Norway’s 1st bio-methanol feeders enter service
Norway marked a milestone in its efforts to be a leader in green shipping with the introduction of the first of two vessels that will be powered with bio-methanol. The containerships which are operating in a partnership between North Sea Container Line and MPC Container Ships will expand Norway’s trade with Europe while also lowering emissions.
Seafarers shouldn’t have to decide between shore leave and rest
As the International Labour Organization (ILO) meets to consider changes to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), leading maritime charity?Stella Maris UK?is calling for urgent protections to stop seafarers being forced to choose between shore leave and adequate rest, a decision that no seafarer should have to make.
“This should never be a choice,” said Tim Hill, CEO of Stella Maris UK. “But for many crew, it’s an unacceptable reality. We regularly meet seafarers who are either denied shore leave on vague ‘operational’ grounds, or are too exhausted to go ashore even when permitted.”
A recent International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) report backs up what Stella Maris chaplains and ship visitors witness daily: shore leave is becoming harder to access, and many seafarers are sacrificing it out of necessity – not choice – due to relentless working hours.
Aging shadow tanker uses sts to second shadow tanker
The shipper of a cargo of Russian crude oil loaded aboard a sanctioned shadow tanker has found a creative way around Indian regulations that were barring the ship from offloading. A second tanker, also sanctioned in the west and operating in the shadow fleet moving Russian crude is being used to shuttle the cargo to port.
AIS signals confirm that the tanker Ozanno (12,969 dwt) is now positioned alongside the Andaman Skies (111,000 dwt). The Andaman Skies has been stuck holding off Mumbai reports say for two weeks since it was refused entry into the port. Both Reuters and Bloomberg are citing sources in India saying that the approximately 100,000 metric tons of Russian crude is being transshipped to the second tanker and will be landed at the terminal in the coming days.
Project outlines procedure for converting standard bulk carrier to methanol
A new project led by the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping addressed the challenges and processes required to convert one of the largest segments of the current global shipping fleet, the Kamsarmax bulk carrier, for dual-fuel methanol operations. With involvements from leaders across the segments of the industry, the project leaders believe it is a key step in decarbonization that provides critical insights into the feasibility of retrofit projects.
The project, which aimed to assess the techno-economic feasibility of a retrofit from fuel oil to dual-fuel methanol, has been granted an Approval in Principle (AiP) by Japan’s ClassNK, which also contributed regulatory advice and facilitated safety risk assessments.
As equipment fails, Chinese bulker rescues solo rower/adventurer on day 115
Famed Russian solo rower and adventurer Fedor Kobyakov is safely aboard the Chinese ore carrier Ore Hong Kong (399,214 dwt) after being rescued from the middle of the Indian Ocean. He was 115 days into his latest record-setting adventure when the support team advised that based on damages and equipment malfunctions on the rowboat, he needed to abandon the attempt to cross the Indian Ocean to Australia.
Kobyakov, who holds previous records including crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat in 46 days and the best 24-hour distance (110 miles), had set out from Patagonia in South America on December 5. He covered approximately 11,000 km (6,835 miles) crossing the South Atlantic in 68 days. He was south of Madagascar and nearing Reunion Island, 5,000 km (3,100 miles) from Australia with the team saying it would have conservatively taken two more months to complete the trip. They also emphasized that he would have reached Australia in winter adding to the difficulties of the journey. At 115 days it was not his longest trip, which is reported at 154 days in the Pacific.
To leave us market, port fees for Chinese ships may prompt genco
Smart shipowners are getting prepared to pass any extra U.S. fees for Chinese ships onwards to their charterers, insulating the owner from the impact of millions of dollars in extra regulatory cost per port call. Special new charter party clauses will ensure that U.S. exporters and importers – not shipowners – will bear the extra near-term cost, says Genco CEO John Wobensmith.
Genco is the largest U.S.-headquartered bulker operator, and has a substantial number of Chinese-built vessels in its fleet. As such, it is exposed to the proposed port fees on Chinese tonnage, written by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). If the fee structure is adopted as written, Chinese-built ships – and any global operators who use Chinese-built ships elsewhere – would have to pay millions of dollars for every port call in the United States.
In 48 hours, six more ships robbed in Singapore strait
ReCAAP, the regional monitoring operation for Asia, issued a new alert to ships in the area of the Singapore and Malacca Strait warning of the continuing surge in sea robbery incidents and while cautioning of the possibility of further incidents. They received reports of six incidents between March 28 and 30 prompting the continued caution based on the increase in activity so far in 2025.
As with the incidents earlier this year, the perpetrators seem more brazen in their efforts but during the last incidents there was no direct interaction and none of the crewmembers were attacked. Other incidents in 2025 have included crewmembers being assaulted and tied up, but as with the prior incidents in several of the cases in the past few days, the boarders appeared to be armed.