Hub News

Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power ships will rise this year on attractive prices, while more dual-fuel vessels join the global fleet. Prices of LNG delivered as marine fuel at the world's largest bunker hub Singapore are at steep discounts of nearly $100 per metric ton compared with conventional 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), industry sources report.That is a far cry from record premiums of more than $1,000 a ton seen in September 2023, based on data from S&P Global Platts published on industry coalition SEA-LNG's website…

Maritime Authority of Jamaica’s Director General, Rear Admiral (ret’d) Peter Brady, has retired, with the position being accepted by Bertrand Smith, formerly the MAJ’s Director of Legal Affairs.Brady has served in this role since the Maritime Authority’s inception in 1999.As Director General, he was primarily responsible for elevating Jamaica’s maritime status regionally and globally. He spearheaded several major initiatives by the MAJ including the development of Jamaica as a shipping hub with attendant services such as bunkering and drydocking…

Hong Kong-based shipping company Wah Kwong is finalizing a deal later this month to double the number of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers that it has ordered to four, as it eyes growing global trade in the superchilled fuel, its chairman said.The ships would be delivered from 2027 onwards, Wah Kwong's Executive Chairman Hing Chao told Reuters on the sidelines of the Singapore Maritime Week ShipZERO28 event late last week."We have always been very optimistic about the outlook of LNG as a global energy," said Chao, adding that a lot of supply will have to come from the U.S.

French energy giant TotalEnergies and Oman National Oil Company (OQ) have reached the final investment decision (FID) on the Marsa LNG project, which will feature an LNG plant completely powered by renewable energy that will produce LNG for use as a marine fuel for maritime transportation.Through their joint company Marsa Liquefied Natural Gas (Marsa), TotalEnergies (80%) and OQ (20%) have launched the integrated Marsa LNG project which combines upstream gas production, downstream gas liquefaction…

The Maritime International Advisory Panel (IAP) held its third annual meeting on April 16, 2024, during the Singapore Maritime Week 2024. This year, the Maritime IAP held in-depth discussions on the key developments in the maritime sector, including decarbonization, green financing, digitalization and cybersecurity.Established in 2022 by the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the Maritime IAP aims to seek international perspectives on key long-term trends and developments that will shape the maritime industry.

The port of Corpus Christi, Texas, the top U.S. oil export hub, said it exported 6.40 million barrels per day of crude oil in the first quarter, up 6.9% from the same period a year ago.The U.S. Gulf Coast port handles more than half the nation's oil exports, benefiting from its pipeline ties to South and West Texas shale fields. Its volumes have risen along with shale oil production.Overall, the port has moved nearly 48.9 million metric tons of goods through the Corpus Christi Ship Channel in the first quarter.

Over the past year, H2 Energy and DFDS have worked together on a project to analyze the feasibility of retrofitting large ferries with a hydrogen propulsion system.The project, supported by the Danish Maritime Fund, has led to the publication of a hydrogen propulsion feasibility study.With support from the Danish Maritime Fund, DFDS, H2 Energy and Lloyds set out to uncover the technical and operational feasibility of hydrogen propulsion systems by analyzing the main aspects of…

Singapore has the potential to supply over 1 million metric tons of low-carbon methanol annually by 2030 to meet rising demand for alternative bunker fuel, a Singapore minister said on Tuesday.Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) late last year started seeking proposals from companies to supply methanol as a marine bunker fuel at Singapore from 2025."On aggregate, the submissions have the potential to supply over one million tonnes per annum of low-carbon methanol by 2030," said Amy Khor, a senior minister of state, at the Singapore Maritime Week conference on Tuesday.The submissions

Saudi Arabia’s Ras Al-Khair Special Economic Zone (SEZ) said it is seeking local and foreign investors to help boost the Kingdom’s maritime infrastructure.With an initial area of 20 square kilometers, Ras Al-Khair SEZ, operated by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, is an expanding zone with two focus areas, The King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services, and the Offshore Cluster supply chain. The SEZ is located next to Ras Al-Khair Port, the Kingdom’s newest industrial port.Ahmed M.

Spot marine biofuel premiums have weakened further at the world's largest bunker hub Singapore, weighed by slow demand, market sources said this week.Premiums for the flagship B24 marine biofuel blend recently traded between $120 to $130 a metric ton over 0.5% low sulphur fuel oil quotes, on a delivered Singapore basis, according to sources from bunker suppliers, trading firms and shipowners.The premiums extended declines from early first quarter when the product traded down to about $140 a ton…

Danish shipping and logistics firm DFDS said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy the international transport network of Turkey's Ekol Logistics for 1.9 billion crowns ($277 million) and lifted its sales growth forecast for the year.The network connects Turkey and Europe and the acquisition will add road transport to its Mediterranean ferry network, DFDS said in a statement, adding that it was in line with its strategy to move goods in trailers by ferry, road and rail."Turkey's role…

KR has released two digital platforms, KR-DAON (Digital Application Online Network) and Nexawave, alongside the launch of its enhanced fleet management system, KR e-Fleet V3.The KR e-Fleet V3, an upgraded version of the existing fleet management system, focuses on enhancing operational efficiency through increased speed and simplification. It features an integrated vessel status display with survey and audit information, a new Thickness Measurement (TM) menu for tracking hull corrosion, and PSC Guidance with VR technology (KR-Real360) to assist in customer responses.

The U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday approved the country's eighth commercial-scale offshore wind project, which will be built off the coast of Massachusetts, bringing online electricity to power more than 900,000 homes.The approval for Avangrid’s New England Wind Project brings the U.S. one-third of the way to President Joe Biden's goal of permitting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030—a key part of the president's climate change agenda.The project comes just a week after the Interior Department approved another offshore wind project, Orsted's Sunrise Wind, in New York.

Port of Aberdeen has stepped closer to becoming a strategic hub for floating offshore wind, with its proposed South Harbour upgrade project progressing to Stage 2 ‘priority’ status in the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council’s (SOWEC) strategic investment model.The significant upgrade involves a capital dredge project to deepen 750 meters of quayside to  -14.5 meters chart datum, providing suitable depth for the majority of ScotWind and INTOG project turbine designs.Combined with South Harbour’s expansive laydown area and ultra heavy-lift capacity…

A project to transform the Port Talbot into a major hub for floating offshore wind (FLOW) and green energy development has come one step closer to securing a share of up to $200 million (£160 million) of UK Government funding.The UK Government has agreed to take forward the Future Port Talbot project and the Port of Cromarty Firth to undergo due diligence as part of the next stage of its Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS).The due diligence process…

Techcross recently opened the doors for its new training center in Athens, Greece, its 7th training center opened globally in major shipping hubs that offers training on actual equipment.An opening ceremony for the Greece training center, designated as a hub for training in Europe region, was held recently at the newly relocated ARGO NAVIS building. The ceremony was attended by nine representatives, including Park Seog-won, CEO of Techcross, and Ioannis Alevropoulos and Maximous-Ioannis Katsidimas…

Constant attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports by Russian drones and missiles are leading to a slowdown in Ukraine's maritime agricultural exports, brokers said on Wednesday.A key maritime hub in the southern Odesa region has been under almost daily attacks in recent weeks, but authorities have not reported any significant damage to port infrastructure."Active shelling of Ukraine, particularly in the south, by Russia last week led to interruptions in export shipments and a slowdown in waterborne exports…

Japanese trading house Itochu Corp will study joint ownership and operation of ammonia-fueled ships with Taiwan's U-Ming Marine Transport Corp, Itochu said in a statement, as Japan is bets on ammonia to cut emissions.The shipping industry transports about 90% of world trade, and accounts for nearly 3% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions; and installing ship engines that burn cleaner fuels could help slow global warming trends.The IMO has set a target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by around 2050…

An official launch ceremony was held to celebrate the commissioning of a new Jones Act compliant crew transfer vessel (CTV) built for American Offshore Services (A-O-S)—the company's first.Constructed by Blount Boats in Warren, R.I., the 100-foot-long aluminum catamaran is owned and operated by A-O-S, a joint venture formed in 2020 by leading European CTV operator Northern Offshore Services (N-O-S) and U.S.-based investment firm OIC.The vessel will support Ørsted and Eversource’s portfolio of offshore wind farms in the Northeast…

Germany's top utility RWE has signed a Letter of Support with the Port Authority of A Coruña to facilitate the scaling-up of the port capacity in support of the Spanish government’s floating wind targets.Working together under a Letter of Support, the partners will investigate the potential for transforming infrastructure at the Port of Coruña, in northwest Spain, into a logistic hub for the marshalling, assembly and deployment of major components for commercial-scale floating…

Sustainable shipping fuels could reach cost parity with fossil fuels as early as 2035 with the help of decisive emissions policy such as carbon taxes and emissions limits, according to a new report launched by Wärtsilä.The report, titled ‘Sustainable fuels for shipping by 2050 – the 3 key elements of success’, states that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and FuelEU Maritime Initiative will see the cost of using fossil fuels more than double by 2030. By 2035, they will close the price gap between fossil fuels and sustainable fuels for the very first time.Existing decarbonisation solutions…

Fiji will strike a deal with Australia to upgrade ports and shipbuilding infrastructure, months after its prime minister said it was likely to partner with China on the project, the government of the Pacific Islands nation said on Thursday.Fiji's government said its cabinet had agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Australia for the project, after Australia committed to financing."The revival of the shipbuilding industry in Fiji has been articulated as a key priority…

Cereal and oilseed imports to China, the world's biggest buyer of farm goods, will remain near record highs this year despite a recent spate of cancellations as lower global prices and a domestic output shortfall prompt purchases.China's wheat imports from Australia in January and February this year have nearly quadrupled from the same time last year, the latest customs data show. That trend should continue even after Beijing cancelled or postponed 1 million metric tons of Australian wheat last week.The cancellations, along with those for about 500,000 tons of U.S.