Coastal and Inland News

A heat wave in western Europe has lowered water levels on Germany's Rhine River, hampering shipping and raising freight costs for cargo owners due to additional surcharges as their vessels were unable to sail fully loaded, commodity traders said on Monday.Low water has limited shipping on all of the river south of Duisburg and Cologne, including the chokepoint of Kaub, traders said.At Kaub, cargo vessels could only sail about 50% full, at Duisburg and Cologne between 40-50% full.Shallow water leads vessel operators to impose surcharges on freight rates to compensate for the vessels being unabl

Rates for shipping cargo containers from China to the U.S. have dropped by more than half since earlier this month, as imports rebounded less than expected after the slump that followed President Donald Trump slapping 145% tariffs on China.Trump quickly reversed course by lowering the rate to 30%. That cost increase on goods from the nation's No. 1 ocean trading partner remains significant, especially at a time when U.S. economic data is signaling weakness.Rates on the closely watched Shanghai-to-U.S.

The ISU has published its annual statistics for 2024, and the headline 2024 numbers show great consistency with the 2023 statistics, continuing with the modest recovery from the low point of 2022.Gross revenue for ISU members was $406 million, up from $398 million in 2023. The number of services provided reached 191, up from 184 the previous year.Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) was used in 29 cases (2023: 16). LOF revenue was $118 million (2023: $29 million). The previous year had been…

Excitement continues to build for Smart Rivers 2025, an international event focused on innovation, infrastructure, and sustainability in inland waterway transport. Taking place in Memphis, Tennessee September 8-12, 2025, the conference will unite experts from around the world to address the most pressing challenges and forward-looking strategies in river navigation and management.Hosted by the United States section of the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC USA)…

The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) bestowed the Young Author Award 2025 to Rick van de Wetering, Research Engineer at Royal IHC and Ph.D. candidate at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. IADC’s Young Author Award is given annually to “stimulate the promotion of new ideas and encourage younger men and women in the dredging industry." The award is granted at industry-leading conferences, with 2025’s winning young authors selected from the proceedings of the 24th WODCON Congress…

A towing vessel grounded on a submerged jetty last year after the captain maneuvered too close to a bank of the Ohio River, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in its analysis of the incident.The towing vessel Tom Frazier was pushing 15 empty hopper barges near Portsmouth, Ohio, on Feb. 10, 2024, when the vessel grounded, damaging the vessel’s hull plating, framing and bulkheads and flooding several spaces. The nine-person crew was safely evacuated to shore. An estimated five gallons of oil were released and the vessel sustained damage estimated at more than $250…

Emirates Shipping Line (ESL) enters the US market with the launch of the Sun Chief Express (SCX).The Sun Chief Express (SCX) will directly connect Seattle, WA with Ho Chi Minh, and Shekou, while also providing wider coverage of Southeast Asia via these ports. ESL will leverage its intermodal solutions within the US market, to provide inland connectivity via Seattle to locations across the US including, but not limited to Portland, OR, St. Paul, MN, Chicago, IL, Kansas City, MO, Columbus, OH and Memphis, TN.This news follows ESL's recent expansion to Mexico.

Four leading maritime associations have jointly launched the Global Alliance for Maritime Electrification (GAME), a coalition of nonprofit organizations dedicated to accelerating the electrification of maritime transportation.The four founding members, IEMA – International Electric Marine Association, ZESTAs – Zero Emission Ship Technology Association, MBF – Maritime Battery Forum, and EOPSA – European Onshore Power Supply Association, collectively represent more than 250 member organizations around the world.

Four leading maritime associations have jointly launched the Global Alliance for Maritime Electrification (GAME), a coalition of nonprofit organizations dedicated to accelerating the electrification of maritime transportation.The four founding members, IEMA – International Electric Marine Association, ZESTAs – Zero Emission Ship Technology Association, MBF – Maritime Battery Forum, and EOPSA – European Onshore Power Supply Association, collectively represent more than 250 member organizations around the world. With an initial focus on inland, nearshore and commercial vessels, GAME brings together global expertise to advance zero-emission solutions through coordinated research…

The car carrier Morning Midas sank on June 23 following the fire that broke out on board on June 3.The fire was no longer active, but the vessel sank while awaiting the arrival of a tug with long-distance towing capability.“Damage caused by the fire, compounded by heavy weather and subsequent water ingress, caused the Morning Midas to sink at around 16.35 local time zone (UTC -9) on 23 June, in waters approximately 5,000 meters deep and 360 nautical miles from land,” said ship manager Zodiac Maritime.The vessel reportedly had 350 metric tons of marine gas oil and 1…

Crowley, a leader in logistics, marine and energy solutions, is expanding ocean shipping services with its first-ever route between the U.S. Northeast and Central America.Utilizing Crowley's new Avance Class vessels, powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the five-day transit between the Port of Philadelphia’s Gloucester Marine Terminal and ports in Guatemala and Honduras enables timely deliveries of food, apparel, industrial products and consumer goods to and from the Central America Northern Zone, which also includes El Salvador and Nicaragua.

The newly launched electric ferry Nerthus has set sail, featuring Danfoss Drives’ latest iC7 series as a key part of its all-electric propulsion system.Danfoss provided essential components for the ferry’s electric drivetrain and parts of the shoreside charging infrastructure.Molslinjen, Denmark’s largest domestic ferry operator, invited key partners and guests to celebrate Denmark’s newest e-ferry on Friday June 20, 2025, when Nerthus officially was put into service. Jørgen Mads Clausen…

Container shipping company Maersk said on Friday it had temporarily paused vessel calls at Israel's Haifa port amid regional tensions.The Danish company said it did not experience any further disruptions to its scheduled operations in the region.Israel has been hitting Iran from the air since last Friday in what it describes as an effort to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

“You cannot be a leader if you don’t know what is going on,” says Rik van Hemmen, President of marine consulting firm Martin & Ottaway.van Hemmen, writing in the June issue of Maritime Reporter magazine, recounts of some of his experiences in oil spill response to demonstrate that it’s a truth that is not always recognized.On one salvage operation, a high-ranking government official was laughed out of the room after loudly proclaiming: “I am in charge now, and nothing happens until I say so.” The next thing he said was: “So what are you going to do?” The response?

Scotland’s largest maritime decarbonization project is now live at the Port of Aberdeen, providing green shore power for vessels at eight berths in the port’s North Harbour.The concept of shore power is simple: allowing vessels to plug directly into power from the port’s renewable energy tariff, instead of running on their own fossil fuel auxiliary engines while at berth, saving on fuel and cutting CO2 emissions, pollution, and noise.For Port of Aberdeen, a Trust Port at the heart of the community with ambitions to be the UK’s first port to achieve net zero by 2040…

Commercial ships are sailing close to Oman and are being advised by maritime agencies to avoid Iran's waters around the Strait of Hormuz, with the risk of the conflict between Israel and Iran escalating, shipping sources said on Wednesday.Iran has in the past threatened to close the critical Strait of Hormuz to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure. Any closure of the strait could restrict trade and affect global oil prices.In the latest measure, ships sailing towards Hormuz…

The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS), under Fisheries and Oceans Canada, is taking a leading role in validating new digital hydrographic standards, with the Minister of Fisheries, Joanne Thompson, launching S-100 sea trials on the St. Lawrence River.The S-100 data model is a new global standard created by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), which offers a new way of visualizing the marine environment using layered, interactive digital data that can be added to navigational charts.

American Cruise Lines announced their biggest season of New England cruises—featuring nine itineraries and five small ships, including the newest cruise ship in the country, American Patriot.American Patriot is the flagship in the company’s new Patriot Class series. The 130-passenger ship passed Sea Trials and will embark on its first cruise this week, sailing June 21 roundtrip from Boston. Guests will enjoy one of the Line’s premiere New England itineraries, a 15-Day Grand New England cruise…

Marine fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah port hit a three-month low in May, data showed, while market sources said they are monitoring the situation in June as conflict flares between Israel and Iran, heightening regional tensions. Bunker sales, excluding lubricants, totalled 614,296 cubic metres (about 608,000 metric tons) at the Middle Eastern bunker hub in May, based on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights. The volumes were down 8.2% from April and by 0.2% from May last year.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) named the 13,900-TEU ONE Singapore, the sixth vessel in a series of 20 ammonia/methanol ready container vessels. The naming ceremony took place at the Hiroshima Shipyard of Imabari Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Japan, marking another milestone in ONE's fleet expansion program."Today's naming of ONE Singapore signifies further progress in our fleet expansion strategy," said Jeremy Nixon, CEO, ONE. "This vessel, carrying the name of our global headquarters city, symbolizes our strong connection to Singapore's vibrant maritime ecosystem.

Anti-piracy equipment company Palaemon reports that security threats occurred over the past week in the Singapore Straits, Gulf of Guinea and Red Sea. The incidents include:• 32 pirates used eight boats to attack a tug boat in the Singapore Strait, stealing a large quantity of scrap metal. The crew remained unharmed. The pirates had three boats on the port side, four on the starboard side, and one boat in the rear. Each had 3-4 perpetrators onboard, with14 boarding the barge to steal the metal.• An armed assailants targeted multiple passenger boats on the Bonny River in Nigeria…

Tugboat and towboat owners across the nation eye fuel efficiency and emission reduction technologies and techniques in advance of increasingly stringent regulations.he first half of 2025 has seen a great deal of attention on emissions from vessels, with an eye towards their continued reductions in the coming years. Mid-April saw the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s much anticipated Maritime Environment Protection Committee’s MEPC 83 meeting participants lay out plans for reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years…

Tugboat and towboat owners across the nation eye fuel efficiency and emission reduction technologies and techniques in advance of increasingly stringent regulations.he first half of 2025 has seen a great deal of attention on emissions from vessels, with an eye towards their continued reductions in the coming years. Mid-April saw the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s much anticipated Maritime Environment Protection Committee’s MEPC 83 meeting participants lay out plans for reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years, which will be voted on later this year (at the October MEPC 84 meeting). If approved, the new rules would come into effect in 2027.

Russia's seaborne grain exports fell to 2.1 million metric tons in May, a fall of 62.9% compared to the same month of 2024, according to shipping data from industry sources released on Monday.Russia, the world's leading wheat exporter, shipped grain to global markets at a record pace during the first part of the 2024/25 marketing season, which began on July 1 last year. However, the introduction of export quotas in February resulted in a sharp decline in exports.Total seaborne exports have reached 44.6 million tons so far this season…

Compassion in World Farming campaigners gathered at the port outside Brittany Ferries headquarters in Portsmouth, UK, on Saturday to call on the company to reverse its decision made earlier this year to resume the live export of farmed animals from Ireland to France after a 30-year hiatus.The event marked the tenth annual Ban Live Exports International Day which was first launched in 2016 to mark the anniversary of 13,000 sheep dying on a sea journey from Romania to Somalia.Live export involves farmed animals enduring overcrowding…

A new quay crane at Tuas Port, Singapore, tipped over on Sunday while it was being delivered to a non-operational berth.There were no injuries or fatalities.No damage has been assessed to adjacent port equipment and facilities. All of PSA Singapore (PSA)’s current operational berths remain fully accessible, and all port operations and port development works remain unaffected.The incident is under investigation.

The collective scramble to move as much physical copper as possible to the U.S. before the imposition of import tariffs is creating shortages in the rest of the world.London Metal Exchange (LME) stocks have fallen to nearly two-year lows with time-spreads flaring into backwardation as inventory drains away.This tariff trade will continue until U.S. President Donald Trump's administration makes up its mind whether to add copper to the lengthening list of metals subject to penal import duties.The Section 232 investigation launched by the administration in February comes with a 270-day deadline.

An Alaskan fish tender transiting Chiniak Bay to dump fish byproduct sank in part because the vessel’s watertight doors in the engine room and companionway spaces remained open, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined.The industrial vessel Cape Douglas was operating as fish tender on Nov. 6, 2024, near Kodiak, Alaska, when the 80-year-old vessel began to flood below deck. The captain and crewmember were unable to control the flooding and abandoned the vessel into a towed skiff. They were rescued by a Good Samaritan vessel.

Wallenius Sol took delivery of the RoRo vessel South Enabler from the Visentini Shipyard.In February 2025, a new chapter began in European shipping as Wallenius Sol announced the acquisition of Mann Lines, significantly expanding the Swedish shipping line’s customer base and presence in key markets. As part of the acquisition, a new vessel under construction was included. The new RoRo cargo vessel was officially delivered on 11 June, 2025, during her westbound passage past Gibraltar.“She’ll…

“In a possible sign that the unwinding of OPEC+ production cuts could increase seaborne volumes, the combined crude tanker loadings of OPEC countries has jumped 24% week-on-week to 2.281 million barrels per day (mbpd) in week 23, the bloc’s highest weekly loadings since April 2023,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Despite the increase, it is too early to conclude that this is a sign of things to come, especially since weak Chinese and Indian demand has caused global year-to-date volumes to end 3.6% short of last year's volumes. It is also worth noting that freight rates have not responded to the increasing volumes though there is an indication that ship supply in the Persian Gulf was unusually high during week 23.At the same time…

ADNOC Logistics & Services Plc (ADNOC L&S) has signed a 15-year strategic partnership agreement with Borouge, worth $531 million, to manage shipping and port logistics for the company’s expanding petrochemical exports.The agreement positions ADNOC L&S as the primary logistics provider for up to 70% of Borouge’s annual production, covering container handling, port operations, and feeder shipping services from Al Ruwais Industrial City to the deepwater ports of Jebel Ali and Khalifa Port.As part of the deal…

ORLEN Group has opened Poland’s first installation terminal dedicated to offshore wind farms, located in Świnoujście, with the facility securing its first long-term lease agreement with global offshore wind player Ocean Winds.The Świnoujście terminal is designed to handle large-scale offshore projects with turbines of around 15 MW capacity.It will accommodate jack-up and heavy-lift vessels and will serve as a hub for loading, unloading, and storing key components such as monopile foundations…

Israel stepped up pressure on Yemen's Houthis on Tuesday, deploying its navy to hit targets in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah and threatening the Iran-aligned movement with a naval and air blockade if attacks on Israel persist.Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said Israel carried out two strikes on the docks of Al Hodeidah port. The Israeli army said in a statement that the navy struck Houthi targets, adding the port is used by the group to transfer weapons.There were no immediate reports of casualties.

On May 15, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Work Plan that allocated funds from the FY25 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act. That bill provided funding for the Corps’ Civil Works mission, typically funded in the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill.The Corps’ FY25 Work Plan provided nearly $200 million for inland waterways construction projects, of which nearly $50 million will come from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF).

RWE Offshore Wind has awarded two long term agreements to Clarkson Port Services to support the operations and maintenance activities at its 1.6 GW Nordseecluster offshore wind project.The Dutch division of Clarkson Port Services will build a new warehouse facility in the port of Eemshaven.The new building, approximately 1,700 square metres in size, will be located in the Beatrixhaven on the premises of Clarkson Port Services.Construction of the new storage hall with adjoining office facilities is to start this summer…

There are a few stories that I often tell when the subject of leadership in disasters is discussed. I figured I’d put them down on paper so I can stop repeating myself.It was pre OPA90, a single-skin tanker had run over a rock in the Port of New Jersey. It put a hole in the bottom, and heavy fuel oil was draining out the bottom and would do so until the oil head level in the tank would equalize with the waterline. The tanker would hit bottom at low tide, but the hole was small, and quick action would reduce oil in the harbor.

A salvage team has arrived at the scene of the burning car carrier Morning Midas, located approximately 220 miles south of Adak, Alaska.The US Coast Guard received the initial report of the fire Tuesday, June 3, at approximately 3:15 p.m. and has been working closely with Zodiac Maritime, the vessel's manager, to respond to the incident.The tug vessel, Gretchen Dunlap, arrived on scene with salvage personnel Monday afternoon and has begun a full assessment of the conditions on…

Procurement is underway for two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen to Kirkwall/Lerwick Route.The new vessels will replace the Hellier and Hildasay, on the service operated by Serco NorthLink Ferries.The freight flex ferries will provide extra freight capacity and capability for quicker crossings on the routes. They will also have the flexibility to allow space for up to 200 passengers to travel at peak periods.The first stage of the competitive tender process will see interested shipyards complete the Single Procurement Document Scotland (SPDS)…

Propane is a fossil fuel, but it is a clean fuel that is more easily adaptable to port and maritime operations as compared to most other non-conventional future fuel. Jim Bunsey, Senior Manager, Business Development, Propane Education Research Council (PERC), discusses with Maritime Matters: The Marinelink Podcast, the operational value and environmental benefits of switching to propane. Specifically, takes a deep dive into the West Basin Container Terminal (WBCT) at the Port of Los Angeles and its 20+ years of experience in working with propane as a fuel for its fleet of port vehicles…

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a Senate hearing that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is "fully staffed" with weather forecasters and scientists after concerns were raised about some offices losing 24-hour staffing ahead of hurricane season."We are fully staffed with forecasters and scientists. Under no circumstances am I going to let public safety or public forecasting be touched," Lutnick told a Senate appropriations subcommittee overseeing NOAA…

Severe weather caused an overwhelming towline force and unrecoverable heeling that led to the capsizing and sinking of a towing vessel near Galveston, Texas, last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.On May 13, 2024, while towing the barge Marmac 27 astern on an 800‑foot‑long wire, the towing vessel Baylor J. Tregre encountered severe weather, listed to port, capsized and sank. The four-person crew abandoned the vessel into a liferaft and were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. One crewmember sustained minor injuries. There was no pollution reported.

A Florida-based federal emergency response team that reopens U.S. ports after storms and accidents is unstaffed this hurricane season largely due to widespread federal workforce reductions driven by the Trump administration, according to two sources familiar with the matter.The closure of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Navigation Response Team in Fernandina, Florida – one of the network's six national locations - could mean slower response times and longer port closures if hurricanes slam into the U.S.

An Enhanced Maritime Partnership Agreement has been signed by during French President Macron’s visit to Singapore last week.The agreement covers collaboration in maritime decarbonization, digitalization, cybersecurity, innovation and training, and builds on an earlier partnership established in 2021.The countries will work with industry partners to conduct various pilot projects including the development of a bio-methane supply chain and certification framework to ensure compatibility…

How can the global energy grid keep pace with fast-growing demand from new data centers supporting artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing? Nuclear energy and coastal waters offer a potential answer.The potential for floating nuclear-powered data centers is explored in depth in the latest research from ABS and Herbert Engineering. Pathways to a Low Carbon Future Floating Nuclear Power Data Center details design considerations for a floating data center that would use…