Week News

The first commercial vessel transited through a newly opened channel in the Port of Baltimore following the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.The Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel (LAC) was opened as a temporary solution to provide passage for a limited number of commercial vessels into the Port of Baltimore and a departure opportunity for some deep draft vessels currently unable to leave the harbor since the bridge collapse.The channel—the fourth to be opened…

China is providing moorage for a U.S.-sanctioned Russian cargo ship implicated in North Korean arms transfers to Russia, according to satellite images obtained by Reuters, as U.S. concerns grow over Beijing's support for Moscow's war in Ukraine.Britain's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank said the Russian vessel Angara, which since August 2023 has moved to Russian ports thousands of containers believed to contain North Korean munitions, has been anchored at a Chinese…

President Joe Biden's administration unveiled plans on Wednesday to hold up to a dozen auctions of offshore wind development rights through 2028, including four before the end of this year.The schedule will help companies, states and others plan for projects that require massive amounts of investment and infrastructure, the Interior Department said in a statement."Our offshore wind leasing schedule will provide predictability to help developers and communities plan ahead and will…

At least five people, including a child, died in an attempt to cross the English Channel from France, hours after Britain passed a bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda to try to deter the dangerous crossings.The deaths of one child, a woman and three men occurred on an overcrowded small boat carrying around 110 people attempting to cross one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The French coastguard was still searching for survivors."After becoming initially stranded on the shore, the boat set out to sea again.

EST-Floattech has been selected by KOTUG International to provide its containerized energy storage solution with Octopus Series energy modules for the E-Pusher 1 (Type M), the world’s first fully electric pusherboat operated by Cargill.The vessel was built by Padmos, and EST-Floattech worked with the yard, Sea and Shore, and Gebhard Electro to realize the system. The container is ESTRIN-Certified and has a capacity of 2MWh. It was designed and constructed in a little over half…

Australia's BHP Group is planning to receive its first ammonia-fueled bulk carrier in 2026 as part of the company's plans to cut shipping emissions, a senior executive said.The global mining giant has shortlisted eight companies for the building, operation and fuel supply for at least one such vessel, Rashpal Singh Bhatti, vice president of maritime and supply chain excellence at BHP told Reuters late last week.However, it has not yet decided on the total number of vessels that it will order and is also assessing costs…

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.

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.

This week, various holidays concluded across the globe just as Indian sub-continent ship recycling markets started to perk up amidst fundamentals that have independently enjoyed varying degrees of volatility and resurgence over recent weeks, reports cash buyer GMS.“Steel plate prices in Bangladesh and Pakistan remained flatlined at respectively firm levels - the effects of which has only helped these markets grab their share of high-priced fixtures since the start the of the year - all while the ever-volatile Indian plate price that fell last week…

Esgian reports on the many rig movements that occurred last week in its Week 16 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsADES Holding Company has received a letter of award from an international oil company for a one-year firm drilling contract for a jackup offshore Qatar.TotalEnergies has exercised a three-well option for Transocean 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Skyros offshore Angola at a rate of $400,000, keeping the rig working into December 2025.After initially beginning a short-term job in the US GOM in January 2024…

This week at Singapore Maritime Week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is advancing ambitious decarbonization targets for the maritime transportation sector, both domestically and internationally.DOE is teaming with over 15 government and industry partners in Singapore to foster partnerships and collaborate on clean energy solutions aimed at achieving net zero-emissions in the maritime sector by 2050. Domestically, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is joining with ABS to create opportunities for data and information sharing to strengthen U.S. shipping. The U.S.

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

EST-Floattech will be providing the battery system for the purpose-built electric-landing utility vessel (E-LUV) to be built at Coastal Workboats’ new yard Stornoway. The company will also provide the shore-based power supply system.The collaboration with Coastal Workboats Scotland is realized due to Coastal Workboats receiving a £6 million (€7 million) grant to demonstrate the UK's first commercial electric workboat and charging station from the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition.The BV-classed E-LUV is set to be the UK's first commercial electric workboat.

The FBI said on Monday it opened a criminal probe into the collapse of a Baltimore bridge in March when a ship crashed into a bridge support, while local officials confirmed the recovery of a fourth body from the incident.FBI agents boarded the cargo ship Dali to conduct court-authorized law enforcement activity regarding the crash, an FBI spokesperson said. The spokesperson said there was no other public information available and the bureau will have no further comment.The body…

Indian sub-continent ship recycling markets enjoyed a greater than expected degree of a post-Ramadan resurgence, reports cash buyer GMS.“Vessel prices across the various destinations seemed to have concurrently enjoyed varying degrees of an uptick this week on the back of which some eye-opening sales were seemingly concluded into the various sub-continent locations.”However, this firming is certainly surprising, given that recycling destination currencies suffered through their own versions of volatility against the U.S.

Esgian reports on new contracts for Borr Drilling and Shelf Drilling (North Sea) jackups in its Week 15 Rig Analytics Market Roundup. Additionally, Energean has selected a drillship for its upcoming drilling campaign offshore Morocco. South America remains vital to the floating rig market, with ExxonMobil moving ahead on a sixth development on the prolific Stabroek block offshore Guyana and Petrobras reporting a new discovery in Brazil's Potiguar Basin.Report Outline:ContractsBorr Drilling has announced new contract commitments for three of its premium jackup rigs…

Greenpeace activists painted slogans on an Estonian-owned tanker in the middle of the Baltic Sea on Friday, and said the ship supplied bunker fuel to vessels transporting Russian oil that posed a danger to the environment and would fuel conflict."Oil fuels war," the campaigners, who arrived in small boats, scrawled in large white letters on the side of the Zircone tanker, pictures provided by Greenpeace showed.The vessel, sitting in international waters off the Swedish island of Gotland, has supplied fuel to more than 50 oil tankers travelling to or from Russian ports in the last two months, S

This week, Seaspan Energy launched the second of its three 7600m3 liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels, the Seaspan Lions, named after the twin peaks of the North Shore, or known as Ch'ich'iyúy Elxwíkn (“Twin Sisters” or “Two Sisters”) to the Squamish Nation.This series of vessels is named after iconic West Coast mountains and the first two vessels, the Seaspan Garibaldi ("Nch'kay") and the Seaspan Lions (Ch'ich'iyúy Elxwíkn), will be delivered in 2024 with the third…

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…

U.S. National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said at a Senate hearing Wednesday that investigators had conducted interviews with key cargo ship personnel in the investigation of the March 26 Baltimore bridge collapse.The Dali cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, sending it crashing into the harbor and killing six people. Work to clear the wreckage and restore traffic through the Mid-Atlantic state's shipping channel is ongoing.Homendy said investigators remained on site and had interviewed the pilots…

Ship recycling has again been quiet across the ship recycling globe, reports cash buyer GMS.“Moreover, as an increasing number of vessels past beached have been nearly recycled, and barely any meaningful arrivals have been reported at the respective waterfronts (zero in India this week), frustrated industry players are just … going with the depressive flow,” states GMS.“With that being said and reportedly this week, amidst a sea of floating oldies several high-priced sales were surprisingly confirmed to the various markets (essentially Bangladesh and Pakistan)…

At SAAM’s annual general meeting last week, Chairman Óscar Hasbún outlined the objectives for the company's new phase, following the sale of the port terminals and inland logistics division."SAAM has robust solvency and liquidity indicators and a solid capital structure for this new cycle where our objective is clear: to become a leading global operator in the towage business and a regional leader in airport logistics. We are already a benchmark in both businesses and have developed a unique operating model…

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. on Tuesday announced that it has completed its merger with fellow dry bulk shipping company Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc.Eagle Bulk shareholders this week voted to approve the $2.1 billion deal, which was first announced in December 2023.Under the terms of the merger agreement, each Eagle shareholder received 2.6211 shares of Star Bulk common stock for each share of Eagle common stock owned. Eagle common stock has ceased trading and will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Petros Pappas…