Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen says she "regrets and strongly condemns" the Solomon Islands' decision to establish diplomatic relations with China. 

The Solomons cabinet made the decision yesterday after which Taiwan terminated its 36 year relationship with the Pacific country.

Ms Tsai said China's promises of financial assistance often came up "empty" and that "Taiwan's contributions to Solomon Islands, particularly in medicine, agriculture, education, and culture, could not be measured in dollars".

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Posted on - 2019-09-16

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) yesterday issued a reduced visibility warning to ships, as farmers slash and burn vast chunks of forest in neighbouring Indonesia creating significant haze around Southeast Asia.

“During periods of restricted visibility, shipmasters are advised to keep a proper lookout and navigate with caution,” MPA stated, adding that ships must use navigation lights and sound signals to move around Singaporean waters.

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Posted on - 2019-09-16

Latest data from Clarkson Research Services shows that the top 14 yards handling the most amount of scrubber retrofits are all Chinese, and reports of growing delays in getting the exhaust gas cleaning systems installed in funnels are correct.

Since the start of 2018, Clarkson’s count of scrubber installations (fitted, newbuilding and retrofit pending) has increased from around 400 to approximately 4,000 vessels, with 15% of global fleet capacity expected to be scrubber-fitted by end 2020.

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Posted on - 2019-09-16