Job Role Redesign Aims to Attract Talent to Shipping
The Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) has launched a Maritime Workforce Transformation Guidebook which offers a practical approach for companies in the maritime sector to embark on job redesign to better attract talent to the industry.The Guidebook is distilled from key findings of a job redesign pilot conducted in 2022 by SMF in partnership with Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL) Pacific International Lines (PIL).
Texas A&M Takes Over MMA Training Ship
Texas A&M University at Galveston has taken over a new training ship, the TS Kennedy.The 540-foot vessel will enhance year-round training for Texas A&M Maritime Academy cadets in ship navigation and marine engineering systems, maintenance, safety and security.State maritime academy training ships are federally owned vessels operated by the six state maritime academies to serve cadet-training purposes. Successful legislative efforts in Washington, D.C.
Brazil Bans Live Animal Exports
Brazil has banned the export of live cattle from all its ports.Reuters reports that federal judge Djalma Gomes’s ruling states: "Animals are not things. They are sentient living beings, that is, individuals who feel hunger, thirst, pain, cold, anguish, fear."The verdict was handed down after the National Forum for the Protection and Defense of Animals filed a law suit in 2017.The case, still subject to appeal, comes as New Zealand also banned the export of cattle from its shores from April 30.
US Confiscates Iran Oil Cargo on Tanker Amid Tehran Tensions
The U.S. confiscated Iranian oil on a tanker at sea in recent days in a sanctions enforcement operation, three sources said, and days later Iran seized another oil-laden tanker in retaliation…
Baltic Dry Index Logs Third Straight Monthly Rise
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index slipped on Friday, but posted its third straight monthly gain, supported by increasing demand for the capesize vessel segment.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell 5 points to 1,576. The index was, however, up 13.5% for the month, as well as registered a weekly rise.The capesize index rose 25 points…
Alabama Shipyard Awarded MSC Overhaul Work
Mobile, Ala. based Alabama Shipyard has been awarded a contract for the dry docking of the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2).The $21,955,104‬ firm-fixed-price contract for the 123-calendar day shipyard availability includes a base period and options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $22,163,078‬.Work will begin June 15…
Commercial Ships Rescue Three from Burning Boat in the Caribbean
A pair of commercial ships on April 24 rescued three people from the water after their vessel went up in flames due to engine malfunction in the Caribbean.At 7:30 a.m., the officer on watch aboard the Danish-flagged chemical tanker Nordic Ann spotted a drifting boat on fire and immediately informed the ship's master. The tanker reduced speed and approached the scene to investigate the situation and found a small boat on fire and three persons in water.Meanwhile…
DSC Dredge Taps Dugan to Succeed Dolan as VP and CFO
Reserve, La. based DSC Dredge announced it has appointed Doy Dugan to succeed Kevin Dolan as vice president and chief financial officer.Dugan is a CPA with an MBA and brings to the role more than 30 years of global financial and operational experience working for both public and private companies. Most recently he served as CFO at Diversified Well Logging and prior to that, he held the CFO position at Advanced Drilling Solutions and Spartan Offshore.
US Calls on Iran to Release Tanker Seized in Gulf of Oman
Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in international waters on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, the latest in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in sensitive Gulf waters since 2019.Iran's army said it had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian boat, injuring several crewmen, Iranian state media…
ABS and Seatrium Advancing Digital Technologies for Shipyards
ABS and Seatrium are working together to advance smart digital technologies for shipyards, with a focus on boosting safety, productivity and efficiency.At Singapore Maritime Week, ABS launched detailed requirements to guide the industry in the application of smart technologies at shipyards and recognize Seatrium as the first shipyard group to deploy smart technologies in its operations, in line with…
Aluminum Marine Delivers Catamarn to Explore Group
Auckland-based tourism operator Explore Group expanded its fleet of passenger and tourism vessels late last year with the delivery of Tuhi Rapa, an Incat Crowther 29 design built by Australian shipyard Aluminium Marine. The vessel is designed to transport up to 300 passengers and has been plying the waters of Auckland Harbour and the Bay of Islands since its maiden voyage in late 2022.Designed to be…
Shots Fired in "Incident" Involving Vessel Off Yemen
Britain's Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Friday a vessel off Yemen's southern coast was involved in an "incident" with a government boat, downgrading the event from its initial assessment of an attack.The agency had previously said the vessel was under attack and that shots were fired, adding that three boats, each with three or four people aboard, were also sighted.UKMTO later said it had confirmed the event by authorities as government agency activity, terming the event incid
Global Freight Shows Signs of Bottoming Out
Global freight volumes fell at some of the fastest rates for three decades earlier this year, but at the end of the first quarter showed signs of bottoming out.Volumes were down by -2.1% between December and February compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis (“World trade monitor”, CPB, April 25).The rate of decline was in the 8th percentile for all overlapping three-month periods since 1992…
“Friendshoring” Impacts Container Shipping Trade Patterns
As geopolitical upheaval continues, Peter Sand, Chief Analyst, Xeneta, explores how global trade patterns have (and will) evolve.Geopolitical unrest could have dramatic and long-term impacts on global trade patterns for all goods and commodities, as political alliances are essentially being ripped up and rewritten. Spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, changing trade patterns are emerging in the container shipping sector…
Larry Rigdon Retires from Tidewater Board
U.S.-based Tidewater, one of the world's largest owners of offshore support vessels, announced Thursday that Larry T. Rigdon has chosen not to stand for reelection as non-executive chairman and will retire from the board at the company's annual stockholders meeting on June 26, 2023.Rigdon has served as a member of the company's board of directors since July 2017, and as non-executive chairman of the board since October 2019.Dick H.
ClassNK offers "Guidelines for Shipboard CO2 Capture and Storage Systems"
ClassNK released "Guidelines for Shipboard CO2 Capture and Storage Systems". The guidelines include provisions for indicating the classnotation for vessels equipped with CO2 capture and storage systems or designed as "ready" for their installation.In addition to fuel transition, interest in capturing CO2 from ships' exhaust gas is growing as a way to reduce GHG emissions, and the development of onboard systems for capturing and storing CO2 is being undertaken.
Senators Urge Biden to Enable Agency to Seize Tankers of Iran Oil
As Iran's oil exports rise despite U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program, senators from both parties urged President Joe Biden to enable a federal government agency to seize Iranian oil and gas shipments.Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in a letter to Biden that the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office has not been…
$56m Allocated to Refurbish Three British Research Ships
The National Oceanography Center (NOC) is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the scientific research ship RRS Discovery’s predecessor being designated as a Royal Research Ship (RRS), while the modern RRS Discovery becomes the first Research Vessel to be refitted at Babcock’s Rosyth facility, 35 miles away from the birthplace of the original vessel in Dundee.To mark this 100th anniversary, the current RRS Discovery will also join its ancestral inspiration…
Protecting Offshore Energy Sources via USV
When most people discuss energy sources such as fossil fuel and green energy, it is from an “either-or” perspective. Some favor the former while others advocate for the latter. However, what is often lost in the arguments on both sides is that regardless of the type of energy being extracted or generated, those platforms that are offshore, especially oil rigs, oil and gas pipelines, and wind farms…
Ship Insurers Warn of Russian Oil Price Cap Evasion, Risks of 'Dark Fleet'
A rise in spot prices for Russian crude oil to above the $60 per barrel cap imposed by western powers has made ship insurers even more nervous of running foul of the rules as they are unable to independently track the value of cargoes, executives said.To curb Moscow's oil revenues following the Ukraine war, the Group of Seven Nations, the European Union and Australia imposed price caps on Russian crude and oil products from December and February…
