Plunge in Global Trade Is a Boon for Singapore Ship Suppliers

As the sun rises over the Singapore Strait another long day for Arnold Lee begins. On a launch chugging out of Singapore harbor, the shipping agent’s job that morning is to smooth the immigration process for three anxious-looking seamen, from Greece, Ukraine and Romania, who are joining the crew of a 200-m-long bulk carrier anchored an hour southeast of Singapore.

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Suspect in ship hijacking charged with piracy

A Somali suspect in the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama last month has been indicted on 10 counts including piracy, hostage-taking and firearms charges, officials said Tuesday. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse faces life in prison if convicted of eight of the 10 counts, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said.

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Sale fails to bail out last Titanic survivor

The last living survivor of the Titanic earned only a small fraction of what auctioneers hoped to raise when she sold her final remaining mementos of the doomed ship to pay nursing home bills. The 17 items belonging to 97-year-old Millvina Dean sold for about $8,000 on Saturday, according to auctioneer Alan Aldridge — not enough to pay for two months at her nursing home.

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Pirates attack U.S. cargo ship but fail to get aboard

The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship bound for Mombasa, Kenya, was attacked Tuesday night by Somali pirates, according to the company and senior U.S. military officials. “The pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the vessel, which sustained damage,” said a statement from New York-based Liberty Maritime Corporation, which owns the vessel.

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