From August 1 to November 30, 2021, the Panama Canal will once again promote the implementation of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) speed and navigational recommendations to protect whales, dolphins, and other large aquatic animals, as they start their nearby seasonal migration. In accordance with the IMO’s recommendations, ships traveling to and from the Canal via the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean during this period must stay within designated navigation areas known as Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS), which decrease the overlap between vessels entering or exiting the Canal and migrating marine ...

Seafarer wellbeing has been a focal topic for Standard Club in recent years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic and we are proud to be working in partnership with Sailors’ Society’s Wellness at Sea programme, sharing helpful advice and resources over a period of 27 weeks. As a seafarer, many things are competing for your attention onboard and life can get stressful being out at sea for extended periods of time. In recent times, matters have only become more challenging as you are not only faced with a pandemic, but you ...

The technology group Wärtsilä has signed a seven-year long-term Optimised Maintenance Agreement to support the operations of two river pusher tugs operating in Northern Brazil. The vessels are owned by Hidrovias do Brasil, a leader in South American river transportation. This agreement, the second of its type with Hidrovias, was signed in April, 2021. The vessels operate with Wärtsilä 20 engines, often in shallow waters and remote locations. These challenging operating conditions make the planning and execution of maintenance procedures difficult. This agreement, therefore, allows the customer to focus on ...

GTMaritime, a leading provider of secure data communications software to the shipping industry, has released two significant product updates addressing fast-evolving cyber security and digitalisation needs in shipping. Available for download now, GTMaritime’s secure maritime file and data replication solution, GTReplicate, has been substantially upgraded to provide customers with greater file synchronisation capabilities across satellite networks. New features available from GTReplicate v1.2 include: Email integration, allowing shore side emails to be used as a source or target for replication Ability to invoke third party applications and execute scripts before or ...

Port of Rotterdam Authority, Koole Terminals, Chiyoda Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation have signed an agreement to a joint study the feasibility of a commercial-scale import of hydrogen from overseas sources to one of Koole’s terminals in the port of Rotterdam utilizing Chiyoda’s proven hydrogen storage and transportation technology SPERAHydrogen™. Northwest-Europe will have to import hydrogen on a large scale to become net zero CO2 emission. The Port of Rotterdam Authority is therefore looking at ways to set up new hydrogen supply chains from countries where hydrogen can be produced and ...

Keppel Corporation Limited (“Keppel” or the “Company”, and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) announced today a scheme of arrangement (the “Scheme”) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel Pegasus Pte Ltd (the “Offeror”), to acquire all of the issued and paid-up ordinary shares in the capital of SPH (excluding treasury shares), with the intention to delist and privatise SPH, following the carve out of the SPH media assets. This acquisition will accelerate Keppel’s Vision 2030 plans to be an integrated business providing solutions for sustainable urbanisation, with an asset management arm ...

Chinese ferrous futures fell on Monday, with steel rebar and hot rolled coils both plunging some 6%, after Beijing updated its stance on carbon reduction work, raising worries of an adjustment in output cuts. A Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping on Friday said China should avoid “campaign-style” carbon reduction efforts. While there were some places blindly launched projects with high emissions and energy consumption, there were others that “over-reacted” and made emission-cut plans too early, state media Xinhua said in a commentary, adding that such attempts could affect ...

China’s coal buyers are bracing for prices to rise in the second half of the year, from already near-record levels, as Beijing’s drive to boost domestic mine safety cuts into local output even as booming imports may be reaching their natural limits. Beijing is striving to strike a balance between increasing supplies to cool record prices that have squeezed its coal-reliant utilities while improving mine safety. In July, local media reported more than 20 mines in major coal hub Shaanxi province were shut for safety checks after a flooding accident. ...

The European hot-rolled coil steel to raw materials price spread edged lower in July as higher coking coal, iron ore pellet and scrap prices limited gains from record monthly HRC spot prices. The Northwest European HRC-steel raw materials spot spread moved down to Eur758/mt ($900/mt) in July from Eur761/mt in June, according to estimates by S&P Global Platts on Aug. 2. In the second quarter, the European HRC spread averaged a new record high Eur695/mt, up 61% from Q1, on the back of higher steel prices. A recovery in steel ...

On July 18, OPEC+, which includes most members of OPEC and several non-OPEC members (including Russia), agreed to increase monthly crude oil production starting in August 2021. On July 19, after the new OPEC+ agreement was made public, the price of Brent crude oil fell 7% from the previous day to $69 per barrel (b). Since then, the price of Brent crude oil has been rising, reaching $76/b on July 30. In early July, members of OPEC+ had adjourned without reaching a new crude oil production agreement, and front-month futures ...

Crude oil futures ticked lower in mid-morning trade in Asia Aug. 2 from the July 30 Asian close after OPEC+ on Aug. 1 increased production levels by 400,000 b/d. ICE October Brent crude futures were pegged at $74.26/b at 0200 GMT Aug. 2, down 83 cents/b from the 0830 GMT Asia close July 30. Middle East crude ** Focus in the coming week is on the release of official selling prices by Middle East producers such as Saudi Aramco and Qatar Petroleum as trade for October-loading crude commences. ** Abu ...

The Delta variant poses new risks for the world’s second-biggest economy as it spreads from the coast to China’s inland cities and presents fresh challenges to authorities who have for months managed to avert any widespread outbreak of the coronavirus. Barely a month after disrupting industry in the southern export hub of Guangdong, cases of the Delta variant were detected in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province on the coast. The infections were traced back to a flight from Russia. Since Nanjing confirmed its first Delta cases on July 20, numerous ...

Chinese leaders are expected to intensify policy support in the second half of the year to bolster the country’s economic growth, which has shown signs of decelerating, analysts said. The leaders will focus on ensuring the policies are effective and forward-looking to address possible risks and uncertainties, the analysts said. Their comments came after top policymakers acknowledged at a key meeting in Beijing on Friday that the country’s economic recovery is still unstable and unbalanced, as it faces an increasingly complex and challenging external environment. While China’s economic recovery remains ...

China’s yuan extended its decline on Monday after it posted a second month of losses in July, with sentiment dampened by disappointing economic data and investor worries over spreading domestic COVID-19 cases of the Delta variant. Prior to market opening, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate at 6.4660 per dollar, 58 pips weaker than the previous fix of 6.4602. In the spot market, onshore yuan opened at 6.4640 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.4653 at midday, 33 pips weaker than the previous late session ...

Hapag-Lloyd continues to strengthen its presence in Africa. Today the company opens a new office in the West African country of Senegal – located in the capital Dakar. Hapag-Lloyd mainly transports nuts, fish, cotton and minerals out of Senegal. The imports primarily consist of chemicals, foodstuffs and garments. The country is connected to the global Hapag-Lloyd network by the weekly Dakar Express Service (DEX) with transshipment in Tangier. “Senegal has shown impressive economic growth in the recent years, and it has abundant natural resources”, says Dheeraj Bhatia, Senior Managing Director ...