New building in dry bulk this week, Tsuneishi announced contracting a firm 65.7k dwt Ultramax with Kambara Kisen. The vessel will be methanol dual fuel and is set to deliver in 2027.

Three new cargo ships are heading towards Ukrainian Black Sea ports for further food exports, Deputy Ukraine’s Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Friday. “Bulk carriers AZARA, YING HAO 01, ENEIDA are using temporary corridor established by the Ukrainian Navy in order to export 127,000 (metric) tons of agricultural products and iron ore for China, Egypt and Spain,” Kubrakov said on X social media app. He said the vessels were on the way to Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi sea ports. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

Use of worn mooring lines, overtightening of the brakes, or sudden movements of the ship are some of the main reasons for ropes straining beyond their breaking limits and parting. Parting of tensioned mooring lines has been associated with some of the worst human injuries, and loss of life registered in Gard’s claims portfolio. The victims are usually the crew handling the line, the winch operator and/or the supervising officer. A parting line has the potential to flex the whole distance from the place where it parts to the place ...

Argentina’s 2023/24 soy planting area will be an estimated 16 million hectares (39.54 million acres), the government said, the same as the previous drought-hit season in one of the world’s top exporters of processed soy oil and meal. While the soy planting area forecast matches the area planted last season, the government trimmed its estimate for the 2023/24 wheat planting area to 5.6 million hectares, from a previous forecast of 5.8 million. “A drop in the area estimate was decided given the lack of adequate rainfall and the prevalent drought ...

Middle East crude benchmarks Dubai and Oman climbed on Friday following two straight days of declines, as more spot trades emerged. Meanwhile, Brent’s Exchange Futures for Swaps (EFS) to Dubai has steadied by the end of the trading week, after its volatile surge earlier this week. November EFS DUB-EFS-1M was pegged at a premium of $1.90 a barrel at the Asia close on Friday, compared with $1.85 the previous day, LSEG data showed. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 22 cents to $2.74 a barrel. NEWS Russia ...

An Australian union alliance on Friday called off strikes at Chevron (NYSE:)’s two major local liquefied (LNG) projects, agreeing to resolve disputes that had threatened to disrupt around 7% of global LNG supplies. The union alliance and Chevron accepted proposals on pay and conditions from the country’s industrial arbitrator for the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG facilities, and workers suspended strikes that began two weeks ago. “The Offshore Alliance will now work with Chevron to finalise the drafting of the agreement and members will soon cease current industrial action,” Offshore Alliance ...

U.S. equity funds suffered substantial outflows in the seven days to Sept. 20, hit by worries that the Federal Reserve would potentially extend the duration of its restrictive monetary policy. According to LSEG data, investors pulled out a net $6.64 billion from U.S. equity funds in their biggest weekly net selling since Aug. 23. The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but flagged the potential for an additional rate hike this year and fewer reductions next year. Equity growth funds witnessed $2.41 billion of outflows, in stark ...

U.S. business activity showed little change in September, with the vast services sector essentially idling at the slowest pace since February, and overall new order activity slipping to the lowest level this year, a survey published Friday showed. S&P Global said its flash U.S. Composite PMI index, which tracks the manufacturing and service sectors, dipped to a reading of 50.1 in September from a final reading for August of 50.2. September’s result was negligibly above the 50 level that separates expansion and contraction. The survey’s composite new orders index slid ...

Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate by a lofty 500 basis points to 30% on Thursday, marking a second month of aggressive tightening after President Tayyip Erdogan set aside his long opposition to tight policy. The bank reiterated it is ready to raise rates further as needed to rein in inflation that leapt to nearly 59% in August and is expected to rise into next year. It has hiked rates by 2,150 basis points since June. The lira slipped to 27.105 to the dollar after the decision, just ...

Today, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the global trade association for shipowners, which represents over 80% of the world merchant fleet, has announced the inauguration of a new ICS Representative Office in Shanghai. This strategic move follows the admission of the China Shipowners’ Association as a Full ICS Member in January 2023 and extends the presence of the ICS China Liaison Office which will continue to have a presence in the Hong Kong SAR. The new ICS office, within the offices of the China P&I Club, is located in ...

Apple released a “Mother Nature” ad touting its 2020 promise to bring its entire carbon footprint to net zero by 2030. The ad shows the Apple environmental team giving Mother Nature a status report. In one moment, an Apple team member says, “I’m proud to report that we’re shipping more products by ocean rather than air, which reduces transportation emissions by 95%.” However, if Apple really wants to show a commitment to maritime shipping, it should join the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA). The mission of ZEMBA is to ...

The Genoa based shipping group Ignazio Messina & C. records today the acquisition of a new full-container vessel, already renamed “Jolly Oro”, that will operate side by side with the recently acquired sister vessel “Jolly Argento”, thus confirming the strategy of a progressive strengthening on the market of the full container units. The “Jolly Oro”, formerly “Northern Priority”, has a transport capacity of 4600 TEU, is 264.32 metres long by 32.20 metres wide, and was built by the Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, the same shipyard that had ...

UKSA is reporting its Further Education student intake for September 2023 is its highest on record, increasing 20 per cent on 2022 figures, with 71 per cent from those living on the Isle of Wight. The world’s largest RYA centre and UK maritime charity has 56 students enrolled on its Maritime Foundation course alongside 28 students undertaking its Adventurous Outdoor Activities course. The total of 84 is the highest UKSA has seen since records began in 2010. UKSA is also reporting that over 46 per cent of this year’s intake ...

Maritime digitalisation leader calls for greater data integration and analytics in the offshore sector as new white paper showcases opportunities for substantial fuel savings and emissions reductions. Marseille, France – 21 September 2023 – A new white paper published by maritime performance management expert Opsealog has shed light on the central role of data in boosting fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from offshore support vessel (OSV) operations. The report details a series of recommendations that can help operators secure immediate gains in fuel efficiency and reduce the carbon ...

West P&I has been assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) by AM Best. The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. AM Best commented on West’s improved underwriting result for the year-ended 20 February 2023 in which the Club achieved a 96.7% combined ratio, the strongest result for the Club since 2017, stating that the improvement in results followed actions taken by management. AM Best commented further that the A- (Excellent) rating reflects West’s “very strong” balance ...