23 MAR 2024 Since mid-November 2023 the shipping route through the Red Sea has been disrupted by a series of attacks on vessels by Yemen’s Houthi movement, recently designated as a terrorist organisation by the US government. The Houthis have presented their attacks as retaliation for Israel’s military assault in …
Read More »IRAN THREATENS TANKERS AS PANAMA DENIES REGISTERING IRANIAN-OWNED VESSELS
22 MAR 2024 Iran is renewing its threats against tankers and retaliation for actions by the United States to “interfere” with the transportation of Iranian oil. The latest statements came in response to the U.S.’s move in February to seize another shipment of 500,000 barrels of Iranian fuel oil valued …
Read More »MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IN SEAFARERS
21 MAR 2024 Mental health issues in seafarers have always been a concern, but the impact of COVID-19 heightened these issues even more and brought the issue into the open. Crew members faced a multitude of additional stressors while at sea during COVID, including concerns about family at home (especially …
Read More »SUSPECTED PIRATES APPROACH BULKER AS EU AGAIN WARNS OF INCREASED DANGERS
20 MAR 2024 An unidentified Liberian-flagged bulker reported it was approached by suspected pirates but was able to fend off an attack today in the Gulf of Aden hundreds of miles east of Somalia. The approach comes as EUNAVFOR and the Maritime Security Center for the Horn of Africa continue …
Read More »FDA APPROVES WEGOVY FOR HEART CONDITIONS IN GAME-CHANGING MOVE
18 MAR 2024 The US Food and Drug Administration has given the green light for a popular anti-obesity drug to be used to prevent serious heart conditions for the first time, in a move likely to expand insurance coverage. Wegovy, produced by Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, was approved “to …
Read More »SCIENTISTS REVEAL OPTIMAL NUMBER OF DAILY STEPS TO OFFSET SITTING DOWN
17 MAR 2024 You’ve probably heard that adults should aim for 10,000 daily steps. This one-size-fits-all approach provides a clear message, though it doesn’t consider how varied human lifestyles and bodies are. An international team of researchers has found that even the most sedentary among us could ward off the harmful …
Read More »RADICAL NEW DISCOVERY COULD DOUBLE THE SPEED OF EXISTING COMPUTERS
16 MAR 2024 Imagine your laptop running twice as fast without any hardware upgrades; only the application of smarter software algorithms. That’s the promise of new research that could change how today’s devices function. The team behind the research, from the University of California, Riverside (UCR), says that the work has …
Read More »U.S. INTELLIGENCE REPORT SAYS COUNTRY FACES ‘INCREASINGLY FRAGILE WORLD ORDER’
15 MAR 2024 U.S. intelligence agencies said on Monday the country faces an “increasingly fragile world order,” strained by great power competition, transnational challenges and regional conflicts, in a report released as agency leaders testified in the U.S. Senate. “An ambitious but anxious China, a confrontational Russia, some regional powers, …
Read More »IMF PORTWATCH: SUEZ CANAL TRADE CUT IN HALF
14 MAR 2024 Supply chains worldwide have been disrupted as trade through the Suez and Panama Canals, two critical shipping routes, has seen substantial declines in recent months. The Suez Canal, the primary maritime route between Asia and Europe, experienced a 50 percent year-over-year decrease in trade volume in the …
Read More »GLOBAL TRADE STRUGGLING TO BOUNCE BACK FROM 2023 SLUMP, WTO SAYS
13 MAR 2024 Global merchandise trade is struggling to accelerate from a slump last year amid signs that growth in the automotive industry is softening, the World Trade Organization said. The WTO’s goods barometer was little changed at 100.6 compared with a late-November reading of 100.7, the Geneva-based organization said …
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