Houthis Target Maersk and MSC Vessels as They Vow to Renew Attacks

Maersk May Set Up Container-on-Barge Service to Reach Baltimore

Published Apr 24, 2024 5:29 PM by The Maritime Executive

Baltimore's shipping channel is closed to deep-draft container ships because of the wreckage of the Key Bridge, and will probably not reopen until the end of May, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. This has an outsize effect on local businesses that depend on the port for logistics: they now have to truck their goods to and from New York or Virginia to get access to ocean freight. But Maersk may have an interim solution - a container-on-barge service,...

MSC Jumps into Vehicle Transport Offering $700M for Gram Car Carriers

Published Apr 24, 2024 5:18 PM by The Maritime Executive

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and the Aponte family are making a bold move to break into the hot car and vehicle transport segment. The container carrier giant has agreed to an aggregate equity purchase price of approximately $700 million (NOK 7.643 billion) in a cash tender to acquire Norway-based Gram Car Carriers. Vehicle carriers are one of the hottest segments in the shipping industry currently with vessels and capacity in short supply. Gram Car Carriers, currently with a fleet...

Royal Romance (file image courtesy Tjerk Zweers / CC BY 2.0)

Ukraine Auctions Off $200M Russian Yacht

Published Apr 24, 2024 4:20 PM by The Maritime Executive

The government of Ukraine has selected a Dutch auction house to oversee the sale of the Russian yacht Royal Romance, which was seized and transferred to Ukrainian ownership earlier this year. Croatian and Ukrainian authorities say that Royal Romance was owned by Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Soviet lawyer, Ukrainian politician, oligarch and supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Medvedchuk was indicted by Ukrainian prosecutors for treason in 2021, and was captured by Ukrainian forces in April 2022. He was handed...

U.S. Plots 12 Offshore Wind Lease Auctions by 2028 and Revises Rules

Published Apr 24, 2024 2:02 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Biden administration is moving forward aggressively to expand the U.S. offshore wind energy industry including mapping out a five-year plan for up to a dozen new leases and streamlining and modernizing the rules for development. All of this comes as the industry however continues to struggle to get projects from concept to reality with New York suffering the latest setback in moving forward with approved projects. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the new five-year offshore wind...

Shipping

Video: Italian Police Find $27M of Cocaine in Vessel's Sea Chest

The Italian police are highlighting their ongoing efforts to crack down on the smuggling of illegal narcotics into the country. The State Police are reporting 24 raids in the Policoro region in southern Italy, while in the north at Ravenna on the Adriatic, they are reporting a significant seizure of cocaine found hidden below the waterline on an arriving bulker. The joint investigation was carried out by the State Police and the Financial Police, in coordination with multiple units...

Tugs & Salvage

Two Dead, Six Injured in First Quarter at S. Asian Shipbreaking Yards

Shipbreaking remains dirty and dangerous work, particularly in South Asia, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform reminded the industry in its latest update. While South Asian beaching yards pay far more per tonne for end-of-life tonnage, they have a certain ESH reputation from years of fatalities and injuries, which continued in recent months. In Pakistan, two workers were killed when an iron plate fell onto them at Dewan Shipbreaking, one of the many plots in Gadani. The local union reports that...

Government

Capt. Mode (right) visits the cutter USCGC Oliver Henry in Guam, Dec. 2023 (USCG)

Coast Guard Removes Top Chaplain for "Failure to Demonstrate Judgement"

On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that it has permanently removed Father Daniel Mode, Chaplain of the Coast Guard, from his primary duty due to a loss of confidence. The service said only that Mode "failed to demonstrate the requisite judgment expected from his key leadership position." Capt. Daniel Mode, USN - an ordained Catholic priest - took over the Coast Guard's top chaplain role in 2022, overseeing 50 active-duty and reserve Navy chaplains and over 90 auxiliary...

Corporate News

ClassNK Releases Route Correction Factors Calculation Tool 'WACDAS'

[By: ClassNK] ClassNK has released a new tool, 'WACDAS (Wave Climate Data Aggregation for Ships)', for calculating the route correction factors essential for ensuring the safety of container lashing and supporting container stacking optimization. Responding to rapid increases in the size of container ships and advances in lashing technology, ClassNK released 'Guidelines for Container Stowage and Securing Arrangements (Edition 3.0)'* last year to enhance the safety and efficiency of marine container transportation. 'WACDAS' is a tool that enables the...

Cruise Ships

Norwegian’s Next Cruise Ship Norwegian Aqua is Floated by Fincantieri

Norwegian Cruise Line marked the float out today of its next, mega cruise ship, the Norwegian Aqua. The ship is being built at Fincantieri in Marghera, Italy (near Venice) and is scheduled to enter service in the spring of 2026. The order for this ship was placed as part of the company’s pre-pandemic plans but later enlarged to improve the economics of the vessel. The first of the class was introduced in 2022, the Norwegian Prima, and a sister...

Ports

Red Sea Diversions are Overloading Mediterranean Transshipment Ports

Europe’s transship ports serving the Mediterranean have become the latest to feel the repercussions of the diversions from the Red Sea with many of the ports warning of crowing and lack of capacity as well as longer them normal wait times. In a new report by the Financial Times, they cite overflowing storage yards and severe port congestion which they warn is the latest threat to supply chains. Experts had previously predicted that the popular transshipment ports...

Shipping

Video: Italian Police Find $27M of Cocaine in Vessel's Sea Chest

Tugs & Salvage

Two Dead, Six Injured in First Quarter at S. Asian Shipbreaking Yards

Government

Coast Guard Removes Top Chaplain for "Failure to Demonstrate Judgement"

Corporate News

ClassNK Releases Route Correction Factors Calculation Tool 'WACDAS'

Cruise Ships

Norwegian’s Next Cruise Ship Norwegian Aqua is Floated by Fincantieri

Ports

Red Sea Diversions are Overloading Mediterranean Transshipment Ports

Offshore

U.S. Plots 12 Offshore Wind Lease Auctions by 2028 and Revises Rules

Shipbuilding

Philly Shipyard and HD Hyundai Sign MOU for Cooperation on US Shipbuilding

South Korea’s HD Heavy Industries is continuing its push to expand its international military work with an announcement that it plans to explore a potential business relationship with Philly Shipyard, a U.S. shipbuilding that is a leader in building U.S. coastal trade vessels under the Jones Act. The companies confirmed that they entered into a memorandum of understanding for future cooperation on opportunities for U.S. government shipbuilding projects. News of the agreement comes just weeks after U.S. Secretary of...

Environment

Red Sea Diversions Surge Container Shipping Emissions Reports Xeneta

Carbon emissions from the container shipping industry are reaching record levels as ocean going vessels sail longer distances to avoid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The new data contained in Xeneta’s Carbon Emissions Index (CEI) highlights the adverse impacts on the industry’s efforts to curb emissions because of the conflict in the Middle East. Xeneta calculates container shipping emissions hit 107.5 points in the first quarter of this year on its index. The CEI is based on average...

Business

MSC Jumps into Vehicle Transport Offering $700M for Gram Car Carriers

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Houthis Target Maersk and MSC Vessels as They Vow to Renew Attacks

Maersk May Set Up Container-on-Barge Service to Reach Baltimore

MSC Jumps into Vehicle Transport Offering $700M for Gram Car Carriers

Ukraine Auctions Off $200M Russian Yacht

U.S. Plots 12 Offshore Wind Lease Auctions by 2028 and Revises Rules

Video: Italian Police Find $27M of Cocaine in Vessel's Sea Chest

Two Dead, Six Injured in First Quarter at S. Asian Shipbreaking Yards

Coast Guard Removes Top Chaplain for "Failure to Demonstrate Judgement"

ClassNK Releases Route Correction Factors Calculation Tool 'WACDAS'

Norwegian’s Next Cruise Ship Norwegian Aqua is Floated by Fincantieri

Red Sea Diversions are Overloading Mediterranean Transshipment Ports

Polymeric Solutions Contributing to Maritime Decarbonization

Healthy Crew, Safe Vessel: Navigating the Importance of PEME Exams

Inchcape Americas Gears Up for Growth With New CEO

Video: Italian Police Find $27M of Cocaine in Vessel's Sea Chest

Two Dead, Six Injured in First Quarter at S. Asian Shipbreaking Yards

Coast Guard Removes Top Chaplain for "Failure to Demonstrate Judgement"

ClassNK Releases Route Correction Factors Calculation Tool 'WACDAS'

Norwegian’s Next Cruise Ship Norwegian Aqua is Floated by Fincantieri

Red Sea Diversions are Overloading Mediterranean Transshipment Ports

U.S. Plots 12 Offshore Wind Lease Auctions by 2028 and Revises Rules

Philly Shipyard and HD Hyundai Sign MOU for Cooperation on US Shipbuilding

Red Sea Diversions Surge Container Shipping Emissions Reports Xeneta

MSC Jumps into Vehicle Transport Offering $700M for Gram Car Carriers

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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