Shipping News

A group of Japanese partner companies have signed onto a project initiated by Asahi Tanker Co., Ltd. to build the world's first zero-emission, fully electric-propulsion bunker supply vessel.The so-called e5 Consortium, including Asahi Tanker Co., Ltd., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Exeno Yamamizu Corporation, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., Tokyo Electric Power Company, and Mitsubishi Corporation, say they will work toward developing, realizing and commercializing zero-emission electric vessels.

At these difficult times when companies involved in the offshore industry are cutting jobs across the board as one of the ways to preserve cash, there's one offshore vessel operator that, while indeed cutting salaries, is keeping the jobs in place.Esvagt, the Danish provider of emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRV) and service operation vessels (SOV) to the offshore energy industry, mostly in the North Sea, earlier this month said it would cut executive and staff pay, and delay investments.The pay cuts and investment delays are a response to the low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic…

ABS has published the ABS Guide to Wind-assisted Propulsion System Installation, providing class safety standards when installing wind-assisted systems.The classification society said its new guide is applicable to both Flettner rotors and wing sails, including both rigid and soft sails. These wind-assisted propulsion technologies have been gaining attention as operators seek new ways to reduce fuel costs as well as their environmental footprint.“Wind-assisted propulsion systems…

Saudi Aramco’s shipping division Bahri has put on hold plans to charter up to 12 liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers after Sempra Energy delayed its decision on whether to proceed with an LNG export project in Texas, two sources said.Bahri issued an expression of interest (EOI) last year to charter the vessels from 2025 in Saudi Aramco’s first foray into LNG as part of the state oil giant’s plan to become a major global player in the gas market.In May last year, Aramco signed a 20-year agreement to buy LNG from Sempra Energy’s planned Port Arthur export terminal and also agreed to buy a 25% eq

A rare ethanol shipment of U.S. origin is expected to arrive in China this month, according to three industry sources and shipping data, probably the first such cargo since the two countries struck an initial trade deal in January.The market has been watching closely for signs of renewed trade in biofuel after China waived some additional tariffs on 696 American products, ethanol among them, to support purchases of U.S. farm goods, after the signing of the Phase 1 trade deal.Oil tanker SC Chongqing…

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) said it will initiate an investigation into whether ballast water regulations proposed by the Government of Canada discriminate against U.S. flag vessel operators in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.The FMC commissioners voted unanimously to accept a petition filed by trade group the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) asking the commision to perform the investigation and examine the detriment and harm to the U.S. flag fleet resulting…

As we continue to contemplate a future with ships transitioning to automated and autonomous operations, the need for new and innovated crew training will only increase. Our current and future ship crews will need to straddle both new and existing vessel operation technology. This will present challenges, but ones that the industry can address in a proactive manner.Traditionally, maritime skills have changed slowly and new technology was assimilated on the fly in many cases. The Merchant Marine was a place where you learned on the job.

Throughout April, container shipping spot freight rates on the back-haul trade from North Europe to China were higher than those on the front-haul trade from China to North Europe. This is a rare occurrence that has developed in the wake of the massive supply chain disruptions in the world’s top manufacturing hub due to the COVID-19 outbreak, causing aftershocks across the Far East.“A reversal of front-haul and back-haul spot freight rates is a rare event. Especially on a high-volume main trade route like the Far East to Europe…

The World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Wednesday its goods trade indicator fell to the lowest level since its launch, indicating global trade was likely to fall “precipitously” in the first half of 2020 due to disruptions caused by COVID-19.The indicator, launched in July 2016, fell to 87.6 from 95.5 in February, the Geneva-based body said. Readings of less than 100 indicate trade below medium-term trends.“The current reading captures the initial phases of the COVID-19 outbreak…

Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa is set to receive on Wednesday its first ever West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil cargo from the United States, according to industry sources and shipping data, just a month after the front-month futures for the blend turned negative.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) May crude futures sank to minus $38 per barrel on April 20, just days before their expiration, in a quirky trading pattern never seen before, amid overproduction and lack of storage capacity inflicted by the coronavirus-battling restrictions.On Wednesday…

The volume of crude stored on oil tanker vessels is currently estimated to around 200 million barrels and may be close to a peak, tanker group Frontline said in its first quarter results presentation on Wednesday."We are likely to see an unwind of floating storage in 2H 2020," it added.Even with output cuts from top producing nations, decreased oil demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic has created a major oil glut and a sharp uptick in floating oil storage on board tankers at sea.Hugo De Stoop…

Frank Coles, CEO, Wallem Group, is known to “call ‘em like he sees ‘em”. We caught up with Coles via video conference from Hong Kong last month to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on maritime, the future of digitalization and autonomy, and the shameful treatment of seafarers. “The only shock to my system that was at the same level was 9/11, because of its impact on the world,” is how Frank Coles puts the current COVID-19 pandemic in perspective. “That was a one-time thing on one-day…

Qatari shipping company Nakilat took delivery of a newbuild liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Global Energy. Built by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), the vessel will be managed in-house by Nakilat and is the first of four LNG carrier newbuilds to be delivered to Global Shipping Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Nakilat (60%) and Greece-based Maran Ventures Inc. (40%). The delivery of all four newbuilds by end-2021 will bring Nakilat’s fleet to 74 LNG carriers…

John Waterhouse is a ubiquitous character in the U.S. maritime industry, a deep-thinker, a signature bow tie and more than three decades of naval architecture and marine engineering experience and success as co-owner of the Seattle-based Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG).While growing up, John Waterhouse spent some time in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and it was as a young boy standing on the shores of English Bay, watching ships come in from around the world to load and unload their cargos, when he realized that a maritime career could be his future.

China Merchants Energy Shipping said it has ordered a pair of 307,000 DWT very large crude carriers (VLCC) from China Shipbuilding Group's Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC), including one vessel that will be fitted with sail propulsion and another with air lubrication technology.The order was formalized during a virtual ceremony attended by representatives in Beijing, Hong Kong and Dalian.The two new vessels with emissions reducing technologies follow four VLCCs ordered by China Merchants at the shipyard in November 2019.In 2018…

Norwegian shipowners have laid out plans to make the country's fleet entirely climate neutral by 2050, surpassing the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) target to halve shipping emissions within the same timeframe.The Norwegian Shipowners' Association on Tuesday revealed its member shipping companies have adopted four goals to reduce their environmental footprint. Members will first cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 50% per transported unit by 2030, compared to 2008. From 2030, members will only order vessels with zero emission technology.

Callan Marine's new Jones Act cutterhead suction dredge (CSD) General MacArthur and its accompanying idler barge have entered service in Texas, heading to work on several projects before transiting to Corpus Christi for the second phase of the deepening and widening project.The newest and largest dredger in Callen Marine's fleet, the General MacArthur represents the next generation of dredging technology and crew comfort, said Maxie McGuire, President of Callan Marine.“The General MacArthur is a complete game-changer for the dredging industry,” McGuire said.

In the best of times, keeping ship crews mentally and physically healthy is a challenge premised on the inherent nature of and dangers in the job, plus the proximity of ship from ready, shoreside help. Add a global pandemic and the situation becomes untenable. We checked in with a select group of maritime medical care organizations for mitigating COVID-19 maritime medical risk.Seafarers are an essential workforce to the global economy with as many as 1.5 million working day and night…

An Iranian news agency close to the elite Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday there would be repercussions if the United States acted “just like pirates” against an Iranian fuel shipment to Venezuela.A senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration told Reuters on Thursday the United States was considering measures it could take in response to Iran’s shipment of fuel to crisis-stricken Venezuela.The oil sectors of Iran and Venezuela, members of OPEC, are both under U.S. sanctions.

Tanker shipping company d’Amico International Shipping S.A. said its operating subsidiary d’Amico Tankers D.A.C. (Ireland), signed a memorandum of agreement for the sale of the MT Cielo di Guangzhou, a 38,877 dwt Handysize product tanker vessel, built in 2006 by China's Guangzhou Shipyard, for a consideration of $8.8 million.d’Amico’s fleet currently comprises 45.5 double-hulled product tankers (MR, Handysize and LR1, of which 23.5 owned, 13 chartered-in and nine bareboat chartered-in.

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier dubbed Elisa Larus, owned by France LNG Shipping (a French ship-owning company jointly owned by NYK and Geogas LNG) and under a long-term charter contract with EDF LNG Shipping, was delivered. Built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industriesthe ships is the first long-term contract with EDF LNG Shipping and will be engaged in LNG transportation for up to 20 years.The vessel has a 174,000 cu. m. capacity membrane-type cargo tank fitted with a GTT Mark III Flex cargo containment system and a dual-fuel slow-speed engine (WinGD X-DF).In addition…

Martyn Thomas is the Chief of Staff at Stream Marine Training Ltd (SMT Ltd.) following many years working for both global training providers and cruise companies. SMT is a maritime skills and technology business providing fire-fighting, sea survival, survival craft and HSE training to the global maritime, oil and gas, renewables and construction industries.Thomas works out of SMT’s head office in Glasgow where SMT trains the majority of its theoretical based courses, including Alternative Fuels…

Damen Shiprepair Harbor & Voyage (DSHV) has signed a joint partnership cooperation with Verolme Special Equipment for the provision of services to exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS), widely known as marine scrubbers. The agreement arose from a mutual understanding that both parties’ clients were seeking wider availability of services for on board scrubber installations – either in port or underway. The partnership will create a leading global service provider of EGCS, supporting cleaner…