The death toll from a weekend fuel tanker explosion in eastern Tanzania rose to 85 on Thursday, a regional official said. The tanker burst into flames on Saturday as crowds gathered to siphon petrol from the vehicle in Morogoro, about 125 miles (200 km) west of the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. Government officials initially reported at least 60 deaths. “The official death toll now stands at 85 … there are 17 accident victims with burn injuries admitted here at the regional hospital who are in stable condition,” Morogoro regional ...

Some highlights: Second quarter of 2019 Adjusted Result* for Q2 2019: USD -12 million (Q2 2018: USD 4 million) Adjusted Result* for first half-year of 2019: USD -5 million (H1 2018: 12 million) Dry Operator: USD -6 million (USD 8 million) Dry Owner: USD -2 million (USD 3 million) Tankers: USD -3 million (USD -8 million). Profit from sale of vessels: USD 3 million * ”Profit/loss for the period” adjusted for “Profit/loss from sale of vessels, etc. Expectations for 2019 Expectations for the Adjusted Result for the year are maintained ...

An Iranian tanker whose detention exacerbated frictions between Tehran and the West could sail free from British territory Gibraltar on Friday, though a U.S. request to halt its passage could drag the saga back into court. The Grace 1 was seized by British Royal Marine commandos in darkness at the western mouth of the Mediterranean on July 4 on suspicion of violating European Union sanctions by taking oil to Syria, a close ally of Iran. Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo decided to lift the detention order after written assurances from ...

For the third year in a row, The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has expanded its training team with the appointment of Liz Sumner as trainer – freight and customs procedures. In 2019 BIFA has seen demand for its freight and customs training courses hit a record high, mainly due to the availability of a specific apprenticeship in Freight Forwarding, as well as the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, which has increased demand for Customs training. Carl Hobbis, training development manager, says: “Of late, we have seen a lot of young people ...

The World Container Index assessed by Drewry, a composite of container freight rates on 8 major routes to/from the US, Europe and Asia is down by 0.5% to $1,456.34 per 40ft container (updated Thursday, 15 August 2019). Two-year spot freight rate trend for the World Container Index: Source: Drewry

The US Coast Guard (USCG) has issued a Lessons Learned alert 01-19, Avoid delays and keep your ship schedule! Does your BilgMon 488 Bilge Alarm/Oil Content Meter operate properly?, prompted by a recent port State control inspection. The alert notes that the Marine Safety Detachment (MSD) Port Canaveral Port State Control Officers (PSCOs) identified MARPOL deficiencies related to the 15-ppm Bilge Alarm system of the Oily Water Separators (OWS) onboard four separate ships. They discovered that the entries in the Oil Record Book (ORB) did not correspond to the Bilge ...

Thousands of containers moving around the globe are declared harmless when they actually hold dangerous cargoes. Felicity Landon looks at the implications What’s the difference between calcium hypochlorite and ‘water purifying equipment’? Or between ammonium nitrate and ‘plant growth regulator’? Nothing, most likely. Misdeclaring dangerous cargoes appears to be something of an art for many shippers who are, it is assumed, anxious to avoid the paperwork, restrictions, regulations and/or costs involved in shipping extremely hazardous goods. The results can be devastating, as evidenced in an alarming number of container ship ...

Konecranes has acquired Italian Trevolution Service SRL, one of Italy’s largest independent crane service companies specializing in crane maintenance, repairs, modernizations, spare parts and hoists and components. The terms of the cash deal are not being disclosed. The acquisition enlarges Konecranes’ field service operations in Italy and provides an excellent opportunity to sell equipment to new customers. Trevolution Service, located near Milan in Barzago, has thousands of customers in a variety of industrial sectors, mainly covering the northern regions of Italy. The business has 25 employees. “Trevolution is a perfect ...

New York/New Jersey, which has remained behind Los Angeles and Long Beach as the country’s third busiest container port for the past 27 years, will have overtaken Long Beach for loaded container traffic by the end of this year. This has been predicted for some time by industry watchers, and is the clearest indicator yet that pressures building up on the West Coast are now taking their toll. A combination of the enlarged Panama Canal, ever-tightening environmental/pollution rules, tariffs and trade wars, periodic congestion, higher costs of using the terminals ...

A sudden pickup in demand from the Philippines has doubled Thai 45i refined sugar cash premiums to front month London No. 5 futures over the past three weeks, after the Philippines Sugar Regulatory Administration released import licenses for refined sugar of 250,000 mt on August 2. S&P Global Platts assessed Thai 45i refined sugar in containers at $12/mt over the front-month Sugar London No. 5 futures contract Wednesday, up from a recent low of $6/mt on July 22. The Philippines is importing refined sugar in an attempt to keep prices ...

National Australia Bank is forecasting steady growth in thermal coal prices though to July-September next year after a retreat in the current quarter, but prices are not expected to return to the levels seen earlier in 2019, National Australia Bank said Wednesday in its monthly Minerals and Energy Outlook. The Australian bank expects the FOB Newcastle price basis 6,000 kcal/kg NAR to average $68/mt over July-September, down from $78/mt in the previous quarter, then rise steadily to average in $78/mt FOB Newcastle over July-September next year. Prices were then tipped ...

The European Commission has reduced the planned increase in tariff-free steel quotas to 3% from 5% across all product categories, noting that 2018 was a record year for shipments to the EU. The announcement, published Wednesdayon the EC website, followed a review of market safeguard measures imposed February 2. “This less-pronounced liberalization means that the total quotas available during the third period will be limited to 31.6 million tonnes, i.e. 1.5 million tonnes below the distorting 2018 record,” the EC stated. “Moreover, this adjustment will fully preserve the liberalisation effect, ...

Highlights -India targets raising share of gas in energy mix from 6% to 15% by 2030 -Infrastructure hurdles, price disadvantage stand in the way: Platts Analytics -Consumption of renewables may grow at faster pace than for gas India is stepping up efforts to raise the share of gas in its energy basket, but consumption is unlikely to move ahead at a pace the government is aiming for as infrastructural and pricing hurdles erode its competitiveness with relatively cheaper fuels such as coal. Analysts told S&P Global Platts that the campaign ...

Guyana, a tiny nation on the north coast of South America, is about to become the world’s newest petrostate — and potentially the richest. In 2015, ExxonMobil made what one of its executives described as a “fairy tale” discovery in the vast Stabroek exploration block off the Guyanese coast. Since then, it’s found so much oil that by the mid-2020s Guyana, with a population of about 778,000, will probably produce more crude per citizen than any other country. However, Guyana is unprepared for what’s coming. Its petroleum laws were written ...

Central Bank of Uzbekistan has published a new exchange rate to be effective from August 16,Trendreports referring to the Central Bank. One dollar in Uzbekistan will cost 9061 soums (+179), and one euro – 10,092.14 soums (+163.84). Moreover, the Russian ruble added 138.47 soums (+2.09). After the currency reform of 2017, the Central Bank managed to stabilize its market position, but the soum is gradually losing its position in world currencies. However, changes in the course are also seasonal in nature, the bank noted. Source: MENAFN