Free passage restored for 15,000 vessels a year 
Since the beginning of October, the deepening of the inland waterway Nieuwe Waterweg and Botlek has been completed. One of the busiest waterways in the Netherlands has been deepened by a metre and half across a distance of 25 km. The contractors Van der Kamp and Boskalis... more
Shipowners better prepared for sulphur cap than expected?
The Palau International Ship Registry (PISR) has completed a survey on the upcoming IMO 2020 sulphur regulation. During the survey, more than 44% of the member shipowners, operators and managers confirmed that they will definitely comply with the forthcoming IMO regulations.... more
First flat rail operation in the Philippines
Subic operation Subic Bay International Terminal (Sbitc), a unit of the Philippines-headquartered International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), operating at the Subic Bay Freeport, recently handled the first flat rail operation in the Philippines with the loading of a new... more
Confidence within the global shipping industry on the rise?
Overall, confidence in the shipping industry fell in the past three months to its lowest level for two and half years, according to the latest shipping confidence survey conducted by the UK branch of the US-headquartered shipping consultancy BDO. Yet owners, charterers and... more
Port de Sète runs further services by DFDS
After eight years of activity, the service connecting the port of Toulon, France, to that of Pendik, near Istanbul, Turkey, was switched to the Port of Sète. DFDS recently announced the discontinuation of this service launched in 2011, which had been developed by the Turkish UN... more
Yang Ming launches CVK service 
The Taiwan-based carrier Yang Ming will introduce a new China-Vietnam-Cambodia (CVK) service, with effect from 21 October 2019. The port rotation of this CVK service will be Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen in China, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Sihanoukville (Cambodia), Ho Chi... more
Reducing emissions by hard sail
MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding have jointly obtained an “approval in principle (AIP)” from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai for the design of a hard sail system. The system converts wind energy into propulsive force with a telescopic hard sail and is a fundamental technology of the “Wind... more
HL opting out of the Arctic route too
After the French shipping company CMA CGM’s recent announcement that it would not sail the Northwest Passage for environmental reasons, the issue is once again being hotly debated in the container shipping industry. Jörg Erdmann, senior director sustainability at... more
Liverpool region to benefit from Brexit?
The shipping heritage of the Liverpool city region (LCR) could provide a major boost to the UK’s economic prospects post-Brexit, according to a major new report. Working with Maritime UK and the centre for economics and business Research (CEBR), Mersey Maritime commissioned the... more
Drewry forecasts further drop in global container volumes
The decline of the container market continued during the last three months, said the London (UK)-based maritime consultancy Drewry. The research company downgraded its outlook for world container port throughput for the current year and the rest of the five-year horizon in its... more