News

The first containership in a new express service between China’s Ningbo port and Germany arrived at the terminal in Wilhelmshaven as part of an effort to build China’s maritime trade routes.

Containership schedule reliability absorbed the shocks from the diversions away from the Red Sea and leveled off despite the demands on capacity and the longer travel times. Sea-Intelligence published its end-of-year report which tracked reliability across 34 different trade routes and showed consistency for much of 2024 after losing significantly from the progress achieved in 2023.

In December, the aging river-sea tanker Volgoneft-212 sank in a severe storm about five nautical miles outside of the Kerch Strait. Sister ship Volgoneft-239 broke up shortly after, and her stern section drifted aground on a rocky shore off Taman. The battered hull began leaking large quantities of fuel oil. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in California today, January 27, announced indictments and arrests breaking up an elaborate smuggling operation that they estimate smuggled at least $200 million worth of counterfeit and illegal goods from China into the U.S. through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The competition to deliver the first ammonia-fueled engine continues to report progress with Swiss-based WinGD now reporting it expects to complete final validation in time for the first engine deliveries in June 2025.

MARAD’s program to build the first modern training ships for the U.S. merchant marine marked about milestone with the floating of the fourth vessel of the class. The future Lone Star State which has been assigned to Texas A&M Maritime College took to the water for the first time on Friday, January 24, and was towed to the outfitting berth.

The Port of Los Angeles has cemented its status as the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere thanks to a significant surge in throughput last year. 2024 marked the second-best year in its 117-year history in terms of container volumes.

A Russian-registered product tanker languishing in the Port of Gdynia is drawing renewed interest from Polish authorities. According to a report on Poland’s Radio ZET, new security concerns as well as safety issues with the tanker were raised in light of the ongoing investigation in Finland into the Eagle S tanker and a lack of maintenance on the vessel which has been docked in Gdynia since 2017.

One of the sisterships to the containership Dali which destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge is reporting engine troubles in the Pacific. The vessel which is also managed by Synergy Marine and sailing under charter as the Maersk Saltoro is reported to have experienced an engine problem which is delaying the ship and risking a cargo of Chilean cherries bound for China.

The boom in containership construction and the transition to alternative fuels continues with South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering reporting its first order of 2025. The shipbuilder which is part of HD Hyundai booked an order valued at approximately $2.58 billion which is being widely linked to French shipping giant CMA CGM Group.

The Canadian-flagged bulker Manitoulin became stuck midday on Wednesday, January 22, in the ice outside Buffalo, New York on Lake Erie. The crew took it in stride and while the vessel was waiting for the arrival of a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker had a little fun posting their destination on the AIS signal as “exasperated sigh.”

Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard saved the crew of the fishing vessel Miss Sandy when the vessel began to flood off Gloucester, Massachusetts. Efforts to combat the flooding were unsuccessful, but all were rescued before the vessel went down. 

Lithuania is preparing to join the elite ranks of the shipping industry with the launch of a pioneering hydrogen, electric-powered vessel that will provide harbor services. The ship which was recently floated fat the West Baltic Shipyard is among the first to adopt hydrogen technology and will be deployed for the Klaipeda State Seaport Authority in partnership with Baltic Workboats.

Officials from the Untied Nations provided the first independent confirmation to the level of damage that has been inflicted on Yemen’s Red Sea ports. The officials estimated that less than a quarter of the port capacities remain available expressing concern about the ability to get relief supplies to the citizens of Yemen.

A revised Construction and Operations Plan has been approved for the troubled U.S. offshore wind farm known as Vineyard Wind approximately six months after one of its turbine blades fractured.

The provision insolvency administrators for Germany’s FSG and Nobiskrug shipbuilders told government officials and union leaders they remain confident in the efforts to save the financially troubled yards.

Efforts are continuing to build out the capabilities to support vessels to use shore power as ports seek to transition to more environmentally friendly systems in advance of pending EU regulations.

For some time, the Iranian authorities have sought to build up their maritime access to the open seas by developing port infrastructure outside the Gulf, acknowledging the vulnerability of dependency on free and uninterrupted access through the Straits of Hormuz.

The shipping industry is taking proactive steps to implement improved safety measures for transporting charcoal, ahead of mandatory IMO regulations in 2026. Experts have long warned that misdeclared, poorly handled, and poorly packed dangerous goods are one of the largest dangers for cargo fires and the industry is moving to crackdown on charcoal loaded in containers.

A senior officer with China's PLA Navy has confirmed that its newest, largest amphib will be equipped to operate with drones, and said that the service is pivoting to take advantage of a new generation of unmanned combat systems.