John Wobensmith News

The Flying Buttress once glided across the oceans carrying vital commodities like grain to all corners of the world.Now it bears a different treasure: Paw Patrol Movie Towers, Batmobile Transformers and Baby Alive Lulu Achoo dolls.The dry bulk cargo ship has been drafted into the service of retail giant Walmart, which is chartering its own vessels in an effort to beat the global supply chain disruptions that threaten to torpedo the retail industry's make-or-break holiday season."Chartering vessels is just one example of investments we've made to move products as quickly as possible," said Joe Metzger, U.S. executive vice president of supply-chain operations at Walmart…

The Norwegian/Swedish shipping company, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics is the latest shipowner to join the Clean Shipping Alliance 2020 (CSA 2020), increasing the organisation’s membership to 35 shipowners operating a combined fleet of almost 2500 vessels.Roger Strevens, Vice President, Global Sustainability, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, pictured, said: “The implementation of the IMO 2020 0.5% global sulphur cap is supported by the company, but it does represent a significant challenge for the shipping industry, not least from an anticipated hike in fuel costs and potential availability and quality problems.“To mitigate the risk and costs associated with these challenges, Wallenius Wilhelmsen will use low sulphur fuels on the majority of its fleet and scrubbers on the rest of its vessels.

Art Regan, who has been the Executive Chairman at Genco Shipping and Trading (NYSE: GNK) since October 2016, personifies the new type of shipping executive, savvy on all things maritime (he is a graduate of SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler) coupled with a keen understanding of market dynamics. Regan commenced his maritime industry career at sea, rising through the shipboard officer ranks completing as a Master Mariner during a more than ten-year period sailing on oil tankers and dry bulk vessels.

The worst is over for the dry bulk shipping sector, after years when too many ships chased too little cargo, yet the extent of the lost business means a full recovery is still some way off, leading ship owners said on Wednesday. Dry bulk shipping, which transports commodities including coal, iron ore and grain, has been among the worst performing shipping segments in recent years, partly due to worries over the health of top industrial goods importer China. Some companies have…

Examining key industry drivers is the focus of the 17th annual Hellenic-American and Norwegian-American Chambers of Commerce annual conference, often called the New York Shipping Conference. Entitled “Challenges & Opportunities for the Shipping Industry: Is There a New Normal?” the conference will present the macro shipping and economic overview, the impact of increasing environmental regulation on the shipping market, the availability of capital and its many forms, the growing influence of China and India on Shipping, and shipowners’ points of view. The event will be held on Tuesday, February 8th at the Waldorf-Astoria (a new venue for this event) starting at 0815 with conference registration and coffee.

A forum entitled “New York Maritime Matters: Capital Markets: Today and Tomorrow” will be held on September 20th at the Lincoln Center Campus of Fordham University School of Law. Sponsored by New York Maritime (NYMAR) and the Fordham University School of Law, the seminar will be held from 4-6pm, followed by a wine reception. This forum will explore the recent volatility in the capital markets and the impact on shipping, as well as examine capital requirements for port infrastructure. Led by AMA Capital Partners’ Managing Director Peter Shaerf, a panel of shipping experts including Sophocles Zoullas (CEO, Eagle Bulk), John Wobensmith (CFO, Genco Shipping & Trading) and Omar Nokta (Analyst, Dahlman Rose) will discuss the recent volatility in the shipping capital markets.