Tag: U.S.

U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards commence Operation Coal Shovel

U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $2.3 Million for State Maritime Academies

U.S. cargo ship captain detained in Venezuela

AEO, EU-US mutual recognition agreement

The shipping industry has faltered as a glut of ships were built before the global recession When Marco Polo Seatrade BV, of the Netherlands, filed for bankruptcy in a U.S. court in July, lenders fought to get the case thrown out. While the company docks in ports around the globe, the lenders argued, its ties to the United States are limited to two small financial accounts.Marco Polo has not been alone in seeking Chapter 11 protection in the United States. Other shipping companies, struggling with an oversupply of vessels and weak demand, also have filed for bankruptcy here, thanks to U.S. legal provisions that help companies avoid liquidation and continue to operate, lawyers and investors say.While struggling companies in other industries may also want to seek Chapter 11 refuge despite having few U.S. links, shipping companies are uniquely placed to do it. Their only material assets - ships - are constantly on the move, letting them conceivably seek insolvency protection anywhere they sail."Only in Chapter 11 can you get bankruptcy financing, can your management remain in place, and can you continue to operate the company," said Thomas Califano, a bankruptcy partner at law firm DLA Piper.The trend of ship owners ...

Pirates moved an American hostage athreatened Thursday to kill him after US rescue two hostages Pirates moved an American hostage at least three times in 24 hours and threatened Thursday to kill him after U.S. Navy SEALs rescued an American and a Dane in a bold, dark-of-night raid that raises questions about whether other Western captives are now in greater danger."If they try again, we will all die together," warned Hassan Abdi, a Somali pirate connected to the gang holding the American, who was kidnapped Saturday in northern Somalia."It's difficult to hold U.S. hostages, because it's a game of chance: die or get huge money. But we shall stick with our plans and will never release him until we get a ransom," Abdi said.U.S. Navy SEALs parachuted into Somalia early Wednesday and hiked to where captors were holding 32-year-old American Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, a 60-year-old Dane. A shootout ensued and nine captors were killed. Buchanan, Thisted and the U.S. troops were all unharmed. The two aid workers had been kidnapped by gunmen in October while working on demining projects for the Danish Refugee Council.Medical screeningsBuchanan and Thisted were flown to the U.S. Naval Air Base at Sigonella ...

Iran escalated its war of words with the United States Iran escalated its war of words with the United States on Tuesday with a warning to Navy ships to stay out of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, remarks that rattled commodities markets and helped send oil prices soaring.The latest in a series of provocative statements by Iranian leaders was delivered by the Iranian armed forces commander, Gen. Ataollah Salehi, who appeared to threaten a U.S. aircraft carrier that steamed out of Persian Gulf waters last week."We warn this ship, which is considered a threat to us, not to come back, and we do not repeat our words twice," Salehi said, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency.The Obama administration brushed aside the threat, but the increasingly bellicose tone - coupled with new economic sanctions on Iran expected to take effect in the coming weeks - helped cause the price of oil to jump more than 4 percent during a day of upbeat economic news. Gold markets closed at their highest level in 10 weeks.The threat against U.S. ships was the latest in a series of aggressive moves by Iran, which within a week has tested new missiles, boasted of breakthroughs ...

Order of 425,000 gallons of renewable fuels f "More proof that gallons are on the way", that's the word from the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) as the U.S. Navy announced today it has placed the world's largest advanced biofuel order of 425,000 gallons of renewable fuels from Dynamic Fuels, LLC, a joint venture between Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) and Syntroleum Corporation (NASDAQ: SYNM); and Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM), a renewable oil and bioproducts company who will help Dynamic Fuels fuel the order."Get ready America, because the gallons are on the way as we're about to make history by leading the world in delivering renewable replacement fuels," commented ABFA President Michael McAdams. "Today's announcement should effectively silence our fossil fuel detractors as we have yet more proof that advanced biofuels are real and real enough to help better prepare and strengthen America's armed forces."The contract announced today involves supplying the Navy with 100,000 gallons of jet fuel (Hydro-treated Renewable JP- 5 or HRJ-5) and 350,000 gallons of marine distillate fuel (Hydro-Treated Renewable F-76 or HRD-76). The fuel will be used as part of the Navy's efforts to develop a "Green Strike Group" composed of vessels and ships powered by biofuel.McAdams ...

It deprives legal fishermen and coastal communities of up to $23 billion of seafood NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco and Maria Damanaki, European Union commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, will sign a historic statement pledging bilateral cooperation to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, known as IUU fishing - a first for the longstanding partnership between the U.S. and the E.U. on fisheries management.The European Union and United States rank first and third, respectively, as the world's top seafood importers (Japan is second). Globally, illegal fishing deprives legal fishermen and coastal communities of up to $23 billion of seafood and seafood products annually. This puts honest fishermen at a disadvantage in the global marketplace. The U.S. and the E.U. recognize their responsibility to protect the oceans' vital food and biodiversity resources.In today's statement, the U.S. and the E.U. make it clear that they are committed to cooperating on combating IUU fishing as the only effective way of ending these practices.Among other things, they agree to work together to support the adoption of effective management measures in regional and international organizations to combat IUU fishing; promote tools that prevent IUU operators from benefiting economically from their illegal activities; exchange information ...

To begin exploration of its still-untapped Gulf of Mexico oil fields The United States must work with its ideological foe Cuba on joint safety plans as the communist island readies to begin exploration of its still-untapped Gulf of Mexico oil fields, the co-chief of the U.S. BP oil spill investigation said on Wednesday.William Reilly told reporters the United States should make its expertise and equipment available in case of an accident when a Chinese-made rig begins drilling for oil later this year in Cuban waters about 60 miles from the Florida Keys.Experts have said a Cuban spill, if not contained, could carry oil to Florida and up the U.S. east coast.But the longstanding U.S. trade embargo against Cuba prevents American companies from operating on the island."It seems to me profoundly in the interest of the United States to ensure that should there be a spill in Cuban waters ... that all efforts are undertaken by both government and private entities in the United States to assist in responding," said Reilly, who is on a trip to Cuba.The two countries need to jointly develop protocols and plans for that to happen quickly, which has not been done because of U.S. policy, ...