The U.S. State Department has removed a statement on its website that it does not support Taiwan independence, among changes that the island's government praised on Sunday as supporting Taiwan.The fact sheet on Taiwan retains Washington's opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own.
U.S. President Donald Trump will restore his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran and drive its oil exports down to zero, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz for traffic as a retaliation for Western pressure. That would shut down the region's trade and lead to a spike in oil prices.
China has allowed representatives from Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark to board a Chinese bulk carrier at the centre of an investigation into Baltic Sea cable breaches, the Danish foreign minister said on Thursday.The Yi Peng 3 vessel is wanted in Sweden for questioning over a breach of two undersea fibre-optic cables in November
Spilled oil has washed up along "tens of kilometres" of the Russian Black Sea coast after two tankers were badly damaged in a storm at the weekend, a regional official said on Tuesday, and state media said a third vessel was now in trouble.TASS news agency said the third ship, also a tanker, had issued a distress signal off the port of Kavkaz, but its hull was still intact
A Russian oil tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of oil products split apart during a heavy storm on Sunday, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was also in distress after sustaining damage, Russian officials said.The vessels were in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, when they issued distress signals.
The United States is watching growing cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic closely and some of their recent military collaboration in the region sends "concerning signals", the U.S. Arctic ambassador said.Russia and China have stepped up military cooperation in the Arctic while deepening overall ties in recent years that include China supplying Moscow with dual-use goods despite
A merchant vessel reported two explosions near a ship travelling 14 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's Al Dhubab, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Monday.The report followed statements by the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, which initially reported receiving information about two explosions related to an incident 25 nautical miles south of Yemen's port of Mokha.
The bulk carrier Bunun Ace and the Ayed 1, a bulk carrier that appears to have been converted to carry livestock, were involved in a collision in the Bosphorus Strait on October 3.The Turkish Directorate General of Coastal Safety said the Bunun Ace was heading towards the Üsküdar coast, and the swift action of the tug Kurtarma-5 averted the vessel from running aground.
A rare cruise by two German warships in the Indo-Pacific region will demonstrate a commitment to open navigation, the admiral in charge of the naval task force said on Friday, but he declined to confirm if they would transit the contested Taiwan Strait."Safe and secure sea lanes, especially from Southeast Asia as well as to Europe and America
A Chinese radio station on Monday started broadcasts on Arctic sea ice conditions off Russia's coast for vessels sailing the Northeast Passage, as China seeks to further utilise the world's northernmost routes as alternatives to the Suez Canal.Arctic sea routes are increasingly being used as an alternative global trade route connecting the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean to major economies as
The first liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker since January is sailing through the Red Sea, just days after Yemen-based Houthi militants sank their second vessel in attacks begun last November.The vessel, Asya Energy, passed Yemen, travelling through the Bab al-Mandab Strait on Tuesday, shiptracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed
Denmark is considering ways to stop a so-called shadow fleet of tankers from carrying Russian oil through the Baltic Sea, the Nordic country said on Monday, triggering a sharp response from Moscow's diplomats who said any such move would be unacceptable.Russia sends about a third of its seaborne oil exports, or 1.