Since the Russian invasion began in 2022, Ukraine has successfully resisted its opponents on many fronts, but its most surprising success came in a theater where few expected Ukraine to prevail: the Black Sea.In 2022, the consensus among military analysts was that Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s military would most likely crush Ukrainian forces in the air, on land and at sea.
As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline.No one reached them in time. The pirates clambered aboard the Abdullah, firing warning shots and taking the captain and second officer hostage
Somali police and international navies were preparing on Monday to attack a commercial ship that was hijacked by pirates last week, the Puntland region's police force said, two days after Indian commandos rescued another cargo vessel held by pirates.The MV Abdullah was hijacked off the coast of Somalia last week
Grain ships originating from the Black Sea or bound for Iran are about the only ones still sailing through the Red Sea as Houthi militants continue to attack vessels in the area, analysts said on Friday.The attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis have disrupted global shipping since November and forced firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
A cargo ship abandoned four days ago in the Gulf of Aden after it was hit by missiles fired by Yemen's Houthis is still floating despite taking in water, and could be towed to nearby Djibouti, industry sources said on Wednesday.Shipping risks have escalated due to repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait by the Iran-aligned Houthis since November. U.S.
Six crew members of a Sri Lankan fishing trawler hijacked by suspected Somali pirates have been rescued, Sri Lankan officials said on Monday.The hijacking on Sunday was the latest in a series of attacks that have fueled fears of a resurgence of Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea waters after years without a successful raid.
A Panama-flagged bulk carrier that was headed to a River Danube port to load grain has hit a mine in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian military said on Thursday.It was the latest incident of a civilian vessel hitting an explosive in the Black Sea in what Kyiv says is stepped-up Russian attacks on shipping and port infrastructure.
China will on Friday conduct sea trials for its first ocean research drilling vessel, capable of drilling at depths of more than 10,000 meters (32,800 feet), a key step towards beefing up the country's deep-sea oil and gas exploration capabilities.It is China's first vessel capable of ultra-deepwater research and drilling, Chinese state media reported on Monday.
Two Chinese icebreaker research vessels and a cargo ship set sail on Wednesday for the Antarctic with more than 460 personnel on board to help complete construction of China's fifth station on the world's southernmost continent.China's biggest flotilla of research vessels deployed to the Antarctic will focus on building the station on the rocky, windswept Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea
A Turkish-flagged general cargo ship hit a mine on Thursday in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania and sustained minor damage but the crew was safe, maritime and security sources said.British maritime security company Ambrey, citing information it received, said the ship struck a sea mine 11 nautical miles north of Sulina in Romania, near the entrance to the Sulina Canal.
Insurance companies have notified charterers of ships operating in Russia's Black Sea ports of an increase in additional payments known as "war risk premiums", four traders said.A war risk premium was added to the common insurance costs for tankers last year after the start of Russia's military action in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a special military operation.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Friday that its Black Sea Fleet had practised firing rockets at surface targets in a live fire exercise, two days after it warned that ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports could be considered military targets.Russia issued its warning earlier this week after it quit the Black Sea grain deal on Monday