Donald Trump backed down on his trade war with China, slashing tariffs by 115% for a 90-day period, leading to a huge box freight rate rise on the transpacific as shippers rushed to meet the deadline.
The American president claimed on May 6 that after more than 17 months, the Red Sea shipping crisis was coming to a close. Donald Trump said Yemen’s Houthis had agreed to halt their attacks on shipping and that Washington would in turn stop carrying out strikes on the Iran-backed rebels. However, the Houthis continue to adopt a belligerent tone, and most liners questioned at recent quarterly results have insisted it is still too early for any resumption of Red Sea transits.
The shipping situation in the Baltic is tense with Russia trading barbs with its neighbours and militaries getting involved. Poland was forced last week to intervene after a ship from the Russian shadow fleet was seen performing suspicious manoeuvres near a power cable connecting Poland with Sweden. Meanwhile, Estonia and Russia have been threatening each other over attempts by the Baltic state to clamp down on shadow tankers, something that saw both militaries chase after tankers in recent days.
Italian tanker and bulker owner and operator Premuda has concluded a management buyout led by its top executives. The deal spearheaded by chief executive Marco Fiori and chief of finance Enrico Barbieri has seen the acquisition of 100% of the share capital in the Genoa-based company for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is backed by Milan-based pan-European investor Pillarstone, which will stay on as a co-shareholder.
May 1 saw the Mediterranean Sea officially become an emission control area (ECA) for sulphur oxides (SOx). All vessels operating in the region must now comply with stricter environmental standards whereby they either use maximum 0.10% sulphur content in fuel, or use approved exhaust gas cleaning systems also known as scrubbers. In contrast to North and Baltic Sea ECAs as well as to the most recently agreed North Atlantic ECA, the Mediterranean ECA does not include nitrogen oxides.
Shipping got an idea of how vessels could be constructed in the future this month with South Korea’s largest shipbuilder HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering tapping an American firm to get humanoids involved in the welding process while Dutch shipbuilder Damen set out to develop a 3D-printed workboat.
With approval from the Danish Emergency Management Agency, DanPilot and Danelec started a test program for remote pilotage – the first of its kind in the world. The test program created by DanPilot and Danelec allows pilots to guide ships from land, using only advanced data transmitted directly from the vessels.
Energy News BeatÂ