Yangtze News

Hapag-Lloyd and Seaspan Corporation announced plans to retrofit and convert five 10,100 TEU containerships powered by conventional MAN S90 engines to dual-fuel engines capable of operating on methanol. Following the engine retrofit, the vessels will continue to be on long-term charter from Seaspan to Hapag-Lloyd.The vessels scheduled for retrofits are the Seaspan Amazon, Seaspan Ganges, Seaspan Thames, Seaspan Yangtze and Seaspan Zambezi. The retrofit is expected to take approximately 80-90 days per vessel starting in the first quarter of 2026.

U.S.-based SEACOR Marine has completed the installation of a hybrid power system on its platform supply vessel (PSV) SEACOR Yangtze.Beginning in February 2024 in Norway, Kongsberg Maritime started the upgrade of the UT771 CDL SEACOR Yangtze with the Deckhouse Energy Storage System.The installation of the system has been completed, SEACOR Marine informed on April 4, 2024, adding to its fleet of hybrid battery-powered PSVs.To remind, SEACOR Marine announced it will convert four other of its PSVs to battery hybrid power in a move to enhance efficiency and slash emissions.The Houston-headquartered

SEACOR Marine announced it will convert four of its platform supply vessels (PSV) to battery hybrid power in a move to enhance efficiency and slash emissions.The Houston-headquartered marine transportation firm said on Thursday it has ordered containerized energy storage systems (ESS) from Norway's Kongsberg Maritime for install aboard SEACOR Ohio, SEACOR Alps, SEACOR Andes and SEACOR Atlas.The four 278.4-foot-long PSVs are all of Kongsberg Maritime's UT771 CDL design and were built in China from 2018 to 2020.

A new-generation, LNG-powered green and intelligent bulk carrier Chang Hang Huo Yun 002 has been launched in China.The vessel will be fueled solely by LNG, and it is being built by Zhijiang Shengmao Shipyard for China Yangtze Shipping Group.China Classification Society (CCS) conducted the plan approval and new building survey. The 9,800dwt ship complies with the “Green Ship-2” standard as specified by CCS “Rules for Green Ships on Inland Rivers”.Compared with diesel fuel operation, the vessel can reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 20%, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides emissions by 100%.

Thirteen Filipino seafarers, the last of 43 abandoned on two livestock carriers, have made it home after more than five months onboard the Yangtze Harmony.The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) intervened after the ship’s owners abandoned the vessel and its crew in October 2022. At that time, the Singapore Sheriff court seized the Yangtze Harmony on behalf of Glander International Bunkering over an unpaid fuel bill. That began a legal process to sell the ship and pay off its debts…

China’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered boat “Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat No. 1” has been launched in Guangdong.“Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat No. 1” is a 164 foot long, 33 foot wide passenger catamaran capable of reaching a maximum speed of 17 miles/hr. It is powered by a 500 kW hydrogen fuel cell with a 1,800 kWh lithium battery system and has a range of 124 miles. The steel-hulled vessel has an aluminum superstructure and glass curtain wall construction.It is expected to lead…

Tim Clerc’s maritime career spans half a century, starting with his cadet training in 1969 in the U.K. He sees hybrid technology as one of the most transformational technological developments in maritime in that span, and the company is currently awaiting its 10th hybrid, the Seacor Yangtze. Clerc discusses the hybrid strategy and offers some practical insights.If you had to pick one technology that you think has made the business of running ships more efficient, more cost effective…

Rivers are critical corridors that connect cities and ecosystems alike. When drought develops, water levels fall, making river navigation harder and more expensive.In 2022, water levels in some of the world’s largest rivers, including the Rhine in Europe and the Yangtze in China, fell to historically low levels. The Mississippi River fell so low in Memphis, Tennessee, in mid-October that barges were unable to float, requiring dredging and special water releases from upstream reservoirs to keep channels navigable.Conditions on the lower Mississippi may be easing somewhat…

China’s robust export growth likely moderated in July amid an acceleration in COVID-19 cases globally and continuing severe pressure on global supply chains, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.Although there are signs China’s strong industrial recovery in the first half of the year may be losing some momentum, overseas demand has remained strong in recent months even as factories in many countries return from lockdowns.Headline trade numbers are also being helped by the statistical…

China foiled criminals seeking to smuggle nearly 1 million tonnes of refined oil worth 5 billion yuan ($770 million), with officials seizing 11 ships and detaining 171 suspects in a sprawling swoop on Tuesday, customs authorities said.The operation, which saw customs officers from the port city of Ningbo join forces with local law enforcement and maritime police, spanned eight Chinese regions, including the coastal provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Fujian, the General Administration of Customs said in a statement.A total of 14 gangs were busted on Tuesday, the agency added.

China has launched a crackdown on illegal sand mining operations on the Yangtze river, which have made large parts of central China more vulnerable to drought.Excessive sand mining on the Yangtze, which provides water for a third of the Chinese population, is believed to be responsible for the abnormally low levels of water during the winter drought season in recent years.Sand mining in the river and its connecting lakes and tributaries has also affected shipping routes and made it harder for authorities to control summer floods.According to a notice issued by the water…

China's Jiasheng Gas Co Ltd, an independent gas distributor, has agreed an engineering and construction deal to build a 2.5 billion yuan ($380 million) liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and receiving facility in east China, the Shanghai Oil and Gas Exchange and a company executive said.The little-known firm is among a group of companies outside the dominant state oil and gas giants that are expected to lead new investment in LNG import terminals over the next decade as China opens up the sector to more private participation.The first phase of the project, to be built at Jiangyin port in Jian

Shipbuilder China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) is building a new cruise vessel for owner Changjiang Cruise Overseas Travel.The CSC-designed vessel is intended for operation on the Yangtze River, the largest river in China, and is scheduled to enter service in September 2021.The 150-meter-long long and 23-meter-wide vessel will reach an operating cruise speed of 14 knots. It will accommodate 600 guests served by 150 international crew members.German propulsion manufacturer SCHOTTEL said it has been awarded a contract to provide azimuth thrusters for the newbuild…

The Amazon river dolphin is an intelligent and friendly mammal that appears to grin and flush like a human blushing when it gets excited.But some are concerned about the world's largest freshwater dolphin coming under threat again in Brazil, where fishermen hunt and kill it illegally to make bait for a catfish called piracatinga.A legal moratorium on fishing the piracatinga ended last month, prompting calls for its renewal from environmentalists and researchers such as biologist Vera da Silva…

The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has placed the shipping industry on high alert amid a rising death toll in China and reports that the fast-spreading illness is reaching new shores.The flu-like coronavirus, first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China on December 31, has killed more than two dozen people in China and is believed to have infected more than 900 worldwide, according to several media reports. Cases have been confirmed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, and internationally in travelers returning from China to Japan…

On October 10, 2019 the steel cutting ceremony took place at Jiangsu Jinling Shipyard, Co. Ltd. in Yizheng, China (a subsidiary of the Nanjing Jinling Shipyard) for four oil/deck cargo barges being constructed for the Government of the Northwest Territories in Northern Canada.Steel blocks will be constructed at the Yizheng shipyard and then barged approx. 50 kilometers up the Yangtze River to Nanjing Jinling Shipyard for final assembly. Following steel cutting the construction is expected to take 9 months…

While all eyes are on 2020 and the introduction of the IMO’s global sulphur cap, Hong Kong and Taiwan are aligning their emission regulations with the Chinese Emission Control Area (ECA) requirements and will implement a local 0.50% sulphur cap from 1 January 2019, said Gard.A release from the maritime insurer said that the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee’s 73rd session (MEPC73) has just ended, and with it, so did all speculations about a potential delay of the global 0.50% sulphur cap. The rules apply from 1 January 2020 - and they will be enforced.Hong Kong’s current Fuel at Berth Regulation requiring ships to burn fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.50% while at berth is soon to be replaced by one that will extend the standard to ships operating in Hong Kong waters…

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 for some ports, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday.The ban on water discharge from so-called open-loop scrubbers is part of an effort to prepare for International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules that will ban ships from using fuel oil with a sulphur content of more than 0.5 percent from 2020…

Major ports around the Yangtze River Delta will impose tighter rules on emissions from vessels in and around the ports starting on Oct. 1, a newspaper run by China's Ministry of Transport said in a report.The ports affected are Shanghai, the world's biggest container port, as well as ports in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The report in the China Water Transport newspaper was dated Aug. 24.That is earlier than the implementation date of Jan. 1, 2019 announced previously.China's…

China's Ministry of Transport said on Friday it is soliciting feedback from oil companies, shipowners' and port associations, and marine authorities for a plan to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine bunker fuel.China will expedite the planning and siting of key berths for LNG tankers in the Bohai Bay area of northern China, as well as along its main rivers, the ministry said.The ministry has asked companies and agencies to give feedback by Aug.

The market for marine exhaust gas cleaning systems, also known as scrubbers, is expected to continue generating momentum in the years ahead amid increasing concern toward maritime pollution and new environmental regulations. The global market share for marine scrubbers is predicted to surpass $8 billion by 2024, according to a report by Global Market Insights.As per the latest International Maritime Organization (IMO) legislation, effective from January 1, 2020, the maximum limit of sulphur in fuel oil used on board ships will be 0.5 percent m/m…

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…

Swire Group’s shipping arm China Navigation Company establishes presence in Shanghai where it was founded 147 years ago!The China Navigation Company (CNCo) opened its China headquarters officially in Shanghai on 05 November 2018, marking a significant return to its birthplace 147 years ago, and a significant milestone in its history, said a press release from the company.CNCo started operations on the Yangtze River in 1872, operating a modest fleet of Mississippi-style paddle steamers.CNCo is a major global player in the shipping scene today, with operations spanning Australia, China, PNG, Fiji, India, New Zealand and the US. Headquartered in Singapore…