Port Waters News

Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Acting Minister for Transport, announced a record year in 2023 at a Singapore Maritime Foundation New Year Conversations event.The annual vessel arrival tonnage in the Port of Singapore crossed three billion gross tonnage (GT) for the first time, increasing by 9.4% over 2022 and setting a high of 3.09 billion GT in 2023. This reflects growth in all segments, including container ships, dry bulk carriers, liquid bulk and chemical tankers, ferries and specialised vessels…

Southern Ports’ new pilot boat Wardan has arrived in Bunbury, Western Australia, for local testing and trials ahead of an official naming ceremony to be held early next year.The boat, built by Hart Marine, combines top-tier technology, safety and comfort in a lightweight structure that renders the vessel resistant to corrosion, guaranteeing longevity and resilience in the harshest of marine conditions.Southern Ports Chief Executive Officer Keith Wilks acknowledged the exciting milestone for the Port of Bunbury’s fleet.

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan could redirect oil exports to Russia's Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga instead of Novorossiysk, if the situation on the Black Sea deteriorates, the head of Kaztransoil's transport department said on Friday.Kaztransoil's Abay Beisembaev said during an online briefing: "If the situation in the Black Sea worsens, the volumes that we transport in the direction of the port of Sheskharis (in Novorossiysk) will be transferred to the port of Ust-Luga." Novorossiysk…

An oil tanker runs aground off eastern China, leaking fuel into the water. Another is caught in a collision near Cuba. A third is seized in Spain for drifting out of control.These vessels were part of a "shadow" fleet of tankers carrying oil last year from countries hit by Western sanctions, according to a Reuters analysis of ship tracking and accident data and interviews with more than a dozen industry specialists.Hundreds of extra ships have joined this opaque parallel trade…

Autonomous technology is adding value to the offshore wind (OSW) industry, its supply chains and government policy with the potential to deliver benefits such as increased operational efficiency and safety, and reductions in human error and operational costs. With the unique needs for wind leases and their relative close proximity to shore, a wider group of systems and technologies can be deployed.A developing regulatory landscapeAutonomous technology is the result of rapid advancements in sensors and imaging, vessel connectivity, machine learning, and more.

Ships exporting Ukraine grain through the Black Sea will be protected by a 10 nautical mile buffer zone, according to long-awaited procedures agreed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations on Monday and seen by Reuters.The United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal last month after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine halted grain exports, stoking a global food crisis that the United Nations says has pushed tens of millions more people into hunger.Since then Russia, Ukraine…

Singapore's Keppel Offshore & Marine said Thursday it had completed work on the Maju 510 tug, its first autonomous vessel project."Capable of autonomous vessel navigation as well as collision detection and avoidance (CDCA), the Maju 510 tug, owned and operated by Keppel Smit Towage, is the first vessel in the world to receive the Autonomous Notation from ABS classification society," Keppel O&M said.According to Keppel O&M, the tug is the first in South Asia that can be remotely operated by joystick control.

TotalEnergies Marine Fuels carried out its first marine bio-VLSFO (Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil) bunker delivery in Singapore’s port waters, as part of a biofuel trial recently completed by NYK Line and Anglo American.During the operation, a B10 biofuel blend that composed of VLSFO blended with 10% second-generation, waste-based and ISCC-certified UCOME (Used Cooking Oil Methyl Ester) was supplied via ship-to-ship transfer to MT Friendship, a bulk carrier owned by Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. and chartered by NYK Line to transport cargo provided by Anglo American.

The persistent eutrophication (being too rich in nutrients) of the Baltic Sea prompted the IMO’s Baltic Member States to tackle shipping’s < 0.1% contribution by designating the Baltic Sea as the first Special Area under Annex IV of IMO’s MARPOL Convention [1]. Passenger ships must give sewage to wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) ashore via the port reception facilities (PRFs) or operate a nutrient removal sewage treatment plant (STP) on board prior to discharge. It has been perceived as a positive move. But how special is the Special Area?Rules at sea vs.

The technology group Wärtsilä, in collaboration with PSA Marine, has achieved a breakthrough in its IntelliTug project.Following the successful installation of a first-of-its-kind Dynamic Positioning (DP) system onboard the harbor tug ‘PSA Polaris’, trials are now being carried out in the Port of Singapore under real-world conditions. This phase of the project implementation, which has been approved by Lloyd’s Register, moves the bar higher on safety standards for vessel automation and autonomy.

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Our Singapore Reefs (OSR) have embarked on a three-year collaboration to promote the importance of Singapore’s marine biodiversity.As part of this partnership, underwater clean-up activities and public outreach events will be organised annually.To kick off the partnership, an underwater clean-up exercise involving 20 volunteer divers, was organised in the waters around Lazarus Island earlier this morning. About 140 pieces of marine debris weighing around 75 kg were retrieved and sorted for proper disposal.The data gathered on the types, sources and location of marine debris collected will be compiled and reported to Project AWARE’s global database under its flagship Dive Against Debris programme…

KA Petra, a Malaysian ship-to-ship (STS) transfer specialist, has signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with Hutchison Port Holdings to jointly develop the world’s largest STS transfer hub in the country.Under the terms of the HOA, KA Petra will have 70% interest in the project, whilst Hutchison Ports will take a strategic 30% stake.Based on preliminary studies, construction of the STS Hub is estimated to cost USD150 million to USD180 million, and will be funded by a combination of internally generated funds and debt financing. Construction will be done in phases with commencement within the next 12 months.Dato’ Shahrul Amirul, Executive Chairman of KA Petra Sdn Bhd said…

China's maritime authority has banned the discharge of "wash water" used in ships to strip hazardous sulphur emissions from engine exhaust gases from Jan. 1, in an effort to curb pollution of its coastal seas.The ban on discharges from so-called open-loop scrubbers affects all rivers and ports along China's coastline and includes the Bohai Sea, according to an official from the China's Maritime Safety Administration (MSA).The measure mirrors a similar move made in Singapore ahead of International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules that will ban ships from using marine fuels with a sulphur content of more than 0.5 percent from 2020, unless…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said that it is banning the discharge of "wash water" used in ships to scrub engine exhaust, with effect from Jan 1, 2020, said a report in Reuters.The vessels will have to use compliant fuel once the IMO 2020 sulphur cap comes into force.The report said that the ban of so-called open-loop scrubbers is part of an effort to prepare one of the world’s busiest ports for International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules that come into force in 2020 and oblige ships to use cleaner fuels.Andrew Tan, CEO of Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore quoted as saying: "To protect the marine environment and ensure that the port waters are clean…

An Indonesian-flagged ferry, SRI KANDI 99, ran aground on a rock bund at the southern tip of Pulau Tekong on Monday (9 July) night, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). "At 11.42pm on 9 July 2018, the MPA received a report that an Indonesian-flagged ferry, SRI KANDI 99, ran aground on a rock bund at the southern tip of Pulau Tekong, within Singapore port waters," says a press release. The ferry was making a return trip from Panama-registered passenger vessel “AEGEAN PARADISE”, anchored south of Pengerang, Johor, to Pasir Gudang, Johor when she ran aground. She was carrying 34 passengers (33 Malaysians and 1 Vietnamese) and 11 Indonesian crew. All 45 people onboard were safe and accounted for.

120 volunteers turned up for the Clean-Up on Kayak activity organised by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) at Sembawang PA Water Venture this morning. Held in conjunction with International Coastal Clean-up Day (ICC Day), 100 volunteers were on kayaks to collect marine debris in Singapore waters while 20 remained on land to sort and record the marine litter for data analysis. Clean-Up on Kayak is an initiative started by MPA last year to raise greater awareness on the importance of protecting Singapore’s marine environment to young Singaporeans. 60 volunteers participated in the inaugural event in 2016. The ICC Day is an annual event that encourages people around the world to remove trash from the world’s beaches and waterways.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and IBM today announced at the opening of the International Safety@Sea Conference that they have jointly completed the pilot trial of three modules under the MPA-IBM SAFER project, which will be rolled out progressively beginning September 2017. Project SAFER, derived from “Sense-making Analytics For maritime Event Recognition,” is a collaboration between MPA and IBM to develop and test new analytics-based technologies, aimed at improving maritime and port operations to support increasing Singapore’s growth in vessel traffic. Altogether, there are seven modules under Project SAFER which offer a host of new capabilities for automating and increasing the accuracy of critical tasks that previously relied on human observation…

As a top bunkering port, Singapore will, from 1 January 2017, implement the mandatory use of the Mass Flow Metering (MFM) system which involve devices installed on all bunker vessels licensed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to deliver Marine Fuel Oil (MFO) to vessels bunkering within the Singapore port waters. The automated MFM system is meant to dispense with conventional sounding of the MFO in bunker tanks as the quantity of oil transferred from the bunker vessel to the receiving vessel will be automatically measured by the MFM device as the oil passes through the device. At the completion of bunkering the device will issue a printed Bunker Metering Ticket (BMT) showing the delivered quantity as witnessed by the bunker vessel's cargo officer…

HullWiper, GAC EnvironHull’s diver-free hull cleaning technology, has completed its 100th clean for Maersk Line. The clean was conducted on the Maersk Ganges in the Jebel Ali Container Terminal, Dubai. The HullWiper Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective hull cleaning solution that employs unique brushless cleaning technology. It uses high-pressure seawater to avoid damage to the antifouling surface on the hull. Debris is collected in a special waste filter unit and disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. It also removes the need to employ divers, reducing operational costs and the risk to human life.

The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has launched three new Port Approach Guides with the support of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). Singapore is a major maritime hub for international and domestic ship owners and managers, and its port waters are among the busiest in the world. In 2015, vessel arrival tonnage reached 2.5 billion GT and approximately 1,000 ships can be found in the port of Singapore at any one time. In the same year, Singapore’s ports handled over 30.9 million TEUs of container throughput.

Caterpillar Marine said its dual fuel engines have been selected for a new generation of cruise ships; tThe company’s MaK 16 M 46 DF dual fuel engines, along with the full LNG supply and handling system, are to be installed on four new ships, two apiece under construction at Meyer Werft’s Papenburg (Germany) and Turku (Finland) shipyards. Caterpillar Marine now offers all round LNG propulsion solutions – from shore-side bunkering to on-board storage; from bunker tanks via LNG handling and treatment to the dual fuel engines including automation systems…

Europe’s largest port is the latest to allow the GAC EnvironHull’s eco-friendly hull cleaning system to operate in its waters. The launch of HullWiper at Rotterdam, widely acknowledged as a pioneer in innovation and shipping technology, was marked by a panel discussion, webinar and live demonstration. The Port of Rotterdam’s Senior Manager, Peter Mollema, said the ground-breaking technology exactly aligns with Rotterdam’s ambition to be the most sustainable port of its kind. “In its 'The Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016' the World Economic Forum has for the fourth consecutive time declared that the Netherlands has the best port infrastructure,”  he told more than 100 industry figures from the city and beyond who gathered at the Floating Pavilion or followed the event online.

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or “drones” in common parlance, are not a part of the historical maritime vocabulary. At least not yet. While the term “drones” may conjure images from science fiction, the reality is that companies are designing commercial UAS for the private sector, and they are gradually permeating our daily life. Henry Ford is rumored to have opined on his invention of the automobile that if he had asked people what they wanted, they would have said “faster horses.” In the case of UAS…