Business To Business News

U.S. Commercial Service previews September 20-22 export forum  The growing demand for marine technologies is generating new export possibilities for U.S. companies. To help American businesses pursue these opportunities, the Department of Commerce is hosting Discover Global Markets: The Blue Economy, in Providence, R.I., Sept. 20-22, 2022. International Trade Specialist Maryanne Burke leads the Marine Technology Team of the International Trade Administration (ITA). Maryanne is part of ITA’s U.S.

Dutch dredging, marine and offshore services company Van Oord said it has signed partnership agreements with LexX and Heliorec, two start-ups scouted through the innovation platform PortXL. The signing ceremony took place during the shakedown event on December 2 marking the end of this year's PortXL program.Van Oord is one of the founders of PortXL and a main sponsor of the PortXL program for the sixth year in a row. The port and maritime accelerator platform is one of the ways that Van Oord encourages innovation in the global maritime industry.

Plaintiffs seeking to recover from ship managers or the vessels they operate but lacking a direct claim against a particular vessel have developed a clever strategy under U.S. maritime law. They seize a managed vessel under Supplemental Admiralty Rule B and claim the vessel-owning company is an alter ego of the defendant with whom the dispute really exists. In this way, plaintiffs can take advantage of the relatively low evidentiary bar to delve into protracted discovery to develop…

Crowley Maritime Corporation has appointed John Claybrooks to the newly created position of chief marketing officer, leading the company’s strategic marketing and communications to enhance and differentiate the Crowley brand across its worldwide services.In this new role, Claybrooks leads all marketing and communications functions for the global enterprise, including the harmonization of integrated marketing and communications for all business units and geographies. His strategic…

Maersk Tankers announced it has appointed Eva Birgitte Bisgaard as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) effective October 1.Bisgaard will joining Maersk Tankers after 19 years with the Danish Telco operator TDC, during which time she held a wide range of senior management positions. For the past three years, she was Senior Vice President of the consumer unit YouSee. Previously, she held commercial vice president positions in the company’s business-to-business divisions.At Maersk Tankers, Bisgaard will spearhead the company’s commercial engagement with partners and customers.

In business, as in life, after major anniversary milestones like 60 (Diamond) and 75 (Diamond or Sapphire), it seems that every year after that is worth celebrating. However, 90 years is somewhat in the nether regions of celebrations; certainly, a major achievement after say 75, but not quite the centenary either. However, Robert Allan Ltd. has been an active and growing business now for 90 years and we believe that is worth celebrating in a time when it feels, frankly, that there is not a great deal to celebrate.The family lore has always been that my grandfather…

Steve Parks, a long-tenured and well-known maritime media marketing persona, passed away suddenly of a heart attack on June 7, 2020. He was 45.Steve began his career in maritime publishing in 1998 selling the Shipping World & Shipbuilding. He was hired by John Labdon Associates (JLA) as senior media consultant and was group sales manager for Marine Propulsion magazine from 2003-2007. He went on to serve as sales and development director at Riviera Maritime Media from 2007-2014.In 2014…

This month, listen in as Sean Fernstrum weighs in on how his firm arrived at its enviable market position, what comes next, and why.Sean Fernstrum is a third-generation owner of R.W Fernstrum & Company. He graduated from Michigan Technological University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Scientific and Technical Communications. After college, he came home to Menominee, Michigan and began working as a Technical Writer at R.W. Fernstrum & Company. He has been President of the company for the last 8 years.

Global logistics software group, WiseTech Global has announced the acquisition of Xware, a messaging integration solutions provider in Sweden.Xware’s secure, interoperable messaging solution, xTrade, is designed to link organisations to their suppliers and partners, allowing them to safely share information across application to application, business to business, managed file transfers, business process management and IoT ̶  essential for real-time messaging, queued business flows and data integration. Xware products are also utilised in the integration of complex applications in specialised sectors such as defence. Xware customers include Swedish Armed Forces…

On February 12th and 13th, the Missouri River Stakeholders converged on Kansas City, Missouri to discuss current challenges and opportunities for growth. The main message echoed repeatedly, is the Missouri River is open for business, and business is booming.Over the course of the two-day event, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard worked with the river’s commercial navigators to address areas of concerns as well as plan for the future growth of transportation on one of the nation’s most vital freight corridors.Record attendance was seen at the Annual U.S. Army Corps/U.S.

Many shipowners are scrambling to comply with the tough, new the International Maritime Organization (IMO) fuel global sulfur limit of 0.50 percent m/m, which takes effect January 1, 2020.It is expected that after the rules swing into force, the light-heavy fuel price spread will likely spike and refining margins will be higher, particularly for complex refineries.Shipowners have to stay ahead of the game, said Yara Marine Technologies CEO Peter Strandberg: “Shipowners often get a bad rap of refusing to adopt new, innovative technologies and processes.

Port of Cleveland President & CEO and newly elected Board Chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities William Friedman weighs in this month on the Port of Cleveland and its role in the all important Great Lakes trades.When the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) announced the election of Port of Cleveland President and CEO, William D. Friedman, to serve as chairman for the 2018-19 year, beginning this October, it was perhaps a conscious decision to tap someone who has a broad range of experience and skills in myriad ports, large and small. That’s Friedman in a nutshell. AAPA represents 140 of the leading maritime port authorities in this hemisphere. If you’ve seen one port; well, you’ve seen one port.

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced that Christie Thomas has been promoted to vice president of contracts and pricing at its Newport News Shipbuilding division. She will succeed Tom Johnston, who will retire on April 1. Thomas will have overall responsibility for contracts, pricing, and export/import licensing and compliance for the Newport News shipyard and will report to Don Godwin, Newport News’ chief financial officer. She joined HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division in 2006 and has held director-level positions in supply chain management, business management, business development, and contracts and pricing. In 2017, she was promoted to corporate director of investor relations at HII’s corporate office. Prior to HII, Thomas spent 12 years with Lockheed Martin.

Huntington Ingalls Industries said that Christie Thomas was promoted to vice president of contracts and pricing at its Newport News Shipbuilding division. She will succeed Tom Johnston, who will retire on April 1. Thomas will have overall responsibility for contracts, pricing, and export/import licensing and compliance for the Newport News shipyard and will report to Don Godwin, Newport News’ chief financial officer. She joined HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division in 2006 and has held director-level positions in supply chain management…

Ocean carrier Pacific International Lines (PIL), terminal operator PSA International and IBM plan to utilize blockchain for better security, efficiency and transparency in supply chain business networks and trade finance. Three companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to explore and trial proof of concept (POC) blockchain-based supply chain business network innovations. The MOU was signed by Ms Lisa Teo, Executive Director (Corporate Development) of PIL; Mr Oh Bee Lock, Head of Group Technology, PSA; and Ms Janet Ang, VP Industry Solutions & Smarter Cities of IBM Asia Pacific. The three parties will work together to explore POCs using technologies like blockchain to achieve better security…

Two container shipping lines, France's CMA CGM and Israel's Zim, have signed up with Alibaba to allow customers to book space on their vessels through the Chinese e-commerce giant, in a bid to boost sales as the sector battles a severe downturn. Container lines, facing their worst ever downturn due to a glut of ships and weaker demand, are pursuing several measures such as vessel-sharing arrangements or mergers and acquisitions to ride out the current slump. A growing number of logistics firms are going online to buoy their business. In December, Maersk - the world's largest container shipping line and a unit of Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk - started offering online booking services to Chinese shippers on Alibaba's OneTouch website.

Maersk, the world's largest container shipping line, has teamed up with Alibaba to allow customers to reserve space on its vessels through the Chinese company, illustrating growing cooperation between e-commerce and logistics firms. Maersk, a unit of Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk, began offering the service to Chinese shippers on Alibaba's OneTouch booking website on Dec. 22, a spokeswoman for the shipping line said on Wednesday. Shippers traditionally go through freight forwarders to book space for goods on container vessels, but lines such as Maersk are allowing cargo owners to book directly via the internet. For their part, e-commerce companies are increasingly venturing into logistics activities to try to gain better control over their supply chain networks.

Founded by Robert W. Fernstrum 67 years ago, R.W. Fernstrum & Company is currently run by its third generation of Fernstrum. This long-tenured maritime staple has seen its fair share of maritime cycles, and in today’s challenging market it is not standing still. The company is digging for, and finding, business in all four corners of the world, above water and below, as Sean Fernstrum, President & owner, and his team explain. “Diversify, diversify, diversify … always,” is the…

Taking place on Thursday, September 8, Maritime Skills Academy celebrated the launch of its specialist training facility showcasing all that the state-of-the-art Academy has to offer to key industry guests. An integral part of the Viking ‘Family of Companies, the Academy provides dynamic training, with its expert in-house trainers delivering bespoke courses, which encompass the diversity of the maritime industry: including cruise ships, superyachts, renewable support vessels and the oil and gas sector.

Speaking at the Intermodal Association of North America on May 5 in Chicago, U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner William P. Doyle discussed several of the shipping industry’s hottest topics, including ocean carrier consolidations and alliances, container weight VGM under SOLAS, and chassis. “We’ve all heard the recent announcements related to consolidations, for instance, CGM CGM and NOL-APL; and COSCO and CSCL. “We’ve all heard the announcement that Hapag Lloyd and UASC are in discussions on a possible merger.

Germany is hopeful in bagging multi-billion-dollar Indian submarine project for building six conventional submarines, says a PTI report. German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner said the P-75(I) project was under discussion and that the matter also came up during German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen's visit here last month. He said that the talk did not specify the modalities of the deal on whether this should be Business-to-Business or Government-to -Government. According to Michael his minister said that it was a clear sign that there is potential for cooperation in this field (defence) and also in the field of submarines. German defence major TKMS is offering India its HDW Class 214 vessel and is in talks with leading shipyards in the country for a tie-up.

Sustainability is now firmly on the global business agenda, but there is an urgent need to turn words into action. This is a key conclusion in the independent report; “Impact – Transforming Business, Changing the World” prepared by DNV GL on behalf of the United Nations Global Compact. The report concludes that the UN Global Compact, as the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, and the business community have had an impact on the development of sustainability over the past 15 years. Recommendations that must be implemented to accelerate progress towards a more sustainable future are also highlighted in the report. “Our assessment shows there has been a clear shift in sustainability development…

Dun & Bradstreet will acquire the entirety of Dun & Bradstreet’s ANZ business, including consumer risk and debt collection, and commercial solutions, for AUD $220 million. As part of the agreement, pending regulatory approval, Credit Data Solutions will become a partner within Dun & Bradstreet’s Worldwide Network to continue to provide commercial solutions in the region. This decision supports Dun & Bradstreet’s long-term growth strategy. Today, approximately two-thirds of the ANZ business is consumer-related, which is inconsistent with Dun & Bradstreet’s established business-to-business focus. “We’re excited to welcome Archer Capital’s Credit Data Solutions as the newest member of our Worldwide Network.