ShippingNews

Zeaborn Consolidates Ship Management Activities

By MarEx 2018-08-13 19:14:36

Germany's Zeaborn Group has combined its ship management activities under the new brand Zeaborn Ship Management GmbH & Cie. KG. The company is based in Hamburg and has brought together Rickmers Shipmanagement, which was acquired by Zeaborn in September 2017, and E.R. Schiffahrt, acquired in February 2018. The combined technically managed fleet currently comprises more than 150 container and bulk cargo ships and multi-purpose vessels. Zeaborn Ship Management employs around 300 people on shore and approximately 4,550 at sea. In...

Soybean Ship Docks in Dalian

By MarEx 2018-08-12 18:15:59

Peak Pegasus, the ship that has been waiting off China's coast for over a month with her cargo of soybeans, has docked in Dalian. Reuters reports that the vessel docked on Saturday with her cargo of 70,000 tons of U.S. soybeans. Two other vessels with U.S. soybeans have also been sitting off China for several weeks. The vessels have been caught in the escalating trade war between China and the U.S. The U.S. imposed a 25 percent tariff on $34...

Africa Opens its Doors to the World

By Thomas Okbo 2018-08-12 01:55:12

A diverse continent with more than 50 different countries, Africa is blessed with vast natural resources - offshore oil and gas reserves, precious metals and diamonds, iron ore, cocoa, timber and more. That wealth of resources, coupled with an increasingly skilled workforce, key trade hubs and growing import markets, has enabled the continent to claim a strategic position on the world stage. And yet, it still holds a multitude of untapped opportunities for...

Belt and Road Fuels Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Growth

By MarEx 2018-08-11 18:57:07

China's Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding, the largest shipyard in Fujian province, has reported a dramatic increase in orders as a result of the Belt and Road Initiative. Orders from places such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East have increased to 53 ships over the past five years, over half of the yard's total orders for that time. For example, China Daily reports that the company has received an order for 12 container ships from Malaysian and German shipowners, two of which...

Japan Prepares for Autonomous Tugboat Test

By MarEx 2018-08-11 17:43:07

Japan's NYK Group companies NYK, MTI and Keihin Dock along with Japan Marine Science have been selected by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism to participate in a remotely controlled ship demonstration project. The nations aims to begin demonstrations for the practical implementation of autonomous ships by 2025. The companies have already been using advanced technology to develop an automated ship, including a study on collision avoidance and the development of a manned remote maneuvering system that can...

Yamal LNG's Second Train Ships First Cargo

By MarEx 2018-08-09 19:09:47

Yamal LNG has shipped the first LNG cargo from the second train, which is working at its nameplate capacity of 5.5 million tons per annum (mmtpa) and has already produced over 250,000 tons of LNG during initial commissioning. To date, 47 LNG cargoes have been offloaded with more than 3.5 million tons of LNG produced from the Yamal LNG project. The facility at Sabetta includes a 17.4 mmtpa natural gas liquefaction plant that processes the hydrocarbon resources of the South-Tambeyskoye...

Maersk's Blockchain Solution: Ready, Set, Go!

By MarEx 2018-08-09 17:46:24

A.P. Moller - Maersk and IBM have introduced their global blockchain solution TradeLens, with 94 organizations already participating. The companies announced their joint venture in January this year after collaborating on the concept since 2016. Early adopters include more than 20 port and terminal operators across the globe, including PSA Singapore, International Container Terminal Services Inc, Patrick Terminals, Modern Terminals in Hong Kong, Port of Halifax, Port of Rotterdam, Port of Bilbao, PortConnect, PortBase and terminal operators Holt Logistics at...

North Korea Flouts UN Sanctions on Oil, Coal

By MarEx 2018-08-08 19:04:59

North Korea appears to have succeeded in circumventing UN sanctions on its petroleum and coal trade, according to a recent report to the UN Security Council and an investigation by Radio Free Asia. The UN has placed strict limits on North Korean imports of petroleum products and exports of coal, among other commodities, in an effort to penalize Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons program. However, North Korean product tankers have developed methods for conducting high-seas ship-to-ship transfers while evading detection...

U.S.-Flag Fleet Faces Higher Costs, Fewer Cargoes

By MarEx 2018-08-08 13:50:13

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a new report on the challenges facing the U.S.-flag deep sea fleet, including rising operating costs and a declining number of qualified American mariners. GAO urged the Department of Transportation to formalize a national maritime strategy to respond to these challenges, as requested by Congress in 2014. Rising costs Costs are rising for U.S.-flag operators, according to DOT's Maritime Administration. MARAD officials told GAO that the difference in opex between a U.S.-flag ship and...

DP World Acquires Unifeeder

By MarEx 2018-08-07 04:11:38

DP World has acquired 100 percent of the Unifeeder Group for €660 million ($764 million) from Nordic Capital Fund VIII and other minority shareholders. The Unifeeder Group, founded in 1977 and based in Aarhus, Denmark, reported revenue of €510 million ($590 million) in 2017. The group operates the largest common user container feeder and a growing shortsea network in Europe, serving deep-sea container hubs and the intra-Europe container freight market via about 100 ports. The company provides fully multimodal solutions, combining...