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IMO hosted “Maritime Single Window 2024 – A window of opportunities”, a two-day Symposium to discuss how Member States can implement MSWs before the January 2024 deadline. A window of opportunities From 1 January 2024 it will be compulsory for ports around the world to operate Maritime Single Windows (MSWs) for the electronic exchange of information required on ships’ arrival at a port, their stay and their departure. This mandatory change follows the adoption by IMO’s Facilitation Committee of amendments to the FAL Convention. With this key date in mind, ...

Vessel Documentation Online has, for years, offered access to USCG vessel documentation forms to vessel owners. Recently, the penalties for failing to have the proper boat documentation have increased, making it more important to have the right documentation. As of January 13, 2023, the “Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the 2015 Act)” went into effect. This means that the “penalty for employing a vessel in a trade without a required Certificate of Documentation” has increased. Now, the penalty has risen to $625. These new penalties ...

The most popular form of international shipping is ocean freight. The top five ocean shippers move about 50-60% of container volume trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific. Globally, 90% of all goods are transported by sea. There are two types of ocean freight procurement strategies: centralized procurement, which has a single point of contact and a high level of dependency, and regional procurement, which has several points of contact and a low level of dependence. According to shipping market research, THC, vessel, bunker, container, and administrative costs are the primary cost drivers in ...

China remained the world’s leading shipbuilder in 2022, taking up nearly half of the international market share in terms of output, new and holding orders, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The country’s shipbuilding output, though down 4.6 percent year on year, hit 37.86 million deadweight tonnage (dwt), accounting for 47.3 percent of the world’s total, said the ministry. New orders stood at 45.52 million dwt, accounting for 55.2 percent of the global market share, according to the MIIT. China’s shipbuilding holding orders totaled 105.57 million ...

Energy firm Mabanaft and shipping company Hapag-Lloyd have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to evaluate options for the supply of ammonia as bunker fuel at the Port of Hamburg in Germany and also to the Port of Houston in the US state of Texas. The companies said they will evaluate the commercial, technical, and regulatory requirements and engage with all relevant stakeholders as part of this initiative in Germany and that a similar assessment will be done for Houston. Mabanaft said it is in the process of developing infrastructure ...

The Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT), a strategic partner of Jeddah Islamic Port and the operator of its North Container Terminal, has procured three cutting-edge Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes in its pursuit to supercharge operational efficiency at the world-class hub. While this addition falls under the wider ambitions of the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) to transform the country’s maritime sector into a global logistics powerhouse that boasts high productivity and boosts international trade in tandem with the vision set forth by the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS). The North Container ...

The ‘Deutsche Ostsee’ LNG import terminal, supported by Macquarie Capital, the corporate advisory, capital markets and principal investment arm of Macquarie Group, has now received its operating licence. The project will play a critical role in supplying natural gas to Germany for this and future winters, with capacity to supply up to 5.2 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year, equivalent to five per cent of German domestic gas consumption in 20211. Deutsche Ostsee, which delivered first volumes of natural gas earlier this month, was developed by Deutsche ...

Independent Russian oil refiner Forteinvest has clinched a deal that will see Russian gasoline sent to Pakistan by land for the first time, two industry sources said on Friday, as Russian refiners seek alternative markets for motor fuels days before an EU import ban. Forteinvest has sold to a trader an initial 1,000-tonne lot of gasoline from its Orsk plant for delivery to Pakistan and has more requests to supply gasoline, diesel and LPG to the country, the sources added. The refined products will be shipped from the Orsk refinery ...

U.S. soybean exports have been unusually strong so far this month and sales activity has ticked up in recent weeks despite a weaker outlook from the government. In line with most analyst ideas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this month reduced domestic 2022-23 export estimates for both soybeans and corn, the latter of which still may disappoint versus expectations. But soybeans are on a more positive track for now. As of Jan. 19, U.S. soybean sales for 2022-23 totaled 46.5 million tonnes, up 5% from a year earlier. USDA ...

Doctor Copper has started the new year with a fresh spring in his step as investors bet on a powerful demand boost from China’s post-COVID reopening. London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month metal is currently trading at $9,345, up 12% on the start of January, with funds jumping back into copper as a proxy for the China recovery story. Yet it’s not as if China, the world’s largest copper user, has been absent from the market. The country’s net imports of refined copper totalled 3.64 million tonnes last year, an increase ...

India’s power generators have struggled to rebuild coal stocks so far this winter because consumption is rising faster than the rail network can deliver more fuel from the mines. Fuel stocks are only slightly higher than this time last year, when inadequate coal supplies coupled with higher than normal temperatures in March and April contributed to widespread blackouts. Stocks at power producers are equivalent to less than 12 days of consumption, up from 9 days this time last year but much leaner than 18 days in 2021 and 19 days ...

Chicago soybean futures were firmer in Asian trading on Monday on worries over a sharp reduction in production in drought-hit Argentina despite some relief from recent rains, with strong U.S. exports also providing support. Wheat futures rose as a cold snap in the U.S. Plains fanned concerns about supply along with potential escalations in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Corn prices also advanced as traders watched for signs of fresh demand from China. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 1% at $15.24-1/2 a bushel, as ...

Energy – specs boost buying Price action in oil over the last week was rangebound with the market awaiting this week’s OPEC+ meeting and the return of China from the Lunar New Year holidays. As for Wednesday’s OPEC+ meeting, we do not expect any change in output policy from the group, given the lingering uncertainty that overshadows the market, both from a supply and demand perspective. However, the market has started this week on a firmer footing, trading close to 1% higher in early morning trading in Asia today. The ...

Oil fell on Monday, giving up earlier gains, as looming interest rate hikes by major central banks and signs of strong Russian exports offset rising Middle East tension over a drone attack in Iran and hopes of higher Chinese demand. Investors expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, followed the day after by half-point hikes from the Bank of England and European Central Bank, and any deviation from that script would be a shock. Brent crude fell 29 cents, or 0.3%, to $86.37 a ...

A committee meeting for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies next week isn’t expected to result in any changes to oil production levels, but attendees will have a lot to discuss as the reopening of China’s economy and the European Union’s ban on Russian oil products raise uncertainties in the market. The OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) will meet on Feb. 1 to review the oil market. It meets every two months, while the next official meeting of the policy-setting OPEC+ members is scheduled for ...