The World News

Uncle Sam wants you — to choose a career in welding. The chronic shortage of qualified welders has been well documented. The American Welding Society (AWS) even created a website — www.weldingworkforcedata.com — so that industry and the media could share accurate data. Currently, the U.S. needs 330,000 new welding professionals by 2028.While some may shrug at the shortage of welders in the offshore, marine and civil fabrication industries, the need for welders to shore up the U.S.

Shipping group CMA CGM benefited in the first quarter from a rebound in demand for consumer goods and higher freight rates linked to Red Sea disruption, but expects an influx of new ships to weigh on the market later in the year, it said on Friday.France-based CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container line, reported first-quarter net profit of $785 million, recovering from a $90 million loss in the final quarter of 2023.That was down from a net profit of $2.01 billion in the first quarter of 2023…

Offshore installation services company Jan De Nul has ordered another XL cable laying vessel (CLV), identical to the Fleeming Jenkin, which boasts ‘unrivalled cable-carrying capacity’.Like the Fleeming Jenkin, the vessel will be 215 meters long and can transport 28,000 tonnes of cables.This will make them the largest capacity cable-laying vessels in the world, according to Jan De Nul.Thanks to cutting-edge technology on both vessels, designed by Jan De Nul Group's own specialists, they can lay cables in both shallow and ultra-deep waters up to 3,000 meters.

The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill had its third reading in UK Parliament on May 14 and now awaits Royal Assent to become law. The bill seeks to end the export of cattle, horses, sheep, goats and pigs for fattening and slaughter from and through England, Wales and Scotland.A speech made by UK King Charles on November 7, 2023, set out the government's agenda for the coming political year which included the bill.The legislation follows a 2020 consultation on ending live…

German container firm Hapag-Lloyd on Wednesday raised the lower end of its 2024 outlook amid rising demand and freight rates, but posted an 84% drop in first-quarter net profit.Commercial shipping has faced global disruptions, including in the Red Sea region, where operators are avoiding the Suez Canal because of attacks on vessels by Yemen-based Houthi militants.The crisis has raised freight rates because alternative trips around Africa's southern tip are longer and expensive."Global container volumes were up quite significantly especially in January and February…

The Port of Los Angeles will receive an estimated $58 million in federal funding this year for maintaining its harbor channels and repairing its wharves, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced. According to the port, the record amount—a nearly tenfold increase compared with $6 million it received in 2023—reflects the federal government's commitment to fully implementing long sought reforms to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF).“The San Pedro Bay ports move 40% of the nation’s container imports, transporting the goods that power our economy,” said California Sen. Alex Padilla.

“Global soya bean exports are forecast to grow by 8% between 2023 and 2025 based on data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Stronger import demand from China will be met by larger harvests in the US and Brazil and in the near term, soya beans are expected to be a key growth driver for global grain shipments,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.In 2023, soya bean exports rose 10.6% due to a record harvest in Brazil. However, so far in 2024 exports have stagnated as Brazil has offset a weaker harvest with inventories from the previous season.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has named a newbuilding LNG carrier, which will serve China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the Greenergy Ocean.The Greenergy Ocean is the first vessel to be launched under a long-term charter contract for six newbuilding LNG carriers for CNOOC signed in January 2022.The vessel is 299 meters long, with the breadth of 46.4 meters and draft of 11.5 meters.It features a membrane type tank of 174,000m3.After delivery at the end of May, the vessel will transport LNG procured by the CNOOC Group from all over the world…

Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed a bill aimed at reevaluating and potentially revising existing offshore wind project plans, setting the stage for the state's goal of achieving 8,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2031.The bill signed on May 9 will empower the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to open proceedings to evaluate offshore wind projects, including offshore wind renewable energy credit (OREC) pricing.The bill, which facilitates the increase of the maximum amount of ORECs sold under certain conditions…

India's ship certification agency has withdrawn safety cover issued to Russian oil tankers that have been placed under U.S. sanctions, according to its website, with the vessels instead turning to a domestic provider.Major insurers and ship engine makers have already  withdrawn cover for Russia's tanker fleet, which Moscow is relying on to maintain the country's oil trade after Washington and its allies including the European Union imposed a raft of sanctions for its invasion…

Cruise giant Carnival Corporation on Tuesday announced it has installed Starlink across the entirety of its global fleet, unlocking high-speed, low-latency global internet connectivity for all of its vessels.The world's largest cruise company said the completed installation further enhances the onboard experience for its guests and crew to provide even faster service, greater capacity, and more reliable Wi-Fi on its fleet of 90-plus ships across its portfolio of cruise brands.

Foundation installation work has commenced for the second phase of what will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, in the U.K. North Sea.Seaway7’s vessels Seaway Strashnov and Seaway Alfa Lift have commenced installation of monopile foundations and transition pieces for the Dogger Bank B phase of the offshore wind farm project. The team recently completed installation of all 95 transition pieces on Dogger Bank A, thus concluding the installation of the foundations for the first phase of the project.Olly Cass…

British defence minister Grant Shapps said he would order up to six new warships for the Royal Marines, as the government starts to indicate where a recently announced rise in defence spending will be directed.British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in April that he would lift defence spending to 2.5% of GDP a year by 2030, saying the British arms industry must be on a "war footing" when the world is at its most dangerous since the Cold War.Shapps said on Tuesday that the new vessels, known as Multi Role Support Ships, will be built in Britain and will help strengthen Britain's amphibious

Global heat transfer, separation and fluid handling company Alfa Laval has appointed Rachel Bridges as its Managing Director, who also became the first female to take the post.Having spent 20 years at global power technology company Cummins in both the marine and aftermarket businesses, Bridges brings a wealth of experience to Alfa Laval as it gets poised for further growth.Bridges will now oversee business in a multitude of sectors including marine, energy, food and beverage…

Today, a 'world first' was unveiled in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges: the Methatug, a tugboat which runs on methanol, part of a 'greening program' for the port's fleet. The project is financed by the European research program Horizon 2020 and is part of the FASTWATER project, which aims to demonstrate the feasibility of methanol as a sustainable fuel for the shipping industry.The 30-m-long tugboat has a traction force of 50 tons and can store 12,000 liters of methanol, enough for two weeks of tug work.

Caroline Yang, by anyone’s standard, is a busy woman. She is the CEO of Hong Lam Marine, a Singapore ship owner, which owns, operates and manages its own fleet of 33 vessels. She also is the president of the Singapore Shipping Association [SSA], a national trade association in one of the world’s most important and dynamic maritime hubs. She shares insight on her dual positions and the many challenges facing shipowners today.Hong Lam Marine started in 1981 with two steel tankers and today it owns about 33 vessels…

San Diego shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO recently christened USNS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7), the fifth ship for the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) program.The ESB ship class is a highly flexible platform designed to support multiple maritime-based missions. ESB ships are mobile sea-based assets and are a part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces, equipment, supplies, and warfighting capability. These 784-foot ships are configured with a 52…

Experts to convene in Poland to examine operational and geopolitical challenges in Baltic Sea at Littoral OpTech WorkshopThe Polish Naval Academy in Gdynia, Poland will host the 2024 Littoral OpTech workshop to explore the current trends regarding the operational, economic and geo-political environment in and around the Baltic Sea.The Polish Naval Academy was established in 1922, and has been in continuous operation since then, although it has had several different names over…

The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping has welcomed new, including University of Michigan, Maritime Research Alliance, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and World Maritime University, in a move to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between industry and academia.The introduction of Academic Partners marks a strategic expansion of the center's partnership platform and is a strengthening of the collaboration between scientists in the research…

Marine conservationists and government scientists are seeking clues to the mystery of how a 44-foot whale carcass ended up on the bow of a cruise liner, where it was discovered as the ship approached New York City's Port of Brooklyn over the weekend.A necropsy, the animal equivalent of an autopsy, identified the deceased marine mammal as a mature female sei whale, an endangered species typically found in deep waters far from land, the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society said on Wednesday.One key question is whether the whale's death came before or after its contact with the vessel…

Towards the end of the working week, the Bangladeshi Taka crashed by about 6.4% against the U.S. dollar in a couple of days. This depreciation in the Taka will translate into higher L/C costs that should escalate by about 6% - 7% (at least), reports cash buyer GMS.This will further reduce already suffocated margins that have resulted from flatlining steel plate prices, ensuring that upcoming vessel acquisitions will be more expensive for local recyclers, who will lose out to a firming India…

Australia’s Minister for Agriculture has announced that the nation’s live sheep export trade is to end on May 1, 2028.The end date will be legislated in the Labor government’s current term, after the Department of Agriculture (DAFF) developed a plan for the phase out of the industry which considered the analysis of an independent panel established for the purpose.The government has committed $107 million over five years for sheep producers and the supply chain to plan for and adjust to the phase out.

Defense company Babcock Intern has been grated validation from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for its science-based near and long-term emissions reduction targets aligned with reaching net-zero no later than 2050.In 2021, Babcock launched its Plan Zero 40 decarbonization strategy, which commits to the delivery of a 2030 science-based target in line with a 1.5 °C pathway and achieving 90% emissions reduction across its estate, assets and operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2040…