Digital transformation - News

As plans emerge that Maritime UK (MUK) is to support several potential stakeholders to establish a South East regional cluster organisation reportedly led by Dieter Jaenicke, Viking Maritime Group, they do welcome the continued emergence of MUK as a single leadership association for the maritime sector, as it strives to act as a conduit for bringing coherent sector support and reduced bureaucracy to add weight to arguments for infrastructure improvements and destination making, to stimulate econ...

The international marine specialist recruitment company - Marine Resources (Marine Resources Recruitment Ltd) have joined forces with the former President of the Chicago-based National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), Dr. Thomas Dammrich and the former Editor and Owner of International Boat Industry magazine - Nick Hopkinson. This partnership aims to offer businesses in the leisure marine industry assistance with identifying and recruiting key management personnel. Bespoke head-hunting...

The Normal Amsterdam Water Level (NAP) has been used as the basis for Vessel Traffic Services in the port of Rotterdam for approximately 200 years now. On 1 July, 2022, the Port of Rotterdam Authority will abandon the Normal Amsterdam Water Level (NAP) in shipping communication. Effective from July 1, 2022, the Port of Rotterdam Authority will use the Approximate Lowest Astronomical Tide (ALAT) as a reference for water depths and water levels in the admission policy. Internationally,...

Nor-Shipping 2023, which is scheduled to take place from June 6 to June 9, 2023, looks set to build on the success of Nor-Shipping 2022 event, with strong early sales and commitments from numerous national pavilions to return to the exhibiting fold. A total of 14 countries have so far secured dedicated pavilions to showcase local expertise, including Singapore and Japan at Nor-Shipping 2023 exhibition. In addition, individual organisations, such as Siemens, ABB, DNV (with two stands), NCE Marit...

In early June 2022, representatives of shipping companies and Customs authorities from across the globe came together, in order to discuss ways to step up the fight against drug trafficking. The Conference was organised by the World Shipping Council (WSC) and the Container Control Programme (CCP), which is a joint initiative between the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Customs Organization (WCO). UNODC 2021 World Drug Report According to the UNODC 2021 World Drug Report, aro...

It’s been another bumper month for long-term contracted ocean freight rates, as the cost of securing container shipments climbed by 10.1% in June 2022. Following on the heels of a record 30.1% hike in May 2022, this now means rates stand 169.8% higher than this time in 2021, with just two months of declines in the last 18 months. Despite a degree of macro-economic uncertainty clouding the horizon, all major trades saw prices moving up, with some corridors showing significant gains. Xenet...

Nauti-craft technology is not only making waves (well actually, quite the opposite!) here in Australia, but is also being developed in some exciting projects overseas. In Wilhelmshaven, a seaside town on the Jade Bight on Germany’s North Sea coast, nauti-craft technology will soon be put to work onboard the WB18, a collaborative project between nauti-craft and German boat-building company, Wallaby Boats. The 18m vessel will fill the role of pilot vessel at the port of Wilhelmshaven, ensur...

On 29 June 2022, the ceremony for the naming and delivery of CULINES container newbuilding - CUL YANGPU & the signing of the strategic cooperation memorandum on Shipping Industry Fund was held at Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding in Nansha, Guangzhou, China. Huiming Xiang (Chairman at Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding), Kevin Ding (EVP at CULIES), Huiyu Wu (Part Committee Secretary & Chairman at Hainan Financial Holdings), and Jianmin Wang (Port & Shipping COO, Administration Committee of Y...

The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) and the Provincial Council of Valencia have organised the first ‘Cruise Tourism’ training course, aimed at municipal technicians and tourism agents. A meeting point to expand the tourist offer, offered by the destination of Valencia for cruise passengers, with sustainable experiences in municipalities of the province, beyond the city of Valencia, and to work to deseasonalise cruise tourism that calls at the Port of Valencia, in Spain. From the p...

Chris Cooper has been appointed President of Neste US, effective from 1 July 2022. In his new role, he is responsible for supporting and aligning regional business strategies to deliver strategic growth targets, and he acts as Neste’s primary representative for the external community in the US. At the moment, Chris Cooper is holding the position of Vice President of Americas of Neste Renewable Aviation. Accelerate renewable growth strategy “The US presents important opportunities...

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA)’s Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) has once again received certification as a climate-neutral company from TÜV NORD. This highlights CTA’s pioneering role in the industry as a sustainable, innovative company. In 2019, CTA was the first container handling facility in the world to receive climate-neutral certification. Automated guided vehicles The Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board, Angela Titzrath, explains: “CTA’...

It’s perhaps easy to take for granted that ships today can communicate rather easily with their shoreside offices. What is often overlooked, however, is the growing importance of being able to instantly share data between ship and shore and with all relevant stakeholders. The close integration of onboard operations and the shoreside offices is faster and easier than ever thanks to high-speed internet connections. It is also, at the same time, significantly more essential than it has been...

A new report published by Inmarsat, the pioneer in global, mobile satellite communications, indicates that seafarers are largely in favour of greater digitalisation but that a sizeable proportion of those working at sea also fear shrinking job opportunities. Compiled by maritime innovation consultancy Thetius, Seafarers in the Digital Age – Prioritising Human Element in Maritime Digital Transformation draws on the results of a survey of 200 maritime professionals. Basic internet connecti...

Maritime welfare charities are pulling together to publicise the support available to seafarers who have been made redundant, including ex P&O Ferries staff. The Maritime Charities Group Redundancy and Retraining Bursary provides help towards the cost of training to stay in maritime while The Seafarers’ Charity‘s UK Maritime Anchor Fund provides financial help, relationship counselling and mental health and wellbeing support. Taken together this package of measures is helping se...

The World Ocean Council will host a side event during the United Nations Ocean Conference on June 27-July 1 in Lisbon, Portugal. Building the Supply, Demand, Marketplace, and Monitoring for Ocean Carbon Sequestration takes place on 30 June, 1:45-2:45 pm | One Sustainable Ocean Pavilion, Ocean Stage. Ocean and coastal ecosystems are, by far, the largest carbon sinks on Earth — they offer the best nature-based solutions for enhanced gigaton-scale carbon sequestration. In order to realize th...

Seafarers are sharing their maritime voyages across social media to mark the Day of the Seafarer 2022.  The maritime world is changing, fast. Ships are now operating greener, with greater digitisation and with more diverse crews. As the lifeblood of the shipping industry, seafarers are at the heart of this evolution, implementing new regulations, learning new skills and adopting safer, more efficient working practices. As the world’s merchant fleet traverses the oceans, the crews onboard...

What should maritime stakeholders focus on in the coming years to accelerate maritime decarbonisation? At this week’s Getting to Zero Coalition Workshop, participating Coalition members collaborated on detailing out an action plan to make the full decarbonisation of shipping concrete and tangible. Participants focused on the combination and acceleration of four change levers: technology on land and on board, mobilising demand, financing, and policy. Accelerating shipping decarbonisation...

Ocean Infinity, in pursuit of its’ objective of transforming maritime operations through the deployment of innovative technologies, is excited to announce the development of zero-emission, remotely operated, and autonomous ready, short sea container vessels that will operate between Norway and the Netherlands, creating one of Europe’s first zero-emission maritime ‘green corridors’.   SeaShuttle programme In partnership with Samskip B.V, a global logistics comp...

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and its subsidiary - Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) have received an Approval in Principle (AiP) from DNV for their newly developed waste heat-derived LNG fuel supply system - Hi-eGAS (Hyundai High Efficient Gas Supply System) for 300K VLCC. Currently, LNG fuel propulsion ships have used boilers to make hot steam, which has converted LNG into a gas at room temperature, to supply a ship’s engine. However, this process has the disadvantag...

Globally renowned fleet optimisation provider and Lloyd’s Register subsidiary, i4 Insight, has joined forces with data collection pioneers, Danelec Marine (Danelec), to solve fleet performance challenges. This new industry partnership, which brings together specialists in data collection and data analysis, will mean customers can get a more cost-effective solution to vessel optimisation. i4 Insight - Danelec Marine partnership As the maritime sector deals with digital transformation and...

Ports of Stockholm is one of the world’s largest passenger ports and Stockholm is a very popular cruise destination. Now the possibilities for cruise ships to call at Stockholm have increased with the opening of a brand-new quay at Frihamnen Port. The new quay at Frihamnen Port in Stockholm opened on 21st June. The site was previously the location of the container terminal, which moved in 2020 to the newly built freight port, Stockholm Norvik Port. The move of the container terminal provi...

Pacific International Lines (PIL) is pleased to introduce a new weekly direct service linking China and Korea with four key countries in South America - Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Chile. The new service, known as West Coast South America 6 (WS6), will commence on 13 July 2022 from Ningbo, China. West Coast South America 6 (WS6) West Coast South America 6 (WS6) aims to augment PIL’s existing two services - WS2 and WSA West Coast South America 6 (WS6) aims to augment PIL’s...

Nor Shipping has revealed that #PartnerShip will be the main theme of next year’s event - Nor-Shipping 2023, as it looks to enable, support and showcase ways of working together to achieve commercial goals. The week-long programme, Nor-Shipping 2023, running from June 6 to June 9, 2023, will now tailor its exhibition, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities, in order to nurture and strengthen collaboration across ocean businesses. Individual strength, collective gain The industry...

Blue Water’s Aid & Development Logistics team was contacted by a customer regarding the transport of a special shipment from Shanghai, China to the NGO Hope Walks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The transport faced challenges due to container shortages in Shanghai and fully booked vessels as a consequence of COVID-19. However, Blue Water succeeded in finding a container as well as booking space on the required vessel thus saving the transport. Medical supply delivery  The contact wit...

Ultramag is back exhibiting at Seawork 2022, which is taking place in Southampton, United Kingdom (UK) and will present over the 3 days of the exhibition, featuring the Managing Director, General Manager, NDT Manager, and one of Ultramag’s young Apprentices. Various items of test equipment were on show covering the inspection of composite materials; with plenty of interest in the testing and inspection capabilities and training programs on offer.

The Maritime Skills Commission launches the Skills for Green Jobs Position Paper. The Maritime Skills Commission (MSC) was established to ensure that the maritime sector has a pipeline of talented people to serve all parts of the sector covering shipping, ports, leisure marine, engineering, science, and professional services. The Commission is chaired by Professor Graham Baldwin, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire, and was established in 2020 by the Department for Transport...

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (Wilhelmsen) is pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement with Seven Seas, to acquire 100% of their shares in their subsidiary company - Stromme. When first established in 1971, Stromme became the first specialised cargo hold cleaning company in the marine industry. The company is a renowned global player with extensive specialised experience within their field, providing customers with high quality solutions and innovations for cargo hold cleaning, w...

Finding a project freight forwarder users can trust to handle the oversized or hard-to-move cargo is more critical now in 2022 than ever before. With new challenges around global shipping and varying COVID-19 laws and guidelines per region or per country, having a hands-on, experienced team is a key asset in project planning. TGI Cargo pride itself on being not just a service provider to clients but a true end-to-end partner, working with users to find tailored solutions for their freight needs...

Mersey Maritime was conceived almost twenty years ago to create an ecosystem, championing and supporting one of the most diverse maritime regions in the UK. Created as a not-for-profit organisation with more than 200 active members, Mersey Maritime spans more than 33 sub-sectors of maritime and its related supply chain, including ports, shipping, offshore, engineering, professional services, logistics, manufacturing, and academia. Mersey Maritime Chris Shirling Rooke, the Chief Executive Offi...

Lloyd’s Register (LR), a global provider of maritime professional services, has acquired OneOcean, a renowned supplier of voyage compliance, safety and environmental solutions, from Equistone Partners Europe (Equistone), a renowned European mid-market private equity firm. The move will accelerate Lloyd Register’s ambitions to be the maritime industry’s trusted adviser for compliance, safety, performance and sustainability solutions, enabling clients to benefit from more effici...