General News

SAFEDOR, the maritime research project on risk-based ship design and approval, has been concluded after four years of intensive study. Representatives from the 53 project partners of all sectors of the maritime…

Tasmania-based shipbuilder Incat Australia has delivered a 112-metre high-speed catamaran to France?s LD Lines. The largest ever fast ferry to operate on the cross channel routes between England and France will enter…

Some Japanese shipbuilders are reported to be accepting price cuts on existing newbuilding orders in exchange for owners ordering an extra vessel. The deals hinge on the fact that shipyards costs such…

Amid global newbuilding order drought, just nine newbuilding orders were placed in March worldwide amounting to 0.2m cgt and 0.7m dwt . A total of 26 contracts of 0.5m cgt and 1.3m…

Finnish marine engine maker Wärtsilä has reported ?51m ($68m) in engine cancellations from its ship power division during the first quarter 2009, and said a further ?1bn of orders could be axed.…

Three Japanese companies, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) and Mitsui & Co., Ltd., have signed an agreement with United Industrial Corporation (OPK), one of Russia's largest…

ExxonMobil has sent out tender documents to shipowners and yards for up to five LNG newbuildings to serve its Papua New Guinea (PNG)-based liquefaction project. Shipbuilding sources say they are reviewing a…

The South Korean government said it would provide Won4.7trn in loans to help build domestically-owned ships that are under construction or on order at local shipyards. The loans will be made available…

South Korea's troubled shipyard Nok Bong Shipbuilding's debt rescheduling procedure has ended on 23 April and it seems to file for court receivership. An official at Shinhan Bank, the shipbuilder's main creditor,…

Due to projects implemented by the Turkish ministry of transport in the last 4 years to increase shipyard capacity, Turkey?s worldwide market share in shipbuilding has risen from 0.9% to 1.4% making…

China's Cosco plans to cancel or postpone some of its vast portfolio of ship orders, scotching speculation that the state-controlled shipping line might be forced to increase its orderbook to support China's…

During a Transportation Safety Board of Canada accident investigation, the agency found that safety significant information is often no longer kept on a vessel due to a change in management. The Board's…

Orders for new ships tumbled 45.2% to the equivalent of 6 .7 million cgt in fiscal 2008, according to data released by the Shipbuilders' Association of Japan. With shipping firms less willing…

Kanasashi Heavy Industries in Japan, which filed for court protection under Japan's Corporate Rehabilitation Law, will continue for the time being to construct the three newbuildings currently being outfitted, and two ships…

According to local newspaper reports, China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), the main agency in charge of industrial and information communication in China, disclosed late…

A prototype satellite-based radio messaging system for relaying weather warnings in remote areas is set to be tested as part of the Interferry/IMO joint initiative to reduce ferry fatalities in developing nations…

Hamburg-based shipyard Sietas Werft has signed a newbuilding contract with Föhr-based ferry operator Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei. The vessel will be able to carry about 1,200 passengers and 75 cars and will be employed…

A P Moller-Maersk will cut the emission levels on a new series of container ships presently under construction at the Korean shipyard Daewoo Heavy Industries. The series of 16 ships will be…

Brazil's oil major Petrobras visited South Korea on 20 April and held a presentation meeting on its giant oil development project revealing that it will place orders for eight FPSOs and seven…

The maritime services network Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) is implementing an initiative that recognises the high level of newbuildings completing in 2009, known as "Solutions for a Lifetime". It focuses on the…

The AHTS 'Sea Eagle 1' was recently delivered from Jaya Shipbuilding & Engineering Pte Ltd in Singapore. Deep Sea Supply Plc has a 15 month firm bareboat charter agreement with owners, Java…

Failure to take the bold steps required to eliminate unwanted containerships will drive some lines out of business. That is the verdict of Drewry Shipping Consultants in a report that urges ocean…