China Lands Uppercut on Iron Ore Prices, But No Knockout Blow
It's round one to China in its efforts to cool the red-hot iron ore and steel sectors, but victory in future rounds largely depends on making increasingly harder choices, and hoping factors beyond its control work in Beijing's favor.The catalyst for the chill was reports that China's government will strengthen what it termed the management of commodity supply and demand to curb "unreasonable" increases…
C&C Delivers New Towboat to Maritime Partners
Belle Chasse, La. shipyard C&C Marine and Repair, LLC said it has delivered Ned Brooks, the fourth in series of 15 towboats for Metairie, La.-based Maritime Partners, LLC.The 2,600-horsepowered, 84- by 34-foot towboat was designed by Entech Design, LLC, based in Kenner, La., with the 3D modeling and production drawings done by C&C Marine and Repair’s in-house engineering department. The design includes two Cummins QSK38-M1 main engines…
Baltic Dry Index Ticks Up
The Baltic exchange's main sea freight index rose on Monday, buoyed by an uptick in capesize vessel rates.The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels ferrying dry bulk commodities, rose 12 points, or 0.4%, to 2,881.The capesize index rose 28 points, or 0.7%, to 3,958.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes of coal and steel-making ingredient iron ore…
Court Allows Suez Canal to Keep Holding Ever Given
An Egyptian court on Sunday rejected a complaint by the Japanese owner of a container ship that blocked traffic in the Suez Canal for six days in March against the vessel's continued detention by canal authorities, a lawyer said.The Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, became jammed across the canal in high winds on March 23, halting traffic in both directions and disrupting global trade.The complaint was attached to a case at the economic court in Ismailia in which the Suez C
Shipowner Blames Suez Canal for Ever Given Grounding
The owner of a container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March says the canal authority was at fault over its grounding as it disputes the vessel's detention and a compensation claim, a lawyer representing the owner said on Saturday.The Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, became jammed across the canal in high winds on March 23, and remained grounded for six days, blocking traffic in both directions and disrupting global trade.The vessel has since been held in a lake betw
Sea Change: Global Freight Sails Out of the Digital Dark Ages
If suppliers in China fail to pick up freight containers to fill an order for MediaShop, Marcel Schneider gets an alert via a digital freight system, allowing the retailer to reach out and fix the problem swiftly.Before July 2020, Austria-based MediaShop’s deputy supply chain director says he would discover problems in his supply chain only when containers failed to arrive in Hamburg as scheduled.“It was like being in a tunnel where you had only a limited view of what was going on…
India: East Coast Ports Restrict Activities Ahead of Cyclone
Ports on India's eastern coast on Sunday restricted shipping activities and asked vessels to vacate anchorages ahead of a cyclonic storm expected to make landfall on Wednesday, port authorities and trade sources said.The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a "very severe cyclonic storm" would impact Indian states including Odisha and West Bengal, where key ports are located.Some regions are likely to receive heavy rainfall and wind speeds could reach 110 miles per hour…
Keppel Offshore & Marine Gets DNV AiP for AssetCare System
Keppel Offshore & Marine has received an Approval in Principle (AiP) from classification society DNV for its AssetCare system, a suite of digital services to support the lifecycle needs of offshore and marine assets.The two companies have been collaborating to develop digital transformation projects, aiming to improve the overall efficiency of the design and construction process, and of the asset lifecycle…
Nord Stream 2 Project: Russian Vessel Fortuna Starts Laying Pipes
Russian vessel Fortuna has started laying pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in German waters, the gas project said on Sunday, citing Germany's Waterway and Shipping Authority.Nord Stream 2…
Port of Tallinn Enacts New Rules for Hull Cleaning
Estonia's Port of Tallinn has implemented new rules requiring the collection of residue from underwater hull cleaning operations while in port.Ellen Kaasik, the port's environmental manager, said the measures are part of a major activity plan to decrease the environmental impact of the port and ships, and that the decision to collect all hull cleaning residue was made to help tackle eutrophication.Hull…
Stranded Grains Ships to Be Towed Free from Rosario
Seven grains ships stranded at Argentina's export hub of Rosario will be towed free and sent out to sea after they were loaded with more produce than could be carried on the port's increasingly shallow waters, local authorities said on Friday.Rosario traffic has been snarled in the aftermath of a 48-hour strike by tugboat captains and other workers managing the flow of agricultural cargo ships.Seven ships…
Biden's Infrastructure Proposal Trimmed to $1.7 Trillion
The White House said on Friday it had pared down its infrastructure bill to $1.7 trillion from $2.25 trillion, with cuts to investments in broadband as well as roads and bridges, in an effort to find common ground with Republican lawmakers.The effort represented a desire by President Joe Biden's team to engage with the opposition party on an issue that the Democratic president has made a priority in his early days in office.But the two sides still remained far apart…
Oil Jumps on Weather Concerns in Gulf of Mexico
Oil prices jumped 2% on Friday after three days of losses, driven higher as a storm formed in the Gulf of Mexico, but were on track for a weekly fall as investors braced for the return of Iranian crude supplies after officials said Iran and world powers made progress a nuclear deal.Brent crude futures rose $1.33, or 2%, to $66.36 a barrel by 1:06 p.m. ET (1606 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was at $63.54 a barrel…
MARAD to Provide $11.8 Million in Marine Highway Grants
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Friday announced the availability of $10,819,000 in grant funding for the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP), which aims to encourage the use of America’s 25,000 miles of navigable waterways."The America’s Marine Highway Program increases the use of environmentally sustainable practices to move freight across our transportation system.” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
Argentina's Key Grains Port Snarled After Strike Over Vaccine Access
Argentina's main grains port of Rosario was snarled on Friday in the aftermath of a 48-hour strike by tugboat captains and other workers managing the flow of agricultural cargo ships, who are demanding access to COVID-19 vaccines, port authorities said.Seven ships—six of them large Panamax vessels—that had been loaded with soy and other farm products were stranded at their docks, unable to embark due to the falling water level of the Parana River at Rosario…
New Vessel Shock Monitoring Systems Unveiled
Allsalt Maritime announced the launch of four new Kinetix models of shock monitoring systems, each designed to provide easily assimilated guidance for maritime professionals to operate safely within designated shock and vibration exposure limits, reducing the risk of damage to vessels or injury to occupants.High speed watercraft and their crews experience severe shock and vibration levels when operating at sea.
Sabrina Chao Named BIMCO President
Sabrina Chao has been named the 45th president of international shipping association BIMCO, taking over from Şadan Kaptanoğlu, managing director of Kaptanoglu Shipping, who has completed her two-year term.Chao has been in the shipping industry since 2001 and joined the family business Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings Limited in 2002. Chao held the position as chairman of the group from 2013 until August 2019 and from 2016…
NOAA Predicts Active Atlantic Hurricane Season
The U.S. government on Thursday forecast an above-normal 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, which is already off to an early start with a storm expected to form off Bermuda this week.The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast between three and five major hurricanes, with sustained winds of at least 111 miles per hour (178 kph), will form in 2021.Between six and 10 hurricanes with winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph) are expected out of 13-20 tropical storms in 2021…
Japan's New Missile-defense Ships Come With Hefty Price Tag
Japan's new Aegis missile-defense ships are expected to cost at least 900 billion yen ($8.27 billion), more than double the cost of two planned ground-based sites that the country canceled last year, the Asahi newspaper reported.Government ministers, who have yet to provide a cost estimate for the Aegis ships, may face questions in parliament about the expense, the newspaper said, without saying where it obtained the information.A source with knowledge of the ship proposal told Reuters in Octobe
Viking Supply Ships: Sluggish 1Q, Higher Activity Expected During Summer
Viking Supply Ships, a Swedish offshore vessel operator, said on Friday that activity in the offshore support vessel market remained sluggish in the first quarter of the year due to lower investment levels in the offshore oil and gas industry, as well as seasonally low demand. The company, however, expects higher activity and somewhat higher rates and utilization during the summer season, as well as…
