September 3, 2013
An attack by assailants on a container ship in the Suez Canal has heightened risks for merchant shipping using the vital waterway, with further threats considered likely as political turmoil continues in Egypt. On Sunday an army source said three …
June 18, 2013
Pirate attacks off West Africa’s mineral-rich Gulf of Guinea have almost doubled from last year and threaten to increase the costs and jeopardize the shipping of commodities from the region. The Gulf of Guinea, which includes Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory …
November 15, 2012
A ban on European Union insurers covering Iranian oil exports has forced ship owners to fall back on new, untested insurance providers, raising fears that governments may have to pay in the event of an oil spill. The July ban, …
September 21, 2012
A dramatic fall in pirate attacks off the Somali coast is forcing down the cost of piracy insurance for commercial ships, taking the shine off a fast-growing and lucrative market for London-based insurers. International navies have cracked down on pirates, …
July 17, 2012
Tougher action by international navies and the use of private armed guards on ships have more than halved the number of Somali pirate attacks, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said on Monday. Last year, Somali piracy in the busy shipping …
June 13, 2012
Iran’s biggest tanker operator, NITC, has $1 billion in ship insurance cover to keep its fleet on the water and serve clients in Asia despite Western sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s oil trade, a senior NITC official said on Tuesday. …
March 29, 2012
A widely expected ban on European insurance cover for Iranian oil exports from July 1 is threatening to curtail shipments and raise costs for major buyers such as Japan and South Korea, insurance industry sources say. Last week the European …
January 19, 2012
Pre-emptive strikes by naval forces, the deployment of private armed guards and protective measures by ships helped to almost halve the number of successful hijackings by Somali pirates last year, a maritime watchdog said on Thursday. Seaborne gangs are making …
January 19, 2012
The cruise ship disaster off Italy’s coast is drawing fresh scrutiny to the gaps in international safety rules and standards – yet there may be little appetite among the world’s major shipping nations and companies for big changes anytime soon. …
August 23, 2011
Germany plans to lobby other European Union countries to allow the deployment of private armed guards on their merchant ships in high-risk areas as a piracy crisis escalates, ministry officials said. But analysts said the initiative was likely to face …