Global oil stocks have built to their highest level in 18 months, the IEA said today, which could provide a buffer later in the year when supplies will be “nowhere close” to matching demand, says an article published on Argusmedia.
Global inventoriesThe IEA’s monthly Oil Market Report (OMR) said global inventories rose by 52.9mn bl in January to 7.8bn bl, the highest since September 2021.
There were big builds in OECD countries, driven by reduced demand and by European...
Designating transport workers, including seafarers, as keyworkers and ensuring such workers’ needs and challenges are voiced during a pandemic are among the recently published recommendations from a joint United Nations and industry sector action group.
The Joint Action Group was established in December 2021 to review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s transport workers and the global supply chain.
The Group included IMO, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World...
https://maritime-professionals.com/learning-lessons-from-the-pandemic/
By Low De Wei (Bloomberg) — International cruise ships are returning to Japan, three years after the Diamond Princess became the world’s first luxury ship to face a major Covid outbreak. Amadea, operated by Germany-based Phoenix Reisen, is now docked in Tokyo Bay after earlier arriving at a port in Shizuoka prefecture in western Japan, according to shipping data tracked by Bloomberg. The outbreak on Carnival Corp.’s Diamond Princess, which docked on the country’s shores in February 2020, drew...
The US envoy to China has called on the country to be “more honest” about the origins of the Covid-19 virus. His comments come a day after US media reported that a federal agency had found the pandemic probably started from a laboratory leak in Wuhan.
Accidental Leak ?The Department of Energy reportedly concluded with “low confidence” that the virus was accidentally leaked. China’s foreign ministry hit back, saying Covid’s origin “was about science and should...
https://mfame.guru/the-us-and-china-exchange-words-over-covid-19-origins/
Lance Cpl. Carlos Benitez, assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, receives a COVID-19 booster shot aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) on March 23, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Department of Defense will not issue a separate policy to bring back service members who were separated for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a top Pentagon personnel chief testified to Congress on Tuesday.
Service personnel who were separated for failing to get vaccinated...
By Jamie McGeever ORLANDO, Fla., Feb 27 (Reuters) – Globalization may have peaked, but the resilience of world trade in the face of mounting headwinds means a reversal of the past three decades is not inevitable. Since the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shattered global supply chains, debate has raged over how integrated the global economy will be in the future compared with the previous 30 to 40 years. ‘Globalization’ is an amorphous subject. According to the International...
https://gcaptain.com/opinion-world-trade-boom-keeps-de-globalization-at-bay/
COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are pre-staged for a shot event in the hangar bay aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Dec. 28, 2021. US Navy Photo
SAN DIEGO – The Navy will no longer consider COVID-19 vaccination status when making decisions about sailor deployments – a reversal of more than a year of service policy, according to new Navy guidance released this week.
COVID-19 vaccination status cannot be considered when determining if someone can be deployed, according to the new standardized...
Scientists at the University of Sydney have discovered a protein in the lung that blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection and forms a natural protective barrier in the human body, reports SciTechDaily.
This protein, the leucine-rich repeat-containing protein 15 (LRRC15), is an inbuilt receptor that binds the SARS-CoV-2 virus without passing on the infection.
Protein interaction with COVID-19The research opens up an entirely new area of immunology research around LRRC15 and...
https://mfame.guru/breakthrough-scientists-discover-covid-blocking-receptor/
Many of us are now preferring to live in blissful ignorance of Covid-19’s existence after two years of being barraged with briefings and updates. We’ve come to inform you, regrettably, that the infection is still very much active. In fact, a newly discovered, highly transmissible variant of the disease has raised anxiety among doctors, as reported by Time Out.
Omicron subvariantsMany nations, including the UK, are experiencing an increase in the Omicron subvariants...
https://mfame.guru/be-on-the-lookout-for-these-symptoms-in-the-new-covid-variant/
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Alexander Roth administers the COVID-19 vaccine booster to Aircrew Survival Equipmentman Airman Kiana Briley aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), in the Philippine Sea, on Dec. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Pentagon has offered limited guidance in the three weeks since Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, leaving service members with questions about their statuses.
Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination...