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Ship Traffic News

03 Mar 2024

Eight Japanese Ports Join The Green Award

Source: The Green Award

The Green Award Foundation has announced that eight ports managed by the Osaka Ports and Harbors Bureau have joined as new Incentive Providers, offering discounted port fees to Green Award certified vessels that call their ports.This expands The Green Award’s network to 47 ports incentivising safety and sustainability in shipping globally.Among the eight new Japanese ports are the Port of Sakai-Senboku and Port of Hannan, two major industrial ports situated in the Osaka Bay. With a long history as trading hubs…

22 Jan 2024

Suez Canal Authority Carries Out Repairs to Missile-hit Vessel

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said on Monday it had conducted repair work on a missile-hit Greek dry-bulk carrier, highlighting its readiness to restore damaged ships passing through the Red Sea.The Malta-flagged, Greek-owned vessel Zografia had berthed at a floating dock of the authority-affiliated Suez Shipyard Company for repairs after the ship's hull and some components sustained external and internal damage in a Jan. 16 attack by Yemeni Houthi forces.The vessel was sailing…

21 Jan 2024

Ship Traffic Resumes in Bosphorus Strait After Incident

© Artur Bogacki / Adobe Stock

Ship traffic in Turkey's Bosphorus Strait is set to resume for northbound vessels as of 1700 GMT on Sunday, after a suspension due to an anchor failure on one ship, the Tribeca shipping agency said.According to a report shared by the agency, the Liberia-flagged tanker Peria's anchor self-released due to bad weather around the Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge area during its passage through the strait and tugs were dispatched for assistance.The ship will proceed to the Kucukcekmece anchorage area under escort tugs, the report also said.(Reuters - Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

11 Jan 2024

Suez Canal Revenues Down 40% Due to Houthi Attacks

© Alexey Seafarer / Adobe Stock

Dollar revenues from Egypt's Suez Canal are down 40% from the beginning of the year compared to 2023, canal authority head Osama Rabie said on Thursday, after attacks on ships by Yemen's Houthis caused major shippers to divert away from the route.Ship traffic was down 30% in the period between Jan. 1 and Jan. 11 compared to a year prior, Rabie said, speaking on a late night talk show.The number of vessels to pass through the Suez Canal dropped to 544 so far this year, from 777 in the equivalent period of 2023…

09 Jan 2024

Oil Tankers Continue Red Sea Movements Despite Houthi Attacks

© Haris Andronos / Adobe Stock

Oil and fuel tanker traffic in the Red Sea was stable in December, even though many container ships have rerouted due to attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militants, a Reuters analysis of vessel tracking data showed.The attacks have driven up shipping costs sharply along with insurance premiums, but have had less impact than feared on oil flows, with shippers continuing to use the key East-West passage. The Houthis, who have said they are targeting Israel-bound vessels, have largely…

04 Jan 2024

Ship Traffic Through Suez Canal Down 20% Due to Houthi Attacks

© Hladchenko Viktor / Adobe Stock

Shipping traffic through the Suez Canal fell 20% between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2 compared to a year earlier, according to the PortWatch platform, after shipping companies began re-routing vessels in response to attacks by Yemen's Houthis.From Dec. 15, when Maersk became the first shipper to announce diversions, until Jan. 2, the most recent date for which International Monetary Fund's PortWatch has data, the number of tankers and cargo ships passing through the crucial shipping lane fell by 10%.But seven-day averages only began dipping on Dec.

25 Dec 2023

Maersk Prepares to Resume Shipping Through Red Sea

© Jerome / Adobe Stock

Denmark's Maersk is preparing to resume shipping operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the company said on Sunday, citing the deployment of a U.S.-led military operation designed to ensure the safety of commerce in the area.The shipping giant paused sending vessels through the Bab el-Mandeb strait earlier in December due to attacks against its ships. That rendered the Suez Canal, which is key to global commerce, unusable for most routes.The United States said on Tuesday it was launching a multinational operation to protect commerce in the Red Sea from Iran-backed Yemeni militants…

15 Dec 2023

Maersk to Pause All Container Ship Traffic Through the Red Sea

© hit1912 / Adobe Stock

Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk will pause all container shipments through the Red Sea until further notice, a spokesperson for the company told Reuters on Friday."Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice," the company said in a statement.Maersk on Thursday said its vessel Maersk Gibraltar was targeted by a missile while travelling from Salalah…

10 Oct 2023

Amazon Drought Chokes River Traffic, Threatens Exports

© Pulsar Imagens / Adobe Stock

A severe drought choking major rivers in the Amazon rainforest has disrupted ship traffic near the region's biggest city and pushed up costs for northern shipping routes, raising risks for corn exports in coming months.The unusual heat and dryness, linked to the mass deaths of fish and river dolphins, has already limited local communities'access to food and drinking water, leading the federal government to set up a humanitarian task force. Officials are now warning the thinning rivers could disrupt grains exports in the region."There is concern about shipping part of the corn harvest…

06 Sep 2023

Panama Canal Water Levels at Historic Lows, Restrictions to Remain

© Arthur / Adobe Stock

The Panama Canal's water levels have not recovered enough as the end of the rainy season approaches and limits on daily transit and vessel draft will stay in place for the rest of the year and throughout 2024, the waterway's authority said on Tuesday.The restrictions, implemented earlier this year to conserve water amid prolonged drought, triggered a backlog of ships waiting to pass the key global waterway, which handles an estimated 5% of world trade, contributing to more expensive…

23 Aug 2023

Suez Canal Ship Traffic Unaffected After Tanker Collision

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

Normal traffic is expected to resume through the Suez Canal within hours, the head of the canal authority said on Wednesday, following the collision of two vessels."Slight contact" was made after LNG carrier BW Lesmes made a sudden stop due to a technical failure that coincided with a strong current that drove oil tanker Burri towards it, authority chairman Osama Rabie said.The canal authority responded by sending tugboats to move both ships, he said.Singapore-flagged BW Lesmes was successfully towed outside of the waterway…

26 Feb 2024

Crossing Death's Door Daily

© Derek Victor / Adobe Stock

Washington Island Ferry Line (WIFL) has been the essential link between the residents, business and visitors of Washington Island and Wisconsin's Door Peninsula for more than eight decades.Picturesque and peaceful Door County isn't named for some intrepid settlers named Door. The name has a more ominous meaning. It's derived from the treacherous passage between the peninsula and Washington Island that mariners called Porte des Mortes, or Death's Door.A unique combination of environmental…

11 Jul 2023

Welland Canal Ship Traffic Resumes

© eranda / Adobe Stock

Two-way marine traffic resumed Monday night on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada after a power outage on Sunday led to a temporary suspension of navigation.The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), which manages and operates the Canadian assets of the St. Lawrence Seaway, said its maintenance personnel and contractors were able to restore service to Lock 1 by Monday afternoon and reopen Lock 7 by 10:30 p.m. that night.No one was harmed at any point during the outage or repair operations…

10 Jul 2023

Ship Traffic Halted After Power Outage Hits Welland Canal

© skyf / Adobe Stock

Vessel traffic through Ontario's Welland Canal has ceased after a power outage damaged equipment in two of its locks, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) said.The not-for-profit corporation, which manages and operates the Canadian assets of the St. Lawrence Seaway, said the outage occurred at 5:50 p.m. on Sunday, damaging hands-free mooring equipment in Locks 1 and 7. "SLSMC took immediate steps to ensure the safety of the public, personnel, vessels, infrastructure and the environment…

22 Jun 2023

Drought-hit Panama Canal Further Restricts Maximum Ship Depth

(Photo: Panama Canal Authority)

The Panama Canal will expand restrictions on the largest ships crossing the waterway, one of the world's busiest trade passages, the canal authority's administrator said on Wednesday, citing shallower waters due to drought.The measure follows a series of depth restrictions in the 50-mile (80 km) canal since the beginning of the year due to a drought, which authorities had hoped would ease by the start of the Central American country's rainy season.Ship traffic, including container ships and oil tankers, using the canal between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean accounts for about 3.5% of glo

13 Jun 2023

Navigational Errors Caused Cruise Ship to Strike Pier in Alaska

​Radiance of the Seas pictured before the contact. (Source: NTSB)​

Overreliance on an electronic chart, miscommunication and an outdated navigational chart were among factors that led to a cruise ship striking a pier last year near Sitka, Alaska, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Radiance of the Seas was docking at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal on May 9, 2022, when it struck and damaged a mooring dolphin. The cruise ship sustained a minor hull indentation. The mooring dolphin sustained damage to three of the four pilings supporting it.

18 May 2023

Alliance Says No Link Between Offshore Wind Surveys and Mammal Deaths

© Vadim / Adobe Stock

The EnerGeo Alliance has sent a letter to New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy and Assemblyman Christopher Tully, Chairman of the state’s Committee on Science, Innovation and Technology in advance of the Assembly’s hearing on marine mammal deaths scheduled for Thursday May 18, 2023.There have been at least 11 whales that have washed up dead along New Jersey's coastline since December 5, prompting concern that they are related to offshore wind development in the region.The Alliance…

17 May 2023

Alaska LNG Project Clears Legal Hurdle

(Image: Alaska LNG)

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by environmental groups challenging federal approvals needed to construct a $39 billion project that would move natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope across the state.A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's review of plans for the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corp's project satisfied the National Environmental Policy Act requirements to take a hard look at environmental impacts of major proposals…

01 May 2023

Ship Traffic Resumes in Bosphorus Strait After Suspension

© Wilding / Adobe Stock

Ship traffic in Turkey's Bosphorus Strait is set to resume for southbound vessels as of 1840 GMT on Sunday, after a suspension due to an engine failure on one ship, the Tribeca shipping agency said.According to a report shared by the agency earlier on Sunday, the Turkish-flagged ship Ilyas Konan had an engine failure during its passage through the strait and dropped anchor.(Reuters - Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Alex Richardson and Hugh Lawson)

23 Apr 2023

Bosphorus Ship Traffic Temporarily Suspended

© milanchikov / Adobe Stock

Ship traffic in the Bosphorus Strait will be suspended between 0500 GMT and 1400 GMT on Sunday for the passage of a Turkish naval force vessel, Tribeca Shipping said on Saturday.As part of a deal between Ukraine and Russia brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, ships carrying grain from several Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea are inspected before entering the Bosphorus Strait.Russia has said that extending the deal beyond the May 18 deadline depends on the West lifting restrictions it says hinder Moscow's agricultural exports.(Reuters - Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Mark Heinri

27 Jan 2023

Ship Traffic Resume at Turkey's Dardanelles Strait After Brief Suspension

© B.Stefanov / Adobe Stock

Ship traffic at Turkey's Dardanelles Strait is set to resume after a brief suspension due to a vessel's engine failure, the Tribeca Shipping Agency said on Friday.Northbound traffic will resume at 1500 GMT and southbound traffic will resume at 1545 GMT, it said. Traffic was suspended in both directions at 1335 GMT.The vessel whose engine failed was proceeding to the strait exit with two tug escorts, it said in an earlier not.(Reuters - Reporting by Can Sezer; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Alex Richardson and Louise Heavens)

01 Dec 2022

The Climate Upside to The Downturn in Container Shipping Rates

©VanderWolf Images/AdobeStock

Global container shipping rates are a widely used gauge of overall consumer sentiment, with high and rising costs indicating strong demand for goods, gadgets, and clothes, while falling rates attest to slowing or falling buyer interest.As the main conduit for global trade in finished and intermediate goods - including an overwhelming majority of the parts and machinery needed to produce other merchandise - the container shipping sector can also offer a glimpse into the state of…

21 Nov 2022

Large Vessels Require Extra Tug in Port of Rotterdam

Pieter Nordbeck with crane vessel Neptune (Photo: Port of Rotterdam)

Large vessels are required to have extra tug assistance due to tunnel construction work in the Scheur, the Port of Rotterdam Authority said.From November 12, seagoing vessels exceeding 140 meters long have requires a tugboat on the Scheur between Maassluis and Rozenburg during a three-hour window of strong tides. The harbor master of the Port of Rotterdam Authority took this measure to ensure safe passage while the crane vessel Neptune has been positioned in the middle of the Scheur due to the construction of the Maasdelta tunnel. As a result, the passageway is narrow.

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