EU and US tighten sanctions against Russia
On Tuesday, the EU executive proposed banning Russian ships from European ports.
So far, none of the 27 EU member states has instituted a national ban — unlike Britain, which did so in early March.
The European Commission is also looking at banning Russian coal imports with EU member state ambassadors set to discuss the measures later today.
Splash247
Salvors to remove cargo containers from grounded Ever Forward
Salvors will need to remove cargo containers from the grounded Ever Forward in Chesapeake Bay, the U.S. Coast Coast Guard said Monday following two unsuccessful attempts to refloat the ship last week.
The removal of containers, which is expected to take about two weeks, will involve two crane barges with suitible lifting heights for the operation, the Coast Guard said Monday. The cranes will lift containers from both the port and starboard sides and place them on receiving barges, which will shuttled the containers back to the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore where they will be offloaded by shore-based cranes. Only “a portion” of the containers on board are expected to be removed.
For safety purposes, the operation is expected to take place during daylight hours.
gCaptain
Shanghai Covid lockdown extended to entire city
Initially, there had been separate measures for the eastern and western sides, but the whole city is now subject to indefinite restrictions.
Shanghai is the largest single city to be locked down to date.
The important financial hub has battled a new wave of coronavirus infections for more than a month.
Reported cases have risen to more than 13,000 a day, although the numbers are not high by some international standards.
BBC
Thousands of Russia-linked ship containers pile up in Rotterdam
In normal times, the Dutch port of Rotterdam is like a machine: hundreds of ships come and go each day, and tens of thousands of boxes are loaded and unloaded from those vessels, all to keep Europe’s economy humming.
Right now, though, sanctions on Russia are snarling thousands of steel shipping containers, the boss of the port said in an interview that gave unique insights into how the beating heart of Europe’s real economy is being disrupted by the measures against Moscow.
The boxes, typically 20 or 40 feet long and destined for the sanctions-hit country, all need careful inspection to make sure that moving them on won’t somehow breach sanctions, according to Port of Rotterdam Chief Executive Officer Allard Castelein.
Supply Chain Brain
First piracy boarding in months reported in Gulf of Guinea
The first vessel in more than three months was boarded in the Gulf of Guinea on Sunday, April 3 with analysts suggesting that it was a random event. The vessel and crew are both being reported as safe today.
MDAT-GoG, the monitoring and reporting cooperation between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy issued the first alert to the incident. They placed the ship approximately 300 nautical miles south of Lago, Nigeria reporting that unknown persons had boarded a vessel. Today, they updated saying that the incident had been completed with the crew and vessel safe.
The Maritime Executive
Port Klang fire: 22 containers burned, 38 damaged
A serious fire broke out in the Westports terminal of Malaysia’s main container port, Port Klang, burning 22 containers and causing damage to 38 boxes.
Port Klang Authority general manager K. Subramaniam said that the fire started at 4.15 pm (local time) on 4 April. Firefighters needed 11 hours to extinguish the flames, which were completely put out around 3 am on 5 April.
Subramaniam noted that the containers stored general goods and did not contain dangerous cargoes. The contents of the affected boxes included vehicle spare parts, cotton products, infant walkers, audio equipment and lubricants.
Container News
