NEW CHAMPION CORPORATION

European automakers are the most likely to be affected by the dockworkers strike at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports because they rely heavily on those locations, but a longer walkout could prove "debilitating" to the entire sector, industry officials and analysts said.The dockworkers began their first large-scale stoppage in nearly 50 years early on Tuesday, halting the flow of about half the nation's ocean shipping.The International Longshoremen's Association union representing 45,000 port workers had been negotiating with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group for a new six-year contract.

Two vessels sustained damage after being hit with missiles and a sea drone off Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah early on Tuesday, maritime security agencies and sources monitoring the area said.Both vessels reported that their crews were safe.One of the vessels, the Panama-flagged tanker M/T Cordelia Moon, reported being hit by an Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) 64 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.The vessel, which was in ballast condition, was damaged on its port side tank, British security firm Ambrey and the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said, adding that it was proceeding to its next port of call.

Dockworkers on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast began a strike early on Tuesday, their first large-scale stoppage in nearly 50 years, halting the flow of about half the nation's ocean shipping after negotiations for a new labor contract broke down over wages.The strike blocks everything from food to automobile shipments across dozens of ports from Maine to Texas, in a disruption analysts warned will cost the economy billions of dollars a day, threaten jobs, and potentially stoke inflation.

Big energy merchants trading oil cargoes that form the basis of the Brent benchmark have used an obscure clause to reroute U.S. shipments from Europe, in a practice that raises doubts over whether reforms to the crude price marker have succeeded.Brent, the most significant benchmark across commodity markets, is used to price more than 60% of globally traded crude and underpins oil futures. Its value affects fuel prices paid by consumers and businesses.The 2023 addition of U.S. crude to the benchmark had the potential to limit the scope for trading plays that can distort Brent prices, analysts said at the time.

A new analysis from Windward reports a 20% decrease in the volume of direct oil voyages out of Russia in Q3 2024 compared to Q2.Q3 2024 marked the lowest monthly average of direct voyages from Russia to China since March 2023. When compared to Q2 2024 averages, there is a decrease of 12% in such voyages.This is the first total volume decrease since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine and is likely related to the slight decrease in port calls in Russia this quarter.However, Windward has detected new ship-to-ship (STS) transfer hubs for vessels that have made a port call in Russia.