Skills - News

Bud Darr, Executive Vice President Maritime Policy and Government Affairs, MSC Group will be taking part in a Sea Asia virtual panel session, held as part of The Maritime Online Series, which is being organised by Informa Markets.   The Maritime Online Series is a month-long series of online events and specially produced content, running from 21 June to 22 July 2021. With a different theme each week, the series will cover a number of essential topics: Crewing, Regulation,...

Satcom Direct (SD), the business aviation solutions provider, has signed a preferred supplier agreement with Luxaviation Group, one of the world’s largest business aircraft and helicopter operators. The new three-year arrangement begins with immediate effect and provides best-in-class technical connectivity solutions, superior value, and award-winning customer service to the global Luxaviation fleet. SD’s advanced technology All Luxaviation customers may now benefit from SD&rsquo...

Recently published independent research points conclude that goods-producing value chains (particularly automotive, as well as computers and electronics) are becoming more regionally concentrated, especially within Asia and Europe. Companies are increasingly establishing production in proximity to demand. Such value chains require just-in-time shipping operations. Borchard Lines continues to provide industry-renowned door-door timelines with over 93% on-time departures and arrivals.

Anticipation for London International Shipping Week 2021 (LISW21), the global maritime industry’s first in-person gathering since early 2020, is set to soar following UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s announcement that London is open for business. The British Prime Minister has confirmed an easing of COVID-19 restrictions across England by July 19, 2021, giving people working in shipping clear passage to reconnect at LISW21, slated to take place from September 13 – 17, 2021....

With their initiative on schedule reliability, Hapag-Lloyd is tackling one of the main challenges faced by the global shipping industry. Container shipping is currently going through its worst operational crisis, in many years. Due to high demand, massive COVID-19-related restrictions and the Suez Canal incident in April 2021, the shipping industry has been forced to deal with major operational challenges, such as congested ports, ship delays and infrastructural bottlenecks. Transparency on th...

Colombia has joined the International Transport Forum (ITF) as the organisation’s 63rd member country. Ministers of transport from the 62 current member states, meeting virtually for their Annual Summit on 27 May, agreed unanimously to admit Latin America's third-most-populous nation to the world's only intergovernmental organisation with a mandate for all transport modes. Colombia is the organisation’s fourth member state from Latin America. The other member countries from the regi...

NAUTIS Simulators will take the maritime training suite a step further in 2021 by introducing autodidactic tools to aid in maritime training.  Maritime training methodologies have been evolving radically over the past couple of years and the reliance on autodidactic or self-training techniques has gained substantial admiration.  NAUTIS team at VSTEP is collaborating with Smart-Ship, a Delft-based start-up that specialises in Haptic Feedback technology Hence, the NAUTIS team at...

John O’Keeffe has been appointed as the new Head of Renewables, Americas. O’Keeffe, a former maritime Captain with vast experience in the U.S. offshore wind industry, will join Blue Water’s office in Houston after serving as Head of Marine Affairs North America at Orsted. Work experience John was an integral part of America’s first offshore wind farm at Block Island. Following that success, he built the first Marine Affairs team in the US offshore wind market to facilit...

The foremost classification society ClassNK has published an onboard poster for ships titled "Issues after starting to use VLSFO," which outlines common main engine issues and recommended countermeasures when using Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) that complies with SOx regulations. Issues reported After the enforcement of regulations to limit sulphur content in marine fuel oil to 0.50% or less in 2020, issues when using compliant fuel oil are being reported occasionally. ClassNK compiled...

SDIS 33 (Fire & Rescue Service 33 in Bordeaux, France) has recently signed a contract with VSTEP Simulation for the delivery of two Response Simulator stations and two extension set-ups together with its vast maritime, aviation, and industrial content packages.   With the RS solution, the firefighters in Bordeaux can train for various crisis situations and ultimately, enhance the safety of the area. About SDIS 33 SDIS 33 is an autonomous public department that operates i...

Tokyo-based renowned classification society, ClassNK has announced that their Current Senior Executive Vice President, Hiroaki Sakashita has been appointed as the new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), as well as a Representative Director, effective on 18 March, 2020. Current Senior Executive Vice Presidents - Tetsuya Kinoshita, Junichiro Iida, and Dr. Toshiyuki Shigemi will continue in their present roles on the team, joined by Hirofumi Takano and Taira Narisawa as the new Executive...

On World Marine Aids to Navigation Day, which falls on Thursday, July 1, the Board of the International Foundation for Aids to Navigation (IFAN) is reminding the world’s ship owners that Aids to Navigation (AtoN) are imperative to keeping the Middle East Gulf region safe for vessels and crew, but that they must be paid for. Aids to Navigation (AtoN) services The Middle East Navigation Aids Service (MENAS) has been providing AtoN services since 1911 The Middle East Navigation Aids Servic...

The construction of the tunnel link between Denmark and Germany is coming along. Blue Water has been aboard from the very beginning with local warehouse solutions and port services. Now, they have entered an agreement with Fehmarn Belt Contractors (FBC) winning more activities. “We are very proud that FBC has chosen Blue Water, and we are certain that our local roots in the community and experience with large international projects will contribute positively to the project,” says Kl...

To meet the booming demands of shipping space and the shortage of export logistics supply chain resources, CULINES adheres closely to market trends and customer demands. Trans-Pacific Express Service (TPX) Five 1,700-4,400TEU container vessels will be deployed on the TPX service, which trades directly from Shanghai Through coordination and deploying of containerships and equipment, CULINES will launch its first Trans-Pacific Express Service (TPX) on July 18 linking China to the West Coast of...

Neste, the provider of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel and the 4th most sustainable company in the world, launches Neste MY Renewable Diesel™, in the Belgian market. The fuel, produced from 100% renewable raw materials, is brought to the Belgian market in collaboration with the channel partner EG Group. Neste MY Renewable Diesel enables customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% over the fuel’s life cycle compared to fossil diesel. Another important st...

DNV, the world’s renowned classification society, has released the latest updates to its rules for ship classification, with a raft of new class notations that are designed to enable the maritime industry to tackle the decarbonisation challenge. The new updates include ‘Fuel Ready’, a class notation that offers ship owners the option to prepare for a later conversion to multiple different alternative fuel options, and ‘Gas fuelled ammonia’ for ammonia fuelled vesse...

The first batch of female crew members of SITC International boarded the SITC Makassar and officially embarked on the ship for work. Two female crew members graduated from Shanghai Maritime University with a major in nautical technology and are outstanding graduates of the class of 2021. These are the first batch of female crew members recruited by SITC who have obtained three certificates of competency. Principle of gender equality SITC International adheres to the principle of gender equal...

Hapag-Lloyd has announced opening a new office in Ukraine. The country is located on the northern shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and is the second largest European country by area, covering a strategic geographic position between the European Union (EU) and Russia. Key Market for Hapag-Lloyd Various mineral resources and the world’s largest agricultural production make Ukraine an attractive export market for Hapag-Lloyd. The country is also an important import country, i.e....

IAG Cargo, the cargo division of International Airlines Group, completed its first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) charter chain of 16 flights from Stuttgart to Atlanta recently. Net-zero carbon emissions Working with their partner Kuehne+Nagel, IAG Cargo sourced 1.2 million litres of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ from Neste. This collaboration marks the first time that passenger-freighter charter flights are operated with net-zero carbon emissions. The last of the British Airways...

Swedish ferry company - Stena Line is strengthening its position and expanding services in the Baltic Sea Region, by deploying two new large and modern ferries on the route between Ventspils in Latvia and Nynäshamn in Sweden in 2021. The first of the two vessels, Stena Scandica entered Ventspils port on Tuesday 29 June 2021 to get ready for its maiden voyage on the route within a short. The vessel adds another 70% cabin capacity compared to the existing vessels, as well as increased freigh...

Inmarsat announces the appointment of Fredrik Gustavsson as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). The new role sees the former Head of Strategy & M&A at easyJet brought in to further strengthen the company’s executive leadership team and accelerate growth. Fredrik is Inmarsat’s third executive-level appointment in three months and follows a wide-ranging review of the company’s performance and effectiveness undertaken by Inmarsat CEO Rajeev Suri since jo...

In a steel-cut ceremony at BAE Systems shipyard in Glasgow, His Royal Highness, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, set the plasma cutting machine to work on the first plate of steel for the third Type 26 frigate, HMS BELFAST.   Minister of State for Defense Baroness Goldie, together with employees and representatives from the Scottish Government, Royal Navy and the Ministry of Defense, joined the celebrations.  Delivering anti-submarine warfare capability The event marks an i...

  VSTEP has signed the first commercial agreement for a 1+8 GMDSS Lab with a member of the Canadian Association of Marine Training Institutions (CAMTI), The Marine Training Centre at Holland College located in Summerside, PEI.   This will enable students and industry professionals studying at Holland College to efficiently learn the full spectrum of terrestrial and radio marine communication removing any physical boundaries of distance.  ...

Global survival and safety solutions provider, Survitec, has announced that it has completed a £15 million Bank Guarantee Facility with Barclays Corporate Banking. This bank guarantee complements the company’s recently announced £270 million refinancing, as well as a new £27.5 million Super Senior Revolving Capital Facility. All three of the agreements are part of Survitec’s growth plans for its survival technology products and services. Survitec attains bank guar...

As part of the company’s fleet improvement plan, Wan Hai Lines has confirmed an order of twelve (12) 3055 Teu container vessels with Nihon Shipyard Co Ltd. (NSY) / Japan Marine United Corp (JMU). The contract was signed on 28th June 2021. These new vessels will start taking delivery in the end of July 2023. Efficient vessel fleet Currently, Wan Hai Lines operates a fleet of 86 owned vessels and 64 chartered vessels. This new shipbuilding contract is the company’s latest fleet ren...

Influenced by the global COVID-19 epidemic and other factors, the dilemma of "one equipment is difficult to obtain" for foreign trade customers is further highlighted. To solve the urgent needs of customers, CULINES made efforts to increase the supply of shipping space on various services in July. Asia - Europe service upgraded CULINES has expanded the AEX service scope and added direct service from Asia to London Tilbury, UK China United Lines will upgrade its AEX route (Asia - Europe Expre...

On June 25th, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. (Yang Ming) celebrated the naming of its 2,800 TEU class full container vessel, YM Continuity with a virtual naming ceremony. Yang Ming Chairman Cheng Cheng-Mount and CSBC Corporation Chairman Cheng Wen-Lon, located respectively at Yang Ming’s headquarters in Keelung and CSBC Corporation’s administration building in Kaohsiung, jointly officiated the ceremony. Mrs. Chen Shu-Huei, wife of the President of National Ocean Taiwan University...

Hapag-Lloyd has commissioned the South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to build six ships, each with a capacity of over 23,500 TEU. The container liner shipping company had already placed an order for six ships of the same size at the end of 2020. Thus, the fleet will be expanded by a dozen 23,500+ TEU ships in total. The large container ships will be outfitted with a state-of-the-art high-pressure dual-fuel engine that will be extremely fuel-efficient. Their engine...

In 2015 Stena Line made history by converting one of the largest RoPax ferries in the world, the 240-metre Stena Germanica, to become the world’s first methanol powered ferry. Now the Swedish ferry company has achieved another world first, by powering Stena Germanica with methanol recycled from residual steel gases. This week Stena Line took the next step on their sustainable journey towards achieving zero carbon when the Stena Germanica travelled from Sweden to Germany powered by recycle...

Rolls-Royce and MAN Energy Solutions. have signed an agreement for a strategic partnership that will see MAN's PBST brand distribute state-of-the-art mtu turbochargers. “With this cooperation, we are combining our competencies − on the one hand, PBST's global sales structure for turbochargers and, on the other hand, Rolls-Royce's latest high-efficiency mtu turbocharger technology for high-speed diesel and gas engines," explains Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power System...