Port News

Estonian port authority Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn) announced that starting from next year the ships that have joined the Environmental Ship Index (ESI) can apply for discount on tonnage fees of up to 8%.The Baltic Sea port said in a press release that the new port pricing system involving differentiated port fees is aimed at encouraging shipping companies to adopt environmentally friendlier technologies and thus also contribute to the health of Baltic Sea ecosystem.The head…

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has planned to retrofit its work boats with green fuel and also placed orders with Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) for procuring six new vessels, based on methanol mix.CSL will get the work done by Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers Ltd (HDPEL) in Howrah, with which it has formed a joint venture, said sources.The PTI reported that IWAI has also planned to retrofit its work boats with green fuel.The shipyard has a tie-up with Sweden based company which is a leading entity in the use of methanol for marine fuel…

Global port operator DP World says it has completed the acquisition of Danish logistics firm Unifeeder for $748 million.DP World’s full acquisition of Unifeeder Group from Nordic Capital Fund VIII was announced in August, but finalized on Thursday."DP World PLC is pleased to advise that it has closed the transaction to acquire 100% of Unifeeder Group from Nordic Capital Fund VIII and certainminority shareholders," said one sentence statement from the Dubai-based global marine terminal operator."Unifeeder Group is now part of the DP World Group…

The last refugee rescue ship working in the Mediterranean Sea, Aquarius, has ended her operations, French NGO Medecins sans Frontieres said late on Thursday, blaming harassment from Italy and other countries."This is a sombre day," Nelke Mander, Medecins sans Frontieres's general director, said in a statement. "The end of our operations onboard the Aquarius will mean more death in the sea, deaths that are avoidable and without witnesses."The decision to moor the Aquarius is the result of a "constant denigration, smearing and obstruction campaign led" against Medecins sans Frontieres and SOS MEDITERRANEAN by the Italian government and supported by other European countries…

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind will supply 100 turbines for the 950-megawatt (MW) Moray East offshore wind farm in waters off the northeast coast of Scotland.Under the contract, MHI Vestas will deliver one hundred of its V164-9.5 MW offshore wind turbines for the project in the Moray Firth. The order includes a 15-year service agreement, MHI Vestas said. This is the company’s largest ever MW project.Moray Offshore Windfarm (East) Limited, known as Moray East, is a 950 MW offshore wind project 22km from the coast of Scotland…

Swiss container shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) paid $630,625 in penalties to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for violating the Ocean-Going Vessel At-Berth Regulation.According to CARB, the violations were discovered during a routine audit of the company’s 2014 visits to the Port of Oakland and the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.The investigation by CARB revealed more than 2500 violations for both the Oakland and LA/LB fleets for failing…

The recently signed smart carrousel plan in the Waalhaven is expected to give breakbulk and heavy cargo companies space for further growth in Rotterdam’s Waalhaven.In the coming three-and-a-half years, 12 hectares of industrial site and 1,155 metres of quay will undergo a user change. The industrial sites and port infrastructure will also be renovated by the Port of Rotterdam Authority. The aim is to give an additional growth incentive to the Rotterdam breakbulk sector."This operation…

The Southwest Alaska Pilots Association has taken delivery of a new pilot boat from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. The vessel was delivered to Fort Lauderdale, where it was loaded on a ship bound for the West Coast.With a length overall of 75.7’, beam of 20.6’ and draft of 3.11’, the all-aluminum  pilot boat features the Ray Hunt-designed Deep V hull. It is powered by twin Cummins QSK38-M1, EPA Tier 3 diesel engines, each delivering 1,400 Bhp at 1,800 rpm and connected to twin ZF-5000 gear boxes. The launch is propelled by a pair of Hamilton HM651 water jets.

Malaysian-owned global shipping company announced that  it had named its first LNG dual-fuelled aframax vessels, Eagle Brasilia and Eagle Bintulu, built by Samsung Heavy Industry Co Ltd’s (SHI) at the company’s shipyard in Geoje, South Korea.The company specialising in the ocean transport of crude oil and refined products said that both vessels have been taken on long-term charter by Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell), primarily for operations in the Atlantic Basin…

Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems Association (EGCSA) has attacked Singapore's restrictions on open-loop versions of the systems as "disappointing" and "politically motivated."The scrubber manufacturing industry body said in a press release: "The recent announcement by the outgoing CEO of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) banning the discharge of process water from open loop scrubbers for vessels visiting Singapore came without prior notice or discussion with the IMO…

Port of Hamburg terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft (HHLA) joined force with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT/HTT) to form a new company.According to a press release from HTT, the company will focus on integrating the latest container movement innovations with hyperloop technology into the largest rail port in Europe. Additionally, the new company will bring this new technology to ports, shipping, and logistics companies around the…

Dunkerque LNG SAS, which constructs and operates liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, provided an overview of their port infrastructure to meet up to 13 BCM (billion cubic metres) of LNG import demand into France and Belgium as well as providing full LNG ship bunkering operations.Whilst most of the world’s 118 LNG-powered vessels currently operate in the Baltic Sea, Dunkerque LNG’s director of business development Cécile Grégoire-David predicted that the majority of the world’s…

Port of Rotterdam to grant nine  licenced liquified natural gas (LNG) bunkering licences by 2020, a port official has said.Six of the licenses are already for regular use in port LNG bunker operations to refuel LNG-powered cruise, cargo, tanker and container vessels, said Cees Boon, Senior Policy Advisor at the Harbourmaster Policy Department of the Port of Rotterdam. Three licenses will be for bunker vessels that will operate on the spot market.“By using best practice guidelines in the IAPH audit tool developed by ports for port authorities…

FUELTRAX optimizes uptime and reduce costs with a real-time marine fuel management solution. Solving your emissions and fuel monitoring reporting and compliance headache is what they are all about.In today’s operating environment, it would be an understatement to say that detailed insight into fuel consumption and efficiency is one key to managing marine operations. But, beyond the operational headache of determining where and why you are consuming so much fuel and so quickly, regulatory compliance is also emerging as a fundamental requirement of modern marine operators.

Biosecurity New Zealand has directed a vehicle carrier to leave New Zealand waters following the discovery of stink bugs and other regulated pests.Biosecurity officers intercepted 3 live and 39 dead brown marmorated stink bugs and 69 other dead regulated stink bugs after the Carmen arrived in Auckland from Europe on Wednesday morning.The vessel was carrying a range of vehicles from Europe and the United States."The interceptions indicated the cargo was likely to be infested with stink bugs.

Russia-Ukraine naval clash followed shipping holdups Ships bound for Ukrainian ports say they are held up while those bound for Russian ports go through.When the Island Bay cargo ship arrived from Beirut at the Kerch Strait, gateway to the Azov Sea, it sailed into a perfect storm of geopolitics and bad weather.The following day, Russia opened fire on three Ukrainian naval ships, impounded them and detained their sailors, some of them wounded. It then blocked the strait by putting a tanker underneath a new bridge it has built linking the Russian mainland to the Crimean peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.While the world digested the implications of the Nov.

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has called on the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) to ensure fairness and balance in its reportage of piracy issues on Nigeria’s territorial waters.Dakuku regretted what he called the exaggeration of reports on incidences on the country’s waterways by the IMB, a specialised department of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) dedicated to fighting maritime crime and malpractice.The DG noted that the Agency had put mechanisms in place to reduce piracy to the barest minimum.

The European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA)  and the World Shipping Council (WSC) welcome the adoption of a General Approach on the proposal for a European Maritime Single Window environment by Transport Ministers.European co-legislators have been working intensively to reduce the administrative burden shipping faces. This burden stems from today’s unharmonised and inefficient reporting obligations and mechanisms within the EU."ECSA and WSC are pleased with the progress…

Time has come to apply for renewal of CLC, Bunker, Athens and Wreck Removal Certificates from the Danish Maritime Authority (DMA). The certificates must be renewed once a year when the underlying insurance expires.According to DMA, ships that are required to hold a certificate must not operate without valid certificates.Many certificates expire on 20 February 2019.These are typically  CLC, Bunker, Athens and Wreck Removal Certificates based on P&I insurance.Some CLC, Bunker, Athens and WRC Certificates expire on dates other than 20 February 2019.

Legal experts and port and maritime security officers from Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka have gathered at  International Maritime Organization (IMO)  in London (27-29 November) for a focused sub-regional workshop on implementing transport-related (maritime) counter terrorism instruments.A press note from IMO said that the joint United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and IMO Counter Terrorism/Security sub-regional workshop was a follow-up to three national workshops…

Legislation that sets standards for incidental water discharges from vessels passed the House on Nov. 29.The Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, S. 140, which includes the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA), passed the Senate two weeks earlier and now moves to the President to be signed.The provision places the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the lead role of establishing standards for ballast water discharge, and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) will monitor and enforce compliance.

Maritime Blockchain Labs has announced the real-world testing phase for technology solution that enhances traceability and trust in bunker fuel supply chain. Maritime Blockchain Labs (MBL), a partnership set up between Lloyd’s Register Foundation and BLOC to explore the use of blockchain for the assurance and safety of critical infrastructure and drive new business models for the global maritime industry, announced today that its first demonstrator project, a fuel provenance register for the maritime sector that aims to provide trusted information about fuel origin…

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News was offered the opportunity to interview Admiral Karl Schultz, the 26th Commandant in the history of the United States Coast Guard, in his office in Washington, DC. Just five months into his tenure, his plate is predictably full with a number of challenges, including: Attracting and retaining future U.S. Coast Guard personnel; addressing a number of assymetric threats, including cyber attacks; and ensuring captial and operating budgets are adequate to safely and efficiently carry out a global mission envelope, to name but a few.