More Shipowners Take the LNG Path to 2050

The outcome of MEPC 83 in April could establish the IMO’s mid-term GHG and carbon pricing strategy for achieving net-zero by around 2050. Not everyone is waiting; they have enough confidence in the LNG pathway to order new ships.According to the latest figures from DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform, 34 new orders for alternative-fueled vessels were placed in February 2025, 33 of them for LNG-fueled container ships.The trend is continuing this week with CSSC subsidiary…
MOL Becomes Member of International e-Methane Coalition

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has joined the e-NG Coalition, an international alliance that aims to accelerate the development and use of e-methane to accelerate the decarbonization of shipping industry.With the addition of MOL, the total number of participating companies of the e-NG alliance has increased to 20.Through its participation in the alliance, MOL will establish an international supply chain for next-generation fuels and accelerate its initiatives to reduce the environmental…
MOL’s LNG Carrier Newbuild on Charter with TotalEnergies Gets Its Name

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has named its newbuilding LNG carrier MOL Azure, set to sail for TotalEnergies under a time-charter contract.The MOL Azure vessel was ordered by a wholly owned subsidiary of MOL and is slated to sail under a time charter contract with TotalEnergies Gas & Power Limited (TGPL), a subsidiary of TotalEnergies.Upon delivery on January 14, the vessel will be the second LNG carrier to be chartered by TGPL under a time charter contract, and will depart for its…
NYK Signs MoU with Pertamina

NYK and PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS), a marine logistics subsidiary of PT Pertamina, a state-owned oil and gas company in Indonesia, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate in the field of liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) and LNG. They will also jointly establish a ship-management company.NYK and PIS have agreed to collaborate in obtaining business opportunities through assessments and feasibility studies for the transboundary transportation of LCO2 to and from Indonesia.
Venture Global LNG to Buy Fleet of LNG Vessels

Venture Global LNG said on Sunday it would acquire a fleet of nine liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport vessels, expanding its ability to sell and ship its own cargoes.Venture Global LNG has exported hundreds of cargoes since it started liquefying gas for export in 2022 from the first of its three planned facilities in Louisiana. The vessels it used were owned by other companies and leased.The nine vessels in Venture Global's future fleet will be built in South Korea with the first to be delivered later this year…
Marine Services Exec Chad Verret Starts New Consultancy

Chad Verret, a former executive in the offshore marine services business, has started a new marine consultancy called Verret Marine Consulting, LLC. The Louisiana-based company has offices in the Houston area and in Morgan City, La. and will be focused on areas such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, alternative fuels and marine based liquefaction projects.Verret got his start in the offshore industry nearly 40 years ago, signing on with Tidewater Marine as a deckhand in 1985…
Hyundai Samho Delivers Diamond Gas Victoria LNG Tanker

Japan's NYK Line said Wednesday it had, as part of Diamond LNG Shipping 6 consortium, taken delivery of the Diamond Gas Victoria LNG gas carrier.The LNG carrier will transport LNG from British Columbia for the LNG Canada project, as well as from other locations around the world, under a long-term time-charter contract with Diamond Gas International, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), which has a stake in the LNG Canada project.The vessel was built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and is owned by NYK, Asia LNG Transport Dua Sdn. Bhd.
TotalEnergies Buys Stake in Novatek's Arctic Transshipment

TotalEnergies has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Novatek to acquire 10% of Arctic Transshipment LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Novatek, which owns and will operate two liquefied natural gas (LNG) transshipment terminals being built in the Murmansk and Kamchatka regions of Russia.These terminals will provide export logistics services, including to the Arctic LNG 2 project under construction, and will each initially include a 360,000 m3 floating storage unit (FSU) and two ship-to-ship transfer kits (STS).
Shipbuilding: LNG Carrier Diamond Gas Crystal Delivered

On May 31, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Diamond Gas Crystal, was delivered, built to transport LNG from LNG Canada project in British Columbia, as well as from other locations around the world, under an 18-year time-charter contract with Diamond Gas International Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) who also has a stake in the LNG Canada project.The ship was built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and is owned by NYK, Asia LNG Transport Dua Sdn. Bhd. (ALT Dua), and MC through the joint venture Diamond LNG Shipping 5 Pte. Ltd.
Op/Ed: All Hands On Deck to Tackle Decarbonization Today

Without action from the shipping sector to decarbonize, the sector will be responsible for approximately 17% of global CO2 emissions by 2050. And given the scale of the change required, we must address this now. Across the industry, many are wrestling with what steps to take to drive their decarbonization journeys.Last year, Shell and Deloitte published a joint report, Decarbonizing Shipping: All Hands on Deck, assessing the key factors affecting decarbonization of the shipping sector.
Sovcomflot, Total Ink Timecharter Deal on LNG Transport

PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) and Total have concluded a time charter agreement for up to seven years for a newbuild 174,000-cubic-meter-capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, scheduled to be delivered Q3 2023 and to be owned and operated by SCF, with options for up to two additional vessels.The new vessel will be the latest in a series of SCF’s new-generation conventional Atlanticmax LNG carriers, with three sister ships already in operation: SCF La Perouse, SCF Barents and SCF Timmerman.The vessel will be fitted with an X-DF propulsion system…
US' First LNG ATB Ready for Service

Q-LNG Transport and Shell Trading (US) Company announced Wednesday that the first offshore liquified natural gas (LNG) bunkering articulated tug and barge (ATB) in the United States, the Q-LNG 4000 is ready for operations along the southeast U.S. coast.Built by Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Miss., the ATB is designed to provide ship-to-ship transfers of LNG to vessels utilizing LNG and ship-to-shore transfers to small scale marine distribution infrastructure.“Shell has an ambition to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner…
Marine News' Top Boats of 2020

This year, despite innumerable challenges and setbacks, a great number of new U.S.-flagged vessels made their way into service. In addition to Maid of the Mist's new electric tour boats James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla featured Wednesday, the newbuilds highlighted below are some of the most noteworthy to come out of U.S. shipyards in 2020.DredgerU.S. dredging contractors have been adding tonnage in a big way. This Spring, Callan Marine added a significant piece to the U.S. fleet with its new Jones Act cutterhead suction dredge (CSD) General MacArthur.
Great Ships of 2020: MOL Gas Agility, The world’s largest LNG Bunkering Vessel

Gas Agility is the world largest LNG bunkering vessel with 18,600 cu. m. MARKIII-flex type membrane tanks built at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. in China. The vessel is equipped with four sets of 8L20DF engines for electric propulsion and two sets of azimuth thrusters and a bow thruster for navigation. A Harmonized Control system for the thrusters is a key technlolgy for maneuvering safely and efficiently for berthing, unberthing, position-keeping and approach…
US Axes Environmental Reviews of LNG Marine Transport

The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday issued a rule to exclude environmental reviews for marine transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as the Trump administration unleashes last minute rules supporting the fossil fuel industry.The rule, which the Energy Department issued in a pre-publication notice in the Federal Register, frees LNG transport license applications from including environmental reviews that have been required under a bedrock environmental law, the National…
MOL Names New LNG Carrier LNG Megrez in China

A naming ceremony was held October 20 for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier jointly ordered by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited (China COSCO Shipping), at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd.
New IMO Rules Overshadow Hapag-Lloyd's Profit Outlook - CEO

Tougher rules on sulphur emissions from ships set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) from January burden the profit outlook for Germany's container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd this year after a good 2019, its chief executive said."This will make it difficult for us to achieve a better (2020) result," Rolf Habben Jansen told reporters in Hamburg in comments on the ban on ships using a sulphur content above 0.5% on risk of fines, which is shaking up oil and shipping.But with above-market growth rates in transport volumes in 2019…
Harvey CEO Acquires Harvey’s Interest in QLNG

Shane Guidry, CEO of Harvey Gulf International Marine, has announced he has purchased Harvey’s 30 percent ownership in Quality Liquefied Natural Gas Transport (QLNG). The CEO previously owned 70 percent of QLNG with Harvey and now controls 100 percent.In connection with the announcement, Mr. Guidry commented: “QLNG didn’t quite fit into Harvey’s core business and future. At Harvey, we are focused on growing globally, which we’ve done over the last 12 months. Today, we have vessels working in Mexico, Trinidad, Peru, Guyana, Suriname, USA and Nigeria.
MOL Indonesia Celebrate 25th Anniversary
Japanese shipping major Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) celebrated a major milestone-25 years since the launch of MOL business operations in Indonesia.The carriers of containerized and other cargo said in a press note that it has hosted a party in Jakarta for about 200 attendees, including customers to celebrate 25th anniversary. Among those on hand for the party were Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii, and representatives of MOL's business partners.MOL President & CEO Ikeda addressed the gathering, saying, "Indonesia is expected to show further economic growth on the back of its abundant energy resources; it is also a vast land to the world's fourth-largest population…
Green Light for Papua LNG JV
Canadian oil and gas company High Arctic Energy Services said that the Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has validated the Papua LNG Gas Agreement.According to a statement, the announced validation by the Petroleum Minister includes new good faith concessions offered by the operator for the Papua LNG joint venture. The concessions include preparing a detailed National Content Plan, third party pipeline access, possible state participation in pipeline ownership as well as LNG transport tankers.Mike Maguire, President -International, said “We are pleased to advise that our major subcontracts are with PNG companies and that more than…
NYK Signs LNG Vessel Order for Total TC
Japanese shipping gaint Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has signed a new long-term contract with Total Gas & Power Chartering Limited (TGPCL), a subsidiary of Total, a leading oil and energy company headquartered in France.The contract calls for TGPCL to charter from NYK a newly built liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier that will be built by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. in Korea and scheduled for delivery in 2021.The LNG carrier will be equipped with a WinGD-made dual-fuel slow-speed diesel engine (i.e., X-DF diesel engine) that has superior fuel-consumption efficiency and can operate on marine gas oil or boil-off gas stored in the cargo tank.The carrier will also feature a re-liquefaction system that can use surplus boil-off gas effectively.The cargo tank will be a 174…
US-flagged LNG Bunker Barge Launched

America’s first offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) barge has been launched for owner Q-LNG Transport, Mississippi shipbuilder VT Halter Marine announced on Wednesday.The Q-LNG 4000 barge, designed to carry 4,000 cubic meters of LNG, with dimensions of 324’ x 64’ x 32’.6”, will be operated as part of an articulated tug and barge (ATB) unit designed to meet the requirements of American Bureau of Shipbuilding (ABS) and the International Gas Carrier code as an LNG bunkering barge.Its tug, the Q-Ocean Services, is scheduled to launch late October.
KHI Delivers LNG carrier Marvel Pelican
Japanese public multinational corporation Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has delivered the Marvel Pelican, a 155,000 m3 capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport vessel for use by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).The second of Kawasaki's line of 155,000 m3 capacity LNG carriers to be commissioned, this ship is designed to enable passage through the newly expanded Panama Canal, which opened for full operations in 2016.The Marvel Pelican will be used by MOL primarily to transport LNG procured via the American Cameron LNG Project in the U.S. state of Louisiana.While preserving hull dimensions to enable docking at major LNG terminals around the world…