2024-03-07 12:52
DUBAI, March 7 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has transferred 8% of state oil giant Aramco's (2222.SE) , opens new tab total shares to a portfolio owned by the country's sovereign wealth fund PIF, state news agency SPA reported on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/saudi-arabia-transfers-8-aramco-pif-portfolio-spa-reports-2024-03-07/
2024-03-07 12:42
Three killed in Houthi attack on ship in Red Sea Indian navy takes 20 crew members to Djibouti Two crew members seriously injured Maritime organisations call for more protection LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - India's navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea on Thursday, after a Houthi attack killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group's campaign against the key shipping route. The Iran-aligned militants fired a missile at the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday about 50 nautical miles off the port of Aden, setting it ablaze. In a statement, the owners and manager said all 20 crew and three armed guards on board were taken to hospital in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa by an Indian warship. Two of the dead were Filipino nationals, while the third was Vietnamese, the owners and managers said, expressing condolences to families. Two other Filipinos were also severely injured. Images released by the Indian Navy showed a helicopter winching crew members from a small life raft in choppy seas and taking them to a naval ship. Some wounded were shown lying in the bottom of a navy lifeboat sent to assist. They were carried on stretchers onto the ship and were shown later with heavily bandaged limbs as they were evacuated to the Djibouti hospital. "The vessel is drifting well away from land and salvage arrangements are being made," the companies said in the statement. The Houthis have kept up a relentless campaign of attacks on vessels in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes since November, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians during Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. "The loss of life and injuries to civilian seafarers is completely unacceptable," leading global shipping associations said on Thursday. "The frequency of attacks on merchant shipping highlights the urgent need for all stakeholders to take decisive action to safeguard the lives of innocent civilian seafarers and put an end to such threats." SAILORS' WELFARE The Houthis have used an array of sophisticated weapons, including ballistic missiles and "kamikaze drones", despite retaliatory U.S. and U.K.-led strikes on their bases in Yemen aimed at crippling their ability to attack. Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the leading seafarers union, also called for better protection. "No delivery window is worth the loss of seafarers' lives," he said. "We call on the industry to divert ships around the Cape of Good Hope until safe transit through the Red Sea can be guaranteed." Around 23,000 ships a year pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal, accounting for around 12% of global trade. Taking the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa adds about 10 days to the journey, delaying supply chains and pushing up costs. For those still risking the shorter seven-day route via the Red Sea, the cost of insuring a vessel has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars since the attacks began. The True Confidence was sailing from China to Jeddah and Aqaba with a cargo of steel products and trucks. The vessel is owned by Liberia-registered True Confidence Shipping SA and operated by Greece-based Third January Maritime. There is no current connection with any US entity, the companies said. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/ship-evacuated-after-first-civilian-fatalities-houthis-red-sea-attacks-2024-03-07/
2024-03-07 12:40
NEW YORK, March 7 (Reuters) - U.S. layoff announcements rose 3% last month to the highest level in 11 months as automation-related restructuring continues to take a toll, a report released on Thursday said. Job cut announcements reached 84,638 in February - the highest since last March - from 82,307 in January, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said. It was the highest total for the month of February since 2009, although on a year-to-date basis cuts so far in 2024 are down 7.6% from the same period last year. The technology sector saw some of the biggest job cuts in February, along with transportation and services. While the tech sector leads all industries in job cuts so far this year, cuts are still down by 55% year to date compared with the same period in 2023. For the finance sector, cuts are up 56% over last year. Restructuring efforts and plant, unit or store closures were most frequently cited as reasons for layoffs, Challenger said. Technological updates were cited for 15,225 cuts through February. Andrew Challenger, the firm's senior vice president, said firms may be masking cuts associated with artificial intelligence under other labels. "In light of the backlash some companies have faced for directly attributing job cuts to artificial intelligence, they appear to be framing this shift as a ‘technological update’ rather than an outright substitution of human roles with AI," said Challenger. "In truth, companies are also implementing robotics and automation in addition to AI. It's worth noting that last year alone, AI was directly cited in 4,247 job reductions, suggesting a growing impact on companies’ workforces." https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-layoffs-reach-highest-since-last-march-2024-03-07/
2024-03-07 12:40
NEW DELHI, March 7 (Reuters) - India aims to convert its entire coastal and inland waterways shipping to renewable energy in the next five years, the shipping secretary said on Thursday, aiding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal for net zero carbon emissions by 2070. "We envision that all our vessels, which now use waterways, will all get converted into green. In five years, it is doable", T. K. Ramachandran said at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. India’s current share of renewable energy at major ports is less than 10% according to government estimates. India, which extensively depends on foreign fleets, is also planning to add around 5,000 new vessels over the next decade to its existing capacity of about 1,500 vessels. Last month, Modi launched the first Indian-made hydrogen-run ferry. Warship maker Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE.NS) , opens new tab has announced plans to develop green energy vessels that would use solar power and batteries. Globally the shipping industry emits about 3% of the world's CO2 emissions. India's efforts to cut its carbon footprint will also help in meeting the International Maritime Organization's target to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from ships by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050. To boost its shipping industry, Asia's third-largest economy also plans to set up a Maritime Development Fund to help manufacture green vessels and ports, said another government official. "We are in the initial stage of setting up the Maritime Development Fund," said R Lakshmanan, joint secretary in the federal shipping ministry, adding an announcement could be made later this year. India plans to build green hydrogen hubs at three ports- Kandla, Thoothukudi, and Paradip, Lakshmanan said. New Delhi has set an ambitious production target of 5 million metric tons of green hydrogen per annum by 2030. ($1 = 82.6780 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-aims-green-shipping-inland-waterways-five-years-officials-2024-03-07/
2024-03-07 12:29
March 7 (Reuters) - New York Community Bancorp (NYCB.N) , opens new tab disclosed on Thursday it held deposits of $77.2 billion, down roughly 7% from the $83 billion it had on Feb. 5, sending its shares down 3.3% before the bell. The lender also said its strategic initiatives for the year include lowering its commercial real estate exposure. NYCB on Wednesday said it had raised $1 billion from investors including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's Liberty Strategic Capital and named a former Comptroller of the Currency its new CEO. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/nycb-total-deposits-drop-7-772-billion-shares-fall-2024-03-07/
2024-03-07 12:26
SINGAPORE/MOSCOW, March 7 (Reuters) - The Russian tanker Liteyny Prospect, hit by sanctions, has docked at the Chinese port of Huanghua to discharge its 700,000-barrel Russian Sokol crude cargo, two sources familiar with the matter said, clearing part of a backlog of cargoes disrupted by sanctions on Moscow's oil trade. The tanker is one of six ships carrying Sokol crude, which India has not been able to import due to payment issues. The six ships had been sailing to China but five of them are floating at sea early this week, shipping data showed, following fresh U.S. sanctions on the Russian oil fleet. The Liberian-flagged Liteyny Prospect docked on Wednesday at a berth at Huanghua, near Cangzhou city in Hebei province, that handles mostly coal and iron ore shipments, shipping data from analytics firms LSEG, Kpler and Vortexa showed. Cangzhou port officials and the manager of the tanker, Sovcomflot (SCF), did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It is unclear what is holding back the remaining five ships from discharging their cargoes. Although there is no clear regulation or guidance for ports to decide whether to allow vessels under sanctions to dock, port authorities are wary of secondary sanctions, trade sources said. The ports are likely to have told buyers that there is no issue with customs clearance but would not allow oil to be stored for extended periods of time, the sources added. The backlog of Sokol tankers is the biggest disruption to Russia's oil trade since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its military actions in Ukraine. Sokol oil is a low-sulphur grade exported from De Kastri terminal of Russia's Sakhalin island by Sakhalin-1 LLC, controlled by oil giant Rosneft. Rosneft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)late last month imposed sanctions on SCF and designated 14 crude vessels, including Liteyny Prospect, as property in which SCF has an interest. OFAC issued general licences allowing the offloading of crude oil, or other cargoes, from the 14 vessels for 45 days, and allowing transactions with all other Sovcomflot tankers. The sanctions are aimed at reducing Russia's revenues from oil sales it can use to support its war in Ukraine. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/sanctioned-tanker-liteyny-prospect-docks-china-offload-russian-oil-2024-03-07/
