Latest Maritime News
26 April-9 May 2022
Oil Tumbles About 6% As China COVID Lockdowns Weigh

Oil prices sank about 6% on Monday alongside equities, as continued coronavirus lockdowns in China, the top oil importer, fed worries about the demand outlook.

Brent crude fell $6.45, or 5.7%, to settle at $105.94 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $6.68, or 6.1%, to settle at $103.09 a barrel. Both contracts have gained about 35% so far this year.

Global financial markets have been spooked by concerns over interest rate hikes and recession worries as tighter and wider COVID-19 lockdowns in China led to slower export growth in the world's No. 2 economy in April. Continue reading here (Source: Reuters).
West Coast Dockworkers, Firms Vie to Avoid Upheaval Amid Contract Talks

Labor negotiations at 29 West Coast ports are set to start next week with both sides saying they want to avoid further upheaval in supply chains that haven’t fully recovered.

Talks to hammer out a new labor contract for 22,000 West Coast dockworkers are scheduled to start May 12, ahead of the current contract’s expiration on July 1. Jim McKenna, president of the Pacific Maritime Association, which serves as a broker for about 70 carriers and terminal operators, said he’s entering negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in the “spirit of cooperation.”

“Hopefully everybody is focused to the point that there will be no further disruption to a fragile supply chain,” McKenna said Friday during a virtual press briefing with Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. Continue reading here (Source: Bloomberg).
No Lockdown Let Up In China As Damaging Economic Data Rolls In

Shanghai officials have claimed, once again, that they are overcoming the worst of the covid crisis, six weeks after the China’s largest city went into lockdown.

In Beijing, meanwhile, president Xi Jinping has vowed to continue with his zero-covid policy despite the deleterious effects it has had on the national economy this year.

“Our prevention and control policies can withstand the test of history, our measures are scientific and effective. We have won the battle to defend Wuhan, we can also win the battle to defend Shanghai,” Xi said yesterday. Continue reading here (Source: Splash247).
Singapore Port Authority Says Contaminated Bunker Fuel Originated in the UAE

The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has released new details from its investigation into bunker fuel contamination at the Port of Singapore, the world’s top bunkering hub, revealing new details about where the fuel came from and measures to prevent a recurrance of the incident in the future.

As reported previously, the MPA said as many as 200 ships had been supplied with High Sulphur Fuel Oil (HSFO) containing high concentration levels of chlorinated organic compounds (COC) at the Port of Singapore, of which 80 have reported various issues with fuel pumps and engines. The MPA was notified of contamination on March 14 and immediately took steps to alert relevant bunker suppliers to halt the supply of the fuel and notify ships of the issue.

The fuel in question was a blended product supplied by Glencore Singapore Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of commodities trading giant Glencore International, to PetroChina International (Singapore), who in turn had already supplied it to a number of ships in the Port of Singapore by the time or learning of the contamination. Continue reading here (Source: gCaptain).
Port of Singapore To Require Testing for COC in Bunker Fuel

Singapore, the world’s leading bunkering port, will include chlorinated organic compounds (COC) to the list of chemicals to be tested effective immediately, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced.

Bunker fuel supplied in the port of Singapore must meet the international standards of petroleum products of fuel – ISO 8217. ISO 8217 specifies the requirements for fuels for use in marine diesel engines and boilers, prior to conventional onboard treatment (settling, centrifuging, filtration) before use. ISO 8217 does not require tests for COC.

MPA’s quality fuel assurance measures comprise of the Bunker Quality Inspection System (BQIS) and the Intensified Bunker Quality Checks (IBQC). The BQIS tests the quality of bunker supplied to vessels, while the IBQC tests bunker fuel carried by bunker tankers before being supplied to vessels. On average, more than 1,300 bunker samples are tested annually under BQIS and IBQC to verify compliance with ISO 8217. 
Continue reading here (Source: F+L Daily).
How War, Shipping Boom, China Lockdowns Impact Panama Canal

What’s the single most important concentration of infrastructure keeping America supplied with goods? The Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, which handles around 40% of the country’s containerized imports. What’s the second most important? One could make a strong case for the expanded Panama Canal.

America could never have handled the historic import deluge of the past two years if Panama had not built the third set of locks, the larger “Neopanamax” locks that debuted in 2016 and brought much higher-capacity container ships from Asia to East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.

The Panama Canal has been one of the big winners of the COVID-era shipping boom. But now, the pace of growth is slowing, mirroring a trend seen across much of global trade, and the canal is feeling more effects from the Ukraine-Russia war and China’s COVID lockdowns. Continue reading here (Source: American Shipper).
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