The healthy international trade and cost cutting measures augurs well for Japan's to three marine shippers -  Nippon Yusen, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha - reported Nikkei. The report said that the three companies are expected to post a group pretax profit for April-June, the first time in seven quarters. According to the report, Mitsui O.S.K.'s pretax profit likely tripled on the year to around 2 billion yen ($17.7 million), while Nippon Yusen's is seen reaching about 5 billion yen after a year-earlier pretax loss of 9.9 billion yen.

Second such cargo in a year - traders; cargo loads from Cherry Point, heading to Botany Bay. Oil major BP Plc is shipping diesel from the United States to Australia in an unusual shipping flow, several industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. The Jupiter Express carrying about 35,000 tonnes of diesel loaded from BP's Cherry Point, Washington refinery on June 29 and is currently headed to Botany Bay, New South Wales in Australia, shipping data on Thomson Reuters Eikon showed. BP declined to comment.

ClassNK hosted an anniversary party on July to commemorate 50 years of its Singapore Office, established in 1967 to broaden the classification society’s service network in Southeast Asia. Held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the evening commenced with an opening address by Chairman and President of ClassNK, Koichi Fujiwara. Among guests in attendance, the Ambassador of Japan to Singapore, His Excellency Kenji Shinoda gave an honorary address followed by a congratulatory address by Assistant Chief Executive of Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Tan Beng Tee.

The management of the new company,  Ocean Network Express Holdings (ONE) -  the joint venture between three Japanese shipowning societies Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ("K" Linens), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) was unveiled. The existing NYK Line chief executive Jeremy Nixon named as the chief executive of ONE. Nixon has been chief executive of NYK’s liner division since 2012, and moved to Singapore two years before that to head its South Asia operation. The holding company with ultimate governance of ONE will remain in Tokyo…

International Maritime Organization (IMO) has a key role in implementing a number of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which relate directly or indirectly to the oceans, protection of the environment and the maritime industry. How to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and implement the UN SDGS is therefore a key theme which underpins the work of IMO's Technical Co-operation Committee, which oversees IMO's integrated technical co-operation programme (ITCP). The Committee is meeting for its 67th session (17-19 July).

A total of 36 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships (comprising 30 actual incidents and six attempted incidents) were reported during January-June 2017 in Asia, said a report by Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC). The total number of incidents reported during January-June 2017 has decreased by 22% compared to the same period in 2016. A total of 46 incidents were reported during January-June 2016.

Rare cargoes booked out of Europe to Asia, Middle East; Indian demand, refinery maintenance boost Asian prices. Oil traders are shipping diesel out of Europe to Asia and the Middle East where strong demand and tighter supplies have boosted prices, in a rare arbitrage that reverses traditional routes. At least three 90,000 tonne diesel cargoes were booked in recent days out of northwest Europe options to go to Singapore and the Middle East, shipping data showed. BP chartered the…

Rate correction likely after low S-Oil charter drags market. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) could see a small respite next week, building on the slight improvement seen in the last two days although sentiment is likely to remain pessimistic of any real recovery, brokers said on Friday. "There was a large drop on Tuesday when South Korea's S-Oil fixed at 45.50 (on the Worldscale measure). But rates are now correcting," a Singapore-based supertanker broker said.

Direct services between Asia and the East Coast of South America will begin port calls at APM Terminals Buenos Aires, Argentina, and APM Terminals Itajaí, Brazil. The joint service deployed by Hapag-Lloyd, NYK, ZIM, Hyundai and Hamburg Sud prefers their vessels call APM Terminals' facilities in Itajai (Brazil) and T4 in Buenos Aires (Argentina). The weekly Asian service, operated jointly with 13 vessels from Hapag-Lloyd, NYK, Zim, Hamburg Süd and Hyundai, will call the Asian ports of Kelang, Singapore, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Shekou and Busan.

There were a total of 210 ships broken in the second quarter of 2017. 158 of these ships ended up on South Asian beaches for dirty and dangerous breaking, said NGO Shipbreaking Platform. The Platform was able to document five accidents at the shipbreaking yards in Chittagong, Bangladesh, between April and June, which led to the death of four workers and the injury of two. Ishaq worked as a winch operator and died struck by a cable at the BBC Steel Shipbreaking/KR yard. This is the second fatal accident this year at BBC Steel.

Asia petrochemicals firms are building tanks and retooling plants to store and process liquefied petroleum gas imported from the United States, counting on a flood of supply from the shale boom to replace costlier naphtha as a raw material. Samsung Total Petrochemical, LG Chem and Royal Vopak are among a number of companies in Asia expanding import terminals or retrofitting plants over the next one to two years as they buy more LPG. The gas is used by petrochemicals firms to make a broad range of consumer and industrial plastics. Asian petrochemicals firms have traditionally used naphtha as a raw material. They are now switching to LPG because rising U.S. supplies have pushed prices below those of both naphtha and LPG from their main supplier, the Middle East.

Geodis Wilson announced the appointment of Rene Bach-Larsen as Cluster Managing Director of Singapore and Southeast Asia. Looking forward to his new role of developing Geodis Wilson’s business in one of Asia’s most dynamic economical hubs, Rene said, “The Southeast Asia market—Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam—is certainly often overlooked as a growth area because of its modest size compared to the biggest players China and India. However, from a global perspective, it is actually a key area. It has weathered the global recession well and is experiencing rapid growth.

RichLand-LSP strengthens chemical logistics business unit with appointment of Graham Wall as Managing Director; Singapore-based logistics solutions provider looks to expand in South-East Asia region under new leadership. Leading chemical logistics solutions provider RichLand-LSP has appointed Graham Wall as Managing Director as it looks to expand its bulk liquid chemical transport operations throughout South-East Asia. Mr Wall brings 25 years of chemical logistics experience…

Japan refiners book US crude cargoes for Sept delivery. Asian demand for crude oil from the Atlantic Basin and the Americas is set to rise as low prices drive Japanese and South Korean buyers to snap up cargoes to arrive ahead of peak winter consumption. Robust appetite from the region could help soak up excess supplies in Europe and the United States, offering some support to benchmark global prices that plumbed 10-month lows last week. The loading of oil shipments from Europe and the Americas to Asia tapered off in June after surging between March and May…

COSCO Shipping Holdings Co Ltd saw its stock climb on Monday after bidding $6.3 billion for a Hong Kong peer, a deal that would see it become the world's third-biggest container shipper and underline China's supply-chain ambitions. The offer for Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL) comes as China's government pushes to raise the country's profile in global shipping, which dovetails with its Belt and Road initiative aimed at increasing China's influence over distribution from Asia to Europe.

Ampelmann has launched its latest gangway for personnel transfer: the A-type Enhanced Performace (AEP). Now providing clients with 10 percent greater workability in sea states up to 4m significant wave height; the AEP also has the ability to use smaller vessels to obtain similar performance (compared to current A-type). The AEP features an advanced motion compensation control system with precision controls to enable fast landing and comfortable people transfers. The system significantly improves operational up-time on projects year-round and provides benefits to operators in rougher waters…

APL has unveiled its Aloha Express (AEX) service, a new fortnightly service directly connecting Central China, Korea, Japan to Hawaii. The AEX service promises cargo delivery from Shanghai, Busan and Yokohama to Honolulu in 19, 15 and 12 days respectively. “The AEX service introduces a new sea route in our portfolio to directly serve Asia and Hawaii. Instead of routing via the U.S. mainland, shippers with Hawaiian-bound cargo will find a faster shipping alternative in the AEX service,” said Jesper Stenbak, APL Senior Vice President of Trans-Pacific Trade.

Sailors and Marines assigned to the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, the Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) commenced the Malabar in-port portions in Chennai, India, July 9. The maritime exercise Malabar, which was first held in 1992, occurs annually to improve interoperability between U.S., Indian, and Japanese maritime forces. The exercise enhances maritime relationships and demonstrates credible naval power in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. "The exercise continues to grow because we are bringing in more ships and we are bringing together three countries," said Cmdr.

PetroChina is this week unloading the first Chinese purchase of crude oil from U.S. strategic petroleum reserves at a port in eastern China, according to shipping data and two industry sources. The move comes as China, the world's No.2 oil consumer, steps up imports from the Americas to diversify supply sources. PetroChina unit, PetroChina International America Inc, bought the 550,000-barrel cargo of Bryan Mound sour crude in a sale from U.S. strategic petroleum reserves in March for $28.8 million. Supertanker Cosrising Lake <C}KV7309834335>, chartered by PetroChina, is unloading the U.S.

CMA CGM Group took delivery this morning, Monday August,16th, in South Korea of the CMA CGM Corte Real (13,830 teu) built by DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering), the third of a series of eight vessels named after the great explorers. CMA CGM Corte Real (365 meter long, 51,2 meter large and 15.5 meter draught) is up to date the largest vessel sailing under the UK flag, a European flag which is part of the white list of the “Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control” a guarantee of safety, security and environmental protection. The vessel will join the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb and CMA CGM Amerigo Vespucci on the FAL5 service (French Asia Line) linking Asia to North Europe.

Despite a marginal deterioration in the growth outlook for the global shipbuilding industry, annualized five-year growth rates for the sector are still forecast to reach a healthy 3 to 5%, before picking up substantially after 2017, says Castrol Marine Trade Barometer. The Barometer predicts that growth will be driven largely by the Asia-Pacific region, but also Latin America and the Middle East. All European nations but the Netherlands face a downward trend until 2017. Mandhir Singh, COO at Castrol, says, “The main growth in shipbuilding will come from AsiaPacific countries to 2019.

Rolf G. Oetter, Founder and President of Albacore Research Ltd (ARL), and Dr. Oskar Lee announced the official launch of ARL Asia Pte Ltd (ARL Asia) as solutions provider and training and technical center for ARL’s ShipConstructor software in Asia. ShipConstructor is the powerful AutoCAD based 3D product-modeling software for the design and fabrication of ships and offshore structures. As Director of ARL Asia, Dr. Lee will provide CAD/CAM system integration in the Asia Pacific region for all ShipConstructor clients, with the aim to co-ordinate sales and technical support. To aid this effort, ARL Asia has enhanced its website (www.shipconstructor.com.sg) to provide full product, training and exhibit information for ShipConstructor’s Asia-based clients. “Under Dr.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced the opening in Singapore of its Asia-Pacific headquarters - Royal Caribbean Cruises (Asia) Pte. Ltd. The regional headquarters, which is located in Singapore's central business district, will support the marketing efforts in the Asia-Pacific region for three of the company's cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises. Headed by Rama Rebbapragada, managing director for Asia Pacific, the office also will provide sales and trade support in the region. With the number of cruise guests sailing in the Asia-Pacific region projected to grow by more than 40 percent, from 1.07 million in 2005 to 1.5 million by 2010, the opening of Royal Caribbean's Asia-Pacific regional office is strategically timed.