Bulk Carrier Operator News

WinGD has concluded a four-party agreement underwriting Belgian bulk carrier operator CMB.TECH’s order of X72DF-A ammonia-fueled engines.CSSC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding (QBS) and engine builder CSSC Engine Co (CSE) were the other signatories in the joint undertaking to power a series of 210,000dwt bulk carriers to be delivered from Qingdao through 2025 and 2026.Following confirmation of the engine order, the agreement advances the project between WinGD and CMB.TECH announced in January to develop the 72-bore ammonia-engine.

Vessel operating company New Trade Ship Management S.A. and chief engineer Dennis Plasabas pleaded guilty in San Diego for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oily bilge water from the bulk carrier vessel Longshore.New Trade and Plasabas admitted that oily bilge water was illegally dumped from the Longshore directly into the ocean without being properly processed through required pollution prevention equipment. Oily bilge water typically contains oil contamination from the operation and cleaning of machinery on the vessel. The defendants also admitted that these illegal discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book as required by law.

Olso-listed bulk carrier operator Belships said Friday it had secured charters for two of its vessels.Belships said the period time charter contracts secured were for a period of about 23-25 months at a gross rate of USD 25 500 per day per vessel. The contracts are expected to start from the beginning of November 2021.The company, which will have a fleet of 30 Supramax/Ultramax bulk carriers with an average age of 4 years, once all announced transactions are completed, did not say who the client was for the two vessels, nor which vessels exactly had secured the charters.Last week, Belships agreed to acquire a 64 000 dwt Ultramax newbuilding resale currently under construction at a Japanese shipyard.Delivery is expected to be January 2023.

Following a string of bulk carrier vessel sales and a plan to order an offshore wind installation vessel, dry bulk carrier operator Scorpio Bulkers on Sunday said its Board of Directors had authorized the company, as part of its transition to a sustainable future, to sell its remaining dry bulk vessels and exit the dry bulk sector during 2021. "As a result of this decision, the company expects to record a write-down ranging from $475.0 million to $500.0 million on vessels sold and classified as held for sale…

Belships ASA, a bulk carrier operator and ship management company, has confirmed that it  entered into an agreement with Marti Shipping & Ship Management of Turkey for a bareboat charter and subsequent sale of BELEAST.The 50 000 dwt bulk carrier was built in 2006 and was the oldest ship in Belships fleet. BELEAST was delivered in December as planned and Belships realized a gain of USD 4.4m.The Charterer has an obligation to purchase the vessel within 24 months and the net cash flow during the period will be approximately USD 3.5m after repayment of outstanding loans.In October, Belships agreed a 7-year bareboat charter for a 61 000 dwt Ultramax bulk carrier newbuilding from Shin Kurushima, Japan.

Bulk carrier operator Oldendorff Carriers has for the first time placed an order with ABB for Azipod electric propulsion systems for two newbuild dry bulk carriers.The self-unloading dry cargo transhipment vessels with 21,500 dwt capacity will be fitted with two 1.9 MW Azipod electric propulsion units each. The contract also covers the delivery of electric, digital and connected solutions, including a main diesel-electric power plant, generators, switchboards, bow thruster motors…

Alfa Laval signs major frame agreements for ballast water treatment retrofitsIn June, Alfa Laval signed frame agreements with two different shipowners for the supply of Alfa Laval PureBallast systems. The systems will be delivered during a three-year period and retrofitted on tankers and bulk carriers. The fleet orders were received from a tanker operator in the Middle East and a bulk carrier operator in Europe, who will time the booking of individual PureBallast orders with the scheduled dry docking of their vessels. Alfa Laval will make the first of its PureBallast system deliveries to the shipowners during the latter part of 2017.

ABS, a leading provider of classification services to the global marine and offshore industries, has completed a project with a group of leading Greek shipowners to support preparations for implementing the European Union’s Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) regulation for CO2 emissions. The result of this initiative is a clear interpretation of the regulation that allows companies to understand how they will be affected and what steps have to be taken to achieve and demonstrate compliance. “The EU MRV Regulation establishes a regional regime that requires owners to put in place systems and practices that provide clear and precise evidence of compliance,” says Dr. Kirsi Tikka, ABS Executive Vice President, Global Marine.

Maritime services group Global Navigation Solutions (GNS) announced that London-based bulk carrier operator Helikon Shipping Enterprises has expanded its use of its VOYAGER software solution across its fleet to take advantage of VOYAGER’s advanced route planning and optimization tools. Helikon, a customer of GNS for more than a decade, has extended its contract to make use of the navigational efficiency tools available within the VOYAGER solution. In addition to VOYAGER’s inventory management, compliance management and chart updating functionality, the fleet is now also using A2BviaC digital distance tables and Meteo Group’s SPOS weather routing technology, all of which is enabling Helikon to improve route planning and achieve greater fuel efficiencies.

Copenhagen-based tanker and bulk carrier operator TORM said it is carrying out a structured process involving a number of external stakeholders in an effort to address its long-term capital structure. As the company announced in August 2013, TORM has engaged a financial advisor as part of the initiated process to address the company’s financial structure. TORM reported that this work is now continuing to a stage, where TORM is carrying out a structured process involving a number of external stakeholders to further explore the possibilities for a strategic transaction during 2014.

Phenomenal is perhaps the only word adequately to describe the rampage of new, integrated e-commerce solutions that have recently swamped the maritime industry. The marine market, which has a solid reputation of following rather than leading technological surges, has gone from "zero to sixty" in record time on the e-commerce front. But while the industry today has a bevy of selections from which to choose — including portals for conducting every transaction conceivable, from fixing cargos to buying bunker fuel, spare parts or a ship's stores — the critical question revolves around not which choices are available today, rather which choices will be available one year from today.