#British Tanker Company

[juergenfeytiat]

Das Dampfschiff „Kerman“, exFürth

Titelbild: Frachtdampfer „Kerman“, exFürth der Anglo-Persian Oil Company (ab 1954 British Petroleum, heute bp), undatiertes Foto (vermutlich aus dem Jahr 1915), Fotograf und Aufnahmeort unbekannt, eigene Sammlung Ein Bilderrätsel Dieses unscheinbare Foto habe ich neulich auf einem bekannten Marktplatz für Sammler erstanden. Es zeigt den Frachtdampfer „Kerman“. Der Name des Schiffes ist relativ…

[mossadegh]

• Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC / BP) | Archive

[zvaigzdelasas]

Tanker company Stena Bulk halted transits in the Red Sea early on Friday Central European Time, its CEO Erik Hannel told Reuters.

It is the latest tanker operator to cease traversing the key shipping corridor following an advisory from the Combined Maritime Forces to stay clear of the region after the launch of U.S. and British air strikes on Houthi forces in Yemen.

12 Jan 24

[houseofbrat]

As someone who works in PR I am ASTONISHED at how bad Kensington Palace is at all of this. It’s the most interesting part of the whole thing for me. Well that, and how much it seemingly vindicates H&M and Harry in particular in what he’s said about the firm and the media’s role in protecting the Heir at all costs.

Yeah I work in PR for a public company and anytime we want to put something out we have to run it up the chain - we need legal and Investor relations and executive approvals.

Even if KP and BP had their individual PR teams, which makes sense, there should still be one main central PR office that everyone answers to that manages the entire royal families PR, makes sure schedules and press opportunities and STRATEGY AND MESSAGING all aligns, before running up the chain for final approvals. There’d be a social team and a crisis team and government relations team and a branding team and a general “talent rep” kind of team, all working in tandem to serve the overall strategy for the royal family.

The fact that there are so many cooks in so many different kitchens is why the royal family has had so many PR disasters honestly for decades now. They’re truly doing it all wrong. So many Worst Practices here, not Best Practices.

It really doesn't seem like there is an overall PR team. Just the separate entities

Yeah and that’s the problem IMO. They are a business that should be run like a business. They should have the individual departments I suggested, and even more, working in tandem.

The fact that there are so many separate entities with different agendas and priorities is a huge part of their problem IMO.

But Charles has been transparent for the most part!! And photographed repeatedly. It’s so bizarre when compared to KP, and feels passive aggressive to me to be honest lolol.

They’re really so so so bad at this 😭😭😭😭 but the British public and the media lets them get away with it 🙃🙃🙃

For heaven’s sake. If she’s recovering nicely, why resort to recycling old photos?

Other sources are making a pretty good case for the fact that it’s a November photo, taken after Catherine and the children visited the baby bank.

Does nobody, and I mean nobody, know how to do PR in that place anymore? Now it's pin all of this on just-recovering-from-abdominal-surgery Kate? Why not on William since they were so proud about how he was the one that took the photo? Somehow they keep making everything ten times worse.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe for a second that Kate personally edited that photo together in such a way that it had to be killed as inauthentic. The pulling of the photo is likely more about the refusal to provide metadata or the raw image for proof rather than silly Photoshop choices. That isn’t an issue of “mummy going wild on the computer,” it’s a larger organizational issue about trust, transparency, and KP’s overall poor approach to news orgs and the press lately.

Why is Kate taking the fall? Why is William such a lout to let an ill Kate put this on her own shoulders rather than admit KP made an error or say KP is going to reevaluate their practices and make a change?

Are college interns running Palace p.r.? Because I cannot understand how they're botching this so badly. If Kate couldn't/wouldn't pose for a legit photo, then just don't release anything. The Royals are basically dumping tankers of gas on the inferno by playing all these games. 

Sorry, am I going insane? After saying they wouldn’t respond to these conspiracy theories, they

a) responded by putting out a doctored image,

b) responded to the backlash of doctored image by claiming the woman recovering from a medical issue was playing around in Photoshop, and

c) responded to the backlash of editing claims by putting out an image where the person in the photo is supposed to be Kate but could LITERALLY BE ANYBODY.

NONE OF YOU ARE FINDING THIS WEIRD? NONE?!

"Kate's Back"

Well, it is indeed a picture of Kate's back

Apparently the main symptom of her mysterious medical condition is that any photo with her in it immediately becomes grainy, blurry, or with people's wrists trying to escape into a fifth dimension.

Good Lord, I haven't followed a disaster story this closely since Oceangate Titan and this one may be even worse. The narrative is out of control and the rules have gone out the window.

They already lost control of the narrative at this point. No matter what they do now, they will be scrutinized more than they've ever been before. And they seem grossly unprepared for it.

She’s not even facing camera, how is this supposed to help? This just feeds the conspiracy theorists! headdesk

It's becoming a PR nightmare that only Olivia Pope can rescue.

Maybe the better question is that people are concerned about Kate's welfare, and most WERE okay with waiting under the timeline KP initially offered that is she will likely return by or after Easter.

However KP has mismanaged the messaging, and with that concern grows over how weird some of the updates are. The article explains why this medical time out is turning into an absolute PR crisis. It isn't so much about Kates right to medical privacy (she definitely deserves that )

It now is about institutional reliability, the heir William's arguably erratic or unusual behavior or his courtiers' comments, the mess with the all kill photoshopped/Frankensteined photo (which has never happened before with a palace released photo), the very different approaches from BP vs KP, etc etc. It's become bigger than Kate sad to say.

And ultimately now people are worried for her, in a way they wouldn't have been, because things have become so irregular and bungled. So the urgency to make sure she is safe and okay has become louder and more insistent.

“CNN is now reviewing all handout photos previously provided by Kensington Palace.”

“In editorial photography, photojournalists and editors commonly adjust a photograph’s exposure or color balance in order to more accurately reflect the scene. Most news organizations, including CNN, regard it as unacceptable to move, change or manipulate the pixels of an image. To do so would alter the reality of the situation the image is intended to document.”

“In the past, the family’s amateur photographs have been well received when posted on social media. But on this occasion, this photo was also released to media organizations as a handout and the palace wasn’t transparent about the fact it had been adjusted.

That will have damaged the trust between the palace and media organizations – many of which, like CNN, will likely be assessing all royal handouts. The editing storm has undermined the existing relationship and when public interest over any possible cover up escalates, as it has done recently, many news outlets will now have take that speculation more seriously.”

[mariacallous]

On March 2, she was gone. The Belize-flagged, British-owned bulk carrier Rubymar sank in the narrow water lane between the coasts of Yemen and Eritrea. The Rubymar was the first vessel that has been completely lost since the Houthis began their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea—and its demise, with 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer, spells ecological disaster. A similar substance—ammonium nitrate—caused the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut in 2020. It had been stored there after being abandoned on a vessel and authorities intervened to prevent an environmental disaster.

Because the Houthis have no regard for the environment, there are likely to be more such disasters. Indeed, groups set on destruction could also decide to attack the carbon storage facilities now beginning to be built underneath the seabed.

For two weeks after being struck by a Houthi missile in the Red Sea, the Rubymar clung to life despite listing badly. The damage caused by the missile, though, was too severe. At 2:15 a.m. local time, the Rubymar disappeared into the depths of the Red Sea. The crew had already been rescued by another merchant vessel that had come to the Rubymar’s aid, but there was no way anyone could remove its toxic cargo.

The ship’s owner had tried to get it towed to the Port of Aden—where Yemen’s internationally recognized government is based—and to Djibouti and Saudi Arabia, but citing the environmental risk posed by the ammonium phosphate sulfate, all three nations refused to receive it.

Now enormous quantities of a hazardous substance are about to spread into the Red Sea. IGAD, a trade bloc comprising countries in the Nile Valley and the Horn of Africa, points out that the Rubymar’s fertilizer cargo and leaking fuel “could devastate marine life and destroy coral reefs, sea life and jeopardize hundreds of thousands of jobs in the fishing industry as well as cut littoral states off from supplies of food and fuel.”

Not even shipping’s option of last resort, salvage companies, seems available. “The salvage companies that normally recover vessels are reluctant to go in,” said Cormac Mc Garry, a maritime expert with intelligence firm Control Risks. That’s because salvage ships and crews, too, risk being targeted by Houthi missiles. “If a salvage company knows it’s likely to be targeted, it will hesitate to take on the task. It has a duty of care for its crew,” said Svein Ringbakken, the managing director of the Norway-based maritime insurance company DNK.

It was only a matter of time before a Houthi missile brought down one of the many tankers and bulk carriers that still traverse the Red Sea every day. (In the first two months of this year, traffic through the Red Sea was down by 50 percent compared to the same period last year.) “The Houthis have no regard for life and even less for the environment,” Ringbakken said. “They shoot missiles at ships even though they know that there are humans and hazardous cargo on them.”

For years, the Houthis allowed an oil supertanker ironically named Safer that was moored off the coast of Yemen to rust away even though she was holding more than 1 million barrels of crude oil. By the beginning of last year, the Safer was close to disintegration: an event that would have cost hundreds of thousands of Yemenis their livelihoods because it would have killed enormous quantities of fish. Indeed, had the Safer’s oil leaked, it would even have forced the Houthi-controlled ports of Hudaydah and Saleef to close, thus preventing ordinary Yemenis from receiving food and other necessities.

It would, of course, also have caused permanent damage to all manner of marine life, including coral reefs and mangroves, in the Red Sea. Then the United Nations pulled off an almost impossible feat: It got Yemen’s warring factions, international agencies, and companies to work together to transfer the oil off the Safer. Disaster was averted. “It was a massive undertaking,” Ringbakken noted. “But for years and years and years, the Houthis were adding impediments against this undertaking, even though the Safer was sitting just off the Yemeni coast.”

Indeed, maritime terrorism itself is not new. “Besides guerrillas and terrorists, attacks have been carried out by modern day pirates, ordinary criminals, fanatic environmentalists, mutinous crews, hostile workers, and foreign agents. The spectrum of actions is equally broad: ships hijacked, destroyed by mines and bombs, attacks with bazookas, sunk under mysterious circumstances; cargos removed; crews taken hostage; extortion plots against ocean liners and offshore platforms; raids on port facilities; attempts to board oil rigs; sabotage at shipyards and terminal facilities; even a plot to steal a nuclear submarine,” researchers at RAND summarized—in 1983.

Now, though, the Houthis have upped the nihilism, and unlike the guerrillas, terrorists, and pirates of the 1980s, they have the weaponry to cause an ocean-going vessel to sink. The joint U.S.-U.K. military operation against the Houthis has failed to deter the Iranian-backed militia’s attacks; indeed, not even air strikes by U.S. and U.K. forces have convinced the Houthis that it’s time to stop. On the contrary, they’re escalating their attacks. They do so because they’re completely unconcerned about loss of life within their ranks or harm to their own waters.

It’s giving them a global platform. That, in turn, is likely to encourage other militias to also attack ships carrying toxic substances—even if it ruins their own waters. The local population is hardly in a position to hold a militia accountable. Indeed, militias interested in maritime terrorism could decide that the world’s growing sea-based infrastructure is an attractive target. And there’s a new form of sea-based infrastructure they could decide to make a preferred target, not just because it’s set for explosive growth but because attacking it would guarantee a global platform: CO2 storage.

With the world having failed to reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions enough to halt climate change, CO2 storage has become an urgent priority. Through this technique, carbon dioxide can be captured and buried underground, typically underneath the ocean. Norway has, for example, begun auctioning out licenses for CO2 storage exploration on its continental shelf. So has Britain. The United States has 15 carbon-storage sites, and another 121 are being developed. Even Big Oil has discovered carbon storage. ExxonMobil is buying offshore blocks to use for carbon storage instead of oil drilling.

Carbon storage sites are, of course, designed to withstand both natural perils and man-made attacks, but that won’t prevent destructive groups—especially ones backed by a powerful state—from trying. And because groups like the Houthis are so unconcerned about all forms of life, it won’t matter to them that releasing concentrated CO2 would cause extreme harm to the planet—including themselves. Even a tiny carbon-storage leakage of 0.1 percent per year can lead to additional CO2 emissions of 25 giga-tonnes, researchers have established.

Until recently, sea-based infrastructure was only lightly guarded, because it was in everyone’s interest that it worked. The sabotage of Nord Stream and various other pipelines and undersea cables over the past two years have demonstrated that such peacefulness can no longer be taken for granted. The new CO2 sites will need not just AI-enhanced monitoring but regular patrolling to communicate to potential attackers that it’s not even worth attempting an attack.

And for now, attacking merchant vessels remains a promising and economical strategy for the Houthis and their ilk. It doesn’t seem to matter that ammonium phosphate sulfate will soon be poisoning Yemeni waters and thus depriving locals of their livelihoods. Indeed, other bulk carriers and tankers may soon join the Rubymar on the bottom of the sea, poisoning the future for even more Yemenis.

For the Houthis, what matters is not the outcome: It’s the attention. That’s what makes them such a vexing problem for the U.S. Navy and other navies, shipowners, maritime insurers, and especially for seafarers. But there is another group that should be just as worried about the rampant insecurity on the high seas: ocean conservationists.

There is, in fact, a woman with an unsurpassed green platform who could make the growing scourge of maritime terrorism her new cause. (Nearly) everyone would thank you, Greta.

[operation-priority]

Tankiste Operating Inside the Tank

This is an impression of a French tank crewman operating inside their tank. One may see this uniform on tankiste when in their vehicles during battle. The iconic leather 'Veste en Cuir' can be seen, similar to the coats worn by the Paris Fire Brigade. These coats were mainly issued to motorists and tank crews, however its fire-resistant qualities meant that flamethrower troops also wore them into battle. Many variants of this coat exist and the model shown here is a standard double-breasted version with a leather collar and left breast pocket. Other more common examples would feature a felt collar. The black coat was worn over the light blue tunic as its color masks the constant bombardment of vehicle oil and grease the tankiste would attract when operating inside their vehicle. Burn resistant gloves can be worn as well, mainly used to handle hot extracted shells from the tank's guns.

What is truly unique to the tankiste uniform of the Great War is the tank crew splatter mask, seen looped around the neck and worn. When bullets and other projectiles impacted the outside of the tank, the shock of these objects would sometimes cause the armor to spall on the inside. Flakes of armor would fly off inside the tank and depending on the impact strength and size of the spall, could cause irritation, wounds, or even death to the crew. By far the number one leading cause of injury in the tanks was head injuries. Because of this, the British would design a splatter mask that protected the wearer from medium to small sized armor spalling and burns. The masks consists of a steel faceplate perforated with horizontal slits with a nosepiece and chain mail covering the lower face. The faceplate is covered by brown leather on the outside and chamois leather on the inside. The mask is fastened to the face using four canvas ribbons.

The AS would obtain the masks through American officers who had trained with the British tankers and 1,840 masks would be first issued to crews of the Schneider CA and Saint-Chamond tanks in May 1918. The first three light tank companies’ part of 501e RAS named AS 301, AS 302, and AS 303 would also be entrusted to test the splatter mask in real battle conditions in late 1918. While the mask was effective in protecting the crew's face from spalling, many would opt to not wear it in order to maintain unobstructed visibility when inside the tank. This is an original example which I am incredibly happy to have as they are quite rare nowadays.

Another unique piece of kit for the tankiste was their Adrian helmets - or more specifically the modifications the tankiste would perform to them. As the Artillerie Spéciale was considered to be part of the regular artillery, the tankiste were issued standard Casque Adrian Modèle 1915 with the artillery badge of a flaming bomb over two crossed cannons. The front brim of the standard Adrian helmet did not allow the tankiste to get decent visibility through the 5 mm wide vision slits on the tank, so the tankiste would cut off the front brim to allow for closer viewing. Some modified helmets would have makeshift padding of either cloth or leather on the front of them. Others just folded over a few millimeters of the brim so the sharp edge of the cut was not exposed. The modifications would begin to be seen in late 1917 and was widespread among the crews by late 1918. It would spread naturally through the tankiste in the field and by the time that Generals had taken note of the unauthorized modifications, they would have already seen the combat improvements this modification would give the crews and allowed for it to be done. This helmet features the second model liner with six teeth and four corrugated aluminum spacers which reduce helmet wobble. The leather helmet liner was fixed onto the Adrian helmet through the use of two spikes on each side which puncture the scrap wool outer panel on the liner and are then folded over to secure the liner to the helmet.

Also pictured is a pair of civilian racing binoculars. It was up to the tank commander on whether they wanted to purchase a pair of binoculars for use in the tank. There were several options available at the time, both within military bazaars and within the civilian realm. Soldiers equipped with basic civilian binoculars was not an uncommon sight.

We also see the use of a flare pistol, specifically a Pistolet Géant pattern flare pistol designed by Manufrance before the war. As a tankiste within the Artillerie Spéciale, a flare pistol such as this would be used to signal supporting friendly artillery to lay down smoke shells to mask the tank's movement during attack. Each tank was, in theory, provided a flare pistol for this purpose. Smoke was important for masking the movement of the tanks during the attack because the tanks main threat apart from mines was accurate German artillery fire. There were several methods the AS would use to prevent German guns from being able to engage the tanks such as having an aircraft that would accompany the advance of the tanks. This aircraft was mainly tasked with directing counter-battery fire on enemy artillery. A further six fighter aircraft would be attached to protect this plane from responding enemy aircraft.

[carrickbender]

Sunday 7:

1. Thank you all for the birthday love. It was kind of yall, really, and I can't express how much I appreciate it. Sometimes the universe throws out nice little threads for us to cling to, and those have been mine.

2. My mom keeps giving me updates on the fires in the interior of British Columbia, and it's not good. Its been interesting to read and listen to CBC news too, as they don't mince words when it comes to climate change and the exacerbated effects that have occurred thanks to the forest practices of both fire suppression and species replanting/forest management by big timber. They did note that in the area of Ft McMurray fires in 2016, areas that were planted in species like aspen which are harder to burn, went up like matchsticks due to the intensity of the blaze. Deny all you want, you can't put CO2 into the atmosphere at high volumes and expect everything to be just hunky dory. It doesn't take a scientist to see how small changes have huge effects. This was the smoke here tonight...

3. Anyhow, I got up, got buggy going, cleaned the kitchen/did dishes, cleaned out cupboards, did 2 loads of laundry, went to the store/got gas, came home, mowed the lawn, and I just finished my 1st FEMA incident command course(I have 2 more to do). I mean, this is how stoping for a break is ok, right?

4. Here's hoping that @causticgrip @pandoranora2019 Andi and Becca(sorry if I forgot people and blog names, I'm apparently awful with that...) are staying dry tonight in CA. I was fascinated to see the 'hurricane local statement' for LA, something they've never done before.

But you know, there's a first for everything! #just climate change things

5. I start my 'bridge' job tomorrow, and I'll be doing it for a couple weeks. There will be a shift for NRC on stand-by for a tanker and 2 more ICS exams through FEMA, then I start with the new company on the 5th. To be honest, send good thoughts that my old job at the mill calls me back. We have been hearing things for months, and while I'm excited for the new job, it's a really big pay cut. And while we can kinda make it work for a while, financially I can't do it long term(no matter how much it would totally give me my juice doing it!). So fingers crossed that this will all pan out. To be honest, I can't work any harder and do 'more'. Some days it feels like I'm just looking for a better condiment for this shit sandwich, you know?

6. And to be fair, it's well represented in my mental health lately. It's not good. But I keep going, eventhough I feel hollow and just stupid. Like, why can't I find some way to take a compliment? Why can't I figure out how to find some value in me, in what I do, in who I am, and maybe just live a few days without feeling horrible? I just don't know what to do... anyhow, enough of my bullshit. It's nothing new. But I feel more on edge than I ever have, ever.

7. Anyhow, thanks for reading. You all are lovely for listening to my crap. To be honest, I'm kinda on my own, but you all make me feel much less so. Much love to you all, and please stay safe. Much love!!!

[brexiiton]

Yemen strikes: Houthis hit US-owned ship after 'terror' designation

By Matt Murphy, BBC News, Washington

Yemen's Houthis have targeted a US-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden after Washington said it will re-designate the group as "global terrorists".

The group said they hit the "Genco Picardy" bulk carrier with missiles which resulted in a "direct hit".

The US military says the vessel was hit by a drone on Wednesday evening.

Washington's new designation of the Houthis will require US financial institutions to freeze Houthi funds and its members will be banned from the US.

The Houthi attacks in the Gulf of Aden and neighbouring Red Sea are a response to Israel's military operation in Gaza.

Earlier this month, the UK and US launched air strikes on dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen in an attempt to stop the group from targeting vessels in the waters.

On Wednesday evening, a Houthi spokesperson said the group had successfully targeted the Genco Picardy, and that the attack was a response to "the American-British aggression against our country".

The US military said the ship was hit by a drone launched from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen. It said there was some damage but no injuries, and the vessel remained seaworthy.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the re-designation of the Houthis as "global terrorists" is in response to the Iran-backed group's attacks on commercial shipping in the region.

The move to re-designate the Houthis reverses Secretary of State Antony Blinken's 2021 decision to remove the rebels from the US Specially Designated Global Terrorist Like (SDGT).

In a statement, Mr Sullivan said the recent Houthi attacks "fit the textbook definition of terrorism", as they have put US personnel in danger and jeopardized global trade operations.

"If the Houthis cease their attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the United States will immediately re-evaluate this designation," Mr Sullivan added.

In the waning days off the Trump administration officials imposed the SDGT and foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) labels on the Houthis.

The action was taken despite warnings from the UN and aid groups that it could push-war-torn Yemen into a large-scale famine.

But in 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden's inauguration, that decision was reversed by Mr Blinken, the newly installed Secretary of State. He cited the dire humanitarian situation faced by the people of Yemen.

"It was the correct step to revoke," one official said, arguing that it was a move taken in "recognition of a very dire humanitarian situation" in the country and to ensure that "US policies weren't impeding" civilians' access to urgent aid.

But they accepted that the Houthis' campaign of attacks on commercial shipping, which has now seen dozens of missiles fired at vessels in the Red Sea, has become "unacceptable".

The new SDGT designation will also bar people and companies in the US from offering any support to the Houthis.

However, officials were keen to emphasise that a range of exemptions will be worked into the new designation to ensure humanitarian aid continues to flow into Yemen, a country devastated by almost a decade of civil war.

"We are rolling out unprecedented carve outs and licenses to help prevent adverse impacts on the Yemeni people," said Mr Sullivan in his statement. "The people of Yemen should not pay the price for the actions of the Houthis."

The Houthis began attacking merchant vessels in November, saying they were responding to Israel's military operation in Gaza. Since then, the group has launched dozens of attacks on commercial tankers passing through the Red Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

In response, the US and UK launched a wave of air strikes against dozens of Houthi targets on 11 January. The strikes - supported by Australia, Bahrain, the Netherlands and Canada - began after Houthi forces ignored an ultimatum to cease their attacks in the region.

Biden administration officials denied that the new terrorist designation was an acceptance that the air campaign may not deter further Houthi attacks.

"We see these sanctions as one piece of a broader effort to bring the Houthis back from the terror attacks they are currently committing," one official said. "Our sanctions are best not seen in isolation but as part of a broader effort."

In the wake of last week's strikes, the Houthis said the US and UK would "soon realise" the action was "the greatest folly in their history".

"America and Britain made a mistake in launching the war on Yemen because they did not benefit from their previous experiences," senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti wrote on social media.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that escalated in 2015, when the Houthis seized control of large parts of the west of the country from the internationally recognised government and a Saudi-led coalition intervened in an effort to restore its rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 160,000 people dead and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with two thirds of the population - 21 million people - in need of some form of aid.

[georgefairbrother]

On May 26th, 1950, petrol rationing in Britain came to an end, following an international trade deal involving the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and the California Texas Oil Company, both of which agreed to accept payment in Sterling (a key factor as Britain suffered a severe shortage of liquidity in US dollars), and to re-invest the profits in British equipment, services and oil tankers.

Petrol rationing had been imposed at the onset of World War II in September 1939, but by five years after the war, its continuation was controversial, and opposed by the Tory Opposition. It became an election issue in 1950, at which time the Labour government just clung on by a whisker.

Following the end of rationing, the government predicted an increase in fuel consumption of one million tons a year, about 430,000 tons to be supplied by the US firms, the rest from newly expanded refineries in Britain. 

[head-post]

Yemeni Houthis sink the first British merchant ship in the Red Sea

Yemen’s Houthi movement has sunk a ship in the Red Sea for the first time – the British cargo ship Rubymar. Previously, the Houthis only damaged tankers and container ships of Western companies.

On Monday, rebel spokesman Yahya Saria said on his page in the social network X that on Sunday the Houthis struck the Rubymar ship in the Gulf of Aden. He emphasised that the ship suffered catastrophic damage and could sink. The crew was not injured and safely left the board, he specified. On the same day, a video of the Rubymar sinking appeared in social networks.

Earlier on Sunday, the Houthis attacked another ship. The British oil tanker Pollux in the Red Sea came under missile attack.

Read more HERE

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.13 (after 1940)

1942 – Henry Ford patents a soybean car, which is 30% lighter than a regular car. 1942 – World War II: First use of an aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter. 1950 – British submarine HMS Truculent collides with an oil tanker in the Thames Estuary, killing 64 men. 1950 – Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. 1951 – First Indochina War: The Battle of Vĩnh Yên begins. 1953 – An article appears in Pravda accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership. 1958 – The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera. 1963 – Coup d'état in Togo results in the assassination of president Sylvanus Olympio. 1964 – Anti-Muslim riots break out in Calcutta, in response to anti-Hindu riots in East Pakistan. About one hundred people are killed. 1964 – In Manchester, New Hampshire, fourteen-year-old Pamela Mason is murdered. Edward Coolidge is tried and convicted of the crime, but the conviction is set aside by the landmark Fourth Amendment case Coolidge v. New Hampshire (1971). 1966 – Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member when he is appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 1968 – Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison. 1972 – Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong. 1977 – Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045, a Douglas DC-8 jet, crashes onto the runway during takeoff from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, killing five. 1978 – United States Food and Drug Administration requires all blood donations to be labeled "paid" or "volunteer" donors. 1982 – Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet, crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists. 1985 – A passenger train plunges into a ravine in Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa. 1986 – A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties. 1988 – Lee Teng-hui becomes the first native Taiwanese President of the Republic of China. 1990 – Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office as Governor of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. 1991 – Soviet Union troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius, killing 14 people and wounding around 1,000 others. 1993 – Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center. 1993 – The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is signed. 1993 – Operation Southern Watch: U.S.A.F., U.S.N., R.A.F. and French Air Force jets attack AAA and SAM sites in Southern Iraq. 1998 – Alfredo Ormando sets himself on fire in St. Peter's Square, protesting against homophobia. 2000 – A Short 360 aircraft chartered by the Sirte Oil Company crashes off the coast of Brega, Libya, killing 21. 2001 – An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800. 2012 – The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sinks off the coast of Italy due to the captain Francesco Schettino's negligence and irresponsibility. There are 32 confirmed deaths. 2018 – A false emergency alert warning of an impending missile strike in Hawaii causes widespread panic in the state. 2020 – The Thai Ministry of Public Health confirms the first case of COVID-19 outside China. 2021 – Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump is impeached for a second time on a charge of incitement of insurrection following the January 6 United States Capitol attack one week prior.

[amirblogerov]

The US continues to steal Syria's resources

Washington, having occupied Syrian territory, extracts and steals Syrian oil. The so-called International Anti-Terrorism Coalition takes advantage of the fact that it controls cross-border crossings with Iraq, where it exports Syrian oil in the interests of transnational mining companies.

Columns of oil tankers, day and night, stretch in a line from the Syrian oil fields of Trans-Euphrates towards the border with Iraq, and then to oil refineries owned by British and American companies that feel comfortable in the tax-free zone of Western-occupied Iraq, free of production restrictions.

[zvaigzdelasas]

United States Navy ships fired on a Houthi anti-ship missile in Yemen hours after a tanker operated on behalf of trading giant Trafigura Group carrying a cargo of Russian fuel was hit in the most significant attack yet by the rebel group on an oil-carrying vessel.[...]

The vessel was carrying Russian-origin naphtha — a product used to make plastics and gasoline — purchased below the price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations, a Trafigura spokesperson said Friday.[...]

Vast amounts of Russian petroleum now pass through the southern Red Sea to reach Asian buyers following Europe’s shunning of its cargoes due to the war in Ukraine. [...]

The vessel collected its Russia-origin cargo via a so-called ship-to-ship transfer from a stretch of water in the Laconian Gulf in southern Greece, according to data from analytics firm Kpler. The area has been pivotal in helping Russia to get its petroleum to the global market and, as well as handling supplies under the price cap, has also facilitated more shadowy trades. Trafigura, along with other commodity traders like Glencore Plc, Vitol Group and Gunvor Group, was one of the biggest lifters of oil from Russia before the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and was a partner in a major oil project run by state producer Rosneft PJSC.

The operator of the Marlin Luanda is registered as being Oceonix Services Ltd, a UK registered company.[...]

In a statement, a Houthi spokesperson claimed the Marlin Luanda was a British ship and was targeted in response to "American-British aggression against our country".

US now securing UK-owned shipments of Russian petroleum products under the g7 price cap to help sustain Israel's genocide [26 Jan 24]

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The Houthis target a Norwegian oil ship in Bab al-Mandab, and Israel requests the mediation of Egypt and Qatar to stop the Gaza war.

Updates on the Al-Aqsa Flood operation presented in this episode of Samri Channel. Starting with the US Central Command, Centcom, which said that a missile fired by the Houthis hit an oil tanker flying the Norwegian flag while it was sailing off Yemen, noting that there were no immediate reports of casualties as a result of this strike, according to what Agence France-Presse reported. “Centcom” said in a post on the “X” platform that the oil tanker “Strinda” was hit by a winged missile launched from Yemen from an area controlled by the Houthis, noting that the ship reported “damage that caused a fire on board,” and confirmed that a destroyer A US Navy ship answered a distress call from the ship and provided it with a helping hand.

Winkel Chemical Tankers, the company that owns the Norwegian chemical tanker that was hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen, told Reuters today that the tanker is now heading to a safe port. The head of the "Minkel" company explained that the crew of the tanker "Strenda" consisted of 22 people from India, and none of them were injured.

 The Houthis announced today that they had carried out a military operation targeting the commercial tanker “Strinda”, which flies the Norwegian flag. The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a statement broadcast on television that the group targeted the tanker with a naval missile after its crew refused to respond to warning calls. He added that the group "succeeded during the past two days in preventing the passage of several ships that responded to the warnings of the Yemeni naval forces, and did not resort to targeting the Norwegian ship loaded with oil except after its crew rejected all warning calls."

The group renewed its pledge that it will continue to prevent all ships of all nationalities from heading to Israeli ports “until they bring in the food and medicine people need in the Gaza Strip.” In turn, the British Navy's Maritime Trade Operations Authority said today that it had received a report stating that an entity identifying itself as the "Yemeni Navy" directed a ship to change its course to a Yemeni port. Yesterday, the authority said that it had received a report indicating that an attack had occurred targeting a ship near Bab al-Mandab, off the coast of Yemen, and that it had caught fire.

She added in a statement on the “X” platform that the authorities are investigating the attack that occurred in the Red Sea, and that all members of the ship’s crew are fine, calling on all ships in the region to be cautious and to inform them if any suspicious activity is detected, according to what was reported by the Arab World News Agency. In another context, the exchange of rockets and missiles continued between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel, against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.

A Sky News Arabia correspondent reported that missiles were launched from the western sector of southern Lebanon towards Israel, speaking of "sounds of interceptor missiles exploding in the air." On the other hand, the Israeli army said that “the artillery force responded to the sources of the launch of at least 6 rockets from Lebanon towards northern Israel.”

The Israeli army announced a bombing from Lebanon towards northern Israel on Sunday night, and said in a statement that it “responded by targeting the source of the bombing.” The army added: “Earlier on Sunday, we bombed a terrorist cell belonging to Hezbollah.” Hezbollah entered the ongoing war. In the Gaza Strip shortly after its outbreak, where the Israeli army exchanged cross-border shells and missiles on a daily basis.

#Egypt #Palestine #Yemen

[mariacallous]

The United States banned Russian crude oil imports months ago, and Russian ships are banned from U.S., British, and EU ports. On Dec. 5, the European Union’s sanctions on Russian crude come into effect. But Greek and other European shipping companies are currently—and legally—helping Russian exporters get their oil to the desired destination.

What’s more, a growing ghost fleet of ships that officially don’t exist and cannot, as a result, be traced or investigated is transporting sanctioned Russian goods around the world, just as it was already transporting banned Iranian, Venezuelan, and North Korean commodities. The ghost fleet is likely to grow as the EU’s oil sanctions kick in. That seriously undermines the sanctions—and creates risks on the high seas.

In May, Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which monitors global shipping, began noticing an odd pattern at the Russian ports of Ust-Luga, Primorsk, Novorossiysk, and St. Petersburg. Of the 204 large tankers departing the ports between the 1st and the 26th of that month, 58 belonged to Sovcomflot, the Russian shipping giant. But many more of the oil tankers—79—were Greek owned. “A vast increase in voyages to India, Turkey and China indicate where the cargo, normally bound for North America and Western Europe, is now going,” Lloyd’s noted in a subsequent report.

During the same month, the research outfit observed seven other large oil tankers leaving the waters off the Greek city of Kalamata and the Maltese cities of Marsaxlokk and Marsaskala and then heading to India, China, and the United Arab Emirates. They had been loaded with Russian oil by smaller tankers traveling from the Black Sea ports of Novorossiysk, Tuapse, and Taman, Lloyd’s found. Greek vessels and ports are, in other words, helping Russia export its oil.

But, as Richard Meade of Lloyd’s List Intelligence pointed out, “there’s nothing illegal about what the Greek ports and shipping companies are doing. It’s just a shift in trade due to restrictions, and the Greek companies are not doing it in a clandestine way. But when the rules change, they won’t be able to do what they’re doing today.” That change will occur on Dec. 5, when the EU’s ban on Russian crude comes into effect, and Feb. 5, when its ban on refined Russian petroleum products does so.

Although the EU banned Russian vessels at the end of May, Russian oil can still be delivered to the EU on tankers owned or flagged in other countries. This appears to be where Greece’s large shipping industry has spotted an opportunity. Indeed, the fact that traders are now rushing to fill up on Russian oil suggests that the time lapse between the planned-sanctions announcement in October and their coming into effect may have turned into a grace period for companies and countries wanting a bit more of the black gold.

“What the Greek tonnage is transporting is oil that has been already contracted and is fully approved by the EU. … It’s something that our countries desperately need,” Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis told the industry publication TradeWinds in July, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a Greek economic conference that Greek shipping companies were “providing almost the largest tanker fleet for the transportation of Russian oil.” But now that grace period is closing. On Nov. 21, the U.S. government announced that it too will ban the maritime transport of Russian crude from Dec. 5. U.K. sanctions on Russian oil and oil products also come into effect on that date.

Those bans, though, are likely to accelerate another growing maritime trend: illegal shipping by vessels that officially don’t exist. In recent years, a whole new fleet of ghost vessels has joined the world’s official fleet of vessels. Unlike the officially existing vessels—which are registered in a flag state (most often Panama, Liberia, or the Marshall Islands), have an International Maritime Organization (IMO) tracking number, and are covered by commercial insurance—the ghost vessels are not registered with a flag state or the IMO and don’t have commercial insurance.

That puts them in a different category from the Greek tankers, which are shipping Russian oil in the very public manner in which most shipping is conducted. Such vessels are registered with a flag state and the IMO; their owners, managers, and crews are documented; and they’re commercially insured. The shadow vessels, by contrast, officially don’t exist.

To further hide their existence, they frequently turn off their AIS—the maritime equivalent of GPS—so authorities that might want to monitor them can’t see them. “What we’ve got today is a subterfuge fleet operating internationally, about 200 vessels, with very little oversight from international bodies, with an infrastructure that supports it,” Meade told me.

“Today we’re seeing new shipping companies being created in the same way we saw after Iranian, Venezuelan, North Korean sanctions. Back when sanctions were first imposed on Iran, vessels would turn off their AIS and go dark, then turn up somewhere else, and that has evolved to where we are today.” Indeed, every time new sanctions are imposed, crafty parts of the shipping industry find ways to evade them.

Today’s ghost fleet is three times larger than its estimated size only nine months ago. The IMO has even discovered fake flag authorities. In 2019, it documented 73 vessels sailing under the registration of a flag authority that was fraudulently claiming to represent the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 91 vessels registered to such an authority claiming to represent Fiji; and 150 to an alleged Micronesian one.

The existence of a ghost fleet traversing the world’s oceans poses an obvious safety risk to global shipping—and an acute headache for Western governments. “If you look at Iran, despite the massive international sanctions, goods are coming in and out of the country,” Cormac Mc Garry, a maritime analyst with risk consultancy Control Risks, told me. “And it’s no surprise that many countries are not bothering to investigate the vessels coming into their ports.” It may, in fact, be in their interest to look the other way regarding both ghost-fleet vessels and legally operating shipping companies that may be transporting sanctioned goods.

“Sanctions only work to the extent companies are willing to abide by them,” Mc Garry said. “Half the world doesn’t really care about Western sanctions against Russia. And sanctions are extremely difficult to enforce.”

Even though insurers are extremely sensitive to sanctions violations among their clients, they can’t investigate every ship covered by their policies. To be sure, underwriters could demand that shipping companies and cargo providers prove that they do business with only nonsanctioned partners—but dishonorable outfits will simply disappear into the shadow economy. What’s more, many countries depend on trade with a sanctioned country, and because ghost ships’ cargo is cheaper than legally shipped cargo, it’s sold cheaply. As Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Russia have established, there are always countries willing to buy sanctioned goods at a reduced price.

The ghost fleet, though, can’t get commercial insurance, and no maritime outfit will individually take on the considerable risk involved in operating a ghost ship carrying hazardous cargo like oil. But sanctioned countries’ governments have thought up a solution for that: These days they often provide the insurance for official vessels willing to transport their goods, and perhaps for ghost ships too—though given that ghost ships officially don’t exist, it’s difficult to know their insurance status.

“Iran has effectively developed P&I [shipping property and indemnity] insurance,” Meade said. “Now Russia is doing the same thing.” In June, the Russian National Reinsurance Company reportedly began insuring official Russian ships after Western insurers canceled coverage in response to U.S. and European sanctions.

This month, a Djibouti-flagged tanker ran aground off the coast of Indonesia, carrying 284,000 metric tons of crude—and turned out to be a vessel long suspected of transporting cargo to and from Iran. It’s safe to assume it had Iranian government P&I insurance.

But shipping companies can’t just moonlight for the Russians, the Iranians, or the Venezuelans. Because P&I insurance policies run over a one-year period, shipping companies must decide whether to be part of the commercially insured fleet that complies with Western sanctions, or to ship goods sanctioned by the West to countries without such sanctions, under insurance provided by the Russian or the Iranian government. The ghost fleet, meanwhile, doesn’t have to bother with any rules—but it also has no legal protection.

The Greek shipping companies making a quick buck on Russian crude have only a couple of weeks until the EU and U.S. bans on crude come into effect. Morally, Greece’s large shipping industry ought never to have entered into the unusual collaboration. Indeed, Greek ships are known to have violated sanctions before. On Aug. 29, after the EU’s sanction on Russian coal had come into force, the Greek-managed vessel Stavros was sighted loading 53,000 tons of coal at a Russian port. A couple of months earlier, two leading Greek shipowners criticized the EU’s sanctions against Russia, calling them ineffective and arguing that they were harming the EU more than Russia.

Had Greece’s government been more committed to the sanctions, it could have pleaded with the firms not to enable Russia. Then again, assisting Russia with its oil exportation will be illegal after Dec. 5. Will some of the Greek firms keep doing it anyway? And how many ships around the world will disappear into the ghost fleet? With governments unlikely to catch the offenders, it’s a good thing that journalists and NGOs are keeping a watchful eye.

[anika-2706]

Compendious Analysis Of International Trading In India With Reference To Shipping And Paraphernalia Involved

INTRODUCTION:

An important factor in determining a nation's economy and place in the world is international trade. India, which has a long history of trade, is a significant player in the world trading scene. With a focus on the crucial elements of shipping and the associated accouterments, this blog will provide a thorough overview of international trade in India.

THE HISTORICAL VIEW POINT:

India has a long history of trading, having served as a center for the trade of textiles, spices, and other goods throughout antiquity. The dynamics of the country's trade substantially changed with the arrival of colonialism, with the British East India Company dominating India's exports and imports. India started its journey toward a more diversified and independent commerce environment in 1947, the year it attained independence.

The SIGNIFICANCE OF FOREIGN TRADE TO INDIA:

Indian economic development and growth depend largely on international commerce. These are some of the main explanations:

Economic Growth: Foreign trade makes a major contribution to India's GDP,india international shipping promoting economic expansion and job possibilities.

Access to Resources: Trade enables India to get access to vital resources like technology, minerals, and oil that are not widely distributed in its own territory.

Market Expansion: It helps Indian enterprises to broaden their customer bases and enter international markets.

Exports produce foreign exchange revenues, which are essential for preserving a steady external trade balance.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHIPMENTS:

Shipping is the foundation of global trade, particularly for a nation like Indiadoor to door courier service with a long coastline. India has a sizable merchant class.

Ports: A sizable amount of India's foreign commerce is handled through its main ports, including Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. These ports have excellent  contemporary infrastructure that makes cargo handling simple and effective.

Cargo ships, container ships, and tankers make up India's commercial fleet, which carries cargo to and from the nation. Enhancing India's commercial capacities has been made possible in large part by the development and modernisation of the fleet.

Coastal shipping is becoming more popular since it provides a practical and environmentally beneficial means of transportation for local businesses. Both the expense of transportation and traffic congestion have decreased.

EQUIPMENTS USED IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE:

International trading needs a variety of supporting elements, from pick up and delivery services paperwork to logistics:

Documentation: Invoices, bills, and other forms of documentation are required for both exporters and importers.

Customs clearance: By determining tariffs, checking documents, and assuring adherence to trade rules, customs officials play a critical role in monitoring and regulating international commerce.

Logistics: Effective logistics management is essential to international trade because it guarantees that items get at their destination quickly and affordably. Transportation, warehousing, and inventory control are all included in this.

commerce Agreements: The terms and circumstances of international commerce are influenced by the various bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, including the WTO and FTAs, that India has signed.

Conclusion:

India's complicated international trade ecosystem includes ships, infrastructure, and many ancillaries.deliver luggage It is a vibrant and constantly changing industry that continues to influence India's economic development and international standing. As a result of a dedication to modernisation, enhanced infrastructure, and a strategic approach to international trade.