BONANZA EXPRESS

At least two people died and four were declared missing following the sinking of an oil barge operated by a contractor of Venezuelan state-run energy company PDVSA at Lake Maracaibo, PDVSA said on Thursday.Sources and an internal report from the company had indicated four fatalities from the accident earlier on Thursday. But PDVSA said rescue work to find the four missing people has not finished."PDVSA reports the unfortunate sinking of barge Chantase G of company SOSCA, provider of oil well maintenance services, in Lake Maracaibo due to the poor weather conditions affecting the area," the company said in a release.

Maritime security and industry groups raised the risk level for ships calling at Israeli ports on Friday, with terminals facing possible missile strikes from Lebanese group Hezbollah in the Mediterranean and Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea.Earlier this week, the Israeli government's port authority issued a letter stating that terminals ranging from the southern port of Eilat on the Red Sea to the major Mediterranean ports in Haifa in northern Israel were operating at normal capacity.But sirens sounded for the first time in months this week in the city of Haifa after missiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon, and a drone launched by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq militia hit Eilat port

Land access to a vital supply port in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince is being closed off after attacks by armed gangs, operator Caribbean Port Services (CPS) said on Thursday."CPS will shut its barriers to all types of land-based traffic from Sept. 26 to Sept. 29," it said in a statement, saying that the suspension should allow the army and national police to secure the area.A shipping official told Reuters this week that ships were being shot at, preventing them from docking and unloading containers, while authorities have reported the kidnapping of two Filipino crew members from a cargo vessel in the port.

China's newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank earlier this year, a senior U.S. defense official said on Thursday, a potential embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to expand its military capabilities.China already has the largest navy in the world, with over 370 ships, and it has embarked on production of a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines.A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China's new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank alongside a pier sometime between May and June.A Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington said they had no information to provide.

Singapore commissioned two new advanced submarines on Tuesday, vessels its navy says are meant to protect sea lines of communication, and which experts said would range beyond the waters of the tiny city-state to keep tabs on the region.The country's fifth and sixth submarines, the Invincible and the Impeccable, were ordered from Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in 2013 in a 1-billion-euro deal, and join older Archer- and Challenger-class boats.They represent a technological step forward for Singapore's fleet, experts say, allowing the wealthy Southeast Asian nation to operate farther from shore using fewer sailors, and making its craft among the quietest in the region.