Baltic Index Marks Worst Day in Two Months
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Wednesday to mark its worst day in over two months, hurt by falling capesize rates.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was down 95 points, or 5.5%, at 1,637 points, its biggest percentage fall since July 23.The capesize index lost 264 points, or 8.6%, at 2,810 points, registering its worst day since July 22.Average dai
Norden Sells Product Tanker Nord Andes
Danish shipping company Norden said it has sold the 2011-built product tanker Nord Andes to an unnamed Asian buyer just 10 months after the vessel was acquired.The…
USA: Dominion Energy's 12MW Offshore Wind Farm Ready to Enter Service
Dominion Energy has said that its two-turbine, 12-megawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project, offshore Virginia Beach, successfully completed reliability testing and is ready to enter commercial service and deliver electricity to Virginia customers."This is a monumental day for the Commonwealth and the burgeoning offshore wind industry in America as CVOW is ready to deliver clean…
USS Mobile (LCS 26) Completes Acceptance Trials
The future USS Mobile (LCS 26) completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico on September 25, Mobile, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA announced. LCS 26 is the third Austal-built ship for the U.S. Navy to complete acceptance trials in 2020.“I am proud of how the Austal team has come together again, in the middle of this pandemic, only a week after a Cat 2 hurricane made landfall in our backyard, completing another major milestone for one of our Navy ships - especially one so near and dear to us…
Høglund Buys Majority Stake in Vindskip
Marine technology provider Høglund Marine Solutions announced it has taken a two-thirds stake in Vindskip AS, a company developing a wind- and liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered vessel concept.Vindskip (which translates to ‘wind ship’ in English) is a vessel design project for a car/truck carrier that combines wind and gas power to achieve the lowest possible emissions in its market segment.With a majority share in Vindskip AS…
China's Zhoushan Port Sees Marine Fuel Sales Rise
Sales of marine fuel from the Chinese port of Zhoushan, the country's top supplier of shipping fuel, in the first nine months of 2020 rose nearly 18% from a year earlier, a local government official said on Wednesday.Zhoushan supplied 3.26 million tonnes of bonded marine fuel from January to September, the official said, declining to be identified since he is not a spokesman.China aims to build Zhoushan, an archipelago city in east China's Zhejiang province, into a regional ship fuel hub to riva
ABB's Batteries for KNOT Shuttle Tankers
ABB has won a contract to equip KNOT's shuttle tankers with battery technology and other electric solutions, with the aim of making the vessels fuel-efficient and reducing emissions. Once complete, the shuttle tankers will go on a charter with Norwegian oil company Var Energi.Under the contract awarded by the South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, ABB Marine & Ports will…
Keppel Delivers Its First LNG Carrier Avenir Advantage
Keppel Offshore & Marine has delivered its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, Avenir Advantage, to Avenir LNG. The vessel also functions as an LNG bunkering vessel (LBV), making it the first in South East Asia to do so, Keppel said.Avenir Advantage is the first of two such vessels that Keppel O&M is building for Avenir LNG. The 7,500m3 LBV was built at Keppel Nantong Shipyard in China and is equipped with engines that can run on both diesel and LNG.
China Has Reportedly Banned Australian Coal Imports
Australia is investigating media reports that China has stopped taking its coal shipments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, adding that such import quotas to support China's market were "not uncommon".Trade industry reports late last week suggested that some Chinese ports had been told not to accept Australian thermal and metallurgical coal, and that Australian shipments were being sold…
Japan Says Chinese Vessels Sail Near Disputed Islands
Japan’s Coast Guard said on Sunday that two Chinese vessels entered what Japan considers its territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea.It marked the 21st time this year that Chinese boats have entered Japanese waters and the first since late August, a Japanese Coast Guard representative said.Japan’s government has complained of “relentless” intrusions in waters around the group of islets claimed by both nations.
Incomplete Safety Procedures Led to Barge Explosion -NTSB
Incomplete safety procedures led to a November 2019 barge explosion near Lemont, Ill., according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).The explosion occurred in the Illinois Marine Towing Heritage Slip on the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal when the barge IB1940 was being prepared for cleaning after its cargo of acetone had been unloaded . No injuries or pollution were reported in connection with the explosion.
China Asks Malaysia to Safeguard Detained Sailors' Rights
China’s foreign ministry said Monday the country had asked Malaysia to safeguard the rights of Chinese nationals it had detained for trespassing in its waters, and investigate the case according to the law.Malaysia’s maritime authorities said on Saturday they had detained 60 Chinese nationals and six Chinese-registered fishing vessels.Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily news briefing in Beijing that officials from China’s embassy in Malaysia have visited the sailors
KOTUG Anchor Handler Secures Offshore Work in Guyana
Dutch marine services and towage company KOTUG said it has been awarded a long-term contract by ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) to provide offshore terminal towage support for operations in Guyana.KOTUG, through local entity KOTUG Guyana Inc., will employ a high-spec 130 tonnes bollard pull, DP-2 azimuth anchor-handling tug SD Power to provide support to the existing and upcoming floating production…
Container Shortage Delays Shipments of Brazil's Record Coffee Crop
Coffee traders are struggling to ship cargos out of Brazilian ports because of a shortage of available containers or space in vessels to hold them, according to traders and analysts.Brazil's economy is suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic, causing a 40% slide in its currency, the real. That spurred a flood of exports of now-cheaper goods, but imports have dropped sharply, causing the imbalance in containers that has led to delays.That's a direct hit to Brazil…
Vigor Delivers Los Angeles' New Pilot Boats
The Los Angeles Pilot Service has taken delivery of two customized 56-foot Camarc Design pilot boats built by Vigor Industrial at its Vancouver, Wash. facility, located on the northern side of the Columbia River. The Angels Pilot and Angels Navigator were handed over to the LA Pilot Service at Vigor’s shipyard on Swan Island in Portland, Ore. in early October.Camarc designs are optimized to function in the most extreme climates in the world.
Video: World War II Bomb Explodes Underwater in Poland
The biggest World War Two bomb ever found in Poland exploded under water on Tuesday as navy divers tried to defuse it.More than 750 people had been evacuated from the area near the Piast Canal outside the town of Swinoujscie where the Tallboy bomb used by Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) was found. It weighed nearly 5,400 kg, including 2,400 kg of explosive.“The deflagration process turned into detonation.
Army Corps Assessing Louisiana Calcasieu Ship Channel After Delta
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Tuesday it has identified three obstructions from Hurricane Delta that have to be removed before it can reopen the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Louisiana to deep draft vessels.The Army Corps, however, said it needs more data before it can estimate how long it will take to dredge the channel.That channel allows tankers to access the Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant…
CMA CGM's New LNG Flagship Takes on Record Container Load
The world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered containership, CMA CGM Jacques Saade, has set a new world record for the most full containers loaded on a single vessel.On her Monday departure from Singapore, the CMA CGM Group’s new flagship was carrying a record 20,723 full containers, according to French shipping company CMA CGM.After joining CMA CGM’s fleet in September, the new record-breaking containership is now on her maiden voyage on the CMA CGM Group’s French Asia Line (FAL 1)…
US Shipyards See Big Business Shifts
The American shipbuilding scene, filled with participants constructing all manner of vessels, has been navigating through stormy times (lately, yards along the Gulf Coast have literally been dealing with storms). The orders for newbuild, repair and conversion projects continue to flow in—albeit at a reduced pace—and the boats and ships go down the ways into the water, but the overall panorama has seen…
New Self-unloading Bulker Delivered to Algoma
Canadian shipping company Algoma Central Corporation announced it has taken delivery of its second Equinox 650-foot Class self-unloading dry-bulk carrier, Algoma Intrepid.The new vessel, the ninth Equinox Class vessel to join the Algoma fleet, has begun her voyage across the Atlantic to Canada from the 3 Maj Shipyard in Croatia to Canada where she is expected to begin trading on the Great Lakes in November.Algoma Intrepid is the sister ship to the Algoma Innovator…
