TOKYO: Japanese auto giant Nissan is “in no way” planning to end its partnership with Renault, the Japanese automaker insisted Tuesday after a report suggested a divorce was possible in the wake of the Carlos Ghosn scandal.
Britain’s Financial Times, citing “several people with knowledge of the matter,” said Monday that said senior executives at the scandal-hit firm were speeding up work on secret plans for a potential parting of ways with France’s Renault.
But in a statement, Nissan firmly denied the claims. “Nissan is in no way considering dissolving the alliance,” the statement said.
“The alliance is the source of Nissan’s competitiveness,” the firm said, adding that it will look to continue delivering “win-win results for all member companies.”
The partnership, which also includes Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors, has been troubled since the shock arrest of its former chief Ghosn on charges of financial misconduct.
Ghosn, who last month jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon, claims the charges against him were cooked up by disgruntled Nissan executives hoping to block his plans to more closely integrate the automaker with Renault.
In a news conference in Lebanon, he claimed the alliance was now on the rocks and directionless.
The alliance’s new chief, Jean-Dominique Senard, earlier hit back at the reports of a planned split, telling Belgian daily L’Echo the claims had “no connection to the current situation of the alliance.”
“The Renault-Nissan alliance is not dead! Soon we will show you why,” he said in an interview published Tuesday.
“I ask myself, where does this sort of information come from? I am not sure it comes from a place of goodwill,” Senard said.
Nissan fell nearly three percent Tuesday afternoon.
The 20-year partnership between Nissan and Renault, whose alliance is based on cross-shareholdings without a joint structure, has been badly shaken by the Ghosn scandal.
But Senard said the alliance was “nowhere near” the point of collapse and insisted its leaders were busy “recreating its original spirit” and planning future investments.
A source close to Nissan said that the leaks probably came from “a few disgruntled souls” inside the company who wanted to “vent their frustration,” adding that rebuilding trust between the two firms “will take time.”
Nissan denies reported plans to split with Renault
https://arab.news/5bzjy
Nissan denies reported plans to split with Renault
- Report: Nissan senior executives speeding up work on secret plans for a potential parting of ways with France’s Renault
- ‘Nissan is in no way considering dissolving the alliance’
CMA CGM, global carriers suspend Gulf transits on security fears
RIYADH: Shipping and logistics across the Middle East were disrupted after major carriers halted routes and ordered vessels to seek shelter following joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran’s warning restricting transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
At least 150 tankers, including crude oil and liquefied natural gas vessels, dropped anchor in open Gulf waters beyond the Strait of Hormuz, while dozens more were stationary on the other side of the chokepoint, shipping data showed on March 1, Reuters reported.
The tankers were clustered in open waters off the coasts of major Gulf oil producers, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as LNG giant Qatar, according to Reuters estimates based on ship-tracking data from the MarineTraffic platform.
This comes as French shipping giant CMA CGM instructed vessels operating in the Gulf to move to safe shelter and suspended some Suez Canal transits as security risks escalated along one of the world’s busiest trade routes.
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, carrying about 30 percent of global oil supplies along with significant volumes of liquefied natural gas.
The world’s third-largest container line said all vessels currently inside or bound for the Persian Gulf had been instructed to proceed immediately to safe shelter, while certain canal transits were halted until further notice and ships were rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope, according to a statement.
The precautionary move comes as shipping companies reassess operations across the region following military strikes and retaliatory attacks that have heightened security risks along critical maritime corridors linking Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
“This decision is dictated by safety considerations and is made in compliance with our Bill of Lading Terms and Conditions,” the statement said.
It added: “Customers will be contacted as soon as we have more details of the possible alternative ports where their cargo could be discharged.”
The UK Maritime Trade Operations warned that the regional maritime security environment remains unstable, citing heightened military activity across key shipping lanes.
“The maritime security environment across the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, North Arabian Sea, Bab al Mandab and the Strait of Hormuz remains highly volatile, with ongoing regional military activity contributing to an elevated threat to commercial shipping,” UKMTO said in an advisory.
The agency added that mariners should expect disruption to navigation and communications systems.
UKMTO said there is “significant military presence and activity across the region” and warned vessels of an increased risk of miscalculation or misidentification near sensitive maritime infrastructure.
Despite circulating reports, the agency said “no official closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been formally communicated to the maritime industry through recognized maritime safety channels.”
Separately, Japanese shipping companies have also begun restricting movements near the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.
Nippon Yusen instructed vessels to halt transit in the area on Feb. 28, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said its ships were remaining in safe waters, citing crew and cargo safety as its top priority.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha said several of its vessels in the Persian Gulf were placed on standby, noting that, unlike other maritime routes, there are limited diversion options for ships operating near the strait.
“Until the situation stabilizes, we will not attempt to send vessels through the strait, nor dispatch additional ships towards the area,” a spokesperson said.
German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd has also suspended all vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice because of the evolving security situation, it said.
This comes as a Palau-flagged oil tanker was hit off Oman’s Musandam peninsula on March 1, injuring four crew members, the country’s Maritime Security Centre said, following drone strikes on the Gulf nation’s commercial port of Duqm, Reuters reported.
The incidents mark the first time targets in or near Oman have been struck since Tehran launched retaliatory attacks across Gulf states after joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The 20-member crew of the Skylight tanker was evacuated after the attack, which occurred about five nautical miles north of Khasab Port in Musandam, according to the maritime authority in a post on X. The centre did not specify what hit the vessel but said four crew members, among them 15 Indian and five Iranian nationals, suffered injuries of varying severity.
Oman’s Musandam peninsula shares control of the Strait of Hormuz with Iran, a strategic chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption passes.
Earlier in the day, Oman’s state news agency reported that Duqm commercial port was struck by two drones, injuring one expatriate worker. Debris from another drone fell near fuel storage tanks, though no additional casualties or material damage were recorded.
