3M/Louisiana Assoc. for the Blind

European Union and Italian authorities are investigating suspected wide-scale tax fraud by Chinese criminal gangs importing goods via Greece’s largest port of Piraeus, a trade gateway between China and Europe, officials said.“The VAT is completely evaded, with enormous damage to the national tax authorities and to the community,” Fabio Botto, of the Italian Central Anti-fraud Office’s special investigative unit, said in an interview.He said the suspected scam at Piraeus, part of China’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure project, had cost Italy tens of millions of euros in unpaid value-added taxes (VAT), though the total could be far higher as the investigation was not over.

The U.S. Coast Guard has issued its very first certificate of inspection (COI) under the Subchapter M requirements, which set new rules for the inspection, standards and safety policies of towing vessels.The COI issued to Marine Towing of Tampa's 90-foot tug Endeavor was signed Wednesday by Capt. Holly Najarian, commander of Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., and was presented Thursday morning at the company’s corporate office in Tampa, Fla.The 4,200-horsepower Endeavor, built in 2000 in Lockport, La., works as an assist and escort vessel throughout Tampa Bay.With the first COI under Subchapter M, Endeavor leads more than 5,500 vessels that will need to be certified to the new regulation. All U.

The Panama Canal may carry five times as much liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2020 as it did last year as production of the fuel expands in the United States and Asian import demand rises, the head of the canal's governing agency told Reuters.LNG volumes traversing the Canal could hit 30 million tonnes a year before the end of 2020, said Jorge Quijano, who leads the Panama Canal Authority, up from 6 million tonnes last year.Demand for LNG has risen significantly in the last three years as the increase of supply, especially from onshore shale fields in the United States and offshore reserves in Australia, has made it more competitive.

The 20,000 TEU containership Cosco Shipping Gemini was officially named and delivered. The vessel was built by the Chinese shipyard Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) for Chinese owner Cosco Shipping Lines. Chief Financial Officer of Cosco Shipping, Sun Yueyin, attended the naming ceremony. She named the vessel and cut the ribbon.  President and Deputy Party Secretary of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), Sun Bo; Party Secretary of Cosco Shipping Lines, Qian Weizhong; Chairman and Party Secretary of DSIC, Liu Zheng; as well as other guests and representatives from Cosco Shipping, CSIC, Cosco Shipping Lines, DSIC

Norwegian Cruise Line has taken delivery of the 168,028-gross-ton cruise ship Norwegian Bliss from shipbuilder Meyer Werft during a ceremony in Bremerhaven, Germany, marking the conclusion of an 18-month building period.Norwegian Bliss is the third vessel in the line’s Breakaway Plus class and the first cruise ship specifically designed for Alaska cruising.The ship features a two-level competitive electric-car racetrack that sits at the top of deck 19; it is the largest at sea and a first for any North America-based cruise ship.