West Africa

Sources say that three tankers were damaged in the Mediterranean last month by explosions of unknown causes.

Shipping and security sources confirmed on Wednesday that three oil tankers were damaged in separate incidents in the Mediterranean in the past month, but the cause of the explosions was unknown. These are the first incidents in which non-military ships have been damaged by blasts around the central Mediterranean for decades. One of the shipping sources reported that an explosion caused a 1-metre-deep crack below the waterline in the hull on the Greek-operated crude-oil tanker Seajewel in a port located in northern Italy, on Saturday. The same vessel was hit by a second explosion 20 minutes later without further damage.
Transport Infrastructure

After a tanker sinks, Russia's Ust-Luga Port continues to export fuel
Arrivals of cocoa from Ivory Coast are on the rise, but the quality is disappointing

The arrival of cocoa at Ivory Coast ports increased during the week ending February 2 in comparison to the previous season. However, exporters claimed on Monday that the beans were not in good condition due to inadequate storage. West African nation has increased its efforts to prevent bean smuggling into neighbouring Guinea, and Liberia, where traffickers are paying higher prices than the local farm gate price for cocoa. Exporter in Abidjan, the capital of the West African nation, said that the tightening border security makes it harder for cocoa to escape. He added that this provides an incentive to ship
Passenger Transportation Services

Mali's Barrick hardball talks are being driven by two former Barrick employees
United States opens probe into sudden motion on United Airlines flight from Nigeria

The U.S. National Transportation Security Board said on Monday it is examining a. United Airlines flight on Friday from Lagos, Nigeria to. Washington D.C., in which a sudden airplane movement caused. injuries of passengers and cabin crew. The NTSB stated the incident on United Flight 613 happened as. the Boeing 787 was flying in Ivory Coast airspace. Air travel authorities in Ivory Coast handed over the investigation to. the NTSB, which will provide a preliminary report within one month,. the company stated. United said the flight to Washington Dulles in Virginia with. 245 passengers, 3 pilots and 8 flight attendants,.
Transport Infrastructure

Ivory Coast cocoa imports increase week on week due to anti-smuggling measures

The cocoa arrivals in ports of Ivory Coast, the top cocoa producer in the world, increased sharply from the previous week in the week ending Jan. 26, as efforts to combat beans smuggling pay off. An official with the Cocoa Sector Regulator CCC announced this on Monday. Between Jan. 20-26, approximately 27,000 metric tonnes of beans were shipped to Abidjan and 25,000 to San Pedro for a combined total of 52,000 metric tons. 34,000 tonnes in Exporters' data showed that the week prior was a busy one. In the same week last season, around 53,000 tonnes of beans were delivered.
Yemen Red Sea port capacity down greatly after hostilities, UN says

Transport Infrastructure

Urals differentials the same, winter season weather weighs on shipping expenses

Urals crude differentials to dated Brent were unchanged on Monday, while bad winter season weather begun to push shipping costs for oil freights up, traders said. Delivering costs increased due to rising delays in Turkish straits, traders stated. On Monday delays for passing by means of Bosphorus and Dardanelles increased to 810 days for a oneway trip, according to Riverlake company. . Traders also expected freight rates to increase for Russian oil. filling from its northern ports amidst ice class requirements for. vessels due to upcoming difficult ice conditions. PLATTS WINDOW * No bids or deals were revealed for Urals,...

Transport Infrastructure

Ivory Coast cocoa exporters fear drop in products after poor weather condition

Multinational cocoa exporters running in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa manufacturer, fear a. drop in products from farmers in the coming months after negative. weather struck crops, raising the prospect that a few of them might. default on contracts. Up until now this season, the volume of beans getting to ports is. up 34% on the very same time in 2023-24. But last season was the. worst in a years, according to the director of a European. purchaser, speaking on condition of anonymity. If you compare arrivals to 2022, a regular season, we are. 15% below that. That means...

Transport Infrastructure

Biden's long-awaited Africa trip to tout a win versus China

Joe Biden headed to Angola on Sunday for a journey that will provide on a pledge to go to Africa during his presidency and focus on a. significant U.S.-backed railway task that intends to divert crucial. minerals far from China. The job, partially funded with a U.S. loan, links the. resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the. Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean, offering a quick. and effective path for exports to the West. At stake are vast materials of minerals like copper and. cobalt, which are discovered in Congo and are an essential element of....

Transport Infrastructure

Traders using STS transfers near Senegal to export Russian naphtha to Brazil, data shows

Traders are using shiptoship loadings near the Senegalese port of Dakar to manage Russian naphtha exports to Brazil, market sources stated and LSEG data shows. Because a complete European Union embargo on Russian oil items went into effect in February 2023, the bulk of Russia's naphtha has actually been rerouted somewhere else. Loadings to larger vessels help to accelerate tanker turnover and reduce freight costs on long routes through the Atlantic Ocean, traders stated. STS transfers have likewise end up being more appealing considering that recent Western sanctions on some foreign vessels carrying Russian oil products restricted the variety of...

Transport Infrastructure

In Mali, at least seven Russian mercenaries were killed

Site Intelligence Group said that at least seven mercenaries of the Wagner private military contractor group from Russia were killed in a central Mali attack, which was claimed by a group affiliated with al Qaeda North Africa. Wagner suffered heavy losses during a battle in July with mainly Tuareg rebels, and Islamists at the border of Mali with Algeria. This battle exposed the dangers that mercenaries who work for military juntas face in West Africa’s Sahel Region. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger struggle to contain powerful Islamic State and Al Qaeda offshoots that have occupied large swathes in the Sahel...

Transport Infrastructure

Senegal's urban cycling pattern offers possibility to improve green transport

Medical professional Philip Moreira's commute to health center on an electric bike is a hazardous, smoginfused weave through the disorderly traffic of Senegal's capital Dakar. Moreira, 58, is part of a little however budding community of city bicyclists that have ended up being a more common sight in current years, zipping around Dakar's gridlock for exercise and fun, signalling a shift in the city's transport characteristics. Biking groups have actually never ever had numerous members, and state authorities are not doing enough to turn the growing interest in bicycles into strategies to minimize blockage and carbon emissions. Moreira's club Velo...

Transport Infrastructure

Cocoa arrivals to reach 1 million tons by end-January, CCC sources state

Cocoa arrivals at ports in leading grower Ivory Coast are expected to reach 1 million metric tons by the end of January, two sources from the Coffee and Cocoa Council stated, simply short of in 2015's estimated level. Arrivals given that the start of the season on Oct. 1 at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro were up 26% year-on-year at 365,000 metric heaps by Nov. 3, exporters stated on Monday, volumes with which sources stated the marketplace regulator was satisfied. However due to the fact that of consistent rains and floods, brown rot, a. fungal disease that assaults...

Transport Infrastructure

Cocoa arrivals to reach 1 million tons by end-January, CCC sources state

New York Times service news - Oct 25

TheThe following are the leading stories on the New York Times organization pages. Reuters has not validated these stories and does not vouch for their precision. - Onion recall linked to E. Coli and McDonald's. spread to other junk food chains including Taco Bell, KFC,. Burger King and Pizza Hut, who have stopped serving onions at. various places. Federal regulators have actually not validated the. source of the break out, which has up until now eliminated a single person and. sickened 49. - Southwest Airlines will select six brand-new directors. as part of a truce with Elliott Financial investment Management,...

Rainy roads slow arrivals of cocoa at Ivory Coast ports

Exporters and buyers say that the damage caused by heavy rains in Ivory Coast’s west, southwest, and coastal regions hampers harvesting, drying, and transporting cocoa beans from ports. Six exporters, six buyers and five cooperatives said that cocoa arrivals in ports have decreased and the quality has deteriorated. Hamed Coulibaly who purchases cocoa from the regions of Duekoue Guiglo and Man said, "Since last week, we've noticed a return of heavy rains which have blocked roads and rendered village tracks completely impassable." He claimed that he had not been able yet to recover the 60 metric tonnes of the commodity...

China signs electrical power, infrastructure handle Chad and Senegal

China has signed multiple arrangements with Chad and Senegal involving jobs ranging from electrical energy and facilities to drinking water and communications technology at the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation in Beijing, the nations' presidencies said on Wednesday. The world's greatest bilateral loan provider, which is hosting 50 African nations, wants to re-align its relations with establishing economies around President Xi Jinping's brand-new mantra of little and gorgeous projects, instead of big-ticket infrastructure. Leading Chinese companies and institutions have actually signed six memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Chad in the energy, water, farming, infrastructure and defence sectors, the Main African country's...

Passenger Transportation Services

One person dead in Iowa from Lassa fever, state health department states

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Providers on Monday confirmed the death of a middleaged eastern Iowa resident from Lassa fever. The person had actually just recently returned from travel to West Africa, where it is believed the individual contracted the virus, the state health department stated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to verify the diagnosis of Lassa fever, the state health department stated. The CDC said it assesses the danger to the public to be exceptionally low. Lassa fever is a viral disease common in West Africa, however seldom seen in the United...