Oil Tanker Catches Fire Off Northern Germany
An oil tanker caught fire off the Baltic Sea coast of northern Germany early on Friday, and all seven crew members on board at the time were taken ashore, maritime rescue services said in a statement.Three vessels have been deployed to the burning tanker Annika in the Mecklenburg Bay to extinguish the blaze, with several firefighting teams also en route to the site via helicopters, according to the statement.The Germany-flagged…
US Expands Sanctions to Iran's 'Ghost Fleet' of Oil Tankers
The United States expanded sanctions against Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors on Friday in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden said.The U.S. move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran's economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs."The…
Captain's Gender Had Nothing to Do With Sinking of New Zealand Naval Ship, Defense Minister Says
New Zealand's Defence Minister on Thursday publicly criticised online trolling of the female captain of a naval vessel that sunk at the weekend, saying while the cause of the incident was unknown, it had nothing to do with the captain’s gender.The Manawanui, the navy's specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, sank on Sunday on a reef off the coast of Samoa that it was surveying. Its 75 crew and passengers…
Russian Strikes on Ukraine's Ports Push Insurance Rates Up
A series of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian Black Sea port infrastructure and commercial vessels has led to a jump in insurance costs and forced some shipowners to cancel bookings, insurance sources and a broker said on Thursday.Russian ballistic missiles attacked the port infrastructure of Ukraine's southern Odesa region on Wednesday, becoming the third such attack in the past four days."Russia is deliberately intensifying its attacks on the port infrastructure of the Ukrainian south.
Drought Blocks Shipping in Northern Brazil Grains Corridor
Brazilian port terminal group Amport said on Thursday that grains transport through the Tapajos waterway has come to a halt as a severe drought hit northern Brazil and lowered the river's water levels.Tapajos, which links Brazil's central and north regions, is a key corridor to transport grains from agricultural heartlands in states, including Mato Grosso, Brazil's top soy producer, to ports in the Amazon region.Amport, which represents firms such as Cargill and Louis Dreyfus, told Reuters that
KPI OceanConnect targets more ports for marine biofuel sales
Marine fuel trading house KPI OceanConnect is looking to offer biofuel for bunkering at more ports, in view of higher demand as FuelEU regulations kick in next year, a senior executive said on the sidelines of SIBCON 2024 this week.The company is expanding its marine biofuel trade to 120 ports, up from about 70 ports previously, said Jesper Sorensen, global head of alternative fuels and carbon markets.The company has delivered more than 300 biofuel stems to over 80 clients to date…
Two More 'Project Blue' Vessels Under Construction for American Cruise Lines
American Cruise Lines announced the construction of American Maverick and American Ranger, the seventh and eighth vessels in the company’s Project Blue series of small ships for the U.S. market. Both vessels are slated to begin cruising in 2026, directly following the 2025 debuts of American Patriot, American Pioneer and new riverboat American Encore (2026).American’s Project Blue series began with four 100-passenger Coastal Cats introduced in 2023 and 2024.
Can a Cruise Vessel Really Be Zero Emission? Hurtigruten Says 'Yes'
Hurtigruten released updated plans for its Sea Zero project, a zero-emission ship scheduled to debut in 2030 which is now in its R&D phase. The ship, as designed today, will lean on large batteries, sails, and other solutions to sail emission-free during normal operation, while energy consumption could be reduced by 40-50%.Hurtigruten announced its Sea Zero project in October 2022, and unveiled its first set of renderings in summer 2023.
OMV Petrom Orders Field Support Vessel for Black Sea Gas Field
Romanian integrated energy company OMV Petrom has signed a shipbuilding contract with Green Yard Kleven for the construction of a Field Support Vessel that will operate for the Neptun Deep project.Neptun Deep is the largest natural gas project in the Romanian Black Sea and the first deepwater offshore project in Romania, under development, with expected contribution to the country’s security of energy supply.The assignment starts immediately…
EV Car Carrying Vessel sports AI-Powered Anomaly Detection
ClassNK granted its ‘AFVC(FD)(EV)’*1 notation to Positive Challenger, a car carrier operated by Eastern Car Liner Ltd., and managed by ECL Shipmanagement Limited, for vessels equipped with additional firefighting measures for transporting electric vehicles (EVs).Shipping companies are implementing various measures to address EV fires, which raise concerns due to difficulties in extinguishing and the risk of re-ignition.
French Look Into e-Methanol Produced from Green Hydrogen for Maritime Decarbonization
Green hydrogen producer Lhyfe and low-carbon molecules specialist Elyse Energy have set out plans to jointly develop the production of e-methanol from green hydrogen at Nantes Saint-Nazaire Port area in France.The project, known as Green Coast, will be developed the heart of the Loire estuary’s industrial and logistics port ecosystem, to produce e-methanol – one of the key fuels for the decarbonization of maritime transport industry.In late 2023…
Schottel to Propel World’s First Autonomous Electric Ferries
A series of four zero-emission and autonomous ferries, to be built by Turkish Tersan shipyard for Norwegian ferry operator Fjord1, will be propelled by Schottel’s EcoPellers.The double-ended vessels will be the first of their kind in the world, with Norwegian HAV Design tasked to deliver the ship design and an engineering package.Two electrically driven Schottel EcoPellers type SRE 340 will be installed…
New LNG Bunker Vessel for TotalEnergies LNG Bunkering Ops
TotalEnergies signed a charter contract with Spanish shipowner Ibaizabal for a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunker vessel of 18,600m3 capacity.This additional vessel might be deployed in Oman, where the company is developing the Marsa LNG project with the objective to provide LNG to the shipping sector in the Gulf.The vessel, owned by Ibaizabal, will supply LNG to a wide range of vessels (containerships…
AW Shipping Places $250M Order to Chinese Shipyard for Two New VLACs
AW Shipping, a joint venture between ADNOC L&S and Wanhua Chemical Group, has awarded contracts worth $250 million to China’s Jiangnan Shipyard for two additional Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs).The VLACs each have a carrying capacity of 93,000 cubic meters of ammonia, making them among the largest ammonia carriers in the world.Scheduled to be delivered between 2027 and 2028, the vessels will be…
