Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding began construction today a 289-foot service operation vessel (SOV) for a Crowley-ESVAGT joint venture that will house and transport technicians to maintain U.S. offshore wind farms. This vessel, for the joint venture CREST Wind, will operate under a long-term charter with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. Today marked the ceremonial start of construction for the vessel, and senior…
Amazon and Maersk have closed on a contract agreement for moving about 40,000 TEU worth of cargo using green biofuel. The partners have reached similar agreements for the past four years, but this is the first time that the mix will be supplemented by green methanol as a second alternative fuel. Amazon will have containers on Maersk’s first-ever methanol-fueled feeder…
Greek authorities are investigating after a cargo ship and a containership collided in the Ionian Sea on the western side of Greece overnight. While there appears to have been only minor damage to the vessels, they are trying to understand what caused a fire to break out aboard the Malta-registered feeder ship Libertas H. The two vessels were traveling in the…
The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index rose to a two-week high on Thursday, helped by a jump in capesize vessel rates. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, gained 60 points, or 5.6%, to 1,141, the highest since Aug. 23. The capesize index jumped 155 points, or nearly 15%, to 1,189. Average…
Fukui Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (FUKUI) and ClassNK have signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning a joint study on a safety relief valve for a cargo tank of liquefied hydrogen carriers at the “Gastech2023” held in Singapore. To combat global warming, attention is growing towards hydrogen as an energy source that does not emit CO2 at the point of use. The…
Shipping service company, Marcura Group, is to acquire maritime online procurement firm, ShipServ, to create what it describes as a ‘vertical software, data, payments and procurement platform focused on the maritime sector’. Paul Bartlett | Aug 30, 2023 Together, the joint entity will have a workforce of more than 970, a customer base of 800 maritime customers, and a network of…
Analysts Sea-Intelligence noted this week that the level of blanked sailings this year is at about a third of the four-year average and just 25% of 2019’s high at a lowly 3%, on some trades. Nick Savvides | Aug 31, 2023 Specifically looking ahead at the four-week period that starts with Golden Week, China’s annual national celebrations where industry shuts down…
The Port of Valencia has taken delivery of the hydrogen-powered reach stacker, developed within the framework of the European H2PORTS project. Michele Labrut | Aug 31, 2023 This prototype joins the hydrogen-powered tractor unit and the mobile hydrogen supply station (HRS) which will be tested in real operating conditions in the Port of Valencia from this month until December 2024. It…
Panama Canal restrictions are already forcing ships to take multi-week detours via the Suez Canal and Cape of Good Hope. One shipping segment is more exposed to these reroutings than any other: specialized tankers that carry liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the U.S. to Asia. America is the world’s largest exporter of LPG, i.e., propane and butane. Since the Neopanamax…
A VLCC newbuilding orderbook that sits at just 1.5% of the current fleet and the fact any new vessel contracts inked now won’t be delivered until second half of 2026, was flagged up by Frontline during its half year results. “What is worrying is the lack of orderbooks for VLCCs and Suezmax. We have the highest percentage of kind of…