Latest news with #Nassau
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How SpaceX's rocket diplomacy backfired in the Bahamas
By Joey Roulette NASSAU, Bahamas (Reuters) -When SpaceX was negotiating a deal with the Bahamas last year to allow its Falcon 9 rocket boosters to land within the island nation's territory, Elon Musk's company offered a sweetener: complimentary Starlink internet terminals for the country's defense vessels, according to three people familiar with the matter. The rocket landing deal, unlocking a more efficient path to space for SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9, was then signed in February last year by Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who bypassed consultation with several other key government ministers, one of the sources and another person familiar with the talks said. Reuters could not determine the dollar value of the Starlink arrangement or the number of vessels outfitted with Starlink terminals. The Bahamian military, mostly a sea-faring force with a fleet of roughly a dozen vessels, did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters found no evidence that Cooper broke any laws or regulations in striking the deal with SpaceX, but the people said the quick approval created tension within the Bahamian government. By this April, two months after the first and only Falcon 9 booster landed off the nation's Exuma coast, the Bahamas announced it had put the landing agreement on hold. The government said publicly it wanted a post-launch investigation after the explosion in March of a different SpaceX rocket, Starship, whose mid-flight failure sent hundreds of pieces of debris washing ashore on Bahamian islands. But the suspension was the result of the blindsided officials' frustration as well, two of the people said. "While no toxic materials were detected and no significant environmental impact was reported, the incident prompted a reevaluation of our engagement with SpaceX," Cooper, also the country's tourism chief, told Reuters through a spokesperson. SpaceX did not respond to questions for comment. Cooper and the prime minister's office did not respond to questions about how the rocket landing deal was arranged. SpaceX's setbacks in the Bahamas – detailed in this story for the first time – offer a rare glimpse into its fragile diplomacy with foreign governments. As the company races to expand its dominant space business, it must navigate the geopolitical complexities of a high-stakes, global operation involving advanced satellites and orbital-class rockets – some prone to explosive failure – flying over or near sovereign territories. These political risks were laid bare last month when Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was considering taking legal action against SpaceX over 'contamination' related to Starship launches from Starbase, the company's rocket site in Texas, 2 miles north of the Mexican border. Her comments came after a Starship rocket exploded into a giant fireball earlier this month on a test stand at Starbase. Responding to Sheinbaum on X, SpaceX said its teams have been hindered from recovering Starship debris that landed in Mexican territory. MISSION TO MARS SpaceX is pursuing aggressive global expansion as Musk, its CEO, has become a polarizing figure on the world stage, especially following high-profile clashes with several governments during his time advising President Donald Trump. More recently he has fallen out with Trump himself. Starlink, SpaceX's fast-growing satellite internet venture, is a central source of revenue funding Musk's vision to send human missions to Mars aboard Starship. But to scale globally, SpaceX must continue to win the trust of foreign governments with which it wishes to operate the service, as rivals from China and companies like Jeff Bezos' Amazon ramp up competing satellite networks. The company's talks with Bahamian officials show how Starlink is also seen as a key negotiating tool for SpaceX that can help advance other parts of its business. According to SpaceX's orbital calculations, the Falcon 9 rocket can carry heavier payloads and more satellites to space if its booster is allowed to land in Bahamian territory. Meanwhile, Starship's trajectory from Texas to orbit requires it to pass over Caribbean airspaces, exposing the region to potential debris if the rocket fails, as it has in all three of its test flights this year. SpaceX's deal with the Bahamas, the government said, also included a $1 million donation to the University of Bahamas, where the company pledged to conduct quarterly seminars on space and engineering topics. The company must pay a $100,000 fee per landing, pursuant to the country's space regulations it enacted in preparation for the SpaceX activities. While SpaceX made steep investments for an agreement prone to political entanglement, the Falcon 9 booster landings could resume later this summer, two Bahamian officials said. Holding things up is the government's examination of a SpaceX report on the booster landing's environmental impact, as well as talks among officials to amend the country's space reentry regulations to codify a better approval process and environmental review requirements, one of the sources said. Arana Pyfrom, assistant director at the Bahamas' Department of Environmental Planning and Protection, said SpaceX's presence in the country is "polarizing". Many Bahamians, he said, have voiced concerns to the government about their safety from Starship debris and pollution to the country's waters. "I have no strong dislike for the exploration of space, but I do have concerns about the sovereignty of my nation's airspace," Pyfrom said. "The Starship explosion just strengthened opposition to make sure we could answer all these questions." STARSHIP FAILURES ROCK ISLANDS Starship exploded about nine and a half minutes into flight on March 6 after launching from Texas, in what the company said was likely the result of an automatic self-destruct command triggered by an issue in its engine section. It was the second consecutive test failure after a similar mid-flight explosion in January rained debris on the Turks and Caicos Islands, a nearby British overseas territory. Matthew Bastian, a retired engineer from Canada, was anchored in his sailboat on vacation near Ragged Island, a remote island chain in southern Bahamas, just after sunset when he witnessed Starship's explosion. What he initially thought was a rising moon quickly became an expanding fireball that turned into a "large array of streaking comets." "My initial reaction was 'wow that is so cool,' then reality hit me – I could have a huge chunk of rocket debris crash down on me and sink my boat!" he said. "Fortunately that didn't happen, but one day it could happen to someone." Thousands of cruise ships, ferries, workboats, fishing boats, yachts and recreational sailboats ply the waters around Caribbean islands each year, maritime traffic that is crucial for the Bahamas tourism industry. Within days of the explosion, SpaceX dispatched staff and deployed helicopters and speedboats to swarm Ragged Island and nearby islands, using sonar to scan the seafloor for debris, four local residents and a government official told Reuters. On the surface, recovery crews hauled the wreckage from the water and transferred it onto a much larger SpaceX vessel, typically used to catch rocket fairings falling back from space, the people said. The SpaceX team included its vice president of launch, Kiko Dontchev, who emphasized in a news conference with local reporters that the rocket is entirely different from the Falcon 9 boosters that would land off the Exuma coast under SpaceX's agreement. Joe Darville, chairman of a local environmental organization called Save The Bays, was angered by the Starship debris, as well as what he described as a "deal done totally in secret" over the Falcon 9 agreement. As Bahamian waters become increasingly polluted and coral reefs shrink, he's unhappy with the lack of transparency in his government's dealings with SpaceX. "Something like that should have never been made without consultation of the people in the Bahamas," he said. Pyfrom, the official from the Bahamas' environmental agency, said the review of the SpaceX report and the approval process will show "where we fell short, and what we need to improve on." SpaceX, meanwhile, is forging ahead with Starship. Musk said earlier this month he expects the next Starship rocket to lift off within the next three weeks. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Cruise ship crew member stabbed female colleague, 28, before jumping overboard to his death in Caribbean
A crew member on the world's largest cruise ship stabbed his female colleague before jumping overboard to his death, according to police. The two crew members, whose identities have not been revealed, were working aboard the lavish Icon Of The Seas shortly before 7.30pm on Thursday evening, when they became embroiled in a "personal dispute". The man repeatedly stabbed the woman in the upper body and then leapt overboard into the sea off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. As panicked passengers threw life rings into the water, onboard medical staff rushed into a speedboat to rescue him. Half an hour later, the body of the 35-year-old South African man was retrieved from the sea by the search party. The woman, aged 28, also from South Africa, was later found on board with stab wounds to her upper body but she is now in a stable condition, Royal Bahamas Police Force told NBC News. Reports state that the cruise ship immediately slowed down and turned around when the alarm was sounded that the man had gone overboard. Tracking data shows the ship changed its course northeast of San Salvador Island, around 200 miles east of Nassau. The decks were sealed off while an emergency rescue effort was carried out. Images showed medical officers pulling the man's body from the water on to the speedboat. A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said: "One of the crew members was injured, was attended to by the onboard medical team, and she is now in stable condition. 'Unfortunately, the other crew member is deceased after he went overboard and was recovered in a search and rescue operation.' They added that "a personal dispute" is understood to have led to the attack. Investigations are ongoing and an autopsy is due to take place to determine the man's cause of death. The Icon of the Seas holds the record as the world's largest cruise ship, measuring 1,196ft in length by 219ft in width, and it has no fewer than 20 decks. A total of 2,350 international crew members are employed on the ship.
The Sun
4 days ago
- The Sun
Cruise ship crew member stabbed female colleague, 28, before jumping overboard to his death in Caribbean
A ROYAL Caribbean crew member stabbed his female colleague before jumping overboard to his death, police say. The body of a 35-year-old South African man was recovered from the water just minutes after he is said to have attacked a 28-year-old woman. 4 4 Both crew members were working on the luxury Icon of the Seas cruise late on Thursday night when a "personal dispute" erupted onboard. The man repeatedly stabbed the woman, also from South Africa, shortly before 7:30pm, the Royal Bahamas Police Force told NBC News. He then tried to flee the ship by jumping overboard into the waters off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. Panicked passengers, who were unaware of the initial attack, desperately tried to help save the man by throwing life rings into the water, reports say. He was found dead just 30 minutes later by onboard medical staff. According to reports, the cruise ship immediately slowed down and turned back after the first alarm was sounded. Data shows the ship's course change northeast of San Salvador Island, roughly 200 miles east of Nassau. Decks were cordoned off while rescue efforts got underway. Pictures show the recovery team just moments after finding the South African and dragging him from the water onto a speedboat. The woman was later found with multiple stab wounds to her upper body, according to police. She was given urgent help and is now in a stable condition. A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said: "One of the crew members was injured, was attended to by the onboard medical team, and she is now in stable condition. 'Unfortunately, the other crew member is deceased after he went overboard and was recovered in a search and rescue operation.' The cause of the horror incident was "a personal dispute," they added. Investigations are still ongoing to piece together the deadly events. An autopsy to determine the man's exact cause of death is yet to be completed, according to police. Neither of the crew members have been identified. The Icon of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship standing at 1,196ft long and 219ft wide. It has 20 decks and employs 2,350 international crew members. It comes after a a Brit tourist died on a cruise ship travelling through a popular Greek island. On another ship, a captain died in the middle of a 19-day voyage in Asia. And a cruise ship passenger died just days before Christmas last year after trying to jump from the vessel. 4
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Someone just died going overboard on the Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world
Crew member dies on Icon of the Seas after going overboard - here's what we know. Summer and fall are popular times for cruising, and many travelers are currently planning their next getaway. Unfortunately, the cruise world was shocked by a terrible tragedy yesterday. A crew member aboard the Icon of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, has died after going overboard near San Salvador Island in the Bahamas on Thursday, according to Royal Caribbean, the ship's operator. Crew member overboard on Icon of the Seas The individual, whose identity has not been released, entered the water while the 1,200-foot-long vessel was sailing approximately 200 miles east of Nassau. It remains unclear how or why the crew member went overboard. 'Our crew immediately initiated a search and rescue operation, but unfortunately, the crew member passed away,' a Royal Caribbean spokesperson told Fox Business. The ship was on a seven-night Eastern Caribbean voyage and is not expected to be delayed, the outlet reported. Other deaths on cruise ships This marks the second such incident aboard Icon of the Seas this year. In May 2024, a male passenger went overboard and was pulled back onto the ship, but later died despite efforts by onboard medical staff. Similar headlines have emerged across the cruise industry in recent months. In June, a child went overboard on a Disney cruise ship. Her father jumped in after her, and both were rescued by the ship's crew and survived. What is Icon of the Seas? Icon of the Seas entered service in January 2024 and features 20 decks, 18 of which are open to guests. It can accommodate up to 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members. The 250,000-ton ship offers more than 40 dining and entertainment venues, eight themed 'neighborhoods,' a massive water park, and multiple pools and performance spaces. The ship was en route to Coco Cay—Royal Caribbean's private island resort in the Berry Islands—when the incident occurred. According to Cruise Hive, an overboard alarm was triggered around 7 p.m., prompting the immediate launch of rescue operations. Royal Caribbean added, 'We extend our condolences to the crew member's family and loved ones. To respect their privacy, we have no additional details to share.' Solve the daily Crossword
News.com.au
5 days ago
- News.com.au
Cruise ship crew member dies after falling overboard on Icon of the Seas vessel in Caribbean
A Crew member on the Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas cruise ship has died after falling overboard. Passengers said an alarm was sounded at around 7pm on Thursday – warning of a person overboard. A crew member was recovered from the water 30 minutes later after a huge search and rescue operation, The Sun reports. They were sadly pronounced dead, Royal Caribbean said. A spokesperson told The Sun: 'Our crew immediately initiated a search and rescue operation, but unfortunately the crew member passed away. 'We extend our condolences to the crew member's family and loved ones. 'To respect their privacy, we have no additional details to share.' According to reports, the cruise ship immediately slowed and turned back after the alarm was sounded. Data shows the ship's course change northeast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas, roughly 200 miles east of Nassau. Panicked passengers desperately tried to help save the crew member by throwing life rings into the water, reports say. Decks were cordoned off while rescue efforts were underway to find the staff member. It comes after a Brit tourist died on a cruise ship travelling through a popular Greek island. On another ship, a captain died in the middle of a 19-day voyage in Asia. And a cruise ship passenger died just days before Christmas last year after trying to jump from the vessel.
