Shipping News

The coronavirus outbreak has affected all aspects of the shipping industry, lowering, if not wiping out, demand growth prospects for the year across all segments. The outbreak has also affected fleet development, says shipping association BIMCO.Contracting activity has fallen, demolition activity, which had been high, is now being limited by restrictions around the world and deliveries of new vessels are delayed.“The coronavirus has certainty replaced the IMO 2020 sulphur regulation as the talking point of the year.

ABB signs Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hydrogène de France to jointly manufacture megawatt-scale fuel cell systems capable of powering oceangoing vessels.The MOU between ABB and hydrogen technologies specialist Hydrogène de France (HDF) envisages close collaboration on the assembly and production of the fuel cell power plant for marine applications.Building on an existing collaboration announced on June 27, 2018 with Ballard Power Systems, a global provider of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell solutions…

Responding to global COVID-19 travel restrictions, many firms are offering increased remote assistance to vessels where on-site visits are not an option.Technology company ABB said Wednesday it has increased the remote availability of technical service teams to help crews from shore at the time when many countries close borders and impose travel restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.With a network of 800 service engineers in 40 locations worldwide, ABB noted it is…

Ships must be allowed to change over overworked and exhausted crews to help to keep trade flowing as coronavirus lockdowns shut many transit points across the globe, shipping industry officials said on Tuesday.About 90% of world trade is transported by sea but a deepening lockdown in many countries and suspended air travel have disrupted supply chains, especially for ship owners who rely on the free movement of crews to keep ships moving.The International Chamber of Shipping association (ICS)…

What might not be so obvious in this COVID-19 environment, which we have grown to associate with shortages, is that counterintuitively there are issues beginning to appear dealing with the opposite situation. The Journal of Commerce has reported that “[t]he container shipping industry is marshaling a response to signs of a building import backlog as some retailers and manufacturers fail to pick up containers because warehouses are full or closed due to not being deemed essential…

Dry bulk shipping company Golden Ocean Group said its board has appointed Ulrik Uhrenfeldt Andersen as the new Chief Executive Officer of Golden Ocean Management AS with effect from Tuesday April 14, 2020.Andersen comes from a position as Chief Executive Officer of Avance Gas AS and previously worked as Head of Shipping for Petredec, Managing Director for Neu Gas Shipping and Head of the Maersk VLGC Pool.

Malaysian shipowner AET said it signed a deal with Total's Chartering and Shipping Services SA for the time charter of two liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel very large crude carriers (VLCC). The two newbuilds, which are able to carry about 300,000 tons of crude oil each, are scheduled to be delivered to AET from the first quarter of 2022.The two newbuilds will be powered by LNG and will be among the most environmentally friendly VLCCs in the market. When in service, they will emit around 20% less CO2 greenhouse gases than conventional vessels; 85% less NOx and 99% less SOx.

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Havila Shipping has struck a debt restructuring deal with lenders, conditional upon approval from formal bodies. At January 1, 2020, Havila's outstanding debt was NOK 4,222 million (around $410 million), which for each vessel will now be split into an interest-bearing tranche and a non-interest-bearing tranche. The sizing of the interest-bearing tranche is based on the expected debt service capacity of each vessel during the restructuring periodDebt higher than the expected interest-bearing tranche will be non-interest-bearing.

Tankers carrying U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) are on their way to China after Beijing started granting tax waivers to some importers, according to shipping and trade sources.This is the first time since March 2019 that shipments have resumed after a long-standing trade war that saw China raise tariffs on LNG imports from the United States to 25% last year.Four LNG tankers are currently en route to China after loading cargoes last month in the United States, ship-tracking data…

While the implications of COVID-19 for containership demand and freight rates are directionally clear, the time charter market often marches to its own drum.The latest Container Shipping Forecaster from Maritime Strategies International analyzes the impact of the pandemic on time charter markets in the light of reduced demand and falling fright rates.Containership time charter rates have broadly retreated in recent weeks, and since the start of 2020 the majority of benchmarks have seen earnings retreat by 10-15% - hardly a historic correction.

The U.S. government said on Monday it has not yet received requests to waive a 100-year-old law on shipping goods between domestic ports, despite some interested parties who say temporarily lifting the regulation would help energy companies hurt by the oil price plunge.Kelly Cahalan, a spokesperson at the U.S Customs and Border Protection agency of the Department of Homeland Security, said no requests to waive the Merchant Marine Act, better known as the Jones Act, have been received.U.S.

A new crowdfunding campaign aims to raise funds for developing world seafarers and their families that have been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.The world's seafarers, especially those from poorer countries, are facing a number of challlenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are in lockdown with casual contracts and unable to work; others are facing difficulties due to lockdowns when they leave ships and are unable to return to their families with costs and little income coming in…

Container shipping companies Ocean Network Express (ONE), Maersk and MSC will suspend their jointly operated China Australia service (CAE) until at least the second quarter of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The last CAE sailing before the suspension will be scheduled to depart Xiamen April 22. The CAE port rotation is as follows: Xiamen – Nansha - Hong Kong – Yantian – Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane – Xiamen.Alternate coverage will be provided by the North East Asia Australia (AUN) Service…

The shipping industry is finally embracing technology that is changing how companies operate. Despite lagging behind other industries, the shipping industry is currently experiencing an exciting period of digital transformation, with cloud technology and mobile apps welcomed by leading global shipping companies, changing ship management forever.Companies are increasingly using mobile apps to manage all aspects of their business – to automate tasks, manage their processes, resourcing and to improve the wellbeing of seafarers…

In an open letter posted on the MSC website, MSC Group President & CEO Diego Aponte offered public comment and perspective on the COVID-19 situation for MSC's cargo business. “The spread of COVID-19 has created a public health issue unprecedented in our lifetimes, triggering an unexpected shock for societies and economies,” said Aponte.Calling the industry “as an essential cog for global trade” Aponte’s recognizes his company’s role in helping to keep products moving while taking…

HydroComp launched its new PropCad 2020 software for the geometric design of marine propellers. PropCad automatically prepares 2D drawings, 3D CAD models and much more.All HydroComp 2020 products have been upgraded with a new internal code-and-control set. This has increased the speed and stability of the program across existing Window’s platforms. These changes are largely behind the scenes, but users will notice some visual changes in PropCad and HydroComp’s other programs.The Propeller CAD Import utility includes algorithm revisions to greatly increase the supported file-size…

Concordia Damen said it has been selected to build a new training vessel for the STC Group for delivery in 2022.The new, environmentally conscious vessel will replace two training vessels – the Princess Christina and the Princess Beatrix – that the Rotterdam-headquartered maritime training institution has used to train students for more than 50 years.In 2018, students and teachers at STC Group, along with supporters from the business community, began to develop the ideas behind the vessel.

U.S. ports have worked toward increasing the depth and width of their channels to allow for larger ships with greater capacities. The equation is generally: bigger ships = more throughput = increased profitability. But what are the impacts around a channel after it’s widened? The ripple effects may go further than you think.Managing the Impact of Channel Improvement Projects on Structures and PipelinesWith more water to impact them, structures around an expanded channel may need improvements, and pipelines under the channel may need relocation to make way for dredging.

Looking back through articles on autonomous shipping, one could be forgiven for thinking that it’s becoming the nuclear fusion of maritime; always seemingly five or 10 years away but never quite arriving. In 2018, numerous commentators predicted that by 2030, autonomous vessels would be commonplace. With the lifecycle of most ships making this very difficult, barring a massive program of scrappage and new building, this is now looking less likely. As an industry we have undoubtedly learned much from the trials of autonomous ships and the advances in big data that have stemmed from such trials.

The Hepburn and Sons LLC team welcomed David Rice, CAPT David Bauer, USN (Ret), and Gary Loberg as their newest members. David Rice serves as Senior Consultant, Material Science. David Bauer will serve as the Senior Manager, Material Science. Gary Loberg serves as Senior Manager, Advisory Services.David Rice comes to Hepburn and Sons, LLC after a career spanning 45 years at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS). During his time at NNS he served as the Manager of Contracted Research & Development and was responsible for Research & Development Programs funded by ONR/ManTech…

Inmarsat has formalized a 50% discount for crew voice calling services available for up to 40,000 ships in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on seafarer well-being.The maritime satellite service provider is also ensuring that calls made to the SeafarerHelp service provided by welfare organization ISWAN (International Seafarers’ Welfare Assistance Network) are available free of charge. In addition, Inmarsat is working with crew healthcare specialist Vikand and software platform provider FrontM…

A newly established consortium is going to develop a network for low Earth orbit satellites delivering ice chart data to ships at sea. A new research project called MARIOT (Maritime IoT) is going to develop a low Earth orbit satellite network based on the new VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) technology. The consortium behind the project is headed by the Danish satellite operator Sternula. The satcom developers GateHouse, Space Inventor, and Satlab as well as Aalborg University…

United Nations shipping agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has echoed industry calls for governments to grant special travel exemptions to seafarers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.In a Circular Letter (link) issued on Monday, the IMO distributed a series of recommendations for governments and relevant national authorities, proposed by a broad cross-section of global industry associations representing the maritime transportation sector.The Circular Letter specifically calls on governments to designate professional seafarers and marine personnel…