Shipping News

Kongsberg Digital (KDI) will deliver to GasLog a comprehensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) simulator package designed to enable new levels of safety and operational training for the owner/operator’s professional crews.GasLog operates 27 LNG vessels through its subsidiary, GasLog LNG Services and has seven ships currently on order. The KDI contract represents a commitment and investment on GasLog’s part to provide a high-level training environment for their crews, solely focused on LNG operation.The scope of supply is based on an integrated…

Egypt’s Suez Canal revenues rose to $502.2 million in August up 6.7 percent from the same period last year, the cabinet said in a statement on Wednesday.The canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of the government’s main sources of foreign currency.(Reporting by Yusri Mohamed, writing Amina Ismail; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Singapore's commodity trading company Trafigura Group has named the first of its 35 crude oil and product tankers being built in South Korea and China.The naming ceremony took place at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Jeolanam-do, in the southwest of South Korea yesterday (September 20) in the presence of Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health, Dr Lam Pin Min. Dr Lam’s wife, Dr Jeanette Chen, became godmother to the first vessel to be named, the Mt Marlin Singapore…

A Swiss-operated ship has been attacked off the coast of Nigeria, Switzerland’s foreign ministry said, amid media reports that 12 crew members had been kidnapped by a  gang of pirates.The MV Glarus, merchant ship operated by Geneva-based shipping company Massoel Shipping, was transporting wheat between Lagos and the southern Niger Delta oil hub of Port Harcourt.According to reports, the incident took place at about 45 nautical miles south west of Bonny Island. The pirates held 12 among the ship's staff members as hostages.According to West African nation's maritime agency…

Nor-Shipping is partnering with business platform SeaFocus in an agreement aimed at connecting maritime companies with talented students.SeaFocus is an international organization, based in Finland, which works to highlight, discuss and enable opportunities within maritime. It’s Intelligence Hunt project sees businesses submit industry case studies and scenarios for teams of international students to address with innovative solutions. For Nor-Shipping 2019’s collaboration the theme…

This month Happy Star’s two Heavy Lift Mast Cranes were upgraded to 1,100 mt lifting capacity each at the Huisman Service & Assembly location in Schiedam, the Netherlands.After a thorough testing program, Happy Star will depart for Porto Maghera, Italy, tomorrow to load two 1,500 mt reactors – the first commercial cargo to be lifted with her upgraded cranes.BigLift has noticed a growing demand for heavy lift vessels with lifting capacities of over 2,000 mt. With the crane upgrade of Happy Star…

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities, rose for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday supported by gains across vessel segments.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, rose 16 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,450 points.The capesize index was up 4 points or 0.2 percent at 1,868 points.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $176 at $16,484.The panamax index gained 30 points, or nearly 2 percent,

Container shipping group CMA CGM said it estimates the cost for it to comply with a new global low-sulphur shipping fuel regulation at around $160 per TEU, or standard container, at current conditions.In a statement on Monday, the French firm, one of the world's largest container lines, said the cost would be absorbed by adjustment of fuel surcharges for customers.CMA CGM reiterated it would use several solutions to meet the low-sulphur standard, which will come into effect on Jan.

The price of shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) has spiked in September and is likely to remain high next year, buoyed by rising production from new plants and concerns that demand for LNG vessels will outpace supply.The rate for vessels shipping LNG from the Atlantic Basin to Asia has jumped to $90,000 to $95,000 a day this week from $75,000 a day at the end of August, brokers and traders said.Rates, which broadly hovered around $30,000 to $40,000 a day from 2015 to 2017, have risen due to longer distances covered to transport LNG from new terminals in the United States and Arctic Russia…

Dredging contractor Dutch Dredging welcomed two new vessels to its fleet last week during a naming ceremony in Cayenne, French Guiana.The new vessels, Papillon and Fregate, were delivered to Boer Remorquage SARL, a joint venture involving Dutch Dredging and Iskes Towage & Salvage. The newcomers will go to work in the ports of Cayenne and Kourou in French Guiana.The investment is a response to the 12-year contract that the consortium signed in 2016 with the Grand Port Maritime de Guyane.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will not delay implementing a reduction in the amount of sulphur in marine fuel in 2020, an IMO official said on Tuesday."I can categorically say there will not be a delay," said Edmund Hughes, the head of air pollution and energy efficiency at the IMO, during the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.IMO, the United Nations' shipping agency, will require that vessels start in 2020 using fuel oil with 0.5 percent sulphur…

As the domestic offshore energy industry stirs ever so lightly, the task of reactivating long-dormant vessels – some with extensive hull fouling – will become Job ONE. That’s easier said than done.Care and Preservation of Ship Hulls: Workboats vs. Deepwater VesselsNever before has there been such a wealth of data on the processes relating to the fouling of ship hulls. The formation of biofilms and subsequent micro- macro-and bio-fouling has been examined in minute detail and the…

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation establishing a European Maritime Single Window environment, stated a ESPO Secretariat.For European ports though, reducing the administrative burden in maritime transport and facilitating trade is a top priority. ESPO wants more ambition on the harmonisation of data definitions and data sets, while maintaining the existing reporting systems, it said in a press release.This would further reduce the administrative burden and would facilitate trade.

Improving the environmental performance of the container shipping supply chain is a common goal shared by shipping lines, shippers, freight forwarders and non-vessel operating common carriers, as well as governments, regulators, and the public around the world.The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires that from 1 January 2020, Sulphur content in the fuel used for international shipping must be limited globally to 0.5%, compared with the current standard of 3.5%…

Ship recycling yards approved by the EU will have enough capacity to handle demand from EU-flagged ships that need to be scrapped, a statement from NGO Shipbreaking Platform said qoting a new data analysis.The shipping industry wants low-cost ship ‘breaking’ yards outside the EU – with dangerous working conditions and poor environmental standards – to be added to the EU list of approved facilities in order to meet demand from vessels bound by the bloc’s ship recycling law, which…

Avoiding Potential Pitfalls and HeadachesThe summer of Sub M may be over, but the heat remains for the tugboat and towing vessel industry operating under the July 20th regulations. Owner & Operators are faced with daily challenges to continually sustain and build their businesses. As with any new regulation, there is a period of learn-ing and, even more so, interpretation by industry and by those enforcing regulations. One of the more significant matters related to this situation revolves around vessels in response services and those required to hold Non-Tank Vessel Response Plans (NT-VRP).

Bangladesh has put aside two smaller liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects with trading houses Gunvor and Vitol to focus on two larger LNG import terminals, one of which is already in use while the second will start up in March.Bangladesh has turned to LNG to offset falling domestic gas output to feed industrial demand and electricity generation in a nation of 160 million people where a third have no power supply.It aims to import 17 million tonnes a year of LNG by 2025, which in today's terms would make it a top five importer.

The world’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fueled handysize bulk carrier, M/V Haaga, was delivered from Chinese shipbuilder from Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing to Finnish shipowner ESL Shipping, in August.The first-of-its-kind vessel features innovative solutions from Finnish hybrid solutions company WE Tech, including Economical Operations and Boost Mode with the direct drive permanent magnet shaft generator, that help minimize energy consumption and emissions to reduce the ship's environmental footprint.The Economical Operations…

ESVAGT UK has appointed Ian Taylor as iUK Regional Director.Taylor brings many years of shipping experience and a considerable amount of ESVAGT knowledge to ESVAGT’s UK office at Dock Gate House in the heart of Aberdeen’s harbor area. As a Chartered Shipbroker, he has been handling contracts with ESVAGT for North Sea Charterers for the past decade.Having ‘sold’ ESVAGT to clients for years, getting onboard full time was an easy step. “It is a company I have known well for several years,” Taylor said. “ESVAGT has a significant presence in the U.K.

Norway based dry bulk shipping company Golden Ocean Group Limited IGOGL) has announced that Ulrika Laurin and James O'Shaughnessy have been elected as new board members.Ulrika Laurin has been the Executive Chairman of ship-owning company Anglo-Atlantic Steamship Co. Ltd. and the Chairman of Laurin Shipping AB, an international ship-management company.She has served as the CFO of Anglo-Atlantic Steamship Co. Ltd. and as Commercial Manager of Laurin Maritime (UK) Ltd. Prior to that, she worked with fund manager Tufton Oceanic Ltd. and with management consultant Karlöf & Partners.

The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) participates in Polar Fish 2018 in Sisimiut, Greenland. Focus will be on guidance and information about safety, requirements for ships and the Danish Register of Shipping.Saftety first - The Danish Maritime Authority has been running a campaign aimed at fishermen throughout the summer to get full focus on safety. This year's Polar Fish Fair will follow this campaign.The Danish Maritime Authority cooperate with authorities and private customers in Greenland.

This year has seen record-breaking performance at APM Terminals Gothenburg and the return of major shippers and consignees to the terminal. Progress is set to continue as efficiency increases through automation, including self-service gates and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for rail and truck gates due later this year.Over the last year, APM Terminals Gothenburg has implemented a number of concrete initiatives to improve the customer experience. These include maintaining satisfactory and stable production…

Ballast water treatment (BWT) specialist Optimarin said it has secured a contract to supply 36 systems to Ardmore Shipping, one of the manufacturer’s largest orders to date.The Irish-headquartered shipowner will fit the three dozen units across 18 chemical and product tankers – two units in each vessel. Delivery is due to commence in February next year.Ardmore’s fleet ranges in size from 25,000 to 50,000 dwt. The firm transports petroleum products and chemicals worldwide with its modern…