In what should be a surprise to no one, the Chinese maritime industry continued its dominance in 2024, with the nation’s vessel orderbook surpassing $123 billion. Data from VesselsValue reveals a strong year for both Chinese shipowners and shipbuilders, with significant investments across various vessel sectors.
The Coast Guard announced immediate action on executive orders issued by the White House Tuesday.“The U.S. Coast Guard is the world’s premiere maritime law enforcement agency, vital to protecting America’s maritime borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant.
The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has reported an increase in the number of crew taken hostage or kidnapped in 2024.The IMB annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report recorded 116 incidents against ships in 2024 compared to 120 in 2023 and 115 in 2022. It reveals that 94 vessels were boarded, 13 attempted attacks, six vessels hijacked and three fired upon.
A Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean Sea after an explosion ripped through its engine room and two of its crew are still missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry's military construction operations
Fincantieri and Viking signed contracts for the construction of two new cruise ships, which will build on the characteristics of previous ships already built in their Italian factories for this shipowner. The ships will be delivered in 2030. The value of the deal, subject to financing and other standard terms and conditions, has been defined as "large", or between 500 million and 1 billion euros.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has reported a fire on a Malta-flagged tanker Med Atlantic in the East Johor Straits.The vessel is currently anchored and there is no disruption to vessel traffic in the area, MPA said, adding that all 22 crew had disembarked the vessel and were safe with no injuries.
Ukraine has asked the International Maritime Organization to send a monitoring mission to ports in the southern Odesa region amid intensified Russian attacks, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Wednesday.In recent weeks, Russian troops have ramped up missile strikes on Ukraine's southern port infrastructure and damaged a total of four foreign-flagged civilian vessels since Oct. 6.
Ships carrying Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia are returning to the longer routes around Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than those along the Arctic shore as the winter season begins, LSEG data showed on Thursday.Russia's new Arctic LNG 2 project also lacks enough ice-class gas carriers to continue navigation along the Northern Sea Route, although some such tankers still sail it.
Another Russian missile attack on Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa damaged two civilian vessels and a grain storage on Monday, killing one person and injuring at least eight, Ukrainian authorities said.Russian troops have ramped up strikes on Ukraine's southern port infrastructure in recent weeks. Such attacks, which damaged a total of four foreign-flagged vessels since Oct.
New standards for bunkering methanol and ammonia will be developed by 2024 and 2025 respectively, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Wednesday.The world's largest vessel refueling hub is preparing for higher uptake of alternative bunker fuels, which shippers are considering using to help lower carbon emissions.
The Port of Los Angeles reported handling nearly 960,600 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in August, marking a remarkable 16% increase compared to the same month last year. This figure represents the busiest month for the port since before the pandemic.With eight months of 2024 complete, the Port of Los Angeles is already 17% ahead of its total container volume from 2023
A 72-year-old Great Lakes freighter has anchored safely in Thunder Bay, Ontario following a flooding incident in Lake Superior.At around 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, the Canadian-registered Michipicoten reportedly struck an underwater object and began taking on water in U.S. waters about 35 miles south of Isle Royale, the U.S. Coast Guard said.