Through Transportation News

In the first quarter of the year, AS Tallink Grupp transported 970,359 passengers, which is 12% less than in the same period last year. There was also a decline in cargo and passenger vehicle transport volumes, as economic uncertainty persisted across the region and part of the fleet was either idle or undergoing extended dry-docking.“In addition to the usual seasonality, the first-quarter passenger numbers reflect the state of the economies in our core markets. Consumer confidence remains low," said Paavo Nõgene, CEO of AS Tallink Grupp. "Four vessels were out of service, and large-scale dry-docking had an impact on passenger numbers.

U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff plan has the ocean shipping industry on edge as he stokes a trade war destined to stanch transport demand and send companies scrambling to manage the fallout.The Trump administration on Wednesday is set to announce "reciprocal tariffs" targeting nations that have duties on U.S. goods. That move would come after it slapped new import levies on products from Mexico, China and Canada - the top U.S. trading partners - as well as on goods including steel and autos.Major global container shipping firms like MSC…

MPC Container Ships (MPCC), in partnership with North Sea Container Line (NCL) and Elkem, have christened the NCL VESTLAND, the first of two dual-fuel 1,300 TEU newbuildings to be delivered in 2025The ceremony marks the start of the vessel’s service between Western, Central and Northern Norway and Rotterdam.The container feeder vessel is the first of two MPCC dual-fuel 1,300 TEU newbuildings to be delivered in 2025, and is also the first dual-fuel vessel in the MPCC fleet which enables operation on methanol.The vessels come with 15-year time charters to NCL…

The University of Osaka, in collaboration with Imabari Shipbuilding, Japan Marine United Corporation, ClassNK and MTI will establish the Open Collaboration Laboratory for Enabling Advanced Marine Systems (OCEANS) at the University of Osaka in April 2025.Nihon Shipyard (NYS), a sales and design company owned by Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU), will also participate in the design and engineering research activities led by OCEANS.The initiative aims to promote the global competitiveness of Japan’s maritime industry.In an era of unprecedented change…

The Global Maritime Forum has launched the Sustainable Crewing Guidelines, nine recommendations to improve life at sea.The guidelines aim to boost working conditions and alleviate the forecasted shortfall of 90,000 trained seafarers by 2026 – a major risk to global supply chains and safety at sea.Co-developed by the Global Maritime Forum’s All Aboard Alliance with a consortium of 12 major shipping companies based on feedback from over 400 seafarers, the guidelines are the culmination…

Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV) has awarded Approval in Principle (AiP) to the Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC) for its new 155,000m³ Ultra Large Ethane Carrier (ULEC) design.The vessel, measuring approximately 274 meters in length and 42 meters in breadth, is designed as a single-propeller liquefied ethane carrier powered by a MAN ME-GIE ethane dual-fuel main engine, supporting worldwide ethane transportation. The design is compatible with both Type B cargo tanks and GTT Mark III membrane tanks…

Taiwanese shipping firm Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp has purchased three 8,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel-ready container ships from Japanese ship leasing company Shoei Kisen Kaisha.The vessels, being built by Imabari Shipbuilding, are scheduled for delivery between 2028 and 2029.Yang Ming said the acquisition will strengthen its global service network and reinforce its commitment to providing customers with reliable and sustainable transportation service.To support business growth and maintain core competitiveness…

Russia's leading tanker group Sovcomflot's saw transportation volumes drop around 16% to 63 million metric tons last year compared to 2023, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Friday, citing the group's CEO Igor Tonkovidov as saying.The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on state-controlled Sovcomflot and its fleet in 2024 in an effort to reduce Russia's revenue from oil sales that it can use to finance its war in Ukraine. The company's net profit dropped by 55% to $424 million last year.Sovcomflot hopes that the transportation volume of oil…

Evac Group, a leader in sustainability technologies and solutions, has launched Dehydro, an onboard waste management system designed to meet the specific needs of smaller vessels. Traditional onboard waste systems typically require high volumes of wet waste to be cost-effective, which makes them impractical for smaller vessels. The Dehydro system, using dehydration technology, makes onboard waste treatment viable for smaller ships, reducing the need for overboard discharge or costly offloading to land-based facilities.

The International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO) has renewed its call for straightforward and practical mid-term measures as the IMO's climate negotiations enter the next phase. With ISWG-GHG-19 and MEPC 83 in the coming weeks, where key decisions on implementing the IMO's GHG strategy are expected, INTERCARGO emphasizes that clarity and simplicity must remain central to any framework adopted.INTERCARGO cautions against overly complicated mechanisms and believes that key priorities for the upcoming negotiations should be simplicity…

Fossil fuel and agriculture industry executives on Wednesday criticized a plan by President Donald Trump's administration for big fees on China-linked ships entering U.S. ports, arguing at a hearing in Washington that the move would hobble their ability to export everything from coal to soybeans.The proposed fees on China-built vessels could top $3 million per U.S. port call.The administration says the fees would curb China's commercial and military dominance on the high seas and promote a U.S.

Dinnteco America, aleader in lightning protection technology, announced today its latest solution for the marine, military, energy and transportation industries – the Electromagnetic Charge Compensation Device (DDCE).The DDCE is designed to prevent direct lightning strikes by gathering positive charges from its immediate environment, while also gathering negative charges from the clouds and air. The combined charges are then neutralized within the DDCE. By continuously repeating…

Dinnteco America, leader in lightning protection technology, announced its latest solution for the marine, military, energy and transportation industries—the Electromagnetic Charge Compensation Device (DDCE).The DDCE is designed to prevent direct lightning strikes by gathering positive charges from its immediate environment, while also gathering negative charges from the clouds and air. The combined charges are then neutralized within the DDCE. By continuously repeating this procedure…

Fossil fuel and agriculture industry representatives are expected to criticize the Trump administration's plan to impose big fees on China-linked ships entering U.S. ports during a hearing in Washington on Wednesday, arguing the move would hobble their ability to export everything from coal to soybeans.At issue are proposed fees on China-built vessels that could top $3 million per U.S. port call.The Trump administration says the fees would curb China's commercial and military dominance on the high seas and promote a revival in U.S. shipbuilding, but numerous other U.S.

With your first steps as a cadet onto the Maritime Academy campus, your first union dues payment or first line thrown ashore from the tug, you are lectured on the importance of the “Jones Act”. A constant reminder throughout a US Seafarer’s career of commitment, loyalty and support for the legislation. All in the name of National Security, US Job protection and the advancement of the US Flag Merchant Marine. It is a massive and expensive lobbying effort witnessed throughout generations at sea. The effort has been historically successful.

We are at the one-year since the Francis Scott Key (FSK) Bridge collapsed over the Patapsco River’s Fort McHenry Channel in Baltimore, Maryland. Nearly 100 percent of the wreckage and debris removal was conducted by the Jones Act private sector U.S. maritime industry. The FSK collapsed at about 1:28 a.m. local time on March 26, 2025 after the container ship MV DALI lost power and collided with one of bridge’s support piers. Six construction workers died in the collapse, while two other workers survived the fall into the freezing water.

A Trump administration proposal aimed at reviving the U.S. shipbuilding industry may backfire by imposing steep fees on China-linked vessels—penalties that industry leaders say would hurt American ship operators and ports rather than help them, industry executives said at U.S. Trade Representative hearings on Monday.At issue are proposed, stacking fees on China-built vessels that could top $3 million per U.S. port call. The Trump administration says the fees would curb China's growing commercial and military dominance on the high seas and promote domestically built vessels. U.S.

Tidewater Transportation and Terminals has finalized a contract with Gunderson Marine and Iron, a Portland, Oregon-based shipyard, for the construction of four new liquid refined product barges.The barges will measure 272 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 18 feet 6 inches deep, with a capacity of 20,000 barrels.Designed and constructed for service on the Columbia Snake River System, these inland liquid tank barges will be certified by the United States Coast Guard and comply with OPA…

Crowley has raised the U.S. flag on American Energy, marking the start of operations of the first domestic liquified natural gas (LNG) carrier to transport U.S.-sourced natural gas to Puerto Rico.Crowley and Naturgy have entered into a multi-year agreement that provides for the regular delivery of the U.S. mainland-sourced LNG to Naturgy’s operating facility in Penuelas, Puerto Rico. This will provide Puerto Rico with increased access to the reliable supply of U.S.-produced LNG, helping address the island’s ongoing power demands.

Maritime and offshore energy leaders from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and throughout South America came together for the first meeting of the ABS South America Regional Committee.“ABS has a long, proud history of many decades serving clients in South America, and we are excited to bring together a committee of esteemed colleagues to exchange ideas and engage in constructive discussions to support innovative solutions and forward progress in the maritime and offshore industries,” said Vassilios Kroustallis…

Germany-based corrosion specialist Steelpaint is calling for urgent action to address the significant environmental impact of steel corrosion, warning that inadequate corrosion protection is contributing more to global CO2 emissions than the entire aviation industry. With the maritime industries consuming an estimated 100 million tonnes of steel annually, premature corrosion and subsequent steel renewal work is increasing carbon emissions dramatically, said Steelpaint’s Managing Director Klaus Müller.Steel production remains one of the most carbon-intensive industrial processes.

President Donald Trump's plan to revive U.S. shipbuilding using massive fees on China-linked ship visits to American ports is causing U.S. coal inventories to swell and stoking uncertainty in the embattled agriculture market, as exporters struggle to find ships to send goods abroad.Trump is drafting an executive order that would rely on funding from a U.S. Trade Representative proposal to levy fines of up to $1.5 million on China-made ships or vessels from fleets that include ships made in China.Those potential port fees have limited the availability of ships needed to move agriculture…

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that 30 owners of 68 bridges across 19 states conduct a vulnerability assessment to determine the risk of bridge collapse from a vessel collision.The recommendation comes as part of the ongoing investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.The NTSB found that the Key Bridge, which collapsed after being struck by the containership Dali on March 26, 2024, was almost 30 times above the acceptable risk threshold for critical or essential bridges…