Air pollution from cars and factories has been regulated in much of the world since the 1970s. When it comes to the smoke-belching ships that carry global trade, the rules have been a lot looser. Big changes start next January, though, when long-debated standards from the International Maritime Organization mandate steep cuts of sulfur emissions associated with respiratory disease and acid rain. Much tougher rules are supposed to take effect in 2050, when the IMO will require ships also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least half. By itself, next ...

On Friday the 11th of January 2019, the annual DNV GL’s Press Conference took place in the company’s offices in Piraeus, with a few distinguished journalists and media people of the maritime sector attending. George Teriakidis, Regional Business Development Manager, along with Jason Stefanatos, Senior Research Engineer, displayed the main presentation. The classification society within the year of 2018 attempted a number of initiative efforts and ideas in order to keep customers satisfied, while amplifying its support to the local market. Marketing & business development segment was furthermore reinforced, by ...

Air pollution from ship traffic in the Mediterranean Sea can significantly be reduced due to the introduction of an Emission Control Area (ECA), a new report launched yesterday found. France which is behind the impact assessment investigated potential air quality improvements in the region following a switch to better grade marine fuels as well as related socio-economic benefits especially in terms of reduced health costs and environmental damage. Inter alia the report highlights that particulate matter can be reduced by up to 20% and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels even by ...

After a very disappointing 2nd half of 2018 the industry during the first weeks of January 2019 has not shown any signs of improvement. Instead

Dry freight time charter rates for Supramaxes sailing from the US Gulf Coast fell significantly again this week, as fierce competition between shipowners for scarce available cargoes continued to drive voyage rates down. After falling more than $3,000/day last week, Supramax and Ultramax front-haul grains time charter rates were heard fixed in the market at $5,000/day lower than last done. On Wednesday, Oldendorff fixed the MV Seaboni for a grains cargo sailing from the USGC to Japan at $20,000/day. However, on Thursday, a Bunge-owned grains cargo sailing from the USGC ...

A slow end to the week with little enquiry has left us expecting many cargoes for the first decade of February in the MEG. There are about 35+

North P&I, one of the world’s leading providers of marine insurance, today confirmed that its subsidiary in Ireland, North of England P&I DAC, has received authorisation as a non-life insurance business from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). Following successful delivery of this key milestone in North’s Brexit Contingency Plan, formal authorisation from the CBI (effective from 31 December 2018) allows North to continue its European operations after the expected loss of existing EU financial services ‘passporting’ rights when the United Kingdom leaves the EU on 29 March 2019. From ...

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a major shipyard here, said Friday that it has clinched a deal to build two very large crude carriers (VLCCs). Under the deal with the Oman shipping firm OSC, Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver the vessels by the end of 2020, the company said. The deal has an option to build one more ship, according to the shipyard. But it did not reveal the value of the deal. The ship is 336 meters long and 60 meters wide. Last year, the company won deals to ...

The best performing port, in BIMCO’s Dry Bulk Terminals Vetting Report 2018, is Szczecin in Poland. The report collected input from 144 ships covering 381 terminals. A total of 97% of the reports were rated as average or better, which gave an average rating of 3.6 (out of five). The result is a marginal better than last year’s results. “I think, in many ways, the report shows an encouraging trend, that bulk terminals generally perform well – only four reports were rated as “poor”, says Aron Sorensen, Head of Maritime ...

Algoma Central Corporation, a leading provider of marine transportation services, announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the interest held by Oldendorff Carriers GMBH & Co. (Oldendorff) in the CSL International Pool (the Pool) including the three vessels owned by Oldendorff operating in the Pool. As a result of the transaction, Algoma’s interest in the Pool will increase to approximately 40%. The Pool consists of 18 self-unloading vessels ranging from handy-sized to panamax and provides specialized shipping services to a range of customers along the coasts of the ...

We are the Libyan Navigator Limited”/Malta [“LN”] who are the registered owners of m/t “BADR”, flag Libya, Port of registration Tripoli, IMO Nr. 9356426 and GNMTC/Libya as holding owners. With the present, we would like to introduce you to all relevant facts regarding the matter as follows: In November 2017 while calling Port of Bourgas/Bulgaria MT “BADR was arrested via Harbor Master’[“HM”] order dd. 22 Nov 2017 as security for an eventual future claim of the Bulgarian partnership “Bulgargeomin Ltd DZZD” [“BGM”] (this is not a company but is consortium ...

Seaspan Corporation announced that it has prepaid a credit facility which was secured by eight of its vessels. Upon completion of the collateral release documentation in respect of this facility and the facility prepaid in November 2018, this will expand Seaspan’s pool of unencumbered vessels to 321, from 241 as reported in its press release dated November 26, 2018, and 18 as reported in its Q3 2018 earnings press release. Ryan Courson, Chief Financial Officer of Seaspan, commented, “In line with our corporate goals, Seaspan continues to reduce leverage and ...

The Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) and the Government of Assam, a key state in India’s north-east, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further enhance the state’s inland water transport (IWT) system to improve commuter safety. The MOU follows the funding agreement between the Government of Assam and the World Bank to modernize and transform inland water transport in the state which has the largest network of navigable inland waterways in India. Plans include the integration of high quality passenger and vehicle ferry services into its wider transport ...

On January 17, a naming ceremony was held at the Sakaide shipyard of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. in Kagawa prefecture for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier which NYK and JERA Co. Inc.* will jointly own. ** The ceremony was attended by Hendrik Gordenker, chairman of JERA Co. Inc.; Yasumi Kudo, chairman of NYK; and a number of related parties. At the ceremony, the ship was named “Shinshu Maru” by Mr. Gordenker and the ceremonial rope holding the vessel in place was cut by his wife. The ship derives ...

South East Asia China: Armed robbers board bulk carrier at Caofeidian anchorage 13 January Two robbers armed with a steel bar boarded an anchored bulk carrier at Caofeidian large oil tank anchorage at 0430 hrs local time. Duty crew sounded the alarm upon noticing the robbers, prompting them to flee before they stole anything. PGI Analysis: Robberies are sporadically reported at Caofeidian anchorage, although many incidents are likely to go unreported. Robbers often target vessels at anchorages overnight to take advantage of low visibility, underscoring the need for vigilance at ...