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Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, and South Korean telecommunications services provider SK telink have signed an agreement to strengthen collaboration between the two companies to bring NexusWave services to shipowners seeking to enhance operational efficiency, resilience and crew welfare. It covers NexusWave implementation across car carriers, container ships, VLCCs, and other vessel types operated by the South Korean shipping companies, including HMM, SINOKOR and others.Building on a strategic relationship dating back to 2007…

A container ship will depart from South Korea bound for Europe via the Arctic on Saturday, testing whether a route opened by melting sea ice can be commercially viable, but risking friction with Western allies, as the voyage requires Russian cooperation.If successful, the trip would be South Korea's first such commercial voyage to Europe via the Arctic, placing it with China and Russia among the few countries whose shipping firms have tested or run cargo services along the route.Sailing north from the port of Busan, the PanStar Acro will make stops at Felixstowe in Britain, Rotterdam in the Ne

Three supertankers were crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday carrying oil bound for Asian markets, after waiting in the Gulf for more than two months with 6 million barrels of Middle East crude on board, while another was entering, shipping data on LSEG and Kpler showed.The ships are among a handful of supertankers exiting the Gulf this month via a transit route that Iran has ordered ships to use.The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran which began on February 28 has severely curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz…

South Korean shipper HMM said on Wednesday it had secured a vessel to tow a bulk carrier it operates to a port in Dubai after an explosion and fire damaged the ship, which had been stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.U.S. President Donald Trump blamed the incident on an Iranian attack, while South Korea's Foreign Ministry said the cause of the fire would only be confirmed after the vessel was towed back to port and inspected.HMM said in a text message that the damaged vessel was expected to arrive in Dubai on Thursday night or Friday morning Seoul time.The Panama-flagged ship…

The U.S. military said on Monday it destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones as Tehran sought to thwart a new U.S. naval effort to open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.U.S. President Donald Trump launched the operation, called Project Freedom, on Monday as he sought to wrest control of the critical waterway from Iran, which effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel started the conflict on February 28.U.S.

There was a fire and an explosion on a vessel operated by South Korean shipper HMM in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the foreign ministry in Seoul said.The government was checking intelligence that the vessel, HMM Namu, may have been attacked, Yonhap News reported citing government officials.There were no casualties reported and authorities were investigating what caused the blaze that, HMM said, broke out in the engine room of the Panama-flagged cargo ship.Twenty-four crew members, including six Korean nationals, were on board, the company told Reuters.The U.S. military said two U.S.

The Ulsan Port Authority (UPA) announced the successful completion of the world’s first ammonia bunkering operation for an ammonia dual-fuel gas carrier at Ulsan Port on April 23, 2026.This milestone builds on Ulsan Port’s earlier achievements, including the world’s first methanol bunkering demonstration (2023–2026) and simultaneous LNG bunkering operations for car carriers. With this latest development, Ulsan Port has, for the first time in the world, demonstrated ammonia bunkering for a commercial vessel via Port-to-Ship (PTS) operations…

Avikus, HD Hyundai’s specialized autonomous navigation subsidiary, signed a landmark agreement with HMM, South Korea’s leading national carrier, to supply its AI-based autonomous navigation solution, HiNAS Control, to 40 vessels.This agreement represents the largest single supply contract for autonomous navigation solutions to date. With this deal, Avikus becomes the first company in the industry to surpass 100 cumulative units of autonomous solutions supplied to large-scale commercial…

This week, container ship ordering news was dominated by the order by Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) for eight 13,400 TEU container ships.In a newly released report, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) notes that the container fleet is aging. As of August 2025, the average fleet age of the top 10 shipping lines is relatively mature at around 13 years old, although there is variation amongst the different shipping companies. Evergreen and HMM currently operate the youngest fleet with an average age of nine years…

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the intermediate holding company for HD Hyundai's shipbuilding business, has signed a shipbuilding contract with HMM for eight 13,400-TEU dual-fuel container ships.The vessels ordered are 337 meters in length, 51 meters in width, and 27.9 meters in height.They will be equipped with LNG dual-fuel engines and a significantly enlarged fuel tank, expanded by approximately 50%, to enhance operational efficiency.Of the eight vessels…

AI is here to stay. Those who don’t explore its use and capabilities may soon find themselves left at the dock.At our company, we treat AI like any other engineering tool — no different than finite element analysis or computerized performance prediction. When used well, it’s extremely useful. When used poorly, it’s useless. At that level, we don’t worry about “intelligence.” It’s more like a fluffy Wikipedia, which, by the way, remains a surprisingly solid source of hard technical information.Early on, I asked AI to list the causes of slip and fall incidents on stairs.

Four Hanwha Group companies — Hanwha Power Systems, Hanwha Ocean, Hanwha Aerospace, and Hanwha Systems — signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with shipping company HMM and Korean Register (KR) to jointly develop and demonstrate next-generation carbon-free ship propulsion systems.The partners will jointly conduct concept design for next-generation propulsion systems — including an integrated solution combining an ammonia-based gas turbine and fuel cells for 7,000–8,000 TEU-class container vessels…

The Panama Canal launched a consultation process with representatives of the maritime industry to identify potential partners interested in developing port terminals on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the waterway.Following a process similar to that followed for the introduction of the gas pipeline project, the Panama Canal convened a group of representatives from companies with proven experience in container port operations and container shipping lines.According to institutional rules and regulations…

South Korea’s largest shipping company HMM has ordered 12 new 13,000 TEU-class eco-friendly container ships from Korean shipbuilders, as well as two very large container ships, for a total of $2.82 billion.The 12 containerships will be built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, and all of them will be LNG-fueled vessels, HMM said.The details for the other two very large containerships, reportedly ordered by the company, have not been disclosed.According to the company…

Major container shipping companies are suspending at least six scheduled weekly routes between China and the United States as President Donald Trump's punishing tariffs on the world's top exporting country collapse trade, maritime consultants said.The ships on those routes have the combined capacity to deliver 25,682 40-foot containers stuffed with toys, tennis shoes, car parts and things U.S. manufacturers use to produce goods each week - or more than 1.3 million 40-foot containers a year…

Veson Nautical has used VesselsValue data to confirm that South Korea’s orderbook has now topped $138 billion.The LNG sector is the most valuable, worth $71.3 billion and accounting for around 52% of the total South Korean orderbook value. This sector also has the highest volume of orders with 276 vessels on order.Container ships rank second with a market value of $35.6 billion, equating to a share of about 26% and 184 vessels on order. The LPG ranks third with a value of $14.9 billion and 129 vessels on order, closely followed by the tanker orderbook which is valued at $14.7 billion.

The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has announced that the Premier Alliance Agreement (No. 201435) can take effect on February 9, 2025.The Premier Alliance is replacing THE Alliance, but does not include Hapag-Lloyd which instead entered the Gemini Cooperation with Maersk.The new arrangement allows Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Yang Ming to share vessels on trade lines between the United States and Asia, the Middle East and Europe.The cooperation is comprised of mainline services across the major East – West Tradelines: Asia – North America West Coast…

With the upcoming dissolution of the 2M Alliance in early 2025, JAXPORT is maintaining and growing its global container services through strategic partnerships with the world's top ocean carriers. New and modified service routes through JAXPORT will provide expanded global connectivity and access to new and emerging markets.Three primary changes are taking place beginning in February 2025.The Gemini Cooperation – an alliance between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd – has added JAXPORT to a new, direct service calling Cartagena, Colombia, opening doors not only to South American markets but also to the global Gemini network, including ports in Asia…

HJ Shipbuilding & Construction (HJSC) held a christening ceremony for two 7,700 TEU LNG dual-fuel (DF) container ships at its Yeongdo Shipyard in Busan last week, marking the company’s first LNG DF container ship construction.The event was attended by more than 100 guests, including Angeliki Frangou, Chairwoman of Navios Maritime Partners LP, Shunji Sasada, President of Navios, Kim Kyung-bae, President of HMM, Yoo Sang-cheol, CEO of HJSC, along with other officials. The two vessels…

The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has opened a 15-day comment period for members of the public to comment in response to a newly filed vessel sharing agreement between Ocean Network Express (ONE), Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Yang Ming Marine Transportation (Yang Ming).ONE, HMM and Yang Ming are parties to THE Alliance Agreement (No. 012439) that is currently in effect.The five-year agreement, titled the Premier Alliance Agreement, authorizes the three ocean common carriers to share vessels…

U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports began reopening late on Thursday after dockworkers and port operators reached a wage deal to settle the industry's biggest work stoppage in nearly half a century, but clearing the cargo backlog will take time.The strike ended sooner than investors had expected, weakening shipping stocks across Asia on Friday as freight rates were no longer expected to surge.At least 54 container ships queued outside the ports as the strike had prevented unloading and threatened shortages of anything from bananas to auto parts.

A global operational alliance between two of the world’s largest container shipping companies will not go into effect next week as planned following a move by the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission to study the potential competitive impacts of the arrangement.The FMC said on Friday it is seeking more information to determine the potential competitive impacts of the proposed Gemini Cooperation Agreement, which would allow ocean carriers Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd to share vessels in the trades between the United States and Asia…

KR announced the successful installation of an onboard carbon capture system (OCCS) with purely domestic technology, and it will soon undergo internal verification testing.The project began in April 2023 as a collaborative effort with HMM, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and PANASIA. As a result of this collaboration, the system was installed on the 2,200 teu container ship, HMM Mongla. KR conducted the risk assessment and application of relevant regulations in this OCCS project.The OCCS applies a technology that captures…