Latest Shipping News & Updates

Washington, April 30 (IANS) The White House is asking other countries to join a US-led international coalition aimed at enabling ships to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, American media has reported. The so-called “Maritime Freedom Construct” (MFC) was spelt out in an internal State Department cable sent to US embassies on Tuesday, urging US diplomats to press foreign governments into signing up, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on Wednesday (local time).The MFC would be a joint e…

Washington, April 24 (IANS) The US on Friday warned that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains under heightened risk, even as limited transit continues amid escalating tensions with Iran. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, said vessels were still moving through the critical waterway but under conditions of increased danger due to Iranian actions.”Transit is occurring… much more limited than anybody would like to see and with more risk than people would like to see,” he said at a Pentagon …

Paris, April 13 (IANS) France and the United Kingdom (UK) are set to co-host talks later this week on restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement released on X, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the need to restore free and unimpeded navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible and for ensuring that Lebanon returns to the path of peace in full respect of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He called for resolving the conflict in the Middl…

New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday said that nearly 90 per cent of backlog cargo at major ports has been cleared, following swift intervention and continuous monitoring by the government amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.Chairing a high-level review meeting with senior officials and port authorities, Sonowal said coordinated and proactive measures helped stabilise operations quickly, ensuring minimal impact on India’s…

New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to review measures taken by various Ministries/Departments and also discussed further initiatives to be taken in the context of the ongoing West Asia conflict.Prime Minister directed all concerned departments to take all possible measures to ameliorate the problems of citizens and sectors affected by the ongoing global situation.PM Modi assessed the availabilit…

Ahmedabad, March 27 (IANS) Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Friday said it has operationalised India’s first Port of Refuge (PoR), addressing a long-standing gap in maritime emergency infrastructure, creating a structured mechanism to handle maritime emergencies and vessels in distress.The initiative is backed by a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SMIT Salvage, the salvage and emergency response division of Royal Boskalis Westminster NV (Boskalis) and the M…

Warsaw, March 26 (IANS) India and Poland on Thursday held discussions on deepening political exchanges and economic ties, including in areas like electric vehicles, mining and shipping and enhancing educational, cultural and people-to-people exchanges. The talks were held between Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Pooja Kapur and Polish Secretary of State WT Bartoszewski in Warsaw.”Ms. Pooja Kapur, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs called on Polish Secreta…

New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian conveying to him Eid and Nowruz greetings and also discussing the current security situation in the West Asia region. During the call, PM Modi condemned attacks on critical infrastructure in the region and also asserted the significance of safeguarding freedom of navigation along with keeping the shipping lanes open and secure.This was PM Modi’s second phone conversation with the Ira…

New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) The government on Friday said there has been no price increase on regular petrol for consumers and the hike is limited to the premium fuel category, which accounts for only 3-4 per cent of total petrol sales.Addressing the daily briefing, Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry’s Joint Secretary, Marketing and Oil Refinery, Sujata Sharma said that petrol and diesel prices are deregulated and determined by the oil marketing companies (OMCs).OMCs increased the price of premiu…

New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) The government on Thursday launched a new scheme called Resilience and Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) to help Indian exporters deal with disruptions caused by the ongoing crisis in West Asia, aiming to ensure smooth trade and protect the country’s market share.Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal announced the RELIEF scheme, saying it is part of the government’s broader Export Promotion Mission.He described it as a carefully designed support p…