The discount on front-month Brent crude oil futures to later contracts increased to an 11 year high on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to cause an unprecedented slump in global demand. The spread on the May to November contracts had widened to as much as minus $10.31 per barrel at 1004 GMT, a level not seen since January 2009.
Leading container shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk scrapped its 2020 earnings forecast on Friday, while rival Hapag-Lloyd warned of slowing growth until at least June, as the coronavirus pandemic takes a heavy toll on global tradeThe container shipping industry, a bellwether for international trade, has been blown off course by the new virus
Cost-cutting and price rises will help Maersk deliver higher first-quarter earnings than a year ago, the shipping giant said on Friday, though it scrapped its full-year forecast due to uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The Danish company said its guidance on earnings before interest, tax and amortization (EBITDA), previously $5.
While the Capesize segment has been massively impacted by the coronavirus, the smaller dry bulk segments are starting to recover towards profitable territory, partly on the back of seasonally higher grain exports from South America. Nonetheless, as the coronavirus continues to spread, the risks are skewed towards the downside.
Shipbuilder Bath Iron Works (BIW) has officially started construction of the future USS Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126), the U.S. Navy announced. The new warship will be the first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built in the Flight III configuration at BIW.The milestone was marked by a ceremony on Tuesday at General Dynamics BIW's structural fabrication facility in Brunswick, Maine.
France and Australia reaffirmed their commitment to a A$50 billion ($34 billion) submarine deal on Friday, seeking to defuse tensions after French shipbuilder Naval Group raised concerns over the capability of Australian contractors.Australia signed a production contract with Naval Group in February 2019 for a fleet of 12 attack-class submarines
Britain's navy will accompany UK-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz to provide protection after the U.S. killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani inflamed tensions in the region.Britain's defence minister, Ben Wallace, ordered the HMS Montrose and HMS Defender to prepare to return to escort duties in the major oil shipping route as Prime Minister Boris Johnson came in for
A Lockheed Martin-led team has secured a multibillion dollar order from the U.S. Navy to build four Multi-Mission Surface Combatants ships for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as part of the U.S.’s Foreign Military Sales program.Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), who has been working with Lockheed Martin
America’s first offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) barge has been launched for owner Q-LNG Transport, Mississippi shipbuilder VT Halter Marine announced on Wednesday.The Q-LNG 4000 barge, designed to carry 4,000 cubic meters of LNG, with dimensions of 324’ x 64’ x 32’.6”, will be operated as part of an articulated tug and barge (ATB) unit designed to meet the requirements of American Bureau of
A number of seamen have been kidnapped after an attack on their vessel off the coast of Cameroon in West Africa's piracy-plagued Gulf of Guinea, a source in the Cameroonian army and a source at the major port of Douala said on Friday.In July, the International Maritime Bureau described the Gulf of Guinea as the most dangerous area in the world for piracy with 73% of all sea kidnappings and 92%
The Port of Long Beach, one of the greenest ports in the world, has selected HDR to perform the final design as it moves ahead with its $870 million effort to streamline rail operations and reduce bottlenecks at the second-busiest container port in the U.S.The Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility Project will expand the port’s capability for loading shipping containers directly on rail cars
Neo-Panamax container vessels experienced increased activity during the first quarter of 2019, compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, said Capital Product Partners.While charter rates for feeder and panamax vessels remained relatively flat due to, among other things, the overhang of idle tonnage, charter rates for Neo-panamax vessels, especially 8,000 TEU designs or larger, saw marked increases