The decision was reached at the annual Joint Russian–Norwegian Fisheries Commission. The commission sets quotas for jointly managed stocks in the Barents and Norwegian seas, including haddock, capelin, halibut and redfish.

The agency said cod stocks in the northern fisheries basin had improved following a period of decline.

The 2026 northeast Arctic cod TAC was set at 285,000 tonnes. That was 16 per cent lower than in 2025 and the lowest quota since 1991.

In June, Russian and Norwegian scientists advised that 2027 catches should not exceed 312,667 tonnes, which was approximately 10 per cent above the 2026 TAC. They warned that any quota above this level would increase the risk of the spawning stock falling below its limit reference point.

The 2026 spawning stock was estimated at its lowest level since 2000. Researchers expect it to stay below the precautionary reference point until 2029.

In the coming years, the fishery will depend largely on the 2021 year class, which scientists described as moderately strong.

Russia's fisheries research institute VNIRO expects gradual recovery, with the TAC reaching approximately 400,000 tonnes by 2031.

Delivery to the new owner is planned for the second quarter of 2027. DOF said the sale will contribute to a material reduction in the group's net debt.

"While we have not actively pursued a sale of this...subsea vessel, the terms are accretive for the DOF Group and its shareholders, making this the right decision," said CEO Mons S. Aase.

The sale follows the divestment of the cable layer Skandi Connector in May and of four platform supply vessels in July. Alongside the July sales, DOF agreed to purchase two construction support vessels being built at PaxOcean in China.

DOF terminated Skandi Implementer's long-term contract in Mexico in January 2025 following a payment default by the client.

The company then equipped the vessel with two of its own ROVs and secured subsea construction, installation and cable repair work in the Gulf of Mexico.

Skandi Implementer has a length overall of 137.6 metres, a moulded breadth of 27 metres and accommodation for 129 people.

She is fitted with a 400-tonne offshore crane rated for operations at 3,000 metres water depth.

The addition will bring the Bonn-based company's oceangoing fleet to four vessels, alongside Amadea, Amera and Artania.

The 181-metre ship will enter Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven in September 2027. There she will receive Phoenix's livery and a series of onboard modifications to bring her in line with the operator's existing ships. Phoenix plans to carry approximately 700 guests per voyage.

Managing director Benjamin Krumpen said the vessel was in "excellent technical condition" and was already fitted with a shore power connection.

Longstanding Phoenix partners BSM and sea chefs will provide ship management and hotel services respectively. German publication Schiffe und Kreuzfahrten reported that the ship is being sold to BSM and will be chartered to Phoenix. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Alvara will begin with three introductory roundtrips from Hamburg to the Netherlands, the English Channel and Scandinavia, starting on November 11, 2027.

Her christening will take place in Hamburg on November 26, coinciding with the 54th anniversary of Phoenix's founding.

The vessel was built in 1998 as R One for Renaissance Cruises and has sailed for Oceania as Insignia since 2003. A planned long-term charter to residential cruise operator Crescent Seas, announced in April 2025, was cancelled later that year.

Brent crude futures gained $4.01, or 3.54 per cent, to $117.18 a barrel by 12:21 ET (16:22 GMT). Brent's session high of $117.38 was the highest since end of April. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained $3.75, or 3.77 per cent, to $103.22.

The Brent benchmark is on track for a 6.7 per cent weekly rise, which would be its third straight weekly gain. WTI is poised to finish 1.8 per cent higher on the week.

Saudi Aramco on Thursday ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran on the Persian Gulf near Bahrain, Reuters reported. Fighting intensified between the world's largest crude exporter and Yemen-based Houthis.

An oil spill from a tanker was detected off the UAE coast of Umm Al Quwain, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said on Friday. It did not say what caused the spill and authorities have not identified the tanker involved.

Shipping sources said on October 9 that the Gem No.2 was struck by an unidentified projectile 13 nautical miles west of Al Jazeera in the UAE.

"The market is concerned about these continued Iranian attacks on tankers that we've seen increase over the last week," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "While there has been an increase in oil transiting out of the Strait of Hormuz, that could change at any minute."

Clashes between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen's internationally recognised government have raged since the Iran-aligned Houthis pushed towards Bab el-Mandeb last month, a shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea.

October has been the worst month for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby waterways, according to data compiled by a Washington-based think tank that has tracked maritime security incidents worldwide since 2017.

President Donald Trump said on Friday the US could end the war with Iran quickly, but said perhaps Washington should allow the conflict to gradually wind down.

On Thursday, the head of Libya's National Oil Corp told Reuters that an oil pipeline valve from the Hamada and Tahara oilfields to Zawiya port had been shut, leading to a reduction in production at both fields.

On Friday, ship tracking data showed the first Russian diesel bound for the US since an export agreement between Moscow and Trump was aboard a tanker heading for New York.

Trump announced the deal this month as part of efforts to bring down soaring diesel prices ahead of US midterm elections on November 3.

(Reporting by Nicole Jao, Stephanie Kelly and Sudarshan Varadhan Editing by David Goodman, Susan Fenton and David Gregorio)

Their comments followed warnings by Iranian officials that undersea cables in the region could become targets in any renewed conflict if diplomacy with Washington collapses.

The two Iranian security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave few details and did not say how or where exactly Tehran would carry out such attacks. But one of them said Iran would aim to prevent repairs after any attacks to prolong disruptions to communications, including internet connections.

"If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines...from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones," one of the officials said.

The official warned Washington not to, "play with fire", and said Iran had full access to the undersea cables and could easily destroy them.

Yadollah Javani, the deputy head of political affairs for Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), said on Wednesday that Iran could target seven major internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack.

Undersea cables carry around 99 per cent of global internet traffic, according to the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency. But the global impact of such attacks by Iran could be limited as less than one per cent of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz, said Alan Mauldin, research director at telecommunications research firm TeleGeography.

The strait separates Iran and Oman, linking the gulf to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea.

The US Department of State and Iran's Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the Iranian security officials' remarks. There was no immediate comment from gulf states.

Stronger response

The plans for possible attacks on undersea cables reflect a conviction in Iran's leadership that a renewed US military campaign would have to be met with a stronger response than before.

Top security official Mohsen Rezaei warned this month that US-linked digital infrastructure across the gulf, including data centres and AI facilities, could be targeted in a renewed conflict.

Washington's gulf allies have invested heavily in such infrastructure and they, "should hold Washington, not Tehran, responsible for any damage to undersea cables," the second Iranian security official said.

Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said such threats were intended to deter renewed conflict and put pressure on Washington by making gulf governments and US companies fear for their investments in the region.

"Tehran wants gulf states and corporate executives to press (US President Donald) Trump over the risks his policies pose to their investment plans," said Vatanka.

Multiple cable cuts could slow internet services and disrupt financial transactions, e-commerce and cloud computing, analysts said. The impact would depend on how operators rerouted traffic and the capacity available on alternative connections, Mauldin said.

Restoring connections during wartime could be difficult, experts said, and higher insurance costs and delays in obtaining permits to enter territorial waters could further complicate repairs.

The Red Sea could offer a more significant target than the Strait of Hormuz, particularly if Iran had support from its Houthi allies in Yemen, though Tehran has made no public statement indicating it plans to target cables there.

The Red Sea carries data between Europe, East Africa and Asia, with capacity routed through it accounting for about three per cent of global international demand and around 10 per cent of traffic travelling between regions, Mauldin said.

Gulf governments have been investing heavily in technology to diversify beyond oil and become global artificial intelligence hubs, deepening ties with US technology firms.

Iranian strikes directly hit two Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE in March and damaged infrastructure near one of its facilities in Bahrain. The IRGC named US tech companies including Microsoft, Google, Apple and Nvidia as legitimate targets at the height of the war in March.

Land-based connections can provide alternative routes for internet traffic, and gulf states and US technology companies are investing in additional infrastructure to improve resilience.

Microsoft plans to invest more than $400 million in subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

(Editing by Parisa Hafezi and Timothy Heritage)

Vard said the trials are being conducted from its Søviknes shipyard. Prysmian said the vessel would then join its fleet to lay power cables beneath the sea.

The 192.8-metre vessel is the largest ever launched by Vard.

The DP3 cable layer can carry 19,000 tonnes across its three carousels, and its tensioner system can withstand a maximum tension of 60 tonnes. It is designed to lay power cables in water depths of up to 1,500 metres.

Vard began construction at its yard in Tulcea, Romania, in September 2024. In January 2026, the vessel set off for Søviknes to complete outfitting and install its main mission equipment before delivery in 2027.

The vessel has a breadth of 34 metres, a deadweight of 21,500 tonnes and a bollard pull of 220 tonnes.

Its maximum speed exceeds 16 knots, and it has accommodation for 130 people. Aft propulsion is provided by three azimuth propulsion units, each rated at four eMW.

Prysmian intends to deploy a new heavy-duty cable burial plough from both Prysmian Alessandro Volta and Prysmian Monna Lisa. The plough was supplied by SMD and can bury cables up to five metres beneath mean seabed level, depending on seabed conditions.

The main Baltic index fell by 33 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 2,660 points. Still, the index rose about 5.9 per cent for the week.

The Capesize index shed 57 points, or 1.48 per cent, to 3,791 points. But it also recorded a second consecutive weekly gain, up 16.7 per cent.

Average daily earnings for Capesize vessels decreased by $519 to $30,877.

Iron ore futures rose on Friday, supported by reduced Chinese port inventories, though the contract posted a seventh straight weekly loss as traders weighed weak broader demand.

The Panamax index fell 42 points, or 1.95 per cent, to 2,109 points, its lowest level since August 24. The index declined 8.9 per cent for the week.

Average daily earnings for Panamax vessels fell by $377 to $18,981.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index dropped three points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,887 points. It was up 1.18 per cent this week.

(Reporting by Vishak Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

Video released by Romanian authorities showed only a small part of the hull of the capsized tanker still visible above the waves as it sank. Emergency vessels were searching the surrounding waters for survivors in choppy seas and high wind.

Romania's naval authority said the Comoros-flagged Khoryv, with a crew of 13 Ukrainian and Azeri sailors, had sent a distress signal 13 nautical miles off Romania's port of Constanta, just beyond Romanian territorial waters. Nine sailors were rescued from the water, three were missing and one body was recovered.

The past two weeks have seen a sudden surge in deadly attacks on commercial ships off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, with at least seven cargo ships hit and some 30 sailors reported dead or missing.

"It is part of Russia's escalation process in its war in Ukraine," President Dan told reporters, later saying the ship had been hit by a drone.

NATO said on Tuesday it would send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea. The alliance has not specified what capabilities would be sent. On Saturday, Romanian jets shot down two of the latest generation of Russian drones over Romanian territorial waters.

The vessels that have been struck lately have either been anchored near or headed towards the Sulina Canal, which links the Danube River to the Black Sea.

The canal has become the primary export route for Ukraine, one of the world's biggest grain and food oil exporters, which has relied on Danube River ports and Romanian territorial waters as Russia has attacked Ukraine's own Black Sea ports.

Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria have called on NATO to do more to protect commercial shipping in the Black Sea.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie Editing by Peter Graff)

The storage area forms part of Malaysia's Southern CCS Hub. The agreement provides for the creation of a dedicated company for the venture, which will develop, commercialise and operate the site.

The first phase will focus chiefly on a depleted gas field that can take in up to five million tonnes of CO2 per year. The partners are targeting injection to start as early as 2031, depending on industry readiness. When Petronas secured land at Kuantan Port in Pahang for the hub in 2024, it gave 2029 as the expected first injection date.

The hub is being developed to receive CO2 from domestic and regional sources, including potential cross-border shipments. Petronas has formed a separate joint venture, Jules Nautica, with Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and MISC to own the liquefied CO2 carriers that will transport CO2 to storage sites.

Mitsui and seven Japanese companies have also carried out engineering design work, under a Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) programme, for a chain that would capture CO2 in Japan and ship it for storage offshore southern Peninsular Malaysia.

The partners will now advance the project's technical and commercial maturity. PCCSV chief executive Emry Hisham Yusoff said the partners expect to reach a final investment decision (FID) in the near future.

The three companies first agreed to evaluate storage sites in the Malay Basin in 2023.

A key principles agreement in July 2025 paved the way for front-end engineering and design (FEED) and the joint venture structure. In October 2025, PCCSV received Malaysia's first offshore assessment permit for carbon storage, covering the Duyong area.

Teddy Young is charged with having, "obtained, copied, recorded or retained protected information," between November 2024 and May 2025.

Young's role in the Royal Navy related to "warfare intelligence", prosecutors said at his first appearance earlier this month.

The 24-year-old was allegedly, "interested in a website set up by a foreign intelligence service", prosecutor Kelly Brocklehurst said at London's Old Bailey court on Friday.

"The website that he appears to have taken a particular interest in is the foreign intelligence service of Russia, the SVR," Brocklehurst added.

Young, who appeared by video link from Belmarsh prison, is charged with five offences, including two under the National Security Act and one count of misconduct in public office.

He was not asked to enter any pleas and his trial was provisionally listed to begin in October 2027.

Police previously said the charges were not connected to the recent, ongoing investigation into an incident at the RAF Fairford airbase, from where US bombers had carried out strikes on Iran before they were withdrawn.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Kate Holton)

The 16-fibre-pair MViSTA cable is expected to enter service in late 2028 with an estimated cost of about $400 million, said Mark Procter, deputy head of Stavian High Tech Infrastructure (SHT), a unit of Vietnamese conglomerate Stavian Group and one of the project's developers.

The project's backers excluded Chinese suppliers from bidding and designed the route to avoid the vast area claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea, Procter said.

Stavian is also planning a data-centre campus in southern Vietnam linked to the cable, with "no Chinese company involved in any key technology deployed" in the cluster, he added.

After publication of Reuters story earlier on Friday, SHT said that Procter's statements represented his personal views. It noted the company was evaluating capabilities of global vendors and that in selecting partners it, "does not discriminate against or exclude any provider based on their geographical origin or nationality."

Communist-run Vietnam maintains a delicate balance between major powers and has emerged as a key arena in the competition between US and Chinese technologies, with Washington pressing Hanoi to avoid Chinese vendors in submarine cables, telecoms and AI technology due to concerns about security that could impact investments.

However, Vietnam last year awarded contracts to Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE for parts of its 5G rollout, in a major shift which raised concerns among US and European officials.

MViSTA is backed by the US. APTelecom, a consultancy working with the US government on cable infrastructure, facilitated the formation of the group of shareholders, worked on the feasibility study and is helping secure customers for the cable and the data-centre campus, Procter said.

Alongside Stavian, the project's shareholders include Tokyo-based investment firm Midas Capital and LitUp Network, a subsidiary of Malaysia's OMS Group, which will be responsible for laying the 2,500-kilometre cable, Procter said.

Hyperscale campus

The cable's estimated cost, supplier shortlist and extent of US involvement are reported here for the first time.

The tender for the supply of the cable is underway with a decision on the winner slated for later in October, said Procter, who is also the chief operating officer of the special purpose vehicle set up to develop and operate the cable.

ASN said it does not comment on ongoing tendering activity. NEC did not respond to a request for comment.

US cable maker SubCom was also invited to bid but declined because of existing commitments, Procter said.

The project is significant for Vietnam, which is prone to recurring cable outages and plans to expand the number of submarine cables connecting the country to at least 15 by 2030 from six now. Procter said the government sped up approval procedures for the project.

Stavian plans to connect the MViSTA cable to a new campus in southern Vietnam. The campus is designed to host data centres for "hyperscale cloud and AI infrastructure operators", according to a September statement from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), which is funding a feasibility study.

The study, due for completion in March 2027, will assess the deployment of trusted technology and evaluate whether US restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors could affect the planned one-gigawatt infrastructure, Procter said.

The cable-linked campus could address infrastructure constraints that have prevented big US tech firms from investing in data centres in Vietnam. But investments will also depend on Vietnam's regulatory framework, Procter said, with restrictions on cross-border data flows often cited by industry bodies as a key barrier.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Susan Fenton)

Cemclover is the fourth 5,650DWT cement carrier constructed by the yard for the owner, which the newbuilding orderbook identifies as Hamburg-based Baltrader. The yard said it participated in the detailed design.

The vessel has a length overall of 113.4 metres (372 feet), a moulded beam of 15.4 metres (50.5 feet), a moulded depth of 8.4 metres (27.6 feet) and a design draught of six metres (19.7 feet). Gross tonnage is 4,322. The builder reported a speed of 11.35 knots.

Zhenjiang Shipyard said the vessel can discharge cement automatically at 250 tonnes per hour and load at 500 tonnes per hour.

Baltrader said its fleet uses enclosed systems to load and discharge cement, ground granulated blast-furnace slag and dry fly ash.

The company said this setup avoids cement dust during handling, shields cargo from water ingress and lets loading and unloading continue in any weather.

The first vessel in the series, CemCommander, was delivered in January 2024. The yard co-designed that vessel with SDC. The fifth carrier was keel-laid on May 27, the day Cemclover was launched, and the sixth on July 31.

Cemclover departed Singapore on October 19, bound for Cape Town, South Africa.