SRTS News

Chinese buyers of Australian coal are finding new markets to sell their banned substances, helping ease the ship queues in northern China that have stranded more than 1,100 seafarers this winter. Beijing has banned a range of Australian products including coal after Canberra called for an international investigation into the ... read more

The latest Seafarers Happiness Index report, published yesterday by The Mission to Seafarers, reveals both the ongoing struggles of the heroes working at sea and how small investments can make a tangible difference to the lives of seafarers. The survey, undertaken with the support of the Shipowners’ Club and Wallem ... read more

Two months since quitting CMA CGM, Nicolas Sartini has reemerged as the co-CEO of a company with close ties to the French liner. Sartini, whose long career with CMA CGM saw him head up APL as well as the company’s terminals division, has been appointed to lead Yilport Holding, along ... read more

A new business avenue has opened up for some of the world’s largest shipbrokers. Alternative maritime finance platform Infinity Maritime is partnering with Maersk Broker, SSY, Arrow and BRS as it bids to create a new shipping investment vehicle enabling fractional ownership of cargo ships. Infinity Maritime aims to create ... read more

Maersk Tankers has announced that it has sold 2008-built product tanker , the world’s first product tanker to test the use of wind propulsion technology. Rotor sails were installed onboard the vessel in 2018 and the company claimed that it showcased an 8.2% drop in fuel consumption and emissions over a ... read more

Combining noon reports with new AI technology is key to unlocking the essential data insights that charterers and shipowners need to monitor and regulate their vessels’ environmental performance. Roberto Coustas, co-founder and CEO at DeepSea Technologies, reports. The entire world, including the maritime industry, has been justifiably preoccupied with Covid-19 ... read more

Houston-based Diamond Offshore Drilling has entered into an agreement with holders of over 70% of its senior unsecured notes and revolving credit facility loans regarding a financial restructuring transaction that will see the company emerge from chapter 11. Diamond Offshore has been working on the plan since filing for chapter ... read more

Stena Drilling has sealed a new contract with Petrofac for drilling operations using 2001-built semi-submersible rig . The contract is due to commence between in July, and is for the drilling of one firm well in the UK Continental Shelf with an undisclosed operator. Estimated duration is 76 days. “Stena ... read more

Ten capesizes have changed hands in the first weeks of 2021, a very active start to the year in a sector that has shown plenty of volatility recently. A Chinese owner has sold the eight-year, Rongsheng-built, . Brokers note that the 176,000 dwt sized bulker fetched $18.3m. Greek owner Nicholas ... read more

Odfjell Drilling has entered into a letter of intent with Lundin Energy for the deployment of its semi-submersible rig . The contract is set to commence in the third quarter with a duration of one firm well plus eight optional wells. The firm contract scope has an estimated contract value ... read more

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), the holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, has revised a contract with Korea Development Bank (KDB) to extend the deadline for the takeover of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) due to prolonged anti-trust review processes taking place around the world. KSOE said ... read more

California’s main two boxports, already suffering extreme congestion (see MarineTraffic map created today below), are having to fight a severe outbreak of Covid-19 among their workforces, something that could hamper productivity further. Around 700 dockworkers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have contracted coronavirus and hundreds more ... read more

The 2,824 teu containership was attacked by pirates near Sao Tome in the Gulf of Guinea yesterday, while it was transiting from Lagos to Cape Town. According to maritime safety consultancy Dryad Global, the citadel onboard the vessel was breached and 15 crew, all Turkish nationals, were taken hostage, with ... read more

Indonesia’s coast guard arrested the Iranian-flagged Horse and the Panamanian-flagged Freya tankers on Sunday over suspected illegal fuel transfers. The tankers, seized in waters off Kalimantan province, were escorted to Batam island for further investigation. “The tankers, first detected at 5:30 a.m. local time concealed their identity by not showing ... read more

The Chinese Ministry of Transport released full year figures at the end of last week for the country’s 24 largest mainland ports. The most eye-catching figures pertain to the Port of Dalian, which registered the largest annual percentage decline in box throughput for a port in excess of 1m teu ... read more

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s second largest containerline, will trial emulsified synthetic heavy fuel oil on its ships this year with a view to rolling out the fuel more widely in the long run. MSC Shipmanagement has signed an operational trial with Quadrise Fuels International (QFI), and will check ... read more

Thai owner Thoresen Thai has announced the acquisition of a 2016-built 61,144 dwt ultramax vessel. The vessel has been identified as Scorpio Bulkers ultramax , and has been renamed Thor Nitnirund. VesselsValue’s valuation on the vessel is $19.2m. In December, Thoresen Thai also acquired the 2016-built ultramax bulker SBI Hyperion ... read more

A host of hugely expensive drillships contracted for up to $750m each with Korean yards around the time of the global financial crisis have met early ends. Vantage Drilling is the latest offshore name to ditch a drillship well before its normal shelf life expiry date. Clarksons Research Services reports ... read more

Norway’s Solstad Offshore has announced the award of four contracts for through of the company’s construction support vessels. Commencing in February 2021, 2007-built CSV Normand Energy will support a project in the Pacific Ocean with an estimated duration of five months, including mobilisation and de-mobilisation. 2009-built CSV Far Samson has ... read more

Tasik Subsea’s dive support vessel has become the first vessel to receive the IDM-A (Infectious Disease Mitigation – Arrangements) Class Notation from classification society ABS. The vessel had to prove to ABS surveyors that is has developed detailed procedures to deal with crew changes to prevent infectious diseases entering the ... read more