France Gives €30 Million to Aid Ferry Companies
The French government will reimburse 30 million euros ($35.5 million) in payroll costs to French ferry companies hit by the coronavirus crisis and Brexit, Prime Minister Jean Castex told parliament.Shipping firms have suffered from lower traffic to and from Britain due to quarantine measures and uncertainty around Britain's exit from the European union."We have decided to reimburse all of Brittany Ferries' payroll costs for the 2021 financial year.
Baltic Index Gains as Capesize Vessel Rates Rise
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index rose for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, buoyed by stronger rates for capesize vessels.The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, was up seven points, or 0.5%, at 1,289 points.The capesize index gained 24 points, or 1.3%, at 1,922 points, hitting its highest since Sept.
Port of Los Angeles Imports Soar
Port of Los Angeles container volumes hit an all-time high in August, as importers restocked warehouses and retailers prepared for the upcoming holiday season, but officials warned that uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 remains an economic threat."The future of the economy really depends on the future of the pandemic, and the path of the virus right now continues to be the biggest uncertainty," said Jonathan Gold…
Charting Terradepth's Big Ambitions in the Unmanned Vehicle Space
Ocean mapping at scale is the target of a new unmanned systems player started by two ex-US Navy SEALS. They have big ambitions, from new building unmanned vehicles to creating the intelligence that will drive them to changing how accessible ocean data is. Elaine Maslin learned more. The pace of change in the ocean mapping space has been fast in recent years. New entrants have come into the scene offering…
Maritime History: Columbia Lighting the World; How Classification Can Make a Difference
I don’t remember when I discovered that the first application of lightbulbs occurred at sea rather than ashore. But when I dug a little deeper into the subject recently, I came across an interesting set of coincidences that shows how innovation often relies on simply doing, rather than endlessly talking about it. After Thomas Edison managed to make sufficient improvements to the lightbulb concept to have it show commercial viability in late 1879…
Box Ship Rescues Sailors in Storm Sally
The captain and crew of a Hong Kong-flagged containership came to the rescue of a sailboat crew in distress on Sunday amid severe weather and waves during storm Sally, in the Gulf of Mexico, some 130 nautical miles west of Port Tampa Bay, Fla.The COSCO SHIPPING Lines containership COSCO Malaysia was en route from Mobile, Ala. to Port Tampa Bay when it received a distress call from the sailboat Yes Dear at 8:22 a.m.
Sovcomflot Targets at Least $500 Million in Moscow IPO
Sovcomflot plans to raise at least $500 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Moscow Exchange, Russia’s top shipping company said on Tuesday, in a deal that could value it at roughly $10 billion according to sources.The move by the state-controlled firm comes as Russian airline Aeroflot also plans to raise capital in a secondary public offering (SPO).For Aeroflot, the cash is needed to…
Carnival's Q3 Losses to Reach Almost $3 Billion
Carnival Corp said on Tuesday it expects to post a loss of $2.9 billion in the third quarter, hurt by the suspension of cruises due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sending the cruise operator's shares down 3% in premarket trade.The cruise business is one of the worst affected from the health crisis and has forced operators, including Japan’s Luminous Cruise, to file for bankruptcy, or to raise money even at the cost of pledging ships.Carnival…
Container Shipping's Half-Century of Growth
A great graphic from Allianz’s Shipping & Safety Report 2020 visually documenting the growth in the container ship industry over the past 50 years.Shipping, Ports & Logistics is a feature focus area of coverage in the October 2020 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News, with insightful interviews with leading ports, shipping companies and legislators.
EU Parliament Votes to Make Ships Pay for Their Emissions
The European Parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of including greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime sector in the European Union's carbon market from 2022, throwing its weight behind EU plans to make ships pay for their pollution.Shipping is the only sector which does not face EU targets to cut emissions, but it is coming under increased scrutiny as the bloc attempts to steer industries towards its plan to become "climate neutral" by 2050.In a vote on Tuesday…
Wilhelmsen Buys Into Østensjø's Offshore Wind Business
Wilhelmsen, one of the world's largest shipping companies, has agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Østensjø Group’s growing offshore wind business Edda Wind.Wilhelmsen has also secured an option to buy another 25% before June 2021. Launched in 2018, Edda Wind owns and operates service vessels supporting the maintenance work conducted during the commissioning and operation of offshore wind farms.Commenting on the Edda Wind deal…
Maersk Training Launches Training Management App
Maersk Training in the UK announced the launch of its upgraded Training Management Solution (TMS) with the aim to improve the training management for companies dealing with fewer headcount and remote working, amid the coronavirus pandemic.The software is divided into two parts, a mobile app aimed at delegates and a web-based application for the administrators and training facilitators. The mobile app provides a full overview of the employee’s individual training requirements…
KPI OceanConnect Appoints Managing Director for Its Hamburg Office
Marine fuels services provider KPI OceanConnect announced Tuesday it has appointed industry expert Boris Gronenberg as Managing Director of its Hamburg operations.KPI OceanConnect’s Hamburg office is located at the heart of Hamburg’s shipping community and is one of 16 in the recently merged group.“Joining KPI OceanConnect at this time is very exciting,” Gronenberg said. “The recent merger of KPI Bridge…
Gulf Copper Wins Contract to Refurbish NOAA's Henry B. Bigelow
Texas-based Gulf Copper and Manufacturing said it has been awarded a $3.9 million dry docking and refurbishment of the NOAA research vessel Henry B. Bigelow. The work will be performed at Gulf Copper's Galveston yard.Commissioned in 2007 and homeported in Newport, R.I., Henry B. Bigelow is a fisheries survey vessel that studies a wide range of marine life and ocean conditions along the U.S. East Coast, primarily from Maine to North Carolina.
OET Gets Hold of Newbuild Suezmax 'Nissos Sikinos'
Greek oil tanker operator Okeanis Eco Tankers has taken delivery of the Suezmax tanker “Nissos Sikinos” today.The tanker was delivered from Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in South Korea and is the first of the two Suezmaxes that will be delivered to the company by the end of September. The second one is named Nissos Sifnos.Both scrubber-fitted, 158,000 dwt, tankers secured contracts in July 2020, with a three-year charter each.
SBM Offshore in Talks with Petrobras Over Buzios FPSO Charter
Brazilian oil company Petrobras has started negotiations with the Dutch FPSO supplier SBM Offshore over a potential charter of an FPSO to be installed at the giant Buzios field in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil.The FPSO, to be named Almirante Tamandaré, will be the sixth FPSO in the Búzios field. The FPSO would have a production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil and 12 million m3 of gas per day…
Sovcomflot Takes Delivery of New LNG Carrier
Sovcomflot, a Russian oil and gas shipping company, has taken delivery of SCF Barents, a new 174,000-cbm LNG carrier.The vessel was delivered Monday and has already started its maiden voyage under a long-term time charter agreement with Shell.According to Sovcomflot, the LNG carrier was named after Willem Barents, a prominent Dutch navigator and explorer. The naming ceremony, held on September 10…
