Denmark's APMH offers $1.3 billion for the tugboat group Svitzer

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• Norway's FSA claims that a firm issued fake insurance to Russian oil tankers.

  According to Norwegian authorities, the insurance documents issued by a small Norwegian firm to cover up the forgeries were bogus. The documents were used to circumvent international sanctions and hide the age of the oil tankers. Romarine AS, a Norwegian-registered company, claimed to be an insurer. Their website listed dozens of tanks believed to be a part of Russia’s shadow fleet. This included vessels that were under Western sanctions. The FSA stated that the company is not registered by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (FSA) as an insurer. Western nations have sanctioned hundreds of ships that they suspect Russia uses to circumvent price caps on crude oil exports and other cargos. These vessels are not covered or regulated by the conventional Western insurance companies, which poses the risk of unreliable tankers and environmental damages in the event that a shipwreck occurs. The fact that Romarine made an effort in order to prove the tankers' insurance coverage by Western insurers, should they sink or be polluted, is what makes this case stand out. Jo Gjedrem is an official with the FSA. She said, "It is an unusual case." The FSA warned Romarine about its failure to comply with the warning in January. It then issued an order to stop operations on 4 March. Romarine, in response to an email question from, said that it was aware of FSA's order of March 4, and had responded "with some delays through our lawyers". Romarine stated that they operated within the applicable regulations but had decided to cease taking on new business until "positive feedback" from the authorities. Romaine has not responded to the FSA, according to the FSA. According to the Norwegian commercial database, Proff, Andrey Mochalin is the sole owner of Romarine AS. He is a Russian national and a former employee at Norwegian insurer Hydor AS. Johan Gjernes is the former chairman of Romarine and chief business officer at Hydor AS. He told us via email that Romarine had been sold to Mochalin, who now owns it. Gjernes left Romarine in 2023 and Mochalin took over as chairman one year later. This is according to the official Norwegian company registry. According to Norid AS (Norway's government-run registry for domain names), Romarine's site is located in Russia. Two commercial IP-locating websites pointed to an address in St Petersburg. Mochalin has not returned any of the requests sent via email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, or telephone. SHIPS SUBJECT TO SANCTIONS Romarine's site, as of early march, listed at least 30 oil tanksers that were subject to U.S. sanctions, EU sanctions or UK sanctions. These included the Captain Kostichev oil tanker and Ionia oil tanker, which appeared on certificates of insurance submitted to Russian port authorities. Since then, some names have been removed. The certificate of insurance issued by the Gabon flagged tanker Ionia on February 2, and dated January 9, listed Romarine, as its insurer. A second document, dated 24 March and presented by Captain Kostichev of Panama to the port authorities at De Kastri (Russia's Far East), listed Romarine as their insurer. The vessel, although the certificate stated that it was valid through April 24, has been removed from Romarine's site while the Ionia still remains. LSEG data indicates that the Captain Kostichev's operator is Stream Ship Management based in United Arab Emirates. Narus Maritime Corporation, based in Seychelles, owns and operates the Ionia. I was unable to contact either company for a comment. Romarine responded that they had accidentally listed vessels subject to Western Sanctions on their website due to a glitch in the technical system. The company replied in an email to a question received on 12 March. "We implemented our new automatic system a few weeks ago, and we are working to figure out what went wrong." Gjedrem stated that the FSA was concerned about Romarine when it received an email inquiry from overseas last September asking about a letterhead document certifying Romarine as a ship's insurance. Gjedrem: "We instantly saw that it was fake." The letterhead could have been copied and pasted onto the fake document. It quoted non-existent Norwegian laws. The person who signed the document never worked for Finanstilsynet, and the stamp on it was fake." On March 25, the FSA posted an alert on its website about using Romarine's services. Oslo Police has also opened an investigation into Romarine’s business activities following a complaint by the FSA. Police said they were investigating 4 people, two Norwegians, one Bulgarian and one Russian. They are suspected of falsifying documents and performing insurance mediated activities without a license. The police said that a search was conducted on the home of one of the suspected in late March. The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported the police investigation first. Romaine did not respond to a question about the police investigation. The Russian Ministry of Transport and the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport have not responded to requests for comments about the Norwegian investigation of Romarine, or the Norwegian order to stop operations. Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov in Oslo, Nerijus Adomiaitis and reporters in Moscow. Additional reporting by Nidhi verma in New Delhi. Editing by Nina Chestney & Jason Neely.

• VNG will begin testing a 30-MW electrolyser by Q3, 2025

  Eastern German gas company VNG is majority owned by utility EnBW. On Wednesday, it announced that in 2025, the company will begin testing operations at a 30-megawatt (MW) electrolysis facility as part of a green hydrogen value chain. VNG has intensified its green gas strategy and acquired alternative sources of gas to replace Russia, who in 2022 will stop exporting to the West. This will affect VNG as well as its competitors SEFE and Uniper. In a statement, Hans-Joachim Polk, technical director of the company said: "We plan to commission and test the 30 MW Electrolyser during the third quarter." The VNG plant in Bad Lauchstaedt, Saxony-Anhalt, will produce green hydrogen from wind power. TotalEnergies is the anchor customer. Hydrogen is greener when it's produced using renewable electricity by electrolysing water rather than by removing it from natural gases and releasing CO2. It leaves only oxygen and water as by-products after burning. Polk stated that "the plant will then feed 2,700 tonnes green hydrogen per year into the grid for commercial use at... TotalEnergies refinery." (Reporting and editing by Kirstiknolle, $1 = 0.9268 Euros)

• Heathrow boss criticized for his resilience after lawmakers investigate shutdown

  Heathrow's boss was criticized for a 18-hour airport shutdown last month. An airline representative had said that he raised concerns days earlier about the hub’s resilience, and lawmakers were scrutinising the embarrassing incident. The closure of the airport on March 21 was caused by a fire at a nearby substation, raising concerns about the resilience and safety of the national infrastructure. About 300,000 passengers were left stranded by the incident and airlines lost millions of pounds. In an effort to learn from the past, members of Parliament quizzed Heathrow's chief executive, National Grid representatives, SSE, and airline representatives on Wednesday. Nigel Wicking said that he expressed his concern to the Heathrow Airline Operators' Committee, which represents 90 airlines at the Heathrow hub, on March 15, 2015. Wicking stated that he had warned Heathrow about his concerns regarding the substations. Wicking's concern was about resilience. Two days prior to the fire, he raised concerns after one of Heathrow’s runways was left without lights for a brief period of time due to theft of cable. Thomas Woldbye said that safety was Heathrow's main concern. Heathrow's CEO, Thomas Woldbye, said that safety was the main concern. Wicking stated that the airport should and could have begun flights earlier. He said: "I don't hear that there wasn't enough power to get into Heathrow." "I heard that it was taking time to get the power where it needed it to be at Heathrow." "10 hours was too long for me." Woldbye stated that the contracts between airports and power suppliers included resilience. He said that building full resilience would cost a lot of money, around 1 billion pounds.

• Denmark's APMH offers $1.3 billion for the tugboat group Svitzer

  Denmark's A.P. Moller Holding, a subsidiary of Denmark's A.P. APMH already owned 47% of Svitzer's shares prior to the bid. The independent board members of the towing company unanimously approved the offer. APMH is the controlling shareholder of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk . APMH stated in a press release that the stock market listing did not generate the investor interest expected. A delisting will allow Svitzer to continue its growth. It added that Svitzer must grow its business to maintain its market position in an industry fragmented and competitive, undergoing consolidation. Svitzer shares have risen 8.2% to 216.4 Danish crowns since their IPO, while APMH is offering 285 crowns.

• Sources say that Gunvor and Vitol, two commodity traders, queue up to buy Russian aluminum from the LME storage.

  Three sources with knowledge of the situation said that major commodity traders Gunvor, Vitol and London Metal Exchange approved warehouses at the South Korean port Gwangyang are awaiting the withdrawal of large quantities of Russian produced aluminium. Gunvor and Vitol focus primarily on energy. However, oil and gas trading companies have also made significant moves in metals markets as they explore the opportunities presented by the global transition to clean energy. Gunvor and Vitol are not sure why they want to store the aluminum in Gwangyang LME warehouses, as the majority of the metal in the LME is Russian. This was deposited in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Vitol Gunvor has declined to comment. LME data show that metals destined to leave ISTIM's Gwangyang warehouses, a major operator in the port of LME depositories, weighed 97.750 metric tonnes at the end of February, valued at more than $250,000,000. The data revealed that the average waiting time for delivery was more than 11 months, or 81 calendars days. Queues form only when large numbers of metal warrants (title documents conferring ownership) are cancelled within a short time. Sources claim that Vitol has already received some aluminum from the LME warehouses at Gwangyang. Gunvor hasn't yet taken any according to other sources. LME data shows that in late December, 84,000 tonnes of aluminum stored in LME Gwangyang warehouses was cancelled. In January, only a small amount of aluminum was removed, but in February, 33.200 tons were removed, and 26,800 tonnes have been removed from LME's warehouses in Gwangyang So far, March has been a great month. The LME's cancelled warrants for Gwangyang, which totalled 123,325 tonnes, on 28 March suggest that another 37,125 metric tons of aluminum is expected to leave its system. In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to supply aluminium for the U.S. market as part of a future deal. Putin stated that Russian companies can supply up to 2 million metric tonnes of metal annually for the construction, transport and packaging industries. According to industry sources, the two main destinations of Russian-origin aluminum are China and Turkey. Both countries accept metal produced in Russia. In April of last year, the U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury Department) and the British Government banned the 148 year old LME and Chicago Mercantile Exchanges (CME) to hold Russian aluminium and copper produced after April 13. Rusal is the only company that produces aluminium in Russia. Last year, it supplied more than four million tonnes of aluminum or about 5% of global total. The LME aluminium prices held steady for a couple of weeks after Donald Trump was elected U.S. President, but they have fallen 7% to $2,540 per metric ton since March 12, on concerns about U.S. Tariffs and a trade war. (Reporting and editing by Veronica Brown, Jan Harvey, and Pratima Dasai)

• The RPT-EU ban of Russia's LNG exports is now in effect

  This week, the European Union began a ban on reexporting Russian LNG via EU ports. The goal is to reduce Moscow’s revenue after its invasion in Ukraine. The ban prohibiting the reloading Russian cargoes in EU ports to export to third-country countries was implemented in June 2024. A moratorium will be in place until March 26th 2025 for contracts that were signed before June 25th last year. Gas experts claim that the measure will have little effect, as the transshipments via EU ports into Asia represents less than 10% total Russian LNG exports. However, suppliers will direct this volume towards Europe. Here are some facts about Russian LNG Exports. RUSSIAN LNG EXPORTS In 2024, Russia will be the fourth largest LNG exporter in the world with an annual output of 34.7 millions metric tons. This is up 4% from 2023. Analysts estimate around 2.7 millions tons of LNG were reloaded at EU ports in 2024 for exports to Asia. The EU does not have any immediate plans to stop purchasing Russian LNG. The EU has stated that it plans to gradually wean itself from Russian gas by the year 2027 thanks to increased exports of Norwegian, United States, and Qatar. According to a report by the global energy think-tank Ember, Russian gas imports in the EU will increase by 18% by 2024. The study stated that "this trend will continue in 2025 with an average of 74.3 million cubic metres per day in Russian LNG imports to the EU in February. This represents a 11% increase in a month." TRANS-SHIPMENTS From November to June, Russian LNG exports are dependent on EU ports because thick ice blocks access by traditional LNG vessels to Yamal LNG Arctic terminals owned by gas producer Novatek. Ship-to-ship transfers (STS) are used to reload cargoes onto regular gas carriers, which are then exported to China, Taiwan and India. Novatek, Russia’s largest LNG producer and Yamal LNG’s principal shareholder, has signed long-term contracts with firms including China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), Shell and TotalEnergies (oil majors), German company Securing Energy For Europe and Gunvor, to sell 17 million tons of LNG per year to Europe. Two Terms The main LNG terminals in Belgium and France are Montoir LNG and Zeebrugge LNG. Fluxys, a Belgian gas transport company, has signed a contract for ten years with Yamal LNG to transship gas at Zeebrugge. Engie, a French energy company, has a contract for 23 years to manage STS operations. TotalEnergies now holds the contract after it purchased Engie's portfolio of LNG. Robert Songer is an analyst with data intelligence company ICIS. He said that in 2024 around 47 vessels will have completed STSs between Zeebrugge, and Montoir. According to an average LNG cargo of 70,000 tons in 2024, this represents 9.2% of the total Russian LNG exports. MOSCOW IMPACT The ban on LNG transshipment will have a limited impact because of the small volume, but it would raise costs for Russian companies as well as disrupt logistics. Charles Costerousse is a senior LNG analyst with Kpler. He said that Russian LNG could still be transshipped easily within Russian waters, at Murmansk, Kaliningrad, or other possible locations in the Mediterranean.

• EU bans Russia's LNG exports

  This week, the European Union's (EU) ban on reexporting Russian LNG via EU ports came into force. The EU's goal is to reduce Moscow’s revenue after its invasion of Ukraine. The ban prohibiting the reloading Russian cargoes in EU ports to export to a third country was implemented in June 2024. A moratorium will be enforced until March 26th, 2025, for contracts that were signed before June 25, 2018. Gas experts claim that the measure will have little effect, as transshipments via EU ports into Asia represents less than 10% total Russian LNG exports. However, suppliers would direct this volume towards Europe. Here are some facts about Russian LNG Exports. RUSSIAN LNG EXPORTS In 2024, Russia will be the fourth largest LNG exporter in the world with an annual output of 34.7 millions metric tons. This is up 4% from 2023. Analysts estimate around 2.7 millions tons of LNG were reloaded at EU ports in 2024 for exports to Asia. The EU does not have any immediate plans to stop purchasing Russian LNG. The EU has stated that it plans to gradually wean itself from Russian gas by the year 2027 thanks to increased exports of Norwegian, United States, and Qatar. According to a report by the global energy think-tank Ember, Russian gas imports in the EU will increase by 18% by 2024. The study stated that "this trend will continue in 2025 with an average of 74.3 million cubic metres per day in Russian LNG imports to the EU in February. This represents a 11% increase in a month." TRANS-SHIPMENTS From November to June, Russian LNG exports are dependent on EU ports because thick ice blocks access by traditional LNG vessels to Yamal LNG Arctic terminals owned by gas producer Novatek. Ship-to-ship transfers (STS) are used to reload cargoes onto regular gas carriers, which are then exported to China, Taiwan and India. Novatek, Russia’s largest LNG producer and Yamal LNG’s principal shareholder, has signed long-term contracts with firms including China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), Shell and TotalEnergies (oil majors), German company Securing Energy For Europe and Gunvor, to sell 17 million tons of LNG per year to Europe. Two Terms The main LNG terminals in Belgium and France are Montoir LNG and Zeebrugge LNG. Fluxys, a Belgian gas transport company, has signed a contract for ten years with Yamal LNG to transship gas at Zeebrugge. Engie, a French energy company, has a contract for 23 years to manage STS operations. TotalEnergies now holds the contract after it purchased Engie's portfolio of LNG. Robert Songer is an analyst with data intelligence company ICIS. He said that in 2024 around 47 vessels will have completed STSs between Zeebrugge, and Montoir. According to an average LNG cargo of 70,000 tons in 2024, this represents 9.2% of the total Russian LNG exports. MOSCOW IMPACT The ban on LNG transshipment will have a limited impact because of the small volume, but it would raise costs for Russian companies as well as disrupt logistics. Charles Costerousse is a senior LNG analyst with Kpler. He said that Russian LNG could still be transshipped easily within Russian waters, at Murmansk, Kaliningrad, or other possible locations in the Mediterranean.

• How hot or not is the stock market? Recent high-profile US IPOs: How they have performed

  CoreWeave’s debut will be a test to see if companies continue with listing or retreat in the face of market volatility. Investors are becoming more cautious as market volatility and tariff uncertainty has made them more selective. Companies, meanwhile, are waiting and watching in an ever-changing trade and geopolitical environment. The recent volatility in the market has made it difficult to go public, but that doesn't mean the IPO window is closed, said Matt Kennedy senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, which offers IPO research and ETFs. StubHub and Klarna, two high-profile companies that have been advancing their listing plans over the past few weeks, are among the most notable. Fintech Chime and chipmaker Cerebras, as well as medical supplies manufacturer Medline, are all set to be the stars of this year's IPO marketplace. This is how the S&P 500 benchmark has performed against an ETF that tracks major newly-public stocks over the last year. Here's a look at some of the largest IPOs from recent years: VENTURE GLOBAL LNG: In January, the liquefied gas exporter reached a valuation of $1.75 billion. This is less than half what it had originally hoped for. In a quiet NYSE debut, the company's shares began trading at a price that was nearly 4% lower than their IPO. Since then, the stock has fallen 55.7%. SAILPOINT: In their Nasdaq debut the shares of identity security company Thoma Bravo, which is backed by Thoma Bravo, traded flat. This valued it at $12.80 billion. Since then, the stock has lost almost 11%. Austin, Texas based company raised $1.38 Billion in an increased IPO. ARM HOLDINGS In September 2023 the chip designer raised $4.87billion in its offering, which valued it at $54.5billion. It sought to be valued at up to $52 billion. Shares of the company rose by 10% on their first day. Since then, the stock has more than doubled. INSTACART: In its IPO, the San Francisco-based Maplebear company was priced at a premium to the market. In September 2023, it raised $660m at a valuation of nearly $9.9billion. It raised its price range proposed and targeted an evaluation of up to 10 billion dollars. Stocks of the grocery delivery app soared 40% at opening and are currently trading around 4% lower. VIKING HOLDINGS In April of last year, the cruise operator raised $1.54billion in its IPO. This valued it at $10.35billion. The cruise operator had asked for a valuation as high as $10.85 billion. Viking's shares have risen 58% in the last year. They opened at a price 9% higher than their initial offer. STANDARDAERO: In October of last year, the aircraft maintenance service provider raised $1.44 billion by pricing its offering over range. The initial target was a valuation up to $7.69billion. Shares of the Carlyle-backed firm began trading at 29% over the offer price. Since then, the stock has dropped around 10%. LINEAGE: Cold storage real estate trust raised $4.45billion in its listing on July 20, 2024 at a valuation exceeding $18billion. It had set a target of a valuation up to $19.16 billion. Stocks of the company rose 5% at Nasdaq's opening. Since then, the stock has fallen by 27%. REDDIT: Social media giant Facebook raised $748 million at its IPO last March, valuing it at $6.4 Billion -- the upper end of the target range that it advertised. Since then, the stock has doubled. BIRKENSTOCK: The German sandal manufacturer, which is 250 years old, raised $1.48 Billion and was valued at $ 9.3 Billion in its IPO of October 2023. This was slightly less than its $10 billion target. Since then, its shares have risen by 15%. WAYSTAR: In its IPO last June, the healthcare payments company raised $968.8 million. It was valued at $3.7 billion. The company had initially sought a valuation up to $3.8billion. Since its debut, the shares of this company have increased by 84%. The shares opened 2% lower than their IPO price. ** Please note: Stock performance is calculated based on the opening trade. ** Sources: filings, LSEG reports

• Sources say that Marex Group has acquired the warehousing company Edgemere Terminals.

  Three sources familiar with the matter confirmed that Marex Group had acquired the warehousing company Edgemere Terminals. The company did not have enough money to comply with the new capital adequacy regulations of the London Metal Exchange. Last week, the LME sent an email to its members to inform them that Edgemere Terminals has moved to 155 Bishopsgate in London where Marex, a commodities broker and financial service firm, is located. Edgemere declined to comment. Edgemere has been approved by the LME. Last year, the LME raised its capital adequacy requirement to five million pounds ($6.46million) from the previous one million pounds for warehouse companies within its 33 locations in the United States. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (the 148-year old exchange) has also increased the required minimum insurance indemnity for warehouses from 500,000 to 1 million pounds. The sources claimed that Edgemere lacked the funds to meet these requirements, and they had been searching for a buyer ever since. They did not, however, know the price Marex paid or the date of the transaction. Ian Lowitt, CEO of UK-based Marex, told U.S. listed firm that the U.S. listed company was planning acquisitions in order to diversify its business after strong results sent the shares to record highs. Marex purchased rival ED&F Man Capital Markets in order to expand its fixed income and equity business in 2022. Sources said the deal was valued at $220 million. In a press release issued in September 2016, the LME stated that the bankruptcy of an industrial warehouse in 2016 was a reason for the increase in minimum capital requirements and minimum insurance indemnity.

• French rail operator Transilien SNCF Voyageurs halts Alstom's new train deliveries

  Transilien SNCF Voyageurs, France's national rail operator, confirmed Monday that it would suspend the deliveries of trains from Alstom SA to Paris' RER system. The company cited high failure rates and poor manufacturing. Alstom was not available to comment immediately on the 4.2% decline in its shares at 1412 GMT. These orders are part of a 2027 framework agreement between SNCF Voyageurs, Alstom and Ile-de-France Mobilites. This authority regulates public transport operators in Paris and its surroundings. 166 RER NGs are currently in production. Transilien SNCF Voyageurs said in an emailed message that the failure rate of Alstom's RER New Generation trains remains above target. Transilien stated that "the poor manufacturing quality observed in the newly delivered trainsets has a too great impact on the service...on E line of RER." It added that the suspension of Alstom deliveries would remain in effect "until contract targets have been achieved". The move, it said, was intended to "stabilize the operating situation" and "reinforce Alstom’s efforts to improve reliability of RER NGs currently in service". Alstom was ordered by SNCF Voyageurs to build 35 additional RER NG trains in December last year. The deal is worth approximately 520 million Euros ($562.59 Million).

• Heathrow Airport defends its decision to close the airport amid blame games

  Heathrow Airport in Britain defended the decision to close Europe's busiest international airport on Friday, as the blame-game intensified following an 18-hour shutdown that cost airlines millions of pounds and left thousands of passengers stranded. National Grid and Heathrow both agreed that this was a rare event. The airport had to defend the closure of the airport after the head of National Grid told Financial Times that there was still enough power in the network to keep the airport powered throughout the crisis. Heathrow reported that the fire in a nearby power substation on Thursday night forced it to close its operations while they reconfigured their systems and switched over to an alternate substation. Heathrow's spokesperson stated that "hundreds of critical systems throughout the airport had to be safely shut down, and then safely and systemically rebooted." Heathrow is a large airport with a complex operational structure. Restarting safely operations after an interruption of this magnitude was no easy task. John Pettigrew said that there are two more substations capable of supplying power to Heathrow. This shows the grid's resilience. He told the FT that two substations are always ready for Heathrow and the distribution network companies to use. Heathrow and the government have both ordered reviews to determine what happened. British Airways was the worst affected airline, but the cost of the closure is borne by all airlines. Heidi Alexander, Transport Minister, told Sky News Monday that it was important to learn from the mistakes made. Alexander, when asked on LBC Radio if she has confidence in Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said that she wants to see the results. Heathrow Airport is a privately owned company. Its owners include the French investment group Ardian as well as Qatar Investment Authority, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund and others.

• Financial Times – March 24,

  These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. Headlines Wood Group to continue takeover talks with UAE-based Sidara Heathrow's National Grid chief claims that the airport had "enough power" despite the fire shutdown Malaysia cracks down on Nvidia chips under US pressure James Hardie will buy Azek, a building products company for almost $9bn View the full article After a failed takeover attempt six months earlier, the British oilfield engineering and services firm Wood Group agreed to extend its deadline for talks. John Pettigrew, the chief executive of National Grid, has said that the electricity transmission system was able to supply enough power to Heathrow during the closure of the airport last week. This comes as the airlines' anger grew over the decision to close the airport for almost 24 hours. Zafrul Aziz, Malaysia's trade minister, said Washington demanded that Malaysia track closely the movement of Nvidia high-end chips entering the country. Washington suspects that some of these chips end up in China in violation of U.S. Export Rules. James Hardie Industries, a fibre-cement manufacturer in the United States, announced that it will acquire AZEK Company for $8.75 billion (including debt) as part of a cash-and-stock deal. The company is looking to increase growth by offering new products to homeowners.