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Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Scrap Metal News

10 Mar 2026

Barge Catches Fire in Delaware Bay

Source: social media

The Coast Guard and partner agencies are responding to a barge fire in the Delaware Bay.At 8:20 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay watchstanders received a call from the tug Douglas J reporting the barge they were towing was on fire.

08 Mar 2026

GMS Calls on EU to Include Indian Recycling Yards on List

Source: GMS

GMS, the world’s largest buyer of ships for recycling, has called on the European Commission to approve qualified Indian ship recycling facilities for inclusion on the European List under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR).Despite more than 110 Indian yards holding Hong Kong Convention (HKC) Statements of Compliance issued by IACS member classification societies, over 35 formal applications submitted, and at least 10 Commission-led inspections and audits, not a single Indian yard has been approved in more than a decade.“This is not a failure of standards.

11 Jan 2026

Piracy in Straits of Malacca and Singapore Drops After Arrests

Source: ReCAAP ISC

The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) issued its 2025 annual report on piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia highlighting that 132 incidents of piracy and armed robbery were reported to in 2025 - a 23% increase over the 107 incidents reported in 2024.One hundred and eight of these were located in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS), a 74% increase over 2024 numbers. This is the highest number of incidents recorded in the SOMS during the 19-year period from 2007 to 2025.The incidents were mostly opportunistic theft committed during hours of darkness between 8pm and 6am.

01 Dec 2025

Report: Combustible Scrap Caused Fire on Bulk Carrier

Source: MAIB

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published its preliminary assessment of a cargo fire on the bulk carrier Atlay on June 27, 2025.The Marshall Islands registered vessel was loading scrap metal into its aft cargo hold at Albert Dock, Hull, England.At 0948, the master observed smoke rising from the cargo and immediately activated the general alarm and called for the shore grab operator to discharge cargo to remove or expose the source of the fire. Meanwhile…

10 Sep 2025

Taiwan Steps Up Subsea Cable Patrols

© Keitma / Adobe Stock

Taiwanese coast guard captain Juan Chung-ching's patrol boat moves across the Taiwan Strait, scanning for threats to what Taipei says is the newest target of China's grey-zone warfare: undersea cables vital to the democratic island's communications.Juan steered his 100-ton vessel, armed with water cannons and an autocannon, toward TP3, the undersea cable that made international headlines when a Chinese captain was found guilty of deliberately severing it this year.TP3 is one of…

16 Jun 2025

Pirate Swarm Steals Metal from Barge

© sarfaraz / Adobe Stock

Anti-piracy equipment company Palaemon reports that security threats occurred over the past week in the Singapore Straits, Gulf of Guinea and Red Sea. The incidents include:• 32 pirates used eight boats to attack a tug boat in the Singapore Strait, stealing a large quantity of scrap metal. The crew remained unharmed. The pirates had three boats on the port side, four on the starboard side, and one boat in the rear. Each had 3-4 perpetrators onboard, with14 boarding the barge to steal the metal.• An armed assailants targeted multiple passenger boats on the Bonny River in Nigeria…

20 May 2024

Decommissioned Navy Tanker Is Largest Ship to Be Recycled in Australia

File photo: Australian replenishment tanker HMAS Sirius (Photo: Matthew M. Bradley / U.S. Navy)

One of the largest vessels in Australian history, HMAS Sirius, has been recycled.After 15 years’ service as a Royal Australian Navy fuel tanker – and two years since her decommissioning at HMAS Stirling, Perth, in December 2021 – the ship has now become scrap metal.Sirius is the largest vessel to be dismantled in Australia, with industry partner Birdon Group carrying out the process at the Australian Maritime Complex facility near Perth.Acting First Assistant Secretary Strategy…

03 Mar 2024

Recycling Market Still Deprived of Tonnage

Source: GMS

As freight markets push further on, global ship recycling markets remain deprived of tonnage, making it an increasingly suffocating environment for ship recyclers to operate in, reports cash buyer GMS.Bangladesh and Pakistan rely heavily on imported ship’s steel, not only for domestic / large-scale infrastructure projects, but also for its comparatively ‘healthier’ and ‘rust-free’ condition than other forms of imported scrap metal / steel (HMS 1, HMS 2, shredded steel, etc.)Therefore…

22 Oct 2023

Fire Breaks Out on Scrap Barge in New Jersey

Commercial salvage excavators work to overhaul scrap metal that caught fire aboard a barge in the Newark Harbor on Oct. 22 2023. Coast Guard pollution responders supervise the operation to limit the opportunity of pollution entering the water. (Photo courtesy of Ken's Marine)

A fire has broken out aboard a scrap barge in Jersey City, N.J., the U.S. Coast Guard said on Sunday.The agency said its watchstanders at USCG Sector New York received an initial call of a fire aboard a scrap metal barge moored at Sims Metal;s recycling facility in Jersey City at 11:30 a.m.A Coast Guard Station New York response boat crew, along with Sector New York prevention and response teams, joined multiple area agencies, including the Jersey City Fire Department, two New…

02 Oct 2023

Thyssenkrupp, Wilhelmsen Create 3D Printing Firm of Maritime & Offshore Sectors

CCO Håkon Ellekjær demonstrating a 3D printed spare part at the launch of Pelagus in Singapore last Friday.

Wilhelmsen and Thyssenkrupp announced on September 29 their joint venture company, Pelagus 3D, marking the entry of a new player into global maritime and offshore services market."Pelagus 3D envisions to be the largest one-stop, on-demand digital manufacturing partner for the maritime and offshore industries. It uses Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing to deliver maritime spare parts more efficiently in terms of time and cost, allowing customers to ensure their vessels’ seaworthiness and keep their operations moving on schedule…

30 Aug 2023

Kinder Morgan Says Idalia Caused Minimal Damage to Florida Terminals

(Image: NOAA)

Kinder Morgan KMI.N on Wednesday said its Port Manatee, Port Sutton and Tampaplex terminals in Florida sustained minimal damage due to Hurricane Idalia, and that it was also planning to shut its Charleston area terminals later in the day.The U.S. energy company said it was planning to reopen the terminals on Thursday, while its Tampa facilities including the Tampa refined products terminal and Central Florida Pipeline system have resumed normal operations.The Port Manatee, Port Sutton and Tampaplex terminals handle commodities such as fertilizers…

29 May 2023

Malaysia Detains Chinese Ship Linked to Suspected Illegal Salvage of British WW2 Wrecks

Credit: Angiolo/AdobeStock

Malaysia's maritime authorities on Monday said cannon shells believed to be from World War Two have been found on a China-registered bulk carrier ship detained at the weekend for anchoring in its waters without permission.The discovery comes amid reports this month that scavengers have targeted two British World War Two wrecks off the coast of Malaysia - the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse - which were sunk by Japanese torpedoes in 1941, just three days after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

15 May 2023

Norway Naval Officer Found Guilty of Negligence in Oil Tanker Collision

NCA's surveillance aircraft LN-LYV flew over the incident site on November 9, 2018. Photo: The Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) - CC BY-NC 2.0

A Norwegian naval officer was found guilty on Monday and sentenced to a two-month suspended jail sentence for negligence leading up to the 2018 collision between a warship he commanded and an oil tanker in which the military vessel sank.Building a replacement for the lost Helge Ingstad frigate would have cost up to 13 billion crowns ($1.24 billion), the armed forces estimated in a 2019 report.The early-morning crash between the Ingstad and the fully loaded Sola TS crude carrier near a major North Sea oil export terminal also triggered shutdowns of parts of Norway's petroleum production.

04 May 2023

NTSB Cites Potential Fire Risks for Marine Operators Carrying Scrap Materials

The scrap metal fire aboard the CMT Y Not 6 on the morning of May 23, 2022. Inset shows molten metal leaking out of a starboard-side freeing port. (Source: U.S. Coast Guard)

Lithium-ion batteries and other possible ignition sources could pose a fire safety issue in the transportation of scrap materials as cargo, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.Although scrap metal cargo is typically nonhazardous and poses a low fire risk, there have been several recent fires involving such cargo. In January 2022, a shoreside pile caught fire in Newark, N.J. Two international vessels carrying scrap material experienced cargo fires in 2022…

18 Jan 2023

Norway: Naval Officer Denies Negligence in Oil Tanker Collision

NCA's surveillance aircraft LN-LYV flew over the incident site on November 9, 2018. Photo: The Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) - CC BY-NC 2.0

A Norwegian naval officer on Monday denied negligence leading up to the 2018 collision between a warship he commanded and an oil tanker in which the military vessel sank. Building a replacement for the lost Helge Ingstad frigate would cost up to 13 billion crowns ($1.3 billion), the armed forces estimated in a 2019 report. The early-morning crash between the Ingstad and the fully loaded Sola TS crude carrier near a major North Sea oil export terminal also triggered shutdowns of parts of Norway's petroleum production. There was no leak from the oil tanker.

16 Jan 2023

Norway Naval Officer Goes on Trial Over Oil Tanker Collision

©Photo of KNM Helge Ingstad, taken from NCA's surveillance aircraft. Photo: NCA - CC BY-SA 3.0

A Norwegian naval officer stands trial on Monday accused of negligence that led to the 2018 collision between a warship he commanded and an oil tanker in which the military vessel sank. Building a replacement for the lost Helge Ingstad frigate would cost up to 13 billion crowns ($1.3 billion), the armed forces estimated in a 2019 report. The early-morning crash between the Ingstad and the fully loaded Sola TS crude carrier near a major North Sea oil export terminal also triggered shutdowns of parts of Norway's petroleum production. There was no leak from the oil tanker.

05 Jan 2023

Lack of Dredging Could Delay Chevron's Venezuela Oil Exports

© momentscatcher / Adobe Stock

A shipping channel snafu is slowing Chevron Corp’s efforts to load tankers at one of its four Venezuelan joint ventures and bring heavy crude to the United States, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.Washington in November authorized the last major U.S. firm still operating in Venezuela to restore lost output and begin exporting oil as a way to encourage talks between Nicolas Maduro’s government and the country’s political opposition.But a plan to move heavy…

25 May 2022

US Inland Waterways: Big Money, New Projects, Help Wanted

(Photo: North Mississippi Industrial Development Association)

New federal money promises dramatic impacts throughout the United States’ inland waterways system in 2022 and beyond. This report focuses on America’s central rivers; the Western rivers will be covered in a future report. These central rivers reach 11,000 miles, from Pennsylvania to Florida and from Texas to South Dakota.Consider the money within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “Civil Works Program Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), 2022 Construction Spend Plan.”In Arkansas…

20 Apr 2022

MARAD Announces New 'Marine Highway' Route and Projects

© Jon / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced the designation of a new Marine Highway Route, two new Marine Highway Projects, and one Project Designation Extension as part of the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). While focusing on supply chain efficiency will have nationwide effects, the states of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, California, and Oregon will receive new routes, designations, or extensions.The…

20 Jan 2022

Wakashio Wreck Removal Completed

(Photo; bMC Group)

Technical operations to remove the wreck of the Wakashio bulk carrier that ran aground and broke up off Mauritius wrapped up this week as salvors recovered final sections of ship debris that were lying up to 500 meters away from the site of the stern section.On July 25, 2020, the 300-meter Wakashio struck a reef near Pointe d'Esny off the Indian Ocean island's east coast, triggering an ecological disaster and prompting the Mauritian government to declare a state of emergency.

11 May 2021

BIMCO: Ship Demolition Prices Spike, Tankers Lead the Way

Chart courtesy BIMCO

In the first four months of 2021, the amount of oil product tanker capacity that has been sent for demolition has already reached the total amount of demolished capacity in each of 2019 and 2020 due to unfavourable freight rates. If that pace continues for the rest of the year, an 11-year record is set to be broken.This according to a report out today from BIMCO, which shows that so far this year, 10 crude oil and 38 oil product tankers have left the active trading fleet and the…

11 Mar 2021

Widow of Bangladesh Shipbreaker Pursues Test Case on Worker Safety

© saintmichel85 / Adobe Stock

A Bangladeshi woman whose husband died dismantling an oil tanker in a local shipyard was given the green light this week to keep pursuing a claim for compensation from a UK company linked to the vessel in a test case for the shipbreaking industry.Britain’s Court of Appeal threw out a request by London-based shipbroker Maran (UK) Ltd for the negligence case to be dismissed, the second appeal the company has lost.Hamida Begum’s husband, Khalil Mollah, 32, fell to his death in 2018 while breaking up the tanker Ekta in the Bangladesh port of Chattogram…

02 Oct 2020

Cruise Shipbreaking Booms in Turkey

© JHMimaging / Adobe Stock

Business is booming at a sea dock in western Turkey, where five hulking cruise ships are being dismantled for scrap metal sales after the COVID-19 pandemic all but destroyed the industry, the head of a ship recyclers’ group said on Friday.Cruise ships were home to the some of the earliest clusters of COVID-19 as the pandemic spread globally early this year.In March, U.S. authorities issued a no-sail order for all cruise ships that remains in place.On Friday, dozens of workers stripped walls…