Singapore News

A total of eight incidents of armed robbery were reported against ships in Asia in November 2019, according to ReCAAP ISC monthly piracy report.ReCAAP said of the eight incidents reported in November 2019, five incidents, comprising four actual incidents and one attempted incident, occurred in the Singapore Strait.The total number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships reported during January-November 2019 has decreased by 4%, but the number of actual incidents…

New TechGuide maintenance app from MAN CEON represents new generation of instructional material.As the global maritime community embraces new digitalization technologies aimed at reducing costs and enhancing safety onboard ships, MAN CEON, which is MAN Energy Solutions umbrella brand for all its digital products, comes to the fore for TechGuide, and augmented reality maintenance platform.The new generation of instructional material with augmented reality features a mix of different multimedia.

BW LPG Limited, owner and operator of LPG vessels,  said that Martin Ackermann has decided to step down as CEO at the end of this year for family reasons, after five years leading the company from Singapore.Anders Onarheim, a non-executive director of BW LPG since 2013 and former Managing Director of Carnegie, will act as interim CEO of BW LPG.Martin Ackermann, CEO of BW LPG, said: “It has been a privilege to lead BW LPG through some challenging years and to see it continue as a strong platform for the future”.Andreas Sohmen-Pao…

Saudi Aramco's shipping arm Bahri has issued an expression of interest (EOI) to charter up to 12 liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers from 2025, its first foray into the superchilled fuel, industry sources said on Monday.No further details were immediately available and Saudi Aramco declined to comment. EOIs are preliminary enquiries that may or may not turn into full-fledged orders.According to Bahri's website, the national shipping carrier of Saudi Arabia has six business units dealing in oil…

Vroon Offshore Services reports its Singapore-managed anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS ) vessel VOS Champion has started a five-month contract with a major international oil and gas engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contractor. The firm period of the current contract will last until March 2020.VOS Champion, which had been under charter to Chevron earlier this year, was delivered to her new charterers in early November and immediately mobilized to Sandakan, Malaysia.

Disruption to shipping from the long-anticipated switch to more environmentally friendly marine fuels has finally arrived, exacerbated by logistical problems as much as any shortage of the cleaner fuel.New International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules, referred to as IMO 2020, aim to stop ships from using fuels containing more than 0.5% sulphur unless they are equipped with exhaust-cleaning systems known as scrubbers.From the start of January ships must load very low sulphur…

Container shipping firm CMA CGM will use the French Mediterranean port of Marseille for refueling some of its planned gas-powered vessels, backed by a supply partnership with energy group Total.Total will supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a refueling barge to enable CMA CGM to refuel LNG-powered vessels at the Marseille-Fos hub starting in 2021, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.The initiative covers five vessels with a capacity of 15,000 twenty-foot equivalent…

Denmark’s Short-sea operator Unifeeder , part of the global port operator DP World, has acquired a 77% stake in The Feedertech Group, a Singapore-based feeder and shortsea operator.The Group’s Chairman, Ali Maghami, will retain the remaining 23% shareholding.Established in 2003, the Group operates two companies; Feedertech, which is a feedering service and Perma, a regional shortsea network. Both operate in the same market and connect the fast-growing trade route of Asia-Middle…

Diana Shipping  announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Ausca Shipping Limited, Hong Kong, for one of its Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Myrsini.According to the global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, the gross charter rate is US$11,500 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum 13 months to about 15 months. The charter is expected to commence on December 4…

Singapore based shipowner and operator Grindrod Shipping announced a number of transactions relating to the extension of its IVS Bulk joint venture, implementation of a financing arrangement and a fleet update.Grindrod Shipping has extended the termination date of its IVS Bulk joint venture from September 30, 2019 to November 30, 2019."We continue to progress the transaction agreed in principle with the joint venture partners whereby the company would acquire an additional 33.25% stake from one of the partners with the other partner retaining its 33.25% stake…

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has expressed concern about the agreement of fusion notified from the South Korean shipbuilding groups Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME).The authority antitrust of Singapore has raised competition concerns with the proposed acquisition by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Ltd. (KSOE) of a majority interest in DSME and the intended integration of the businesses of KSOE and DSME.Earlier…

At SK Energy's largest refinery in South Korea, engineers are rushing to complete a new processing unit ahead of schedule as the firm looks to boost sales of low-emission fuels before new marine fuel standards take effect in just one month.In Japan, the country's second-biggest refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co is taking a more cautious stance, increasing capacity for low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), but also relying on blending to produce IMO 2020 compliant bunker fuel.The different approaches…

Wilhelmsen has launched an early adopter program for 3D printed marine spare parts. A strategic move by the six early adopters, Carnival Maritime, Thome Ship Management, OSM Maritime Group, Berge Bulk, Executive Ship Management and Wilhelmsen Ship Management have all signed up with Wilhelmsen’s Marine Products division to begin utilizing on-demand additive manufacturing.Wilhelmsen, in cooperation with Ivaldi Group, will provide spare parts on demand to the selected six customers’ vessels around the globe.

European ferry operator Stena Line announced that its newest ferry Stena Estrid has departed the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in north-western China, bound for its new home on the Irish Sea between Britain and Ireland.Manned by a much-reduced crew of 27, with no passengers on board, the ship will travel on a journey of well over 10,000 miles, taking just over one month and making a number of stops on the way.Stena Estrid is the first of five next generation Stena Line RoPax vessels to…

Norway-based shipowner Klaveness Combination Carriers (KCC) has named its second CLEANBU vessel, MV Barracuda, after it completed a first switch between dry cargo and a cargo of clean petroleum products (CPP).MV Barracuda was named at anchorage outside Singapore by Ms. Su Yin Anand, head of Legal at South32 Marketing Singapore, one of KCC’s largest customers.As all the other CLEANBU vessels, MV Barracuda was named after a “sea creature” to show KCC’s commitment to clean oceans…

Japanese shipping firm Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has announced that it has concluded a ship management agreement with FueLNG Pte Ltd for a 7500 m3 LNG bunkering vessel (LBV).FueLNG will own and operate the vessel, as well as carry out all commercial operations, said K Line press statement.The partnership will combine K Line’s extensive ship management and LNG transportation experience with FueLNG’s LNG bunkering expertise, which includes more than 160 truck-to-ship LNG bunkering operations conducted to-date.

Chinese shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) said that its worldwide equipment service subsidiary CSSC Marine Service Co (CMS) is using its expanded network of service stations to deliver a retrofit solution to engine starting problems that may occur with less viscous low-sulfur fuels (LSF).Some two-stroke engines using common-rail injection report problems reaching and maintaining high enough fuel rail pressure due to wear of fuel pumps, starting…

CMB Financial Leasing (CMBFL) sign a $415.6 million sale and lease back transaction of 20 chemical tankers with Stolt Tankers, a UK-based provider of transportation and storage for liquids, notably specialty and bulk liquid chemicals, the proceeds of which were used to refinance certain debt secured on the vessels.Watson Farley & Williams (WFW), the international law firm based in London, has advised on this transaction. The leases were of a hybrid nature combining elements of both financial and operating leases.Founded in 2008…

Monaco-based international owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers GasLog has announced plans to relocate more of its people and most of the senior management to the Piraeus, Greece office, home of its operational platform.As a result, GasLog will close the Monaco office, whilst the London office will focus primarily on chartering activities and company secretarial duties. The offices in Singapore, Korea and the US will be unaffected by the changes.GasLog CEO…

Profits at Asian refineries are being buffeted by a combination of factors, chief among them uncertainty over how exactly new shipping fuel standards will play out and the rise of China as a product exporter.Refinery margins in Asia have been knocked to the lowest since the financial crisis in 2008 by some measures, as the industry grapples with the disparate factors.The return from processing a barrel of Dubai crude at a typical Singapore refinery was a loss of $1.19 a barrel in early Asian trade on Monday.

Global waterborne LPG trade reached 28.2 million tons, 14.1% growth year over year, said Singapore-headquartered BW LPG.Global LPG trade continues to be driven by the U.S. waterborne LPG exports which grew to 10.5 million tons, up 21.8% year over year, said the  owner and operator of LPG vessels.Middle Eastern exports were down marginally by 0.6% year over year to 10.2 million tons. Exports from both Saudi Arabia and Iran fell; the decreased volumes were offset by increased exports from U.A.E and Qatar.In Q3, the increasing LPG export volumes were absorbed by Southeast Asia, Japan and Europe.

Norway-based international subsea operating company DOF Subsea announced several contract-awards in the Asia Pacific region, securing 130 days vessel and resource utilization into the first quarter of 2020. The contracts, for undisclosed clients in New Zealand and South East Asia, will see Skandi Hercules commence operations in December 2019 for a major operator, said the company which provides integrated project managed and engineered subsea solutions to the global offshore oil and gas industry.Additionally…

The Bermuda registered, Norway based dry bulk shipping company Golden Ocean Group (GOGL) announced a net income of $36.7 million and earnings per share of $0.26 for the third quarter of 2019 compared with net loss of $33.1 million and loss per share of $0.23 for the second quarter of 2019.EBITDA stood at $81.1 million for the third quarter of 2019, compared with $21.5 million for the second quarter of 2019.Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Ocean Management AS…