News

Incat Crowther and Penguin International are working together to design and construct a new fast supply vessel (FSV) that represents a unique blend of features from the offshore wind and offshore oil and gas sectors. The vessel is also being built for the fledgling offshore energy sector emerging in West Africa.

Shipping company Maersk recently introduced a new 16,000-TEU, methanol-powered ship named Ane Maersk with a bridge installed near the bow. The ship is designed for maximum efficiency on the Asia-Europe trade lane.

The port of Montrose, located on Scotland’s eastern coast north of Edinburgh and Dundee, became the first Scottish port to provide shore power service for offshore energy supply vessels. The Montrose Port Authority used a self-funded joint venture with Plug Shore Power to achieve this milestone in its ambition of becoming Scotland’s first carbon-neutral port.

Ireland released a draft of its plan to designate four areas off the south coast for offshore wind projects and proceed to auctions. It follows the successful first offshore auction in May 2023 where over 3 GW of capacity was procured from four offshore projects.

Partners from Belgium and the African nation of Namibia mapped out a plan to develop the continent’s hydrogen infrastructure for the production and export of the energy source as well as launching Africa’s first hydrogen-fueled vessel.

The shipping industry has been enveloped by a sustained period of intense geopolitical volatility. Previous challenges - like the emergence of the Russian ‘dark fleet’ and the reduction in traffic through the Panama Canal - have now been superseded by the mass re-routing of vessels via the Cape of Good Hope, in order to avoid the Red Sea.

Maersk has resumed the process of liquating its Russian subsidiary, Maersk LLC (St. Petersburg), as part of its final steps of exiting the country. According to a notice published Friday by the Russian Unified State Register of Legal Entities (Fedresurs), A.P. Moller-Maersk made the decision to liquidate Maersk LLC in April.

Two of the largest U.S. offshore wind farms are moving forward into their construction phase as the industry continues to gain momentum and the federal government looks to add more projects to the pipeline.

The cruise ship bunkered with the biofuel derived from feedstocks by GoodFuels and supplied by FincoEneries before leaving the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands on April 27. Built by Fincantieri and delivered on July 30, 2021, she is the newest ship operated by the line and one of the newest in the industry.

Divers have recovered a fifth body from the wreckage of the Francis Key Bridge, bringing the number of missing people down to one. Six workers who were repairing potholes went missing when the bridge collapsed and are all presumed dead; one survived the fall with serious injuries.

The Philippine Coast Guard will not match the China Coast Guard's increasingly aggressive tactics in the South China Sea, a spokesman said Wednesday, and will stick to professional and nonviolent demonstrations of maritime sovereignty. 

Borrowing a page from 1960s science fiction programming, officials at DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) released the first pictures of Manta Ray, an in-development extended duration uncrewed undersea vehicle (UUV).

The Netherlands’ Public Prosecution Service has reached a $6 million settlement in a long-running case involving the scrapping of four reefer cargo ships more than a decade ago.

Four months into the Red Sea diversions, liner shipping seems to have absorbed the disruptions with the major container carriers showing the first upward movement in five months for schedule reliability.

China’s massive new aircraft carrier named Fujian set sail this morning, May 1, on its first sea trials after more than six years of construction. China’s PLA Navy issued a brief statement confirming that the vessel departed shortly after 8:00 local time from Shanghai but did not provide details on the plans for the trials.

Security services in the Red Sea are reporting another attack on a merchant ship in a matter of days by the Houthi. It comes as a newly arrived Italian frigate took down a drone while it was performing escort duty and the U.S. Central Command reported renewed downing of launches from the Houthi.

Qatar Energy and China State Shipbuilding Corporation are heralding an order for 18 of the world’s largest LNG carriers as the next phase in their relationship and support of the expansion of Qatar’s LNG operations.

French sail shipping company TOWT (TransOceanic Wind Transport) announced ambitious growth plans for its vision of carbon-free cargo shipping. Even before the company launches its first two dedicated vessels in the coming months, they report strong demand and supported by leading investors ordered six additional vessels.

With Nigeria considered Africa’s largest economy, it goes without saying that its maritime sector has to play a substantial role in facilitating the country’s trade. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s maritime sector - especially the public-owned port system - continues to reel under decades of neglect and under-investment.

The U.S. began in late 2023 increasing the sanctions against tankers and ultimately directly listed Russian tanker owner Sovcomflot in February 2024 as part of the efforts to enforce the oil price cap imposed by the G7 nations.