Trump Imposes 34% Tariff on Chinese Goods, 10% Global Minimum

Japan’s First Hydrogen Dual-Fuel Tug with Combustion Engine Launched

Published Apr 2, 2025 5:29 PM by The Maritime Executive

As part of the “Zero Emission Ships Project” sponsored by The Nippon Foundation, Japan last week launched its first hydrogen dual-fuel tug. The vessel is pioneering using a high-power internal combustion engine with the industry seeking to develop expertise in the emerging sector. The new tug was launched by Tsuneishi Shipbuilding on March 28 and is the first vessel in Japan to be equipped with a high-power output hydrogen dual-fuel internal combustion engine. It also has a high-pressure...

Maersk’s APM Terminals Buys Panama Canal Railway Company

Published Apr 2, 2025 4:34 PM by The Maritime Executive

In a first for Maersk’s operations, the group’s terminal company APM reports it acquired the 47-mile-long Panama Canal Railway Company from Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Lanco Group. While it is the first railroad operation in the company, executives highlighted that it is in keeping with Maersk’s intermodal logistics focus. No price was cited for the railroad which is reported to generate revenues of $77 million and EBITDA earnings of $36 million annually. The railroad was rehabilitated in...

Korean officers search machinery spaces aboard the Lunita, April 2 (Donghae Coast Guard)

South Korean Police Set New Record With One-Tonne Cocaine Bust on Bulker

Published Apr 2, 2025 3:03 PM by The Maritime Executive

Police in South Korea have seized one tonne of cocaine from a cargo ship arriving from South America, the largest drug bust on record in a nation with comparatively low narcotics imports. The Korea Coast Guard and the Seoul Regional Customs Office received a tipoff from the U.S. FBI early Tuesday morning about an inbound shipment on a bulker. The vessel was headed for Korea and would soon be berthing at the port of Okgye, south of Gangneung on...

U.S. Sanctions Russians Sending Arms and Stolen Ukrainian Grain to Houthis

Published Apr 2, 2025 2:43 PM by The Maritime Executive

As part of Donald Trump’s vow to stop the “really bad people,” through his campaign of maximum pressure, the U.S. today, April 2, imposed sanctions on Russian businessmen sending aid to the Houthis. Among the activities the U.S. is citing is the stealing of Ukrainian grain from Crimea and shipping it to Yemen and it included the captains of the vessel among the sanctions. “The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id al-Jamal and his network to procure critical goods...

Shipping

Stena Presents Futuro Concept RoRo that Would Reduce Energy Usage 20%

Stena Line, one of Europe's leading ferry companies and a pioneer with advanced designs, presented its latest thinking for Stena Futuro, a RoRo that would reduce energy usage by 20 percent or more. The company’s goal is an overall 30 percent reduction in its CO2 emissions by 2030. “The mission is to develop the most efficient and competitive vessel possible for a specific cargo capacity, using today’s available technology. The goal is for the vessel to have the...

Tugs & Salvage

Dredger Innovatie (City of Koblenz / Andreas Egenolf)

Dredger Pulls 500-Kilo WWII Bomb From the Bottom in Koblenz

On Tuesday, a dredger working on the Rhine pulled up a large bomb dating back to World War II, prompting an immediate security response. The dredge Innovatie was working near the Pfaffendorf Bridge in Koblenz when the crew discovered a 500-kilo WWII bomb, which had inadvertently been hauled aboard. The bomb had two intact detonators. For safety, the dredge was moved to the nearby Koblenz Moselle lock. The bomb can't be safely removed, according to the Rhineland Palatinate EOD squad,...

Government

USCG Heavy Icebreaker Polar Star Returns Home After 128-day Deployment

The only heavy icebreaker in the U.S. Coast Guard fleet USCG Polar Star arrived back in San Francisco completing her annual deployment to Antarctica and now she is preparing for the final phase of her ongoing life extension. Commissioned in 1976, the USCG needs to keep her operation until at least 2030 when the much-delayed next-generation heavy icebreaker is anticipated to be delivered. Polar Star departed Seattle bound for Antarctica on November 22, 2024. She traveled over 25,000...

Corporate News

ABS Expands Singapore Footprint with New Office and Services

[By: ABS] Increasing demand from shipowners for ABS services in Singapore has prompted ABS to invest in an expanded regional head office housing industry-leading research and development capabilities. The opening ceremony was prefaced by a traditional lion dance and reception, which saw ABS Chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki cut the ribbon on a facility that is home to the ABS Singapore Innovation and Research Center, the ABS Global Electrification Center and one of five ABS Global Sustainability Centers. The...

Cruise Ships

StarCruises Relaunches in Asia Three Years After Bankruptcy

Three years after the bankruptcy of Genting Hong Kong which resulted in the collapse of both Star Cruises and Dream Cruises the corporation has relaunched the brands. Earlier this year they announced plans to rebrand away from Resorts World Cruises back to the traditional brand names as part of the future growth strategy for the company. Star Cruises was launched 30 years ago and became known as one of the pioneers of modern cruising in Asia. The brand...

Ports

Nationwide Strike Paralyzes Belgium’s Ports, Airports, and Services

Upset by Belgium’s new collation government’s plans for budget cutting, public and private workers walked on their jobs on Monday, March 31, for a 24-hour strike that stopped many parts of Belgium for the day. Officials for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges said the disruptions began on Sunday evening and were expected to last until Tuesday with it taking days to fully recover. The European Transport Workers’ Federation announced it was standing in solidarity with the Belgium Trade Union Confederation...

Shipping

Stena Presents Futuro Concept RoRo that Would Reduce Energy Usage 20%

Tugs & Salvage

Dredger Pulls 500-Kilo WWII Bomb From the Bottom in Koblenz

Government

USCG Heavy Icebreaker Polar Star Returns Home After 128-day Deployment

Corporate News

ABS Expands Singapore Footprint with New Office and Services

Cruise Ships

StarCruises Relaunches in Asia Three Years After Bankruptcy

Ports

Nationwide Strike Paralyzes Belgium’s Ports, Airports, and Services

Offshore

Four US Offshore Wind Projects Seek Regulatory Pauses Due to Uncertainties

The offshore wind energy industry in the United States continues to face challenges with four project developers each filing in the past few days to pause their state-level regulatory reviews. The developers are reported to be citing “uncertainties” in the U.S. market or seeking to create protections based on potential future actions by the Trump administration. Donald Trump placed the industry under review after returning to the White House. He has repeatedly spoken against the industry citing assertions that...

Shipbuilding

Yang Ming Buys Methanol Containerships as First Step in Fleet Optimization

After reporting strong financial results for 2024, Taiwan’s Yang Ming took the first steps in a fleet optimization and expansion program first announced in December 2024. The company reported it is buying three under-construction dual-fuel methanol containerships from Japanese leasing company Shoei Kisen Kaisha. The three vessels are reported to already be on order with Imabari Shipbuilding. They are scheduled for delivery in 2028 and 2029 and each will have a capacity of 8,000 TEU. The report says they...

Environment

Vanishing Protectors and Predators of the Saya de Malha

In November 2022, several scientists in scuba gear dove over the side of a 440-foot research ship, which had been sent to the Saya de Mahla Bank, a vast seagrass meadow in the Indian Ocean between Mauritius and Seychelles, more than 200 miles from land. Their goal that day was to film sharks. When they were not diving, the scientists submerged a remote-controlled submarine to search the sea column. Ranked as one of the largest and most advanced research...

Business

Safety Management Systems

Fans of complex management systems tend to live and breathe the analytics of daily operations. With the help of a strong safety management system (SMS) and properly placed sensors, any inquiring manager can learn what their vessel status is with respect to things like metered engine hours, equipment usage rates, conditions of lubricants and seals, hull conditions, onboard inventory, fire suppression systems and so on. "You can't manage what you don't measure," the quote often attributed to management wizard...

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Trump Imposes 34% Tariff on Chinese Goods, 10% Global Minimum

Japan’s First Hydrogen Dual-Fuel Tug with Combustion Engine Launched

Maersk’s APM Terminals Buys Panama Canal Railway Company

South Korean Police Set New Record With One-Tonne Cocaine Bust on Bulker

U.S. Sanctions Russians Sending Arms and Stolen Ukrainian Grain to Houthis

Stena Presents Futuro Concept RoRo that Would Reduce Energy Usage 20%

Dredger Pulls 500-Kilo WWII Bomb From the Bottom in Koblenz

USCG Heavy Icebreaker Polar Star Returns Home After 128-day Deployment

ABS Expands Singapore Footprint with New Office and Services

StarCruises Relaunches in Asia Three Years After Bankruptcy

Nationwide Strike Paralyzes Belgium’s Ports, Airports, and Services

A Radical Solution to the Challenges of Slow Steaming

Custom Cable System Makes For Smooth Sailing for Crowley's eWolf

Colonial Oil Industries Expands Marine Fueling With New Towboat and Barge

Stena Presents Futuro Concept RoRo that Would Reduce Energy Usage 20%

Dredger Pulls 500-Kilo WWII Bomb From the Bottom in Koblenz

USCG Heavy Icebreaker Polar Star Returns Home After 128-day Deployment

ABS Expands Singapore Footprint with New Office and Services

StarCruises Relaunches in Asia Three Years After Bankruptcy

Nationwide Strike Paralyzes Belgium’s Ports, Airports, and Services

Four US Offshore Wind Projects Seek Regulatory Pauses Due to Uncertainties

Yang Ming Buys Methanol Containerships as First Step in Fleet Optimization

Vanishing Protectors and Predators of the Saya de Malha

Safety Management Systems

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Maritime Industry Conferences and Events