Category: Shipping

Baltimore Bridge Collapse Analysis: 100% AVOIDABLE

On March 26, 2024, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore Harbor was struck by a massive container ship Dali. Jeff OStroff walks you through all phases of this fateful collision and the resulting total collapse of the Key Bridge, offering you step by step walkthrough of security camera videos that captured this engineering disaster. You'll also see possible bridge design deficiencies, as well as past deficiencies on the Dali ship, and what could have prevented this catastrophe.

Redacted: We NOW know they’re LYING about the Baltimore bridge collapse, Biden’s great replacement

The NTSB just released their initial findings of the Baltimore bridge collapse and it's a stunning contradiction of the Biden administration. Why did President Biden come out first thing in the morning to tell us their investigation showed no signs of foul play? The NTSB didn't arrive on board until two days later. Journalist Lara Logan said her intelligence sources confirmed that this was an intentional cyber attack.

Something BIG is happening and the Baltimore bridge is just the start by Redacted w Clayton Morris

Redacted: "This cargo ship was FILLED with HAZARDOUS chemicals and the containers have breached"

Lara Logan: Bridge Collapse Due to Cyber Attack on Shipping Vessel

Maritime Expert Analyzes the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

Maritime expert Sal Mercogliano, host of the What's Going on With Shipping YouTube channel, joins Ward once again to provide in-depth analysis about what caused MV Dali to hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the mouth of the Baltimore Harbor early in the morning of March 26, 2024. Upon impact, the bridge immediately collapsed.

Is Pete Buttigieg Responsible For the Baltimore Bridge Collapse?~Or could it have been poor construction due to racism in the area?

Following the tragedy that unfolded early this morning in Baltimore Maryland when a cargo ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge (causing it to collapse), frustrations have everybody pointing fingers in every direction, looking for somebody to blame. Is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responsible? Or could it just be because of racism when the bridge was built?

Houthis expand Red Sea operation, warn new ‘hypersonic missile’ will target Cape of Good Hope bound shipping

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/03/houthis-expand-red-sea-operation-warn-new-hypersonic-missile-will-target-cape-of-good-hope-bound-shipping; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

The Houthis, an Iranian proxy from Yemen that has been attacking ships in the Red Sea in a show of support for Hamas, are now set to expand its war by “hitting ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope.” Many ships are heading toward the Cape of Good Hope in order to avoid the Red Sea, and now the Houthis intend to disrupt the shipping routes there as well. Already, the Houthis have affected the supply chain in many countries in the West, and the entire economic stability of Italy.

Houthis now intend to use hypersonic missiles with “highly destructive capabilities.” Last year, it was reported that Iran “created a hypersonic missile capable of traveling at 15 times the speed of sound” and named it Fattah, meaning “Conquerer.” The Houthis plan to “begin manufacturing it for use in attacks in the Red Sea and Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel.”

So far, the Biden-leading coalition in the Red Sea has downed several Houthi missiles, but is losing the war against the group, again sending a message of weakness not only to the Houthis, but also to Iran.

The Houthis continue to be drastically underestimated in the West, while posing a grave danger to the region and beyond.

“Houthis warn new ‘hypersonic missile’ will target the Cape of Good Hope bound shipping,” The New Arab, March 15, 2024:

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis’ secretive supreme leader, said the rebels would start hitting ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope.

Yemen’s Houthis claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

A report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine.

However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about “surprises” they plan for the battles at sea to counter the United States and its allies, which have so far been able to down any missile or bomb-carrying drone that comes near their warships in Mideast waters.

On Thursday, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis’ secretive supreme leader, said the rebels would start hitting ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope in Africa’s southern tip. Until now, the rebels have largely struck ships heading into the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal…..

While Gazans Throw US Aid in Trash, Biden Builds Pier to Bring Them More

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/03/while-gazans-throw-us-aid-in-trash-biden-builds-pier-to-bring-them-more; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

If only Biden had spent as much time helping the people of East Palestine as he did helping the “Palestinians.”

The media is saturated with Hamas propaganda falsely claiming that Gazans are “starving to death”.

The reality is that there’s food as can be seen in social media videos Gazans post. Prices are higher, but no one is starving to death.

There’s so much food that they’re throwing away the airdropped food we and others send to them.

But Biden will use the State of the Union address to announce that the U.S. will launch an “emergency mission” to build a pier that will be used to deliver aid by water.

It will take “a number of weeks” to get the temporary pier built and running, one of the officials briefing reporters said, adding that the US hopes that the port will turn into “a commercially operated facility over time.”

The officials clarified that the project will not require US boots on the ground in Gaza. Instead, US military personnel will be present on vessels offshore while the pier is being built.

“We’re not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership, and we are building a coalition of countries to address this urgent need,” one of the senior officials says.

The Biden admin knows that US military personnel will not be safe in Gaza, but millions of dollars will be spent to build a pier to send aid that the Gazans don’t even want and that someone in the admin hopes will become a “commercial facility.”

That’s what they think “American leadership” looks like.

Apart from wasting taxpayer money, this is building infrastructure that, unless Israel finishes off Hamas, will fall into the hands of terrorists.

If only Biden had spent as much time helping the people of East Palestine as he did helping the ‘Palestinians’.

Iran’s navy seizes oil tanker that once was at center of major crisis between the Islamic Republic and Washington

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/01/irans-navy-seizes-oil-tanker-that-once-was-at-center-of-major-crisis-between-the-islamic-republic-and-washington; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

The mullahs know the Biden regime is weak and so treasonous and appeasement-minded that it just sent them $10 billion. So they know that the U.S. will do nothing.

“‘Unauthorized’ men in military garb take over contentious oil tanker in Gulf of Oman — one day after Houthi rebels strike in full-scale drone, missile attack,” Associated Press, January 11, 2024:

Iran’s navy seized an oil tanker on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman that once was at the center of a major crisis between Tehran and Washington, officials said, a seizure that further escalates tensions in the Mideast waterways.

The vessel was once known as the Suez Rajan and was involved in a yearlong dispute that ultimately saw the U.S. Justice Department seize 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil on it.

The seizure also comes after weeks of attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea, including their largest barrage ever of drones and missiles launched late Tuesday.

That has raised the risk of possible retaliatory strikes by U.S.-led forces now patrolling the vital waterway, especially after a United Nations Security Council vote on Wednesday condemning the Houthis and as American and British officials warned of potential consequences over the attacks.

Iran’s state-run television acknowledged the seizure late Thursday afternoon, hours after armed men boarded it.

The oil tanker was boarded in the Gulf of Oman by “unauthorized” people in military uniforms early on Thursday morning.

“The violating oil tanker Suez Rajan … stole Iranian oil by leading it to the Americans and delivered it to the Americans,” state TV said.

It said Iran’s navy, rather than its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, conducted the seizure….

Biden Has Already Allowed the Houthis to Win~Biden Blocked ‘Additional Military Response’ to Houthi Attack on US Navy~UK retail giant and others warn of shipping delays due to Houthi attacks on Red Sea merchant ships

  BY 

Playing defense against Islamic terrorists doesn’t work.

Playing defense against Islamic terrorists doesn’t work. The terrorists, at least initially, don’t need to win, they just need to take your society hostage and force you to constantly be on the defensive. Parts of your economy get shut down and you’re always on alert.

The Houthi Jihadists in Yemen, backed by Iran, have taken a crucial waterway hostage. Biden responded by playing defense, responding to Houthi attacks on shipping but without making a concerted effort to take out the terrorist infrastructure.

And so here we are.

Biden’s Red Sea Coalition responds defensively to attacks on shipping.

U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire and sank three small boats carrying Houthi militants in the Red Sea on Sunday, after U.S. warships responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel, military officials said.

A Maersk container ship, the Singapore-flagged Hangzhou, issued a distress call at about 6:30 a.m. local time, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. The merchant vessel said four small boats were attacking it.

“The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, fired crew-served and small-arms weapons at the Maersk Hangzhou, getting to within 20 meters of the vessel, and attempted to board the vessel,” Central Command said.

Helicopters from two U.S. ships — the USS Eisenhower and the USS Gravely — responded and issued verbal calls to the small boats, U.S. officials said.

While the helicopters were “in the process of issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired upon the U.S. helicopters with crew served weapons and small arms,” Central Command said.

Service members aboard the Navy helicopters returned fire and sank three of the four small boats, killing the crews, U.S. officials said. The fourth boat fled the area.

Read between the lines here. US Naval personnel were only allowed to fire on the Houthis when fired on.

They did not have authorization to fire when the Houthis were firing on the Maersk Hangzhou or on what were clearly enemy vessels, but only defensively in response to attacks on the US Navy.

Is it any wonder that Maersk is calling it a day?

Shipping and logistics behemoth A.P. Moller-Maersk said Tuesday that it’s suspending its shipping operations through the Red Sea until further notice as it investigates an attack on one of its ships by Iran-backed Houthi rebels this past weekend.

Biden has demonstrated that he’ll only react defensively to clear attacks. That’s not going to secure the Red Sea for shipping.

So Biden has handed the Houthis a victory. They don’t need to actually seize ships, they just need to demonstrate that the area is unsafe for vessels (unless they covertly pay protection money to the terrorists) and that America isn’t going to make the threat go away any time soon.

This is how we lose and the terrorists win.

______________________________________________________________________

  BY 

US Navy personnel were only allowed to fire on the Houthis when fired on.

Yesterday I wrote that Biden had allowed the Houthis to win by refusing to take any affirmative action against the Iran-backed Jihadis operating in Yemen and attacking shipping in the Red Sea.

“US Naval personnel were only allowed to fire on the Houthis when fired on. They did not have authorization to fire when the Houthis were firing on the Maersk Hangzhou or on what were clearly enemy vessels, but only defensively in response to attacks on the US Navy.”

An NBC News account of inside deliberations in the Biden administration reveals that Biden refused to approve any follow-up response.

“According to the officials, U.S. Central Command provided Defense Department leaders with options for an additional military response after the incident, and the Pentagon sent those options to senior White House officials. Biden, who was on vacation in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, did not approve an additional military response.”

Military leaders probably wanted to at least carry out some minimal strikes on Houthi bases. Nope.

Now the Biden administration and its Red Sea coalition issued yet another threat warning of “consequences.”

We hereby reiterate the following and warn the Houthis against further attacks…

“Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways. We remain committed to the international rules-based order and are determined to hold malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks.”

Accountable and consequences. Words to terrify any bureaucrat. Not so much international terrorists.

Biden has pledged nothing, committed to nothing and therefore threatened nothing. Instead, he’s allowed Iran to hold the world’s shipping hostage.

_____________________________________________________________

  BY 

The Houthis are Iranian proxies who support Hamas. They have been escalating attacks in the Red Sea against merchant ships traveling to and from Israel. They have also launched missiles against Israel. For this reason, Biden created a naval coalition, called “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” to stop them. The motto for Houthis and their supporters: “Allahu akbar. Death to America, death to Israel, curse for the Jews, victory for Islam.” That motto is consistent with Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinian Authority and virtually every violent and stealth jihadist entity. Few, if any, would have foreseen that the Houthis, from one of the world’s poorest countries, would blockade one of the busiest trade corridors in the world, the Red Sea, disrupting merchant ships and even attacking them, and causing impact on businesses worldwide.

Britain’s multinational retail giant Next has now announced a two-and-a-half week delay in stock delivery times for products coming through the Suez Canal.

“Next warns of stock shortages if Red Sea shipping problems continue,” by Jabed Ahmed, Independent, January 4, 2024:

Retail giant Next has warned supplies of its products could be delayed if attacks on container ships in the Red Sea continue.

Attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels on ships in the Bab-el-Mandeb Straight of the Suez Canal have seen the world’s largest shipping firms halt shipments through the Red Sea, with the diversions adding thousands of miles to journeys, driving up costs and leading to delays.

The attacks have forced a number of companies to reroute cargo around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, which adds 3,000 to 3,500 nautical miles to journeys connecting Asia with Europe — adding about 10 days to journeys, according to the Dutch bank ING.

Next is not the first company to warn of issues in the supply of products. Last month furniture giant Ikea said some of its products could also be delayed due to attacks.

According to a CNBC’s Stock market and business report:

Drone and missile attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants have upended shipping through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, a narrow waterway through which some 10% of the world’s trade sails.

The effects of the jihad against Israel are expanding globally — from antisemitism and intimidating pro-Hamas protests to the latest impact on businesses due to Red Sea attacks. In an update, the American-led naval coalition, which has grown to 13 countries including the US, has just vowed consequences if the Houthis continue attacks in the Red Sea. The Sydney Morning Herald stated that missile sites in Yemen may be targeted and struck. The participating countries in the Red Sea coalition are: America, Britain, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore and New Zealand.