366 m record breaker in Brazil 
The arrival of the “MSC Natasha XIII”, a 366 m vessel, at Brazil's Porto de Santos on 1 February marks a historic milestone. With a capacity of 14,400 teu, it's the largest ship to dock there, facilitated by the collaborative efforts of all parties involved. The president of... more
Damen's dredger lands in Indonesia
Damen has delivered the inaugural CSD600 dredger to PT Dua Samudera Perkasa in Indonesia, for river maintenance in Kalimantan. This first-of-series, dismountable cutter suction dredger, part of a comprehensive package including crew training and maintenance spares, has a 250 kW... more
Greener sailing on the Rhine
HGK Gas Shipping has added the “GAS 95” to its fleet on the Rhine. Launched on 8 February 2024, this vessel has a diesel-electric propulsion system, a future-proof design, and deep-draft optimisation, and its power management system further reduces fuel consumption. With extreme... more
Port of Bilbao stays on course in 2023
The port of Bilbao finished 2023 with positive results, despite challenges like adverse weather that affected vessel arrivals. Total traffic reached 32.8 million t, slightly up from 2022. Notably, bulk liquids and solids posted an uptick and confirmed the port’s position as a... more
A new approach to power supply challenges
The Blue Barge project, funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, aims to develop an energy barge to supply electricity to moored and anchored ships in areas with limited access to the electricity grid. With a budget exceeding EUR 11 million, the project focuses on... more
Maxed out, but with plans for the future
Working at full capacity, the Port of Trois-Rivières in Canada saw a stable freight throughput of 4.2 million t in 2023, with consistent volumes in the dry bulk, liquid bulk, and general cargo segments. President and CEO Gaétan Boivin attributes this achievement to the... more
Maersk also returns to reality
Maersk’s results in 2023 are in line with the overall trend in the global shipping industry. For 2023, the group reported a revenue of USD 51.1 billion. The record year 2022 saw Maersk with USD 81.5 billion revenue and a profit of USD 29.3 billion. In 2023, profit amounted to... more
Rivers of growth at Contargo
Despite subdued port markets, Contargo reported a slight rise in container volumes transported in Northern France's river areas in 2023. Contargo North France confirmed its lead at the port of Valenciennes, becoming the top inland port for sea freight containers in... more
Post-Covid shipping blues
Bimco's chief shipping analyst, Niels Rasmussen, reports that the container market experienced a modest growth of 0.2% year-on-year in 2023, reaching 173.8 million teu. Nevertheless, it lagged behind the global trend, as the world’s economy has grown by 10% since 2019.... more
No buyer for HMM (yet)
The bidding process for South Korea's key global container carrier, HMM, has finally failed. From the original six bidders that emerged (Hapag-Lloyd, SM Group (SM Line), LX Holdings, Dongwon Group, Global Sae-A. and Harim) just the latter remained in the end – with a partner... more