News

The ceremonial keel laying for M/V George III and the cutting of the first steel plates for M/V Janet Marie - two Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fueled containerships was held t at Brownsville, TX-based Keppel AmFELS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) has ordered a fifth Edge Class cruise vessel for its Celebrity Cruises brand from Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France, with delivery in the fall of 2024.

Matson, Inc. , a leading U.S. carrier in the Pacific, has received three new 65 long-ton capacity gantry cranes at its Honolulu hub terminal at Sand Island. The biggest ship-to-shore container cranes to be deployed at any commercial harbor in Hawaii, the cranes arrived aboard a special heavy-lift vessel on Saturday and were positioned for discharge starting this morning. Matson's acquisition of the new cranes, along with the upgrading of three existing cranes and other improvements, is part of a multi-year $60 million terminal expansion and modernization project at its hub that is tied to the deployment of four new ships between 2018 and 2020. Built for Matson by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, the new cranes weigh approximately 1,290 tons each and will have greater lifting capacity, height and reach than existing cranes, which will enable full service of Matson's new, larger ships.

Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (BPHB) plans capacity expansion of its Bintulu International Container Terminal (BICT) to cope with rising demand as it has recorded double-digit growth in container throughput for three consecutive years. A feasibility study on the BICT’s expansion is currently under way and the plan will involve infrastructure development and procuring container handling equipment. The BICT handled 349,792 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) last year, representing 13.1% growth over 2017 and the the highest ever volume, according to BPHB group chief executive officer Datuk Mohammad Medan Abdullah.

Arriva Danmark has ordered two additional passenger ferries from Damen Shipyards Group, extending its original order for five passenger ferries to cover seven vessels so it can provide longer ferry routes in Copenhagen, Denmark. In July 2018, Arriva contracted Damen to deliver five fully electric Damen 2306 E3 vessels for cover passenger routes in the central area of Copenhagen. Since then, Danish public transport agency Movia has extended the intended routes of its ferry service to the port area by roughly 50%. The two new will also be designed in line with Damen’s E-Cross range of electric vessels, which are more efficient and economically viable than traditionally powered ferries. These vessels will also produce zero emissions, provide enhanced manoeuvrability and will have low maintenance requirements.

Denmark’s Port of Skagen is to welcome 44 cruise ships carrying around 73,000 guests in 2019 – an increase of almost 10,000 people from 2018. Marking the third consecutive year that Skagen has hosted record numbers of cruise guests, the 2019 season will see nine vessels making maiden calls. They include ships from lines such as Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Marella Cruises, Phoenix Reisen, Saga Cruises and Viking Cruises. This year is also the 20th anniversary of Cruise Skagen Denmark, which was formed to promote Skagen as a cruise destination in 2009.

On Thursday, March 28, 2019, the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) voted to approve the purchase of two new 100-foot gauge container gantry cranes to be used at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, the Port NOLA press release said. “These new cranes are vital to our success and growth here at Port NOLA,” said President and CEO Brandy D. Christian. “They will increase our efficiency so we can accommodate larger and wider ships more quickly and meet the growing needs of our carriers and shippers.” The Board approved a $23.4 million contract to Shanghai, China-based Shanghai Zenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., for the construction and delivery of the cranes. There are no domestic manufacturers of container gantry cranes.

Orient Overseas (International) Limited and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners (“MIP”) announced that OOIL’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, OOCL LLC and Long Beach Container Terminal, Inc., have entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement to sell 100% of LBCT LLC to a consortium led by MIP, for US$1.78 billion. LBCT LLC operates the Long Beach Container Terminal (“LBCT”) in the Port of Long Beach, California, United States.

The Port of Oakland will add new direct service to Vietnam by late April. Pacific International Lines (PIL) will launch direct Vietnam links using vessels that can carry up to 11,900 twenty-foot containers. PIL’s new service is called AC5 and is in partnership with Cosco and Wan Hai. New Vietnam-US West Coast service: Haiphong, Vietnam loop – Haiphong, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Long Beach, Oakland, Yantian, Haiphong (AC5) “PIL’s new direct service from the Port of Oakland is a good sign of increasing demand on Vietnam routes,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “Vietnam is showing strong growth in its import and export markets.”

Less than one month after Carnival Cruise Line announced it was pulling its ships out of Antigua’s cruise port, officials have reached an agreement that will bring Carnival ships back to the island on new terms. "The Government of Antigua and Barbuda representatives, having had further dialogue with executives from Carnival Corporation, fully understand and acknowledge the misunderstandings of the past," reads a statement issued by the Consulate General of Antigua and Barbuda on Monday. "Both parties expressed their desire to maintain the relationship that has been in place for the last 30 years." Under the agreement with Global Ports Holding, a ports development company, the cruise facilities at St. John’s, Antigua, would be updated and expanded in coming years to accommodate four mega cruise vessels, homeporting operations and improved shopping experiences within the terminal.

Last week, the Gothenburg Port Authority launched a digital solution designed to make bunkering at the Energy Port easier and more efficient. The new ‘Bunkering App’ is one of the first in the world to offer this range of functionality. The Port of Gothenburg Energy Port is the largest open access energy port in the Nordic region, handling over 2,500 calls and more than 23 million tonnes of energy products each year. The Energy Port is also one of the world’s larger bunkering hubs. In an effort to make the bunkering procedures easier and more efficient, the Gothenburg Port Authority has developed the new ‘Bunkering App’.

Costa Cruises has scheduled 37 cruise calls in Valletta, Malta in 2020 – just over double the number of visits it will make this year. In 2019, Costa will call in Valletta 18 times as part of its Malta-to-Malta itineraries, generating around 38,000 passenger movements. Next year, the cruise line will generate circa 110,000 passenger movements. “We are pleased that after an absence of four years, Costa will be reintroducing calls in quarter three of 2020,” said Stephen Xuereb, CEO of Valletta Cruise Port and COO of Global Ports Holding. Valletta Cruise Port expects to host more than 800,000 passenger movements in 2019.

Virgin Voyages has officially finalised its contract to sail to Cuba. The cruise line’s excursion programme on the Caribbean island, Shore Things, will provide guests with a range of experiences. “Our sailors are eager to sail to Cuba and we are incredibly proud to celebrate our plans to visit Havana, which is without a doubt, one of the Caribbean’s most authentic and enriching destinations,” said Tom McAlpin, Virgin Voyages’ president and CEO. “This fantastic place offers the chance for our sailors to experience a vibrant city and artistic haven, where they can meet locals and discover the heritage and culture of this beautiful destination.”

A new $1bn VLCC-sized crude export site is moving ahead in Texas. Commissioners with the Port of Corpus Christi Authority yesterday approved a 50-year lease for a Carlyle Group-backed project. Lone Star Ports, a Carlyle vehicle, has got the go ahead to build a tanker terminal on Harbor Isand near Port Aransas subject to an environmental review as the new port will require extensive dredging. The project is one of two proposed for the Corpus Christi area and among eight deepwater ports planned along the US Gulf Coast.

(Reuters) – Congo Republic shipped its first iron ore exports on Friday from a rehabilitated deep-water port that will be used by Congolese billionaire Paul Obambi’s Sapro SA and Swiss commodities giant Glencore. Sapro mined the oil-dependent Central African country’s first iron ore in 2017 from its Mayoko project in the southwest and plans to reach output of 12 million tonnes per year by 2022. Glencore’s joint venture with British Virgin Islands-incorporated Zanaga Iron Ore Co plans to ship 2 million tonnes of iron ore per year through Sapro’s port and rail link over the next two years, and 30 million tonnes by 2024. Sapro, the Congolese government and British shipping company Ashley Global are spending a combined $550 million on rehabilitation to Pointe Noire’s deep-water port, the Mayoko mine and an old railway track connecting the two. At a ceremony on Friday in Pointe Noire attended by the mines minister, a ship loaded with 23,000 tonnes of ore set sail for China, where it will be processed for a European buyer.

The Arkona offshore wind farm has been officially opened by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. ‘Arkona is an iconic project for future generations - built today!’ The opening ceremony was held in Sassnitz, Germany, on board one of Van Oord’s installation vessels, the company said in its release. E.ON awarded Van Oord the contract for the transport and installation of the 60 monopiles and transition pieces in 2016. Heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen completed these works safely, on time and to the full satisfaction of the client in 2018. The 385 megawatts wind farm is located in the Baltic Sea, about 35 kilometres north of Rügen Island, Germany. The offshore wind farm provides 400,000 homes with sustainable energy and displace approximately 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. This reduction fits to the goals set by the German government to reduce CO2 emissions in 2020 with 40% compared to 1990.

Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. said it added four reach stackers to ensure efficient port operations and optimize container yard space of the Subic port terminal. The installation of reach stackers is part of the terminal operator’s initiative to further enhance its capacity in handling unladen containers from the surge of imports, after being assigned as an empty evacuation center last year. “Our investments in global standard port equipment and systems help in maintaining robust operations in NCT 1 & 2 to meet the needs and demands of our partners,” SBITC.

April 8 (Reuters) – Ships were moving inbound and outbound on Monday morning through an area of the Houston Ship Channel that had been contaminated by a March chemical spill, the U.S. Coast Guard said, further loosening restrictions on the waterway. A total of 49 ships – 28 inbound, 21 outbound – were waiting to transit the 53-mile (85-km) waterway between the busiest U.S. petrochemical port and the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, the Coast Guard said. Monday’s queue of ships is about normal for the channel, but a third of the backlog that built up within days following a March 22 spill of chemicals when a dam failed at Mitsui & Co Intercontinental Terminals Deer Park, Texas, facility, where a massive March 17-20 blaze consumed 11 giant storage tanks.

Galataport Istanbul is to showcase the features of its new cruise port and the surrounding recreational area at Seatrade Cruise Global, which will take place in Miami, Florida from 8-11 April 2019. Exhibiting in the Destination Area at Booth 731, Galataport Istanbul’s team will share plans for Galataport Istanbul Cruise Port, which is designed to accommodate three ships at the same time and handle an average of 15,000 cruise passengers per day. The port will have an underground cruise terminal for domestic and international tourists – a first for the cruise industry.

Essential maintenance dredging at the Port of Hay Point is scheduled to commence this weekend. The works will be undertaken by specialist vessel the TSHD Brisbane, on behalf of North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBP) and the port’s terminal operators. NQBP Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Fertin said the Port of Hay Point primarily exports metallurgical coal, a key resource in steel-making.