Galbraith News

Japan will release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear station into the sea, the government said on Tuesday, a move opposed by neighbors including China, which called it "extremely irresponsible."The first release of water will take place in about two years, giving plant operator Tokyo Electric Power time to begin filtering the water to remove harmful isotopes, build infrastructure and acquire regulatory approval.Japan has argued…

A Chinese carrier group is exercising near Taiwan and such drills will become regular, China’s navy said late on Monday in a further escalation of tensions near the island that Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.Taiwan has complained of an increase in Chinese military activity near it in recent months, as China steps up efforts to assert its sovereignty over the democratically run island.China’s navy said the carrier group, lead by the Liaoning, the country’s first aircraft carrier put into active service…

China's anti-graft agency said on Saturday it is investigating the general manager of state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC).Sun Bo is suspected of serious disciplinary and legal violations, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on its website.(Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Adrian Croft)

China has begun building its first polar expedition cruise ship, state news agency Xinhua reported Saturday, as the country looks to shipping lanes opened up by global warming to extend President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road initiative to the Arctic. Construction of the 104.4-meter vessel, equipped with an advanced electric propulsion and control system for navigating sea ice, was expected to be completed by August 2019, Xinhua reported. China released its first official Arctic policy white paper in January…

Award to be presented March 14, 2018 at the conclusion of the CMA’s Shipping 2018 Annual Conference and Exposition. Ms. Sabrina S. M. Chao, Executive Chairman of Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings Ltd. has been named as the Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) Commodore for the year 2018. Ms. Chao follows a long succession of influential maritime industry leaders as Commodore. The 2018 Commodore Award will be presented on March 14, 2018 at the Gala Dinner marking the conclusion of the annual Connecticut Maritime Association conference and trade exposition, at the Hilton Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. The Award is given each year to a person in the international maritime industry who has contributed to the growth and development of the industry.

U.S. Navy ships are on track to spend more time in the South China Sea this year, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift said on Thursday in China, where a U.S. warship was making a port call. The visit by the USS Sterett guided-missile destroyer to Zhanjiang in Guangdong province, the first U.S. warship to visit China since President Donald Trump took office, comes amid tension in the disputed South China Sea, where Washington has criticised Beijing for building artificial islands. U.S.

Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry fell in the three months ended August 2012 to their lowest level for a year, according to the latest Shipping Confidence Survey from international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens. The fall, to the lowest figure recorded since the survey was launched in May 2008, comes after three successive quarters of improved confidence. Chief among the concerns raised by respondents to the survey were the glut of newbuildings coming onto the market and continuing uncertainty about the global economy.

Navigate Response launched at London’s Baltic Exchange. The company’s round-the-clock services are tailored specifically for the global shipping industry and focus on managing clients’ messages across a range of communications channels including mainstream and social media. The new company is chaired by internationally renowned maritime expert, Richard Sayer, and led by Mark Clark, former head of public relations and media at the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The team includes leading maritime PR experts Mike Elsom and Bill Lines of sister company Navigate PR Ltd. Founded in 2004, Navigate PR provides comprehensive public relations services to a wealth of maritime businesses across a range of disciplines.

I hope that this headline, if you saw it, scared you as much as it did me. Although I have some confidence about the future of shipping, or I wouldn’t be here, my topic today is about forecasting. Forecasting, to the ancient Greeks and Romans, had a lot to do with omens. The ancient Greeks sought their guidance from the stars, which they believed help them predict the course of future events. The Romans, on the other hand, sought to predict the future in the flight of birds, the cackling of geese, and most famously in the examining of entrails of poultry and domestic animals. The experts who did this kind of thing were called augurs. Today, we rely on Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke. History, however, is on the side of the ancients.

International shipbroker and consultant Galbraith’s Ltd has appointed Nick Hubbard as its new managing director. Hubbard has twenty-five years’ experience as a shipbroker, most recently as a senior director and major shareholder at Howe Robinson Shipbrokers in London. He said, “This is an exciting opportunity for me. Galbraith’s is an internationally known and highly respected company which operates with a strong team ethic and has more than its share of high-performing brokers. Galbraith’s chairman Richard Sayer, said, “Separating the roles of chairman and managing director is simply a matter of good corporate governance. Since I joined Galbraith’s in 2002, my role has been akin to that of a senior partner in a limited company whose ethos is to operate as a partnership of equals.

BraemarTankers Ltd., Galbraith's Ltd., E.A.Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd., PVM Oil Associates Ltd. and Seascope Shipping Ltd. have formed Global Freight Forwards Limited. The company has been created initially to broker forward freight swaps for the tanker market segment in key trade routes. Contracts have been devised to meet multi-client needs and in response to Owners' and Charterers' requirements for freight protection without taking physical delivery. Global Freight Forwards Limited will be supported by four of the leading London based shipbrokers with a global client base together with PVM Oil Associates, the foremost oil brokerage house, which brings its years of experience of screen and paper oil markets.

Andersen, Peter Bartleet, and Richard Harmsworth. shipping career in New York before moving to Galbraith's in 1999. on the crude oil sector and in particular on VLCC and Suezmax trades. Galbraith's worldwide reach. desk, working alongside head of S&P Neil Rokison. broking industry experience spanning both tanker chartering and S&P. Monaco markets, having lived in Monaco for many years. experience. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. shipbroking company. and period trades for a variety of vessel sizes. competitors in their respective markets. energy will add significant value to the company.

Shipbroker and consultant Galbraith's Ltd says that demand for Suezmax tankers is expected to grow strongly in the next five years in line with large-scale expansion of crude oil exports in three of the four main Suezmax markets. In a new report on the Suezmax market, Galbraith’s notes that 2006 has seen major investment in tanker newbuildings – not least the Suezmax sector – where an estimated $4.5 billion-worth of new vessels has been ordered. Meanwhile, new oilfields and pipelines are being developed, altering the patterns of world trade. Galbraith’s notes that West African oil production is rising, and that major growth in exports is also predicted from the Black Sea/Mediterranean region. Growing production from Libya and Algeria will also contribute to Mediterranean export growth.

Galbraith's Ltd has expanded its board of directors with the appointment of Terry Parmenter, a highly experienced and well-known dry cargo chartering broker who joined Galbraith's seven years ago from SSY, where he was a senior director. Parmenter will additionally take on the role of Head of Dry Cargo, supported by director James Hall and by Martin Ashford.

the 31st Galbraith's Shipping Course, to be held in the U.K. August 9. best-known and most respected events on the international shipping calendar. ship finance, crisis management, and maritime fraud. industry for its excellence. than it is today.

Large tanker fixing out of the key Middle East market slowed last week as charterers had largely covered their October liftings, resulting in the softening of rates by about two and a half Worldscale points, brokers said last week. VLCCs to Japan commanded between W51 and W52.5, down from the mid W50s the previous week, while Korea was slipping to W50 by the end of the week. Westbound to the U.S. Gulf maintained W47.5, and one Continent fixture reached W50. Despite the quiet conditions, Galbraith's said in its weekly report that it did not expect rates to fall much further for modern vessels. But older ships would find lengthening waiting times eroding incomes, the broker said.

Shipbroker Howard Houlder (Chartering) Ltd. has sold its shareholdings in the London Tanker Broker Panel back to the other five members of the rate-setting group, panel managing director Robert Porter said. "Howard Houlder is no longer a panel member," Porter said. Porter said he did not know why Houlder had decided to leave the panel - an independent body providing tanker rate/route assessments, for which fees are charged. Houlder had been in negotiations for some time with Capital Shipbrokers Ltd. to sell its shares for approximately $1.1 million, according to other brokers and press reports. A spokesman at Capital said the company could give no comment on the breakdown of negotiations. No one was immediately available at Houlder for comment.

North Sea Aframax rates sky rocketed on Friday as continuing pressure to charter modern tonnage strengthened all tanker markets, shipping brokers said. Rates as high as W175 ($6.50 per ton) were reported on Friday, up from up to about W140 ($5.25) on Thursday, for 80,000 ton ships on inter-continent voyages. Strong 140,000 ton Suezmax markets also meant virtually no new ships were available in Europe to mop up double Aframax cargoes, brokers said. Some 1970s built units were spot off Gibraltar with no takers, while around them modern double hull ships were being booked two or three weeks in advance, broker Galbraith's said in its weekly report.

Tanker rates for early liftings from the Middle East to short-haul Asian routes have burst through the Worldscale 100 points barrier, brokers said. An early May VLCC fixture for Singapore on the Flandre was reported at W105/6 ($6.75 per ton) and a Red Sea destination lifting was attempted at W100, brokers said. "Charterers are staring down the barrel of a W100-plus market," broker Galbraith's said. A shortage of modern vessels has pushed rates up, but charterers are now having to pay high levels even for older ships as they became difficult to find, brokers said. "Tonnage is in very short supply. It is going to keep rates at and around these levels for some time," another broker said. Several recent westbound fixtures to the U.S.