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16 Nov 2023

Venezuela's PDVSA Offers Corocoro Crude Cargo through Intermediary

Credit: JosIsaac/AdobeStock

Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA is offering to sell up to 1 million barrels of Corocoro crude through an intermediary, sources said on Wednesday, which could become the first sale of that grade in two years.Since Washington temporarily eased oil sanctions on the country last month, PDVSA has been allocating spot cargoes of crude and fuel oil through little known firms that contract with trading companies, which ultimately deliver to refiners. PDVSA and Italy's Eni ENI.MI…

04 Oct 2023

Exxon Mobil Finds Buyer for Adriatic LNG Terminal Stake

Credit: Adriatic LNG

Exxon Mobil Corp chose BlackRock as the potential buyer for its majority stake in Italy's main liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, the U.S. oil producer said in a statement.The stake sale drew interest from infrastructure funds and international groups as Italy is expected to increase its LNG imports to partly replace the gas it used to get via pipeline from Russia.In March, Exxon said it was considering selling its 70.68% interest in the offshore Adriatic LNG Terminal…

29 May 2023

Methanol Institute Publishes Guide to Methanol as a Marine Fuel

Source: Methanol Institute

The Methanol Institute (MI) has published the first comprehensive guide to methanol as a marine fuel.“Marine Methanol Future-Proof Shipping Fuel” includes sections that address regulatory drivers, environmental performance, engines and fuel systems, bunkering, handling and safety characteristics, costs and pricing, availability and feedstocks for conventional and renewable product. Also included are case studies on first movers including AP Moller-Maersk, Waterfront Shipping,…

12 May 2023

US Builder ReconCraft to Produce Special Forces Boats for Norway

(Photo: Adam Brock / U.S. Navy)

U.S. boatbuilder ReconCraft has been awarded a contract to build for two Combatant Craft Medium vessels for Norway, the Pentagon announced.The $22,070,151 firm-fixed-price contract contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $30,950,521.Work will be performed in Clackamas, Ore., and is expected to be completed by August 2025. If all options are exercised, work will continue through January 2026.Combatant Craft Medium Mk1 (CCM)Designers: Vigor…

20 Mar 2023

Mackinac Island Ferry Set for Electric Conversion

The Mackinac Island passenger ferry Chippewa will be converted from diesel to electric propulsion. Photo courtesy of Star Line/Mackinac Island Ferry Co.

A Mackinac Island passenger ferry will be converted to zero-emissions electric power with the help of a $3.06 million award from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Fuel Transformation Program (FTP) Part 2.Star Line, now known as the Mackinac Island Ferry Company (MIFC), will replace two 1988 diesel engines with two brand new electric propulsion motors on a ferry, the Chippewa, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 14,152 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and 887 metric tons of nitrogen oxides over the boat’s lifetime.

16 Mar 2023

Exxon Considers Selling Stake in LNG Terminal Offshore Italy

©Terminale GNL Adriatico

Exxon Mobil Corp is considering selling its majority stake in Italy's main regasification terminal as part of a wider strategy to divest from non-core assets, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The Rovigo liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is owned by Exxon's subsidiary ExxonMobil Italiana Gas (70.7%), QatarEnergy subsidiary Qatar Terminal Company Limited (22%) and Snam Spa SRG.MI (7.3%). Snam, an Italian gas grid operator, has the first right of refusal should a partner decide to divest.

17 Jan 2023

Venezuela's PDVSA Freezes Most Oil Exports for Contract Reviews

© poonsit / Adobe Stock

The new head of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA has suspended most oil export contracts while his team reviews them in a move to avoid payment defaults, according to an internal document seen by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.Since U.S. trading sanctions were first imposed on PDVSA in 2019, the company has increasingly resorted to little known middlemen to allocate its oil exports, leading to big price discounts and problems with payments affecting its cashflow.The freeze order is leading to port delays…

03 Jan 2023

GTT Ceases Its Activities in Russia

(File photo: GTT)

French engineering group Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) said on Monday it was stopping its activities in Russia after analyzing the latest European sanction packages which include a ban on engineering services with Russian firms.The group said its contract with Russian shipbuilding company Zvezda for 15 ice-breaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers would be suspended as of Jan.

23 Dec 2022

Italy's LNG Import Capacity and New Terminals

Italy plans to boost its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity to 27 billion cubic metres (bcm) from nearly 17 bcm currently as it seeks to completely replace Russian gas supplies following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.In 2021, Moscow provided Rome with 29 bcm of gas via pipelines, equal to around 40% of Italy's total imports but Russian supplies have fallen in recent months to around 10% of total imports. Italy, which can now count on three LNG terminals, has mandated gas grid operator Snam SRG.MI to buy and set up two additional floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) near the cities of Piombino and Ravenna.A timely start for the Piombino FSRU is crucial to allow Italy to fill gas storage facilities in time for winter 2023…

26 Oct 2022

Insights from the 50th International Congress of Maritime Museums

Oslo Norway - October 19, 2019: Viking drakkar in the Viking Museum in Oslo Norway. Copyright warasit/AdobeStock

For many, the ocean is life. It provides transportation, work, commerce, food, recreation—tales as old as time and shared by people across the globe. These stories are lived day to day, passed down between generations, and shared with the public through various media. Maritime museums assume responsibility to share these histories while honoring the communities shaped ocean exploration and commerce. In a decade where ocean health and climatic events have become a primary focus…

07 Oct 2022

Nord Stream Probe Finds Evidence of Detonations, Swedish Police Say

©guteksk7/AdobeStock

A crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe found evidence of detonations, strengthening suspicions of "gross sabotage", Sweden's Security Service said on Thursday. Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four leaks after the pipelines, which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis, were damaged at the start of last week. Europe, which used to rely on Russia for about 40% of its gas…

20 Sep 2022

Italy's Commissioner Confident in a Timely Decision on New FSRU

Credit: Karel/AdobeStock

Italy's commissioner for the set up of a new regasification terminal is confident the infrastructure could get the green light by the end of October, in time for extending the country's LNG capacity at the beginning of 2023.Under the government's energy plan, the new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) should be operational by the end of March next year to increase the country's LNG imports and make up for a shortfall of Russian imports.The infrastructure, which was bought in June by gas grid operator Snam SRG.MI…

21 Mar 2022

Legislation Introduced to Establish Great Lakes Authority

© Ulf / Adobe Stock

New legislation introduced in Congress aims to create a federal entity dedicated exclusively to advancing solutions to the challenges faced by the eight states of Great Lakes region.Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin together, contain a large core of the United States’ commercial and defense industrial base, as well as the largest freshwater system anywhere on Earth, but lawmakers say the Great Lakes region lacks the support present in other regions where the federal government has an array of commissions…

10 Dec 2021

Fishing Boat Design: New Crab Boat from Gaspé Yard

Image courtesy NAVANEX /Cummins

With the regulated catch quotas of contemporary fisheries, design versatility for a fishing boat can be important. A new 19.8 x 7.3-m (65 x 24-ft.) combination crab trap and groundfish trawler designed by NAVANEX for building by Chantier Naval Forillon, both of Gaspé, Quebec, Canada is a fine example of this. Owners, Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government, anticipate accepting delivery in April of 2022.The steel-hulled vessel will have a raised fo’c’sle design with an aluminum pilot house. When crab fishing, the clear, aft deck will be capable of carrying up to 150 collapsible, 100-pound crab pots.

30 Aug 2021

Bow Section of Broken Up Ship Crimson Polaris Towed to Shore

Credit: Japanese Coast Guard (Image published earlier in August)

The Crimson Polaris wood-chip carrier's bow section was towed into Japan's Hachinohe Port and moored there on August 27, according to the ship's charterer NYK. The Crimson Polaris split up after running aground near Hachinohe, Japan earlier this month."Due to the weather and sea conditions, the work to remove the oil from the bow of the vessel at sea was expected to take a long time, and in order to make the work smoother and safer, the shipowner and ship-management company towed and moored the vessel in Hachinohe Port with the understanding and cooperation of the local government…

24 Aug 2021

NYK to Send 110 Workers to Help with Clean-up after Wood-chip Carrier Breaks Apart off Japan

Credit: Japan Coast Guard

Japanese shipping firm NYK plans to send 110 employees in total by September 11 to help with the clean-up at the area where the NYK-chartered Crimson Polaris wood-chip carrier ran aground earlier this month, dropping cargo and spilling oil into the sea as the hull of the vessel split in two.NYK said Tuesday it would make a total of 11 dispatches of 10 employees each by September 11 to assist with the area clean-up."As the charterer of the vessel, NYK has sent company personnel to the site to assist with the clean-up of the cargo and other debris that has washed ashore.

19 Aug 2021

NYK Sends Employees to Help with Cleanup after Vessel Breaks Up Off Japan

Credit: Japanese Coast Guard

Japanese shipping firm NYK has sent ten employees to assist with the area clean-up after the NYK-chartered Crimson Polaris wood-chip carrier last week grounded and split up off the coast of Hachinohe, Japan, spilling oil into the sea.The 2008-built wood-chip carrier that ran aground off Japan last Thursday carried about 1,550 MT of heavy oil and about 130 MT of diesel oil for fuel at the time of the grounding.The 199.9-meter vessel, chartered by NYK from MI-DAS Line split into two pieces and began spilling oil on August 12 at 4:15 a.m.NYK…

13 Aug 2021

'Crimson Polaris' Carried Almost 1700 MT of Oil Before Grounding, Splitting Up off Japan

Credit: Japanese Coast Guard

The Crimson Polaris wood-chip carrier that ran aground and split up off Japan Thursday, spilling oil into the ocean, carried about 1,550 MT of heavy oil and about 130 MT of diesel oil for fuel at the time of the grounding, NYK, the charterer of the ship, said Friday.As previously reported, the 199.9-meter vessel, chartered by NYK from MI-DAS Line ran aground off Hachinohe on August 11. On August 12 at 4:15 a.m. the vessel’s hull split into two pieces and began spilling oil. "We are continuing our efforts to control the oil spill and monitor the split hull [...] As of August 11…

12 Aug 2021

Wood-chip Carrier Runs Aground Off Japan. Hull Splits in Two, Oil Spills into Ocean

Credit; Japanese Coast Guard

Crimson Polaris / Credit: Japanese Coast GuardPanama-flagged Crimson Polaris wood-chip carrier ran aground off Hachinohe in Aomori prefecture at around 7:35 am (JST) on August 11, after being swept away by a strong wind while anchored, NYK, the charterer of the vessel, said.The hull of the 199-meter vessel then split in two at 4:15 am on August 12, and oil from the vessel has spilled into the ocean. The amount is currently under investigation, NYK said.The split hull is about 4 kilometers offshore…

27 Jul 2021

Man in Hamster-like Floating Wheel Washes Ashore in Florida after Failed Attempt to Reach New York

Credit:  Flagler Sheriff/Twitter

A  man in a hamster wheel-like vessel washed ashore near the Old Salt Park beach approach in Flagler County, Florida. He said he was on the way to New York. "[The vessel's] sole occupant was with the vessel and advised that he came to shore because he was missing some of his equipment," Flagler Sheriff's report from July 24 reads. In a tweet on Saturday, Flagler Sheriff said the occupant of the vessel was safe with no injuries. "The occupant advised he left the St. Augustine area [the day before] to head to [New York]…

04 Mar 2021

New Bill Aims to Boost Great Lakes Icebreaking

(Photo: Nick Gould / U.S. Coast Guard)

Lawmakers in the U.S. are reintroducing legislation aiming codify the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking mission on the Great Lakes and increase the icebreaking capacity of the Great Lakes fleet.“Inadequate icebreaking capacity in the Great Lakes is costing us thousands of American jobs and millions in business revenue. We must boost our icebreaking capacity in the Great Lakes to keep our maritime commerce moving,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who introduced the bipartisan Great…

01 Sep 2020

LR Publishes Guidance on Methanol Bunkering

© ibreakstock / Adobe Stock

As stakeholders across the maritime industry assess future fuel options in support of the International Maritime Organisation’s 2030 and 2050 greenhouse gas reduction ambitions, Lloyd’s Register (LR) and the Methanol Institute (MI) have produced a Bunkering Technical Reference on Methanol, which is among the future fuels receiving close attention.The new guidance outlines the procedures required for the safe bunkering of methanol and incorporates dedicated checklists to assist shipowners/operators…

31 Jul 2020

Trafigura Offers COVID-19 Premium

(Photo: Trafigura)

Commodities trader Trafigura Beheer has become the first company to offer a defined Covid premium on an Asian syndicated loan, paying up to an extra 20bp all-in on its latest US$1bn-equivalent financing.The novel pricing structure is a first for Asia, if not globally, and could set a precedent for other price-sensitive borrowers looking to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic on their funding costs.Without the Covid premiums, the terms of Trafigura's new deal are little…

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