3M Japan

A clash between trading house Vitol and Azerbaijan's SOCAR over Caspian Sea oil shipments is forcing Turkmenistan to slash exports of crude due to a lack of tankers.Turkmenistan typically exports about 200,000 tonnes of oil per month via the Caspian to world markets, mainly from fields operated by the UAE's ENOC and Italy's Eni, but flows have halved in recent weeks, six traders involved in operations said.That happened after Turkmen producers decided to export oil via Russia with the help of Swiss trader Vitol and ditch the previous Azeri route, operated by state-owned SOCAR.The reasons behind the change are not fully clear but trading sources attributed it to pricing disagreements.

Metal Shark has arguably been one of the more active and successful boat builders in the U.S. over the last 12 to 24 months, boasting a strong order book and expanding facilities and portfolio. In particular, the company has been able to capitalize on the burgeoning ferry market, today accounting for about a quarter of its business, as Chris Allard, CEO, explains.When you look at the ferry business today in relation to Metal Shark’s business, what do you see?Metal Shark has delivered 16 high speed passenger ferries to date with five more vessels currently in process and multiple additional contracts pending.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) is expected to order 60 new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers to serve new customers once it ramps up its annual capacity from the current 77 million tonnes (mt) to 110 mt after building four liquefaction trains by 2024.A report in Gulf Times quoted the Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi, who is also president and CEO of QP saying that the state-run oil company has a team, which is in talks with different ship builders worldwide.“It should be between 50 and 60 vessels that we will require to transport the expanded output of LNG. It will be very substantial number, but things will become clear with time,” he said.

The ferry business, unlike more industrial parts of the shipping business, touches wide swaths of the world’s population across continents. The membership of Interferry, the leading trade group for the industry, with non-Governmental organization (NGO) status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) includes 200+ members from all parts of the ferry spectrum. These include passenger ferries (including fast ferries), Ro/Pax and cruise ferries operating globally.  In selecting “the best” we looked beyond the league tables of “the most” (passengers) and “the biggest” (fleet size). Instead, we identify important trend setters.

Alaskan Tanker Company (ATC) will retrofit the Ecochlor ballast water management system (BWMS) on board their fleet including three VLCC crude oil tankers and an option for one additional vessel. Each of these vessels are U.S. flag tankers with Zone 1 and Zone 0 hazardous areas.The Ecochlor BWMS is approved for installation in both US Flag and International vessels in hazardous areas rated Zone 1 or Zone 0 through their U.S. Coast Guard Type Approval certification. The installations will start in the fall of 2019 and run through 2021 at the Sembawang Shipyard, Singapore.