News

The Port Argentia in the eastern reaches of Canada’s Newfoundland is using its strategic position and available land to develop a business in staging for U.S. offshore wind farms. Port officials reported they have signed a contract with Denmark’s Scan Global Logistics which is responsible for transporting the wind turbine blades which will be staged in 2024 and 2025 before installation.

The saga of the bulker Ruby, laden with a potentially explosive cargo, continues with the authorities in Northern Europe closely tracking the vessel’s movements. The resolution of the situation remains unclear as the ship continues to hold 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate which is causing concern over the dangerous nature of the cargo under certain conditions.

The cargo ship which caused concerns in Norway when it was discovered to be carrying seven times the amount of ammonium nitrate that caused the devastating explosion in Beirut in 2020 is again underway creating new mysteries.

With no apparent progress to break the impasse between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the US Maritime Alliance, carriers are announcing surcharges to help address potential disruptions while they expect continued strength in the peak season and warn of congestion already at ports around the world.

As part of its ongoing strategy to hone its operations to improve financial results, UK-based Rolls-Royce is selling its naval propulsors and handling business to Fairbanks Morse Defense, a leading U.S. defense contractor.

Federal safety inspectors reported that they found a long list of violations during an inspection of an Ohio shipyard after a March 2024 fire aboard a Laker that was being prepared for the summer season.

The U.S. Coast Guard has released the first public video of the wreckage of the submersible Titan, which imploded and sank to the bottom during a dive at the wreck site of the Titanic in 2023. Five died in the implosion, making it the first fatal accident in half a century in a deep sea submersible. 

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a scathing civil claim in U.S. District Court today September 18 seeking to recover more than $103 million in costs plus punitive damages from Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, the owners and operators of the containership Dali.

Canadian ferry operator BC Ferries is moving forward with its efforts to update its aging fleet while also addressing population growth and customer expectations after the company has been plagued with problems among its old vessels.

As the next step toward developing industry competency to support ammonia bunkering, Singapore’s Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) led a first-of-its-kind ship-to-ship transfer of ammonia.

Today marks two weeks till the likely first day of a crippling strike for containers and Ro-Ro traffic at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports as the International Longshoremen’s Association has refused to resume negotiations on the master contract.

More than five years after Mitsui O.S.K. Line’s cruise ship Nippon Maru caused significant damage to a U.S. fueling berth in Apra Harbor, Gaum, a settlement has been reached. The U.S. had brought a lawsuit in 2023 seeking to arrest and sell the cruise ship to satisfy the claim for damages.

With container shipping moving into its traditional peak season, U.S. retailers are expected to further accelerate shipping ahead of a potential longshore strike that is looking increasingly likely for October 1. The forecast is for strong increases in volume this month coming as many U.S. ports are already running at record levels.

An investigation has been launched in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa after authorities received a report of an “oily substance” spill. The South Africa Incident Management Organization is leading the investigation in the Algoa Bay area near Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), a popular sheltered anchorage for vessels making the transit around the Cape or inbound to South Africa.

HMM provided an update on its strategy detailing an aggressive expansion plan that would double its containership fleet while dramatically growing and diversifying its operations in bulk cargoes.

Dalian Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, reported the successful sea trial for the first commercial CO2 transport vessel. Known as Northern Pioneer, the 8,000 dwt vessel will be operated by Japan’s “K Line” (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha) for Norway’s Northern Lights project. 

Two historic ferries had been slated to quietly slip away to their final fate except the deal went horribly wrong causing an embarrassment for Washington State Ferries. The decommissioned vessels are back at their dock, four seafarers scheduled to tow the vessels away are being deported, and everyone came in for bad publicity.

There was an explosion and subsequent fire at one of Bangladesh’s green certified shipyards on Saturday morning, September 7, as workers were cutting into a tanker being dismantled at the yard. It is one of the most serious recent accidents in the industry and caused renewed concerns about the shipbreaking industry.

Norwegian offshore support company Østensjø has ordered a new concept offshore support vessel to be built in Spain at the Astilleros Gondan shipyard. Called an Ocean Energy Support Vessel (OESV).    

The Chinese shipbuilding industry is continuing to build its leadership based on new orders. August’s data released by Clarkson Research shows that South Korea continues to slip in the portion of new orders booked ceding the orders nearly entirely to China last month.