LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) – Pirate attacks off West Africa’s
mineral-rich Gulf of Guinea have almost doubled from last year
and threaten to increase the costs and jeopardise the shipping
of commodities from the region.

The Gulf of Guinea, which includes Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory
Coast, is a major source of oil and cocoa and increasingly
metals for world markets, although international navies are not
actively engaged in counter-piracy missions in the region.

LONDON/HAMBURG, June 14 (Reuters) – Iran has ramped up its
campaign to import wheat, buying more than 800,000 tonnes in two
weeks in what some traders said was a drive to ensure adequate
supplies for a possibly tense period after Friday’s election.

This is the first presidential poll since a disputed 2009
contest led to months of unrest in the oil-producing country of
75 million people.

CAIRO/LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) – A plan by Egypt’s
Islamist-led government to develop the land along the Suez Canal
faces fierce opposition in districts that have been flashpoints
for violence before, and may even threaten traffic on the
strategic waterway.

Officials say a draft law aims to raise $100 billion in
yearly revenues, bypass bureaucracy and create an industrial hub
for shipping along the 192 km (120-mile) strip.

LONDON (Reuters) – State-backed British bank Lloyds (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sold a book of U.S. mortgage-backed securities for 3.3 billion pounds ($5 billion), boosting its capital by 1.4 billion pounds and taking it close to a target set by the financial regulator.

Lloyds is also looking to sell a $500 million portfolio of shipping loans to shrink its exposure to the troubled maritime industry, as it gets rid of unwanted assets, trade finance sources told Reuters.

LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) – Ships on the world’s busiest
waterways face growing threats to their satellite navigation
systems, including jamming attacks, prompting Britain and South
Korea to deploy back-up devices to avert potential disasters at
sea.

South Korea has already experienced waves of signal jamming
since 2010 on ships and aircraft, its officials said.

LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange began
offering share incentives to brokers this month to attract more
trades in dry freight derivatives on to its trading platform,
which is losing money as the shipping sector slumps into a fifth
year.

Volumes have remained low on the Baltex multilateral trading
facility since it started in June 2011. It is the first central
electronic marketplace for freight forward agreements (FFAs),
which enable investors to take positions on freight rates at a
point in the future.

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) – Syria has managed to increase its
grain imports in recent months after a period when it was less
active on international markets, traders say, a development that
suggests President Bashar al-Assad has found a way to feed his
people despite war.

Traders say Syria appeared to have had difficulty securing
international supplies of grain last year, but the trouble has
abated this year as middle men have been able to set up deals.

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) – Cargill Inc’s move to
order bulker ships is taking advantage of low vessel values and
the U.S. agribusiness company has no plans to become a long-term
ship owner, the group’s shipping chief said on Thursday.

The dry bulk shipping market is in a fifth year of one of
its worst downturns on record after shipping firms ordered large
numbers of new vessels between 2007 and 2009 – just in time for
the collapse of the global economy after the 2008 financial
crisis.

LONDON (Reuters) – Iran is using an Indonesian port in a strategy to keep up sales to buyers in Asia in the teeth of Western sanctions, according to shipping data and industry sources.

Two Iranian very large crude carriers (VLCCs) able to hold 2 million barrels each sailed to Batam Island in April, according to AIS ship tracking on Reuters, which tracks global tanker movements, before moving on to China.

LONDON/NEW DELHI, May 7 (Reuters) – Foreign container
shipping lines are giving up on Iranian business ahead of new
U.S. sanctions in July, dealing a further blow to Tehran’s vital
seaborne trade.

Iran’s economy is already reeling from the effect of
measures imposed by the West to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Its currency has lost two thirds of its value since late 2011,
inflation is soaring, and unemployment is rising fast as
manufacturing, starved of parts and international finance, has
contracted.