Manufacturing Hub News

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…

There is no denying that 2023 was a challenging year for the U.S. offshore wind market. Citing macroeconomic factors including high inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain bottlenecks, Ørsted announced on October 31 that they were ceasing the development of the Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 projects, which were scheduled for construction off the coast of New Jersey. Unfortunately, the troubling news has continued into the new year, with Equinor and BP announcing on…

For Chinese businessman Han Changming, disruptions to Red Sea freight are threatening the survival of his trading company in the eastern province of Fujian.Han, who exports Chinese-made cars to Africa and imports off-road vehicles from Europe, told Reuters the cost of shipping a container to Europe had surged to roughly $7,000 from $3,000 in December, when Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement escalated attacks on shipping."The disruptions have wiped out our already thin profits…

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…

Australia’s Victorian Government is backing a new feasibility study that could see Portland become home to one of Australia’s first green shipping fuel production hubs.Minister for Regional Development Harriet Shing announced the new study for a renewable fuel manufacturing hub in the portside city, with A$500,000 invested through the Labor Government’s Portland Diversification Fund.The feasibility study will be led by Portland H2 – a subsidiary of HAMR Energy – towards establishing a plant converting plantation forestry residue to green methanol.

The German government has become divided over a deal, agreed last month, which saw Chinese conglomerate Cosco invest in the Port of Hamburg. The deal had been in the works since September 2021 and was championed by the chancellor (and Hamburg’s former mayor), Olaf Scholz.Scholz’s coalition partners have been vocal in criticising the deal. Chief among them is Robert Habeck, Greens member and Scholz’s economics minister, who expressed his fear that Germany was becoming dependent on Chinese business.

China's world-beating economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic is being blunted by a global shortage of shipping containers, sending cargo costs to record highs and hampering manufacturers in filling fast-recovering global goods orders.Exports from China surged 21% in November from a year ago as the country's mammoth industrial engine cranked out mountains of appliances, toys, clothes, personal protective equipment, and other items currently in high demand around the world.But…

Norwegian energy company Equinor has proposed the Port of Albany, in upstate New York, as the first offshore wind tower manufacturing facility in the  U.S."Developed jointly with leading wind industry manufacturers Marmen and Welcon, Equinor stands ready to transform the port for manufacturing offshore wind towers and transition pieces (TPs), creating up to 350 direct jobs in the region," Equinor said.The Port of Albany extension initiative is part of the bid Equinor submitted…

Throughout April, container shipping spot freight rates on the back-haul trade from North Europe to China were higher than those on the front-haul trade from China to North Europe. This is a rare occurrence that has developed in the wake of the massive supply chain disruptions in the world’s top manufacturing hub due to the COVID-19 outbreak, causing aftershocks across the Far East.“A reversal of front-haul and back-haul spot freight rates is a rare event. Especially on a high-volume main trade route like the Far East to Europe…

Online e-procurement portal for marine spares and equipment ShipParts.com is taking part in a project to investigate how additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, could revolutionize the way in which spare parts are procured and delivered.ShipParts.com has been operating for some five years, and has built up a client base of more than 1,800+ buyers and around 17,000+ sellers actively trading on the platform. Sellers are from all corners of the globe, including European…

The global LNG bunkering market was valued at approximately USD 397.70 million in 2017 and is expected to generate revenue of around USD 11899.60 million by the end of 2024, growing at a CAGR of around 59.4% between 2018 and 2024.LNG bunkering is experiencing the highest growth rate in developed as well as developing countries, said a report by Zion Market Research.Escalating number of vessels using LNG owing to the need for cleaner fuels in compliance with the stringent government regulations in order to reduce air pollution and maintain sustainability is the main driver that is boosting the growth of the market. This particular factor is driving the development of the LNG bunkering market.The regulatory organization the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2012…

North American brownfield redevelopment firm Commercial Development Co. Inc. (CDC) has announced an expanded port operations agreement at the Brayton Point Commerce Center, a former Massachusetts coal plant being redeveloped into an offshore wind hub. The port operations agreement further builds upon CDC’s vision to transform the former coal-fired power plant site into a world-class logistics port, manufacturing hub, and support center for the offshore wind energy sector.The Brayton Point Commerce Center is equipped with a 34-ft deep water port capable of berthing large trans-Atlantic merchant vessels – once used to import coal, the port will now be used for bulk cargo…

The new center, which is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), will focus on developing competence including qualification, certification and training for additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing. While AM is raising more and more interest in various industries, as the benefits of speed and cost against traditional product manufacturing become apparent, the adoption level in the O&M sector is still low due to challenges in qualification and certification.

Britain's first shale gas delivery from the United States sailed into a heated European political debate on fracking on Tuesday and immediately ran into its first practical problem - the Scottish weather. The huge "Ineos Insight" tanker had entered the Firth of Forth at sunrise, a lone Scots piper playing on its bow, as it headed for the Grangemouth refinery, west of Edinburgh. But gusty squalls prevented it from unloading its controversial cargo before an assembled crowd of dignitaries. "The Insight vessel was unable to dock at the port due to high winds," said a spokesman for Zurich-based chemicals giant Ineos. It would arrive at the port as soon as wind died down, he added. Ship tracking data on Reuters showed the vessel had turned back into deeper waters.

The Cargo Shipping Market is estimated to gain momentum after fiscal year 2018 after years of sluggish growth. Cargo Shipping Market is projected to reach 12.52 Billion Tons at CAGR of 3.5% from 2016 to 2021. According to report Cargo Shipping Market - Global Trends and Forecast to 2021, the growth in container transport will have highest growth in cargo shipping trade compared to other types of cargos. Demographic changes and the increased globalization drive the growth for container transport. Additionally, the investments in port infrastructure, global supply & demand cycle will have positive impact on container transport. Asia-Pacific region dominates the container transport followed by Europe and North America in 2016.

Today Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA), a Group company overseeing the business of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) in North America, commenced full-scale operations at its newly relocated Head Office in Houston, Texas, following a move from its previous base in New York. MHIA held a reception at Rice University today to mark the occasion in the presence of guests including The Honorable Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas. Present at the reception, MHI President & CEO Shunichi Miyanaga offered the following remarks: "I am delighted that we have been able to set up a new base in Houston to better serve our customers and oversee our Group operations in North America.

Japan has confirmed it is ready to build Australia’s submarines entirely at local shipyards, after stumbling in its effort to win the A$50 billion ($34.76 billion) contract, reports Reuters. According to Masaaki Ishikawa, director general for Acquisition Reform at the Ministry of Defense, Tokyo was willing to train hundreds of Australian engineers in Japan's submarine-manufacturing hub of Kobe as well as in Australia as part of its offer for one of the world's biggest defence contracts. It is the first time an official directly involved in the bid has said Japan was willing to build the stealth submarines entirely in Australia. Canberra is expected to order between eight and 12 vessels.

Japan looking to fix faltering Australian submarine bid. Japan is ready to match European rivals and build a fleet of submarines for Canberra entirely at Australian shipyards, a senior Japanese official said on Tuesday, after stumbling in its effort to win the A$50 billion ($34.76 billion) contract. Tokyo was willing to train hundreds of Australian engineers in Japan's submarine-manufacturing hub of Kobe as well as in Australia as part of its offer for one of the world's biggest defence contracts, Masaaki Ishikawa, director general for Acquisition Reform at the Ministry of Defense, told Reuters. His comments are the first from an official directly involved in the bid that Japan is willing to build the stealth submarines entirely in Australia, where jobs are a hot button political issue.

In its heyday, Bagamayo was a gateway to the heart of Africa for colonisers, with trade goods surging in from the Indian Ocean, and timber, ivory and countless slaves exported from the east coast harbour. Then Bagamoyo, which looks out towards the island of Zanzibar, fell on lean times for more than a century. Now Tanzania plans an $11 billion project to make it the region's biggest port and an engine of Africa's boom. The Chinese-backed project would dwarf Kenya's port at Mombasa, east Africa's trade gateway some 300 km (180 miles) to the north, and include an industrial zone and rail and road links to capitalise on growth in a region hoping to exploit new oil and gas finds.

Innovation, superior technology and competitiveness are the characteristics that have brought the Finnish maritime industry world repute. Its well-knit maritime cluster responsible for achieving a high level of production has propelled it into prominence in the global market. Extreme conditions during winter have set technological and quality demands on Finnish shipping which, in turn has contributed towards the emergence of a competitive maritime industry in Finland. The Finnish Maritime and Offshore Cluster (incl. Marine industries, shipping and port operations in private and public sectors) is one of the central industries in the Finnish technology industries.

Australia to spend A$65 bln on ships and subs over 20 years; PM pledges A$40 bln for domestic shipbuilders. Australia will spend A$89 billion ($65 billion) on ships and submarines for its navy over the next 20 years but pressure grew on Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Tuesday to spend more than half that total building a new submarine fleet domestically. Two naval shipbuilding programmes, the A$20 billion SEA5000 Future Frigate project and the SEA1180 Offshore Patrol Vessels, would be brought forward to guarantee the continuous domestic construction of surface warships, Abbott said. Despite that new component, Abbott is facing intense pressure from within his conservative Liberal Party…

With 1,300 new Indian-built Ford automobiles loaded onto the Grand Dahlia on August 27th for delivery to Mexico, a new era for the Indian auto industry and Gujarat Port Pipavav commenced. The 59,217 gross ton roll on/roll off (Ro/Ro) vessel was the first to call Western India’s fastest-growing port, operated as part of the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network. APM Terminals Pipavav announced the inauguration of Ro/Ro operations at the multi-purpose port last June after concluding an agreement with Japanese-based NYK subsidiary NYK Auto Logistics (NAL) India for finished car export services and the construction of a new automobile services terminal.

CTruk held an informal launch event at its new Colne Estuary site on The Hythe, East Colchester yesterday, sharing its plans for expansion to guests and staff. The company will use the old Fieldgates site on Haven Road to build the larger vessels required for offshore wind farm projects further out to sea and will move some production activity over in January 2015. CTruk’s current facility in Brightlingsea lacks the space and waterside access needed to build and launch larger craft.