The Ocean Alliance has announced plans to cancel 10 transpacific sailings in March and April, as the early signs of weak volumes on the trade become reality.
The decision by APL, CMA CGM, Cosco, Evergreen and OOCL will result in some 74,000 teu culled from US west coast services and more than 35,000 teu from those destined for the east coast, according to data from Alphaliner.
Posted on - 2019-03-07Finnish clean technology group Norsepower announced Tuesday that its innovative Rotor Sail Solution has received the first-ever type approval design certificate granted to an auxiliary wind propulsion system onboard a commercial ship.
The type approval from leading ship classification society DNV GL was issued in February 2019 after a design assessment of Norsepower’s 30-meter by 5-meter Rotor Sail, two of which have been installed onboard the Maersk Pelican LR2 tanker.
Posted on - 2019-03-05While the IMO 2020 regulations bode well for the product tanker market, other factors can come into play, which can have a negative impact. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Gibson said that “the US product export market has been transformed over the past decade. Exports of clean petroleum products (CPP) averaged 2.5 million b/d last year, up from just 0.8 million b/d in 2008. Rising trade has been underpinned by rapid growth in US crude production and refiners’ access to cheaper crude feedstock. Refining margins in the US Gulf have generally been stronger in recent years, compared to those seen in other regional markets”.
Posted on - 2019-03-05