A Chinese company has launched its first heavyweight commercial rocket from the deck of a ship, reviving a concept popularized by the Sea-Launch consortium in the 1990s. Orienspace, based in Shandong, launched its first Gravity-1 rocket from the deck of a...

The Suez Canal Authority issued a statement on Friday, January 12, denying rumors that its operations had been impacted by the overnight strikes by U.S. and UK forces and the resumption of attacks by the Houthi rebels. The statement came as the military forces have...

Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) launched its first scientific research expedition to investigate the extent of microplastics pollution in the Antarctica. Argentine President Javier Milei and IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi led the...

Norway, renowned for its substantial offshore oil and gas reserves, made a surprise move in 2021 to rebrand itself as an ocean champion. However, this environmental turn is being reversed as the government pursues commercial mining in the country’s extended...

Belgium intends to prioritize the fight against drug trafficking through the major ports in the European Union (EU) expanding on existing efforts to reign in the rampant smuggling and corruption at the region’s ports. Over the next six months, they plan to launch an...

One of the most decorated and largest battleships in the history of the U.S. Navy which served in all of America’s major conflicts from 1943 to 1990 is set to undergo a $10 million overhaul. The decommissioned USS New Jersey, one of four Iowa-class battleships...

Low-Earth-orbit satellites are revolutionizing maritime connectivity – to the delight of shipowners and crew alike. Far above the planet, thousands of satellites are orbiting Earth. Some are taking high-resolution photographs and beaming them back to ground stations,...

Ocean shipping routes are always in flux, but 2023 took it to a whole new level. Trade routes were blocked or impeded by geopolitics, labor and weather: sanctions on Russia, U.S.-China tensions, dockworker union unrest, drought-driven cuts at the Panama Canal, and...

The port of Singapore is highlighting its position as a top maritime center as it crossed in 2023 for the first time the three billion gross tonnage mark for ship arrivals. Officials from the port and industry gathered to mark the milestone as Singapore looks to...

The U.S. Coast Guard reports that the battery fire aboard the bulker Genius Star XI has been extinguished and that the crew are safe, days after the blaze began. The outcome was successful, but the fire illustrated the serious challenges inherent in fighting...

As of the last week of 2023, Russian officials were claiming to have reached a record level of cargo moving along the Northern Sea Route while expecting to continue to increase the total to the end of the year. The reports are saying that volumes recovered from the...

The degree of disruption from attacks on shipping in the Red Sea continues to escalate. As of Sunday, more than 280 container vessels - not counting tankers, bulkers, car carriers or other vessel classes - have diverted to the Cape of Good Hope, according to an...

Malaysia has banned Israeli owned ships and vessels bound for the country’s ports in response to the war in Gaza. Marcus Hand | Dec 21, 2023 Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday it had imposed a ban on any vessels from ZIM...

Geopolitical and meteorological events are continuing to reshape global container shipping trading patterns as vessels look for alternatives to all water routes via the Suez and Panama Canals. Nick Savvides | Dec 19, 2023 Low water levels in the Panama Canal have...

The official Panama Canal transit numbers for November are out — and they’re ugly. November could be the tip of the iceberg. Reservation slots are being slashed further this month and in January. The total number of transits declined 22% in November versus October,...

In a significant development that aligns with the objectives of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS), Saudi Arabia has solidified its competitiveness and global standing. The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) attained its highest improvement...

Singapore has welcomed the delivery of its first methanol bunkering vessel, marking its commitment to serve as a living lab for bunkering alternative fuels. Michele Labrut | Dec 15, 2023 Singapore, a global maritime bunkering hub, has welcomed the delivery of its...

Initially attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Straits of Hormuz, which have included hijackings and missile strikes, targeted Israeli-linked ships recent incidents such as the drone strike on the OOCL chartered containership Number 9 had no current Israeli...

Container import volumes at the main U.S. ports containers ports continued to grow into the fall leading to a later than expected peak this year and prompting forecasts for continuing year-over-year growth in 2024. With the U.S. economy appearing to be on a...

The supply chain crisis is long over, but America’s importers still have a lot to keep them up at night as they plan for 2024.   Two key container shipping “chokepoints” — the Panama Canal and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea — are simultaneously...

The early moves both among the container carriers and the shippers face substantially higher costs for transporting containers using the new generation of zero-emission vessels and fuels. A new report from independent UK consultancy UMAs seeks both to quantify some of...

Fortescue, an Australian mining company that is working to become a green technology company, reports it completed the retrofit to create the world’s first ocean-going ammonia-fueled ship. The company’s flamboyant founder and chairman Andrew Forrest arrived in Dubai...

Building the new economy revolves around data, internet-of-things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and federated computing. The shipper-driven, terminal-centric Virtual Watch Tower / VWT (www.virtualwatchtower.org) is a federated computing initiative,...

The handwriting has been on the wall for some time with analysts warning that the container shipping segment was facing a prolonged period of hard times brought on by falling volumes, oversupply, and declining rates. Widely followed indicators such as the Drewry World...

Following years of intensive studies and consultations, the Western Australian (WA) government has unveiled its preferred design and location for the relocation of the container operations currently in Fremantle. The port, which handles nearly all the container...

Product tanker rates from U.S. to Chile and Peru have doubled since Nov. 1 Yet another signal on the Panama Canal situation is flashing red: Spot rates are surging for product carriers — specialized tankers carrying diesel, gasoline and jet fuel — that transit the...

The charging of recruitment fees to seafarers is forbidden under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) but the practice is still widespread. Under the MLC there is the employer pays principle, however, a presentation by Ben Bailey, Director of Programme for Mission to...

Implementation of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for shipping is still creating challenges for the industry with some parts of the legislation yet to be enacted and decisions to be made on who will be responsible for paying the charges still undecided....

Port officials in South Africa are reporting it is likely to take until 2024 and possibly till February to clear the current congestion that has built up at the container port in Durban. Consistently at the bottom of port rankings for efficiency, Durban is facing a...

Discussing ‘Solutions heading for zero carbon’ at the Greener Shipping Summit in Athens last week, Michael Jeppesen, Promotion Manager, MAN Energy Solutions, said the company will “by the end of 2024, be able to deliver our first ammonia powered engine, a...

Thailand is seeking investors for a $28 billion landbridge across the Isthmus of Kra which would allow shipping bypass the busy sea route of Malacca Straits, reviving the centuries old Kra Canal project. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is expected to...

Port of Los Angeles (Port of LA) Executive Director Gene Seroka provided some very useful insights into developments at the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and on the ongoing efforts among transportation community participants to improve information flows in his...

Across every continent shipping is having to contend with the fallout from this year’s El Niño, a weather phenomenon that has helped cut drafts along major waterways, slashed agricultural production in key export markets, and could herald a stormy Pacific for vessels...

As a record-setting drought throttles transits through the Panama Canal, most of the focus has been on higher-capacity ships: the container vessels, liquefied natural gas carriers and liquefied petroleum gas carriers that use the larger Neopanamax locks. But...

Terminal operations resumed at DP World Australia’s four locations after a weekend stoppage due to what government officials described as a “serious” cyberattack. The company’s ability to quickly recover from the incident however may be hampered by the Maritime Union...

Even restricting the Panama Canal number of Neo-Panamax transits to just five there should still be enough capacity for containerships, however, it will be a different story for other vessel types such as gas carriers. Marcus Hand | Nov 10, 2023 As Panama...

Article-Panama Canal making drastic cuts to booking slots as drought worsens. The Panama Canal announced a series of sharp reductions in booking slots to just 18 daily by February 2024 following the driest month of October in 73 years. The Panama Canal stated in an...

Concessions to operate container terminals around the globe are coming to an end and the competition between terminal operators to win the new contracts on offer is intensifying in a number of locations. Drewry Shipping Consultants conducted a global survey of 27...

A series of analyst reports over the last week from Xeneta, HSBC Global Research, and Sea-Intelligence present a downbeat picture ahead for container shipping with overcapacity leaving carriers subsidising shippers on key routes. Despite a spell of super-profits as...

Ships are again moving along Ukraine’s Black Sea corridor after what appeared to be a multi-day stop in all traffic as a result of reports that Russian forces were again dropping explosive devices in the area. Despite continuing Russian activity, the ships are again...

The Nunavut government and Canada are scrambling to deal with a potential environmental issue and boating hazard in the northernmost territory, a region located south of the Arctic Circle but with a polar climate and freezing cold for much of the year. Late on Friday...

The global container shipping industry is at the cusp of a major configuration in terms of fleet age as newbuilds prepare to enter service over the next two years and replace an aging fleet. According to the industry trade group BIMCO, the container fleet has reached...

The container shipping segment could be beginning a much longer and more challenging period according to a new analysis from Sea-Intelligence. The Danish analytics firm issued a forecast this week highlighting that the container segment’s current level of overcapacity...

War in the Middle East changes the geopolitical calculus for ocean shipping, compounding existing threats from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Two of the top energy cargoes at risk in the Middle East are liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) — propane and butane — and liquefied...

Most of the complaints over congestion surcharges have been leveled by shippers and trucking companies against carriers and terminals, but in a reversal of fortune, the Federal Maritime Commission yesterday received its first complaint from a carrier against a...

Two-thirds of the respondents in a recent Accelleron survey see a competitive advantage in the use of e-fuels and no fewer than 93% of the 200 participants believe e-fuels will make a decisive contribution to more sustainable shipping. Retrofitting existing ships is...

The Panama Canal has reduced its maximum draught to 44 feet and is cutting the number of daily transits to 31 compared to 36 – 38 normally as it battles an extended dry season. Explaining the decision for an additional reduction in the daily transit maximum to 31 from...