Ports can’t afford to slow down, and stricter environmental regulations and emissions standards are pushing port authorities to balance operational efficiency with reducing their carbon footprint. By replacing traditional gas and diesel as an energy source, propane can help ports reduce emissions and air pollution without sacrificing power or efficiency. Let’s explore how.

Reduced Emissions
Propane is non-toxic and won’t contaminate soil or water. A byproduct of natural gas processing and sometimes crude oil refining, propane is recognized for its lower emissions profile compared to fuels like gas and diesel. In fact, propane is listed as an approved alternative fuel under the Clean Air Act. When used in engines to power port tractors, forklifts, light- and medium-duty vehicles, and more around port terminals, propane emits significantly fewer greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter than diesel and gas.

Here are some examples:

Propane Port Tractors

• In terminal tractors and light-duty vehicles, propane produces 12 percent fewer greenhouse emissions than gasoline.
• Terminal tractors produce 99 percent less particulate matter than diesel tractors.

(Photo: Propane Education & Research Council)

Propane Forklifts

• Propane forklifts…

UK-based offshore vessel owner North Star has secured its first contract for a commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) from EnBW, which will be deployed at 960 MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm in Germany.

This award for the newbuild Grampian Kestrel CSOV of VARD 4 22 design, will precede the decade-long minimum charter contract the firm signed in February to provide a service operation vessel (SOV) for the German energy utility firm’s He Dreiht wind farm in the North Sea.

Tailored for the commissioning phase, the Grampian Kestrel CSOV will offer essential accommodation and logistics to support the construction and commissioning works in 2025.

Following this period, it will lead EnBW’s operations and maintenance activities until the newbuild SOV is delivered in the third quarter of 2026.

The Grampian Kestrel is the first of two CSOVs under construction for North Star. The VARD 4 22 design has been developed especially for North Star, with new methanol ready hybrid-propulsion solutions and an increased number of single cabins, providing hotel quality accommodation for the technicians working in field.

“The CSOV, part of North Star’s growing fleet as we aim to add 40 SOVs by 2040, will be equipped with market leading accessibility to…

Cash buyer GMS reports an eerie calm has descended across tense global economies, including the destitute ship recycling sector.

It’s been some time since a regular supply of a decent variety of vessels has been regularly available (likely the worst in a decade), says GMS. 

Levels have declined by over USD 100/LDT since the peaks of early 2024 and offerings continually retreat, firmly relegating all vessels below the commensurate USD 500/LDT mark.

Geopolitical events have been to blame for much of the trauma across the ship recycling markets this year. “Such has been the unpredictable nature of global instability at present that sentiments are yoyoing wildly from one week to the next.”

Bangladesh has remained virtually out of the picture for over a couple of weeks, given that most infrastructure projects remain on hold under the current interim government.

India has managed to haul in a massive tranche of tonnage, but ship recycling yards across Bangladesh and (especially) Pakistan lie empty due to comparatively weak sentiments that have left demand stifled.

As cheaper Chinese steel continues to flood the markets and has been a key source of frustration for Indian and Pakistani recyclers in recent times, meaningful tariffs have done little to…

An oil tanker caught fire off the Baltic Sea coast of northern Germany early on Friday, and all seven crew members on board at the time were taken ashore, maritime rescue services said in a statement.

Three vessels have been deployed to the burning tanker Annika in the Mecklenburg Bay to extinguish the blaze, with several firefighting teams also en route to the site via helicopters, according to the statement.

The Germany-flagged, 73-metre-long tanker is carrying around 640 tonnes of oil, it added. The vessel is at anchor and connected to a tugboat on site.

(Reuters – Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Miranda Murray)

The United States expanded sanctions against Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors on Friday in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden said.

The U.S. move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran’s economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs.

“The new designations today also include measures against the ‘Ghost Fleet’ that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said in a statement. “These measures will help further deny Iran financial resources used to support its missile programs and provide support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies, and partners.”

Israel is vowing to respond to Iran’s Oct. 1 missile attack, launched in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza and the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran.

The U.S. Treasury can now “impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors of the Iranian economy,” it said in a statement.

Biden has said Israel should seek alternatives to attacking Iran’s oil fields. Gulf states are lobbying Washington to…

TotalEnergies has signed a charter contract with Spanish shipowner Ibaizabal for a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunker vessel of 18,600 m3 capacity, expanding its global presence in bunkering hubs.

TotalEnegies said this additional vessel might be deployed in Oman, where the company is developing the Marsa LNG project with the objective to provide LNG to the shipping sector in the Gulf.

The vessel, owned by Ibaizabal, will supply LNG to a wide range of vessels – containerships, tankers, large cruise ships, ferries – at TotalEnergies’ LNG bunkering hubs and meet the highest technical and environmental standards.

The vessel, currently being constructed by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China, will be delivered by the end of 2026 and will join TotalEnergies’ current fleet of three deployed LNG bunker vessels – the Gas Agility, which has been positioned in the Port of Rotterdam, the Gas Vitality, operated in the Port of Marseille and the Brassavola located in the Port of Singapore.

“We are very proud of this agreement with Ibaizabal, which reinforces our position as a main player in LNG bunkering. With new LNG-fuelled vessels coming on stream at a rapid pace, we are committed to playing our part in responding to the sector’s increasing…

A Russian ballistic missile attack on Wednesday on the port infrastructure of Ukraine’s southern Odesa region killed six people and injured eight, Odesa Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said.

The injured were all Ukrainian nationals, Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Four were in serious condition.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said a Panamanian-flagged container ship, the Shui Spirit, sustained damage in the attack.

“An insidious enemy is trying to disrupt the work of the Ukrainian grain corridor, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure,” Kiper wrote in his post.

The attack on the port of Chornomorsk was the third in the region in the past four days.

Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile hit a Palau-flagged vessel in Odesa port on Monday, killing one Ukrainian national and injuring five foreign nationals.

And on Sunday, a Russian missile damaged a civilian Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged vessel loaded with corn in the port of Pivdennyi.

Under a deal brokered by Turkey soon after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, ships carrying cargoes from Ukrainian ports operated without impediment for about a year before Russia pulled out of the agreement.

Vessels have since been using an alternative route, hugging Ukraine’s…

A partnership between Iceland’s TM Insurance and Hefring Marine promises to bring the ‘big brother is watching’ mantra foward faster in marine operations.

Touted as an AI -driven ‘digital assistant’, the primary target for this offering are the helm stations of fast craft, and according to Hefring Marine, IMAS Helm addresses both accident prevention and fuel efficiency, aiming to provide fast craft operators with guidance such as a maximum advised speed, based upon the vessel’s route, current sea state, weather conditions, and the system’s previously learned handling tendencies of the boat.

The IMAS Helm system comprises two main components: the Control Unit and the Sensor Unit. 

The Control Unit is the central computing module of the IMAS Helm system that collects, stores, and processes data from the Sensor Unit and other onboard systems via NMEA2000. The processed information is displayed on a compatible multi-function display through an ethernet connection. Additionally, all data is uploaded to the IMAS Cloud platform via a cellular network or the vessel’s modem. The IP67-rated Control Unit is designed to connect and integrate seamlessly with most onboard systems.

The Sensor Unit is a high-performance inertial measurement unit (IMU)…