The China Tianjin Bulk Freight Index (TBI), an indicator of northern China’s international bulk freight rates, stood at 768.89 points on Monday, down 0.10 percent compared with the previous working day. The statistical samples of TBI cover eight international bulk shipping routes arriving at the ports of Tianjin, Qingdao and Caofeidian. They come from coal, iron ore, nickel ore and grain exporters, such as Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. As a sub-index of the Tianjin Shipping Index, TBI is published on working days and was first published in September 2010. ...

Being just a breath before the close of the year, it is hardly a surprise that many are already eyeing the prospects of what lay ahead

RightShip, the world’s largest maritime risk management and environmental assessment organisation, has today announced the launch of a new familiarisation period for its updated Safety Score and Platform. The two-month window, starting from today and running through to the end of January 2021, will provide the industry with an opportunity to learn about changes to the methodology of the Safety Score. These changes have been designed to create a clear pathway to the improvement of vessel safety standards. The updates follow the July 2020 Beta launch of the new Safety ...

India’s oil imports from the Middle East hit an eight-month high in October after producers reduced official selling prices (OSP) while its purchases of African crude fell to a three-month low, data obtained from sources showed. Refiners in India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, have diversified crude imports to improve margins. Middle Eastern oil imports in October rose 27% from the previous month to 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd) while African imports declined 39% to 439,300 bpd, the data showed. Imports from Latin America rose 89%, ...

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has partnered with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) to launch the latest marine innovation challenge, focused on the Offshore Renewable Energy sector. As part of the ADMIRALTY Marine Innovation Programme, the latest challenge invites participants to develop solutions that use marine geospatial data to help identify new areas for Offshore Renewable Energy and optimise the performance of existing infrastructure. To support planners in this sector, access to marine geospatial data is essential to find suitable sites for offshore wind and tidal ...

The Drewry Container Port Throughput Indices are a series of volume growth/decline indices based on monthly throughput data for a sample of over 235 ports worldwide, representing over 75% of global volumes. The base point for the indices is January 2012 = 100. Drewry’s container port throughput index remained almost stagnant in September 2020, recording a marginal 0.3% month on month change, but a higher three point change (2.3%) year on year. This was the first time in 2020 when the global index witnessed positive year-on-year growth leading us to ...

Following the creation of the first dry port in Sofia, Bulgaria and in the context of improving the connectivity of the Port of Thessaloniki, the first train from the Port of Thessaloniki to the dry port in Sofia, Bulgaria departed this morning, Friday, 27th of November 2020. The itinerary with a total duration of 16 hours, is the beginning of the pilot phase of this service, which will last until mid-January 2021 and during which the connection and the various services provided will be refined to perfection. Weekly departures and ...

The newly-appointed CEO of a leading support provider has revealed his vision to ensure mental health becomes a top priority for companies, as the shipping market looks ahead to life post-Covid-19. Christian Ayerst, who is due to take up his position as CEO of Mental Health Support Solutions (MHSS) on December 1, says he hopes to help make mental health a ‘lasting conversation’ in the maritime sector. Mr Ayerst left his position as a senior lawyer with ship owner Stolt-Nielsen in Rotterdam to take on the role with the ambitious ...

METIS Cyberspace Technology S.A. has secured a fleet-wide contract from Neptune Lines to implement its data acquisition and advanced analytics platform in a first commitment to deploy the power of AI in vessel management by a Pure Car & Truck Carrier operator. Neptune Lines PCTCs feature METIS Ship Connect – the automated data acquisition solution whose accuracy is approved by Lloyds Register. The METIS platform uses a network of Wireless Intelligent Collectors to harvest machinery, navigation and operational data regardless of equipment supplier. Its ship performance analysis also integrates AIS ...

New testing centre for large electric drive systems begins operations and provides industry with big opportunities. Finland-based Yaskawa Environmental Energy / The Switch is powering forward with its vision to create bigger and ever more efficient electric drive systems with the start of operations at its heavyweight Large Drive Testing Centre (LDTC) in Lappeenranta in the south-east of the country. This state-of-the-art testing centre can provide some of the answers to questions being asked by the maritime sector as shipowners, system integrators and shipyards navigate towards a greener future, while ...

Samsung Heavy Industries, a major shipbuilder in South Korea, has received a new order worth 206.2 billion won ($186 million) from an unspecified client in Oceania to build a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas. The new order raised the shipbuilder’s backlog of orders for LNG carriers to 31, the biggest in the world. Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) said in a regulatory filing on November 30 that the LNG carrier would be delivered by July 2023. The shipbuilder hopes to win additional orders related LNG projects. “The recent ...

The Port of Gdansk is announcing it expects to handle more than 48million tonnes of cargo in 2020, retaining its position as one of Europe’s fastest growing ports despite the disruption to global trade caused by the coronavirus crisis. The Port of Gdansk said it handled 36.2million tonnes in the first three quarters of the year to September and is on course to handle the same amount of cargo it did in 2018 and just under 52.2million tonnes it managed in 2019. The performance means the Port of Gdansk has ...

Iron ore futures extended gains on Monday, with the benchmark Dalian contract seeing its biggest monthly rise since May, as upbeat economic indicators in top steel producer China helped sustain a buying momentum for the steelmaking ingredient. China’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in November, keeping the world’s second-largest economy on track to fully recover from the coronavirus crisis. Iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trading up 1.1% at 911.50 yuan ($138.36) a tonne, after hitting a high of 919 ...

With the global economy “still in deep recession,” the oil market’s struggles may well persist through the first quarter of 2021, requiring OPEC members to remain disciplined and patient, Algeria’s oil minister said Nov. 30, as the producer group opened its meeting to discuss output quotas for the months ahead. OPEC and nine allies led by Russia have implemented historic production cuts to combat the pandemic-fomented collapse in oil demand. The curbs began at 9.8 million b/d from May, and then were eased to 7.7 million b/d in August as ...

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to raise its official selling prices (OSPs) for Asian buyers in January, tracking stronger benchmark prices as some refiners increase output to meet higher winter demand, a Reuters survey showed. Six sources at Asian refiners expect the January OSP for Saudi flagship crude grade Arab Light to rise by 65 cents a barrel on average, with their forecasts ranging between an increase of 50 cents and 85 cents. Two of the sources forecasted bigger price increases for Saudi lighter grades than heavier ones, ...