Asia News

A battery-powered AMPMobile unit connects a ship to shore power at Shenzhen cruise terminal. As ports, shipping lines, and authorities in China strive to reduce emissions from shipping, our innovative shore power technologies are playing a key role in delivering substantive change. As highlighted in a recent Cruise Industry News report, China could ultimately be the world’s largest cruise market. The development of cruise berths at Chinese ports continues at a rapid pace. With a view to mitigating environmental impact…

Carnival Maritime GmbH has announced  that Dr Hermann J. Klein has been appointed as its new Managing Director, starting September 1st, 2018. Klein is currently Managing Director and Group COO of CPO Holding (Offen Group) in Hamburg, Germany. He will be succeeding Lars Ljoen, who will join Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami, USA, as Head of Marine Operations. Carnival Maritime is the marine service unit for Costa Group with its brands AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, and Costa Asia. “Hermann Klein is a long-standing, well recognized executive of the maritime industry and has the perfect background and profound marine experience to further drive innovation and operational excellence across our fleet,” said Michael Thamm, Group CEO, Costa Group and Carnival Asia.

Sri Lanka is shifting a naval base to a port built and controlled by China, it said on Monday, a move that will strengthen security at a harbor that foreign powers fear China could use for military purposes.The base currently in the tourist district of Galle will be moved 125 km (80 miles) east along Sri Lanka's southern coast to Hambantota, nearer a main shipping route between Asia and Europe.The $1.5 billion deepwater port is likely to play a major role in China's "Belt and Road" initiative and is under a 99-year lease to China Merchants Port Holdings at a cost of $1.12 billion.Government and diplomatic sources have told Reuters that the United States, India and Japan have raised concerns that China might use the port as a naval base.The Sri Lankan government and Chinese embassy in Colom

Simon Aust, Managing Director of Hamburg-based shipbroker Harper Petersen, is leaving the company later this year. The management of Harper Petersen in Hamburg will be taken over by Bjoern Andersen and Arne Corleis as the new managing directors as from 1 August 2018. The global leadership team will therewith consist of three managers including Chief Representative Officer Mr. Hu Hui in Shanghai who will remain in charge of Harper Petersen Asia. Bjoern Andersen successfully built…

Egypt's government denied in a statement on Thursday that the Suez Canal Authority was seeking a 300 million euro loan from Gulf lenders. Three senior banking sources that did not wish to be named had told Reuters last week that the authority requested a loan from Gulf banks in order to purchase two dredgers. "The Suez Canal has not borrowed any money from any foreign banks, and everything that had been mentioned about this issue is nothing but baseless rumours," the government statement said.

U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect Friday; China retaliates, duty on U.S. crude possible. Asian oil refiners are racing to secure crude supplies in anticipation of an escalating trade war between the United States and China, and as Washington plans tough sanctions against Iran aimed at shutting the country out of oil markets. As part of a wave of retaliation for Friday's U.S. tariffs, China has threatened a 25 percent duty on imports of U.S. crude. Meanwhile, Washington's new sanctions against Tehran are due to kick in from November.

Pacific International Lines (PIL) is honoured to receive the MPA Safety@Sea Award for the outstanding contributions to the search and rescue efforts in 2017 during the International Safety@Sea Conference held in Singapore (21 June 2018). The Master and Crew of Kota Cempaka, Kota Hidayah and of Southern Lily did us proud by rendering assistance to the Search and Rescue efforts coordinated by Vessel Arezoo off Hong Kong, rendering assistance to RCC Guam for the Search and Rescue…

Port of Oakland containerized import volume reached an all-time high last month, according to data released today. The port said it handled the equivalent of 87,207 20-foot import containers in June. That beat the previous monthly record of 84,835 containers set last July. June import volume was up 8.7 percent over June 2017, the port said. It explained that two factors may have led to the increase: Peak season – the summer-fall period when most U.S. imports from Asia are shipped – is expected to be strong…

First stop: the Dalian Maritime University. International Maritime Organization (IMO)  Secretary-General Kitack Lim marked the start of the Master's degree programme on Maritime Safety and Environmental Management – a joint programme with the World Maritime University (WMU) during a busy visit to China (10-11 July). Lim told students the course will help to equip them to make their own contribution towards achieving key IMO objectives: helping ensure shipping can continue to serve the global population in a safe and sustainable manner.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL)  announced that 20,000 TEU containership, MOL Truth(Note), one of the world's largest containerships, has received the "Ship of the Year 2017" award from the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers (JASNAOE). The award is given for the highest levels of technology, design, and social responsibility among vessels made in Japan by JASNAOE. The MOL Truth earned high evaluations as a cutting-edge "eco ship" that not only exemplifies MOL's safe operation and environmental conservation policies…

ReCAAP Information Sharing Center (ISC) and World Maritime University (WMU) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen the cooperation between the two organizations in the shared interest in increasing the knowledge of the evolving situation of piracy and sea robbery in Asia. The cooperation will see ReCAAP ISC share its Asian experience in combating piracy and armed robbery against ships with the next generation of maritime leaders pursuing their postgraduate studies at WMU’s campus in Malmö…

An exciting new player in the global naval architecture space has been formed, with the official launch of Chartwell Marine Ltd. (Chartwell Marine), a UK-based firm that sets out to be a pioneer in next-generation vessel design. Headed up by Andy Page, a reputed naval architect with an industry-leading track record designing award-winning high-speed vessels, Chartwell Marine supports ambitious boat builders and vessel operators around the world with independent design and consultancy services.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) ranked first in schedule reliability on the Asia - US East Coast trade, said a press release from the company. According to the recent Seaintel Global Liner Performance Report for June 2018, ZIM is the best performing carrier on the Asia - US East Coast trade among the top-19 companies reviewed. ZIM President & CEO Eli Glickman said: “ZIM’s performance on this trade has been consistently one of the best in the industry, with reliability levels above the industry average. ZIM  is one of the leading carriers in the global container shipping industry.

"Empowering Women in the Maritime Community" has been selected as the World Maritime Day theme for 2019. This will provide an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of gender equality, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to highlight the important contribution of women all over the world to the maritime sector. The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), meeting for its 120th session at IMO Headquarters in London, endorsed the theme, following a proposal by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim.

Members of THE Alliance, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, and Yang Ming have announced a services update regarding their Trans Pacific - West Coast products in response of schedule integrity improvement, extensive product enhancement and better cost efficiency. The update of THE Alliance product will feature total six services in Asia/North America West Coast. The PS5 and PS8 services will conjugate into one combined service and cater for customers connecting the key ports of North China, Central China and North America gate ports.

Oil spill contingency planning is in the spotlight at an IMO regional workshop in Pulau Indah, Malaysia (2-6 July). The workshop is helping countries (ASEAN Member States: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.) in South East Asia become more familiar with the ASEAN Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan - designed to enhance cooperation between States. Participants are reviewing a number of aspects of the plan and exercising its communication procedures.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that the Ice-Breaking LNG Carrier "Vladimir Rusanov", which is jointly owned by MOL and China COSCO Shipping Corporation, has successfully arrived at the Bering Strait. The vessel carried out a LNG loading operation in the Yamal LNG plant at Sabetta port, before sailing for the Far East via the Northern Sea Route on 25 June. The vessel safely arrived at the Bering Strait on 6 July, and is planning to call Jiangsu Rudong port in China for an unloading operation of its LNG cargo.

China accused the United States of bullying and warned it would hit back after the Trump administration raised the stakes in their trade dispute, threatening 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods.China's commerce ministry said on Wednesday it was "shocked" and would complain to the World Trade Organisation, but did not immediately say how it would retaliate. In a statement, it called the U.S. actions "completely unacceptable".The foreign ministry described Washington's…

Thailand suspended efforts on Thursday to salvage a boat that capsized and sank off its resort island of Phuket, officials said, putting the death toll in its worst tourist-related disaster in years at 46.The Phoenix had 101 on board, including 89 tourists, all but two of them from China, when it went down in rough seas last Thursday during an outing to a small island. Forty-two passengers and the crew of a dozen Thais were rescued.The salvage operation was suspended because the boat lay deep and currents were rough, Phuket police commander Teerapol Tipcharoen told reporters.Divers would retrieve a final body from the shipwreck when weather conditions permit…

W&O opened a new office in Singapore, signaling its expansion in the Asia Pacific region. The company said the move into Singapore is an important milestone in expanding the global support network for its customers, as it now has 18 branches and additional 5 distribution points, strategically located to support customers operating globally. “W&O has been exploring options to broaden our footprint into the Asia Pacific maritime industry, and as it is the world’s busiest transshipment port and the third largest by tonnage…

Maersk Supply Service has completed the tow of a semi-submersible from Las Palmas to North-Western Australia. The tow was carried out by newbuild anchor handling tug supply vessel Maersk Master of the Starfish series, whose energy efficient design minimized fuel costs during transit.The first leg of the tow of the semi-submersible MODU rig was direct from Las Palmas to Cape Town. Maersk Master and the rig then rounded the Cape of Good Hope for a final port call in Port Louis,…

Oil prices fell on Monday as concerns about supply disruptions eased and Libyan ports resumed export activities, while traders eyed potential supply increases by Russia and other oil producers.Brent crude futures were down 26 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $75.07 a barrel at 0057 GMT.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 27 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $70.74 a barrel.Supply outages in Libya and strike action in Norway and Iraq pushed oil prices higher late last week, although prices still ended down for a second straight week."Crude oil prices fell as fears of supply disruptions eased.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has acquired a sizable logistical management transport contract and has received a letter of award for the transport and float-over installation of an offshore platform with a combined contract value of approximately USD 65 million. The global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors said that the logistical management contract scope is for the transportation of a large number of modules from a fabrication yard in Asia to a plant being developed in North America.