Wall News

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal claims that the assessment by 74% of poll respondents in election swing states who believe inflation moved in the wrong direction last year is incorrect. The piece went on to state that the respondents’ perceptions were “contradicted by hard economic data”.Like many of us, I just love “hard data”, especially when it’s “economic”.One great aspect of “hard data” is that we must assume it’s correct; otherwise, how could it be “hard”? In fact…

The state of Great Lakes port infrastructure is one of the biggest issues facing the U.S. and Canadian maritime industries. According to the America Great Lakes Ports Association, “Due to years of inadequate funding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been unable to maintain Great Lakes navigation infrastructure. Over the next five years Great Lakes navigation channels will require $540 million of dredging to maintain authorized channel dimensions. Breakwaters and other federal…

Van Oord’s cutter suction dredger Biesbosch and trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Apolonia are teaming up to dredge the Prinses Amaliahaven located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.A consortium of Van Oord, HOCHTIEF and Ballast Nedam has constructed 2.4 kilometres of new quay wall. The new quays are being dredged to a depth of more than 20 metres below sea level. This development means that the Port of Rotterdam Authority is ensuring an expansion of container capacity in Rotterdam.In total 1…

The wall climbing robot for steel structures - developed by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, and MOL Ship Management  to support ship inspection and maintenance - has completed a demonstration test and earned the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) Innovation Endorsement.The Innovation Endorsement is ClassNK's third-party certification program. It certifies and supports initiatives that contribute to the sustainable evolution of maritime and offshore businesses.The robot…

Seventeen people were injured when a Bulgarian cruise ship crashed into a concrete wall in a sluice on the River Danube in the northern Austrian town of Aschach an der Donau, local police said on Saturday.Some 160 passengers were aboard the ship traveling from Bavaria in Germany to the Austrian city of Linz, a spokesperson for police in the nearby town of Eferding said.Eleven of the injured were taken to hospital and the ship was able to continue onwards after the accident, the spokesperson said.It was not immediately clear how serious the injuries were, the spokesperson said.Local media said

Royal Caribbean Group announced it has entered into an agreement with French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique to order a seventh Oasis Class ship for delivery to its Royal Caribbean International fleet in 2028.“While we eagerly anticipate the debut of Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas this summer, we’re already dreaming up her sister ship and the next installation in the brand’s extremely popular Oasis Class,” said Jason Liberty, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group.

Royal Caribbean Group projected 2024 profit above Wall Street expectations after robust demand for cruise vacations and steeper ticket prices helped it beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates on Thursday.With travelers opting for cruises instead of more expensive land-based vacation options, operators are experiencing record levels of bookings compared to pre-pandemic levels, giving them enough room to mark up ticket prices."2023 was an exceptional year, propelled by unmatched demand for our brands from new and loyal guests…

British oil major Shell suspended all shipments through the Red Sea indefinitely after U.S. and U.K.

Disruptions to Red Sea shipping caused by Houthi attacks will push up prices of consumer goods, an executive from port and freight operator DP World said on Tuesday as a missile struck another vessel in the region.The Iran-allied Houthi militia has threatened to expand its attacks to include U.S. ships in response to American and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.Attacks by the Houthis on ships in the region since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers - an escalation of Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in November as imports of consumer goods fell to a one-year low amid slowing domestic demand, a trend that, if it persists in December, could result in trade having no impact on economic growth in the fourth quarter.The report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday also showed exports declined in November amid cooling demand overseas. Demand is slowing both in the United States and abroad following hefty interest rate increases by global central banks since 2022 to tackle rampant inflation.The Federal Reserve's rate hiking cycle has likely ended…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced over $653 million to fund 41 port improvement projects across the nation under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).The investments—part of the largest dedicated funding for ports and waterways in history, nearly $17 billion through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—are intended to help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland…

The United States’ vast network of navigable inland rivers is vital to the nation’s economy, serving as an aquatic superhighway for the efficient shipment of critical commodities like agricultural goods, energy products, building materials and industrial chemicals to destinations within the U.S. and to deepwater ports for export. The Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI), which advocates for a modern, efficient and well-maintained inland waterways, often describes the network as “the…

On a windswept island 50 miles north of Seattle sits a U.S. Navy monitoring station. For years, it was kept busy tracking whale movements and measuring rising sea temperatures. Last October, the Navy gave the unit a new name that better reflects its current mission: Theater Undersea Surveillance Command.The renaming of the spy station at the Whidbey Island naval base is a nod to a much larger U.S. military project, according to three people with direct knowledge of the plans:…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District awards a nearly $30 million contract to remove the Monongahela River Locks and Dam 3 in Elizabeth, Pa.The district awarded the dam removal contract to the Pittsburgh-based Joseph B. Fay Company.The work is part of the Lower Monongahela River project, which includes the construction of the larger lock chamber at Locks and Dam 4 at river mile 41.5 near Charleroi and the replacement of the fixed-crest dam with a gated dam at Locks and Dam 2 in Braddock…

Swiss-based MSC, the world's biggest container shipping company, has offered to buy almost half of the main operator of Hamburg port in a deal that could be worth nearly 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), setting the stage for a potential bidding war.Shares in HHLA, which runs Germany's biggest port, soared 49% to a 19-month high as shortly after Wednesday's announcement German logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne said he was considering a counter offer."We are examining the submission of a public takeover bid, but would prefer an agreement with the city of Hamburg on privatization - be i

I was discussing torsional stiffness in ship’s hulls with one of our intern engineers and pointed out a torsional stiffness problem with a certain hull design section since it could not inscribe a decent sized circle.I expected it to be a comment that would be confusing to a young engineer and proceeded to explain that torsional stiffness is related to gyradius which is powerfully related to radius and radius is related to circles. Inherently the stiffest shape in torsion is a…

Australian financial conglomerate Macquarie Group said on Thursday it would divest its U.S.-based port terminal operator Ceres Terminals, with a source familiar with the matter placing the deal value north of $900 million.Macquarie did not disclose any further details on the deal, and declined to comment on Reuters' request seeking confirmation of the sale value.The Wall Street Journal in May reported that Macquarie was looking for about $1 billion from the sale, citing sources familiar with the matter.The deal value could be at the lower end of what the Wall Street Journal reported…

AD Ports Group and Premier Marine Engineering Services LLC formed a new joint venture, SAFEEN Drydocks, owned 51% by AD Ports Group, 49% by Premier Marine.The new enterprise will offer a broad range of vital services including drydocking, afloat repairs, ship building and refurbishment. The hub of SAFEEN Drydocks’ operations will be located at Khalifa Port and encompass a 45,000 sq. m. shipyard and repair facility, 350m quay wall for vessel afloat repair, and a floating dry dock for vessel maintenance and refurbishment.

A Washington State Ferries (WSF) passenger vessel has been refloated after running aground this weekend in Rich Passage, just off Bainbridge Island, Wash.The 440-foot double-ended Jumbo Class ferry Walla Walla returned to Bremerton on Sunday, after grounding at approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday, while traveling to Seattle from Bremerton.There were 596 passengers and 15 crew members on board at the time of the incident, and no injuries were reported, according to WSF.Passengers were transferred onto Kitsap Transit vessels and taken to Bremerton…

Abu Dhabi-based AD Ports Group has signed a 25 years agreement with Singapore-based Crystal Offshore a logistics solution provider to the marine & offshore Industry to build an offshore rig and vessel repair base in Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port.Under the agreement, a 20,000 square meter plot of land and an associated quay wall in Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port will be allocated for Crystal Offshore to construct a base, featuring office facilities and fabrication workshops to provide advanced repairs and refits to jack-up rigs as well as marine and offshore vessels.Saif Al Mazrouei…

In the global quest for achieving net zero emissions and slowing down global warming, carbon capture and storage (CCUS) technology has emerged as an important solution. Among the notable projects being developed in the field is the Northern Lights offshore carbon capture and storage project in Norway, a country with long experience with offshore CO2 storage.The transition to a sustainable energy future requires innovative solutions that go beyond simply halting fossil fuel projects.

Australia's Macquarie Group Ltd is looking to sell its North American port facilities business, Ceres Terminals, for about $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing sources familiar with the matter.The financial conglomerate acquired full control of the general cargo stevedoring operations in 2019 from Tokyo-based shipping and logistics firm Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line).Ceres moves about 4.3 million containers annually at several major ports in the United States, according to its company website.The shipping industry globally has been under pressure as supply-chain bottl

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it was no longer taking part in operations by a U.S.-led task force protecting Gulf shipping, which has been subjected to renewed tanker seizures by Iranian naval forces in recent weeks.The UAE was responding to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday which, citing U.S. and Gulf sources, said the Gulf state was frustrated by the lack of U.S. response to recent tanker seizures by Iran.This was a "mischaracterisation" of conversations between the two countries…