M Operating News

Lloyd's of London insurers Hiscox and Lancashire do not expect large insurance claims from the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March that caused widespread disruption, they said on Thursday.Some estimates for the total insured losses from the bridge collapse run into billions of dollars, given the loss of lives, bridge repair costs and traffic re-routing.The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday insurer Chubb was preparing to make a $350 million payout to the state of Maryland.Hiscox does not have direct exposure to the business interruption policy of the port…

In 2018, convicted cocaine trafficker Slobodan Kostovski fled a Brazilian prison and made his way back to Europe with a fake passport.The Serbian senior quickly fell into old habits, police allege. Last August, Kostovski was arrested in Belgrade, accused of shipping 2.7 metric tonnes of cocaine from Brazil aboard a 22-meter vessel apprehended near Spain’s Canary Islands.Nicknamed “the General” by his associates, he had been trafficking “large amounts” of powder to “Europe for a long period of time,” Serbian police wrote in a 2022 intelligence report obtained exclusively by Reuters.

Norwegian power solutions supplier Bergen Engines has been selected to provide four generating sets to support the world’s largest hydrogen ferries, operating on Norway’s longest ferry connection from Bodø to Lofoten.The C25:33L8A generating sets will be fueled by low carbon Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and will serve as support power to the hydrogen fuel cells onboard, which act as the vessel’s main propulsion power.Scheduled for delivery in 2026, these new ferries will be…

Crowley and Teamsters Union Local 901 have reached a new labor agreement to extend their longtime partnership into its sixth decade serving the shipping and logistics needs of Puerto Rico.The agreement, recently ratified by union members, covers the 200 employees who work at Crowley’s Isla Grande Terminal in San Juan until 2029. Employees there serve as port equipment operators, truck drivers and support operations in various other roles important to safe and reliable operations.“We have successfully worked with the Teamsters Union to provide safe…

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell more than 12% after the operator's downbeat first-quarter revenue overshadowed a raise in annual profit forecast on Wednesday.Expectations for cruise operators have generally become high after strong booking trends and demand drove up their results and shares last year.Shares of Norwegian and its rival Carnival have seen their growth temper from those highs, in part due to concerns around cost pressures and their brands' exposure to the Middle East conflict.Meanwhile…

Sunil Krishnakumar, Senior Technical Manager at the International Chamber of Shipping, provides his key insights on the newly released Engine Room Procedures Guide, Second Edition, by ICS.The shipping industry has embarked on a transformative journey, actively working towards a sustainable future and a safer environment. With a strong commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the industry is actively seeking the uptake and safe use of new low-GHG technologies and alternatives…

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell for a fourth consecutive month to 6.19 million metric tons in April from 7.61 million in March on production outages, preliminary data from financial firm LSEG showed on Wednesday.Recurring mechanical problems have hit Freeport LNG, the second largest U.S. plant by capacity. Last month, the Quintana, Texas, terminal exported five cargoes for a total of 330,000 tons, compared to 21 cargoes and 1.42 million tons in December.Since mid-January, the plant has been operating without at least one of its three gas-processing trains.

Logistical constraints at the Port of Vancouver mean waterborne oil exports from the highly anticipated Trans Mountain pipeline expansion due to start up on Wednesday may only be around half what the Canadian government-owned corporation has forecast, traders and shipping sources said.The C$34 billion ($24.82 billion) project to nearly triple the flow of crude from Alberta to Canada's Pacific Coast to 890,000 barrels per day is scheduled to start operating on May 1 after years of regulatory delays and construction setbacks.The extra 590…

Dennis Tetzlaff has been appointed Stena Line’s new Chief Operating Officer Fleet.Tetzlaff enters his new role with a wealth of experience, having worked in various professions within the shipping and cruise industry over the past two decades. Most recently, he comes from TUI Cruises, where he served as the Vice President Fleet Operations & Newbuild.Tetzlaff has a degree in nautical science and maritime transport from the University of Applied Sciences in Emden/Leer, Germany, but his career at sea already started at age 20…

Bibby Marine has signed a shipbuilding contract with Gondan Shipbuilders to construct what is said to be the world’s first zero-emission, electric commissioning service operation vessel (eCSOV).The eCSOV will be built in Gondan’s Asturias shipyard in Spain and is scheduled to be delivered in 2026.Designed in collaboration with UK-based ship designers Longitude, the eCSOV, will feature a powerful battery system, complemented by dual-fuel methanol engines for emissions-free operations.

Norwegian offshore vessel operator DOF Group has secured two contracts with Brazil’s state-run oil and gas company Petrobras, worth over $192 million.Petrobras has awarded new long-term charter and service contracts to Norskan Offshore. and DOF Subsea Servicos Brasil, after a competitive tender process.The vessel Skandi Amazonas, which was on the spot market, is chartered for three years firm with two years mutually agreed option via Petrobras tender issued late in 2023, to operate…

At a high-level, there are three solutions to transferring technicians from shore bases to offshore wind farms for construction and O&M activities: crew transfer vessel (CTV), helicopter, and SOVs/CSOVs.SOVs and CSOVs generally house 60-120 technicians offshore for a few weeks at a time, allowing them to transfer to structures on integrated heave compensated gangways, by daughter craft or on CTVs. The vessels are also equipped with cranes, storage, and small workshop areas.SOV: Service operations vessels…

SCHOTTEL will equip Guangzhou Port Group’s latest e-tug with two RudderPropellers type SRP 360 in the LE-Drive variant. The new harbor tug measures 37.9 x 10.5m and will be mainly used for berthing assistance, escorting and towing in the Port of Guangzhou, China. Each SRP has an input power of 1,500 kW and a propeller diameter of 2.2m. The 360-degree steerable thruster combines maximum maneuverability and bollard pull with outstanding efficiency during free sailing, providing…

His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands will open the Seven Oceans Simulator center (SOSc) of MARIN, the Maritime Research Institute of the Netherlands, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.The opening program takes place in the Shallow Water Basin, one of MARIN's test facilities for ship models. Experts from the maritime research institute, the NL Coast Guard, Search &  Rescue Institution KNRM and maritime service providers talk about shipping safety, about working in increasingly busy seas and about involving the crew in the design of new ships.

Shipping must engage with the decarbonization realities that lie ahead by changing the way it crafts maritime legislation to reflect its place in the interconnected, interdependent world economy, says Eero Lehtovaara, Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs, ABB Marine & Ports.ABB Marine & Ports Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs, Eero Lehtovaara has carved out an unusual - and possibly unique - role in the maritime industry over recent years, as a ‘stakeholder’ simultaneously mindful of the perspectives of owners…

Founded as the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and renamed Military Sealift Command in 1970, MSC today not only support the Navy, but we are the Department of Defense's provider of all sealift. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently interviewed Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, U.S. Navy, for insights on the service today and it’s needs to grow in the future.What makes MSC so vital to the Navy’s fleet and our military forces around the world?When we  look at the history of contested logistics in World War II…

Babcock has been awarded the contract to manage the Type 23 class frigate Refit Support Group, allowing the company to take end-to-end responsibility for vessel upkeep and regeneration in preparation for handover to the ship’s crew.This innovative change follows more than five years of close working between the Royal Navy-led Refit Support Group and Babcock.It frees up UK Royal Navy personnel for front line operations and creates new and exciting roles for 40 Babcock engineering technicians and managers at its Devonport facility…

Norwegian shipowner MPC Container Ships (MPCC) has signed a $55 million pre and post-delivery ECA covered financing agreement with Deutsche Bank and SINOSURE for its two dual-fuel methanol newbuildings.The vessels are scheduled for delivery towards the end of 2024 and are secured by 15-year time charter agreements with North Sea Container Line (NCL). The loan matures in 2036, according to MPCC.Chinese-based shipyard Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering is in charge of the construction…

ABS Wavesight has appointed software and digital technology leader Staci Satterwhite to serve as Chief Operating Officer (COO), a new role for the maritime software as a service (SaaS) affiliate of ABS.Most recently serving as the COO of Khoros, a Vista private equity portfolio company, Satterwhite has extensive and diverse global experience helping develop and transform software and digital solutions.As COO, Satterwhite is responsible for leading product development and further enhancing customer interactions and experiences.

Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power ships will rise this year on attractive prices, while more dual-fuel vessels join the global fleet. Prices of LNG delivered as marine fuel at the world's largest bunker hub Singapore are at steep discounts of nearly $100 per metric ton compared with conventional 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), industry sources report.That is a far cry from record premiums of more than $1,000 a ton seen in September 2023, based on data from S&P Global Platts published on industry coalition SEA-LNG's website…

Wallenius Wilhelmsen has signed a 20-year lease agreement with the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), with options up to 30 years for Brunswick port expansion, increasing its strategic terminal and processing networkUpgraded and enlarged Brunswick facilities will further expand the scope and scale of U.S. Southeast operations of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, which is the world's largest RoRo vessel operator.The Brunswick expansion will further cement the company’s position as the favored partner for North American customers…

Simulation-based training has its whole-of-ship/whole-of-team scenarios, but zooming in, the industry is now working on more specific targets.We have a close relationship with technology, evidenced by, for example, the phones we are estimated to unlock around 50-80 times a day. It has changed us. Half the people surveyed in a 2022 King’s College London study said that they feel like their attention span is shorter than it used to be. They are wrong, though, if they think that the average attention span of adults today is just eight seconds, one second less than goldfish.

WinGD will record the first installation of its new X-S short-stroke engine design following successful factory acceptance tests with engine builder Dalian Marine Diesel in March.The six-cylinder, 62cm-bore 6X62-S2.0 engine will be installed on a pulp carrier being built for a Chinese owner at COSCO Dalian shipyard.The X-S series succeeds the well-established RT-flex50 and RT-flex58 engines and is available in 52cm and 62cm bore sizes, for the range of fuel options including traditional diesel or dual-fuel LNG…