British Shipping News

German shipbuilder Meyer Werft on Thursday delivered the new cruise ship Arvia to British shipping company P&O Cruises. The sister ship of the Iona, built in 2020, also has low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion.At 185,000 tonnes, 345 meters in length with 16 guest decks, the newbuild can accommodate around 5,200 passengers in its 2,659 guest cabins.Jan Meyer, managing director at Meyer Werft, said, "The current tense global situation, with supply bottlenecks and material shortages, poses challenges for the construction of such complex cruise ships.

The South Korean government on Monday called on striking workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to end their month-long siege of a dock at the company's biggest shipyard, which has paralyzed production and is delaying delivery of new vessels.Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho called the occupation "outright illegal" and pledged a "stern response based on law and order."The shipyard near the city of Geoje, off the country's south coast, is one of the world's largest.

Energy supplies originating from Russia were still being delivered to Britain on Friday after some dock workers at a terminal in southeast England sought to block a cargo in solidarity with Ukraine, ship-tracking data shows.Supplies of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe have been disrupted this week by uncertainty over whether ships can discharge cargoes at European ports after the imposition of sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine and a ban by British ports on Russian-linked ships.British union Unison has complained that its members working at the Isle of Grain LNG terminal did not want to accept Russian gas and called for tougher measures from the government.Britain on Tuesday banned from its ports all ships that are Russian owned…

German shipyard Meyer Werft announced it has laid the keel for the newest member of the P&O Cruises fleetDuring a ceremony at the shipyard this week, a 800-ton crane placed a 570-ton block for Arvia's underwater hull onto the traditional keel-laying coins. Coins from Barbados, the ship's future winter homeport, were used.The 184,000 GT newbuild is a sister ship of the Iona, which Meyer Werft delivered to the British shipping company in 2020. Both vessels feature liquefied natural…

For some years now, the maritime sector has experienced breaches of various computer and information technology (IT) systems. Primarily, these breaches have been collateral damage. The maritime sector has almost never been the intended target. That does not mean that the damage has been minor. In June 2017, A.P. Moller-Maersk suffered a major cyber-attack. The malware had been designed by Russian hackers to disrupt the Ukrainian power sector. Once released, though, it proved to be indiscriminate, infecting IT systems worldwide that had not been kept up to date. In the case of A.P.

Britain says it fended off Iranian attempt to block its oil tankerThree Iranian vessels tried to block a British-owned tanker passing through the strait that controls the flow of Middle East oil to the world, but backed off when confronted by a Royal Navy warship, Britain said on Thursday.A week after Britain seized an Iranian tanker accused of violating sanctions on Syria, London said the British Heritage, operated by oil company BP, had been approached in the Strait of Hormuz…

DP World has bought back British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O Ferries for 322 million pounds ($421 million), more than a decade after it sold it.DP World acquired the British shipping and logistics company in 2006 but soon sold off some assets, including P&O Ferries to its major shareholder, state holding company Dubai World.DP World announced on Wednesday it was buying the company, and a spokeswoman later told Reuters it had bought it back from Dubai World.Dubai World was at the heart of the emirate’s financial crisis at the turn of the decade and was forced to restructure around $

My Friend the Sea is a story about growing up at sea, set against the background of ships and the beauty of the oceans. It's a tale of ambition, adversity and dealing with prejudice. Packed full of adventures and stories of traveling the world on ships, visiting far off lands, and meeting all manner of people, including eccentric distant relatives in Australia, a drunken captain, another who was a tyrant, and natives in Fiji, plus shipboard romances, a mutiny, and a growing need for the author to change the way he lives.I am a doctor…

British shipping services provider Clarkson Plc said on Monday an unauthorized third party accessed some of its computer systems in the United Kingdom last year.The unauthorized access to systems from May 31 to Nov. 4, 2017 was gained from a single and isolated user account.

Radio Holland Netherlands has received an order for a full Nav/Com package for six vessels being built at Royal Bodewes in Hoogezand, highlighting longstanding relationships, both with Royal Bodewes and manufacturer Furuno. The FURUNO FAR-22x8/23x8 series is characterised by its state-of-the-art antenna design and innovative signal processing techniques. Radio Holland will install the new FAR radar, together with 26” screens, on all six of the new vessels, which are being built at Royal Bodewes. The NavCom packages to be provided comprise a variety of Furuno equipment (a.o.

Sir Michael Bibby was elected President of the UK Chamber of Shipping at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting in London. He becomes the Chamber’s 132nd president in its 140th year. John Denholm, chairman of J&J Denholm, was elected Vice-President at the meeting, which was attended by over 100 people from the Chamber’s member companies. Sir Michael is planning to step back from his position as Managing Director of Bibby Line Group during 2018 to allow him to better focus his time on external work interests, including his involvement with the UK Chamber. He used his inaugural speech as President to praise the Chamber’s rising political and media influence, and its success with the SMarT Plus campaign, a joint proposal with Nautilus that became Government policy in February.

The UK-based trading arm of Beijing-backed Sinopec will give up the megatanker it booked to park crude in Asia at the onset of the drop in global prices two years ago, sources told Reuters. Unipec UK took over a lease on the TI Europe, one of just two Ultra Large Crude Carriers capable of holding more than 3 million barrels of oil, in the Straight of Malacca in late 2014, just as oil prices began to slide below $100 per barrel and the excess of crude was filling the world's on shore tanks. The UK arm handles most of the crude oil purchased from West Africa and the North Sea that is shipped east. It used the ship for "floating storage"…

Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are set to maintain the current levels next week as charterers drip-feed cargoes for August loading into an overtonnaged market, ship brokers said. "There is quite a negative outlook... we may be close to the bottom. We do expect a lull at this time of the year," a Singapore-based VLCC broker said on Friday. Shipowners are holding the line on the expectation that there will be a lot more volume to work next week. "That came as ship brokers said there were hardly any Basra cargoes that had so far been released for August loading. It seems a much lighter programme for August," the broker added.

Around 1,300 offshore support vessels lying idle worldwide. Not everyone in shipping is bemoaning the industry's worst crisis in living memory: a cluster of companies that help preserve equipment and provide security for vessels parked around southeast Asia are busier than they have been for years. A popular lay-up anchorage near Indonesia's Batam island, a short hop from Singapore, is growing crowded, and firms such as Ocean Shipcare and Brubay Shipcare are running out of space at another at Brunei Bay, near Labuan, off northern Borneo. "Where do we go next? It's a good question, because we are trying to explore some other areas also," said Kanen Senasendram, base manager at Ocean Shipcare, which operates in Brunei Bay. He says he may need to hire more staff.

On May 27, at 8:00 PM, the Queen Mary 2 docked at Blohm+Voss at dry dock ELBE 17, well-known to the ocean liner. There, the flagship of the long-established British shipping company Cunard Line will undergo the largest refit program since being brought into service. It is the sixth time that the Queen Mary 2 docks at Blohm+Voss. A total of 50 new cabins are fitted or remodeled in line with this year’s master refit, 35 of them in the front section of deck 13. In addition, Blohm+Voss has prefabricated several steel deck sections with a total weight of approx. 200 tons that will also be installed on deck 13 by the shipyard’s specialists; furthermore, comprehensive modernizations in the hotel, entertainment and gastronomy areas of the ocean liner are part of the current construction schedule.

Shipping companies transporting coal, and iron ore and other commodities are urgently seeking ways to conserve cash and withstand the worst market downturn on record as too many ships chase shrinking business. A shortage of financing - estimated at $30 billion and caused in part by banks cutting lending to sectors such as shipping - has also hurt companies, sending some to the wall. "The overall prospects for the dry bulk market are fairly dark - it seems that there is little faith in the market for a recovery. The market mood deteriorates by the day, despite the recent improvement of the Baltic Index," said Basil Karatzas, head of consultancy and brokerage Karatzas Marine Advisors & Co.

Stable cargo flow needed to push rates higher; half of capesize vessel deliveries delayed in Q1. Freight rates for large capesize dry cargo ships on key Asian routes are set to firm next week as owners resist charterers attempts to push rates lower, ship brokers said on Thursday. That came as revenue from freight rate income remains below the cost of operating the iron ore and coal carriers. "There is a lot of tonnage in the market available for charter, but owners are slowly resisting," a Singapore-based capesize broker said on Wednesday. "Owners are slowly pushing the numbers up. It's as positive as it has been in recent times," the broker said.

Freight rates for capesize bulk carriers on key Asian routes are likely to remain flat as the number of vessels for hire outpaces cargo demand, ship brokers said. That came despite an increase in number of idled ships and ships sent for demolition, brokers said. "I expect the market to stay at the same level for a while - at least one or two weeks," a Shanghai-based ship broker said on Thursday. "Generally, the first quarter is the weakest; we could expect an improvement in April," the broker added. "The market is very flat - there is still a lot of vessels," the broker said. Around 70 capesize vessels are idled or available for charter in the Pacific with around 50 waiting for cargo in the Atlantic, brokers said.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying industrial commodities, slumped to an all-time low on Tuesday, as worries over demand from top importer China and huge oversupply of vessels battered sentiment. The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping dry bulk cargoes including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, was down 5 points, or 1.06 percent, at 468 points, the lowest in records that date back to January 1985. "The outlook is clearly very poor," said Tony Foster, of British shipping asset manager Marine Capital. Adding to the new year gloom, world stocks fell again on Tuesday after their worst first-day performance in years…

Downturn in dry freight market started in 2008; more ships expected to hit the water next year. Shipping companies that transport commodities such as coal, iron ore and grain face a painful year ahead, with only the strongest expected to weather a deepening crisis caused by tepid demand and a surplus of vessels for hire. The predicament facing firms that ship commodities in large unpackaged amounts - known as dry bulk - is partly the result of slower coal and iron ore demand from leading global importer China in the second half of 2015. The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index - which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities - plunged to an all-time low this month.

Faltering LNG demand, growing tanker fleet drag on freight rates. Shippers who ply the seas to deliver liquefied natural gas (LNG) in massive tankers are likely to face a wave of consolidation and asset sales, with freight rates plunging as a growing fleet clashes with tepid demand. Companies that manage to weather the shakeout in one of the key sectors in the global shipping industry should be in a prime position, however, to benefit from a string of new LNG projects expected to start trickling online by the end of next year. "I see more mergers and acquisitions, more consolidation and a lot more joint ventures as things get tougher," said Andrew Bridson, business development manager at maritime consultancy BMT Asia Pacific. "That is not a bad thing.

A slump in dry bulk shipping is set to worsen as the meltdown in global commodities and too many ships free for hire rock the sector used by investors to gauge the health of world trade. Slower coal and iron ore demand from China - the world's biggest industrial importer - have battered the dry bulk sector, already in the midst of its worst ever downturns that is expected to extend well into next year. This week the Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index , which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities and seen by investors as a forward-looking indicator of global industrial activity, plunged to an all-time low. A slump in oil and other commodity prices, due to slowing Chinese demand, has widely been seen as one of the reasons for U.S.

End-of-year cargo flurry still anticipated - brokers. Freight rates for capesize bulk carriers could bottom next week as owners resist charterers' attempts to force rates lower on the expectation of an end-of-year cargo flurry, brokers said on Thursday. "Nobody wants to lock-in freight prices at the current levels (and miss a November rates rebound)," said a Singapore-based capesize broker on Thursday. "I am confident there will be one more (cargo) push before the end of the year," the broker said. Owners anticipate major iron ore and coal miners such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale will release a raft of charters for loading in the next few weeks that will push freight rates higher depending on the volume of cargo, said a Shanghai-based capesize broker.