Singapore News

Naval Group Opens R&D Center in Singapore

Naval Group launched an R&D center in Singapore for strategic naval defense research topics.This international collaborative platform of exchanges located in Singapore will respond to a triple objective: boost innovation in new strategic domains such as Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, create a supply of innovative technologies for the regional market as well as supporting the joint effort led by both Singapore and France regarding R&D investments.With this center, Naval…

Malaysia Bans Open-loop Ship Scrubbers

Malaysia has prohibited the use of open-loop scrubbers by ships plying Malaysian waters, as Southeast Asia's third-largest economy joins the growing number of nations adopting new industry guidelines on reducing sea pollution.New regulations from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) will require shippers to adopt more environmentally-friendly measures to manage their fleets, including reducing the sulphur content in fuels used in their vessels from Jan. 1 2020.In a notice issued to the shipping industry…

Wärtsilä, PSA Marine Collaborate on Clean Energy Shipping

Wärtsilä and Singapore-based PSA Marine have agreed to collaborate in the co-creation of smart technologies for the marine sector. The focus will be on solutions that are human-centric and deployable. The Letter of Intent was signed on November 14 as part of the events celebrating the anniversary of the opening of the Wärtsilä Acceleration Center in Singapore.Specific collaboration areas envisioned include the use of electric or hybrid technologies that further the use of low-emissions energy and propulsion systems…

Wärtsilä Opens Support Center in Singapore

Wärtsilä said it has established its latest Expertise Center (EC) in Singapore to provide support functions, including operational support and dynamic maintenance planning, for marine and energy customers.Together with nine other Wärtsilä EC units around the world, the new center supports Lifecycle Solution agreement customers with advice and recommendations based on the analysis of data from monitoring the condition and performance of the specified machinery.Based within the company’s Acceleration Center facilities…

Hyundai Seeks EU's Ok to Acquire Daewoo

South Korea’s leading shipbuilding conglomerate Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group has submitted an application to the European Union for approval for its takeover of the compatriot shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).According a Yonhap report,  HHI informed that the submission will be reviewed by anti-trust authorities at the European Commission, expecting the results of their call in 2020.Hyundai Heavy has been taking prerequisite steps since April to apply for the EU’s mergers and acquisitions approval.In March…

DP World, Namibia's Nara Namib Sign MoU

Dubai based logistics giant DP World has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a free economic zone for industry and logistics in Namibia.The port operator said the agreement with Namibia’s Nara Namib Free Economic Industrial Zone will support the growth of Namibia as a regional hub for southern Africa.The development will help Namibia grow as a center for industrial operations and logistics, creating opportunities and jobs across multiple sectors including agriculture…

Klaveness Scales Down Supramax Biz

Norwegian shipping company Torvald Klaveness will scale down its dry bulk shipping activity in the Supramax segment and focus on the Panamax to Post-Panamax units.Klaveness Combination Carriers has dry bulk as one of its target markets, and Klaveness Digital, through its CargoValue platform, offer a unique solution for companies sourcing and shipping dry and wet raw materials at sea.Through Klaveness Chartering, Torvald Klaveness is a leading dry bulk operator serving charterers and owners all over the world.

Van Oord Orders Royal IHC Dredge System

Royal IHC, the provider of design and construction for the specialist maritime sector, has been awarded another contract by Van Oord to design and supply the dredge installation for its new 10,500m3 trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD).The suction pipe installation with underwater pump, two dredge pumps and three jet water pumps will be installed on the new TSHD and built in Singapore.Earlier this year, IHC was commissioned to deliver similar systems for two other Van Oord TSHDs.“We were delighted to receive this repeat order from Van Oord…

MSC Isabella, Largest Boxship to Call in Singapore Port

The 23,656 teu MSC Isabella became the largest containership to call the Port of Singapore when it berthed on 10 November 2019.The MSC’s Gülsün-Class of container vessels is currently the world’s largest series of container ships.To date, MSC Isabella is the biggest container ship to call at Singapore, the world’s top transshipment hub. Measuring around 400 meters long and 61 meters wide, the ship can carry up to 24 rows of containers, with a height of 13 tiers on deck. Its total capacity is 23,656 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units).

Singapore Extends MSGI Scheme Till 2024

The Maritime Singapore Green Initiative (MSGI), which was due to expire at the end of the year, will also be extended by five years, said Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) chief executive Quah Ley Hoon."As a key maritime nation, Singapore is committed to promoting environmental sustainability of the industry. MPA has reviewed its MSGI to keep it relevant, with a new focus on decarbonisation," she said.Under the enhanced MSGI, new carbon emissions-related incentives…

IMO2020: Market Uncertainty Brings More Fuel Oil Price Volatility

The oil market has recently been shaken up by geopolitical events, but volatility in the price difference between low and high sulphur fuel cannot be explained by that alone – the uncertainty is the chaos factor.The uncertainty of the upcoming IMO 2020 Sulphur cap regulation (IMO2020) is having a big impact on the bunker market. Whereas, the price for Marine Gas Oil Low Sulphur (MGO LS) has largely remained stable, the price for High Sulphur Fuel oil (HSFO) has been become increasingly more volatile in recent months.

Fuel Spread for 32 Ports on BIMCO Website

BIMCO members can now monitor the price spread between Marine Gas Oil Low Sulphur and 380 centistoke High Sulphur Fuel Oil in 32 different ports around the world with daily information supplied by MABUX.The service is intended to assist members in making bunkering decisions before and after January 1, 2020.“We have seen significant fluctuations in the market over the past couple of months – fluctuations that can only be explained by the massive uncertainty about the future. It is currently not operating by market fundamentals.

Costa Firenze Floats Out at Fincantieri

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri held an official float-out ceremony at its shipyard in Marghera for Costa Firenze, Costa Cruises’ second ship designed and built specifically for the Chinese market.Costa Cruises is the Italian company of Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest leisure travel company.The ceremony was held at Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy, where the ship is being built with scheduled delivery on September 30, 2020, once the interior fittings have been completed.Costa Firenze is the sister ship of Costa Venezia…

GasLog Provides FSU for Panama Project

GasLog has recently signed a 10-year time charter with Sinolam LNG Terminal, S.A. for the provision of an LNG FSU to a gas-fired power project being developed in Panama.The time charter is expected to be fulfilled through the conversion of the GasLog Singapore, a 155,000 cbm TFDE LNG carrier built in 2010. The required modifications are such that, as well as being FSU ready, the vessel will still be able to trade as an LNG carrier following the conversion work.The conversion will…

Kuok Makes Cash Offer for POSH

The Kuok Group, through its investment vehicle Quetzal Capital, announced a voluntary conditional cash offer to buy out Singapore-listed PACC Offshore Services Holdings Ltd (POSH).Quetzal Capital said that the conditional offer to acquire all of POSH for S$0.215 a share, marking a 97.2 percent premium over the stock’s closing price on 30 October.The offer price represents a premium of approximately 109.8%, 96.2%, 69.6% and 35.3% over the one-month, three-month, six-month and twelve-month volume-weighted average prices respectively…

OWC Opens Aussie Office

International engineering consultancy Offshore Wind Consultants (OWC) is setting up an office in Australia, as offshore wind plans in the country are moving forward.The International Energy Agency’s recently launched “Offshore Wind Outlook 2019” has identified more than 7,000TWh per year of offshore wind technical potential (roughly 2,000GW of capacity) in waters below 60 meters offshore Australia. The potential adds up to 16,000TWh per year when considering deeper waters.Currently…

Gdansk Ports Aims to be Gateway to Baltic

Europe’s fastest growing port, the Port of Gdansk, has outlined huge expansion plans designed to double its cargo volumes to 100m tonnes a year, during a high-level maritime and business delegation from Poland to Singapore.The delegation marks 50-years of diplomatic ties between the countries and is being organized with PSA International, the Singapore based global ports group. In May this year PSA International formally acquired DCT Gdansk, the largest container terminal in Poland…

Shipping Executives Push 'Carbon Levies'

Executives at some of the world's top shipping groups are advocating a levy on carbon emissions on shipping in an effort to shape tightening rules on greenhouse gas emissions while providing a means to fund development of cleaner fuel sources."To meet international shipping's decarbonization challenge, the maritime industry needs a carbon levy, it is coming, and we should shape it," said Andreas Sohmen-Pao, chairman of BW Group at the Global Maritime Forum in Singapore this week.The…

IRENA: Shipping Industry Must Cut Emissions

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) highlighted the importance of reducing shipping emissions and following the path towards a carbon-zero industry, in line with International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s sustainability targets.IRENA said that immediate action is required if the global shipping industry is to meet a target of halving its carbon emissions by the middle of the century.With heavy fuel oil covering 82 per cent of the sector’s energy needs, decarbonizing global shipping will play a critical role in achieving climate objectives…

Singapore Launches digitalPORT@SG

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat, DPM Heng announced the launch of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s (MPA) ‘digitalPORT@SG’, a digital Portal for One-stop Regulatory Transactions, which is Singapore’s maritime single window system that will serve as a one-stop portal for maritime regulatory and port services transactions.It will be developed in two phases: Phase 1 – users can obtain approval for all arriving and departing ships from three public agencies – MPA…

Grindrod Announces Finance Arrangement

Grindrod Shipping Holdings, a global provider of maritime transportation services in the dry-bulk and product tanker sectors, announced a number of transactions relating to a new financing arrangement, its fleet and share repurchases."Further to the previously-announced financing arrangements in respect of IVS Knot and IVS Kinglet, we expect to enter into a similar financing arrangement with a Japanese shipowner in respect of the 2011-built handy-size dry-bulk carrier, IVS Magpie…

Lloyd's Warns of Cyber Risks for Asian Ports

Lloyd's of London report stated that the cyber-attack on major ports across the Asia-Pacific could cost losses of up to $110 billion would occur in an extreme scenario in which a computer virus infects 15 ports.Despite the high costs to business and international trade, the report showed that the global economy is under-prepared for such an attack with 92% of the total economic costs uninsured, leaving an insurance gap of $101bn.An attack via a computer virus carried by ships could scramble the cargo database records at major ports and lead to severe disruption…

Poland's PGNiG to Charter LNG Tankers

Poland's state-run gas firm PGNiG has started the tender process to charter liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers for its new imports of the super-chilled fuel, a senior company official said on Wednesday.The company currently imports most of the gas it sells to its customers from Russia's Gazprom, but Warsaw has taken steps to reduce that reliance so that it does not have to extend a long-term deal on gas supplies after 2022, when it is scheduled to expire.It has bought more LNG from Qatar and the United States and has signed import deals with companies including U.S.

Yang Ming to Launch New ITS Service

Taiwanese ocean shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation said that encouraged by the steady economic growth and foreign trade in between Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, it  continues to enhance its Southeast Asia deployment with the new ITS service (Indonesia - Singapore/Malaysia - Thailand Service).The ITS service is set to be launched on November 12th, 2019, Yang Ming said.A total of three container ships with loadable capacity of 1,180 TEU each will be deployed for ITS service, of which one is contributed by Yang Ming.

West Africa Crude-Freight Rates Ease

Freight rates to Europe and Asia have continued to ease, albeit at a less rapid rate than during the middle of the month, boosting price offerings for West African grades, traders said on Monday. Rates for VLCCs from Nigeria's Bonny Light terminal to Singapore settled at $3.25 a barrel on Friday from highs just below $10 two weeks earlier, according to Refinitiv data, while for Rotterdam they eased to $2.72 from a high above $5.Rates for key Angolan grade Girassol aboard a VLCC bound for China plunged to $3.84 a barrel from highs of $11.39.

Euronav Readies Fleet for IMO 2020 Start

Belgian tanker operator Euronav expects to complete preparations on its fleet in coming weeks ahead of tougher rules next year limiting sulphur emissions from ocean-going vessels, a company executive said on Tuesday.Ship owners must cut emissions by reducing the sulphur content in fuel to 0.5% from 3.5% under the rules, which are set by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO), and come into effect in January.To comply, ship owners can use low-sulphur fuel…