Latest Maritime News
April 22-May 6, 2019
Oil Prices Rebound From One-Month Low After Trump's Tariff Threat

Oil futures edged higher in volatile trade on Monday as rising tensions between the United States and Iran buoyed prices after they touched a one-month low following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat that he may raise tariffs on Chinese goods.

Brent crude futures rose 39 cents to settle at $71.24 a barrel. The global benchmark earlier sank to $68.79 a barrel, its lowest since April 2.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 31 cents to settle at $62.25 a barrel. WTI’s session low was $60.04 a barrel, the weakest since March 29. Continue reading here (Source: Reuters).
European Nations Demand More Urgent Ship Emission Regulations

European nations are determined to get ship emissions cut quicker than current timelines proposed by regulators and lobbyists.

Following France’s proposal to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for speed limits for shipping, Denmark, Germany and Spain have submitted a joint proposal ahead of next month’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) session. The joint proposal, like France’s, seeks to bring in urgent short-term measures to speed up shipping’s decarbonisation drive before 2023 as required by IMO’s initial strategy on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The 10-page document seen by Splash details a goal-based approach to cutting CO2 emissions and claims it can achieve at least a 40% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030. Continue reading here ( Source: Splash 247).
Shipping Firms Call For Speed Limits to Cut Emissions

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) should set maximum speed limits to reduce shipping sector emissions, the chief executives of more than 100 maritime firms said today.

The UN agency should set maximum annual average speeds for container ships, and maximum absolute speeds for the remaining ship types, the executives said in an open letter to the IMO. This would help the shipping sector make its "appropriate contribution" to addressing climate change.

The IMO  agreed in April last year to halve global maritime greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, compared with 2008 levels, and for the sector's emissions to peak "as soon as possible". But the agency has yet to agree specific measures to deliver this goal. Continue reading here (Source: Argus Media).
Dry Bulk Market: Tough Times For Larger Ships

The market last week was a tale of two halves, with substantial volatility. Beginning the week on a positive note the C5 West Australia to China route opened mid to low $6.00s. Pushing into the holiday on Wednesday, it rose to mid $7.00s, before crashing back down to mid $6.00s by the week’s end. Volatile swings like this are a characteristic of the market but that doesn’t make it any easier to trade.

Many owners in the Pacific were seen to sit out the market by Friday, looking to the week ahead where fortunes may rebound. The Atlantic basin faired similarly throughout this rollercoaster week, trading more off sentiment than solid fundaments. In the Indian basin, trades were limited, while the East Coast of India faced disruptions and closures because of the effects of tropical cyclone ‘Fani’ bringing torrential rains and winds of up to 200 km/h. Continue reading here (Source: Hellenic Shipping News).
Drought Hits Panama Canal Shipping, Highlights Climate Fears

An intense drought related to this year’s El Nino phenomenon has precipitously lowered the level of Panama’s Gatun Lake, forcing the country’s Canal Authority to impose draft limits this week on ships moving through the waterway’s recently expanded locks.

The restrictions on how deep the vessels can reach below the surface means large ships, primarily from the United States and China, must pass through with less cargo, which translates into lower revenue for the voyages. The driest period in memory for the canal basin is also hitting small indigenous villages that depend on tourism along the tributaries of the inter-oceanic passage. Continue reading here (Source: The Washington Post).
Shipping’s Uber Moment Far Off

I recently went to a leaving do for a spot tanker broker friend of mine. He did it for nearly a decade before finally deciding that this was not the intellectual challenge he’d dreamed of as a boy. He then went to night school for two years, passing all his exams about a month ago.

We toasted his hard work as he nervously headed off to a bright new future as the mop and bucket man at an Amsterdam sex cinema. All of us are just hoping that the late nights of studying are enough to up his brain power sufficiently to cover a much more complex task than reading The Sun with his feet on the desk, long lunches and shouting out random numbers for 20 minutes once a week. He once told a client that Worldscale was about three foot six. Continue reading here (Source: Splash 247).
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