Shipping News

Bermuda-based global shipping company Team Tankers International finalized the sale of the last two of its five older medium range (MR) tankers.Team Tankers has managed to free up a funds for new investments after divesting MR tankers, said CEO Hans Feringa.Feringa said: “We finalized the sale of the last two of our five older MRs at attractive levels, concentrating our efforts on our younger, more sophisticated, deep sea assets. With the sale of the older MRs and certain intermediate ships…

Condor Ferries, an operator of passenger and freight ferry services between UK and France, has been sold to a consortium including the French shipping company Brittany Ferries.Brittany Ferries, in consortium with the Columbia Threadneedle European Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (ESIF), has reached an agreement to acquire 100 percent of Condor Ferries from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA).Contracts have been signed and the deal is expected to be executed following scrutiny by relevant regulatory authorities.

The exceptional growth in LNG trade recorded in the first half of the 2019 continued in Q3, says Awilco LNG Group, the Norwegian based fully integrated pure play LNG transportation provider.According to Fearnleys LNG total LNG trade is up about 13 % in the first nine months of the year vs last year. In line with normal seasonal patterns gas prices inched upwards in Q3 but remained historically low due to increased production and muted demand in the Far East.Due to a relatively mild winter reducing gas demand for power generation and higher nuclear power generation in Japan and South Korea…

Russia's state-owned tanker carrier Sovcomflot (SCF Group) reported improvements on both the top and bottom line in the third quarter benefiting from a stronger tanker market.The energy shipping company posted a net profit of  $26m as revenue increased in the third quarter.Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PAO Sovcomflot, said: “We are satisfied with the Group’s performance over the third quarter. Sovcomflot steadily follows through on its strategy of increasing the share of large-scale industrial shipping projects in its portfolio."He added: "During the reporting period…

Wärtsilä and Singapore-based PSA Marine have agreed to collaborate in the co-creation of smart technologies for the marine sector. The focus will be on solutions that are human-centric and deployable. The Letter of Intent was signed on November 14 as part of the events celebrating the anniversary of the opening of the Wärtsilä Acceleration Center in Singapore.Specific collaboration areas envisioned include the use of electric or hybrid technologies that further the use of low-emissions energy and propulsion systems…

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G2 Ocean,  a joint venture of two of the world's leading breakbulk and bulk shipping companies - Gearbulk and Grieg Star, has opened a new office in Hamburg, Germany, to achieve a stronger market position, and in response to increasing demand for project cargo services.“Germany is the manufacturing and engineering capital of Europe, and by establishing a base here, we are able to further enhance our business and service offerings in the region,” Vice President Innovation/Project Cargo Leif Arne Strømmen in G2 Ocean said.G2 Ocean’s newest addition to the team…

Hong Kong-headquartered Seaspan Corporation, a major player in independent containership management and ownership, has agreed to acquire a fleet of six containerships for $380 million in cash.The independent containership lessor said that the purchase of the acquired vessels is expected to be financed from additional borrowings as well as cash on hand.The closing of the acquisition is expected to occur in December 2019, and is subject to customary closing conditions. Upon closing…

Swedish shipping company Thun Tankers has taken delivery of the third of five L-class product tankers from China’s Avic Dingheng. Just like her sister ships, Thun Lidkoping and Thun London, the new vessel Thun Liverpool will enter the Gothia Tanker Alliance network.Thun Tankers took delivery of the 18,650-dead-weight product tanker on Wednesday (November 13).The L-class series have been designed and developed in-house, using the Erik Thun group’s long experience of building sustainable…

Ulstein Group unveiled a hydrogen-powered ship design that it claims is market-ready, offering zero-emission marine operations.Recently, DNV GL identified the five most promising alternative fuels for shipping, with hydrogen as the ultimate zero-emission solution. The first complete hydrogen fueled prospect has been put together by Ulstein Design & Solutions BV and Nedstack fuel cell technology BV. The ULSTEIN SX190 Zero Emission DP2 construction support vessel is Ulstein’s first hydrogen powered offshore vessel, featuring a Nedstack fuel cell power system.

OceanRail Logistics, part of the Cosco Shipping Group, acquired 60% of the Greek railway company Piraeus Europe Asia Rail Logistics (PEARL) as part of its plan to develop its intermodal transport services network.OceanRail specializes in sea-rail intermodal transport with the Piraeus Port as the hub and related logistics business, while PEARL is a Greece-based company engaged in railway operations.The China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line, which starts from the Piraeus Port in Greece and expands to the hinterland of Central and Eastern Europe…

Taiwanese ocean shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation takes a hit with a net loss of about USD 42 million for the third quarter and sees signs of "weaker demand" in the container market.Yang Ming said that according to analyst firm Alphaliner’s latest projections, annual capacity growth is forecast at 3.7% and global throughput growth for 2019 is estimated at only 2.5%, which suggests a softer market demand than was previously expected.Meanwhile, the container shipping market remains vulnerable to trade uncertainties and geopolitical tensions.

German international shipping and container transportation company Hapag-Lloyd said that its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the first nine months of 2019 significantly increased to EUR 643 million (9M 2018: EUR 299 million).The group net result rose substantially to EUR 297 million (9M 2018: EUR 13 million). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) surpassed EUR 1.5 billion (9M 2018: EUR 812 million). The EBITDA increase of EUR 699…

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that, DNVGL issued an Approval In Principle (AIP) to MOL and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for Bow Wind-Shield designed for Ultra-Large Container Carrier on 30th October, 2019.This newly developed Bow Wind-Shield reduces the wind resistance on hull body of while ship is running, and it is expected CO2 reduction up to about 2–4% owing to optimal design for Ultra-Large Container Carrier. This is based on the technology…

Greece-based shipping company Arista Shipping has signed an ocean data agreement with the global provider of classification and technical advisory services ABS to drive smart shipping operations.The global provider of shipping transportation services and specializes in managing the worldwide transportation of dry bulk cargoes will processed data from the ABS Metocean Hindcast Data application to guide operational decision making for its fleet and managed vessels.Advanced ABS data processing is applied to over a decade of Metocean Hindcast model data from the U.S.

Diana Shipping announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Cargill International S.A., Geneva, for one of its Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Medusa.The gross charter rate is US$11,000 per day, minus a 4.75% commission paid to third parties, for a period of about 11 months to maximum 13 months, said the global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels.The new charter period is expected to commence on November 15…

Danny Wan, who has been the Port of Oakland’s interim executive director since July, is now  appointed to that role on a permanent basis.The Port’s governing Board selected Wan, who was was Port Attorney for six years earlier, at a special meeting on November 14. He replaces Chris Lytle who retired in July after six years at the helm in Oakland. The announcement caps a two-month, nationwide search."We're fortunate to have Danny as the Port's new chief executive - not only is he an experienced public professional…

German federal government took a step to make onshore power in seaports more attractive; this week the environment ministers of the federal and state governments will be meeting in Hamburg to discuss onshore power initiatives in Germany.Against this backdrop, the German Shipowners’ Association (Verband Deutscher Reeder, VDR) welcomes plans to provide ships with onshore power while on berth in German ports.“We are united in our goal to further improve the climate and the air quality in the ports…

As autonomy gains a foothold in the maritime world, dredging appears next in line to transition to operations without direct human control.A new design concept unveiled by a prominent Dutch ship design and engineering company aims to deliver major power savings and a larger working window for port maintenance dredging operations.The Autonomous Underwater Maintenance Dredger (AUMD) design developed by C-Job Naval Architects is a completely submerged dredging vessel specifically created for maintenance in port environments.According to C-Job…

The Coast Guard needs a ship that can do more than just break ice; it needs a multi-mission ship to provide for the nation’s security, asserting its sovereign rights, and protecting its long-term economic interests. That ship is the Polar Security Cutter.Since Russia cashed the check in 1867 for the purchase of Alaska the U.S. has been an Arctic nation. Today, it is one of eight countries that have territorial land or seas above the Arctic Circle or in the polar region (six of those countries have Arctic Ocean coastline or an exclusive economic zone above the Arctic Circle). The U.S.

Diamond S Shipping Inc, the owner and operator of crude oil and product tankers, has sold two 2008-built MR vessels, the Atlantic Aquarius and Atlantic Leo, generating approximately $11.3 million of liquidity before settlement of working capital.A non-cash write-off of $18.3 million was recognized in connection with the vessel sales, it said.Diamond S Shipping owns and operates 66 vessels on the water, including 15 Suezmax vessels, one Aframax and 50 medium-range (MR) product…

Partnerships and innovations are essential to combat climate change through reductions in GHG emissions. Norway has provided an additional NOK 40,000,000 (US$4.3. million) to the International Maritime Organization (IMO)-Norway GreenVoyage-2050 project, which will support GHG reductions in line with the IMO initial strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.This supports UN SDG 13 on climate action. The project aims to assist countries to implement legal, policy and institutional reforms…

Chinese energy giant China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) is planning to build a fleet of 100 barges over the next three years as part of its mission to become a major regional supplier of the IMO 2020-compliant very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO).According to a report from Reuters, this would be one of the top Asian refiner’s biggest shipping investments, Sinopec hopes the fleet would serve its stated ambition to become a top regional supplier of VLSFO.The fleet would include new orders of 50 vessels of 8…