First Port News

Nine people, including a baby, have died after their boat capsized while trying to cross the Mediterranean in stormy weather, and another 15 people are feared missing, Italy's coast guard said on Thursday.The Italian coast guard said it received a cooperation request from the Maltese search and rescue (SAR) authority after the boat capsized approximately 30 miles (50 km) southeast of the island of Lampedusa on Wednesday .The coast guard said it dispatched its own patrol boat to the scene…

The Singapore government has recounted the achievements of Maritime Singapore to date to highlight the nation’s successes as a maritime hub in 2023:Total business spending by key maritime companies overseen by MPA exceeded S$4.8 billion, up from S$4.3 billion in 2022. Twenty-five maritime companies established or expanded their operations in Singapore last year. These included maritime services companies and companies setting up sustainability desks in Singapore as part of their…

Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) will launch a digital bunkering initiative on Nov. 1, making the city-state the first port in the world to use electronic bunker fuel delivery notes, the MPA said on Monday.The digital notes will replace physical documents containing information on fuel oil deliveries. Under the initiative, fuel suppliers, ship owners, operators, and crew will be encouraged to use mobile and cloud-based applications approved by the MPA to complete and issue bunkering documents.

Middle East Navigation Service (MENAS), provider of aids to navigation (AtoN) in the Middle East Gulf region, said its is increasing rates and widening the group of ships that will be asked to pay for the service.The group has been providing AtoN in the Middle East Gulf – one of the busiest trade lanes in the world – since 1951, supplying seafarers with information regarding the location, route and configuration of obstacles and hazards.MENAS covers the cost of operating and maintaining such AtoN…

The Port of Seattle is installing a third shore power system at Pier 66, making it the world’s first port with three systems for cruise ships.The port receives over 200 cruise vessels in a typical season between April and October, and adding a third shore power system is a major component of the port’s Waterfront Clean Energy Strategy.The new shore power connection is expected to be fully operational by the 2024 Alaska cruise season.The contract for the shore power system components was awarded in November 2022 to Watts Marine.

Montrose Port Authority says the port is set to become the first Scottish port to provide shore power infrastructure to the energy sector.To enable shore power to offshore energy industry vessels, the port has partnered with with Plug Shore Power Ltd in a 50/50 joint venture. The partnership will see an initial investment of £1 million into the joint venture which will be named Plug Montrose Ltd."Global shipping accounted for 833 million tonnes of CO2 in 2021. Currently only two British ports are equipped with shore power.

The Port of Corpus Christi has become the first port in the state to obtain the Texas Cyberstar Certification, issued by the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR).The Cyberstar Certificate Program was launched in May by the Texas DIR to recognize public and private organizations in the state that voluntarily meet specific criteria for cybersecurity best practices.“We remain committed to our CyberSecurity program at the Port of Corpus Christi. Our cyber team consistently strives to reach new milestones and protect against an ever-changing threat landscape…

Dutch Damen Shipyards Group has become a corporate partner of the PortXL accelerator program for the maritime industry.PortXL has been described as the world’s first port accelerator. Its objective is the acceleration of innovative technologies for the green energy, maritime, logistics, and process industry in port regions across the world.This is not the first time Damen has been connected with PortXL. In 2015 Damen was one of the first companies to support the start-up support program in its early days. “We will be participating again from this year on,” explains Tom Akkerman of Damen.

A first-of-its-kind hybrid-electric tanker is due to arrive to the Port of Gothenburg, where it will emit no greenhouse gases or carbon particulates during port operations.Swedish tanker operator Terntank's Tern Island is equipped with new electric power supply hybrid system, including a battery pack, on-shore power supply and a DC-Link system which is reported to be able to reduce its auxiliary energy consumption during port operations by -99%. The shore power connection has been developed together with the Port of Gothenburg…

Among most global trades, intra-Asian rates have seen considerable increases in recent years, though the costs on the world’s busiest container trade have not risen as quickly as in other places, Xeneta, and ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform said Thursday.According to Xeneta, in the first half of January, spot rates from the main Chinese ports to the main Japanese and South Korean ports have risen back above USD 1 800 per FEU. This comes after…

Shipping companies under pressure to cut emissions by 50% by 2050 will struggle to find alternative energy sources that completely reduce their carbon footprint, says maritime training provider Stream Marine Training (SMT).World leaders at the recent COP26 Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, have called on industries including maritime, which accounts for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, to help tackle climate change.The task is huge, with alternative energy sources such as hydrogen still leaving a carbon footprint because of how they are produced…

Nine people have been sentenced in Singapore to up to three years in jail for cheating buyers out of $337,000 worth of shipping fuel, authorities said in a joint statement on Thursday.The group was found guilty of using industrial strength magnets to tamper with measuring equipment known as Mass Flow Meter (MFM) on board bunker tankers owned by a unit of marine fuel services provider Southernpec (Singapore) Pte Ltd, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the Singapore Police Force and the Attorney-General’s Chambers.The tampering on board bunker tankers Southernpec 6 and Southernpec 7 allowed the group to record a higher volume of sales than what was actually delivered.Investigations revealed that between December 2018 and April 2019…

Port Everglades received approval from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) for “Marine Highway” designation for a new route connecting Port Everglades with Port Houston, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). National Shipping of America (NSA) will be the first company to offer service on this new route. Port Everglades is the first port to receive this designation in South Florida and is among only 45 others nationwide.“We are honored to be part of MARAD’s Marine Highway program,” said Jonathan Daniels, Port Everglades Chief Executive and Port Director.

Carnival Cruise Line’s new cruise ship Mardi Gras made its first port call Tuesday in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where the ship will refuel its liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion system for the first time after delivery.Mardi Gras, set to begin sailing from Port Canaveral, Fla., next year, will be the first cruise ship in the Americas to be powered by LNG.In its liquefied state, LNG is odorless, colorless, more environmentally friendly and less expensive than other fuels. LNG is considered the marine industry’s most advanced fuel technology.

Swire Shipping deployed its first 2,750TEU newbuild, MV Lae Chief, on its upgraded North Asia Express (NAX) service. Launching the new fixed-day fortnightly service with her maiden voyage, the vessel made her first port call in Shanghai on November 5, 2020.The new 2,750-TEU vessel is fitted with three 45mt cranes capable of dual lifts enabling it to carry all cargo types, including breakbulk, out of gauge and reefers. With strengthened tank tops to 20 t/m², MV Lae Chief is capable of carrying breakbulk such as steel and forest products…

Ports are economic engines for the regions they serve, and the impact from business activities at the Port of New York/New Jersey runs as big as the area it serves: 46 million consumers in a four-hour radius. The port is an economic giant in and of itself, providing for nearly a half a million jobs, a cumulative $35 billion in personal income and a cumulative $98 billion in business income. Sam Ruda, Director, Port NY/NJ, discusses a record 2019, continued investment in infrastructure…

The SeaMar Group said its offshore support vessel Deep Helder has been hired on a six-month contract to support seabed mapping work for MMT. The contract for the 2014-build DP2 survey and ROV vessel will start in July 2020.Leo Balkema, Managing Director of SeaMar said: “We are pleased to be awarded the contract in these uncertain times. The successful performance of the crew and vessel on previous projects for MMT prove to be an added value, and we do our utmost to continue delivering a safe and stable platform for their services.”“We are very glad we can continue to develop the relationship with SeaMar and optimize the high performance of the Deep Helder for a variety of survey activities for the remainder of this year…

Port of Rotterdam is set to welcome Heerema's Sleipnir, the world's largest semi-submersible crane vessel, which is set to arrive at the port on Saturday, March 21, where it will be made ready for a North Sea decommissioning project.Named after the Norse God Odin's eight-legged stallion, the vessel stands at 220 meters long, 102 meters wide, can accommodate 400 employees, and weighs 119,000 tons and is the first such unit powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). The semi-submersible vessel has two cranes onboard, each capable of lifting 10,000 metric tons.

The technology group Wärtsilä will supply its Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) solution to two of France’s leading ports, Calais and Boulogne. The Wärtsilä VTS will effectively manage vessel traffic in these busy harbors to deliver greater operational efficiency and safety. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in October 2019 by Région Hauts-de-France, the government entity responsible for this tender.The system optimizes planning and traffic monitoring to reduce waiting time for vessels and allow just-in-time pilotage.

The 23,656 teu MSC Isabella became the largest containership to call the Port of Singapore when it berthed on 10 November 2019.The MSC’s Gülsün-Class of container vessels is currently the world’s largest series of container ships.To date, MSC Isabella is the biggest container ship to call at Singapore, the world’s top transshipment hub. Measuring around 400 meters long and 61 meters wide, the ship can carry up to 24 rows of containers, with a height of 13 tiers on deck. Its total capacity is 23,656 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). Its length exceeds that of the Eiffel Tower and it can transport the equivalent of about 384 million pairs of shoes.Singapore is the ship’s first port-of-call in Asia after sailing back from Europe. The ship was delivered to MSC in August 2019.

Optimarin, the ballast water treatment (BWT) specialist, has reported a year-on-year increase in sales of more than 100% for Q3, with order intake at an all-time high. The growth, consolidating the trend seen in Q2, comes on the back of a number of new fleet agreements with leading owners and operators, of which Singapore’s Asiatic Lloyd Shipmanagement LLP is the latest signing. “September’s IMO D2 deadline for BWT compliance has created, quite rightly, a sense of urgency in the market…

The Department for Transport (DfT), in partnership with ABP’s Port of Southampton, launched UK’s first Port Economic Partnership (PEP).PEP is an innovative initiative to create stronger links between ports and Government, to maximize long-term trade and economic growth. The Partnership will be launched at an event at London International Shipping Week, on board the NLV Pharos lightship.As part of its strategy, ‘Maritime 2050 – Navigating the Future’, launched in January 2019, the Government outlined the creation of Port Economic Partnerships as one way of creating a strong business environment for ports to thrive, in turn, boosting trade…

The first World Ports Climate Action Program (WPCAP) congress will take place in Rotterdam next May. The starting signal for the WPCAP was given in September 2018 at the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s initiative.Eleven leading European and American ports have now become affiliated with WPCAP: Antwerp, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Le Havre, Barcelona, Gothenburg, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Vancouver and New York & New Jersey. The ports are working on plans to reduce CO2 emissions from shipping and ports and improve air quality.In the coming spring they will take stock of what has been achieved and will share the results with interested ports, the shipping sector and authorities (port cities and national governments). Agreements will then also need to be made about the follow-up.