Russia News

Maersk Explores Arctic Shipping Route with Russia

Shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Friday it is in talks with Russia's state-owned icebreaker operator to send more goods via the Arctic, which is becoming more accessible as climate change reduces the sea ice.Russia has made developing the so-called northern sea route (NSR) - which requires new ports and heavy icebreakers to move goods - a priority, with supporters dubbing the route the northern Suez Canal.Last summer, Maersk carried out what it said was a one-off trial…

Sovcomflot Selects Orange for Maritime VSAT

Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and LNG shipping Sovcomflot has chosen Orange Business Services to deploy an advanced Maritime VSAT solution on eight vessels.According to a press release from the the business services arm of Orange S.A., this initial rollout will keep the ships connected even when operating on the high seas, improving safety and optimizing navigation in challenging conditions.In addition, this solution will make it easier for crews to stay in touch with friends and family…

DP World Mulls Port Deals Along Russia's Northern Route

DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, wants to run ports that Russia plans to build along the northern sea route in the Arctic to shorten shipping times between the east and west, its chief executive told Reuters.Russian President Vladimir Putin has made developing the northern sea route (NSR) - which requires new ports and heavy icebreakers to move goods - one of his priorities, with supporters dubbing the route the northern Suez Canal.Dubai government-controlled DP World operates 78 marine and inland terminals…

Maersk India Trade Report Q1 2019

India’s containerized exports with the world witnessed a stable growth of 6% in the first quarter of 2019 propelled by robust performances in refrigerated cargo, engineering and pharmaceuticals sectors, while imports declined slightly in the same quarter registering a market growth of -2.2% in Q1. The import demand was buoyed by pharmaceuticals, metal, appliances and kitchenware, paper, chemicals and fruit & nuts, mainly from Northern Europe, South Asia, China and Russia. Exports were driven largely by the East and West of India…

Maersk Unveils its First Cold Store in Russia

Danish international container shipping company A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S (Maersk) has launched the construction of its new cold store facility in St. Petersburg to address the needs of a high-demand Russian market.The 3-chamber warehouse will offer specialised solutions extending the life cycle of perishable goods, said a press release from the business conglomerate with activities in the transport, logistics and energy sectors.On June 5th, 2019, the ground-breaking ceremony for the new warehouse took place in St.

Tillerson Applauds U.S. Trade Goals, Not Tactics

Rex Tillerson, the former U.S. secretary of state and Exxon Mobil Corp chairman who has clashed with President Donald Trump since leaving the administration, said on Wednesday he supports the president's trade objectives "but may not support the tactical moves."Speaking to a group of energy executives in Houston, Tillerson said he was concerned that pursuing bilateral trade talks around the globe could weaken Washington's network of allies, which he called "that very strong alliance…

Gazpromneft Marine Bunker in Pact with Cruise Lines

The Gazprom Neft bunkering business Gazpromneft Marine Bunker has concluded new agreements with cruise operators Royal Caribbean International and Saga Cruises.Gazpromneft Marine Bunker will be managing approximately 60 bunkering operations for Royal Caribbean and Saga cruise liners during the summer navigation season (May—September 2019) at St Petersburg’s Marine Façade passenger port.Total sales of marine fuels under these contracts are expected to be in the order of 55,000…

Russia: Sovcomflot Posts Strong Q1 Profit

Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and LNG shipping, PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) has posted $70.1m in profit for the first quarter ended 31 March 2019.Sergey Frank, President and CEO of PAO Sovcomflot said: “Sovcomflot started 2019 with a strong Q1 performance, boosted by a return to profitability in our conventional crude and product tanker markets following an upswing in the first months of 2019. Profits from our crude fleet in particular increased 53…

China's Tariffs on U.S. LNG Mean Nothing, Everything

China's decision to hike import duties on U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a move that means very little for the market in the short term, but it has the potential to deliver outsized consequences the longer the levies remain in place.As part of its latest round of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, Beijing increased the duty on LNG shipments from 10 percent to 25 percent.This will make it even more uneconomic for Chinese buyers to purchase LNG cargoes from the United States.

U.S. seizes 'sanction buster' North Korean Ship

The United States has for the first time seized a North Korean cargo ship it accused of illicit coal shipments in violation of U.S. and United Nations sanctions, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday.The ship, known as the "Wise Honest," was first detained by Indonesia in April 2018. Under an unusual U.S. civil forfeiture action, the vessel is now in the possession of the United States and is currently approaching U.S. territorial waters heading toward American Samoa, U.S.

Poor April for Seaborne Coal masks Better Market

Coal exporters suffered a poor April with seaborne volumes dropping from the previous month amid slack demand, but the overall picture for the industry so far this year isn't quite as gloomy as it may appear.April is not traditionally a strong month for coal demand as it falls between the winter and summer power demand peaks - declining seaborne volumes are to be expected.It's also worth noting that the world's top coal exporters have managed to boost shipments on a year-on-year basis…

Wärtsilä Solutions Increase Safety in Arctic Waters

The technology group Wärtsilä has been contracted by Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company, to roll out a Wärtsilä Fleet Operations solution for Sovcomflot’s fleet of Arctic shuttle tankers.The aim is to promote sustainable development, and to increase the safety and efficiency of operations in the sensitive Arctic waters. Wärtsilä will also provide a core solution for the company’s fleet operation center. The order was booked in March 2019.The solution has been developed as a result of collaboration between Sovcomflot and Transas, a Wärtsilä company.

FESCO Optimizes the Rotation

Russian shipping company FESCO Transportation Group announced that as part of the development of FESCO Fast Forward services it is optimizing the rotation and changing the names of regular shipping lines from China and the Republic of Korea to Russia.Transportation services between China and Russia will be carried out under the brand FESCO China Express, and between the Republic of Korea and Russia - under the brand FESCO Korea Express.FESCO China Express will operate on two routes…

HMM, FESCO Expand Cooperation

South Korean major Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) unveiled its plans to expand cooperation with Russian container line FESCO on their China Russia North Service (CRN).HMM has been jointly operating a China-Korea-Russia weekly service, under the name of ‘CRN’ with FESCO and CMA CGM.With the expansion of cooperation, the current CRN will be reorganized and two of new direct services connecting Korea and Russia, named 'KR2 (Korea Russia Service 2)' and 'KRS (Korea Russia Service)', will be introduced in the service network of HMM.HMM deploys one vessel (1,000 TEU) on the KR2 which directly connect

Seagull Maritime Acquires Tero Marine

Seagull Maritime announced that they have acquired a majority of the shares in Tero Marine. Tero Marine, headquartered in Bergen, Norway, has developed fleet management software for the shipping industry for more than three decades. The company’s flagship, TM Master, is recognized as one of the leading brands in the business. Today, TM Master is a crucial tool for shipowners all over the world, not only as an instrument for planned maintenance (and asset management), but also as a business intelligence resource.Tero Marine is growing fast and has currently more than 55 employees…

Dream Cruises Welcomes Third Ship

Dream Cruises, a luxury cruise line owned by Genting and based in China welcome “Explorer Dream” in Shanghai as the third ship in its Dream Cruises fleet.Dream Cruises held the christening ceremony for the former SuperStar Virgo at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal. Chinese designer Grace Chen served as the godmother and presented a fashion show with 18 models showcasing her 'Voyage' collection, walking a runway on the Palace Pool Deck."Formerly the “SuperStar Virgo” of sister brand Star Cruises…

Liebherr Turnover Tops $11 Billion

The Liebherr Group notched up a company record turnover of $11.8 million in 2018, representing an increase of $828 million, or 7.5 %, compared with the previous year.Despite a slight decline in overall economic growth, revenues from construction machinery and mining equipment rose by 10.8 % to $7,761 million, with especially strong contributions from the Earthmoving, Mobile Cranes and Mining divisions. In the other product areas, which include Maritime Cranes, Aerospace and Transportation Systems…

St. Petersburg Terminal Adds Kalmar Fleet

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, is to supply a total of 16 terminal tractors to long-standing customer Container Terminal Saint-Petersburg CJSC (CTSP, part of UCL Holding).According to a press release, the order was booked in Cargotec's 2019 Q1 order intake, with delivery of the machines to take place during Q3 of 2019. Located in the Big port of St. Petersburg, Russia, CTSP specialises in handling all types of containerised cargo at its modern facilities, which include an automated control system that enables high-speed container handling on ship…

Russia: New Port of Sabetta LNG Terminal

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an allocation of budget funds in 2021-2022 for the construction of the Utrenny liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Russian port of Sabetta on the Northern Sea route, the Kremlin said on its website.The budget money will also be used to reconstruct a navigable channel in the Gulf of Ob in the Kara Sea.The Utrennee gas field is developed by Russian gas giant Novatek and serves as a resource base for the Arctic LNG-2 project. (Reuters, Reporting by Andrey Kuzmin Writing by Polina Nikolskaya Editing by Andrey Kuzmin and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

PDVSA Oil Port Paralyzed by Another Blackout

Venezuela's main oil export port of Jose and the country's four crude upgraders have been unable to resume operations following a massive power blackout on Monday, according to industry workers and a union leader close to the facilities.The most recent oil shipment for export, on the carrier Dragon chartered by Russia's Rosneft, left Jose, which is owned by state-run PDVSA, on March 24, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel-tracking data and PDVSA's trade documents."There is no electricity…

New COSCO Service Between UK, Europe, Russia

Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics services supplier company COSCO Shipping Lines announced a new COSCO feeder service from St Petersburg, Russia will begin calling at DP World Southampton."COSCO is to introduce a new weekly call at DP World Southampton, as part of a rotation including St Petersburg, Russia; Kotka, Finland; Southampton, UK; and Rotterdam, Netherlands," said a press release.The news comes after COSCO confirmed in February that DP World Southampton will be a permanent call on its feeder service.

Fire Breaks out on USCG's Polar Star

It seems the U.S. cannot do enough to fast-track the construction of its new icebreaking fleet, as the USCG announce last night that the 150-member crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star fought a fire at approximately 9 p.m. PST Feb. 10 that broke out in the ship's incinerator room about 650 miles north of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.After initial response efforts using four fire extinguishers failed, fire crews spent almost two hours extinguishing the fire. Fire damage was contained inside the incinerator housing…

Brent Hits 2019 High on U.S.-China trade Hopes

U.S. crude stocks rise to 454.5 mln barrels as crude exports from U.S. hit record 3.6 mln bpd.Oil prices rose on Friday, supported by OPEC's ongoing supply cuts and hopes that Washington and Beijing may soon end their trade dispute.International Brent crude futures hit a new 2019 high of $67.60 a barrel, up 53 cents from Thursday's close.Further gains were tempered by U.S. crude oil production hitting a record 12 million barrels per day (bpd) and a surge in exports from the country.By 1125 GMT, U.S.

Black Sea Container Exports on the Rise

Ukraine-based Informall Business Group in its latest Black Sea Container Market review reports a rise of 8.70% in loaded containers handling in the Black Sea container ports of Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia in 2018 as compared to 2017.Black Sea container terminals of the five countries handled 2927016 TEU in 2018, including empty containers, excluding transshipment. This review observes only full containers of the region – 2188153 TEU.In 2018, there was a laden container turnover increase in all countries of the Black Sea region.

Belfast Harbour Hits Record Cargo in 2018

The major maritime hub in Northern Ireland Belfast Harbour handled a record 24.6 million tonnes of cargo in 2018, up 3.8% on the previous year thanks to a major increase in the number of freight vehicles passing through the port, which rose to a high of 532,000, latest figures show."Growth was led by a strong increase in freight vehicle carryings on Stena Line’s services to Great Britain, rising by 3% to a record 532,000 freight vehicles and for the second consecutive year more than 1.5m passengers passed through the Port…

Russia Plans New Grain Terminal in Crimea

Russia plans to build a grain terminal in Crimea at a cost of more than 1.7 billion roubles ($25.4 million), the RIA news agency quoted the head of the region as saying on Thursday.Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, drawing sanctions from the West that created legal risks for the region's grain exports.