ShippingNews

White House Asks COSCO Dalian to Keep AIS Turned On

By The Maritime Executive 2019-10-16 20:11:28

The White House has asked the sanctioned shipping company COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) not to turn off its tankers' AIS transponders, a measure often used to circumvent sanctions. AIS is a collision-avoidance aid, and by design, the broadcast signal from each ship's transponder contains the vessel's position, speed and heading. It is a strong enough signal that it can be detected from space, making it possible to monitor most broadcasting ships, in most locations, most of the time - unless they...

IBM Backs New Autonomous Vessel for Transatlantic Voyage

By The Maritime Executive 2019-10-16 13:54:40

On Wednesday, IBM announced that it is joining an effort to build an autonomous research vessel for a transatlantic crossing. In honor of the fourth centennial of the famous voyage of settlers from England to the Americas, it will be named the Mayflower. The five-ton, wing sail/solar/diesel powered Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) is designed to make 20 knots on its eastbound voyage. Over the course of the 12-day crossing, it will take water samples for research on ocean microplastics, and...

Union Critical of Repeal of Australian Business Name Protection

By The Maritime Executive 2019-10-14 19:58:02

The repeal of legislation related to the former publicly-owned shipping company Australian National Line which was sold to French owner CMA CGM has passed the Australian Senate. The primary aim of the ANL Legislation Repeal Bill is to remove the legal protection for a number of business names formerly used by the shipping company, including: ANL, Australian National Line, Maritime Agencies of Australia and Searoad. The Maritime Union of Australia says the move highlights the ongoing failure of the Morrison...

L-R: John Denton AO, Secretary-General of ICC, Dorjee Sun, CEO of Perlin and Steen Brodsgaard Lund, Chairman of SSA Digital Transformation Committee. MPA Chief Executive Quah Ley Hoon witnessed the signing.

Blockchain Ship Registration System Under Development

By The Maritime Executive 2019-10-14 16:44:26

The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Singapore tech startup Perlin have teamed up to build an advanced digital blockchain ship registration preparation system for international adoption. Called the International E-Registry of Ships, it aims to streamline, standardize and drastically improve the currently laborious ship registration and renewal process. Immediate advantages will include very significant reductions in operating costs, timing required, human error and fraud, says the SSA. Singapore is the fifth largest registry in...

First Photos of Damaged Iranian Tanker Released

By The Maritime Executive 2019-10-14 16:29:52

Iranian state news outlet Shana has released its first images of the damage to the tanker Sabiti, which suffered two explosions and two hull breaches on Friday. The managing director of the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran, Mohammad Rastad, told state media on Monday that the attack was indeed a missile strike, as has been widely reported. He claimed that the tanker has 140,000 tonnes of oil on board (out of a maximum dwt of 160,000 tonnes) and that...

Future Arctic Navigation and Northwestern Atlantic Ports

By Harry Valentine 2019-10-13 18:21:10

The looming prospect of trans-Arctic ship navigation has prompted China’s ship industry to develop container ships capable of seasonally sailing through the Russian side of the Arctic, ferrying containers between Eastern Chinese ports and Western European ports. Due to comparatively shallow draft, Chinese trans-Arctic ships are being built to small size and intended to carry medium priority container traffic between China and Western Europe, with railways carrying high priority containers. The increased sailing draft through the Canadian side of the...

Five Dead, Three Missing in Japan

By The Maritime Executive 2019-10-13 18:03:29

Five crew members have died and three others remain missing after a general cargo ship sank in Tokyo Bay, on Saturday. Four others were rescued from the Jia De which was anchored as Typhoon Hagibis approached. At least 25 people have died and 15 others are missing as a result of the typhoon, the strongest storm to hit Japan since Typhoon Ida in 1958. The typhoon has caused widespread damage in central and eastern Japan.

Photos: Through the Northwest Passage with the Manhattan in 1969

By John Dalziel 2019-10-12 20:36:44

50 years ago, in the summer of 1969, I sailed through the North West Passage on the Canadian icebreaker John A. Macdonald, escorting the large American tanker Manhattan. This was considered a historic voyage, the Manhattan being the first very large commercial vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. The purpose of the voyage was to test the feasibility of using the Northwest Passage as a year-round transport route for Alaskan oil to the U.S. eastern seaboard (the decision was...

Iranian Tanker Adrian Darya 1 Offloads Oil Cargo in Syria

By The Maritime Executive 2019-10-09 20:25:02

Satellite imagery shows that the blacklisted Iranian VLCC Adrian Darya 1 has finally begun offloading her cargo at the port of Baniyas, Syria, despite U.S. and EU sanctions. According to the U.S. State Department, a satellite image dated October 2 shows the Adrian Darya 1 rafted up with the Iranian LR1 Jasmine for an apparent ship-to-ship transfer. An image from October 4 shows the Jasmine at the offshore terminal for the Baniyas refinery (above). "Oil from the Adrian Darya 1...

Cargill, Maersk Tankers and Mitsui Collaborate on GHG Reductions

By The Maritime Executive 2019-10-09 20:23:45

Cargill, Maersk Tankers and Mitsui & Co. have established a strategic collaboration to accelerate the reduction of global greenhouse gases within shipping. Together, the companies will work towards lowering maritime GHG emissions by fully exploiting existing fuel-saving technologies and exploring new technical solutions. The aim is to prove that it can make economic sense for both owners and charterers if they work more closely together to make vessels more fuel efficient, thus demonstrating that sustainable shipping can also be commercially...