Travel Restrictions News

Ukraine seized a foreign cargo ship in the Black Sea off its Odesa region and detained the captain on suspicion of helping Moscow export Ukrainian grain from Russian-occupied Crimea, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Thursday.The vessel, which it did not identify, was travelling under the flag of a central African country and repeatedly docked at the Crimean sea port of Sevastopol to pick up "looted" agricultural products in 2023-24, the SBU said.Russian forces occupied…

The economic output of Australia’s marine industry continued to grow despite the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on some sectors, a new report released by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) shows. The AIMS Index of Marine Industry 2023 is the latest assessment of the contribution of Australia’s marine sector to the national economy, using data from the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years. It reveals that Australia’s marine industry had a total output of A$118.5 billion (US$774 million) and supported 462…

Operating on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from day one in service, the MV George III, the first of Pasha Group’s two new ‘Ohana Class’, Jones Act-qualified containerships, features a state-of-the-art engine, an optimized hull form, and an underwater propulsion system with a high-efficiency rudder and propeller. George III is the first LNG-powered vessel to fuel on the West Coast and the first to serve Hawaii. The 774-ft. Jones Act vessel surpasses the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2030 emission standards for ocean vessels.

After over two years of rising rates and overstretched capacity, the rapidly cooling ocean freight market looks set for an “extremely challenging” 2023, according to Oslo-based Xeneta. An in-depth analysis of the latest real-time ocean and air freight rates, combined with expert trend forecasts, suggests that ocean cargo volumes could fall by up to 2.5%, rates will drop “significantly” and weak demand will force increased idling of vessels. The air freight market, analysts predict…

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway ships carried an estimated 149 million metric tons of cargo to and from domestic ports, and to overseas markets during the 2021 shipping season — an increase of 7% over pandemic-stricken 2020, a new report from the Chamber of Marine Commerce shows.“This report paints a clear picture that the bi-national Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System supported the economic recovery and growth of many of our key industries in both Canada and the U.S. The…

Four UN organizations have called for continued global collaboration to address the crew change crisis that at times during the COVID-19 pandemic has left more than 400,000 seafarers stranded at sea.In a joint statement issued on February 28, the International Labor Organization (ILO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) say new challenges and variants of concern like Omicron threaten to worsen the plight of the world’s seafarers…

The year just ended, 2021, might be described as being about “trying to get back to normal”, across the entire transportation spectrum, two years into the pandemic. During this time, the decarbonization and electrification waves have swept across maritime passenger transport. The passenger side of the business is dependent on multiple funding sources; increasingly, this money will be driven by environmental and social considerations.The long-awaited funding of “infrastructure”-related projects…

A luxury cruise ship has skipped its call to Miami and diverted to the Bahamas after a U.S. judge ordered its seizure as part of a lawsuit over unpaid fuel bills.The Crystal Symphony, operated by Genting Hong Kong's Crystal Cruises, was scheduled to conclude a Caribbean voyage in Miami on Saturday, but the ship sailed to the Bahamian island of Bimini instead after a federal judge in Miami granted an order to arrest the 781-foot, Bahamas-flagged vessel over unpaid fuel bills.Bunker supplier Peninsula Petroleum Far East sued the ship and Crystal Cruises…

Norwegian Cruise Line on Wednesday canceled trips on eight ships, a few with embarkation dates as far out as late April, signaling a blow to the recovery of the pandemic-ravaged U.S. cruise industry.The division of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd made the decision with the United States reporting nearly one million new coronavirus infections on Monday, the highest daily tally of any country."Due to ongoing travel restrictions, we've had to modify a few sailings and unfortunately have had to cancel…

As trainers in the maritime industry, we benefit from the sharing of information. Understanding what training trends are emerging, how training budgets are growing (or shrinking), what training models are on the rise or decline, and how the world pandemic has affected training operations is all of great important to us. Having a global understanding of these questions and more allows us to improve based on best practice, and to prepare for the future in a way we could not possibly achieve in isolation.It is our belief in this basic truth that incentivized the World Maritime University…

The maritime industry is establishing its own approved international network of quarantine facilities to ensure safe crew changes as the Omicron variant spurs governments to close their borders to seafarers needing to leave and join ships.The Crew Enhanced Quarantine International Program (#CrewEQUIP) is a partnership between the International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC); the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS); and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)…

The docking of the Europa passenger liner in Cape Town on Tuesday was meant to be a ribbon-cutting celebration marking the official start of the cruise ship season in South Africa’s top tourist hub, the first since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.But international travel curbs on southern Africa, where the new Omicron coronavirus here variant was first identified, have blown expectations of a bumper tourist season out of the water.The multi-story luxury liner is the first to dock at…

Samson and Ocean Technologies Group (OTG), a global learning and operational technology company serving the maritime industry, have agreed to collaborate to provide seafarers with on-demand access to Samson’s comprehensive set of online courses in rope handling, inspection, fabrication, and installation.The courses will be available on OTG’s Ocean Learning Platform, which was specially created to deliver blended learning, assessment, and competency management solutions that ultimately connect e-Learning and hands-on activity to improve knowledge…

At a time when the world has become more aware than ever before about the vital importance of the world’s ocean shipping fleet, which carried supplies, merchandise and much needed personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increased risk from a different threat, cyberattacks, presents a set of new challenges. According to Israeli cybersecurity specialist Naval Dome, since February 2020, there has been a 400% increase in attempted hacks on the maritime realm…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Saturday that unvaccinated foreign nationals under the age of 18 traveling to the United States by air do not have to self-quarantine upon arrival.CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Saturday signed a revised order clarifying that foreign national children who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 do not need to isolate for seven days upon arrival in the United States.A CDC order issued on Monday had raised alarm among some foreign travelers that their children would need to quarantine for that long after arriving.On November 8…

As the maritime world laments the treatment of seafarers during the COVID pandemic, and the general public generally ignores the call to designate seafarers as "key workers" to help facilitate efficient crew changes globally, one British seafarer recently trained onboard his ship for months to prepare for the London Marathon, a race he recently completed to aid maritime welfare charity, Sailors’ Society. George Belcher is a third engineer who has served as a mariner for more than seven years.

Tallink Grupp announced it recently signed a charter agreement for its Latvian-flagged cruise vessel Romantika, which has also been hired to provide accommodation at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), taking place in Glasgow, Scotland on October 31– November 12.Several weeks ago, the company said it signed a charter agreement for its Tallinn-Helsinki route cruise vessel Silja Europa to provide accommodation services at the global climate conference in Glasgow from October 21 to November 14.

A study commissioned by trade association Interferry has revealed startling statistics on the far-reaching extent of the global ferry industry’s value to the world economy.Research into the latest pre-Covid full-year figures found that, in 2019, ferries carried 4.27 billion passengers – on a par with aviation – and 373 million vehicles across a worldwide fleet of 15,400 vessels. Among other findings, the industry provided 1.1 million jobs, contributed $60 billion to the world…

China’s exports unexpectedly grew at a faster pace in August thanks to solid global demand, helping take some of the pressure off the world’s second-biggest economy as it navigates its way through headwinds from several fronts.The Asian giant staged an impressive recovery from a coronavirus-battered slump, but economic momentum has weakened recently due to the Delta variant-driven COVID-19 outbreaks, high raw material prices, slowing factory activity, tighter measures to tame…

Chinese crude oil imports fell year-on-year in June and July, ending a streak of five months of accumulated year-on-year growth. After the first seven months of 2021, China’s crude oil imports are down 5.7% compared with the same period last year. January to July imports stood at 301.9m tons, an 18.1m tons decline from January to July 2020.The June and July decline in crude oil imports is not attributable to unusually low imports as much as to unusually high imports in June and…

Mercury Marine, the marine propulsion systems division of Brunswick Corporation, announced multiple job moves and promotions within its global leadership team, effective immediately.Will Sangster is promoted to President, Mercury EMEA. Sangster has been General Manager of ANZP since 2014 and added responsibility for the Asia region in 2019. Under his leadership, Mercury APAC has continued to grow revenue and market share. Sangster will relocate to Mercury’s European headquarters in Petit-Rechain…

The crew change crisis that has been plaguing the maritime industry for more than a year and a half is raging on and only getting worse, data from 10 of the world's top ship managers suggests.The number of seafarers onboard vessels beyond the expiry of their contract has continued rising from 7.2% to 8.8% in the last month, and the number of seafarers onboard vessels for over 11 months has risen from 0.4% to 1%, according to the latest monthly Neptune Declaration Crew Change Indicator.The…

Carnival Corp said on Monday it would sell shares worth $500 million, as the cruise operator restarts its operations after a long break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Money raised will be used to purchase ordinary shares of Carnival Plc, trading in the United Kingdom, and for general corporate purposes, the company said.The cruise operator has raised over $2.5 billion by selling its shares over the past year as travel restrictions due to the pandemic brought its business to a standstill.With…