Latest news with #maritimeSecurity
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
IMO urges ships to check Strait of Hormuz security measures
The International Maritime Organisation has said there were no indications of any increased threat to shipping in the Arabian Gulf, despite Iranian calls for international measures to prevent escalation in the Strait of Hormuz. Fears over a move to close the waterway after Israel's targeting of Iran's nuclear infrastructure are rising. Closure of the strait would disrupt global supply chains, as a fifth of global oil shipments pass through the channel that connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. Speaking at the IMO's annual safety meeting on Wednesday, secretary Arsenio Dominguez said no signs of closure or disruption had appeared yet. 'We're not at that stage,' he said, answering a question from The National. Mr Dominguez urged shipping companies to carry out security assessments before attempting to cross the strait. 'You need to carry out the security assessment and then make the decision whether it is appropriate and it is safe for the vessel to transit,' he said. Seyed Ali Mousavi, Iranian representative to the IMO – and also ambassador to the UK – warned in the morning session that increasing danger for ships was becoming apparent, after accusing Israel of attacking an oil refinery and gas field on the coast of Asalouyeh. 'These actions directly endanger international maritime security and the global energy supply chain,' he said. "If the international community fails to take urgent and concrete measures to halt this unlawful aggression, the risk of escalation at sea becomes imminent." The IMO's position is there no sign of a crisis point as yet. 'There's no indication that ships [or] seafarers are being targeted or any expected disruption right now in the region when it comes to maritime trade,' Mr Dominguez said. Mr Mousavi said the IMO was 'mandated to protect' Iran from attacks on its port and maritime infrastructure and criticised Israel for attacks on Iranian oil tankers and ports he said had been taking place since 2019. 'These hybrid threats – combining physical and cyber aggression – represent a multifaceted assault on maritime safety, port security and the freedom of navigation, which this organisation is mandated to protect,' he said. Iranian state TV told the world to brace itself for a major attack, reporting on Wednesday that "tonight, a great surprise will occur – one that the world will remember for centuries". Israel and India also made statements about the war in their addresses to the convention. Mr Dominguez said addressing the conflict was not within the agency's remit, but that it was equipped to act in the event of a 'negative impact' on shipping, as it did during the Red Sea crisis, when the Iran-backed Yemeni militia the Houthis targeted commercial ships crossing the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in response to Israel's war in Gaza, notably when it negotiated the release of the crew of the stricken MV Galaxy Leader last year. 'There's no room for IMO or specific role for IMO to come in at this stage. If things evolve, I will be the first one to start speaking to the countries,' he said. 'I demonstrated clearly, when the ships were targeted in the Red Sea, that's when I spent considerable amount of time in actually talking to the countries, bringing the parties together to address the negative impact that this situation was having on shipping, seafarers, the environment, ships and the economy." Oman – a member state of the agency - served as an intermediary for the Houthis. 'Oman was a country that helped me greatly,' Mr Dominguez said. The Houthis entered a ceasefire agreement with the US in May after an aggressive military campaign. The latest statements Mr Dominguez received from the group since the dea, which they also sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, featured 'no indication of targeting ships'. Mr Dominguez addressed the dis r uption to commercial cargoes in the Red Sea. 'The way that trade starts to flow back into the Red Sea is not something that will happen overnight,' he said. 'But we have seen an increase already on trade going through the Red Sea and the Suez.'
Reuters
2 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Iran and Israel trade accusations at UN shipping agency over sea lanes
LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - Iran and Israel accused each other of endangering commercial activity in sea lanes around the Gulf and the Red Sea at the UN's shipping agency on Wednesday, as their military conflict escalated. Iran's delegation told a session of the International Maritime Organization's security committee that Israel had in recent days extended its "unlawful attacks" to include petrochemical and gas infrastructure in Asalouyeh along Iran's Gulf coast. "These actions directly endanger international maritime security and the global energy supply chain," Iran said in a statement to IMO delegates, which was livestreamed. "If the international community fails to take urgent and concrete measures to halt this unlawful aggression, the risk of escalation at sea becomes imminent." Iran has previously threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure. Any closure of the strait could restrict trade and affect global oil prices. Commercial ships are being advised by maritime agencies to avoid Iran's waters around Hormuz, shipping sources said on Wednesday. Former Iranian Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi has said that tankers and liquified natural gas cargoes should only transit the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian permission. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected Donald Trump's demand for unconditional surrender on Wednesday, and the U.S. president said his patience had run out, though he gave no clue as to what his next step would be. Israel's mission told delegates the IMO's foundational principle of global maritime navigation safety was being "openly and aggressively threatened" by Iran, partly through support of Yemen's Houthi militia, whose attacks have severely disrupted shipping through the Suez Canal and Red Sea in recent years. "Iran has turned our whole region and the Red Sea specifically into a war zone. Through its political, financial and military backing of the Houthi rebels, Iran has enabled a campaign of maritime terrorism against civilian vessels," Israel said. "It seeks to weaponize the world's busiest sea lanes, hold international shipping hostage, and impose its will through violence." The London-based IMO is responsible for regulating the safety and security of international shipping and preventing pollution and comprises 176 member state countries. The statements from Israel and Iran on Wednesday were noted by the Maritime Safety Committee, an IMO spokesperson said. The agency has faced growing pressures that it was becoming politicised. In 2023 Russia said the IMO was departing from its technical role because of "external pressure", which was impacting the fair treatment of all member countries. Iran's offer to host a maritime event in 2023 was rejected after a proposal led by the United States to rescind the bid was approved in a vote.
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
UK maritime firm says incident east of UAE's Khor Fakkan not security-related
About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the Strait of Hormuz. (DVIDS/AFP pic) HEREFORD : British maritime security firm Ambrey said early on Tuesday the cause of an incident 22 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan in the UAE, near the Strait of Hormuz, was not security-related. It didn't provide any details about the incident. The event unfolded as tensions escalated between Israel and Iran, with both nations exchanging attacks for a fifth consecutive day following Israel's widescale strikes on Friday aimed at preventing Tehran from building an atomic weapon. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from Vortexa. There was no immediate response to Reuters' request for comment from the Emirati foreign ministry or Khor Fakkan container terminal in the early hours of Tuesday.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
UK maritime firm says it is aware of incident east of UAE's Khor Fakkan
June 17 (Reuters) - British maritime security firm Ambrey said early on Tuesday it was aware of an incident 22 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates, near the Strait of Hormuz.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The critical undersea cables at the mercy of Chinese and Russian saboteurs: Fears UK is 'woefully' unprepared for threat of coordinated attacks by 'shadow fleets' on vulnerable Western infrastructure
This is the network of critical underseas cables at the mercy of Chinese and Russian saboteurs - and the multiple ways they could be attacked. A new report has warned Britain remains 'woefully' underprepared for the threat of strikes on its maritime infrastructure in the face of growing aggression. The China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) looked at 12 incidents of alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025 in Europe and Taiwan. Out of the 10 cases where a suspect vessel was identified, eight were linked to China or Russia by flag or ownership. Report author Andrew Yeh said the involvement of Chinese ships in cable breakages in Europe and Russian ships in those near Taiwan indicated 'plausible' coordination. The Institute identified the UK as a 'likely target' for future Chinese-Russian 'grey zone' operations - a term used to describe the state between peace and open war. This map produced by MailOnline shows the dizzying extent of the UK's network of cables, which are used to transmit data used for everything from online shopping to banking, personal messages and government communications. As the term 'grey zone' suggests, acts of cable sabotage are usually intended to be deniable, and usually involve ships dragging their anchors or deploying fishing nets. But more aggressive methods are available, including the use of divers or remote-operated subs to lay explosives fitted with timers. The UK is the landing point for at least 60 undersea cable systems, including nine of the 15 undersea cables that link Europe to North America. Mr Yeh wrote in his report: 'Undersea cables underpin economic security and global prosperity in the digital age, carrying 99 per cent of intercontinental data traffic. 'Undersea cables are vital for both civilian and defence infrastructure, including future AI-powered technologies. 'As a key hub in Euro-Atlantic cable infrastructure, the UK is a likely target for future Russian and Chinese grey-zone operations – posing a new and complex challenge for its maritime defence and surveillance systems.' The analyst called for the UK to be 'clear-eyed and proactive' in addressing grey-zone threats to undersea infrastructure. He called for increased surveillance over critical cables, the publication of a blacklist of suspect vessels and the stockpiling of cable parts to allow for rapid repairs following acts of sabotage. The issue of undersea cables was mentioned in the recent Strategic Defence Review. It stated: 'Undersea pipelines and data cables are critical for sustaining daily national life. The maritime domain is increasingly vulnerable. 'The Royal Navy must be prepared to deter maritime incidents similar to the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the cutting of undersea data cables in UK and international waters.' Since October 2023, at least 11 subsea cables in the Baltic have been damaged in suspected attacks. Last year, Finnish authorities took the unprecedented step of intercepting one of these ships, the Eagle S, and taking it back into its territorial waters. Eagle S is flagged in the Cook Islands but has been described by Finnish customs officials as part of Russia's shadow fleet of fuel tankers that state-run companies have used to circumnavigate sanctions. Its anchor was accused of causing damage to the Estlink-2 power cable, which takes electricity from Finland to Estonia across the Baltic Sea, after it went down just after noon on Christmas Day. Further incidents in the North Sea have seen cables running on the seabed damaged, while separately, Russian spy ships - including one called the Yantar - have been intercepted in the Channel while hovering over the communication lines. At a parliamentary committee hearing last month, MPs were warned that Britain had forgotten how important deep sea cables are to modern society. Military chiefs and political leaders were accused of putting a greater focus on 'distant wars' in recent years than protecting this crucial infrastructure. It comes as British defence experts revealed a new undersea robot that is designed to protect cables against sabotage attempts. Video footage shows the device, which is adapted from a commercially available remotely operated vehicle (ROV), approaching and blasting a simulated target. The robot will help deal with sabotage threats and clear unexploded ordnance, doing jobs that would normally put both divers and their vessels at risk. The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), part of the Ministry of Defence, has made the device with industry partners in an aim to save lives at sea. Experts have incorporated or developed systems so the ROV can detect unexploded ordnance and remotely place explosive charges to enable safe neutralisation. Trials for the project funded by the Royal Navy have already taken place at Horsea Island in Portsmouth, Portland Harbour in Dorset, South Wales and in Norway.
