Crunch time for DryShips as debt pressure mounts High-stakes restructuring talks between George Economou-led DryShips and its lenders are reaching a critical stage just as the value of DryShips' stake in Ocean Rig UDW is plumbing new lows. On 15 February, DryShips threatened to "suspend principal repayments to preserve cash liquidity" during...
Seaman Guard Ohio bail hearing postponed The bail hearing for the six UK guards of Seaman Guard Ohio has been adjourned until 26 February, a seafarers' charity has told IHS Fairplay. Scheduled for today, the bail hearing was delayed because the prosecution, which does not accept the bail plea, had yet to submit...
New President of Kongsberg Maritime Egil Haugsdal follows Geir Håøy as President of Kongsberg Maritime. Haugsdal holds extensive leadership experience from KONGSBERG, and currently heads Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies. He has previous experience from KONGSBERG as Executive Vice President of Business Development and as President of Kongsberg Protech Systems. "I am delighted with the confidence...
Seaman Guard Ohio case could be solved within six months The crisis facing the crew and guards of the Seaman Guard Ohio counter-piracy ship, currently imprisoned in India, has a "good chance" of being resolved within the next six months, an Indian government policy analyst has told IHS Fairplay. However, the view from...
UAE pushes out Saudis, Kuwait as Europe's biggest jet fuel supplier European imports of jet fuel surged by 10% in 2015, the strongest growth seen in a decade, as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait lost market shareto the United Arab Emirates, which is now the region's biggest supplier. Imports to Europe in 2015 were 21.9 million tonnes, up from 19.9 million tonnes the...
Seaman Guard Ohio crew have a 'good chance', says government analyst The crisis facing the crew and guards of the Seaman Guard Ohio counter-piracy ship, currently imprisoned in India, has a "good chance" of being resolved within the next six months, an Indian government policy analyst has told IHS Fairplay. However, the view from India reveals internal security concerns that will require...
Tough renewal for both sides of P&I equation The Standard Club has said it has continued to remove poor business from its books at the 2016/17 P&I renewals as it sought to limit the level of premium increases for members. The club's director of underwriting, John Reilly, told IHS Fairplay that while the renewal discussions had...
Box lines seek to end four-year EU cartel probe The European Commission has issued a call for market reaction to a series of commitments offered by leading container line operators in an attempt to settle a four-year old investigation into suspected rate fixing. Fifteen companies have signed up to the commitments, under which they...
Havila's revised restructuring plan fails to win required support A revised restructuring plan tabled by Havila Shipping has failed to win a two thirds majority of unsecured bonds by 15 February, as stipulated by the plan. Consequently, the listed Norwegian offshore services vessel owner said in a statement it has decided to halt payments of interest and...
Korean ship register resumes business activity in Iran The Korean Register of Shipping has resumed business in Iran, following the lifting of sanctions against the Middle Eastern country in January. The classification society, which is ambitious to grow its registered tonnage, is in the process of registering 27 oil tankers belonging to Iran's national line, Islamic...
Vopak's Singapore LPG terminal receives first cargo Dutch terminal operator Vopak's LPG terminal in Singapore received its first cargo on 15 February 2016, when the VLGC Sun Aries delivered 50,000 tonnes of LPG to ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil is one of the anchor tenants of the terminal. Amid growing LPG exports from the Gulf and the US...
Market challenges force Hoegh LNG to rethink investment strategy Hoegh LNG Holdings, the listed LNG shipping company in the Oslo-based Leif Hoegh group, said it would focus on its key flotations storage and regasification unit (FSRU) business and put investment in floating LNG (FLNG) production on ice because of market conditions. "Given the overall market...
Malacca Strait tanker sinking leaves one crewman dead One crewman died and 26 were rescued by the Indonesian navy when an Indonesia-flagged chemical tanker sank in the Strait of Malacca after taking on water. The 6,703 dwt Nusantara Akbar, left the Sumatran port of Dumai and was bound for Balikpapan, also in...
Qube trumps Brookfield in bidding war for Australia's Asciano Australia's biggest container operator, Asciano announced on 16 February the Qube Holdings Consortium AUD9.05 billion (USD6.47 billion) takeover bid had the unanimous board backing, paving the way for former Patrick executive Chris Corrigan to reclaim the company and make a comeback to the Australian waterfront. The Asciano announcement came after Canadian...
Sembcorp Marine adjusts capex to USD71 million amid full year net losses Singapore-listed offshore company Sembcorp Marine will budget around SGD100 million (USD71.1 million) for capital expenditure (capex) for 2016, considering the challenging market environment. However, Tan Cheng Tat chief financial officer of Sembcorp Marine told IHS Fairplay that the capex budget will be subject to change as a result of the volatile...
Panama Canal lock repairs pass the test Contractors successfully reinforce sills at Pacific entrance
Supramax flat on week Index had dipped to further lows in the week but showing signs of recovery
JHW orders five ethane carriers in China Newbuildings will be largest ethane carriers ever built. Prices to emerge.
Human error still causing marine insurance claims, UK Club warns Joint study with Solis highlights bridge communication breakdowns
Data Hub: Trade Statistics Full-year 2015 figures will paint a grim outlook for the year ahead, says MDS Transmodal
Antwerp the winner in Europe's northern range Unrivalled 7% hike in throughput figures sees Belgian port overtake Hamburg to become Europe's second-busiest box port
IRISL to resume northern Europe box and breakbulk services Germany's Peter W Lampke to pick up old agency arrangement
Lower demand and high stockpiling weaken China's January crude imports But the full-year prospects remain upbeat due to the country's strong demand for petroleum reserves
Suezmax tanker rates jump on strong West African demand Deal among four oil nations to freeze output is bearish for freight
Shippers welcome container line pricing finding FTA claims major victory for shippers
UK ports to offer box weighing DP World and Hutchison facilities to allow shippers to weigh boxes at terminal
Lloyd's syndicates show big appetite for fine art risks Competition is continuing to intensify in the fine art market, which remains profitable despite pricing pressure
Höegh LNG freezes FLNG projects and diverts resources to FSRU Focusing solely on FSRUs is financially and commercially the best strategy, company says
Pacific Radiance unit incorporates subsidiary Subsidiary to provide ship owning, ship chartering and ship management services
Box lines agree with Brussels to new pricing practices GRIs to go as European Commission seeks more freight rate transparency
ABS centralises global marine segment Dedicated market sector leaders will focus on containerships, tankers and bulk carriers
HMM to close $450m sale of bulk carrier business to Hanh & Co in March Korean private equity firm to assume $350m of HMM's debts
Port of Antwerp on trade mission to India Port authorities intend to explore further collaboration opportunities in the country
Port of Kiel acquires more storage space Warehouse has 18,500 square metres of useable floor area
Lunar new year holidays cast shadow over VLCC chartering Significant movement was stifled due to China's holidays and end of February loading programme
Mermaid Maritime expects net loss for 2015 But debt levels remained low at end-2015 and measures to reduce costs and raise operating efficiency are ongoing
Paragon Offshore files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Company enters into Plan Support Agreement with bondholders and revolving credit agreement lenders
Ocean Rig loses two drilling contracts Owner serves notice it will seek proper compensation and predicts bleak market until 2018
Economou purchase of newcastlemax trio from DryShips falls through Nasdaq-listed owner warns it may suspend principal payments amid loan restructuring talks
Opec will try to halt oil supply growth Recent deal aims to keep production at current levels, but not cut output.
TIL starts up share buyback Oslo-listed company will pay 5% premium in first tranche of buybacks.
Tufton looking at tankers Paulo Almeida explains where the fund manager is looking to deploy its capital.
Nisshin Shipping panamax sale failing Negotiations for the sale of 2001-built vessel reportedly near to collapse, with new low benchmark ahead.
TEN declares dividend increase of 33% Greek tanker owner pushes up its payout and pledges to keep buying back its own stock at a discount.
Farstad writes down fleet by $127m Norwegian owner responds to tough markets and uncertainty over future earnings by taking big Q4 impairment hit.
Greek owner Gotsis tied to Varun tanker Eurotankers tipped to have completed its first purchase in more than a year.
Breaker Hariyana makes it into profit Alang-based ship recycler posts positive earnings between October and December, as revenue rises.
Fearnley Securities calls time on VLGC market super-cycle Finance house drops rate estimates as peak earnings period comes to an end.
UK P&I Club: pilot communication is the key Insurer says teamwork in port vital to avoid human error leading to shipping claims.
Pappas battle with OW enters Supreme Court The UK Supreme Court will hear an appeal in the Res Cogitans test case over payments to OW Bunker.
Belships repeats sale and leaseback play Second Imabari newbuilding enters long-term charter-back contract with Japanese counterparty.
GRIs to be scrapped in EC competition deal Fifteen major owners agree to publish more transparent prices after European antitrust probe.
Shipping faces 'credit void', Stifel analyst says Offshore distress makes present squeeze worse than after financial crisis, analyst says.
Atlantic Offshore ties up standby ship Norwegian owner lines up ERRV work for Dana Petroleum that could last 200 days.
Fred Olsen Energy red in fourth quarter Newbuilding row with Hyundai Heavy enters arbitration as impairments hurt bottom line.
Smedegaard sells DFDS stock worth $0.9m Danish owner's CEO offloads 26,000 shares after exercising options on Friday.
Global Yatirim makes Croatian port move Turkish terminals operator expands its business portfolio with new investment in Dubrovnik.
ABG Shipyard loses $186m in Q3 Troubled Indian shipbuilder's deficit widens as revenue almost dries up.
Marenave extends debt deal for tankers, boxships German owner can take advantage of lower repayments until 30 June as it seeks new finance agreement.
Bond holders rebuff second Havila package Oslo-listed owner ices debt payments after restructuring deal is knocked back.
Hoegh LNG pulls out of FLNG Norwegian owner says over-supplied market means it will allocate all resources to floating storage and regasification operations.
Deutsche dismisses shipping exit rumour Richard Jansen shakes off chatter the bank is primed to depart the shipping stage.
Ocean Rig sees two drilling rig contracts cancelled Economou says terminations are a reminder of the extremely challenging times facing the drilling industry.
Iran eyes pre-sanction oil exports to Japan Delegation in Tehran exploring various energy sectors including refining, LNG and petrochemicals.
Mermaid Maritime latest company to issue profit warning Thai-backed offshore vessel operator expects to make substantial provisions in the fourth quarter.
Wirana backs Maersk Alang scrap decision Cash-buyer says decision will encourage more yards to seek Hong Kong Convention compliance.
Dubai crude prices rally as producers' meeting adds to bullish sentiment Top producers Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela held talks fueling expectations of potential action to support prices.
Iranian fuel oil expected to recapture share of Fujairah bunker market Iran may want to sell directly to owners but will likely export cargoes to Fujairah as well, says director of bunkers at Cepsa.
Singapore to implement new bunkering guidelines for mass flow meters June 1 MPA expects all Singapore bunker tankers to be fitted with mass flow metering system by year end.
TANKERS: Asian LR rates fall below W100 for first time in 2016 Surplus of tonnage for end-Feb and early-March loading are pushing rates down.
Solar panels could reduce fuel emissions: technology company The stand-alone solar power system can be connected to a DC load or via an inverter to an AC load.
TANKERS RESEND: Asian LR rates fall below W100 for first time in 2016 Surplus of tonnage for end-Feb and early-March loading are pushing rates down.
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