Last Resort News

California’s maritime sector is essential to America’s role in the global economy and to the supply chain. Yet, a mandate from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has cast a shadow over the safety and efficiency of this sector, which will have far-reaching effects on the nation.While CARB’s intentions to bolster air quality are commendable, and California’s maritime industry has a proven track record of working to lower emissions, the hasty directive for tugboat operators…

Damage to the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Europe was caused by powerful explosions, Danish police said on Tuesday, echoing earlier findings into leaks that erupted in the network under the Baltic Sea and that have been blamed on sabotage.In what a Swedish newspaper described as the first publicly released footage of damage to the system, film from a private drone appeared to show a gaping rupture in one pipe. Expressen reported a 50-meter section missing from one area of pipeline.Dwindling flows of gas from Russia…

Around 20 ships are stuck in traffic along Germany's river Rhine, where low water levels have already impeded shipping this summer, after a vessel's engine failure closed part of the waterway, authorities said on Wednesday.A vessel with a 1,660-ton load was forced to drop anchor due to an engine failure, closing traffic between St Goar and Oberwesel, river police said."It's backing up," a spokesperson for the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration told Reuters. "The berths are full all the way to Mainz." Mainz is about 50 kilometres south-east of Oberwesel.Downstream was affected more.

Hydrogen is everywhere. You know that from high school chemistry. And you also know it from Marine News’ almost daily updates about H powered vessel projects around the world.As a fuel that could potentially replace fossil fuels, H is in the spotlight. Perhaps the brightest spotlight, at least in the U.S., is within the Department of Energy’s “Energy Earthshots” initiative.R&D on H was the first such Earthshot announced last year. DOE wants the “Hydrogen Shot” program to “accelerate…

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes are piling up off the shores of Europe as the coronavirus pandemic severely disrupts gas demand, leading to delays in tanker discharges and a rise in the number of vessels used as floating storage, analysts said.Lockdowns due to the virus have led to a slump in industrial gas consumption worldwide, reducing demand for LNG and causing cargo deferrals, delays and cancellations, initially reflected by a build up of floating cargoes in the Far East and India.Despite some vessels managing to unload as lockdowns ease…

Equinor reported the oil industry's first coronavirus infection on an offshore installation on Wednesday, highlighting the challenge in preventing contamination for thousands of workers living in the close quarters on rigs and platforms.A worker was in isolation on the Norwegian energy firm's Martin Linge oil and gas platform off Norway where production is due to start at the end of this year, the company said. It said it would cut activity at the field, but personnel would remain at installations, while workers would reduce meetings and sit further apart in canteens to prevent further contamination. It has 776 people working on the project spread across three installations, Martin Linge, the Maersk Intrepid drilling rig and the Floatel Endurance accommodation rig.

The international container terminal operating company  APM Terminals implemented global waste management standards across all of its operations one year ago.The first tangible results from the company’s head office are now available and provide a clear indication of the significant impact this is having on reducing the company’s environmental impact.APM Terminals issued new Waste Management Standards across its global operations in September 2018. The standards not only provide clear guidance on how waste can be treated or disposed of in a more environmentally sensitive manner, but more importantly, help identify opportunities to prevent or reduce waste…

Two Iranian vessels have been stranded for weeks at Brazilian ports, unable to head back to Iran due to lack of fuel, which state-run oil firm Petrobras refuses to sell them due to sanctions imposed by the United States.The vessels Bavand and Termeh came to Brazil a couple months ago carrying urea, a petrochemical product used as fertilizer. They were expected to load corn and return to Iran, but lacked enough fuel for the trip, the port operator in Paranaguá told Reuters.Food is not covered by U.S. sanctions, and Iran is one of the largest buyers of Brazil's agricultural commodities, importing more than 2.5 million tonnes of Brazilian corn so far this year — more than any other country.However, that trade is not usually carried by ships flying the Iranian flag.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said that it supports the decision in principle by the UN body International Maritime Organization (IMO) that safety or operational concerns about the quality of low sulphur fuels may, in exceptional circumstances, be a valid reason for shipowners to be issued with a Fuel Oil Non Availability Report (FONAR) when the IMO global sulphur cap comes into full effect on 1 January 2020.However, ICS is warning shipowners that this decision by an IMO Sub Committee last week should not in any way be regarded as a ‘free pass’ either to use or carry non-complaint fuel.“FONARs remain a tool of last resort and are not something that a ship will be able to use routinely” said ICS Deputy Secretary General Simon Bennett.

The Clean Arctic Alliance welcomes the joint statement by  Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on the need to move to cleaner ships’ fuels such as LNG in the Arctic.Speaking on behalf of the Clean Arctic Alliance, Alexey Knizhnikov of WWF Russia said that “the risks of using heavy fuel oil in the Arctic are too high, and we welcome President Putin and President Niinisto’s vision and leadership in seeking to move to cleaner fuels for Arctic shipping. We should now expect that the Russian Federation’s position on the HFO issue will be adjusted in line with President Putin’s statement, and we hope to see…

U.S. salvage industry update: Coast Guard recognition and continuous improvement for the domestic salvage industry and its working professionals.Professional salvors are called in when the ship’s crew is overwhelmed – the last resort to protect lives, minimize environmental impacts and save the ship and cargo. These salvage masters, divers, firefighters, naval architects, heavy lift operators and other salvage team members regularly go into harm’s way and consistently perform incredible feats. They commit their lives and livelihoods to this work.

The role of Inmarsat as sole provider of satellite technology performing to Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) standards is set for advancement, after an IMO Sub Committee decided to greenlight consideration of both FleetBroadband and Fleet One for formal approval. To date, Inmarsat is the only company which has received approval from the International Maritime Organization to provide the GMDSS data and messaging communications on which mariners rely in the last resort, currently via Inmarsat C and Fleet 77 services.

Before the furious monsoon and tropical cyclones hit South East Asia, Ardent, the amalgamation of two salvage giants, has already positioned itself to tackle the growing number of accidents and casualties that become a regular feature this time of the year. Ardent is also responding to the recent initiatives of the Indian Shipping Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari, who is focused strongly on setting up new ports, augment capacity of existing ports, develop coastal shipping, passenger ferry services, lighthouse and cruise tourism, island development and other services related to Indian Maritime Sector. The company sees this as an important driver for Ardent.

The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) and the consortium building a third set of locks for the inter-oceanic waterway said in separate statements that they will take a dispute over cement quality to international arbitration. The PCA has asked for an international arbitration panel to review a decision to award US$233 million to the consortium expanding the canal in a dispute over cement quality. The consortium, led by Spain's Sacyr and Italy's Salini Impregilo, and including Belgium's Jan de Nul and Panama's CUSA, said in January it had won US$233 million of the US$463 million it claimed in the dispute. In the latest chapter of an often thorny relationship between the authority…

Exporters of Russian wheat have cut prices to try to speed up sales abroad before the government possibly introduces curbs to replenish its own stocks and prevent rises in the cost of bread, traders and analysts said on Friday. Russia's grain exports are running at a record high, buoyed by a large crop and a sinking rouble which after dropping 40 percent this year against the dollar has made exports more profitable than domestic sales. On Thursday, Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov told an agriculture commission in the lower house of parliament that his ministry would consider all options to restrain exports, "except an embargo", and cover domestic demand.

Venezuela is considering importing crude oil for the first time ever and could use a light oil from its partner in OPEC, Algeria, to dilute their own heavy crude, according to a company document seen by Reuters accessed on Wednesday. Despite having the largest oil reserves in the world, in recent years Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has been buying increasing amounts of heavy naphtha for blending with the extraction of heavy crude in the Orinoco Oil Belt, the largest producing region . These blends are made to convert the extra-an exportable product, amid the decline in local production of medium and light crude oils previously used as diluents and delays in construction of new breeders that can change the quality of the crude.

Tugboat workers at Australia's biggest iron ore port have approved a plan to go on strike, which would halt a quarter of the world's iron ore exports, if they are unable to resolve a dispute over leave and pay, their union said on Monday. Deckhands in the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) voted to strike for one, two or seven days, but remain in talks with tugboat operator Teekay Shipping Australia to resolve the dispute, the union said. No date or timeframe has been set for a strike, which would halt iron ore shipments by BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group. Together they supply more than half of Australia's iron ore exports. "Industrial…

Jochen Gutschmidt, head of global transport procurement at Nestle, asked the Global Liner Shipping Conference in Hamburg last week: “Why is cargo waiting in Asia for two weeks?” Using data from Drewry’s latest 'Container Forecaster', just published, this week’s 'Container Insight Weekly' attempts to answer that question and quantify how much capacity has been taken out of the system by slow steaming and lay-ups. There was a time when vessel optimisation was achieved by simply deploying the biggest ships at full speed so to minimise the number of vessels required.

Reuters - A top Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday he is closely watching the unfolding crisis in Ukraine for potential effects on U.S. economic growth and volatility in commodity prices. "It's something I'm watching really carefully for potential implications for growth," Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker told the Council of Economic Education. "We obviously worry first about the disruptions of the commodity markets ... and volatile commodity prices." Russia's military intervention in Ukraine's Crimea peninsula has driven up oil markets. But prices eased on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin told reporters Russia would only use force as a "last resort."

Crude oil tanker earnings on the major Middle East route fell on Tuesday as a build up of vessels available for hire weighed on rate sentiment. Shipping markets continued to monitor developments in Ukraine after Russia sent military forces into the Crimea region of southern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would only use military force in Ukraine as a last resort. A U.S. official said it was ready to impose economic sanctions on Russia. The world's benchmark VLCC export route from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) to Japan reached W50.73 in the Worldscale measure of freight rates, or $25,765 a day when translated into average earnings. That compared with W51.33 or $27,219 a day on Monday and W55.05 or $32,176 a day last Tuesday.

While there are indications that the shipping industry is starting to emerge  from the doldrums of the last six years, signals remain mixed. Moore Stephens reported in June that shipping confidence has risen to its highest point since 2010. Indeed, there are signs of a new wave of speculative ordering of new tonnage, propelled by bargain-basement prices from shipyards desperate to fill slots and a reported influx of capital from private equity sources. A primary driver for the surge of orders is the improvements in fuel efficiency of new ship designs over older ships.

The High Court in Hong Kong has ruled in favour of extending the temporary injunction, but acknowledges the workers' right to strike. According to the ITF, the injunction against the Union of Hong Kong Dockers (HKDU) aims to halt action at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal in the Port of Hong Kong, where the Industrial action began on 30, March 2013. The strike is seen as a last resort measure by the union in their attempts to secure transparent, good faith dialogue with their employer Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT)…

Typhon's new service combines a convoy escort with comprehensive intelligence for ships transitting piracy risk areas. This service, described by UK-based Typhon as a naval-grade service to the commercial market,  enables ship operators to transit the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean in safety while saving time and money. The company is now opening discussions with potential clients and negotiating long term contracts. With Typhon’s service, close protection vessels (CPVs) shadow client vessels using its ‘umbrella concept’…