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Ship Operators News

14 Mar 2024

Hapag-Lloyd to Seek Cost Cuts After Net Profit Slump

© olrat / Adobe Stock

German container shipper Hapag-Lloyd said on Thursday the global oversupply of container ships and a crisis in the Red Sea will force it to cut costs in 2024, adapting sailings and ports following a bruising 83% fall in net profit.Ship operators face prolonged disruption while Yemen-based Houthi militants are attacking vessels travelling on one of the world's busiest routes, wiping out the benefit from higher freight rates with costly redirections around Africa.Hapag-Lloyd's problems chime with those of competitors such as Maersk and CMA CGM, exacerbated by the arrival of additional ships orde

13 Mar 2024

Danish Shipping Adopts Policy on Underwater Radiated Noise

© Jeremy Francis / Adobe Stock

Commercial shipping is one of the main contributors to underwater radiated noise, which has adverse effects on a wide range of marine life, including whales and fish. Therefore, Danish Shipping has recommended its members follow a new set of IMO guidelines aiming to reduce underwater radiated noise and preserve marine biodiversity.The IMO guidelines provide an overview of approaches applicable to designers, shipbuilders, and ship operators to reduce the underwater radiated noise of any given ship.

26 Feb 2024

IMO’s PPR11 Agrees Guidance on Key Environmental Issues

Source: IMO

The IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 11) agreed new guidance on several key environmental issues.Meeting from February 19 to 23, 2024, the following guidance will now be submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee for approval this March (MEPC 81) and October (MEPC 82):• the safe transport of plastic pellets by sea• best practices for cutting black carbon emissions from ships operating in or near the Arctic• reducing risks of use and carriage…

22 Feb 2024

WinGD and Mitsubishi Compete Initial Ammonia Fuel Supply System Design

Marine Ammonia Handling System (MAmmoSS) - Credit: Mitsubishi Shipbuilding

Swiss marine power company WinGD and Japanese shipbuilder and technology developer Mitsubishi Shipbuilding have completed the initial design of an ammonia fuel supply system (AFSS) for vessels powered by WinGD’s X‑DF‑A ammonia-fueled engines.The AFSS design is the first result of a wide-ranging partnership announced last year that will develop solutions for ammonia engines and fuel systems that can be applied across a range of vessel designs.The project will now proceed to the detailed design phase…

22 Feb 2024

Liberian Bulk Carrier Banned from Australian Ports

Source: AMSA

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier KMAX Leader from entering Australian ports for 12 months, effective February 15, 2024.The ban was instigated as a result of serious safety violations and breaches of Australian legislation committed by the ship’s master and owner while in Gladstone Harbour.KMAX Leader first experienced mechanical issues on October 26, 2023, reporting unidentified engine room vibrations.On October 28, the ship’s agent advised work had commenced on the mechanical issues and would take eight to 10 days to complete.

15 Jan 2024

Exploring 'Future Fuels' - Methanol’s Superstorage Solution

Image courtesy SRC

Technical inquiries to SRC Group ramped up after it received Approval in Principle (AIP) for a concept which ‘reinvented methanol fuel storage’ on board ships. Delivering the answers has seen technical talk converting into project discussions        ‘Green’ methanol has the ability to one day run vessels almost emission-free, and commercial shipping increasingly investigates. Derived today principally from natural gas, methanol is nonetheless available, relatively easy to handle and predictable.

12 Jan 2024

Container Rates Soar on Concerns of Prolonged Red Sea Disruption

© aerial-drone / Adobe Stock

Container shipping rates for key global routes have soared this week, with U.S. and UK air strikes on Yemen stirring concerns of a prolonged disruption to global trade in Red Sea, one of the world's busiest routes, industry officials said on Friday.U.S. and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched dozens of strikes across Yemen overnight in retaliation against Iran-backed Houthi forces for attacks on Red Sea shipping, widening regional conflict stemming from Israel's war…

27 Dec 2023

Back to the Drawing Board: The Worst Ship in History – Exxon Valdez

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

While Greg Trauthwein never assigns me column subjects, each time the Great Ships issue comes around I go with the theme. However, I try to take a view askew on that subject and have found that these are the rare columns where I am criticized for my views. Greg must enjoy that, and this year he asked me to write a column on the worst ship designs. That was the entire assignment, and it was unclear if he asked me to discuss the worst ship designs for 2023, or in the history of ship design.

15 Dec 2023

Achieving Digital Transformation in the Marine Industry

Image credit: Siemens

Like so many other industries in transportation, the marine industry is being challenged on multiple fronts—from a shortage of manpower and emerging digital technologies to sustainability requirements. In the face of these growing pressures, ship designers increasingly rely on digital transformation to stay competitive and deliver higher-quality products. Digital transformation offers many solutions across a ship’s lifecycle, from design and crew training to interconnectivity and automation…

22 Nov 2023

AAL Publishes EU ETS Carbon Surcharge Guidance

Source: AAL Shipping

AAL Shipping has claimed a first for becoming the first project heavy lift carrier to publish a carbon surcharge guidance to help its customers prepare for the increased costs related to forthcoming European Union regulations on carbon emissions.The move comes ahead of the extension of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to cover the maritime industry, affecting shipping lanes between Europe and the rest of the world from January 1, 2024 with fixed charges for every ton of CO2 emitted.With these additional costs directly attributed to multipurpose cargo operations…

19 Nov 2023

New Space Saving Concept Developed for Methanol-Fueled Vessels

Source: Lloyd's Register

Lloyd’s Register (LR), in collaboration with SDC Ship Design and Consult, has developed a new concept for the use of ballast water tanks in place of cofferdams around methanol tanks, allowing ship operators more space for methanol fuel technology.For retrofits of methanol technology on existing ships, the development is expected to enable shipowners to convert their vessels without a loss of valuable space, by removing the requirement for cofferdams around fuel tanks as required by MSC.1/Circ.1621.

14 Nov 2023

Chevron's Lubricating Oil Enables Fuel Flexibility in Marine Engines

Wartsila 34 dual fuel engine test cylinder - Credit: Chevron Marine Fuels

Chevron Marine Products said Tuesday that four-stroke engine operators could benefit from its new lubricating oil's versatility.HDAX 9700 was created to provide a solution for engines that run on multiple liquid and gaseous fuels and applications that require a low-sulfated ash lubricant, Chevron said.According to the company, the HDAX 9700t is also suitable for dual-fuel marine engines, as HDAX 9700 has successfully completed more than 20.000 hours of testing on a Wärtsilä dual-fuel power plant.“HDAX 9700 brings many benefits for operators of four-stroke engines.

09 Oct 2023

WinGD Issues NOL for Chevron's Taro Ultra Advanced 40

Clean piston - it is vital for high performance 40 BN cylinder oils to have excellent performance, centred on their cleaning ability. The test was done on WinGD 9X82 for over 4300h VLSFO. The feed rate during the test was 0.8 g/kWh. (Photo: Chevron)

Chevron Marine Products’ Taro Ultra Advanced 40 oil has successfully passed NOL (No Objection Letter) requirements by engine manufacturer WinGD. This follows the earlier NOL award for Taro Ultra Advanced 40 from MAN Energy Solutions. This latest test validates the suitability of the oil for use in WinGD engines operating with liquid fuels containing sulphur in the range 0.00<1.50 % m/m, which includes very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO). The test also approved the general usage…

26 Sep 2023

Svitzer Expands Its Tug Fleet in Brazil

(Photo: Svitzer)

A.P. Moller - Maersk's towage arm Svitzer announced the continued expansion of its fleet in Brazil, as part of the ongoing growth of its operations in the country.Svitzer Monte KT is the fourth tug to join the fleet in the country since April. The vessel is a sister to three tugs already delivered to Svitzer in 2023, which have been deployed across the ports of Pécem, Paranagua, and Santos on Brazil’s coast. The tug is one of six new Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tugs that will be put into operation by Svitzer in Brazil before the end of 2024.

04 Sep 2023

Hapag-Lloyd CEO: Transatlantic Shipping Trades Under Pressure

Source: Hapag-Lloyd

Transatlantic shipping freight rates have come under pressure from slack demand, meaning ship operators must watch costs, the chief executive of Germany's Hapag-Lloyd said on Monday."Rates have definitely collapsed, and that means we have to start looking at our costs, which have gone up," said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth biggest container liner, in a call with journalists.He listed higher wage inflation, fuel prices, and terminal and timecharter costs, adding that the cost concerns could mean that certain voyages were cancelled.(Reuters - Reporting by Vera Eckert

30 Aug 2023

OceanScore Launches EU ETS Solution

Ships calling at ports in the EU will be liable for the cost of their emissions from 2024 onwards Photo: zhaojiankangphoto/123RF

Maritime data company OceanScore has launched an integrated solution that enables ship operators to manage emissions liabilities and trade carbon allowances under the impending EU ETS regime for shipping.Shipping companies, as the designated Document of Compliance holder (DoC holder) under the EU ETS regime, will be required to surrender to the authorities EUAs based on their annual emissions, starting at 40% of emissions in 2024 and rising to 70% and 100% of emissions in 2025 and 2026…

24 Aug 2023

Titan and 123Carbon Partner on Carbon Insetting

Source: Titan

Fuel supplier Titan and 123Carbon, the first independent blockchain-based carbon insetting platform for the transport sector, have issued what they claim is the first LNG-based carbon insets.Carbon insetting enables fuel suppliers and vessel operators to transfer the environmental benefits of clean, lower carbon intensity fuels throughout the maritime value chain, enabling decarbonisation within their own supply chains. This contrasts with offsetting where the environmental benefits are made given to other industries or ventures.There are…

08 Aug 2023

After Attacking Ukraine Wheat Exports, Russia Faces Own Shipping Challenge

© olgavolodina / Adobe Stock

Russia's lack of ships and Western grain traders' shrinking appetite for business with Moscow are adding to rising costs of moving Russian wheat, at a time when the war in Ukraine has spilled perilously close to vital Black Sea supply routes.President Vladimir Putin promised to replace Ukrainian grain with Russian shipments to Africa after Moscow in July ended an arrangement that gave Ukraine's food cargo safe passage in the Black Sea, imposing a de-facto blockade on its neighbour and attacking storage facilities…

07 Aug 2023

Powering the Transition to Zero-emissions with Hydrogen Fuel Cells

(Photo: Ballard Power Systems)

By now, it is a well-known fact that the marine industry contributes significantly to the greenhouse gasses causing climate change—and the impact is predicted to rise as the demand for shipping by sea increases. Action is needed now, and the majority of ship operators are adopting or planning zero-emission solutions to accommodate upcoming emission reduction targets.A key zero-emission technology that will be a critical enabler for decarbonizing the marine industry—now and in the future—is hydrogen fuel cells.Today…

02 Aug 2023

Rhine River Levels in Germany Back to Normal after Rain

Credit: diegograndi/AdobeStock

Heavy rain has raised water levels on the river Rhine in Germany to levels allowing cargo vessels to sail fully loaded, data from German inland waterways agency WSA said on Wednesday.Data from the WSA’s website Pegelonline showed that the last shallow sectors of the river around Cologne had now reached levels generally permitting full vessel loads.Dry weather in June meant the river became too shallow for vessels to sail fully loaded and ship operators imposed surcharges on freight rates to compensate for vessels sailing partly empty, increasing costs for cargo owners.

05 Jul 2023

AI-Based Semi-Autonomous Voyage Planning System Tested

Source: Yara Marine Technologies

Yara Marine Technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) application developers Molflow, Chalmers University of Technology and social science specialists from Halmstad University and Gothenburg University have collaborated over three years to develop and trial an AI-based semi-autonomous voyage planning system.Initiated in August 2020, the Via Kaizen project explores how AI and machine learning can enable more energy-efficient voyage planning for ship operators. The project demonstrated…

11 Jul 2023

MEPC 80: Action Taken on Range of Environmental Regulations

Source: IMO

The IMO’s MEPC 80 session adopted the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships and advanced other environmental initiatives.The revised IMO GHG Strategy includes an enhanced common ambition to reach net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping close to 2050, a commitment to ensure an uptake of alternative zero and near-zero GHG fuels by 2030, as well as indicative check-points for 2030 and 2040:1. to reduce the total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 20%, striving for 30%, by 2030, compared to 2008; and2.

26 Jul 2023

EU Council Adopts FuelEU Maritime Law

Raquel Sánchez Jiménez courtesy of EU Council

More renewable and low-carbon fuels will reduce the carbon footprint of the maritime sector in the EU following the adoption of the FuelEU Maritime initiative by the EU Council.The main objective of the FuelEU maritime initiative, as a key part of the EU’s Fit for 55 package, is to increase the demand for and consistent use of renewable and low-carbon fuels and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector, while ensuring the smooth operation of maritime traffic…