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Following Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to South Korea, a $172.6m loan agreement has been signed for the construction of the $199.3m Cebu International Container Port (CICT), local reports cited the Department of Finance (DOF) as saying. Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) will provide a low interest, 40-year loan for the major port project. The loan will carry an interest rate of 0.15% per annum for non-consulting services and will include a 10-year grace period. The Philippines will put up around $26.1m of the project cost. The new container terminal will be built on 25ha of reclaimed land in the northern part of Cebu in the central Visayas region of the Philippines. It is meant to relieve some of the pressure from congestion at the current Cebu International Port nearer to Cebu City as well as boost connectivity in the central and southern regions. http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/asia/philippines-secures-173m-korea-loan-for-new-cebu-port-project.html

With this latest delivery of cranes, APM Terminals Moin remains on schedule for completion in February 2019, when it is expected to raise commerce in Costa Rica by 23% according to Qbis Socioeconomic Impact Study. This second delivery of Ship-to-Shore and Electric Rubber-Tire Gantry Cranes (ERTGs) to APM Terminals Moin, Costa Rica brings the total on site to six and 23 respectively. The commissioning of the equipment was completed this week

Maintenance at Russia’s Ust Luga coal terminal will have a temporary effect on thermal coal export capacity from Russia, but this is not expected to have much of an impact on the delivered-Europe price, sources said. The maintenance could reduce coal export capacity by as much as 1 million-2 million mt over the next few months while work on the terminal is carried out, sources said. But some sources said they doubted the reduction would have much impact on the market, saying Russian coal was exported via several terminals in the Baltic region that could absorb the lost capacity from Ust Luga. Ust Luga’s export capacity is 20 million mt/year, according to the terminal’s website.

CNOOC will start building six liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks by the end of the year as part of a project to expand its Tianjin LNG terminal to help meet surging demand from households in northern China, CNOOC Gas and Power Group said in statement. The project, including six tanks each with 220,000 cubic metres of storage capacity, 12 gasification units and 12 high pressure pumps, has been approved by CNOOC’s board members, the company said. The new facilities are expected to start operating in 2022. CNOOC’s Tianjin terminal is expected to have 7.25 million tonnes of annual LNG processing capacity by 2030, up for 3.21 million tonnes in 2018. Source: Reuters

UK cross-Solent ferry operator Red Funnel has started upgrade work on its East Cowes terminal for its three Raptor Class ro-paxes on the Southampton-Cowes route, as well as preparing the terminal for the arrival of its new freight-only ro-ro.

Brazil’s trucker strike entered the ninth straight day amid signs that the protests may be shrinking. While there’s no official data yet on the number of the blockades across the country on Tuesday, industry reports indicated that many were halted after the government signed decrees meeting trucker demands. Local media said protests persist in several states. Brazil terminals run out of soybeans (12:19 p.m.) Most export terminals ran out of soybeans for shipments scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, Lucas Trindade de Brito, manager at export group Anec, said in a telephone interview. Grain-truck traffic resumed slowly on Tuesday, though new supplies haven’t arrived yet to export terminals. Political protests prevent end of strike (noon) Protests are becoming politically motivated as truckers return to work after the government met their demands, Brazil Chief of Staff Eliseu Padilha said at a press conference in Brasilia. Earlier, Jose da Fonseca Lopes, head of the largest trucker union, said the strike continues because of the interest of “people who want to overthrow the government.” Vale output cut inevitable if strike persists (11:24 a.m.) Strike impact for the time being is limited, Vale CEO Fabio Schvartsman says at an event in Sao Paulo. Dow halts plants, limits deliveries (11:21 a.m.) Amid strike impact, Dow still expects to expand in Brazil many basis points above GDP and will continue spending in Brazil, Fabian Gil, the CEO for Latin America, says at an event in Sao Paulo. Beef output almost completely halted (11:16 a.m.) Among Brazil’s 109 beef plants, 107 suspended operations and two are running below 50% of capacity, exporter group Abiec said in an email. Exports of 40,000 tons of beef haven’t been shipped as planned, and thousands of trucks loaded with perishable products, including boned meat, are halted on roads. Truck flow to main export terminals still halted (10:15 a.m.) Ports at Santos, the main source for grain exports, and Paranagua, the second-largest, haven’t received any cargoes by truck on Tuesday, according to authorities for both terminals. Truck grain transportation resumes slowly: Abiove (10 a.m.) Soybean and soybean-meal transportation slowly returned to normal in some parts of the country, Daniel Furlan Amaral, a manager at industry group Abiove, said in a telephone interview. https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/most-port-terminals-run-out-of-soybeans-brazil-strike-timeline/

Norwegian company Barents NaturGass said Wednesday it has reached an agreement with Swedish gas distribution and infrastructure company Swedegas on the delivery of LNG to a new bunkering facility in the port of Gothenburg in Sweden. The facility is expected to be complete in August. Swedegas will own and operate the facility. Barents NaturGass will supply the LNG with ISO-containers from European LNG terminals. LNG as a shipping fuel reduces emissions of sulfur and particles close to zero and nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90%.

AIDA Cruises has floated out its newest LNG-powered cruise ship, AIDAnova, from her building dock at Meyer Werft’s shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. During the floating-out process, the shipyard’s team used several cable winches to enable AIDAnova to travel a distance of approximately 140 metres. Now that Meyer Werft has completed AIDAnova’s superstructure, the team will assemble and install the propellers, fit the mast and funnel, and paint AIDA’s signature smiling lips and eyes on the ship’s prow.

Iceland’s Environment ministry presented this week a report by the Environment Agency on how best to reduce pollution from burning Heavy Fuel Oil, including the full ban option. It is not a report on what Iceland will do, but on what options are available. The Environment Agency estimates that the main gain of a ban on burning HFOs in Icelandic waters will be: better air quality, especially when ships are in harbour; a less risk of a serious pollution due to oil leak; less emissions of (SOx and NOx) and a positive image for Iceland. The costs would entail more expensive fuel and a need for increased monitoring and enforcement by implementing stricter regulation. According to the Agency about 26% of all vessels sailing through Icelandic waters burn HFOs of some kind. The Report accounts for the way in which ECA areas can be established. They account for ECA areas in the Baltic Sea; the North Sea; the coasts of North America and Hawai; Puerto Rica and the Virgin Islands. Establishing an ECA area in Icelandic will require extensive work and will be costly, the Agency concludes. Two other possibilities are mentioned: 1) establishing ECA areas within Fjords, and 2) establish an ECA area within the 12 mile limit. Neither of these alternatives will need IMO clearance, the report says. Source: GSCC

BEST container terminal in the Port of Barcelona orders more Konecranes ARMGs Konecranes has won an order for 6 Automated Rail Mounted Gantry (ARMG) cranes from BEST container terminal, a Hutchison operation in the Port of Barcelona. BEST container terminal already operates 48 Konecranes ARMGs in a large automated container yard. The cranes currently on order are identical to those already working, stacking 40T containers 1-over-5 high and 9 wide. The new order is a sign of BEST’s satisfaction with Konecranes’ automated container handling technology. The new cranes will be delivered by container block, two cranes per block, with the last crane pair scheduled for delivery in second quarter of 2019. Source: Konecranes

The Visakhapatnam Port Trust has served an ultimatum on the Visakha Container Terminal Private Limited (VCTPL) for its failure to launch work on extension of the container handling facility even though the concession agreement was signed on December 17, 2014. VCTPL, joint venture of United Liner Agency (a part of J.M. Baxi Group) and Dubai Port World International, started its operations in 2003 as a BOT operator of Visakhapatnam Port. The terminal has a depth of 16.5m, quay length of 450m and channel width of 220m becoming one of the finest container terminals in the country. Highly placed sources told The Hindu that VPT had given time till September to start the work on extension of the container terminal. The final deadline set for VCTPL is June 30. The sources said the issue would figure at the next meeting of the board of trustees.

The keel was laid for UK cross-Solent ferry operator Red Funnel’s first ever freight-only ferry today, 31 May, at the British shipbuilder Cammell Laird’s shipyard at Birkenhead. The double-ended vessel will be named RED KESTREL and enter service on the company’s Southampton-East Cowes route in the spring of 2019.

Chennai Port, located strategically between Singapore and Fujairah, the world’s first and second largest bunker fuel suppliers, has plans to make the south Indian city a bunker capital on the East coast. Efforts are underway to construct a dedicated bunker berth inside the port to accommodate bunker tankers, a move which is expected to swell the port’s revenues. Fuel used to run a ship is referred as bunker fuel and world over, supply of bunker fuel is one of the major revenue sources for ports. While ships require heavy oil to run their engines, diesel oil is used to run generators and smaller machinery. A senior official at the Chennai Port Trust told TOI that a final agreement is to be signed in the coming week to construct a 181m long berth at a cost of ?44 crore at Bharati dock to accommodate bunker ships. “The port has been supplying bunker fuels to ships in the anchorage area outside the port for the past two years, a practice which wasn’t of the port’s 136-year-old history,” a port official said. The port will be able to meet a target bunker sales of up to 1MTPA (metric ton per annum), an official said. “Singapore and Fujairah have bunker sales of 45MTPA and 25MTPA respectively. Low prices of crude oil and better infrastructure are an advantage for them,” the official added.

Terminal operators at Latin America’s largest port Santos said in a statement on Wednesday that the flow of goods by trucks on the site has not resumed even as a trucker protest against high fuel prices that lasted more than a week began to unwind. Sopesp, which represents operators including sugar trading group Copersucar SA and grain handler Archer Daniels Midland , said truckers are “refusing” to conduct their vehicles to the port’s loading and unloading areas. “Truckers are parked at many points, apparently awaiting orders or better conditions to continue their journeys.” Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ana Mano)

Hurtigruten has pushed back the launch of its second planned hybrid ship after being forced to delay the launch of its first by nearly a year. Fridtjof Nansen was due to launch at some point in 2019 -- following the delivery of sister ship Roald Amundsen -- but it is now unclear when the second ship will launch. Roald Amundsen was due to launch in July this year, but in February the line announced it would be delayed until May 2019 -- having a knock on effect on the build of Fridjtof Nansen. Both ships are being built at the Kleven shipyard in Norway, which faced financial difficulties in 2017 and had to be bailed out by a consortium of investors, including Hurtigruten. A statement from Hurtigruten read: "Earlier this year, the yard informed us that due to the complexity of the construction of the Roald Amundsen, they will not be able to deliver the ship as scheduled. "Unfortunately, we have just been informed by the yard that this delay will also affect the construction of the Fridtjof Nansen, and the yard will not be able to deliver her as scheduled. This delay is linked to the yard's challenges with the delivery of the Road Amundsen."

The new ASD Tug 2913 for Saqr Port, part of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Ports, has been launched at the Albwardy Damen shipyard in Sharjah, UAE. Ordered twelve months ago, the tug will join the RAK Ports tug fleet and operate in the new and impressive deep-water bulk terminal currently nearing completion at the port. There its 80-tonnes of bollard pull will provide additional power for manoeuvring Capesize vessels. The tug was launched in the presence of Capt. Cliff Brand, the Chief Executive Officer of RAK Ports, and Capt. Michael Magee, the Harbour Master of RAK Ports. Capt Brand highlighted in his speech the importance for the UAE economy to build “in the UAE for the UAE” and the added value of having the building yard around the corner for support during the life time of the vessel.

The Port of Long Beach was recognized recently as the “Best Green Seaport” in the world at the 32nd annual Asian Freight & Supply Chain Awards hosted in Shanghai by the Asia Cargo News shipping trade publication. The Port of Long Beach, known as the Green Port, has succeeded in dramatically reducing its environmental impact. Adopted in 2005, Long Beach’s “Green Port Policy” has led to significant improvements in air and water quality from initiatives such as the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) and the Technology Advancement Program (TAP). The newly updated CAAP identifies strategies to further reduce pollution from every source and accelerate progress towards a zero-emissions future. “The Port of Long Beach is thrilled to be named the Best Green Seaport. This award reflects the continuing serious commitment of our Board of Harbor Commissioners and staff to improving air and water quality, and serving as a model of environmental sustainability for seaports around the world,” said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Lou Anne Bynum.

On 24 May, P&O Cruises revealed that the name for its 183,000gt LNG-powered cruise ship will be IONA, the name of an Island on the Scottish west coast. The first steel cut has also been made at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg on 25 April.

The new 111,500gt and 315-metre long MEIN SCHIFF 2 was floated out on 1 June at the Meyer Turku shipyard, one month after the delivery of her sister, the MEIN SCHIFF 1.

Following China’s ban on import of plastic wastes, a lot of them are coming instead to Việt Nam, but with consignees failing to claim shipments, the wastes are piling up at ports including in HCM City. As of late May 389 containers arriving in 6,801 consignments are lying in ports for more than 90 days without being claimed by their owners, a customs official told Người lao động (The labourer) newspaper. According to a Ministry of Finance circular, goods left unclaimed for more than 90 days at ports could be seized and sold. Cát Lái Port in District 2 has 307 containers and 448 parcels while Tân Sơn Nhất international airport and the express customs branch have 1,949 and 4,384 parcels. A customs official at Cát Lái Port said an increasing number of consignments have been piling up at ports for more than 90 days since the beginning of this year. The reason was China’s ban on import of plastic scrap from the EU, the US and Japan this year, who are now sending it to Southeast Asian countries, including Việt Nam, he said. But related agencies impose restrictions on import of wastes, meaning customs authorities are unable to process their entry, he said. Goods are also stuck at ports because consignees do not claim them.