
(source: Reuters)