Free Republic

Chinese oil tankers are pressing ahead with Venezuela-linked voyages despite a U.S. blockade and an escalating campaign of tanker seizures. Two Chinese-flagged VLCCs are operating near Venezuelan waters, with the Thousand Sunny due to arrive in mid-January and the Xing Ye waiting off French Guiana, according to a new report by Lloyd's List. Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment. Why It Matters The movements come as China said it opposed U.S. oil seizures and naval pressure on Venezuela. President Donald Trump is tightening maritime enforcement to choke off oil revenues to Caracas, which has in...

Russia's Foreign Ministry has begun evacuating the families of diplomats from Venezuela, a European intelligence official told AP on Monday, as the United States pursues its third sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean and President Donald Trump convenes senior national security officials at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The evacuations, which started Friday and include women and children, come as Russian officials assess the situation in Venezuela in what the intelligence source described as "very grim tones." The withdrawals signal heightened concerns about stability in the South American nation as the Trump administration escalates its four-month pressure campaign against President Nicolas Maduro's...

Donald Trump just sent Nicolas Maduro a Christmas message, of a sort. And that message is not many happy returns of the day. Earlier today, the US Navy boarded a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil in international waters. Unlike the first seizure, Marc Caputo reports for Axios, this ship had no specific sanctions applied to it [see update below]. This escalates the standoff over Maduro's illegal regime and the oil revenue he desperately needs to cling to power:The U.S. military early Saturday boarded a tanker that is not under U.S. sanctions as it shipped Venezuelan oil in hopes of escaping a...

Two oil tankers, the M/T KAIROS and M/T VIRAT, alleged to be part of the “Russian Shadow Fleet” exploded and caught fire earlier today in the Southern Black Sea, shortly after crossing north through the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey. The tankers, which were enroute to the Russian Port of Novorossiysk from Egypt, are suspected to have been targeted by several uncrewed surface vessels and/or naval mines set by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The crews aboard both vessels were able to be successfully evacuated, with it expected that the tankers will soon sink in the Black Sea, according to Turkish...

Ukraine releases videos of their naval drones striking 2 Russian shadow fleet oil tankers off the Turkish Black Sea coast

Ukraine hits the Russian Port at Ust-Luga near Saint Petersburg with drones, this is 870 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Estonian authorities detained and boarded a ship in the Baltic Sea that belongs to Russia’s shadow fleet, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said Friday. The vessel, which Michal said did not sail under any nation’s flag but was previously registered to Djibouti according to publicly available records, was detained near Tallinn Bay in an operation involving helicopters. “Early this morning, the Estonian Navy detained a sanctioned vessel with no flag state,” Michal said in a post on social media. “Our authorities are currently on board, inspecting its legal status and safety.” The ship was heading to the port of Ust-Luga, a...

How Rich Nations Dump Old Cruise Ships And Oil Tankers In Developing Countries | Risky Business Gadani is the world's third biggest shipbreaking hub. But many ships come there illegally from Europe, the Middle East, and China. We went to Pakistan to figure out why international laws are being ignored. Business Insider 9.92M subscribers Subscribe

QUETTA: It seems there was no respite in attacks on Afghanistan bound Nato convoys as several more oil tankers were destroyed when unknown armed men attacked the oil tankers in the area of Mithri of the Bolan district.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday approved the deployment of the USS Bataan amphibious readiness group and the 26th Marine Expeditional Unit to the Gulf region, according to US officials. The readiness group consists of three ships, including the Bataan, an amphibious assault ship. An expeditional unit usually consists of about 2,500 Marines. In an announcement, US Central Command said the deployment will provide "even greater flexibility and maritime capability in the region.” The announcement did not name the ships, but US officials detailed the units involved in the deployment on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements. Along with...

The White House said the US would respond to Iranian aggression together with allies and partners in the Middle East region.Iran tried to seize two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz early Wednesday, firing shots at one of them, the US Navy said. It said that in both cases, the Iranian naval vessels backed off after the US Navy responded, and that both commercial ships continued their voyages. “The Iranian navy did make attempts to seize commercial tankers lawfully transiting international waters,” said Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet. “The US Navy responded immediately...

A British-flagged oil tanker was seized by Iran on Friday night and was heading towards a Revolutionary Guard base, in a major escalation of tensions along one of the world's most vital oil shipping routes. The Stena Impero had been en route to Saudi Arabia but made an abrupt change of course and began moving towards the Iranian island of Qeshm, according to data relayed by maritime tracking services. The ship “went dark”, meaning its identification system was turned off, at 16:29 UK time and nothing has been heard from her or her 23 crew since. Northern Marine, a Clyde-based...

NEW - Iran seizes second oil tanker in a week — US Navy(Navy Video Of It In Link Below)https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1653709518247698437

Shipping companies have snapped up dozens of secondhand oil tankers this year, paying record prices for ice-class ships that can navigate frozen seas around Russia’s Baltic ports in winter. A driving force behind the purchases, say people familiar with the deals: To get Russian oil to market after the harshest sanctions to date strike Russia’s energy industry next week. The frenzy in a quiet corner of the shipping market is splitting the tanker industry in two. One part deals with Western oil companies, banks and insurers. The other, known informally in the industry as the “shadow fleet,” doesn’t, allowing it...

BREAKING: Train carrying oil tankers collides with an 18-wheeler in central Texas, sparking a massive explosion - but the driver and conductor both survive without major injuries The crash occurred at around 6.45am Tuesday outside Cameron, Texas The train was carrying oil tankers that exploded on impact with the semi-truck The explosion sparked a massive fire that was still burning hours later Both the train conductor and the truck driver survived without major injuries By Megan Sheets For Dailymail.com Published: 10:50 EST, 23 February 2021 | Updated: 11:10 EST, 23 February 2021

VIDEO: US Coast Guard says it’s keeping an eye on 27 oil tankers anchored off the coast of Southern California. Another great example of floating storage build-up as demand for oil and refined products plunge | #OOTT #Contango video via @USCGLosAngeles     https://twitter.com/JavierBlas/status/1253722290266738689?s=20    

Iran has seized a second tanker, US official says From CNN's Barbara Starr Iran has also seized a second tanker, the Liberian-flagged MV Mesdar, according to a US official. Two more US officials tell CNN that, according to maritime intelligence reports, the indication is the Mesdar has been seized. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced earlier that its navy has captured a British-flagged tanker ‘Stena Impero’ in the Strait of Hormuz. The order of seizure of the two ships isn’t clear at this time.

Another reminder of how strange it is that an anti-war conspiracy theory is circulating in respectable-ish wings of American politics and not only is Donald Trump not a proponent, he’s the head of the government that’s being targeted by it.Bernie’s British counterpart, Jeremy Corbyn, also questioned Iran’s culpability in the tanker attack recently and got ripped for it by the Tory foreign secretary: Pathetic and predictable. From Salisbury to the Middle East, why can he never bring himself to back British allies, British intelligence or British interests? https://t.co/8JyGz7T4Yx— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) June 15, 2019 Sanders won’t be so easily...

The chief of staff of the Libyan army has warned foreign companies the army will fire at any non-Libyan tanker entering the country’s territorial waters. The warning comes after a spike in tensions in Libya brought about by a controversial deal struck by the so-called government of unity and the Libyan Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG). Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) firmly believes the deal, struck by the UN-backed government and the PFG to reopen key ports was a mistake, NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla said in a letter to UN’s envoy to Libya Martin Kobler and to oil and diplomatic officials....

Note: Photo included with article. SNIPPET: "U.S. authorities have transferred Younis al-Mauritani, held in Afghanistan, to Mauritania, officials in the West African nation said on Saturday. Pakistan said in September 2011 it arrested al-Mauritani, better known in his homeland Mauritania as Youssouf Al Mauritani, during a joint operation with U.S. intelligence services." SNIPPET: "Pakistani military authorities said Al Mauritani was planning to attack U.S. economic interests including pipelines, hydro-electric dams and oil tankers when he was captured."