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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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26 Mar 2024

Ship That Hit Baltimore Bridge Also Involved in 2016 Antwerp Accident

Collapsed Key Bridge in Baltimore (Credit: Screeshot/StreamTime Live)

The ship that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early on Tuesday was also involved in an accident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016.The Antwerp port authorities said the container ship Dali hit a quay on July 11, 2016, as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal.The port authority could give no details about the cause of the accident, but said the ship had remained at the dock for repairs for some time after the incident."As a general rule, these accidents are investigated and ships are only allowed to leave after experts have determined it is saf

15 Mar 2024

Dutch Government Picks France's Naval Group for Submarines Order

Illustration (Credit: Naval Group)

The Dutch government on Friday said it had picked French defense company Naval Group to build four new submarines in coming decades in a long-brewing deal seen by politicians as a potential lifeline for the national shipbuilding industry.The government said the first two submarines would be operational within the next 10 years. It did not specify the exact value of the multi-billion euro contract.The submarines will be of a size to both operate in shallow waters and take part in missions far from base.The agreement still has to be approved by the Dutch parliament…

05 Mar 2024

Dutch Defense to Spend Billions on New Frigates

© Wojciech Wrzesień / Adobe Stock

The Dutch government on Friday said it would replace nearly its entire navy fleet in the coming 15 years, in a project worth several billion euros that it said would mainly benefit Dutch industry.A large part of the project would consist of the replacement of four air defense frigates, the government said, confirming an earlier report by RTL Nieuws.The government said it would work closely with Dutch industry in building the ships, with large roles for shipbuilder Damen and the Dutch arm of French defense company Thales, which would likely supply radar and missile guidance systems."This will s

23 Feb 2024

EU Clears CMA CGM's Acquisition of Bollore Logistics, Subject to Conditions

© JHVEPhoto / Adobe Stock

The EU Commission on Friday said it had cleared the acquisition of the logistics operations of conglomerate Bollore by shipping group CMA CGM, subject to a number of conditions proposed by the companies.The commission, which oversees competition policy in the 27-nation European Union, said that the acquisition had been approved after its investigation found a number of concerns.To address them, the parties agreed to divest all of Bolloré Logistics' activities in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and French Guiana, as well as a number of assets in metropolitan France linked to these activiti

13 Feb 2024

Port of Antwerp Disrupted by Belgian Farmers' Protests

© Alexandre / Adobe Stock

Operations at the port of Antwerp, one of Europe's biggest container ports, were seriously impacted on Tuesday as hundreds of farmers on tractors blocked the roads around the port to demand better pay and working conditions, officials said.The protest follows a large number of similar actions by angry farmers in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and beyond, as farmers also demand looser environmental rules and better protection against cheap imports."Operations are heavily disrupted," Stephan Van Fraechem, the director of the association of port companies Alfaport VOKA, told Reuters.

31 Dec 2023

Israel Says It's Ready to Let Ships Bring Aid to Gaza

© moofushi / Adobe Stock

Israel is prepared to let ships deliver aid to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip "immediately" as part of a proposed sea corridor from Cyprus, the Israeli foreign minister said on Sunday, naming four European countries as potential participants.Under the arrangement first suggested by Nicosia in November, cargo would undergo security inspection in the Cypriot port of Larnaca before being ferried to the Gaza coast, 370 km (230 miles) away, rather than through neighbouring Egypt or Israel.If the plan goes ahead…

03 Oct 2023

Shipbuilder Damen Sues Dutch Gov't over Russia Sanctions

Credit: AlexGo/AdobeStock

Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards has sued the Dutch government over damages it says it has suffered due to European sanctions against Russia.Damen, which produces a wide-ranging fleet of industrial and military vessels and luxury yachts, is seeking compensation for business lost due to the sanctions, company spokesman Rick van de Weg said, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg.Damen had delivery contracts for a number of vessels across the company's portfolio that were scrapped by the sanctions invoked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Van de Weg said.Damen had an engineer

24 Apr 2023

Port of Rotterdam Traffic Drops Slightly as Inflation Weighs

©Sten van Houwelingen/AdobeStock

Throughput in the port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest sea port, fell 1.5% in the first quarter as high inflation slowed down container traffic, the port's operator said on Monday."Especially in the container segment, we faced a decline in volumes due to high inflation and a weakening economy," port CEO Allard Castelein said in a statement."Results in the other segments mainly show growth and confirm that dependence on Russian energy flows has been further reduced in line with…

28 Mar 2023

Samskip Installs Onboard Carbon Capture and Utilization System

(Photo: Samskip)

Samskip has installed an onboard carbon capture and utilization system on one of its shortsea vessels at Royathe l Niestern Sander shipyard.The system in real-time captures 30%of the CO2 emissions generated by combustion engines and stores it in portable batteries. These batteries can then be delivered to businesses that utilize CO2 such as agricultural clients and greenhouses who currently use gas powered machinery to create CO2 needed to stimulate growth of their products. The…

23 Mar 2023

EU Moves Toward Limiting Carbon Emissions from Shipping

© GunnarE / Adobe Stock

EU countries on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime sector by increasing the use of renewable fuels on ships.The deal aims to put maritime transport on the path towards meeting the EU's climate goals in 2030 and 2050, by increasing reduction targets for emissions from energy used on ships and introducing measures to encourage the use of so-called renewable fuels of non-biological origin."The agreement will make sure that fuel suppliers, ships and maritime operators will have sufficient time to adapt for the new conditions so the maritime

23 Feb 2023

Help Wanted: Build a New Industry

(Photo: Atlantic Wind Transfers)

When Atlantic offshore wind (OSW) projects move into high gear they will kick-start a series of impacts affecting almost the entire East Coast economy, from logistics to transportation to utility projects and, of course, just about every aspect of port and maritime activities.The related topics of workforce development and employment are among the fundamental issues being pushed and pulled by OSW. How workforce development and education and training proceed – and succeed – will be critical for the U.S.

22 Feb 2023

Russia Targets Dutch North Sea Infrastructure, MIVD Says

© familie-eisenlohr.de/AdobeStock

Russia has in recent months tried to gain intelligence to sabotage critical infrastructure in the Dutch part of the North Sea, Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD said on Monday.A Russian ship has been detected at an offshore wind farm in the North Sea as it tried to map out energy infrastructure, MIVD head General Jan Swillens said at a news conference.The vessel was escorted out of the North Sea by Dutch marine and coast guard ships before any sabotage effort could become successful…

13 Dec 2022

Data Processes 4x Faster: How Ulstein Does It

(Image: Ulstein Design & Solutions BV)

How do you excel at ship design? Bart Daman, Manager Naval Architecture at Ulstein Design & Solutions BV in Rotterdam, has an answer: "In our case, by combining specialist knowledge and expertise focused on certain niche markets with data-driven work. This allows us to quickly develop new high-quality ship designs. Our customers experience the difference, and we often hear that they are impressed by the quality of the information we provide. From quotations to full construction specifications…

21 Oct 2022

Two Dead, Two Missing After Passenger Vessels Collide off Dutch Coast

© TasfotoNL / Adobe Stock

At least two people died when two boats collided on Friday in the Dutch Wadden Sea close to Terschelling island, and two people are still missing, local authorities said.A ferry boat and a smaller water taxi collided early on Friday morning, causing people on board of the smaller boat to fall in the water.While four people were rescued shortly after the collision, two passengers died and two were still missing on Friday afternoon. Local media citing the coast guard reported the…

27 Jul 2022

Kelleher to Succeed Tivnan as Ardmore Shipping CFO

Tanker owner/operator Ardmore Shipping Corporation on Wednesday announced the planned departure of its current chief financial officer Paul Tivnan and appointment of new CFO Bart Kelleher, effective September 28, 2022.Anthony Gurnee, Ardmore's chief executive officer, said, Kelleher and Tivnan will overlap and work together from September 1 to "achieve an orderly and well-planned transition".Kelleher brings to the role more than 25 years of progressive experience in the maritime, finance, energy and industrials sectors, having most recently served as chief executive officer of Chembulk Tankers. He previously served as both Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the firm, and prior to that, was the chief operating officer of Principal Maritime Management.

31 May 2022

EU Agrees Gradual Russian Oil Embargo, Gives Hungary Exemptions

Illustration only - Gazprom's Prirazlomnaya platform at the Prirazlomnoye field - Credit: Gazprom Neft

European Union leaders have agreed an embargo on Russian oil imports that will start kicking in towards the end of the year and which exempts, for now, pipeline imports that Hungary and two other landlocked Central European states rely on.The toughest sanction yet on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, agreed overnight after weeks of wrangling, aims to remove 90% of Russia's crude imports into the 27-nation bloc by year-end, senior officials said."The purpose is to stop Russia's aggressive war…

22 May 2022

Cargo Vessel to Ship US Medical, Defense Supplies Toward Ukraine

The U.S. is spanning a sea bridge over the Atlantic to support Ukraine with crucial equipment in its war against Russia, a senior official said on Friday, as a huge cargo ship at the Belgian port of Antwerp got ready to set sail for Germany.Carol Petsonk, the United States' Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, was shown around the loading dock of the vehicles carrier "Arc Integrity" where the military gear was tied with straps to the floor."What we see is the vessel's carrying two types of equipment: One is the personal vehicles, belongings of service members who are going to serve in U.S.

31 Mar 2022

PPG Rolls Out New Tank Coating

(Photo: PPG)

PPG has lunched a new phenolic epoxy tank lining, PPG Phenguard 985, geared for the marine and tank storage sectors. The tank lining is designed to deliver high chemical resistance to a wide range of aggressive chemicals and higher temperature resistance for chemicals that contain fatty acids.“The latest addition to our PPG Phenguard range, PPG Phenguard 985 tank lining features a patent-pending formulation that can be applied in two or three coats instead of the traditional three coats without compromising chemical resistance…

21 Mar 2022

EU Split on Russia Oil Sanctions, Mulls Other Steps

© Andrey Sharpilo / Adobe Stock

The European Union's foreign ministers disagreed on Monday on whether and how to slap sanctions on Russia's lucrative energy sector over its invasion of Ukraine, with Germany saying the bloc was too dependent on Russian oil to decide an embargo.The EU and allies have already imposed hefty measures against Russia, including freezing its central bank's assets.Russia's siege and bombardment of Mariupol port, which EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called "a massive war crime"…

22 Dec 2021

Port of Rotterdam Expects Container Traffic to Remain High in 2022

© creativenature.nl / Adobe Stock

Container traffic at the Port of Rotterdam has reached a record level this year and is expected to be high again in 2022, Europe's largest sea port said on Wednesday.The port said that it had received 15 million containers this year up until Wednesday, marking the first time a European port had reached that level.Container freight, measured in the equivalent of twenty-foot long containers (TEU), has increased at least 5% in 2021 from last year, when transport was heavily disrupted…

19 Oct 2021

Port of Rotterdam Freight Volumes Rise 15% as Economy Recovers

© creativenature / Adobe Stock

Freight volumes in the port of Rotterdam increased 15% on a yearly basis in the third quarter as international trade continued to recover from its COVID-19 slump, Europe's largest sea port said on Tuesday.Trade flows to and from Rotterdam have been almost 9% higher in the first nine months of the year, with strong growth in almost all segments, the port said."These figures show that the economy is continuing its upward path.

04 Oct 2021

Activists Blockade Shell Refinery in Port of Rotterdam

© Marten van Dijl / Greenpeace

Dozens of Greenpeace activists in Rotterdam port used a ship, buoys and a small flotilla of kayaks on Monday to block traffic around Shell’s Pernis refinery, Europe’s largest, as part of a campaign seeking a ban on fossil fuel advertising.Police ended the blockade after several hours and the port’s authority said economic disruption to the wider harbor was minimal.The action comes as Greenpeace and more than 20 other environmental groups began seeking a million signatures for a European Union-wide ban on adverts and sponsorships by oil and gas companies…

22 Jul 2021

Trade Recovery: Port of Rotterdam Freight Volumes Rise

Credit: Kalyakan/AdobeStock

Freight volumes in the port of Rotterdam rose 5.8% on a yearly basis in the first half of 2021, as international trade recovered from its coronavirus slump, Europe's largest sea port said on Thursday.Traffic took a big hit from COVID-19 in the first half of 2020, and despite its recovery, throughput is still not back at levels seen before the outbreak of the pandemic, port authorities said.Improvement was most notable in the shipment of iron ore and coal, which increased more than a third from a year ago on strong demand from steel factories in Germany.Container freight was up almost 9%, despi