Cash buyer GMS cites the dangerous situations unfolding across the Middle East, Ukraine and South China Sea, when saying that politics, war, and ensuing global financial instability, means that ship recycling markets continue to endure profound challenges as the industry heads towards Q4 2024.

“On the financial side, we witnessed a seesawing of fundamentals as on the one hand, likely on the back of news that the U.S. Feds are revising another reduction in interest rates, the U.S. Dollar seemed to have declined a hair or stayed even across the board, and offer Indian sub-continent and Turkish currencies a much-needed opportunity to stabilize this week.

“On the other hand, local steel plate prices in both India and Pakistan suffered tragic declines, all at a time their +USD 500/LDT levels were the only things keeping shipowners / cash buyers interested in these recycling destinations.”

Even in the West, Turkish steel registered falls through late August at a time where local levels were their only safety net and are now collapsing under the feet of local recyclers, says GMS. These declining steel levels have also shown few signs of easing in India and Pakistan where Gadani recyclers refuse to be a competitive resale option for no reason other…

The operation has started to tow a Greek-registered oil tanker stranded in the Red Sea after an attack by Houthi militants last month, a shipping source told Reuters on Saturday.

Towing the 900-foot (274.2-metre) MV Sounion to safety is the first step in a risky operation to salvage the vessel that caught fire after it was repeatedly attacked on Aug. 21.

The second step is the transfer of its cargo of about 1 million barrels of crude oil. Saudi Arabia, a key player in the region, will offer its assistance with that project, sources have said.

Any oil spill could be one of the largest from a ship, risking catastrophic environmental damage in an area that is particularly dangerous to enter. An initial effort to salvage the vessel was paused earlier this month due to safety reasons.

At least two tugboats owned by a Greek-based salvage company are involved in the latest towing attempt, sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Aspides, the European Union’s naval mission in the Red Sea, said on Saturday that its assets were in the area to protect the vessels involved in the operation. It described the operation as a “complex endeavour”.

“Creating a secure environment is necessary for the tugboats to conduct the towing operation,” Aspides said in a statement on…

The U.S. Navy on Friday announced it has placed a $6.75 billion order with San Diego shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO for up to eight John Lewis Class (TAO-205) Fleet Replenishment Oilers.

The Navy, which has been looking for ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency across its shipbuilding and repair programs, said it expects the “block buy” approach will unlock savings of $491 million compared to the total anticipated costs of carrying out the build program through annual contracts.

“This T-AO block buy delivers on the Department of Navy’s commitment to get more players on the field while growing near-term capability and capacity,” said Nickolas H. Guertin, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN RD&A). “This multi-billion dollar award reflects innovation to build and sustain our maritime dominance and allows for critical investment and sustainment of our shipbuilding industrial base.”

This award includes a Shipbuilding Capability Preservation Agreement with NASSCO that broadens and strengthens the shipbuilding industrial base by providing an incentive for a shipbuilder to obtain new private sector work, thereby reducing the Navy’s cost of doing business.  This strengthening of the…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Chevron Shipping Company, a subsidiary of oil and gas giant Chevron, have signed an agreement to install Wind Challenger to a newbuild LNG carrier, which will become world’s first LNG carrier equipped with wind-assisted propulsions system.

The is under long term charter from MOL Encean to Chevron Asia Pacific Shipping, and is currently under construction at the Geoje Shipyard of Hanwha Ocean, scheduled for delivery in 2026.

In August 2024, MOL obtained an approval in principle (AiP) by Class NK – a first for an LNG carrier with a Wind-Assisted Ship Propulsion System, while the Chevron-chartered vessel will be the first application.

Wind Challenger, a hard sail wind-assisted ship propulsion system developed jointly by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding, will help reduce fuel consumption and GHG emissions by using its unique telescopic sails.

For tradability, the installation position of the Wind Challenger aims to minimize impact on the existing design of membrane type LNG Carriers. It will enable the retention of the existing mooring arrangement unchanged and thereby minimize impacts on ship shore compatibility, together with limited impact on the vessel’s windage area.

“We’re proud of partner with MOL in Wind Challenger’s…

Classification society DNV and Navigation Brilliance (Brinav) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate in fast-tracking the development and approval of autonomous and remote-controlled shipping technologies.

The signing of the MoU signifies a wider collaboration effort between DNV and Brinav and a strategic step towards realizing the potential of the autonomous technology for maritime industry.

Brinav, a specialist in maritime autonomy and green technologies, has started the work to obtain the Type Approval of their situational awareness system, and will also work towards obtaining the Type Approvals necessary for its autonomous navigation, remote-control, and navigation assistance products. DNV will support Brinav with approval of autonomous vessel functions.

The collaborative efforts include developing assurance for novel technologies with DNV’s expertise, utilizing the 220 NM² test area around Nv Island in Qingdao for autonomous ship testing, and supporting Brinav in approval of autonomous functions in new-building projects.

They are fully supported with joint expertise from DNV, Qingdao Station and Technical Center China, facilitated by Smart Center, an organization which is dedicated to collaboration with leading…

In February 2025, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will launch their Gemini Cooperation aimed at delivering a flexible and interconnected ocean network with schedule reliability above 90% once fully phased in.

The companies unveiled the concept in January 2024 and have been working on finalizing the details of a joint ocean freight network on East-West trades. Depending on which network the cooperation will phase in, the new network will consist of either 300 or 340 vessels:

Trans-Suez Network: Approx. 300 vessels, 3.4 million TEU capacity, 57 services (27 mainliners, 30 shuttles)

Cape of Good Hope Network: Approx. 340 vessels, 3.7 million TEU capacity, 59 services (29 mainliners, 30 shuttles).

The company will announce their decision on which network to implement in October 2024.

“We are looking forward to the launch of our completely redesigned network next year, and we are happy to reconfirm that our schedule reliability target remains unchanged irrespective of which network we will phase in. We believe our collaboration will raise the bar for reliability to the benefit of our customers and set a new and very high standard in the industry,” said Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk.

The breakaway and grounding of an oil tanker in the Brisbane River, Australia, in February 2022 illustrates the importance of clearly defined emergency and risk management arrangements, according to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report.

On February 27, 2022, during a period of heavy, sustained rainfall and flooding in south-east Queensland, the 185-meter Hong Kong-flagged oil products tanker CSC Friendship was berthed at the Ampol products wharf in the Port of Brisbane, Queensland.

Currents in the Brisbane River increased until they exceeded the design mooring limits of both the ship and the berth.

“While weather conditions exceeded those initially forecast, the associated increased safety risk to shipping and the port was foreseeable,” ATSB marine investigation manager Captain Vik Chaudhri said.

“Numerous warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology provided sufficient information to identify and assess the increased likelihood of a breakaway, and the current in the river had exceeded the operational limits of the berth and the ship’s mooring arrangements more than 14 hours prior to the breakaway – yet the ship remained at the berth.”

The ship, loaded with about 32,000 tonnes of petroleum products, broke its…

The ship recycling market has so far been subdued in September, as expected, reports cash buyer GMS.

Macro factors affecting the market include the situation in the Middle East, Houthi attacks on passing vessels and tensions caused by the repositioning of navies in response to ISIS fighters targeting U.S. bases.

“The start of September saw the industry still witness the inescapable decline that is India’s ship recycling sector today, one that continues to show no signs of it slowing since early June,” says GMS. “Any expectations that a historical Q4 resurgence is likely to repeat itself can be fully laid to rest as this does not seem to be an exit on India’s 2024 highway.”

Sub-continent markets appear mired in gloom amidst the ongoing import of cheaper Chinese steel into India and Pakistan. This has been undercutting local inventories there and causing steel plate prices to fall.

Meanwhile, political strife and disastrous flooding have characterized the unfolding crises in Bangladesh.

“For sub-continent recyclers overall, there have been very few recycling candidates available to test where currently falling levels stand, as they have lost about USD 65/LDT since the peaks seen earlier this year. As such, offers below USD 500/LDT are…

Fuel oil exports bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast slumped to their lowest level since January 2019 last month, a sign of weakened refinery demand as margins have softened, analysts said.

Feedstocks like high sulfur fuel oil and other heavy residues can be refined into higher value products such as gasoline and diesel using secondary units.

But loadings of those products to the Gulf Coast, America’s largest refining hub, fell by a third in August from the prior month to 260,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to data from ship tracker Kpler, marking a more than five-year low.

Cargoes departing Mexico for the Gulf Coast fell 25% month-over-month, hitting 77,000 bpd and their lowest level since July 2021, driving much of the decline, Kpler data showed.

“On the demand side, refinery margins aren’t strong enough to incentivize U.S. Gulf Coast refiners to run their secondary units harder to process this fuel oil,” said Rohit Rathhod, a market analyst at energy researcher Vortexa.

U.S. gasoline cracking margins – the spread between gasoline futures and West Texas Intermediate crude futures – typically narrows as the summer driving season draws to a close. Even so, that spread is currently at around $12 a barrel, roughly $10 a barrel below last year’s…

The U.S. government signaled in a court filing on Wednesday for the first time that it may file a claim against the owner of the ship that caused the March collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

U.S. Justice Department attorney Laine Goodhue submitted a letter, opens new tab notifying U.S. District Judge James Bredar that the government is among the “claimants and prospective claimants” that have negotiated with the registered owner of the ship Grace Ocean and its manager Synergy Marine Group to conduct inspections and testing on the vessel before it leaves to sail to China later this month.

Bredar is overseeing claims filed against the companies following the March 26 bridge collapse.

Justice Department representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nor did a spokesperson for Synergy and Grace Ocean.

Maritime attorney Charles Simmons Jr of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston in Baltimore, who is not involved with the case, told Reuters that it wasn’t clear from the filing what kind of claims the government could bring, but maritime law would likely limit them to recovery for funds the federal government spent on clearing the channel after the bridge’s collapse or provided to the state for the bridge’s…