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Business Intelligence News

12 Feb 2024

MARAD’s Title XI Changes: Good News for Offshore Wind?

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The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) in December issued a final rule updating its financial requirements for the Federal Ship Financing Program, commonly referred to as Title XI. While the move applies to the U.S. maritime industry as a whole, it is seen as especially helpful for players looking to serve the U.S. offshore wind sector.Designed to promote the growth and modernization of the U.S. merchant marine and U.S. shipyards, Title XI provides for a full faith and credit guarantee by the U.S. government. The program essentially aims to encourage U.S.

08 Dec 2023

US LNG Exports Through Panama Canal Shrink, Asia-Europe Spreads Widen

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The number of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels transiting the Panama Canal to Asia halved in November compared with a year ago as Asia prices for the gas this week traded at their steepest premium to European prices in nearly two years.A severe drought has cut vessel traffic through the canal, increasing costs for shippers that take alternative routes or pay extra fees for auctioned slots in Panama. Further restrictions on canal transits likely will put more cargoes on lengthier routes…

09 Oct 2023

US Committed to Tackling Offshore Wind Challenges -Intelatus

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Despite the negative headlines around the longer-term prospects for the U.S. offshore wind segment, business intelligence company Intelatus Global Partners sees continued efforts by the federal government and, in particular, the East Coast states to find solutions to the challenges faced by the industry as whole, which can be grouped under three headings: high inflation, supply chain development and high interest rates.On the side of the federal government, offshore wind leasing and permitting is being prioritized over oil and gas development.

21 Aug 2023

US Offshore Wind: Long-term Outlook Bright Despite Short-term Concerns

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While trouble areas continue to emerge in the young U.S. offshore wind industry, analysts at Intelatus Global Partners maintain an optimistic outlook for the industry in the long term.The business intelligence and consulting firm said in its latest U.S. Offshore Wind Report that it sees long-term foundations for the U.S. offshore wind sector solidifying, referencing several positive advancements such as the recently announced auction of three shallow water lease areas with at least 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of the month…

11 May 2023

Recent News a ‘Mixed Bag’ for US Offshore Wind

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The month of May brings a mixed bag of news for offshore wind in the United States, as outlined in the latest U.S. Offshore Wind Report from business intelligence firm Intelatus Global Partners.In the "positive" category, Intelatus said federal permitting of projects continues on schedule, and states continue to plan to procure and accommodate ever larger amounts of wind produced offshore into their onshore grids. The firm also noted that the Internal Revenue Service has clarified certain Inflation Reduction Act incentives.

27 Mar 2023

Samsung Introduces Shipyard Chatbot

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Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has introduced a chatbot dubbed SBOT for its ship designers as part of plans to boost the shipyard’s competitiveness.When a user asks SBOT a question, its artificial intelligence (AI) analyzes the meaning and finds design information, such as details on regulations and contracts, that is available from various systems within the company. New employees can perform their work quickly and accurately with SBOT, says SHI, and the use of design information can be maximized through the knowledge search function.In addition…

05 Dec 2022

ABS Launches Maritime Software Firm ABS Wavesight

Credit: Shinonome Studio

As digitalization in the maritime sector gains speed, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has launched a new maritime software as a service (SaaS) company called ABS Wavesight, to effectively consolidate all digital products under one roof, offering ship owners a one-stop-shop for it’s A-to-Z digital solutions.In an interview with Maritime Reporter's Greg Trauthwein, Paul Sells, the CEO and the president of the newly formed ABS Wavesight provided the rationale behind the ABS decision to launch the new company.He said: "...ABS has been for over 160 years…

04 Aug 2022

Shift Clean Energy Names Hughes COO

Mark Hughes (Photo: Shift Clean Energy)

Energy storage solutions company Shift Clean Energy announced it has named Mark Hughes to its its executive team as chief operating officer.Hughes brings a background in manufacturing and supply chain management, and a wealth of international experience growing companies and leading operational improvement programs across a range of industries from automotive to aerospace. He will support Shift in its growth to provide the marine and industrial industries with energy storage solutions…

14 Jun 2022

LNG Carrier Spot Charter Rates Hit Record Highs

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Spot-market rates for liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers this week set annual records as traders bid up available vessels to meet rising global demand for the chilled gas, according to brokers.Soaring demand for LNG and buyers shunning Russian cargoes and vessels over its invasion of Ukraine have led to more long-term charters, limiting the supply of vessels to the spot market, said shipbroker and LNG consultancy Poten & Partners.The fire that knocked out the Freeport LNG gas-processing and export terminal has not affected the increase in spot rates, he said.

15 Feb 2022

Adamou Joins VesselsValue's Board of Directors

Dr. Alexander Adamou (Photo: VesselsValue)

Online valuation and data provider VesselsValue announced the appointment of Dr. Alexander Adamou to its board of directors.As an experienced mathematician and modeler in the shipping industry, Adamou will oversee the scientific research that underpins the company’s products in his new role as chief scientist. Adamou first joined VesselsValue in 2010, when he led the development of the company’s first asset valuation model.With a first class degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Imperial College London…

02 Feb 2022

Europe Remains Top Destination for US LNG

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Europe last month remained the top destination for shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Refinitiv data, outpacing exports to Asia for the second month in a row.About two-thirds of U.S. LNG volumes went to Europe last month, compared to around 61% in December when sky-high European prices and demand drove U.S. LNG exports to a record, Refinitiv data showed.In both months, a lack of supply drove demand and led to cargoes being re-routed from other destinations.

15 Oct 2021

China Looks to Lock in US LNG as Energy Crunch Raises Concerns

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Major Chinese energy companies are in advanced talks with U.S. exporters to secure long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG)supplies, as soaring gas prices and domestic power shortages heighten concerns about the country's fuel security, several sources said.At least five Chinese firms, including state major Sinopec Corp and China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and local government-backed energy distributors like Zhejiang Energy, are in discussions with U.S. exporters, mainly Cheniere Energy and Venture Global…

14 Oct 2021

ABS and Kongsberg Digital Announces Digitalization and Decarbonization Partnership

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Two maritime digital service providers have joined forces through the product integration of Kongsberg Digital’s Vessel Insight and the ABS My Digital Fleet platform.The alliance brings together data acquisition capabilities from Kongsberg Digital and ABS’ business intelligence capabilities to offer shipowners, ship managers and charterers access to powerful analytics services. It unlocks simplified access, both on board the vessel and at shoreside, to AI-powered insights that support voyage optimization through reduced fuel consumption…

03 Aug 2021

OpEd: HEMEXPO Brings Impetus to Shipping’s Collaborative Agenda

Photo courtesy HEMEXPO

HEMEXPO President, Helen Polychronopoulou, says Greek marine technology developers see collaboration between shipping industry stakeholders as the key to innovation and decarbonization.Helen Polychronopoulou has dedicated her career to the successful growth and development of the marine equipment manufacturing industry in Greece and today leads HEMEXPO –  Hellenic Marine Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters.Established in 2014, HEMEXPO has developed a pivotal role in representing Greek marine technology specialists by reinforcing links worldwide with ship owners and operators…

13 Jul 2021

Tech File: ABB Ability Marine Fleet Intelligence – Advisory

ABB Ability Marine Fleet Intelligence – Advisory combines the power of cloud-based analytics and reporting with user-friendly visualizations to help shipowners, managers and charterers optimize ship performance fleet-wide.ABB Ability Marine Fleet Intelligence – Advisory is offered as a SaaS (Software as a Service), providing a complete overview of all data collected from shipboard systems, enabling a comparison of a a ship’s operational performance with another vessel, with ships built to the same specifications…

01 Jun 2021

DNV to Supply Fleet Management Software for Ocean Infinity's Robotic Vessels

Credit: DNV

Ocean Infinity, a marine robotics and deep-sea data acquisition company, has tapped DNV for its ShipManager fleet management software for 17 new robotic ships and additional autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Ocean Infinity, which last year launched a program to build a fleet of unmanned surface robots - the Armada - will implement ShipManager’s modules for planned maintenance, procurement, and business intelligence for its advanced fleet of uncrewed, low-emission vessels for capturing ocean data.

21 Apr 2021

VIDEO: After Modest 2020, the Years 2021 and 2022 Could Be 'Pretty Good' for FPS Orders

An FPSO - Credit: Ranimiro/AdobeStock

There's one thing that's certain about the price of oil, it goes up and it goes down, but nobody knows when that will happen, Jim McCaul, an expert in the offshore floating production sector for 30 years, recently said in an interview for Offshore Engineer TV, discussing the past, the present and the future of the floating production market.Apart from the oil price volatility being a certain thing, there's another thing that's sort of certain. When oil prices go down, orders for floaters dry up…

02 Apr 2021

Floating Production Systems Market Bounces Back on Recovering Oil Prices

Illustration only - Credit: Igor Kardasov/AdobeStock

Orders for production floaters have bounced back over the past month driven by rising crude prices, according to Jim McCaul, head of offshore business intelligence firm World Energy Reports.McCaul bases his assessment on data in a new floating production systems report prepared by World Energy Reports. The report provides details for 206 floater projects in the planning stage, 44 production or storage floaters now on order, 307 floating production units currently in service and 44 production floaters available for redeployment contracts.As detailed in the report…

30 Mar 2021

US Targets 30GW of Offshore Wind by 2030, 110GW by 2050

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On Monday, March 29, the White House announced a government-wide effort to advance offshore wind, including 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, 110GW of U.S. offshore wind by 2050 and the development of a sustainable local offshore wind supply chain.“The announcement formalizes the current situation and provides more confidence to developers and the supply chain,” said World Energy Reports' Philip Lewis. “Much of what is referred to in the statements is actually already currently under development.”Lewis…

03 Mar 2020

Op/Ed: Marine Operators Should Care More About IT

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I’ve had the good fortune to work with marine operators around the world, and one thing has become painfully apparent to me; most marine companies don’t appreciate the profound affect technology can have on their organizations. Information technology can save lives, increase profitability, improve customer satisfaction, and even keep you in business.Some may think this is crazy talk from a Kool-Aid drunk techy, or that I need a vacation, but I assure you, it’s modern reality.

28 Nov 2019

Container Contract Rates Rise in November

The ongoing trend of downward pressure on long-term contracted ocean freight rates appears to have been broken, or at least temporarily derailed, with marginal increases seen across the board in November.According to the latest XSI Public Indices report from Xeneta, which provides unique business intelligence based on real-time crowd-sourced data from the world’s leading shippers, global rates climbed by 0.9% over the last month. This disrupts a long-term pattern of decline that, with the exception of a sizable and unexpected rise in May, has been ongoing since Summer 2018.Oslo-based Xeneta’s XSI Public Indices report utilities over 110 million data points, covering over 160,000 port-to-port pairings, to provide unparalleled insight into the very latest market moves.

24 Nov 2019

Smart Ports: Piers of Future

For the first time, the ports of Antwerp, Barcelona, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Montreal and Rotterdam come together to showcase their most advanced digital transformation and sustainability projects at their dedicated ‘Smart Ports’ exhibitThe 'Smart Ports. Piers of the Future' event brought together six of the world's largest ports and has turned Barcelona into the world capital of port innovation.At the Smart City Expo World Congress, held from 19 to 21 November at the Fira de Barcelona events center on Gran Via, the ports of Antwerp, Barcelona, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Montreal and Rotterdam joined forces for the first time to set up their…

13 Sep 2019

US Shale to Peak at 14.5Mbpd in 2030

US shale supply will peak at approximately 14.5 million barrels per day (bpd) around 2030, said the energy research and business intelligence company Rystad Energy.In the past decade, crude oil coming from shale patches such as the Permian in the US has grown from a negligible contributor to an upstream behemoth, reshaping the industry and the oil market.US Light Tight Oil (LTO) represented less than 1% of global oil supply just nine years ago. Today, US LTO represents close to 10% of total global oil supply, a percentage which is expected to continue its ascent going forward. But by how much? That is the million-dollar question.Different agencies and knowledge houses have responded to this with varying degrees of positivity and skepticism.