France News

Socarenam, French shipyard specialized in the construction of all types of ships up to 110 meters long, has delivered Mistral, the final one of four patrol boats in a series designed by the maritime solution provider Mauric and ordered by the French Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes.Mistral joins sisters Libecciu, Cers, and Vent d’Amont, which were delivered between September 2017 and May 2018.Since 2007, Socarenam and Mauric are involved in the design and construction…

DEME, an international group of specialized companies involved in complex marine engineering works, has won a major contract to carry out the deepening of the Elbe fairway in Germany.The Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group said that its German subsidiary Nordsee Nassbagger- und Tiefbau GmbH, based in Bremen, has acquired the maintenance dredging contract on the River Elbe in Germany.The contract has been awarded to a joint venture, including DEME’s German subsidiary, for a period of two years.

Dublin-based maritime transportation group Irish Continental Group (ICG) has entered into a bareboat hire purchase agreement for the sale of the cruise ferry “Oscar Wilde” to MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company.The total consideration for the sale is EUR28.9m, payable in instalments over six years, up to 2025.Delivery to the buyer is expected to take place this month, said a company release.Built in 1987, the Oscar Wilde was bought by ICG in 2007 and operated on Irish Ferries’ route to France.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reductions of up to 21% are achievable now from LNG as a marine fuel, compared with current oil-based marine fuels over the entire life-cycle from Well-to-Wake (WtW).An independent study report confirms that emissions of other local pollutants, such as sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), are close to zero when using LNG compared with current conventional oil-based marine fuels.The study, commissioned by SEA\LNG and SGMF, was conducted by leading data and consultancy provider thinkstep according to ISO standards.

The project team of Blue Water Shipping, a provider of freight transport solutions, in Marseille, France was entrusted with an exciting job for its client Societe De Constructions, De Reparations Navales Et De Mecanique (SOCARENAM).In early january, a fire pump vessel (weighing 128 metric tons/measuring 24.9 x 6.9 x 3.3 metres) was to be shipped from Boulogne-sur-Mer to Toulon Brégaillon to be operated by Marseille Marine Fire Brigade Division.Blue Water’s scope of the project included engineering…

France’s Total and  Guanghui Energy, a China-based company, principally engaged in the natural gas and coal business, have signed a long-term sale and purchase agreement (SPA) for the supply of 0.7 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for a period of 10 years.According to Total, the gas will be delivered to Guanghui’s regasification terminal in Qidong, Jiangsu Province, from Total’s global LNG portfolio.“We are delighted to start a long-term relationship with Guanghui, an increasingly successful LNG market player in China with clear ambitions for growth.

CMA CGM Group announced that the CMA CGM Fort de France, the first vessel belonging to its new fleet dedicated to the French West Indies, was christened on April 4th, 2019 in Martinique by Mrs. Annick Girardin, French Minister for Overseas Territories.This inauguration took place in the presence of Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, Tanya Saadé Zeenny, Executive Officer, Alfred Marie-Jeanne, Chairman of the Executive Council of the Martinique Regional Authority…

France's Naval Group has announced the creation of its Naval Innovation Hub to promote disruptive innovation to adapt to the acceleration of innovation cycles and to the need for increased research responsiveness."Staying at the forefront of innovation is essential for competitiveness. The creation of the Naval Innovation Hub at the end of 2018 made it possible to develop new growth drivers by exploring new markets and new methods of work organisation," said a press release from…

The Liebherr Group notched up a company record turnover of $11.8 million in 2018, representing an increase of $828 million, or 7.5 %, compared with the previous year.Despite a slight decline in overall economic growth, revenues from construction machinery and mining equipment rose by 10.8 % to $7,761 million, with especially strong contributions from the Earthmoving, Mobile Cranes and Mining divisions. In the other product areas, which include Maritime Cranes, Aerospace and Transportation Systems…

Alternative capacity could be provided by short-sea container services between the UK and EU to alleviate possible congestion at the Port of Dover post-Brexit.The Port of Dover is the cross-channel port situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just 34 kilometres (21 miles) away.According to a new study by global shipping consultancy Drewry the Port of Dover had the capacity to cope with moderate Brexit disruption.The earlier study, validated by the Port of Dover, concluded that of the 2.5 million trailers going via Dover, around 20% (i.e.

International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s treaty for safe and environmentally-sound ship recycling has received another boost. Japan has become the 10th country to become a Party to the Hong Kong Convention.According to the UN body, the Convention covers the design, construction, operation and maintenance of ships, and preparation for ship recycling in order to facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling, without compromising the safety and operational efficiency of ships.Under the treaty, ships are required to carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, specific to each ship.

French energy company EDF has signed an agreement with the Chinese utility China Energy Investment Corporation (CEI) to jointly deliver two offshore wind power projects in China.The Dongtai IV and V offshore wind farms account for a total installed capacity of 500 MW and will be the EDF Group’s first offshore projects in China.The cooperation agreement signed with China Energy Investment, a leading industrial player on China’s electricity market, concerns EDF’s acquisition of a stake in the Dongtai IV and V offshore wind projects…

Venezuela's main oil export port of Jose and the country's four crude upgraders have been unable to resume operations following a massive power blackout on Monday, according to industry workers and a union leader close to the facilities.The most recent oil shipment for export, on the carrier Dragon chartered by Russia's Rosneft, left Jose, which is owned by state-run PDVSA, on March 24, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel-tracking data and PDVSA's trade documents."There is no electricity, everything is paralyzed," oil workers' union leader Jose Bodas told Reuters on Tuesday.The blackout, Venezuela's second major power outage in a month…

As the global cruise industry enjoys it most robust period of growth ever, the question invariably becomes: How long can it last?Cruising, which is a blend of the hospitality and maritime businesses, continues to grow at a historic pace. The Cruise Trends & Industry Outlook publication from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) projects a passenger count of 30 million in 2019 – up nearly 2 million from the previous year. By year end 2019 CLIA members – a veritable ‘who’s who’ of the largest brands – will have 272 vessels…

CMA CGM chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé has signed two strategic partnerships with Lei Fanpei, chairman of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), including an order of 10 containership newbuilds, as well as an agreement to jointly develop more efficient and environmentally-friendly vessels.The deals were signed Monday in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the occasion of the latter’s State visit to France.The 10 new Chinese-built 15,000-TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) vessels will each measure 366 meters long.

Following news of Raal Harris’s promotion to the position of managing director at KVH Videotel earlier in the year, the company has announced a further strengthening of its management team with the appointment of Jason Barreto as European sales manager.Barreto started his sales career with a series of airline, ship management, and marine travel companies, gaining particular experience in the offshore market.Prior to joining KVH Videotel, he worked at the OSM Maritime Group, where…

Marittima Emiliana, a company owned by the Amoretti family’s Armatori Group, has placed an order for the 4,500 dwt  tanker duo at Ningbo Xinle Shipbuilding, a Chinese shipyard specialising in small chemical construction.Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised Crédit Agricole Italia on two financings for Marittima Emiliana for the construction of the two chemical tankers.Construction will start in 1H 2019m, with delivery is scheduled for 2020. This transaction represents the Amoretti…

Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods, mostly originated in China, has risen steadily, posing a major challenge in an innovation-driven global economy, revealed a new study.Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods has risen steadily in the last few years – even as overall trade volumes stagnated – and now stands at 3.3% of global trade, according to a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the EU’s Intellectual Property Office.Trends…

France's CMA CGM has signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Ethiopian company MACCFA, as well as a letter of intent with ESLSE to manage Ethiopia's Modjo port, according to a document made available by the French President's office.Marseille-based CMA CGM, one of the world's largest container shipping lines, recently became the core shareholder in Ceva Logistics, with the company looking to expand in non-maritime freight services. (Reuters, Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

French authorities battled on Thursday to contain an oil slick after the Italian Grande America ship capsized in the Atlantic this week.The Grimaldi Lines container ship capsized and sank on Tuesday, after catching fire while sailing from Hamburg to Casablanca. Britain's Royal Navy frigate Argyll rescued all 27 crew members from the water.The ship was carrying 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel when it sank some 330 km (200 miles) off the coast from La Rochelle in western France. Footage…

Shipping services provider Boluda Corporación Marítima has signed a letter of intent to acquire all the shares, worth 300 million euros, of Kotug Smit Towage.The Netherlands-based towage services provider Kotug Smit Towage is operating in North Sea countries (United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany).Boluda Corporación Marítima is now in talks to acquire 100% of the towage company Kotug Smit Towage created in 2016. The shares are owned equally by the two companies Kotug International BV and Royal Boskalis Westminster NV…

Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) Port of Ngqura has hosted the testing and launch of the first ever locally manufactured aluminium vessels by PE-based boat builder, Legacy Marine. As the company’s ship yard is based in Perseverance, the low bridges blocked the route to the Port of PE in the past, restricting the building of larger vessels. When the new Port of Ngqura stepped up as an alternative port, it contributed to the expansion of boat building in the Eastern Cape.“Now that the port is available for new vessel launches…

Twenty-seven people have been rescued from an Italian-registered cargo ship that caught fire Monday night in the Bay of Biscay, about 150 miles southwest of Brest. The Grimaldi Group owned combination container roll-on/roll-off (ConRo) vessel Grande America was sailing from Hamburg to Casablanca when its cargo of containers and vehicles caught fire around 8 p.m.After attempts to battle the flames proved unsuccessful, the entire crew of 26 and one passenger disembarked into heavy seas aboard a single enclosed lifeboat and were rescued by the crew of British Royal Navy frigate HMS Argyll…