Vessles News

Seatronx announced the launch of the Seatronx Digital Matrix Switching Command Control system (SCC).The Seatronx SCC takes bridge control to a new level. The system not only allows operators to control individual or multiple displays including power on/off, input selection, brightening, dimming and night mode view, it is also fully customizable with optional modules for added functionality. These accessory modules let users incorporate KVM mouse, keyboard and touchscreen switching…

The US Coast Guard ( USCG ) and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) christened the future USCGC Stone, the ninth Legend-class national security cutter (NSC), at Ingalls Shipbuilding’s facilities on Saturday, February 29.The ship honors Coast Guard officer Cmdr. Elmer “Archie” Fowler Stone, who made history in 1919 for being one of the two Coast Guard pilots to successfully make the first transatlantic flight in a Navy seaplane. Stone’s great niece, Laura Cavallo, officially christened the ship.“The success of the National Security Cutter program is a direct reflection of our strong partnership with the Coast Guard and the dedication and capability of a team of Ingalls shipbuilders that continues to successfully deliver some of the most challenging manufacturing projects in the world…

German shipyard Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) shipyard will not build TT-Line Company Pty Ltd's new Spirit of Tasmania vessels.The Australian shipping company TT-Line cancelled the order at FSG for the construction of two ferries, said a statement from the shipyard.The cancellation of the orders 778 and 779 for TT-Line is by mutual agreement after constructive and objective discussions between the management and owners of FSG and the management of TT-Line.Alex Gregg-Smith, Managing Director of FSG said, “This decision has been taken with the mutual consent of all parties concerned and is part of our reorientation of FSG as we focus on building high-quality products on time and on budget.”

The international ship-owning company Top Ships announced that its 50% subsidiaries which own M/T Holmby Hills and M/T Palm Springs entered into agreements to sell both vessels to unaffiliated third parties.According to the owner and operator of modern, fuel efficient "ECO" tanker vessels, the vessel sales are subject to customary closing conditions and are anticipated to be concluded during March 2020.The two MR2 tankers are owned by Evangelos Pistiolis-led Top Ships  in a 50-50 joint venture with Gunvor’s Clearlake Shipping.Depending on when the closing of the sales take place and on prevailing USD Swap rates at the time of closing…

Global shipping holds its breath as the coronavirus continues to spread and generates massive economic and financial uncertainty.Two weeks ago, BIMCO argued that – from an economic perspective - when China sneezes, we all catch the flu. Since the SARS outbreak in 2003, the global economy has become much more interlinked with China and the Chinese economy has grown to become the second largest in the world.While hard facts and reliable data are in high demand, they are in short supply, nevertheless it’s time for a more thorough diagnosis on how this affects the global shipping industry.The coronavirus outbreak coincided with the Lunar New Year, which led to nation-wide extensions of the holiday. However, even with the passing of the holiday extensions, large parts of China remain closed.

Malaysian national oil company Petronas’ subsidiary Petronas LNG Ltd recently signed a 12-year time charter party (TCP)  with a Japanese shipowner Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (“K” Line) for two midsized new build LNG vessels.According to the statement, the TCP includes an extension option for an additional 12 years. The LNG vessels had about 79,960 cubic metres each in capacity.Petronas said this was in line with the signing of the shipbuilding agreements between ‘K’ Line and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co Ltd for the construction of the vessels in Shanghai, China.Petronas executive vice president and CEO of gas and new energy, Adnan Zainal Abidin said the procurement and chartering of these vessels were concluded within four months…

Performance Shipping announced that it has signed, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, a Memorandum of Agreement to purchase a 2007 built Aframax tanker vessel, the M/T FSL Shanghai, from an unaffiliated third party seller for a total purchase price of US$26.0 million.According to a press release from the global shipping company specializing in the ownership of vessels, the vessel is expected to be delivered to the Company by the end of March 2020.Andreas Michalopoulos, the Company’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, said: “We are very pleased with this acquisition, which brings us one step closer to the creation of the only publicly listed pure-play Aframax company.

APM Terminals said that its new deep-sea container terminal, Vado Gateway terminal, located in Vado Ligure, Italy, received its first commercial service on 11 February 2020.The ship, M/V Maersk Kota, was the first of seven ships from Maersk’s weekly ME2 service, connecting the Mediterranean with the Middle East and India.According to a company release, the call by M/V Maersk Kota marked the start of operations for the new deep-sea Vado Gateway container terminal in northern Italy.With a total investment of 450 million euros, it is one the most important port infrastructures to be built in Italy in recent decades.Managed by APM Terminals Vado Ligure…

Norwegian ferry operator Brevik Fergeselskap has ordered a new electric passenger/ vehicle double-ender ferry from Holland Shipyards in Hardingxveld-Giessendam.The keel laying ceremony of the electric ferry has taken place on Wednesday February 12, 2020 at Holland Shipyards Group.The event was attended by both the board of Brevik Fergeselskap and Holland Shipyards Group. Mr. Bjørge Fredheim from Brevik Fergeselskap had the honor of welding a part of the section.After a joint engineering process, the ceremony signifies the start of the actual building phase of the project.The vessel, the first fully electric ferry for Brevik Fergeselskap, will operate within the waters of Eidangerfjorden. The ferry service connects Brevik with Sandøya and Bjørkøya.

Belgium's tanker shipping company Euronav NV has entered into an agreement for the acquisition through resale of three very large crude carrier (VLCC) newbuilds.The three VLCCs are currently completing construction at the DSME shipyard in South Korea and are being acquired for an aggregate purchase price of USD 280.5 million or USD 93.5 million per unit.All three vessels will be fitted with Exhaust Gas Scrubber technology and Ballast Water Treatment System.The vessels are due to be delivered early in the fourth quarter 2020 and in January and February 2021 respectively and will therefore have exposure to the key winter freight markets in 2020/2021.Hugo De Stoop…

Chinese state-owned shipping company COSCO Shipping Lines, Hong Kong container shipping company Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), Japanese/Singapore container shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Taiwanese ocean shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation are to launch a new weekly Transatlantic service, East Mediterranean - America Service (EMA).The first commencing voyage is scheduled to operate on April, 2020, subject to Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) filing.The EMA service, jointly operated by the four lines, will consist of six Panamax vessels. The port rotation for the weekly service is Mersin - Haifa - Alexandria - Istanbul - Piraeus - Genoa - Algeciras - New York - Norfolk - Savannah - Algeciras - Mersin.EMA…

The consortium consisting of Fincantieri, through its subsidiary Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), and Lockheed Martin Corporation has delivered the future littoral combat ship USS St. Louis, LCS 19, to the Navy.St. Louis is the 10th Freedom-class ship, and the 19th littoral combat ship of 34 planned by the Navy. Independence-class LCS vessels are also underway.The Fincantieri and Lockheed Martin team is currently in full-rate production and has delivered ten ships to the U.S. Navy to date. There are currently six ships in various stages of construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine.The construction contract for the LCS Program Freedom-variant was awarded to FMM in 2010…

Hong Kong authorities quarantined a cruise ship for a second day on Thursday as they checked thousands of passengers and crew for the new coronavirus, forbidding anyone from disembarking to prevent further spreading of the epidemic.Authorities said 33 crew members on the World Dream had developed respiratory tract infection symptoms and three had been sent to a hospital for isolation and management after developing fevers.All but one of the 33 tested negative for the disease, with the remaining test pending, the city's health department said in a statement late on Wednesday.It was not clear how long the 1,800 passengers and a similar number of staff would remain on board for.The cruise ship…

Diana Shipping announced that it has signed, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, a Memorandum of Agreement to sell to an unaffiliated third party, the 2002-built vessel “Norfolk”.The delivery to the buyer is scheduled for latest by February 25, 2020, said a press note from the global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels. The sale price of its first capesize is US$9.35 million before commissions.Upon completion of the aforementioned sale and the previously announced sale of a Panamax dry bulk vessel, the m/v Calipso, Diana Shipping Inc.’s fleet will consist of 40 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 13 Capesize…

FESCO Transportation Group, the largest intermodal transport operator in Russia,  has performed relocation of four Liebherr rubber tyred gantry (RTG) cranes from Petrolesport (part of Global Ports Group) in St. Petersburg to Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (part of Global Ports Group) in Vrangel (Primorsky Krai)."To ensure minimum transit time, the transportation of RTG cranes was carried out along the Northern Sea Route. The sea passage took 28 days, while transit time on the route through the Suez Canal would take about 52 days," said a press release.Transportation was made by vessel Nordic Svalbard, equipped with heavy-lift cranes.

The German shipping company United Heavy Lift (UHL)  Hamburg has taken over a modern Heavy Lift fleet of nine eco-friendly F900 newbuildings.The vessels each have a cargo capacity of 14,100 dead-weight tonnes and are capable of lifting loads of up to 900 tonnes. Being built in 2018 and 2019, most of the nine vessels have only just hit the water. They are sailing under the Portuguese flag.“Our mission is to expand our company’s position as front-runners for an eco-friendly Heavy Lift shipping industry. The fleet of nine newbuilding F900 vessels is a perfect match for our sustainability policy. Reducing the overall carbon footprint of our fleet while expanding the number of our vessel available to our customers, is our goal.

The FSUE “Rosmorport” icebreaker fleet provides continual navigation in several freezing Russian seaports.The icebreakers of the Arkhangelsk Branch, including the Captain Yevdokimov, the Captain Kosolapov and the Captain Chadaev, provide support for vessels in the seaport of Arkhangelsk.The icebreakers have provided support for 53 vessels since November 26, 2019. The icebreakers – the Tor and the Moskva provided support for 56 vessels in the seaport of Sabetta near the Utrenniy terminal.Since November 26 under control of the linear icebreakers – the Captain Demidov and the Captain Moshkin, the port’s towboat the Kama icebreaker of the Azov Basin Branch support has been provided for 274 vessels in the seaports of Taganrog…

Geneva-based global cruise line MSC Cruises has signed a contract with the French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique to build the third and fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered MSC World Class ships.The two parties announced that a firm contract has been signed for the construction of two additional MSC World Class ships worth over 2 billion euros scheduled for delivery in 2025 and 2027.In 2017, Chantiers de l’Atlantique (previously STX France) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MSC Cruises for the construction of two cruise ships. The deal included options for two additional vessels.The first of the initial two ships in the class is currently under construction at Chantiers’ shipyard in Saint-Nazaire and is due to enter service in 2022.With 205…

Japanese shipbuilder Kawasaki Heavy Industries  (KHI) has delivered the bulk carrier FJ Viola, with a capacity of 61,000 DWT, for F.J.Lines Inc. at the Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (DACKS).DACKS is located in Dalian City, China and operated jointly with China Cosco Shipping Corporation Limited.According to a press release from KHI, The vessel has a flush deck with a forecastle and five holds that are designed for optimum transport of grains, coal, ores and steel products.Four 30-ton deck cranes are installed along the center in between the hatch covers to enable cargo loading and unloading in ports that lack cargo handling facilities.The vessel employs various technologies to achieve maximum fuel economy…

The members of THE Alliance, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, and Yang Ming have welcomed Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) as a new core member of THE Alliance.With the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) acceptance of HMM membership, THE Alliance offers an attractive upgraded product package and it will be launched around April 1st, 2020.Based on the existing comprehensive network of THE Alliance, the newly en-hanced product package will offer increasing frequency particularly from South East Asia, as well as new direct port coverage and improved transit times.Now that HMM joined The Alliance, its new offering for 2020 will consist of 33 services, 280 ships and a coverage of 78 ports globally.

Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has delivered the Phoenix Gaia, an 82,200 m3 capacity liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier, for Phoenix Tankers Pte. Ltd.According to a press note from the shipbuilder, Phoenix Gaia is the 60th LPG carrier and the 11th vessel of the same type to be built by the company.This vessel adopts Kawasaki's indegenously developed bow shape called SEA-Arrow, which significantly improves propulsion performance by minimizing bow wave resistance.The release said that the main engine powering the vessel is an energy-efficient, electronically-controlled, ultra-long-stroke, two-stroke low-speed diesel engine.In addition…

Dubai-based ship owner and operator Tomini Shipping has boosted its shipping fleet with the delivery and naming of three ultramax carriers.Three vessels named Tomini Entity (63,500 DWT), Tomini Felicity (63,300 DWT) and Tomini Tenacity (63,601 DWT) were delivered on 7 January 2020.According to the company statement, the naming ceremony was held at the COSCO Shipping Ltd, Hudong Shipyard, Shanghai, China. Shoaib Seedat, Head of New Buildings and Pradeep Bajpai, Head of Fleet Management attended from Tomini Shipping together with representatives of the builder and seller, it said.Tomini’s newbuilding program seeks to replenish the fleet with modern…

Norway-based provider of shortsea RoRo transportation United European Car Carriers (UECC)  held a steel cutting ceremony for its first newbuild pure car truck carrier (PCTC) on order with China Ship Building Trading and Jiangnan Shipyard Group.Representatives from UECC, NYK, Japan Marine Science, MUFG Bank, DNV-GL, SDARI, CSSC and CSTC gathered at the Jiangnan Shipyard in in Shanghai on the 8th of January 2020 to witness and celebrate the steel cutting ceremony for UECC’s first Battery Hybrid LNG Powered PCTC.Earlier, UECC, jointly owned by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and Wallenius Lines, has signed a contract to construct three new generation PCTC with China Ship Building Trading Co., Ltd and Jiangnan Shipyard Group Co.