Baltic News

Russia's seaborne oil product exports fell 4.2% in March from the previous month to 10.178 million metric tons due to unplanned maintenance at refineries and a uel export ban, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.Russia's daily offline primary oil refining capacity has jumped by around a third in March to 4.079 million metric tons from February due to drone attacks, Reuters calculations based on data from industry sources showed.Last month, a fire broke out after a Ukrainian drone attack at the Norsi refinery…

The discharge of scrubber water from ships out to 22km (12 nautical miles) from the Danish coasts will be prohibited by law. The ban will come into effect on July 1, 2025, for ships with scrubbers in open operation, where the wash water is discharged into the sea. For ships with scrubbers in closed operation, the ban on water discharge will take effect on July 1, 2029.The Ministry of Environment has stated that scrubber water has contributed to excessive levels of a number of heavy metals and tar substances such as lead, cadmium, anthracene and benz(a)pyrene in the marine environment.

Greenpeace activists painted slogans on an Estonian-owned tanker in the middle of the Baltic Sea on Friday, and said the ship supplied bunker fuel to vessels transporting Russian oil that posed a danger to the environment and would fuel conflict."Oil fuels war," the campaigners, who arrived in small boats, scrawled in large white letters on the side of the Zircone tanker, pictures provided by Greenpeace showed.The vessel, sitting in international waters off the Swedish island of Gotland, has supplied fuel to more than 50 oil tankers travelling to or from Russian ports in the last two months, S

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell for a fourteenth consecutive session on Tuesday as rates for the larger vessel segments slipped.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell by 24 points, or 1.5%, to 1,570 points, its lowest level in two months.The capesize index dipped by 45 points, or 2.1%, to over a two-month trough at 2,153.Average daily earnings for capesize vessels…

X-Press Feeders has signed of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with six European ports: Port of Antwerp Bruges (Belgium), Port of Tallinn (Estonia), Port of Helsinki (Finland), Port of HaminaKotka (Finland), Freeport of Riga (Latvia) and Klaipeda Port (Lithuania).The agreement signifies a joint commitment to accelerate the establishment of green shipping corridors and the broader decarbonization of the marine sector in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea.X-Press Feeders and the…

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index fell on Friday to log its third straight weekly decline, weighed down by a dip in rates across all vessel segments.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, shed 41 points or 2.5% to 1,628 points, its lowest level in seven weeks.The index was down over 10% for the week.The capesize index was down by 80 points, or 3.4%, at 2,274. It logged a weekly rise of over 13%.Average daily earnings for capesize vessels…

An activated but faulty missile launcher on a Danish navy vessel triggered a closure of airspace and shipping traffic in the Great Belt strait on Thursday, the Danish armed forces said.Denmark's National Maritime Authority had earlier warned ships not to sail through the Great Belt strait, one of the world's busiest sea lanes and the main maritime access to the Baltic Sea, due to the risk of "falling missile fragments"."The problem occurred during a mandatory test where the missile launcher is activated and cannot be deactivated…

Russia's Gazprom is using a replacement vessel for ship-to-ship loadings (STS) of liquefied natural gas from its Portovaya LNG plant on the Baltic Sea while another ship is repaired, LSEG data showed on Monday.The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Marshal Vasilevskiy is designed to supply Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, between Lithuania and Poland, and ensure its gas security in case of disruption to pipeline supplies from neighboring countries.According to LSEG data, the FSRU Marshal Vasilevskiy was on Monday loading LNG ship-to-ship near Kaliningrad onto the Cool Rover vessel, m

Subsea7's renewables-focused offshore installation subsidiary Seaway7 has secured a ‘sizeable contract’ by PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna and Ørsted for the transport and installation of the substations for the Baltica 2 offshore wind farm in Poland.Seaway7’s scope includes the transport and installation of four substations. Offshore activity is scheduled to take place in 2026 utilising both heavy lift and heavy transportation vessels.The ‘sizeable contract’ for Seaway7 means it…

LOTOS Petrobaltic, an ORLEN Group company, signed a contract for the construction of a Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) with Singapore-based Strategic Marine, set for service in the Polish offshore wind market.The StratCat 27 CTV is scheduled to be completed this summer, with delivery to Europe planned for early September 2024.This CTV will join the existing fleet managed by Miliana Shipmanagement Limited, a company belonging to the LOTOS Petrobaltic capital group, which owns five offshore…

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell to over a three-week low on Monday, weighed down by weakness in the capesize and panamax vessel segments.he overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell for the fifth straight session by 73 points, or 3.3%, to 2,123 points.The capesize index lost 187 points, or 5.4%, at 3,295, its lowest level since Feb. 27.Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transports 150…

Singaporean shipbuilder Strategic Marine reports it has secured an order to construct a newbuild crew transfer vessel (CTV) for the Polish offshore wind sector.The order comes from LOTOS Petrobaltic S.A., an ORLEN Group company, and will see the new vessel—a BMT-designed StratCat 27—delivered to Europe in September of this year.This CTV will join the fleet managed by Miliana Shipmanagement Limited, owned by the LOTOS Petrobaltic capital group, which owns five offshore vessels.

The Finnish Border Guard has held a keel laying ceremony for its new patrol vessel at Baltic Operator's shipyard in Gdansk.On March 12, 2024, a keel laying ceremony was arranged at Baltic Operator’s shipyard in Gdansk. The ceremony took place in the presence of the representatives of the Finnish Border Guard, Meyer Turku, Baltic Operator and Bureau Veritas.The keel laying ceremony is an old tradition. Before the keel laying, the ordering party - the Finnish Border Guard - and the shipyard’s representative placed their lucky coins under the keel beneath the first block.Later on…

Esgian reports that offshore drilling contractors secured additional backlog in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria, and Brazil and operators confirmed new discoveries in Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire, and China in its Week 10 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsDiamond Offshore has executed a two-year contract extension with a subsidiary of bp in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for the 12,000-ft drillship Ocean BlackHornet.Shelf Drilling’s 250-ft jackup Rig 141 has secured a two-year…

Contracting activity for for crude tanker newbuilding has risen sharply to start 2024, driven by a steep rise in orders for very large crude carriers (VLCC), according to shipping organization BIMCO.In the first two months of 2024, crude tanker newbuild contracting surged to 7.4 m DWT, a 490% leap y/y. Notably, the 19 VLCCs ordered in January and February is more than was ordered for the entirety of 2023.Freight rates for crude tankers spiked at the start of the war in Ukraine, and they have largely stayed strong since, said Filipe Gouveia, shipping analyst at BIMCO.

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight snapped a 12-session winning streak on Tuesday, as pressure from lower capesize rates outweighed gains in smaller vessel segments.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was down 0.3% at 2,291 points.The capesize index .BACI snapped its nine-session rising streak, shedding 57 points, or 1.4%, to 4,148.Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal…

One of Turkey's mid-sized Mediterranean oil terminals - the Dortyol terminal - will no longer accept Russian imports after receiving record volumes last year, amid an increase in sanctions pressure by the United States.Turkey has become one of the biggest importers of Russian crude and fuel since 2022, after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. Russia responded by re-routing oil away from Europe and the U.S. to Asia, Turkey and Africa.Global Terminal Services' (GTS)…

Russia exported more than 700,000 metric tons of oil products from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk in 2023 using small river barges because of a lack of bigger tankers owing to EU sanctions and price cap limitations, market sources said and LSEG data showed.Some ship owners have avoided Russian ports since the EU embargo and price cap on Russian refined oil products went into effect in February last year, forcing shippers to turn to a so-called shadow fleet of ageing tankers.The shadow fleet has supported the flow of Russian barrels…

The first vessel carrying LNG for Germany's Baltic Sea terminal of Mukran arrived on Saturday for a test operation as the country steps up its quest to replace Russian pipeline gas.Private company Deutsche ReGas said that Energos Power, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), had moored at the terminal on Ruegen Island, having received approval from local authorities.Germany has intensified its quest to increase LNG capacity for regasification on its shores, as European countries seek to reduce their heavy reliance on Russian gas following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.The tests will

French container shipping group CMA CGM has taken delivery of the CMA CGM Mermaid, the first ship in a series of 10 new 2,000 TEU containerships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), which will be progressively deployed in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.CMA CGM Mermaid containership is the result of collaboration between CMA CGM, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, and Hyundai Heavy Industries.The delivery is part of CMA CGM's fleet renewal program, in which the group invested more than $15 billion…

Van Oord has been contracted for the construction of the Baltica 2 Offshore Wind Farm, developed by Ørsted and PGE. The wind farm is located 40 kilometres offshore in the Polish area of the Baltic Sea.Van Oord will transport and install 111 extended monopiles, of which 107 will serve as foundations for wind turbines and the other four as foundations for offshore substations.Van Oord will deploy offshore installation vessel Aeolus and heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen on the project. The Svanen will undergo a major upgrade this year.

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index rose for a third straight session on Tuesday to hit a one-month peak, as rates climbed across larger vessel segments.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was up 13 points, or 0.8%, at 1,585 points, its highest since Jan. 10.The capesize index also scaled a one-month high. It added 23 points, or 0.9%, at 2,476 points.Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150…

Lithuania said on Thursday it had been informed by a subsidiary of Polish oil refiner Orlen PKN of an oil spill in the country's waters in the Baltic Sea and had launched a probe into the incident.Lithuania's Environmental Protection Department said in a statement the subsidiary, Orlen Lietuva, had informed it on Wednesday of a 300-litre spill near the Butinge oil import terminal in connection with the loading of a tanker.It said an inspection by Lithuania later on Wednesday showed the spill measured nine kilometers by two kilometers with at least 1.8 tonnes of oil on the surface…