Ship Brokerage News

The market for offshore support vessels has been through a rather rough few years since offshore exploration and production activity took a nose-dive in 2015 following the oil price crash the year before.The newbuild order boom that came with the ever-greener pastures imagined in the industry ensured that not only was the supply- and demand balance off by an insurmountable degree in the years that followed, but at its peak, in 2017, the oversupply of anchor handling tug supply…

French workboat operator Atlantique Maritime Services (AMS) has acquired a Fast Crew Supplier from the Dutch shipbuilder Damen.The Damen FCS 2610, named JLD Jayce, will be the first Damen Crew Transfer Vessel fully dedicated to the French offshore wind industry, Damen said Tuesday.AMS, part of Groupe LHD, already owns two Damen Shoalbusters, a 1907 and a 2308, but this is the first time the company has acquired a Crew Transfer Vessel.Rodolphe Bodineau, AMS Deputy Director said…

The supply/demand balance in the subsea vessel market is shifting as activity levels rise markedly across many of the sectors these vessels support. Operators and contractors need to be decisive in securing the assets they need, according to Jonathan Lints of broker Clarksons Platou (Offshore), or they might find their ship has sailed…The opening months of 2021 have witnessed markedly positive trends in the global subsea market, as evidenced by recent increases of up to 35% in…

Mercy Ships announced that its newly built hospital ship Global Mercy has completed sea trials leading up to delivery, equipping, maiden voyage and launch into service to sub-Saharan Africa in 2022.The first-of-its-kind 174-meter vessel, designed by Finnish naval architect Deltamarin and built at the Tianjin Xingang Shipyard in China, is the world’s largest purpose-built civilian hospital ship. It has a beam of 28.6 meters, with a design draft of 6.15 meters and gross tonnage of 37…

Singapore has maintained its position as the world's top shipping hub for the seventh year straight, according to a report published by the Baltic Exchange and Chinese state news agency Xinhua.The Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Center Development (ISCD) Index, now in its seventh edition, assesses factors including port throughput and infrastructure; depth and breadth of professional maritime support services; as well as the general business environment in its attempt to…

Provider of integrated shipping services Clarksons Platou announced that it is planning to acquire Safe Harbour Tanker Chartering, a Connecticut-based shipbrokerage and marine consultancy firm.Safe Harbour Tanker Chartering has been in operation since 1989, and is based in Monroe, Connecticut. They are a well‐established ship broker, with a primary focus on the edible oils sector specialising in veg oil exports from the United States and South America to the wider Americas and European markets.They also have a presence within the biodiesel sector, as well as iso‐tank and flexi bag chartering amongst other activities.The company is led by Jim Weinberg and his team…

A second maritime firm has told Venezuela's state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela it would end all charter contracts with the company as a result of U.S. sanctions, according to an internal document and a person familiar with the matter.U.S.-based McQuilling Partners Inc, which provided PDVSA with four contract tankers, joined German tanker operator Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) in withdrawing from providing oil-shipping services to Venezuela.The United States levied…

Monaco-based seaborne shipping company Navios Maritime Containers  announced the appointment of Stefan Kuch and Vasilios Mouyis to its Board of Directors.The owner and operator of container ships informed that Kuch has over 32 years of experience in finance and ship finance, having served in senior leadership positions in the shipping division of Commerzbank AG, one of Germany’s leading financial institutions.He also served as Managing Director of Hanseatic Ship Asset Management GmbH, a vessel-owning company within the Commerzbank Group. Kuch was previously a member of the Board of Directors of Navios Maritime Midstream Partners L.P.Mouyis has over 28 years of experience in chartering and ship brokerage.

South Korean shipyards have seemingly boxed out rivals from the market for building large ships carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG), winning all of the orders for the next three years worth more than $9 billion.Three South Korean yards - Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries - have won the more than 50 orders placed for new large-scale LNG tankers for delivery in the next three years, according to data from the…

Global financial and technology giant BGC Partners has completed the acquisition of Poten & Partners, a ship brokerage, consulting and business intelligence firm specializing in LNG, tanker and LPG markets.Under the terms of the agreement, BGC acquired 100 percent of Poten, which includes operations in New York, London, Singapore, Houston, Athens, Guangzhou and Perth, the company said in a statement.Founded over 80 years ago and with 170 employees worldwide, Poten provides its clients with valuable insight into the international oil, gas and shipping markets. Shaun D. Lynn, President of BGC Partners said: "The addition of physical LNG, LPG and tanker brokerage, and energy consulting capabilities will allow BGC to expand its operations in the oil, gas and shipping sectors.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index gained nearly 2 percent on Thursday to hit an over three-week high, buoyed by an improvement in activity across vessel segments. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was up 21 points, or 1.83 percent, at 1,167 points, its highest since Jan. 30. The capesize index gained eight points, or 0.47 percent, at 1,725 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $111 at $13,512.

Hamburg entrepreneur Erck Rickmers has sold his ship management and ship brokerage activities. Effective January 1, 2018, Bremen-based Zeaborn Group acquired all shares in E.R. Schiffahrt GmbH & Cie. KG and shipbroker Harper Petersen & Co. With the takeover, Zeaborn’s shipping fleet under commercial and technical management has been expanded by 61 container vessels and 20 bulk carriers to more than 165 vessels. All staff, approximately 200 employees ashore and 2,800 at sea, will transfer to the Zeaborn Group. Nils Aden, currently chief executive officer of E.R.

Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose for a sixth consecutive session, helped by stronger rates for capesize and smaller vessels. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, rose 21 points, or 1.45 percent, to 1,470 points. The capesize index was up 87 points, or 3.04 percent, at 2,948 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased $631 to $21,325 - their highest since Nov. 25, 2014.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, touched a fresh near three-year high on Thursday, supported by firmer rates across vessel segments. The overall index — which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels — rose 24 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,361 points, a peak since November 2014. The capesize index gained 14 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,642 points. The main capesize activity this week has been from the west Australian market…

Mideast demand especially strong due to refinery outages. Rates for tankers carrying refined fuels like gasoline and diesel have soared this month as trade activity picked up and caused a supply crunch in ships, several shipbrokers and traders said. The high rates indicate strong consumer fuel demand due to the persistently low crude oil prices that have resulted from years of oversupply, refiners said. "Our order books are pretty good. Whether it's gasoline for cars or diesel for industry, we're receiving calls to ship more fuel," said one shipper based in Singapore. Rates for medium-range (MR) tankers carrying about 30,000 tonnes of oil products like gasoline…

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, on Thursday fell to its lowest since early March as demand slowed across all vessel segments. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was down 16 points, or 1.71 percent, at 918 points. The capesize index lost 59 points, or 3.57 percent, at 1,595 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargo such as iron ore and coal, were down $427 to $11,750.

In the scorching heat of the Caribbean Sea, workers in scuba suits scrub crude oil by hand from the hull of the Caspian Galaxy, a tanker so filthy it can't set sail in international waters. The vessel is among many that are constantly contaminated at two major export terminals where they load crude from Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA. The water here has an oily sheen from leaks in the rusty pipelines under the surface. That means the tankers have to be cleaned before traveling to many foreign ports, which won't admit crude-stained ships for fear of environmental damage to their harbors, port facilities or other vessels. The…

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose to an over three-month high on Thursday, buoyed by a surge in capesize vessel activity. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, climbed 25 points, or 2.18 percent, to its highest since Dec. 6 of 1,172 points. The capesize index rose 129 points, or 6 percent, to 2,265 points, its best since the end of November.

This morning CMA announced that Mr. John D. “Jack” Noonan, CEO of Chembulk Tankers, has been named as the CMA Commodore for the year 2017. Noonan joins a presigious list of previous award winners, including Ole Skaarup, Jacob Stolt-Nielsen, George Livanos, Phil Loree, Thomas Moran, Gregory Hadjieleftheriadis, Helmut Sohmen, Gerhard Kurz, William O’Neil, Richard du Moulin, Per Heidenreich, Marc Saverys, Frank Tsao, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Peter Georgiopoulos, C. Sean Day, Torben Jensen, Morten Arntzen, John Fredriksen, Capt.

Rickmers Holding AG and E.R. Capital Holding have jointly decided not to pursue the merger of their ship management activities. For many years the companies have worked together in ship insurance and ship brokerage. These partnerships are to be intensified and extended to other ship management activities. Both companies keep the content of the merger discussions in confidence. Rickmers Holding AG will continue to pursue its strategy, particularly in respect of expanding the fleet under third-party management. Additionally, processes are to be optimised, structures streamlined and profitability increased. Ignace Van Meenen, CEO of the Rickmers Group, explained the objective: “We aim to continue establishing and expanding customer relationships in an ongoing and focused way.

The promise that some oil traders and brokers saw for an expanded Panama Canal to become a new route for large tankers will take longer to realize than expected because many ships must first undergo inconvenient retrofits to transit through the new locks, shipping industry experts said. The modifications to these bigger oil carriers - which mostly involve fittings such as chocks and bollards that secure the ship's dock and tow lines - are needed because the new locks that opened in June use tug boats rather than locomotives to pull vessels.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Tuesday weighed down by lower rates for capesize vessels. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was down 22 points, or 3.57 percent at 594 points. The capesize index fell 85 points, or 10.16 percent to 752 points. "Cape rates continue to slip back on thinner volumes following recent pressure on Chinese steel prices," ship brokerage firm Clarksons Platou Securities said in a note. Chinese rebar steel futures posted their biggest intraday fall in seven years on Tuesday, as worries about demand in the world's second-biggest economy extended a rout that has spilled over into other industrial raw materials.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, continued to dip on Wednesday due to sluggish demand across vessel segments. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, fell 30 points, or 4.4 percent at 652 points. Shipping activity is expected to remain thin for the week due to the upcoming holidays in Japan and Korea, ship brokerage firm Clarksons Platou Securities said in a note on Tuesday. The capesize index fell 101 points, or 9.57 percent to 954 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, decreased $891 to $7,418. The panamax index was down 19 points or about 3 percent at 621 points.