SRTS News

Shipping’s most acute logistical challenge of the past 50 years – the crew change crisis brought about by Covid-19 travel restrictions – could soon affect 1m seafarers, Guy Platten the secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) warned at a United Nations-convened event yesterday. Governments are consigning ... read more

Multinational commodity trading company Trafigura has detailed its own ideas of how a carbon levy might work for the shipping industry in a submission to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ahead of the UN body’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) virtual summit rescheduled for November. Writing in the Financial ... read more

China’s maritime industry is expected to accelerate its energy transformation process as the country is now targeting peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by the year 2060. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, announced new, more ambitious national environmental targets in an address to the United Nations ... read more

Qingdao, the port China has chosen to pilot the easing of crew change regulations, is at the centre of a worrying Covid-19 outbreak. Two workers at the northeastern port have come down with asymptomatic infections of the virus – the first such cases to hit China in more than ... read more

Saudi Arabia has warned the United Nations it has detected an “oil spot” near the decrepit, abandoned floating storage tanker , a vessel that has been described repeatedly as a potential environmental time bomb in the Red Sea. The FSO Safer, stranded for the past five years to the ... read more

China, Taiwan and South Korea have joined the search and rescue operations for 40 missing crew from livestock carrier at the request of the government of the Philippines. The livestock carrier, carrying over 5,000 cattle, left Napier in New Zealand on August 14 bound for Tangshan in China. It ... read more

Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) has signed an agreement with major shipbuilder Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU) to introduce a new shipbuilding contract that guarantees propulsion performance for new boxships in actual sea conditions. Shipbuilding contracts typically guarantee ship speed by confirming the relationship between ship speed and horsepower in ... read more

Portuguese bulker owner Portline is circulating its only cape for sale. Sources tell Splash that 17-ship strong Portline is keen to get rid of the 17-year-old, Universal-built 176,300 dwt . The ship is one of many vintage cape sale candidates being circulated on the market in recent weeks. Portline’s ... read more

Three Libyan oil terminals at Hariga, Brega, and Zueitina have resumed operations after some eight months of blockades by allies of Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army. Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) lifted the force majeure on the oil terminals, now considering them safe, and said it would resume production ... read more

Concluding our week-long look at how the shipping industry might look 10 years from now, we sought the views of 200 CEOs from top owner, operator and management companies from around the world. Shipping in 2030, a report created in association with MacGregor, asked eight topical questions on the ... read more

An influential group of unions has called for ships to be detained in ports if seafarers have been onboard longer than international treaties allow. Marking World Maritime Day today, the Nautilus Federation of 22 maritime unions said seafarers are being denied their human rights during the pandemic with as ... read more

China is going to open up a number of ports soon for ship crew changes as the country eases entry restrictions for foreign nationals. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Immigration Administration announced yesterday that foreign nationals holding valid Chinese residence permits for work, personal matters, and reunion ... read more

Marseille-headquartered CMA CGM continues to diversify from its liner origins under the leadership of Rodolphe Saade.  The company revealed yesterday it is buying a 30% stake in French airline company Groupe Dubreuil Aero. CMA CGM will acquire the EUR70m stake via a capital increase and acquisition of ordinary shares and ... read more

Maersk, the world’s largest containerline, is to ship boxes between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as ties between these two nations thaw. President Donald Trump welcomed leaders from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to the White House earlier this month to meet with Israeli prime minister ... read more

Japan’s two largest shipbuilders, Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United, will postpone their plan to establish a joint venture due to prolonged legal procedures partly due to the coronavirus pandemic. The two shipbuilders announced the formation of the joint venture Nihon Shipyard in late March and planned to launch ... read more

RightShip’s much trailed new Safety Score has been put on hold following extensive dialogue with the shipping industry. Splash reported in late May how the Australian ship vetting organisation planned to scrap its ratings system in favour of a new safety score in the biggest shake-up at the maritime ... read more

A keenly watched ammonia-fuelled aframax project in South Korea has passed another hurdle today with the possibility that this new calibre of ecoship could hit the water within the next four years. British class society Lloyd’s Register (LR) has granted approval in principle (AIP) to Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) ... read more

Capes are seemingly poised for liftoff judging by the FFA markets this week while tanker prices have dropped to bargain basement levels and boxship charter rates are hitting record levels. Is it any wonder then that S&P brokers’ phones have been ringing off the hook of late? There’s money ... read more

Herbjorn Hansson-led Nordic American Tankers (NAT) has signed newbuilding contracts with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries for two suezmax tankers. Delivery is scheduled for the first half of 2022, and the pair will grow the NAT fleet to a total of 25 suezmax tankers. “The combination of specifications, quality ... read more

Japan’s ClassNK, also known by its full name, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, is closing back in on the top spot in the ship classification rankings, a position it relinquished seven years ago when Norway’s Det Norske Veritas merged with Hamburg-based Germanischer Lloyd to create the current world leader, DNV GL. ... read more