The global 0.50% sulphur cap will enter into force in 2020. Finally, this date is no longer in the far-off future but in less than 365 days. What four options are available for ship owners? The figures are impressive: According to the guidance paper Global Sulphur Cap 2020 published by DNV GL on the topic, more than 70,000 ships worldwide will be affected by this regulation. As a result, if they have not done so already, ship owners will need to weigh up their options in the very near future ...

Shipowners with scrubber-equipped vessels will need to lock in long-term HSFO supplies, and hedge if needed, amid concerns about consistent availability and quality when the International Maritime Organization’s global sulfur limit rule for marine fuels kicks in from 2020, Adrian Tolson, a bunker industry veteran and senior partner at 2020 Marine Energy, said. The IMO’s global sulfur limit for marine fuels will cap global sulfur content in marine fuels at 0.5% from January 1, 2020, down from 3.5% currently. This applies outside the designated emission control areas where the limit ...

While the U.S. and China are negotiating a trade deal, the world’s biggest container shipping company is watching out for other problems between major economies. One risk to import and export activity include the United States’ outstanding trade negotiations with the European Union. Another is the possibility of changes in the relationship between Europe and China, Soren Skou, chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk, said on Sunday. “First of all, it’s pretty clear that the U.S. administration and EU have an outstanding discussion. It was kind of kicked to a corner ...

German container group Hapag-Lloyd is on course to achieve better earnings and further reduce debts this year as it cuts costs and benefits from merger savings in an improving shipping industry, it said. “We see fairly stable demand growth and the fundamentals are favourable,” Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen said on a call with analysts on Friday. “This will enable us to deliver on our goals for 2019,” he added. The upbeat tone was in line with that of French container shipping group CMA CGM, which booked record revenue in ...

China’s container transport for export purposes slightly contracted for the week ending Friday, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. The average China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) stood at 813.37, down 0.9 percent from a week earlier, the exchange said. The sub-index for West/East Africa route saw the strongest rally of 9.5 percent week on week, while that for the Persian Gulf/Red Sea route led the fall by dropping 3.9 percent. The CCFI tracks spot and contractual freight rates from Chinese container ports for 12 shipping routes across the globe, based ...

Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA is seeking to extend the contracts of three petroleum tankers, and hire five additional tankers, to compensate for the loss of vessels due to US sanctions, according to sources and PDVSA reports. “PDVSA requires as soon as possible three vessels for LPG, two Aframaxes, two Panamaxes and one long-range [LR1] vessel,” an official of PDV Marina, a PDVSA shipping company, told S&P Global Platts on condition of anonymity. While PDVSA is not able to work with some shipowners because of sanctions, “we will continue working with those ...

The international shipping industry is wrestling with a spate of fires aboard vessels at sea in recent months that have crippled several big cargo ships, killed a number of seafarers and cost companies and their customers hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The latest blaze came on March 10, when a nearly 31,000-ton combined container and automobile carrier caught fire in the Bay of Biscay off the eastern coast of France, leading to the rescue of 27 crew members by a British Navy frigate. The Grimaldi Lines-operated Grande America ...

MOST (Mobile Sensory Technologies Sweden AB) a leading company within ‘Real time monitoring’ and Absortech Group a leading company within moisture prevention in shipping containers has entered into a partnership. MOST´s superior real time monitoring solution give customers insight into what happens to the cargo while in transit. The customer gets alerts via email or SMS when there is a deviation from the preferred levels on temperature, humidity and shock. The solution also detects intrusions and tracks the position of the shipment – all to enable proactiveness rather than reactiveness. ...

Capesize The big ships endured heavy losses last week extinguishing any hopes from the recent minor rally. Negative sentiment gained pace throughout the week, Cyclone Veronica developed in North-Western Australia prompting Port Hedland and Dampier to issue port closure notices, expected to last in-excess of 48 hours. Miners were largely absent through the latter part of the week, as route C5 traded sharply down to $5.00. Mid-week saw a short-lived bump in freight on South Africa/Qingdao tender cargo as the slim ballaster fleet showed signs of pressure points, with many ...

GE’s Power Conversion business and Nedstack, a leading fuel cell manufacturer, are collaborating on developing hydrogen fuel cell systems for powering zero-emission cruise vessels. This partnership brings together GE’s recognized expertise in cruise electrical power and propulsion solutions plus system integration capability, with Nedstack’s extensive experience in megawatt-scale hydrogen fuel cell technology. The result will be highly efficient fuel cell solutions that enable a zero-emission cruise industry. Zero-emission cruising The cruise industry shares a joint responsibility to eliminate the possible negative impacts it might have on port communities, the health ...

Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM) has successfully completed its first floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) project for the 138,000cbm FSRU Excelerate owned by Excelerate Energy (USA). During its period at the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard, the FSRU underwent routine drydocking and repairs, in addition to modifications and retrofitting of several new systems, including the installation of a ballast water treatment system (BWTS). To date, N-KOM has completed seven BWTS installations for various types of vessels, such as LNG and LPG carriers as well as very large crude carriers ...

VLCC It was another slow week, with rates under pressure slipping below WS 60 as 270,000mt fixed to China at WS 59 and Taiwan at WS 57.5 for 265,000mt cargo. Going west, rates for 280,000mt to the US Gulf fell 4.75 points, as Valero took BP tonnage at WS 23.5 Cape/Cape. In West Africa, rates for 260,000mt were assessed 1.5 points lower at WS 55, with potential to soften further. Occidental fixed US Gulf to Singapore at $5.2 million. Vitol covered Hound Point to South Korea at $5.5 million, down ...

The 13th Governing Council Meeting of the ReCAAP ISC was held on 19 to 22 March 2019 in Singapore, hosted by the Singapore Government. The Council reviewed the activities of ReCAAP ISC in FY2018 and deliberated on its activities for FY2019 and beyond. On 22 March 2019, the Open Session was held with External Participants comprising representatives from three countries and 13 organisations. The Council commended ReCAAP ISC on producing positive results in respect to its activities in FY2018 under the three pillars of its mission, i.e., information sharing, capacity ...

Saudi Arabia has started the operation of a maritime line with Iraq’s Um Kasr port to boost inter-trade over the next period, a press report said on Tuesday as ties between the two governments continue to better. Saudi newspaper Okaz said the measure comes in line with the formation of the joint cooperation committee launched in August, and as part of the kingdom’s 2030 development strategy. The newspaper explained that journeys through the line already began early March, adding that the King Abdul-Aziz Port is eager to improve that line ...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday did not reverse North Korea-related sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies, a U.S. administration source familiar with the matter said. The source was responding to queries about a tweet sent by Trump earlier in the day that said he had ordered the withdrawal of sanctions announced by the Treasury Department – a statement that seemed to refer to an announcement made on Thursday of measures against shipping companies accused of helping North Korea evade sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme. The tweet was meant ...