News

Costa Cruises’ second Chinese market-designed cruise ship, COSTA FIRENZE, was floated out at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard. COSTA FIRENZE follows the February delivered COSTA VENEZIA.

Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, Germany's third-largest defence company and world market leader in conventional submarines, has recorded a pleasing development: by 2023, the company will be investing 250 million Euro in Kiel. Its objective is to develop the shipyard into an international competence centre for conventional submarine construction. Thanks to the currently good development with new orders, around 500 new employees will be hired throughout the company by the end of 2020, the majority of them in Kiel. The company is looking primarily for engineers and skilled workers, particularly in R&D, construction and manufacturing. https://www.thyssenkrupp-marinesystems.com/en/press-releases/d/uid-26938af4-8f4e-e141-8c2d-54a1f4623b48.html https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/TKMS-will-250-Millionen-Euro-in-Kieler-Werft-investieren,thyssenkrupp126.html

A work accident with deadly outcome occurred at the container terminal in Copenhagen's North Port on Oct 4, 2019. A worker who was seriously injured when two straddle carriers collided at the terminal died of his injuries on Oct 6, 2019. The details of the accident were not disclosed. Authorities were investigating the accident. Since the accident, employees have been offered various types of emergency assistance.

With the successful start an important milestone has been reached in the execution of the contract to operate the tugboat fleet for Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) in Port Hedland, the world’s largest bulk export port on Australia´s west coast. The fleet consists of eight new ART 85-32W and one RT80-32 Rotortugs®. Six of them are Fortescue owned, three are owned by KOTUG, which are chartered directly to Fortescue. KOTUG manages the entire contract.

The Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran is going to sign a contract with the private sector on Tuesday for the construction of Iran’s biggest mechanized mineral terminal at Shahid Rajaee Port, the deputy head of PMO announced on Monday. Ali Hassanzadeh added that the contract is worth 50 trillion rials (over $430 million). The terminal’s capacity will reach 50 million tons per year upon the completion of the project, which will be carried out in three phases, covering 180 hectares of land, each spread over 60 hectares. It will be the biggest mineral terminal in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, and mark a major development in Iran’s mining industry, considering its considerable mineral capacity, Mehr News Agency reported.

Three South Korean brokerage firms, including Samsung Securities Co. Ltd., underwrote around 250 billion won ($208 million) of a subordinated debt on Abbot Point coal terminal in Australia in the second investment by South Korean institutions in the export terminal. Samsung and Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. acquired 150 billion won of the five-year debt in aggregate for an expected yield of about 8%. They are selling them down to domestic institutional investors.

Carnival Cruise Line is to fully renovate and significantly expand Cruise Terminal F at Florida’s PortMiami to accommodate its Excel-class cruise ships, which will be the largest in its fleet and will be powered by LNG. Following approval from the Miami-Dade County Commission, Carnival has shared its plans to work with Miami-based design firm Berenblum Busch Architects to create a terminal with a simple and open layout. The terminal will be equipped with various technologies, such as facial recognition systems, to make the embarkation process quicker and safer. Terminal F is set to open in October 2022 to coincide with the arrival of Carnival’s second Excel-class ship (yet to be named) and is one of three dedicated to the line’s operations in Miami.

Damen Shipyards Group is to build a further four Island Class double-ender ferries for BC Ferries. All four vessels will be built at Damen’s yard in Romania and will enter service in 2022. Damen is already building two Island Class vessels for BC Ferries, both of which have completed sea trials and are due in Victoria, BC in early 2020.

A joint venture featuring CMA CGM and DP World has been granted the contract to expand box facilities at the port of Le Havre in northern France. Générale de Manutention Portuaire (GMP), a joint venture held 50:50 by DP World and Terminal Link, a subsidiary of the CMA CGM Group, will build and operate the 1m teu container terminal for the Port 2000 berths 11 and 12 under a 34-year concession. The new terminal will include a 700 m long quay and 42 ha of land.

Hapag-Lloyd continues to develop its position in Africa and launches the new MIAX (Middle East-India-Africa Express) service – which will offer direct connections and fast transit times between South and West Africa, the Persian Gulf, India, Colombo (Sri Lanka) and La Réunion. Hapag-Lloyd has entered the African market about twelve years ago and has since then seen steady and significant growth in transported volumes to and from Africa."With the new MIAX service our customers will now benefit from an even wider range of fast and flexible direct connections," says Dheeraj Bhatia, Senior Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd's Region Middle East.The MIAX service will be connected to the Global Mainline Network via the key ports of Jebel Ali (Dubai) and Colombo. Hapag-Lloyd will jointly operate the MIAX service with it's THE Alliance partner Ocean Network Express. A total of nine ships with a capacity of 2,800 TEU each, including five provided by Hapag-Lloyd, will be deployed for the new service.

Gas infrastructure along Russia’s Northern Sea Route is set to get a Japanese upgrade with news Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have signed a cooperation agreement with Novatek to develop LNG transhipment projects in Kamchatka and Murmansk. The projects will construct floating storage units (FSUs) to tranship LNG cargoes from ice-breaking LNG ships to conventional LNG ships. The FSUs will be located in Kamchatka and in Murmansk and will be used for the transhipment of LNG cargoes produced by Novatek’s Yamal LNG Project and Arctic LNG 2 Project, two of the largest gas developments in the world.

Port of Antwerp has ordered construction of a tug powered by hydrogen, the first in the world. This unique “Hydrotug” is driven by combustion engines that burn hydrogen in combination with diesel. The motors also comply with the very strictest standard, the EU Stage V, making them the lowest-rated for emissions on the market. This ultra-low-emission tug is being built by Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), a pioneer in the field of hydrogen power for shipping. With this world first Antwerp is making an important step in the transition to a sustainable, CO2-neutral port. By lending support to this promising technology Port of Antwerp hopes that the shipping industry will follow. The port is systematically pursuing a policy of making its entire fleet eco-friendly by incorporating the most environment-friendly technologies available on the market.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has signed a contract to supply Infraestructura Portuaria Mexicana (IPM) with two ship-to-shore (STS) and three rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes for the IPM Altamira terminal. The order, which also includes Kalmar SmartPort process automation solutions for the RTGs, was booked in Cargotec’s 2019 Q3 order intake with handover scheduled to be completed during Q1 of 2021. The IPM Altamira terminal is located on the Gulf of Mexico, in the state of Tamaulipas. The terminal’s current equipment fleet already includes one Kalmar STS crane, eight Kalmar RTGs and a variety of Kalmar mobile equipment such as terminal tractors and forklifts. The Kalmar STS cranes will be Super Post-Panamax size with an outreach of 21 container rows and have twin-lift capability with a capacity of 65 tonnes under the spreader.

ECOsubsea, the Norwegian cleantech firm with a unique hull cleaning technology has won contracts to clean in North European ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge thanks to the technology’s ability to remove all hull fouling from the water, the company said in its release. The technologically-advanced system has now been approved for use in the two North European ports following around 500 vessel cleanings in Southampton and Norway and its proven ability to meet strict environmental requirements. While hull cleaning is an important part of vessel efficiency it has become mired in controversy due to the high risk of invasive species being easily transferred across the oceans and becoming an environmental and economic hazard.

Shikoku Kyuko Ferry, also known as ‘Olive Line’, has announced that it will close the historic Uno-Takamatsu route on 16 December.

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and local natural gas producer FortisBC are currently studying options to develop a LNG marine bunkering terminal at the port to cater the growing demand for cleaner marine fuels in the coming years. The facility would be the first ship-to-ship LNG marine bunkering service facility on the west coast of North America.

The Port of Los Angeles has announced a development opportunity for an Outer Harbor Cruise Terminal at Berths 46 and 50, with plans to release a Request for Proposal (RFP) later this fall. The proposal is intended for cruise lines, terminal operators, and real estate developers interested in creating a new state-of-the-art cruise terminal in a prime location for expansion of west coast cruise travel at America’s busiest port. Located on the south end of an extensive LA Waterfront development, the proposed 13-acre site offers unique panoramic views of the coastline and Catalina Island. The area is currently used as a concert venue, special event site, and temporary berth location for cruise ships.

The Chinese Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) sees its order intake for ro-pax ferries further increase following a long-awaited double order from P&O Ferries for a next-generation of Dover-Calais shuttle ferries.

Calgary based Melius Energy has successfully transported bitumen from Edmonton, Alberta to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, continuing to global markets in custom 20-foot shipping containers utilizing intermodal rail and vessel infrastructure. The shipment is the company’s first BitCrude™ transportation process demonstration, proving the ability to move bitumen safely and efficiently, in adherence to Canada’s regulatory framework.

Container lines Hapag Lloyd, ONE, YML, COSCO and OOCL will jointly run a new direct service from Visakha Container Terminal (VCT), the privately-run facility at State-owned Visakhapatnam Port Trust, to the Mediterranean and Europe, which will also bring connectivity with Africa and the America. The announcement strengthens Visakha Container Terminal’s rising stature as a regional container transshipment hub on the east coast, said shipping industry sources. “The commercial benefits offered by Visakhapatanam Port Trust makes the terminal even more attractive in the long run by being the gateway to the East for both northern and southern regions extending right up to Bangladesh and even Myanmar,” the terminal operator said. The terminal, majority owned by International Cargo Terminals & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, is located centrally and strategically on the East Coast of India between Kolkata and Chennai. The facility handled over 0.45 million TEUs during FY19 and is on the verge of crossing the 0.5-million TEUs in FY20, aided by a 16 pre cent growth in traffic, complemented rail movement and also transshipment.