Shipping News

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence shipping continues to bounce back after a slow start. With strong tonnage numbers in July, particularly shipments of U.S. grain, liquid bulk and project cargo, the 2018 shipping season is right on par with the healthy statistics posted last year.Overall cargo shipments on the St. Lawrence Seaway between March 29 and July 31 totaled 16.5 million metric tons. Areas of strength included U.S. grain shipments totaling 888,000 metric tons, up 32 percent over last year. Liquid bulk shipments totaled 2.3 million metric tons, an increase of 25 percent.

Some Russian ships have stopped transporting cargo to Ukraine, deeming it risky after a Russian tanker was detained in a Ukrainian port as Kiev made good on sanctions against Moscow, two sources at shipowners said.It is the latest fallout from Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and the emergence of a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine.The Mekhanik Pogodin oil tanker, under the Russian flag, has been moored in the port of Kherson since Aug. 10, Reuters ship…

Marlink Japan, the Tokyo-based arm of global maritime communications specialist Marlink is celebrating 40 years in business this month. Established in 1978 as SAIT Marine, Marlink Japan is the second-longest serving foreign-owned satcom company in the country, and has been delivering communication services and support to maritime clients in the region for longer than any other company.With deep cultural understanding and local knowledge, Marlink Japan provides Customer Support, Technical Service, and Sales and Marketing for customers based in, or operating in Japan, Korea and Far East Russia.

HudsonAnalytix, Inc. has hired Chronis Kapalidis in London to focus on the enhancement and expansion of the firm’s strategic partnerships in Europe.An innovative researcher from one of the world's leading think tanks who is currently examining maritime cyber risk, Kapalidis brings with him his extensive field experience in maritime security operations in both the physical and cyber domains.“Chronis is a strategic thinker who will contribute the development of current and upcoming products and services in response to the shipping and port industries’ needs…

A vessel carrying U.S. soybeans entered China's port of Dalian after sitting off coast since July 24, according to shipping data on Thomson Reuters Eikon on Thursday.The movement of the ship, the Star Jennifer, suggests it is preparing to unload its cargo, the second to enter China this week and incur hefty import tariffs Beijing imposed on U.S. products last month amid an escalating trade row.The unloading follows the departure of Peak Pegasus from the same port on Thursday after discharging its cargo of 70,000 tonnes of U.S.

Danish shipping company TORM is installing scrubbers to its vessels, allowing them to continue running on high sulfur fuel oil after the International Maritime Organization's marine fuels sulfur limit is cut in 2020.A press release from the company said that it has decided to install scrubbers on 14 vessels including all vessels currently on order and the three LR2 vessels that were delivered earlier in 2018.These vessels have a scrubber-prepared design and there are no changes to the delivery schedule.

Diana Shipping announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with CJ International Italy Societa Per Azioni for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Coronis, for a period of minimum 12 months to maximum 15 months.The global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels said that the gross charter rate is US$8,300 per day for the first sixty (60) days of the charter period and US$11,300 per day for the balance period of the time charter…

Oil major BP on Tuesday offloaded about 1 million barrels of Angolan crude from supertanker Olympic Light to an independent Chinese refiner after holding the oil at sea for about three months, people with knowledge of the discharge said on Wednesday.The oil had been aboard one of four supertankers held up or delayed off China's east coast near Shandong since as long ago as April, unable to discharge BP's oil due to slowing buying from private refiners in the world's second-biggest economy.All four have delayed cargoes…

Rolls-Royce has been delivering energy storage systems for ships since 2010, but the actual energy storage units were previously supplied by an external party. The company announced today it is launching its own lithium-ion based energy storage system.Energy storage can be a major green investment for a ship owner, with maximized returns when the system is correctly dimensioned for the specific ship, and includes intelligent power control.Rolls-Royce said its new SAVe Energy liquid cooled battery system is cost competitive…

Genco Shipping & Trading  announced that it has taken delivery of the Genco Endeavour and the Genco Resolute, both of which are 2015-built 180,000 dwt Capesize vessels.The Genco Endeavour and the Genco Resolute are the second and third of six vessels to be delivered to Genco as part of its recent agreements to acquire six high specification, fuel efficient Capesize and Ultramax vessels, which, together with the recent or expected sale of three older vessels, are expected to reduce…

Qatar signed the Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding (IOMOU) on Portal State Control during its participation in the 21st Port State Control Committee Meeting held last week in Australia, where a delegation from Qatar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications took part.“Qatar’s membership in the Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding will take Qatar’s maritime transport sector from local arena to the international one, leading the region in portal state control field,” said Dr.

On July 20, 2018, The American Salvage Association (ASA) welcomed Dr. Richard J. Burke, of SUNY Maritime College as the Association’s very first honorary maritime academy faculty member representative. This initiative is designed to broaden the knowledge about the marine salvage and emergency response industry, and the academic community’s access to it.The ASA’s Education Committee was established in March 2011 to further promote general maritime industry interest with a focus on marine salvage and emergency response…

The award was recently given for the professional seamanship and conduct when Stena Blue Sky effected a rescue operation after spotting a fisherman and recovering him from wreckage between the waters of North Korea and Japan 26th October 2017.“Events of this nature are subject to international laws and for us, acting in accordance with these laws is a matter of course. Nevertheless, it is important that attention is drawn to them – in this case, by the Chamber of Shipping of America.

Tough new rules on marine fuel are forcing shipowners to explore liquefied natural gas as a cleaner alternative and ports such as Gibraltar are preparing to offer upgraded refueling facilities in the shipping industry's biggest shake-up in decades.From 2020, International Maritime Organization rules will ban ships from using fuels with a sulphur content above 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now, unless they are equipped to clean up sulphur emissions. This will be enforced…

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, inched lower on Thursday, as weaker capesize rates offset gains by panamax and supramax vessel segments.* The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was down 7 points, or 0.4 percent, at 1,720 points.* The capesize index fell 84 points, or 2.4 percent, to 3,476 points.* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell by $477 to $25,592.* The panamax index gained

Advanced fuel monitoring and energy management technology, designed to deliver significant cost benefits for vessel operators, will be among the key attractions on the Royston diesel power SMM stand.Royston, an internationally based company operating in the global maritime sector for over 40 years, is an authorized representative for Niigata, GE, Yanmar, Volvo Penta, Scania, Napier Turbochargers.With bases in the U.K., Australia and West Africa, it works closely with customer fleets carrying out engine replacement or maintenance…

Hapag-Lloyd is investing in its container fleet and has ordered 11,100 state-of-the-art reefer containers. The new containers will be integrated to the company’s existing fleet of 91,000 reefer containers, with delivery gradually starting in August and to be finally completed by December 2018.Already today, Hapag-Lloyd has a significant footprint in the refrigerated container market and the company has continuously invested in new reefer equipment throughout the past years and also renewed a significant share of its fleet.Since 2015 alone and including the most recent order…

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has announced its targets of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping in half by the year 2050, and to make ships entirely CO2-neutral before 2100. But long before that, the so-called sulphur cap will take effect: From 2020 all oceangoing ships must run on fuel that contains no more than 0.5 per cent of sulphur. According to estimates by classification society DNV GL, up to 70,000 ships will be subject to this requirement.

A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Friday it would spin off its offshore drilling operation and list it in Copenhagen next year, the latest move by the Danish shipping company to focus entirely on transport and logistics.Maersk, which cut its full-year profit outlook this month, sold Maersk Oil to French oil major Total last year in a $7.5 billion deal as part of a restructuring under Soren Skou, who became chief executive in 2016.Skou used to head Maersk's container business and is a…

German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is continuing to focus on the growing market in East Africa, where annual growth rates of approximately six percent lead the African continent.In April 2018 Hapag-Lloyd launched the East Africa Service (EAS), its first dedicated service to East Africa. The weekly service sails from Jeddah to Mombasa, and from there to Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, and directly back to Jeddah. The service will be expanded in September with a weekly connection to and from Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Khor Fakkan, Jebel Ali, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

Global trade tensions have captured headlines in recent months, as the imposition of a series of tariffs and counter-tariffs by various global trade counterparts has raised questions about the possibility of a trade war. Such development could potentially have an impact on global trade flows, and, consequently, the companies which facilitate international movement of goods.Though the situation is still developing and the final impact is uncertain, Gregory Draco, the Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford, predicted in July that the tariffs would create an 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent drag on U.S. GDP.

ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) and Philippine Coast Guard this week co-organised a meeting between government agencies and the shipping industry to enhance maritime safety and security in the Sulu-Celebes seas and waters off eastern Sabah.The meeting brought together key littoral stakeholders including relevant government agencies in the Philippines, the Philippine shipping industry, the Indonesia Coast Guard (BAKAMLA), as well as members of the diplomatic community in Manila to review the current situation in the Sulu-Celebes Seas…

Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk has decided to pursue a demerger with its offshore drilling operation Maersk Drilling  via a separate listing of Maersk Drilling on Nasdaq Copenhagen in 2019.Maersk Drilling will become a stand-alone company next year as its parent company continues its exit from the oil and gas business.Having evaluated the different options available for Maersk Drilling, A.P. Moller – Maersk has concluded that listing Maersk Drilling as a standalone company presents the most optimal prospects for its shareholders…