News

India’s relations with Turkey could take a new turn after reports that the Turkish government has imposed a moratorium on exports of arms and defense items to India. This came to light during a recent appearance of a senior government official to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament.

The authorities in Singapore and the UK Maritime Trade Operations confirmed that a Singapore-flagged containership sustained minor damage in the latest Houthi attack on merchant ships. As with earlier attacks, the Houthis’ spokesperson said the vessel was targeted for violating its ban on Israeli ports. 

Parkwind, a developer of offshore wind farms owned by Japan’s JERA, completed the first test of an offshore charging station that supplies power from the wind farm to service vessels. The technology which is being developed by several companies holds the promise to permit crew and maintenance vessels to operate using renewable energy coming from the wind farm.

DP World and Turkey’s Evyap Group completed a strategic merger, bringing together the strengths of two of Turkey’s major ports on the Marmara Sea to create a new international logistics hub that they hope will elevate Turkey’s global trade.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) designated Chinese shipping company Anji Shipping as a “controlled carrier,” meaning that it has been judged to be directly or indirectly controlled by the Chinese government.

German retailing giant Lidl, part of the Schwarz Group, the fifth-largest retailer in the world, surprised many in the shipping industry when it leaked out in the spring of 2022 that they were launching a container shipping line.

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has surpassed yet another milestone as the carrier continues to open its lead on the rest of the segment. This comes as the secondhand and charter markets remain red hot setting their own records and container carriers are again moving to increase the orderbook.

More than a day after the search began for the missing crew of a small oil tanker, the Prestige Falcon, that capsized off Oman, the Indian Navy is reporting that it has found nine of the 16 crewmembers alive. The Oman Maritime Security Center confirmed the recovery while also reporting that a tenth crew member had been found deceased.

Based on the strength of the U.S. economy and positive momentum, Southern California’s two container ports sounded an optimistic note for the remainder of 2024. Both Los Angeles and Long Beach reported a strong first half of 2024 with increases over 2023 and with Long Beach achieving its strongest June on record.

The Australian government followed up its previous effort announcing a second batch of feasibility licenses for its first potential offshore wind farms. Industry leaders including RWE, Iberdrola, and Corio Generation, are among the second batch of licenses being granted to explore proposed projects all located off the Gippsland coast in the state of Victoria.

Vineyard Wind, one of the first large offshore wind farms in the United States, is suffering an embarrassing incident after one of the recently installed turbines experienced what the company is calling “blade damage.”

Tracking services and the AIS signal from the Marshall Island-flagged tanker Advantage Sweet show the vessel underway and bound for Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates nearly 15 months after the tanker was detained by Iranian forces.

Turkish officials are trying to salvage a small, coastal cargo ship after it went hard aground, Media reports are indicating the grounding happened at 0200 on Sunday, July 14 when the officer of the watch fell asleep.

The last patrol ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet remaining in Crimea has departed, according to a spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces. If confirmed, it would suggest that Ukraine's concerted campaign to drive the Russian Navy out of the western half of the Black Sea has succeeded.

With the strong rebound in the tanker markets further enhanced by the disruptions in the Red Sea, Danish operator TORM is moving to further strengthen its position and continue the consolidation of the market.

South Korean regulators expressed concern that HD Hyundai might be in a position to monopolize the market and hinger supplies to competitors if it is permitted to acquire a controlling stake in marine engine manufacturer STX Heavy Industries.

Heavy seas and strong winds are continuing to batter shipping along the South African coast and the massive containerships on route to sail the Cape of Good Hope due to Red Sea diversions. CMA CGM is reporting that one of its vessels, CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin (185,000 dwt) has become the latest casualty of the bad weather.

Reports indicate that there was a lackluster response to New Jersey’s fourth round of solicitations for offshore wind projects. The state has already suffered setbacks after Ørsted walked away in October 2023 for what would have been the first large projects and the round that closed yesterday, July 10 received only two new proposals, one of which had been presented and rejected before, and a re-bid proposal for a third project.

Ukraine reports it has seized a Turkish-owned cargo ship and is detaining its captain on charges that the vessel was used by the Russians to loot Ukraine grain stored in occupied Crimea. According to a statement from the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the vessel and its crew were executing orders from the Russian Federation to remove the Ukrainian grain and sell it for the benefit of Russia.

Work got underway at two shipyards in Italy for the cruise industry’s next ultra-luxury mega-yachts designed to bring a new level of opulence and service to cruising. The ships, which are being built for the Four Seasons and Aman brands, are part of the trend seeing the luxury hotel brands expand into cruising.