ASMAR, Talcahuano Shipyard

Japanese companies have decided to proceed with the deepwater floating production, storage, and offloading system (FPSO) charter project for the Petrobras-operated Búzios pre-salt oil field located offshore Brazil.MODEC, Mitsui & Co., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and Marubeni Corporation have agreed that Mitsui, MOL, and Marubeni will invest in a long-term charter business currently promoted by MODEC for the purpose of providing  FPSO for use on the Búzios field off the coast of Brazil.Based on these agreements, Mitsui, MOL and Marubeni will invest in Buzios5 MV32 B.V. (MV32), a Dutch company established by MODEC, and the Companies will proceed with the Project jointly.

Product tanker freight rates softened in the third quarter of 2019 but rebounded strongly at the start of the fourth quarter following an increase in crude tanker rates that began after the attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities and accelerated dramatically to multi-year high levels at the end of September when the US imposed sanctions on two subsidiaries of China's COSCO Shipping.Denmark-based TORM said that growth in global demand for oil products generally remained subdued in the first two months of the quarter but showed signs of increased momentum towards the end of the quarter.

In May 2014 National Geographic wrote an in-depth article on shipbreaking operations in Bangladesh where they listed shipbreaking as one of the deadliest professions in the world. The images from these shipyards are well circulated among professionals in the shipping industry. Individuals without personal protective equipment cutting and grinding into a ship that was haphazardly beached and torn asunder by unskilled laborers. Pollution swirl in the nearby tidal area and soot belches into the air. Large sections of ships come careening off endless rows of vessels that litter the beach.

Army veteran-turned-Royal Caribbean Cruise Line founder Edwin W. Stephan passed away on Friday at 87 years old."We at Royal Caribbean mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to the Stephan family," said a statement from the global cruise company said.In 1969 Stephan founded the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, and his contributions helped create the modern cruise industry we know today.  Under his leadership in 1970, the company launched Song of Norway, the first ship purpose-built for warm-water cruising.

The discussion of the ‘future of class’ seems more relevant today than ever, as the maritime industry navigates a transcendent period, with digitalization, decarbonization and a long list of related safety and risk concerns occupying the attention and budgets of shipowners globally.“There are many things going on in the industry, and in fact the world, and looking ahead I think we’re looking at a ‘new norm’,” said Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO. “It’s a norm where everyone in the industry is going to have to make uncertainty our friend.