Western Australia News

Livestock Ship Held off Australia Due to Coronavirus Outbreak

A Kuwaiti livestock ship, without animals aboard, was being held off Australia’s west coast after six crew members tested positive for the new coronavirus, authorities said on Tuesday, heightening concerns over how arrivals by sea are handled.The Al Kuwait left the Middle East on May 7 and docked near the city of Perth on May 22 after telling the Australian immigration and agriculture authorities that some crew members had raised temperatures, Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan…

BHP to Expand Iron Ore Exports from Port Hedland

Miner BHP Group said on Tuesday it plans to expand its iron ore export capacity from Port Hedland, the largest global shipping hub for the steel-making commodity, by up to 40 million tonnes a year to 330 million tonnes a year.The move comes as improvements across BHP’s supply chain have opened the way to raise shipments if market conditions allow, Tim Day, BHP’s Acting Asset President Western Australia Iron Ore, said in a statement.The company has begun community consultation…

Australia Orders Two Cruise Ships to Leave ... Now!

Australia ordered two cruise ships to leave its waters on Thursday, after a liner that docked in Sydney Harbor last week became the primary source of infection in the country's coronavirus outbreak.Although well below levels elsewhere in the world, the pace of Australia's infections is starting to pick up speed, reaching nearly 2,800 cases and 13 deaths.The government of West Australia state said nobody would be permitted to disembark from the German-operated MV Artania after seven of 800 foreign passengers on board tested positive for the virus…

Australia Ship Sim Center Opens

The Western Australian Minister for Ports, the Hon. Alannah MacTiernan MLC opened the expanded facilities of HR Wallingford’s new Australia Ship Simulation Center.HR Wallingford has added two new purpose-built simulators to its center in Fremantle, bringing the total number of simulators that it owns and operates there to six. This makes it one of the largest ship simulation centers in Australia and allows a full maneuvering team (including pilots, tug masters and vessel traffic service (VTS) operators) to conduct integrated and immersive full port scenarios.In her speech…

Austal Australia Launches Bajamar Express

Australian-based global ship building company Austal Limited announced that its Henderson, Western Australia, shipyard has successfully launched Bajamar Express, the first of two 118-meter, high-speed trimaran ferries under construction for Fred. Olsen Express of the Canary Islands.The ferry is now in the final stages of fit-out. She is scheduled for delivery in spring 2020, said a press note from the shipbuilder.“With the launch of Bajamar Express, our internationally competitive Australian team has again demonstrated an inherent capability to design and construct advanced…

Austal to Support USN Ships in Australia

Austal signed an agreement with the United States Navy which will see its Henderson shipyard conduct repairs and sustainment activities on USN and Military Sealift Command (MSC) ships.With the Agreement of Boat Repair (ABR) now in place, Austal’s Australian operations may now bid to provide emergent repair services to deployed USN ships, including the Austal designed and constructed Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).The ABR also allows Austal to bid for maintenance and repair of MSC ships deployed to the region…

Rio Tinto's Full-year Iron Ore Shipments Drop

Rio Tinto on Friday posted a 3% drop in iron ore shipments in 2019 as the Anglo-Australian miner's operations faced disruptions due to cyclone and a fire at a port facility.Iron ore shipped from Australia's Pilbara region in 2019 was 327.4 million tonnes, the company said, well within its forecast of 320 million tonnes to 330 million tonnes.The company said it made up for the disruptions in the first half by way of higher iron ore production and shipments than a year earlier.

Kalmar Signs Pact with Patrick Terminals

Kalmar, the provider of cargo-handling solutions and services to ports and terminals, has concluded a comprehensive software maintenance and support agreement with Australian terminal operator Patrick Terminals.The agreement, which covers the equipment automation systems at the company’s Brisbane and Sydney AutoStrad terminals, was booked in Cargotec's 2019 Q4 order intake, with the agreement coming into effect from November 2019, said the Cargotec unit.Patrick Terminals is Australia's leading container terminal operator, handling over three million TEU annually.

Austal Australia Rolls Out 118m Trimaran

Austal Australia has rolled out the hull (No. 394) and attached the superstructure for the first of two 118 meter trimarans under construction for Fred. Olsen Express of the Canary Islands.Bajamar Express was rolled out onto the hardstand at Austal Australia’s Henderson shipyard in Western Australia on December 14, in preparation for final fit out before launch in February 2020.Austal Chief Executive Officer David Singleton highlighted the vessel’s significance as one of nine trimarans currently under construction by Austal…

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…

KOTUG Wins Big in Port Hedland

With the successful start an important milestone has been reached in the execution of the contract to operate the tugboat fleet for Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) in Port Hedland, a bulk export port on Australia´s west coast. The fleet consists of eight new ART 85-32W and one RT80-32 Rotortugs. Six of them are Fortescue owned, three are owned by KOTUG, which are chartered directly to Fortescue. KOTUG manages the entire contract.Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, is the site of the highest tonnage port in Australia.

NYK Bulk Shipping Records Lower Profit

Japanese shipping and logistics company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) said that its bulk Shipping division recorded lower profit than previous year.In the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020 (April 1, 2019, to June 30, 2019), its revenues from the bulk shipping  amounted to 195.1 billion yen registering -11.3 decrease compared to the same period last year. The profit is down by -1.2 at 9.2 billion yen"Energy and Car transport is robust but lower dry bulk market due to production stoppage in Brazil and Western Australia…

Gorgon LNG Faces Scrutiny on Delayed Carbon Capture Project

The state of Western Australia has ordered an inquiry into a delay in burying carbon dioxide emissions at Chevron Corp's Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which could lead to a change in conditions on the project.The state approved the $54-billion Gorgon project in 2009 on the condition that at least 80 percent of carbon dioxide released in its gas processing operations over a five-year rolling average period would be buried."It has become apparent there needs to be a clearly defined start point for the commencement of the five-year rolling average…

Klaveness Combination Carriers Extends Contract with South32

Norwegian shipping company Klaveness Combination Carriers (KCC) said that it has signed an agreement with South32 Marketing Pte Ltd extending the current Contract of affreightment (COA).According to the owner and operator of combination carriers, the COA is for shipments of caustic soda to Worsley Alumina Pty Ltd, South32’s alumina refinery located in Western Australia.Through this agreement, the term of the COA is extended by three years from January 2019 to December 2021 with…

China's Commodity Imports Tepid, but Improving

If you were looking for evidence that China's economy has lost momentum, you may be tempted to think that you've found it in the unimpressive growth, or lack thereof, in imports of major commodities in the first quarter.Customs data for the first quarter show only crude oil has recorded significant growth in import volumes in the first quarter, with copper data mixed and iron ore and coal dropping.This would seem to confirm the narrative of slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy amid the ongoing trade and tariff dispute with the United States.But as usual the devil is in the deta

Joyce Krane Moves into Maritime Sector

The family business Joyce Krane from Karratha recently ordered an LHM 280 Mobile Harbor Crane. The Australian heavy lift and logistic company has been a Liebherr customer of mobile cranes for many years and is now opting for its first Liebherr maritime crane. Joyce Krane, an Australian heavy-lift and logistics specialist with more than 40 years of experience, is a long-standing Liebherr customer for mobile cranes. Joyce Krane from Karratha recently ordered an LHM 280 Mobile Harbor Crane for quayside operation in Dampier, Western Australia.

Bhagwan Marine Expands Fleet

Just months after moving its corporate headquarters to Perth in order to strengthen relationships with Western Australia’s largest Oil & Gas clients, Bhagwan Marine has expanded its fleet further to meet the needs of those clients.The CMV Athos and the DP2 SeaMaster are both Dynamic Positioning (DP2) vessels, combining enhanced capabilities with greatly improved efficiency, safety and manoeuvrability.The CMV Athos is a 65m ABS Classed, Multi-Purpose Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS)…

AAL Ramps Up Asia-Australia Liner Service

Breakbulk and heavy lift project cargo operator AAL said it will boost its scheduled North and South East Asia to Australia West Coast Liner Service (AUWC) to a monthly service with the addition of a second MPV vessel. The expansion comes on the back of very strong growth (16 percent in 2017/1018) for Western Australia’s $109 billion mineral and petroleum industry, due mainly to rising commodity prices, stronger than expected export demand and growing local production.AAL’s AUWC…

Baltic Index Losing Streak Continues as Capesize Rates Drag

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships transporting dry bulk commodities, fell for the eighth consecutive session on Thursday, pressured by weakness in the capesize segment.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell 73 points, or 5.6 percent, to 1,231 points, its lowest since June 4.The capesize index declined for the seventh straight session, tumbling 221 points, or 11.2 percent, to 1,747 points - also its lowest since June 4.

INPEX Selects NAPA for LNG Carrier Fleet

Japan's largest oil and gas exploration and production company INPEX Corporation has installed ClassNK-NAPA GREEN for monitoring operations on three of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.NAPA said that Inpex awarded a deal to the company for the provision of a solution for monitoring and follow-up of ship operations on two LNG carriers built to service the Ichthys project and one LNG carrier for Shell’s Prelude FLNG project.With the core motivation of accurately verifying the technical performance of these highly complex carriers…

Maersk Supply Service Wins Contract With Quadrant Energy

Maersk Master and Maersk Mariner, Maersk Supply Service’s two first Starfish-class anchor handling vessels built in 2017, will be on contract with Quadrant Energy in Western Australia, commencing March 2018. Both vessels will support Quadrant Energy’s Phoenix South and Van Gogh drilling campaign which will initially cover three wells for a duration of 150 to 200 days. The highly modern and efficient vessels will be supporting Transocean’s semi-submersible rig DD1 with supply and anchor handling duties throughout the campaign. “Quadrant Energy is an important customer.

Authorities team up for S&R Exercise off Perth

A major search and rescue training exercise has taken place off Rottnest Island in Western Australia yesterdayinvolving both state and federal authorities. Search and rescue crews from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), Western Australia Police Force (WA Police) and Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services (WA DFES) teamed up for the exercise which simulated an aviation incident at sea. The scenario involved a simulated light plane which had been forced to ditch into the water just before 8am AWST about 7km northwest of Rottnest Island.

“It’s the steel production, stupid!”

BIMCO's Peter Sand, in a new report, weighs in on the implications for the Dry Bulk sectors.Chinese imports of iron ore keep falling, while its crude steel production keeps growing. China’s increased use of scrap metal for its production of crude steel is fundamentally critical to the dry bulk shipping industry. Mostly Capesize ships are impacted by this, way beyond the temporary iron ore export disruptions in Brazil and Australia.Chinese steel production grew by a massive 12.6 million tonnes (+9.2%) in the first two months on 2019 as estimated by China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).

Liebherr: Reachstacker Order in Australia

Tianqi Lithium Kwinana has placed an order with Liebherr for the first LRS 545 Reachstacker in Australia. The new device is a part of a package including two Liebherr XPower wheel loaders. The new machine is scheduled to go into operation in July this year.Tianqi Lithium operates a new lithium hydroxide plant in the Kwinana Industrial Area, south of Perth in Western Australia. The company works every day to meet the rapidly growing demand for rechargeable batteries driven, for example, by the electric vehicle and energy storage industries.

Two Container Giants Visits Austalian Port

Two of the largest-capacity container ships to ever visit Australia are making calls to the Fremantle Inner Harbour this month.The first one, Maersk Skarstind, has already arrived in Fremantle. Maersk Skarstind berthed around 9.30pm on July 15th assisted by a pilot and three Svitzer tugs.Capable of carrying more than 9400 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) each—around double the number on most container ships visiting Australia—Maersk Skarstind and MSC Elma are about 300 meters long and 48 meters wide.While MSC Archimidis…

ZEAMARINE Secures Largest Contract to Date

ZEAMARINE has successfully been awarded a large ocean transportation contract from Schenker Australia Pty Limited for the BHP South Flank Project in Western Australia. The project scope encompasses the transportation of approximately 450,000 freight tons from China to Port Hedland, Western Australia, with the majority of the cargo being heavy and oversized modules.ZEAMARINE will be utilizing its newly-built ZEA 14k-900 vessel type for the execution of the project. The F-900 vessels…