Everybody wants to buy a cheap ship. And why not? It's the shipping mantra; buy low sell high. A great philosophy but, like searching for lost impressionist paintings at car boot sales, a difficult day job best done when nobody else is looking. The classic was 1986 when modern Panamaxes were available for $6m. They were cheap because cash was so short there were few takers. It's a Trade-off  So, is now a good time

The first Documentary Committee meeting of 2013 took place in London on 6 February under the chairmanship of David Chapman of OSG Tankers UK Ltd. The Committee has recently completed its work on two new clauses – a River Ports Clause and a H2S Purging Clause. The INTERTANKO Model River Ports Clause is designed to provide clarity on the commencement of laytime and demurrage in river ports. The benefit of the clause

Drawing from recent history, a report from BIMCO on the container shipping segment recently noted that the freight rate lifts that have been experienced on the trans-Pacific and Far East to Europe trades in recent weeks may bring about rather decent average full-year rates. According to the report, "at the beginning of 2010 and again in 2012 rates went up from low levels to double up and quadruple up, bringing around

Seaspan Ship Management Ltd. (Vancouver) one of the leading container vessel managers, has chosen Germanischer Lloyd's (GL) GL HullManager system to upgrade its in-house hull integrity management system. The condition based monitoring software will be implemented across Seaspan's entire fleet of 76 vessels over the next several years. "We developed our own temporary Hull Structure monitoring system at Seaspan

On 1 January this year, amendments to MARPOL Annex V concerning the disposal of cargo residues and hold washing water containing materials that may be harmful to the marine environment (HME) came into force. BIMCO’s existing Hold Cleaning/Residue Disposal Clause for Time Charter Parties already largely addresses the correct disposal methods for cargo residues and hold washing water in accordance with MARPOL

After a prolongued period of diminishing numbers in terms of vessels flying the Hellenic Flag, the newly formed Ministry of Shipping, finally decided to take the steps necessary, in order to bring the Hellenic Shipping Registry into the 21st century and make it competitive, compared to its piers. In a special event, held yesterday onboard the ship Hellenic Liberty, a Liberty vessel now acting as a museum, the Minister

The last quarter of 2012 saw 58 containerships of a combined 114,118 TEU sold for demolition. This surpassed Q3 2009 - in the aftermath of the global financial crisis - to represent the greatest ever amount of capacity scrapped in a single quarter. With a further 43,744 TEU scrapped in January 2013, containership demolition continues at elevated levels, but for how long? Scrapping in 2012  179 containerships totalling 332,922 TEU

The physical fitness of seafarers to do their jobs has been in the news again, with fresh concern over the number failing their medical tests. With an “obesity epidemic” said to be sweeping the developed world, it might surprise some that fish-loving Norway is finding some seafarers being classed as unfit for work because they are overweight under the widely-used but by no means infallible Body Mass Index (BMI) method.

Tonnage oversupply and a lagging growth in world trade demand are expected to keep shipping in the "red", despite a series of measures adopted by most ship owners, in order to alleviate the current imbalance between supply and demand. According to the latest weekly report from shipbroker Intemodal, the overcapacity problem isn't a new one, as it was accurately predicted since the middle of 2008,

In 2006, total European seaborne oil imports peaked at 15.3m bpd. Since then, imports have declined and are projected to fall to 13.7m bpd in 2013, the lowest level for a decade. Yet, while crude tanker demand into Europe has endured severe pressure since the recession, product tanker trades have enjoyed more positivity.Smaller Ships, Bigger Volumes Since 2001, a number of changes have been wrought on crude routes into

Mr. Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer, stated “We are pleased today to release our fourth quarter 2012 results, which reflect a continued solid performance and 100% utilization of our existing fleet. Following the dividend paid in the fourth quarter, we are today announcing the payment of a dividend of 11 cents per share, to be paid in the first quarter. At the beginning of February 2013, we announced an order

With most Asian Holidays now a thing of the past, it was only natural that activity in the newbuilding ordering market returned back to normal levels. According to the latest report from Clarkson Hellas, there further reports of business this week and the market continues to deliver a steady stream of enquiry and concluded business. The shipbroker said that "there remains a continued drive of investment into Dry, with speculators

NewLead Holdings Ltd. yesterday announced that the Company has signed an agreement to supply and deliver 1.48 million metric tons of steam coal to a third party buyer. The contract is expected to generate approximately $148.0 million in revenue over the period of the contract. NewLead also announced that the Company has entered into an agreement to extend previously announced mine acquisition agreements.

Jotun continued its strong performance in 2012 with record high sales and solid growth in earnings. With two new factories successfully opened in 2012, Jotun’s expansion programme continues with new plants in Brazil, Russia and the USA. The company reported operating revenues of NOK 11.350 billion in 2012, up from NOK 10.659 billion the previous year. Meanwhile operating profit was NOK 1.126 million in 2012, compared

A healthy Chinese demand for crude oil, together with a looming change of supply patterns and sources for the satisfaction of this demand, are expected to have an effect on the tanker markets as well. According to the latest weekly report from Poten & Partners, Chinese oil majors have been on a substantial buying run over the past four years, peaking at $35bn worth of mergers and acquisitions activity

International experts are meeting at IMO Headquarters this week, in the form of an Expert Workshop, to begin work on updating the inventory of greenhouse gases (GHG) from international shipping, with a view to providing reliable and up-to-date information on which IMO, through its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), might base its work on further measures to reduce GHG. The Second IMO GHG Study 2009

The UK P&I Club (the UK Club) announces that it has attracted over three million gross tons of new tonnage, following the closure of the renewal season on Wednesday, 20 February, 2013. At conclusion of renewal the Club’s tonnage stands at around 120 million gross tons. This represents net growth over the past year of 7.6 million tons. As importantly, the Club maintained its policy on sound underwriting declining an equivalent

The increase of oil tanker transits through one of the world's major waterways, the Suez Canal, is a testament of the changing patterns in oil trade routes, with greater oil volumes moving from Europe to Asia-Pacific, although the Canal is currently only capturing part of this business. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Gibson noted that the Suez Canal remains one of, if not the most important trade waterways in the world.

Following the celebration of Chinese New Year, we are now in the Year of the Snake. In December 2001, during the previous Year of the Snake, China joined the World Trade Organisation, and a lot has changed since then both within China and in terms of world seaborne trade. Just how big an influence has China's increased role in international trade had on seaborne volumes in the intervening years? The graph shows global tonnage

The IMO’s Sub-committee on Stability and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessels Safety (SLF) at its latest meeting (SLF 55) this week reviewed and finalised the draft Guidelines for the verification of damage stability requirements. The Sub-committee had, at its last meeting in January 2012, also developed draft amendments to mandatory instruments. These amendments to MARPOL Annex I, IBC, BCH, GC and IGC Codes as well as the Guidelines