America News

Industry leaders from across North America met to discuss global challenges facing the maritime sector at the annual ABS North American Regional Committee.The group heard strategies to meet the IMO’s 2020 Sulfur Cap, as well as a look ahead to 2030 when vessel data will play a significant role in compliance management.“Thanks to our deep links with industry across North America, ABS continues to leverage technology to develop new ways of supporting our partners and members. As the leading classification organization in North America…

ExxonMobil said that all its International Maritime Organization (IMO) compliant 0.5% sulfur bunker fuels developed to date are residual grades.The oil giant  has also announced specification details and confirmed that the formulations are all compatible with each other, provided that bunkering, storage and handling best practice guidance is followed.All of ExxonMobil’s announced low sulphur compliant fuels will be residual grades and will also be compatible with each other, provided best practice guidance for bunkering…

Bill now heads to White House for President Trump’s signature.Today, the Senate voted 99-1 in favor of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018/Water Resources Development Act, otherwise known as WRDA 2018. The Bill passed in the U.S. House by unanimous voice vote (435-0) in August.“The passage of WRDA 2018 is a win for the Nation’s towboat operators, freight shippers, ports and labor and conservation groups that rely on an efficient inland waterways system,” said Mike Toohey, President and CEO of the Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI).

Taiwan shipping company Wan Hai Lines has joined INTTRA, the neutral network, software and information provider at the center of the ocean industry. This addition means INTTRA is now working with the top 12 carriers, said the company.Wan Hai is one of the top intra-Asia carriers based on market share, with that segment representing the largest containerized trade in the world. In addition to offering extensive service network in Asia, Wan Hai has expanded to the U.S., South America, Africa and the Middle East in recent years.

Belgian port Antwerp said that throughput continues to register growth in the port. After record semi-annual figures, the total throughput after nine months stands at 177,026,550 tonnes – a sharp 6% increase compared with the same period last year.With these results, the port seems to be on track for the sixth record year in a row. The recent wave of investments moreover confirms the port’s appeal and reaffirms its role as a world player.Maritime throughput continues to grow.

Extensions, type approvals and next steps were all prominent on the agenda.September’s Ballast Water Management and Technology North America conference saw USCG staff from the Office of Operating and Environmental Standards and the Marine Safety Center giving conference attendees an update on various aspects of the Coast Guard’s ballast water program. Following is a recap of those presentations for our readers who were unable to attend:Ms. Regina Bergner and Mr. Matthew Reudelhuber with the Office of Operating and Environmental Standards, and Lt.

Webb Institute, a four-year college specializing in naval architecture and marine engineering, has announced that the 2018-19 academic year recipients of Crowley Maritime Corporation’s Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarship are Taylor Campbell (Class of 2019) and Reneé Tremblay (Class of 2020).Webb’s scholarship selection committee chose Tremblay of Bristol, R.I., and Campbell of Altoona, Pa., for their hard work, academic excellence, volunteer efforts and the superb leadership…

The global recreational boat market is expected to reach revenues of more than $50 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of approximately 4 percent during 2017-2023, said a research report.The exponential growth of the travel and tourism industry across the European region will positively impact the development of the global market, said the market report by Arizton on the global recreational boat market."The rapid economic development and the increasing demand for charter services in Southeast Asia will boost the demand for new products in the market.

Many shipowners are scrambling to comply with the tough, new the International Maritime Organization (IMO) fuel global sulfur limit of 0.50 percent m/m, which takes effect January 1, 2020.It is expected that after the rules swing into force, the light-heavy fuel price spread will likely spike and refining margins will be higher, particularly for complex refineries.Shipowners have to stay ahead of the game, said Yara Marine Technologies CEO Peter Strandberg: “Shipowners often get a bad rap of refusing to adopt new, innovative technologies and processes.

U.S. crude oil shipments to China have "totally stopped", the President of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co (CMES) said on Wednesday, as the trade war between the world's two biggest economies takes its toll on what was a fast growing businesses.Washington and Beijing have slapped steep import tariffs on hundreds of goods in the past months. And although U.S. crude oil exports to China, which only started in 2016, have not yet been included, Chinese oil importers have shied away from new orders recently."We are one of the major carriers for crude oil from the U.S. to China.

Singapore authorities are taking measures to ensure the availability of low-sulphur marine fuels ahead of upcoming emissions regulations in 2020, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health Lam Pin Min said on Wednesday."(The) MPA is working closely with the industry to ensure that Singapore is ready to supply low-sulphur compliant fuels ahead of 1 January, 2020," said Lam at the Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition.The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will make available a list of licensed bunker suppliers of low-sulphur fuels by mid-2019

Sea Machines Robotics, a Boston-based developer of autonomous technology for marine vessels, said its introductory line of intelligent command and control systems has successfully completed product sea trials.The two new products, SM300 and SM200, unlock task-driven, computer-guided vessel operations, bringing advanced autonomy within reach for small- and large-scale operators, the company said. Already in use in North America and Europe, Sea Machines' products for offshore commercial…

U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) was named one of America’s best employers for new college graduates in 2018 by Forbes. HII was ranked 21 of 250 employers in the nationwide survey.Forbes derived the list from a series of independent, online surveys of more than 10,000 young professionals working for organizations with more than 1,000 people in their U.S. operations. The surveyed employees were asked to give their opinions on a series of statements surrounding their employer’s atmosphere and development…

Tall Ship Lady Washington will be docked at Jack London Square at the foot of Broadway, Saturday and Sunday, informed a press release from Port of Oakland.Visitors can experience maritime history by taking a vessel tour for a small donation to the floating museum. There are also ticketed sailing trips on San Francisco Bay.Lady Washington was built in Aberdeen, Washington, by the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority and launched in 1989. She is a full-scale replica of the…

Surging growth in renewable energy generation around the world and a construction boom in South East Asia that is expected to run for the next 10 years bode well for the once ailing multipurpose shipping fleet.In the latest edition of Drewry’s Multipurpose Shipping Forecaster report we declare that we remain cautiously optimistic on the outlook for the sector. There are some caveats to this optimism as global general cargo demand is forecast to grow at a rate of just 2% per year to 2022…

Wärtsilä and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. have extended their long-term service agreement to 2028, as the marine and cruise industry is moving more and more toward long-term partnerships.Under the agreement, Wärtsilä is optimizing maintenance efficiency through improved turbocharger maintenance, providing OEM spare parts, workshop services and preferred technical assistance for 46 Royal Caribbean Cruises’ ships. The original agreement, signed in 2013, spanned 10 years.The partnership…

The former Avondale Shipyard facility in Louisiana will be redeveloped into a logistics and intermodal hub under a joint venture group that took ownership of the shuttered shipyard today.The Avondale site, located just upriver from New Orleans, built and repaired commercial and military vessels for more than 75 years, most recently as part of Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division, until the facility ceased operations in December 2014.New development plans announced today will see the 254-acre site repurposed as a multimodal…

Bosch Rexroth said its GoTo Focused Delivery Program has marked its 9th consecutive year of growth by offering a strong product portfolio of thousands of Rexroth products with best-in-class lead times.The program continues to offer high demand products across Rexroth’s broad range of technologies for fast delivery. Considering product-dependent maximum order quantities, customers benefit from short lead times and unrivaled simplicity. More than 99 percent of the products in the program ship in 10 days or fewer, with the same lead times in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The Panama Canal closed its 2018 fiscal year with a record tonnage of 442.1 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS), which represents a 9.5 percent increase from the previous year, the Panama Canal Authority reports.With this tonnage, the Panama Canal surpasses the cargo projections of 429.4 million PC/UMS tons for FY 2018, as well as the 403.8 million PC/UMS tons registered in FY 2017."The Panama Canal continues to exceed our expectations, reinforcing every day the importance of the waterway's expansion and its impact on global maritime trade," said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano.

AXA XL's North America marine insurance business is expanding its reach in the marine insurance market with a new policy specifically designed and delivered to address workboat risks.“Our new workboat policy represents the continued extension of our risk appetite and underwriting expertise to address a wider array of marine risks,” said Anne Marie Elder, AXA XL Chief Underwriting Officer for Marine in the North America. “Workboats represent many different types and sizes of vessels that are used for a wide range of tasks…

The Panama Canal announced that it expects to receive approximately 234 cruise ships through the Panamax and Neopanamax Locks during the upcoming 2018-2019 cruise season.The first transit was on Oct. 5 with the Seven Seas Mariner, on a northbound transit travelling from the U.S. West Coast to the U.S. East Coast."As the second full cruise season with the Expanded Canal, we aim to build off our recent milestones and success," said Panama Canal's Senior International Trade Specialist Albano G. Aguilar.

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl L. Schultz has issued the Coast Guard's 40-paged document that outlines their "VISION for Enabling Maritime Commerce." He introduces the new paper in an open letter to industry, as shown below:America is a maritime Nation. It is a Nation shaped by seafarers who recognized the tremendous economic potential derived from unrestricted access to the oceans, internal waterways, deep-water ports and protected straits and bays. This geostrategic advantage favorably shapes our Nation’s security…

Japan's Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd have agreed to share space on their feeder services.As the first step, the cooperation will cover specific Intra-Europe (BAX, NBS, NPX, REX, SDX, ADX, LEX) and Intra-Asia (BHX, HAS, PID) feeder trade lanes. The carriers have already ushered in a new Intra-Asia service, the Bohai Feeder (BHX) in August and will further introduce a new Intra-Europe service, the North Sea Poland Express (NPX), in mid-October to further…