Latest News
-
Tanker seized from the shadow fleet near Marseille
Local authorities reported that an oil tanker believed to be part of Russia's shadow fleet was taken into the waters near Marseille, France, on Friday, just a day after it had been seized by France near Sicily. The Deliver is one of nine vessels that have been confiscated across Europe since the start of 2026. All are believed to have been used by Russia to evade Western sanction on its oil trade. The?Bouches du Rhone Prefecture reported that the boat was taken to Fos Gulf. It added that "it will be anchored at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor in order to investigate the alleged crime of sailing under false flag." According to TASS, the Russian embassy in France referred to the seizure as "another instance of piracy", and that it was "illegal and unacceptable" from the perspective of international law. According to a military source, the vessel was still flying under the 'Cameroonian flag' despite being formally removed from Cameroon registry weeks before. This meant that it was navigating without nationality, and in violation of 'international maritime law. The source claimed that this allowed France to board the ship and hold it. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Heavens; Dominique Vidalon)
-
UN agency works to restart Hormuz Evacuations after Ship Attack
A top U.N. official announced on Friday that the United Nations was working with countries to resume the evacuating of hundreds of vessels and thousands of stranded seafarers in the Strait of Hormuz, after this effort had been halted earlier in the week. The U.N. International Maritime Organization announced on Thursday that it had "temporarily paused' its evacuation initiative following the attack on a container vessel operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen. IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez said that 115 ships and around 2,500 seafarers were able to navigate through the strait, before evacuations ceased. Dominguez stated that he is working "vigilantly", and has been in contact with various parties, including Oman, Iran, the United States of America, "to find these assurances that were given at the beginning that vessels would not be targeted". He said that as soon as he received confirmation, they would be ready to resume the evacuation process. However, he did not specify a timeline for a restart. IMO CHIEF: EVACUATIONS TO COMPLETE WILL TAKE WEEKS Tehran reasserted on Friday its right to control the shipping in this critical waterway, and warned its Gulf neighbors against siding with Washington. Dominguez stated that his main contact in Iran is with the maritime authority and foreign minister. He said: "I must maintain the positive attitude that there is progress in this conflict, and at least ships are sailing safely through." He said that the IMO is investigating "the motives and reasons" of the attack. The evacuation plan included two "channels" for leaving the strait: either through Iranian waters to the north, or Omani waters to the south. The Traffic Separation Scheme adopted by the IMO in 1968 established routes through Iranian and Omani water?in this strait. The central section is not currently usable because of the presence, according to Dominguez, of around 80 explosive mines. He said that it would take "a few weeks" to evacuate the?just over 500 vessels still needing to be evacuated. The sooner we resume operations, the faster we can increase the number of people until the evacuation is completed. (Reporting and editing by Joe Bavier; Jonathan Saul)
-
Iraq asks for a review of quotas as OPEC restores production allocations
Iraq's Oil -Ministry announced on Friday that OPEC had 'begun slowly restoring Iraq’s prewar production allocations'. This'move', it claimed, would'strengthen Iraq's output 'capacity' and support the recovery of its oil industry. Baghdad, according to a state-run news agency, supports a reevaluation of OPEC's production quotas in order to reflect the conditions of member?states, including Iraqi economic and security circumstances. The statement said that Iraq's Prime minister Ali?Faleh Al-Zaidi has not spoken about the possibility of Iraq quitting OPEC. Sources with knowledge said that Iraq, OPEC’s second largest producer - after Saudi Arabia - and one of the five founding'members', had considered 'leaving the group if it did not allow Baghdad a significant increase in oil production. This would be a major blow to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which was already hit by the departure of the United Arab Emirates less than two months earlier. Oil is the main source of income for the country, but this has decreased since the Iran war effectively stopped exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Iraq's Oil Ministry?said later on Thursday that reports suggesting Baghdad might consider?ending its membership to OPEC didn't reflect the official position of the Iraqi Government. The quota set by Iraq for July is 4.38 million barrels per day, but the current production is well below that due to the disruption caused by Hormuz. Reporting by Muayad Haeed, Writing and Editing by Muhammad Al Gebaly
-
After the earthquakes in Venezuela, power outages have slowed down operations at key ports and plants
Sources said that an outage this week on a power transmission line in Venezuela's Central Region is slowing down efforts to restore?full services at a port, refinery, and petrochemical complex following earthquakes. Residents and sources said that many roads have reopened, and electricity has been restored to areas affected by the earthquakes. The death toll is now at almost 600, but residents and sources say the area closest to the epicenter, in the central region, remains largely without power. Sources said that the lack of electricity is preventing injured people from being transported, hospitals from operating, goods imported at ports discharged, aid distributed, fuel and petrochemicals produced, and fuel and petrochemicals manufactured. The 146,000-barrel-per-day ?El Palito refinery on Friday remained almost completely out of service due to lack of power, while the restart of ?the Moron Petrochemical Complex, the country's second-largest, was progressing slowly for the same reason, ?workers from those facilities said. They added that the?Planta Centro' and Termocentro' power plants located in central region were unable to restore the entire number of units in operation before the earthquakes. Separate sources reported that due to insufficient electricity, only partial operations were possible at Puerto Cabello on Friday. This left a queue of trucks waiting to receive and deliver imported goods. The La Guaira Port, where the Government used to receive an important portion of?imports remained closed. The authorities have given little information about the state of ports and industrial plants, but on Thursday they said that some power plants as well as the Moron Complex were trying to restart. Requests for comments from the oil and information Ministries and?utility Corpoelec were not immediately answered. The large infrastructure damage reported by social media and sources at Maiquetia airport has not yet been confirmed. However, some airlines have temporarily suspended flights or re-organized them to other airports around the country. According to a source close to the preparations, the government hopes to reopen Maiquetia in early July with limited services. Reporting by Tibisay Roma, Mircely Guianipa Mariela Nava Marianna Pararaga. Editing by Julia Symmes Cobb & Chris Reese.
-
Norway's oil and gas production could drop by 12,000 boepd due to lockout, strike next week
The ongoing strike of oil service workers, and the lockout announced on Friday could cause Norway's oil and?gas?production to fall by about 12,000 barrels (of oil equivalent) per day next week. The industry group that represents employers said that four mobile rigs, 5 fixed installations, and?one intervening vessel had already stopped drilling and well operations due to the strike. A lockout that occurred on Saturday morning would force around 1,000 Safe 'union members who are covered by the 'well service agreement' to stop work. Safe had announced earlier on Friday that it would withdraw 63 more workers from the 500 employees employers wanted to retain 'due to safety-critical roles. Offshore Norway said that if the strike continued, the impact could be significant, with production losses reaching?120,000 Boepd by mid-July. It added that the strike would also impact Norway's ability to deliver new wells in 2026 and maintain production plans. Reporting by Nerijus Adomiaitis and editing by Louise Rasmussen
-
Spiegel reports that Lufthansa may ground 40 jets because of fuel shortage.
Spiegel reported that Lufthansa has prepared contingency plans for a fuel shortage. This is in response to the conflict in Iran, which will have an impact on the shipments of 'energy through the Strait of Hormuz. Spiegel reported that Lufthansa's CEO, Carsten Spohr, briefed his employees on Friday at an internal event. He pointed out a dramatic worsening in the crisis. It said that the management had prepared two "contingency plans" which would allow up to 40 planes to be grounded if an emergency occurred. Spiegel reported that the grounding was not yet certain. Spohr said at the event, "Today, we've decided to define a?package. The cancellations will begin at least in July, and possibly not until winter. Early summer bookings are unlikely to be affected by the cancellations due to high booking volume. Lufthansa did not immediately respond to a comment request. (Reporting and editing by Matthias Williams, Friederike Heine and Thomas Seythal)
-
Former Italian railways chief begins 5-year prison term for 2009 disaster
Former head of Italy's State Railway Company, 72 years old, has begun a 5-year prison term for a derailment in 2009 that killed 32 people. This case highlights the issue of managerial liability and the slow pace of Italian justice. Mauro Mauretti was CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato when a train carrying goods came off its track as it passed Viareggio station in Tuscany. The cargo of liquefied gases exploded and caused a massive fire to spread throughout the station. Moretti received a seven-year prison sentence in 2017 after a long initial trial. Moretti did not serve his sentence because in Italy, sentences are rarely enforced before an appeals process has been completed. In the years that followed, Moretti's sentence was reduced to five-years and became final on Thursday. In an interview published Friday, Moretti said that "this sentence sets a horribly?dangerous precedence regarding the responsibility of managers." He said that he would be going to prison "with my head high" and "hoping that it will not be for very much time." The young man is likely to ask for an early release because of his age and will serve the majority of his sentence at home by doing "community service". Moretti was charged with "culpable rail disaster" and "culpable blaze". Courts held him accountable, as a senior executive, for failures systemic in infrastructure maintenance, safety protocols, and risk management. In 2014, he left FS to become the CEO of a state-controlled 'defence group Finmeccanica. Later renamed Leonardo. He held this position until 2017, when he was convicted of his first offense. On Monday, a court will hear the?283rd trial hearing in Genoa, regarding the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in 2018, which resulted in the death of 43 people. The?most-known defendant of the 57 is?Giovanni Castellucci who was CEO of motorway operator Atlantia during the disaster. The prosecution has requested an 18-year sentence for multiple manslaughter. He has denied all charges. (Reporting and editing by Crispi Balmer, Gavin Jones, Emilio Parodi)
-
Eyewitnesses report that a small aircraft crashed into Beijing's tallest tower.
Two bystanders said that an aircraft the size of a car crashed into Beijing’s tallest building CITIC Tower on Friday. Police closed the roads surrounding the skyscraper, and prevented passersby from filming. The?building is a 108 storey skyscraper located in Beijing's central district. The building is the headquarters for the state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group. The site was heavily policed, and some of the approach roads were closed to vehicles. The police prevented some people from taking photos and asked other to delete the ones they had taken as they ushered people away from the building. Two glass panels were damaged on a high-rise floor. No?official comments were made immediately. Beijing's Municipal Government did not respond immediately to a faxed comment request sent outside?business hours. A courier who was near the building told us that he rushed to the CITIC Tower around 6 pm local time (1100 GMT) after hearing the loud crash of an aircraft the size and shape of a car hitting the building. He said, "It was louder than fireworks." He claimed to have recorded a video showing the aircraft sticking out of the building but deleted it later because he feared being caught by the police. A second courier who spoke with me said that he had come to the site after seeing images on social media showing the wreckage of a small aircraft next to a building. Chinese social media quickly deleted Friday's posts about the building. Searching for the building name?on the Xiaohongshu App returned only Thursday posts. Around the building, dozens of police cars and fire trucks were parked. The police officer told the journalists to leave. When asked why they were leaving, the officer replied: "We know why!" Reporting by Maxim Shemetov and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Philippa Fletcher and Lewis Jackson
Fertilizer shipments start leaving through the Hormuz Strait
Data showed that after an interim agreement to end the Iran War, the Fertiliser shipments through the Strait of Hormuz began to increase. Analysts say, however, it will be some time before they return to their pre-conflict level and bring relief to the market.
Before the U.S. launched their war with Israel on February 28, a third or more of the global urea trade -- the most commonly used fertiliser in the world -- and almost half of the seaborne sulphur -- a critical input -- typically passed through the strait.
But the near-closure of the crucial waterway during most of the war sharply reduced the shipments.
According to Argus's latest analysis, since Washington and Tehran announced the agreement on June 15, 640,000 metric tonnes of sulphur, which is critical for the production of fertilisers such as diammonium phosphate (DAP), have left the strait. They are now headed for destinations like Indonesia, Morocco and Tanzania, and China. This compares with a total of 80,000 tons during the three-and-a half month war.
The latest data from CRU consultants showed that 427,000 tons (instead of 275,000) of urea have transited the Strait since the interim agreement, as compared to 275,000 tons during World War II.
After the deal, shipments of key fertilisers such as phosphates have increased. Ammonia is also a fertiliser input.
FOOD CRISIS FEARS EASE BUT NOT AS USUAL
Fertiliser costs spiked during the war, causing farmers to use less product on their crops. The prolonged closure of the Strait raised fears that it could reduce crop yields and cause a global food crisis.
Over 500 ships are currently stranded on the Gulf. While traffic has increased this week, the number of ships is still a small fraction of the 125 per day average that used to transit the waterway prior to the war.
"The trickling flows through the Strait are a great relief. The majority of the people will still be against the old sales. "They're not going provide new tonnages on the market," said Sarah Marlow. She is head of fertiliser prices at Argus.
Marlow stated that while bulk carriers are slowly leaving the Strait, empty carriers are not returning to the area to pick up new cargoes. Traders are also striking few new fertiliser deals in the region.
Analysts say that before carriers can return, they must remove many obstructions related to war. Analysts say that the waterway must be successfully demined. Shippers must feel confident about sailing in again, as well as the current vessel backlog.
The interim U.S. Iran deal must also lead to a 'permanent truce.
However, the U.N. International Maritime Organization had to pause their operation escorting vessels through the strait after a vessel reported a threat, raising new concerns about whether the agreement will hold.
Best-Case Scenario
Willis Thomas said that the volume of fertilisers through the Strait will not be back to pre-conflict level for some time. Even in the best-case scenario, August will be the earliest that we see an increase in traffic.
According to CRU there are around 600,000 tonnes of urea still stuck in the strait. Argus estimates that 300,000-400,000 tons of sulphur await exit from the waterway.
During the war,?facilities for fertiliser production in the Gulf also suffered damage and must be?repaired. Although experts claim the damage to be relatively small, it will slow down the rate that fertiliser prices can deflate.
BIMCO, a shipping association, said that the Gulf Fertilizer Production could recover to a large extent.
However, the exports of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates may remain below the pre-war level (in the short term) due to damage caused by the gas fields and refineries.
(source: Reuters)