Shipping News

ONE Apus containership - Credit:Marco Wisniowski / MarineTrafficNearly 2,000 containers aboard a ship managed by NYK Shipmanagement of Japan were lost or damaged when it hit by stormy weather in the Pacific Ocean, the company said, adding that the vessel was heading to Japan for assessment.Such a large amount of container losses is rare in the international shipping industry, averaging less than 1,400 a year in the last 12 years.ONE Apus, owned by Chidori Ship Holdings, was traveling from Yantian in China to Long Beach…

Denmark's Maersk Tankers said it reached a deal to operate four product tankers owned by Singaporean shipping group Xihe Holdings (Xihe).Part of the Lim family business empire, Xihe Holdings and its subsidiaries were placed under court-appointed supervisors earlier this year.Maersk Tanks said the agreement aligns with its strategy to build scale through partnerships driven by the use of digitalization to cut CO2 emissions and boost partner returns. Since the beginning of 2020…

Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL), a Singapore-based company that owns subsidiaries engaged in international shipping, was sentenced today in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan in New Bern, N.C., after pleading guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice, and for a failure to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition on the cargo vessel Pac Antares.PCL pleaded guilty to a total of eight felony offenses across three judicial districts – the Eastern District of North Carolina…

We have known it all along; the bigger the bunker fuel consumption of the ship, the more likely it is that shipowners will choose an SOx scrubber as the tool to comply with the IMO 2020 sulfur cap.Whiles only three Handysize bulkers in total have been delivered from the newbuilding yards with a scrubber fitted in 2020, one in three Handymax bulkers were delivered with scrubbers installed.Most scrubber-fitted bulkers were delivered in the Panamax sub-sector, that saw 81 units out of 150…

Soren Toft started his new role as CEO at MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company on December 2, 2020, reporting to Diego Aponte, MSC Group President, and Gianluigi Aponte, Founder and MSC Group Chairman.Toft will oversees MSC’s global cargo businesses including ocean liner and logistics. He will also be a member of the board of directors of Terminal Investment Ltd (TiL), the terminals business which is majority-owned by MSC.Soren Toft joins MSC from Maersk, where he served as COO since 2013 and later as a Member of the Executive Board.“With his 25 years of experience in leadership roles at Maersk…

Complying with International Maritime Organization Resolution MSC.337(91) Noise Level CodeOne of the best things a marine operator can do for its crew or passengers is prioritize their comfort by reducing shipboard noise. Commercial and military marine vessels can be subject to very high noise levels produced by everything from onboard activities to aircraft. At worst, this noise can be hazardous—disruptively noisy environments can lead to discomfort, sleep-deprivation, and even hearing loss, which can in turn lead to lower job performance, safety risks, and diminished quality of life.

Svitzer Europe announced that Mattias Hellström has taken up the role of Chief Commercial Officer from December 1, 2020, reporting to Svitzer Europe’s Managing Director, Lise Demant. Hellström has more than 25 years of experience in shipping and towage, and joined Svitzer Europe in 2014 as Managing Director for Scandinavia. His role expanded to cover Svitzer’s important operation in Germany in 2017.During his time as Cluster MD, Mattias managed Svitzer Europe’s acquisition of Port Towage Nordic and its recent expansion of line handling services in Bremerhaven and towage services in Emden…

NYK Bulkship (Asia) Pte. Ltd., an NYK Group company based in Singapore, signed a long-term time charter contract with Waterfront Shipping Company Limited (WFS) for two newly built chemical carriers, each equipped with a dual-fuel engine that enables the vessels to be powered not only by marine fuel oil but also methanol.Planned for delivery from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (Korea) in 2022, the vessels will be delivered to WFS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Methanex Corporation, the world’s largest producer and supplier of methanol.

How have major events such as the U.S./China trade war, oil price fall and COVID-19 impacted Twin Disc’s commercial marine business to date, and what adjustments have you made in response?These are the three things that I’ve been highlighting in employee communications and with investors over the last few months. For us, COVID was just the third punch after the other two. China is typically our second largest market after the U.S., and we lost lots of orders to our competitors as the trade war started to affect us. It’s rebounding a little, but it definitely impacted our sales into China.

BW LPG has entered into memorandums of agreement (MOA) to sell two very large gas carriers (VLGC) BW Confidence and BW Cedar, the Singapore-based shipowner announced Monday.BW Confidence was built in 2006 and has a carrying capacity of 83,270 cubic meters. The sale is expected to generate approximately $36 million in liquidity and an expected net book gain of approximately $4 million. The sale and delivery of the vessel to its new owner is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.BW Cedar was built in 2007 and has a carrying capacity of 82,260 cubic meters.

Japan, South Korea and a fleet of international shipping groups have warned the European Union against its plan to add greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime sector to Europe’s carbon market.As the 27-country EU seeks to steer its economy towards “net zero” emissions by 2050, the executive European Commission wants to expand its carbon market to shipping.Currently, the policy requires power plants, factories and airlines running European flights to buy pollution permits to cover their emissions.The proposal…

Britain and France signed a new agreement to try to stop illegal migration across the Channel on Saturday, upping patrols and technology in the hope of closing off a dangerous route used by migrants to try to reach the UK on small boats.UK interior minister Priti Patel said that under the deal, the number of officers patrolling French beaches would double, and new equipment including drones and radar would be employed.This year, hundreds of people, including some children, have…

Venezuela has resumed direct shipments of oil to China after U.S. sanctions sent the trade underground for more than a year, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel-tracking data and internal documents from state company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).Chinese state companies China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and PetroChina - long among PDVSA's top customers - stopped loading crude and fuel at Venezuelan ports in August 2019 after Washington extended its sanctions on PDVSA to include…

Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics, a developer of autonomous command and remote-helm control systems, announced today that Herman Sr. BV, a Netherlands-based tug and workboat company, will add a Sea Machines’ SM200 wireless, remote-helm control system to one of its Shoalbuster tugboats, the 23.35-meter Teddy, for the purposes of increasing productivity and operational safety during offshore operations. The SM200 provides wireless helm and propulsion control, as well as remote control of auxiliaries and payload equipment (including pumps…

Pursuant to direction from FMC Chairman Michael Khouri, the Federal Maritime Commission has issued letters to the three global carrier alliances (2M, THE, and OCEAN) requiring that certain carrier-specific trade data currently filed with the Commission quarterly, must now be submitted on a monthly basis.The Commission’s Bureau of Trade Analysis (BTA) has traditionally relied on a combination of individual vessel operator confidentially provided data and information from commercially available industry data to monitor and analyze container carrier freight rates and service market trends.

Russia plans to build a metals plant in the Far East at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion and supply steel sheet to the Zvezda shipbuilding yard as part of a push to develop the Arctic, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said.The head of the oil producer said during a televised meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the planned facility on Sukhodol Bay would produce 1.5 million tonnes of steel sheet and steel pipe products per year.The Zvezda shipbuilding yard is set to play a prominent role in Russia's push to make the Northern Sea Route an important Arctic transit corridor for oil…

Danish international shipping and logistics firm DFDS is setting up a new freight ferry route between Ireland and France, "to facilitate trade between Ireland and continental Europe."From January 2, 2021, the new freight ferry route between Rosslare in Ireland and Dunkirk in Northern France will offer trucks and their drivers direct and paperless transport between EU countries, avoiding the paperwork hassle that Brexit may bring.The port of Dunkirk is a gateway to Ireland’s top export markets – France, Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands – and a host of secondary markets.

While the tanker market had a strong run at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released this morning by BIMCO, tanker shipping will not benefit this year from the usual strong winter seasonal effect. Though the new lockdowns being introduced in many countries are less strict than in the spring, the effect on tanker shipping will be worse, given the supply glut of Q2. The news of an effective vaccine offers some hope of a global oil demand recovery but, however it comes about…

WhisperPower is ready to start shipping its new range of Supreme Pro Battery Chargers. Available in four models – 40, 60, 80 and 100 amps – the chargers/power supplies have been built to exceed the most stringent requirements of the global shipping industry.The Supreme Pro range is touted by the manufacture as the smallest 24V battery charger of its type in the world, able to run silently and keep itself cool in hot areas such as engine rooms that may otherwise compromise performance.Each…

As the maritime community collectively fights to reduce emissions, RightShip and Pilbara Ports Authority have developed a pilot program that allows ports around the world to review their emissions profiles and develop management strategies. After partnering with The Australian Marine Environment Protection Association (AUSMEPA), and winning a $250,000 Google Impact grant in 2016, RightShip and AUSMEPA have developed a Maritime Emissions Portal (MEP), which will provide leading emissions inventory data to ports around the world.Available now for commercial use…

Maritime classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and South Korea's shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) have signed a joint development project to use Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology to replace at least one of three diesel generators typically onboard a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC)."It’s the second SOFC-focused JDP between ABS and DSME, with the first collaboration in 2019 revealing the high efficiency of a SOFC and gas turbine hybrid system due to the re-use of hot exhaust off-gas…

Danish international shipping and logistics firm DFDS has, with its partners, applied for EU support for the development of a ferry powered by electricity from a hydrogen fuel cell system that only emits water. Green hydrogen is to be produced by a projected offshore wind energy-powered electrolyzer plant in Greater Copenhagen.A group of companies has partnered up in order to develop a 100% hydrogen-powered ferry for initially DFDS’ Oslo-Frederikshavn-Copenhagen route.The partners in the project are DFDS, ABB, Ballard Power Systems Europe, Hexagon Purus, Lloyd’s Register, KNUD E.

Cargotec's subsidiary MacGregor has signed an agreement with offshore vessel owner North Sea Shipping to deliver its OnWatch Scout Predict on the North Sea Giant offshore vessel.OnWatch Scout is a solution that connects installed equipment aboard a vessel to advanced monitoring systems that continuously analyze component conditions and predict maintenance needs.MacGregor has signed a 5-year OnWatch Scout Predict agreement with North Sea Shipping, and the company's OnWatch team…