Increased maritime traffic as well as offshore oil and gas industries in west and central Africa means more risks of oil spill in the region. To strengthen the capability for preparedness and response of a potential oil spill, a workshop is underway in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (18-21 March). The event aims to help participants with to ratify and effectively implement IMO conventions relating to oil pollution and liability and compensation. Participants will be trained on how to best transpose IMO treaties into domestic laws. The workshop will also look at ...

Fleet Cleaner performed the hull cleaning of the largest vessel in the world, the Pioneering Spirit. Despite the stormy weather, cold temperatures and wind force 7 Bft, Fleet Cleaner was able to clean this vessel during its port call. Simultaneously with various operations, like the removal of the pipe-laying stinger and placement of a heavy lifting crane, Fleet Cleaner has cleaned most of the fouled area of the hull. Cleaning the largest vessel in the world during one of most severe storms of the year shows that Fleet Cleaner is ...

Anti-piracy equipment developer ARX Maritime has unveiled a four-fold rise in revenues after enjoying rapid international growth. Sales at the Edinburgh-based firm, which develops self-install anti-piracy barriers to protect seafaring vessels, have risen by 300 per cent year-on-year since the business was formed in 2016. It has since expanded to supply risk prevention products to clients in more than 65 countries and now employs 12 staff at its base in the Scottish capital. Ex-Royal Marine Steve Regis founded ARX with business partner Josh Hutchinson after spotting a gap in the ...

Croatia will decide in coming days whether to place troubled shipbuilder Uljanik into bankruptcy or try to restructure the business at a cost to the state of around one billion euros, a top official said. Last month Uljanik, the country’s largest shipbuilder, chose local rival Brodosplit as a strategic partner to restructure its operations, with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri acting as an adviser in the process. “The restructuring would cost us 1.009 billion euros ($1.15 billion), while bankruptcy would cost us 557 million euros,” Branko Bacic, a leading official of the ...

As Italy prepares to be the first G7 country to sign a Belt and Road initiative MOU with China, a port analyst has questioned whether Chinese investment will distort the ports market. The MOU has sparked unease from the US, currently engaged in a heated trade war with the country, and Europe, about the potential growth in China’s business influence. Considering the implications for port specifically, Drewry’s Neil Davidson said that investment in transport infrastructure would improve the competitiveness of the Italian ports concerned but this would depend on which ...

Gwadar Port has generated Rs358.151million revenue during the last three years of which Rs32.324 million were given to Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) as per its approved share. As per details revenue share, distribution ratio or percentage between the port operator (China Overseas Ports Holding Company Ltd) and Gwadar Port Authority are 91per cent and 9 to 15 per cent respectively. A data issued by Ministry of Maritime Affairs on Thursday revealed that the share of China Overseas Ports Holding in Gwadar International Terminal and Gwadar Marine Services is 91 per ...

Tajikistan is considering the possibility of increasing the transportation of its goods through the Baku International Sea Trade Port. Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan Nematullo Hikmatullozoda met with the Director General of this PortTaleh Ziyadov a few days ago as part of his visit to Azerbaijan. The minister was provided with detailed information on the activities of the port and proposed to widely use its capabilities for the transport of goods in Tajikistan, news.tj reports citing the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade ...

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe will be the main competition for Gazprom this year, the Russian gas giant said on Thursday in an abrupt change of tone towards gas supplies from the United States. “It is obvious that LNG will be the main rival in the battle for the European consumer,” Sergei Komlev, head of contracts structuring, said in comments published in Gazprom’s magazine on Thursday. Gazprom has previously dismissed concerns that U.S. LNG supplies to Europe could have an impact on its business, with officials ...

Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA plans to deliver only 180,000 b/d of the 300,000 b/d of crude it promised to India’s Reliance Industries in April, according to company records, further tightening the heavy sour crude supply available to Asian refiners. PDVSA plans to meets its full 60,000 b/d April commitment to Indian refiner Nayara Energy. The April shipments to both Indian buyers are unchanged from March levels, and all crude is the Merey 16 grade, PDVSA said. Privately owned Reliance, which operates two mega-refineries at the Jamnagar complex on India’s west coast, ...

US coal carload originations totaled 72,190 in the week ended March 16, down 5.7% from the prior week and down 16% from the year-ago week, Association of American Railroads data showed. This was the largest year-on-year drop since the first week of September 2016, down 16.2%. Coal also took up 14.4% of total traffic, the smallest percentage since mid-May 2018, with 14.4%. From the five-year average of 89,589 in the 11th week of the year, coal originations were down 19.4%. Canadian carloads totaled 7,357, up 1.9% week on week and ...

Midwestern farmers have been gambling they could ride out the U.S.-China trade war by storing their corn and soybeans anywhere they could – in bins, plastic tubes, in barns or even outside. Now, the unthinkable has happened. Record floods have devastated a wide swath of the Farm Belt across Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and several other states. Early estimates of lost crops and livestock are approaching $1 billion in Nebraska alone. With more flooding expected, damages are expected to climb much higher for the region. As river levels rose, spilling ...

Raw material costs put upward pressure on prices, in northern Europe, in March, but demand was insufficient to support proposed hikes. Flat products selling values, were, for the most part, unchanged, in euro equivalent terms. Regional mills have spare production capacity and delivery lead times remain short. Supply chain inventories are at a high level. Asian import offers are, in most cases, not sufficiently cheap to be attractive. Danish domestic selling values for hot rolled coil were rolled over, from the previous month. Swedish industrial output is at a lower ...

U.S. corn futures rose to a near one-month high on Friday as flash flooding in a major North American producing region stoked fears of plating delays, with the grain poised for a 1.5 percent weekly gain. Soybeans edged higher, while wheat was unchanged. The most-active corn futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade added 0.6 percent to 3.78-1/2 a bushel by 0235 GMT, near the session high of $3.78-3/4 a bushel – the highest since Feb. 26. “Parts of the U.S. Midwest are looking at planting delays because of heavy ...

Oil fell from its highest closing level in four months in New York as signs of a slowing global economy stirred concerns about fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate futures retreated 1.3 percent. European equities dropped after data showed Germany’s contracting manufacturing sector held back euro-zone growth. The yield on the nation’s 10-year bonds — Europe’s benchmark — dropped below zero for the first time in two years, underscoring fears about the region. A stronger U.S. dollar also dimmed the appeal of commodities. “There’s enough to worry about,” said Eugen Weinberg, ...

Interestingly, there are still peak oil advocates who think that we’ve reached peak oil now, despite the fact that shale oil production is still growing, OPEC+ has about 1.5 mb/d of production shut-in due to weak prices, while Venezuela, Libya, Iran and Nigeria are all experiencing difficulties that have closed down temporarily 3 mb/d or more, much of which is likely to return to market in the next few years. Still Ron Patterson asks, “Was 2018 the peak for crude oil production?” and Gail Tverberg says, “Given the nearly worldwide ...