Peer News

Retired Adm. Craig Faller has assumed the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Surface Navy Association (SNA), a nonprofit promoting coordination and communication among military, business and academic communities with an interest in naval surface warfare and forces.Faller succeeds retired Adm. Vern Clark, who has been chairman since 2020.In addition to numerous ashore assignments including Chief of Naval Legislative Affairs; senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense…

The CIMAC Digitalization Strategy Group has published a new Position Paper titled: On enabling the implementation of a ship-wide data ecosystem. CIMAC is a global non-profit association promoting the development of ship propulsion, train drive and power generationThe position paper aims to identify ways in which the potential of digitalization can be fully exploited for process optimization, develops a vision, and provides recommendations.“The full technical potential of highly integrated…

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell more than 12% after the operator's downbeat first-quarter revenue overshadowed a raise in annual profit forecast on Wednesday.Expectations for cruise operators have generally become high after strong booking trends and demand drove up their results and shares last year.Shares of Norwegian and its rival Carnival have seen their growth temper from those highs, in part due to concerns around cost pressures and their brands' exposure to the Middle East conflict.Meanwhile…

Tanker company Euronav will exit Belgium's blue-chip Bel-20 index after just two days of trading, as it no longer meets the membership conditions after its takeover by Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), bourse operator Euronext said on Tuesday.CMB, owned by the Saverys family, and affiliates together hold 88.61% of the outstanding shares in Euronav, which exceeds the maximum allowed for the index."The Bel 20 rulebook prescribes that should the acquiring party own more than 85% of the shares, the company being acquired will exit the index," Euronext said.Belgium's Euronav announced in October that

The Australian government refused a request by an Israeli livestock exporter to send a ship carrying around 14,000 sheep and hundreds of cattle on a month-long voyage around Africa to Israel earlier this week, but it left the way open for other options.The Bahijah sailed from Australia for Israel on January 5 but was recalled over a week into the voyage after diverting towards South Africa, unwilling to sail through the Red Sea.The ship has been docked in Fremantle port, Western Australia…

Cruise operator Carnival on Friday joined the growing list of companies flagging a potential hit to their operations following attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis."We believe that the instability in the Red Sea region currently impacting shipping could have an impact on our results of operations," Carnival said in a regulatory filing.The company's U.S.-listed shares fell nearly 2% in morning trade.The attacks, which the Houthis say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza…

A new training project will prepare seafarers for zero or near-zero emission ships, helping the global shipping industry decarbonize and ensure a just transition for seafarers.Research commissioned by the Maritime Just Transition Task Force identified that 800,000 seafarers may require additional training by the mid-2030s to operate vessels run on zero or near zero emission fuels.The training framework, funded through the IMO and Lloyd’s Register Foundation, will equip seafarers with skills in decarbonization…

Royal Caribbean Group on Thursday lifted its full-year profit forecast for a third time and said bookings for the next year were "significantly outpacing" pre-pandemic levels by a wide margin, sending its shares up about 3%.Cruise operators are reaping the rewards as travelers gravitate to cruise vacations that are cheaper compared to taking a land-based holiday.This has given the companies the ability to hike itinerary prices, especially in North America and Europe, as occupancy…

Established in 1907 as the Industrial Revolution arrived to Seattle, Markey is the oldest privately-held winch manufacturer in the United States today. The company was formed in the Georgetown District of what later became known as King County, Wash. The Markey sign above its original manufacturing plant, on Horton Street, is still retained, although Markey has since moved to its current facility on 8th Avenue South.Markey was a major supplier to the U.S. Navy in both world wars…

Belgium's Euronav on Monday said that its two major shareholders CMB and Frontline have reached a deal that would see CMB take control of the oil tanker company and buy its remaining shares.The deal ends uncertainty over Euronav's future, after peer Frontline - controlled by Norwegian-born shipping tycoon John Fredriksen - in January scrapped a $4.2 billion merger plan that would have created the world's largest publicly-listed tanker company.That decision had led Euronav to launch arbitration action against Frontline.

Euronav second shareholder Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) is offering to acquire Frontline's 26.12% stake in the company for $18.43 per share, which will be followed by a mandatory public offer at the same price, the Belgian oil tanker and storage operator said on Thursday.Shares of Euronav, which were suspended earlier in the day after spiking on media reports about the company going private, jumped around 18% as trading reopened at 1330 GMT.The completion of the deal would end the arbitration action started by Euronav against its peer Frontline…

Global energy and commodity group, Mercuria, and Netherlands-based ÈTA Shipping have established a joint venture for the construction of six diesel-electric shortsea general cargo vessels with the option for another 10.The vessels will be built by Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering in China and will be owned by Mare Balticum BV, a subsidiary of Mercuria, with ÈTA Shipping acting as a minority shareholder. The maiden voyage of the first vessel is planned for the second quarter of 2025.ÈTA Shipping’s modular design of the ÈTA 6700 vessel involves an electric motor that powers the propeller.

The first fatal accident aboard a deep-sea tourist submersible is certain to raise calls for additional safety regulations, but industry experts say any new measures may be impossible to enforce given the international nature of the business.Moreover, they say the tragedy of the Titan submersible that imploded during its expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic was an outlier, given that the maker of the vessel opted against certifying the vessel, defying industry convention.All five people aboard the Titan…

Experts raised safety concerns in 2018 about the submersible vessel that has been missing since Sunday, when it descended with tourists on a deep ocean journey to view the wreckage of the Titanic.The pilot and four passengers are aboard and the available oxygen on the vehicle has been forecast to run out by Thursday morning.The Titan submersible is a 22-foot (6.7-meter)-long vessel operated by Everett, Washington-based OceanGate Expeditions. It first made a voyage dive to 4,000 meters (13…

Belgian oil tanker and storage operator Euronav reported better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and core earnings on Thursday, supported by an improvement in freight rates, and proposed raising its dividend. "The counter seasonal strength recorded in Q1 underpins our view that strong and durable drivers are in place to continue a multi-year upcycle in large crude tanker freight markets," CEO Hugo De Stoop said in an earnings statement. Euronav, one of the largest oil tanker companies in the world…

Covington, La.-based offshore vessel owner Hornbeck Offshore Services has reached a deal to acquire six offshore supply vessels (OSV) from an affiliate of its peer Edison Chouest Offshore.Hornbeck announced Monday it entered into a definitive vessel purchase agreement with Edison Chouest's Nautical Solutions to buy the "high-spec new generation" OSVs for an undisclosed cash price. Each of the vessels are U.S.-flagged, Jones Act-qualified, 280 class DP-2 OSVs with capacities of circa 4…

Lone Star Funds has reached a del to buy U.S. shipbuilding and repair group Titan Acquisition Holdings from peer investment firms Carlyle and Stellex Capital Management. Financial terms were not disclosed.Titan is comprised of Vigor Industrial LLC, an infrastructure, defense, and maritime services company based in Portland, Ore.; MHI Holdings LLC, a ship repair, maintenance, and other ship husbandry services company based in Norfolk, Va.; and Continental Maritime of San Diego (CMSD). Key Titan customers include the U.S. Navy, U.S.

In an era of great power competition, navies – by virtue of their ability to span the globe and effectively deliver combat power – are likely to be the sine qua non of military power. This leads, naturally, to the tendency to count numbers of ship hulls when comparing the strength of navies. Lost on no one is the fact that the size of China’s Navy now exceeds that of the U.S. Navy, and the gap in ship numbers is growing.During the Cold War, while the quality of their ships might not have been equal to that of the U.S.

The words “blue economy” will soon shape the future of Canada’s oceans, from the fiords and straits of British Columbia to the rugged coastlines of the Atlantic to the vast seascapes of the Arctic. The transformation of Canada’s ocean economies will be felt throughout the country and will set an example for nations around the world.But what is a blue economy? And what makes it different from business as usual?The term blue economy was first championed by small-island developing countries, including Fiji, Bahamas and Palau, to bring more local benefits from ocean industries.

The already endangered African penguin is being driven away from its natural habitat off the east coast of South Africa due to noise from ship refueling, a scientific study has found.The number of African penguins on St Croix island in Algoa Bay, once the world's largest breeding colony of the birds, has plummeted since South Africa started to allow ships in the area to refuel at sea, a process known as bunkering, six years ago, the study found.Situated in a busy shipping lane along South Africa's east coast…

RightShip is pressing ahead with its zero-harm vision for the maritime industry by evolving its GHG Rating to incorporate new regulations being introduced by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2023.In Q1 of 2023, the GHG Rating methodology will be updated to incorporate Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) values. RightShip’s proprietary GHG Rating algorithm already uses data and outputs from either the Existing Vessel Design Index (EVDI), or the Energy Efficiency…

Germany's Uniper is prepared to swap liquefied natural gas (LNG) it gets from Australia's Woodside or U.S. gas, so it can boost supplies in Europe more quickly during the coming winter, it said.The strategy reflects efforts by companies and governments across Europe to seek alternative lines of supply and draw up contingency plans for the winter gas season, fearing Moscow could fully stop supplies of natural gas. In case of supply shortages, Uniper could make available to customers in Europe, U.S.

Peer-reviewed research by Thordon Bearings into the hydrodynamic lubrication efficiency of a ship’s propeller shaft bearing has found that the use of seawater-lubricated elastomeric polymer bearings reduces fuel consumption.The environmental and financial benefits of adopting a seawater-lubricated propeller shaft system are well documented, but this is the first indication that the arrangement reduces hydrodynamic resistance enough to improve fuel consumption, compared to a conventional…