Bangladesh News

Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, part of technology group Wärtsilä, will supply the complete cargo handling system for a new fully pressurized LPG Carrier being built for Meghna Fresh LPG, part of the Bangladeshi Meghna Group of Industries.The group is one of the Bangladesh’s largest industrial conglomerates, and in addition to being the owner of the new ship, it also owns the shipyard where the vessel is constructed and is the owner of the energy industries that the vessel will serve.The Wärtsilä scope for the complete cargo handling system covers three main parts - the engineering scope…

Concerns that Europe is facing a natural gas supply crunch this winter are overblown, with the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market already stepping up to avoid any shortfall, albeit at higher prices.European natural gas prices climbed to the highest level in two years last week, with the benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub reaching 49.03 euros per megawatt hour on Nov. 22, equivalent to $14.97 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).Prices have rallied about 40% since mid-September amid fears that the remaining Russian pipeline supplies to Europe will be halted…

As global ship recycling markets head into the final month of the year on a comparatively firmer footing and a 2024 full of minimal sales and activity wraps up, cash buyer GMS says that noteworthy declines in prices have seen nearly USD 150/LDT wiped from sub-continent ship recycling levels.“Q1 2025 doesn’t seem as though it is ready to greet the ship recycling industry with its customary January / Q1 vigor,” says GMS. “In fact, if things continue the way they are with the Nuclear Clock ticking ever closer to midnight…

At least five cargoes of LNG have diverted from Asia to Europe in the past few days, drawn by higher gas prices on the continent after Russia's Gazprom halted supplies to Austria's OMV, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.On Saturday Gazprom halted supplies to top Austrian gas importer OMV after OMV threatened to impound some of the Russian state firm's gas as compensation for an arbitration it had won over a contractual dispute.Gazprom notified OMV of the planned halt on Friday…

As the effects of Donald Trump’s victory continues to reverberate globally, the U.S. economy continues to strengthen on the news that the country is opening up offshore drilling in order to further reduce American dependence on foreign oil, reports cash buyer GMS.“As the U.S. economy continues to strengthen and the U.S. Dollar firms against nearly all recycling destination currencies (including China, where Chinese stocks recorded rallies this week), local steel plate falls from…

BIMCO has launched a Ship Recycling Alliance to help accelerate safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. The alliance will co-ordinate the voices of the ship recycling industry and the shipping industry and help facilitate the global implementation of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC).The HKC will enter into force in June 2025. This comes at a time when more than 15,000 ships are estimated to be recycled over the next 10 years and the need for compliant yards from main recycling states such as India…

This week has seen about USD 10/LDT gained across the board in ship recycling markets, says cash buyer GMS, and Bangladesh has leapfrogged India for pole position including the purchases of two Panamax bulk carriers in the USD 470s/LDT.“Although the general feeling is that sub-continent ship recycling markets have likely bottomed out, there remains cautious optimism within the community as we head towards 2025. We aren’t suggesting that markets will hit or even exceed the ever-coveted USD 500/LDT mark before Q1 2025.

As oil and even the overall Baltic Exchange’s main sea index fell further this week (about 1.6%), the increasing supply in tonnage is regrettably being met by further disappointment as ship recycling prices fell across the board and have remained subdued through the week, reports cash buyer GMS.Any sales that are being concluded are at numbers now dropping towards the mid USD 400s/LDT, with some facing even lower indications due to their poorer overall condition. Post-monsoon…

There seems to be positivity in the ship recycling market as the Baltic Index’s main Sea Freight Index fell for its ninth consecutive week this week, dropping to its lowest levels of the year, reports cash buyer GMS.“In essence, this decline especially affects older trading fleets, which in turn has seen all recycling markets register imports at their respective waterfronts this week, including a welcome return from Pakistan to the fray,” says GMS. “Fundamentals, though, continue…

Weak pricing, damp demand, and dithered sentiments characterized another lackluster week in the ship recycling industry on the Indian sub-continent, reports cash buyer GMS.Sales ground to a virtual halt this week with activity registering at some of the lowest levels witnessed for nearly a decade.As levels declined by over USD 100/LDT since the peaks of 2024, a majority of the marginal sales are reliably taking place below USD 500/LDT on nearly all vessels and into all markets.Bangladesh…

A ship carrying the first group of migrants to be processed in Albania under a deal with Italy arrived in the port of Shengjin on Wednesday morning, setting in motion the first scheme by a European Union state to divert asylum seekers abroad.Italy has built two reception centres in Albania under its controversial programme, which aims to deter irregular arrivals to Italy but has been criticised by rights groups who say it restricts migrants' right to asylum.The Libra, an Italian navy ship, docked at Shengjin, Reuters footage showed.

Cash buyer GMS reports an eerie calm has descended across tense global economies, including the destitute ship recycling sector.It’s been some time since a regular supply of a decent variety of vessels has been regularly available (likely the worst in a decade), says GMS. Levels have declined by over USD 100/LDT since the peaks of early 2024 and offerings continually retreat, firmly relegating all vessels below the commensurate USD 500/LDT mark.Geopolitical events have been to blame for much of the trauma across the ship recycling markets this year.

For the second running week and on the back of firming Chinese plate prices last week, ship recycling markets felt some positive moves as local plate prices remain on a positive to firm footing across the board, reports cash buyer GMS.However, increasing magnification into local markets proved to be a reality check, says GMS, due to the ongoing lack of tonnage that has been typical of this “dark year” in ship recycling.“After the U.S. Fed rate cut of 0.5% on interest rates a couple of weeks back and global currencies took a moment to adjust…

Cash buyer GMS has seen some positive movement in the sub-continent ship recycling market. “While we do not expect tonnage to come flowing into the markets anytime soon, nor do we expect ship recycling prices to go skywards within this time frame, the ship recycling industry did see some positive movements with improving indications breaking cover from India and even Bangladesh this week.”Several bulker and container ship sales were made as the market firmed.

Cash buyer GMS cites the dangerous situations unfolding across the Middle East, Ukraine and South China Sea, when saying that politics, war, and ensuing global financial instability, means that ship recycling markets continue to endure profound challenges as the industry heads towards Q4 2024.“On the financial side, we witnessed a seesawing of fundamentals as on the one hand, likely on the back of news that the U.S. Feds are revising another reduction in interest rates, the U.S.

Esgian provides an update on new contract awards for floating rigs in its Week 37 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsTransocean Ltd. has secured a 365-day contract for the 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Atlas with bp in the US GOM.Norwegian operator Aker BP has extended the contract for Saipem’s 10,000-ft semisub Scarabeo 8 in Norway.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesEquinor has found hydrocarbons at the Sitka C-02 exploration well in the Flemish Pass area offshore Newfoundland & Labrador…

The ship recycling market has so far been subdued in September, as expected, reports cash buyer GMS.Macro factors affecting the market include the situation in the Middle East, Houthi attacks on passing vessels and tensions caused by the repositioning of navies in response to ISIS fighters targeting U.S. bases.“The start of September saw the industry still witness the inescapable decline that is India’s ship recycling sector today, one that continues to show no signs of it slowing since early June,” says GMS.

Shipowners and cash buyers continue to struggle with the ongoing tonnage shortage as sub-continent ship recycling markets continue down their current trajectory, says cash buyer GMS.Negativity is permeating across the industry on the back of a short supply of vessels and global economies that remain shaky.

This year’s multilateral Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) exercise, an annual event conducted by the United States Navy which took place from August 12 to 23, 2024, focused on strengthening regional responses to maritime security threats.The participants were Australia, Bangladesh, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Maldives, New Zealand, Palau, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.This year’s SEACAT included a five-day shore-based program featuring a Senior Leaders’ Forum…

Freight sectors are performing unseasonably and unrelentingly well amidst all the unfolding crises that are still choking global ship recycling nations out of life-sustaining tonnage, reports cash buyer GMS.This includes potential attacks against Israel and brewing news of President Putin possibly being removed due to Ukraine’s successful invasion of “Mother Russia.”“Consequently, we continue to see world economies trudge silently up this unnecessary hill of economic instability that started with a massive backlog in global trade and drove inflation up since the onset of Covid-19…

Bangladesh's Summit LNG expects to complete repositioning and reconnecting work on its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) by August-end, it said, assuming favourable weather and sea conditions.Ship-to-ship transfer operations at its FSRU, which acts as a floating LNG import terminal, are expected to be ready in September, the company added.Summit LNG had paused operations on the FSRU after it was damaged by a steel structure when Cyclone Remal lashed Bangladesh in May…

The Middle East and global ship recycling markets need a serious push on the pause button, says cash buyer GMS, as this week the world has seen:• increasing security bulletins surrounding an imminent Iranian / Hezbollah threat against Israel,• the U.S. repositioning two aircraft carrier / destroyer fleets off the Gulf of Oman & Eastern Mediterranean leaving the entire region on high alert,• PM Sheikh Hassina abruptly resign as Prime Minister of Bangladesh and fled to India in a government helicopter…

Iran has sent small shipments of crude oil to new destinations such as Bangladesh and Oman, according to shipping sources and data, the latest sign of Tehran pushing to sustain output at close to its highest in five years.Oil sales are Iran's major revenue source and the country has been looking for ways to sidestep U.S. sanctions on its crude exports that former president Donald Trump re-imposed in 2018 over Tehran's nuclear program.Iran, which is exempt from output quotas set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)…