Black Sea Grain Deal: No New Ships Authorized

By Michelle Nichols Reuters May 6, 2023

UNITED NATIONS, May 5 (Reuters) – Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations on Friday failed to authorize any new ships under a deal allowing safe Black Sea exports of Ukraine grain, which Moscow has threatened to quit on May 18 over obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer exports.

Daily inspections of previously authorized ships continue, deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters. Officials from the four parties make up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, which implements the Black Sea deal agreed in July.

In an excerpt of a letter seen by Reuters, Russia told its JCC counterparts last month it will not approve any new vessels to take part unless their operators guarantee the transits will be done by May 18 – “the expected date of … closure.”

Ukraine has been putting forward daily a list of ships to be authorized. Once approved those ships are then inspected by the JCC officials near Turkey before traveling to a Ukrainian Black Sea port via a maritime humanitarian corridor to collect their cargo and return to Turkish waters for a final inspection.

According to JCC data there is currently one ship authorized for inbound inspection and 25 ships awaiting an outbound inspection – all in Turkish waters; there are 13 ships in Ukrainian ports and there are 5 ships in transit toward Ukraine and 2 vessels in transit heading back to Turkey.

There are eight vessels seeking authorization from the JCC, according to the Ukrainian sea ports website.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea grain export deal to help tackle a global food crisis that has been worsened by Moscow’s war in Ukraine. At the same time, Russia accepted a three-year deal in which the U.N. agreed to help try and remove any obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.

While those Russian exports are not subject to Western sanctions imposed following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance are a barrier to shipments.

Russia has said it will not extend the pact beyond May 18 unless its list of demands is met to remove those obstacles.

Top U.N. trade official Rebeca Grynspan met with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin in Moscow on Friday to discuss U.N. efforts to “to facilitate the unimpeded export of Russian food and fertilizer, including ammonia,” Haq said.

The deputy defense ministers of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are due to meet next week to discuss the grains agreement.

https://gcaptain.com/black-sea-grain-deal-no-new-ships-authorized/

Russian Oil Companies Ramp Up May Exports to Meet Asian Demand

Reuters May 4, 2023

MOSCOW, May 4 (Reuters) – Russia is expected to increase seaborne oil exports from its western ports this month to a four-year high to meet Asian demand for low-priced oil, two sources familiar with the loading plans from the ports said.

Weaker global prices mean Russian oil trades below $60 per barrel, the price cap level imposed by Western countries, making it more attractive to Asian buyers as they have fewer issues with banks and compliance.

Oil exports from Russia’s main western outlets, Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk, will reach a combined 2.42 million barrels per day (bpd) this month, slightly up from 2.38 million bpd last month, according to Reuters calculations based on data provided by the sources.

May exports from the ports will be almost 2% higher than in April and the highest since 2019, Reuters data showed.

Oil loadings from Primorsk and Ust-Luga will reach 7.5 million tonnes, including Urals and Kazakhstan’s transit sold as KEBCO oil grade, up from 7.2 million tonnes in April.

G7 countries imposed a price cap to try to curb Moscow’s revenues, which took effect on Dec. 5.

Under the cap, Russian barrels sold below $60 per barrel on an FOB basis, which does not include freight and insurance, in the port of loading can be shipped and insured by Western companies, while volumes sold above the cap are banned from the services.

Apart from weaker oil prices that are facilitating trade, more oil is available for export as oil refineries in Russia are undergoing seasonal maintenance in May, which reduces domestic demand.

Russian refineries are expected to increase run rates in June as they emerge from maintenance and volumes of crude available for export are likely to decrease.

For May, the high export levels have driven up freight rates, traders added, increasing costs for market players.

Prices on spot markets are also rising, spurred by Asian enthusiasm to buy.

The cost of Urals oil shipments from Baltic ports to India rose to $7.7-7.8 million from $7.5-7.6 million a week ago, the sources said.

Last week, the discount of Urals narrowed to $10-$12 a barrel to dated Brent on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis in Indian ports, from minus $13 a barrel for April loading cargoes, according to the three traders.

https://gcaptain.com/russian-oil-companies-ramp-up-may-exports-to-meet-asian-demand/

>>18807276

>But "ebot" is still the same as 2 years ago

Of course, ebot's purpose is to waste bread and help shills bury good stuff in Previously Collected notables, upgrades needed

>>18807289 (me)

Dagblamit, supposed to read NO upgrades needed

US Planning More ‘Robots at Sea’ In Middle East To Combat Iran

By Sam Dagher Bloomberg May 6, 2023

(Bloomberg) –The US is trying to convince Middle East allies to add dozens more robot vessels around the Arabian Peninsula to better detect threats from countries like Iran, a move to protect waterways vital to global commerce and oil trade.

The US, which leads two international maritime coalitions out of Bahrain, wants to have more than 100 unmanned surface vehicles — sometimes called robots at sea — in operation by the end of the summer, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, who commands the coalitions and the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, said in an interview. An initial target of 50 was met in February and the technology delivers a cost-effective and efficient way of deepening US partnerships, he said.

The plan is being carried out as Iran, emboldened by a China-brokered deal to re-establish relations with US ally Saudi Arabia, seized a seciond tanker in less than a week. The US Navy released footage of boats it said were owned by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps swarming the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi as it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman.

In addition to Iran, the US is concerned about China’s efforts to expand military and security ties with Gulf Arab states, who have historically relied on the US for defense needs. China, the largest trading partner for most of those countries and the top buyer of crude oil from the region, already has a naval base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

It’s only logical China would want military bases in the Middle East to be “closer to the action,” said John Schaus, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In March, China held joint naval drills with Iran and Russia in the Gulf Oman.

“You can’t compare a rudimentary exercise to the broad sophisticated integration with large partners that we are leading here,” said Cooper, referring to those drills. He described a US-led maritime exercise earlier this year as the largest in the region, involving 42 countries, 7,000 people, 35 ships and 30 USVs. It also included a mock patient transfer in a USV.

Bahrain Base

In an operations room at the Bahrain naval base packed with screens and computers, Captain Colin Corridan, commander of Task Force 59 which is responsible for deploying the new USVs, said a lot of the footage and information collected from the sea robots is synthesized by artificial intelligence to ease the burden on humans. The USVs are made by Canadian, Israeli and US companies, among others, and cost from $800,000 to $3 million. They range in size from slow-moving solar-powered buoys to large unmanned speed boats.

“They are just eyes on the water constantly sending signals,” said Corridan.

At an outdoor hangar displaying some of the USV models, Lieutenant Commander Jorge Lens from the Spanish navy and a member of Corridan’s task force says some unmanned vessels can stay out for months without the need to refuel and resupply — the record is 220 days in the Red Sea.

Julie Angus, co-founder of Canada’s Open Ocean Robotics which manufactures USVs, was among those who traveled to Bahrain in November to take part in a naval exercise. She has also touted the autonomous vessels’ potential in the field of marine conservation.

So far only Bahrain and Kuwait have publicly announced plans to buy USVs, according to Commander Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US and coalition naval forces in Bahrain. The Iran tanker seizures are precisely why the “more enhanced visibility” provided by USVs is critical to regional security and stability, he said in emailed comments.

Bilal Saab, director of the Defense and Security Program at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, warned the US faces an uphill battle convincing Gulf Arab states, who typically take large and expensive military gear, of the utility of these vessels. That said, USVs are exempt from the lengthy Foreign Military Sales process that Gulf countries often complain about.

“It’s mind-boggling, your entire economy and national survival depends on your export of oil yet you do not have the maritime capabilities to secure your waters, they have always relied on us,” said Saab.

The US military including the Navy must also contend with the narrative that its attention is turning away from the Middle East and Gulf Arab states have to think of security alternatives — including potential alliances with China and Russia.

Bahrain’s Undersecretary for Political Affairs Abdulla bin Ahmed al Khalifa said that while his own country is committed to its partnership, certain regional states are frustrated with the human-rights conditions often attached to US military sales. This is making them look elsewhere.

“It’s an open market,” he said in an interview.

https://gcaptain.com/us-planning-more-robots-at-sea-in-middle-east-to-combat-iran/