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German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd announced on Tuesday that it has placed orders for an additional six ultra large containerships amid continued strong demand in the box shipping market.The 23,500+ TEU newbuilds are in addition to six of the same size and type ordered from Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering at the end of 2020. The fist six vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2023, followed by the next six in 2024.Hapag-Lloyd and its peers in the sector have been placing more orders for new containerships amid greater demand and higher freight rate income while ship shortages and port congestion continue to wreak havoc across global supply chains.

UK's Unite union's Scotland unit on Tuesday said talks to prevent industrial action at Sullom Voe Terminal have ended with no movement on the part of Shetland Islands Council (SIC) to resolve the dispute over a long service award.Unless the Council accepts liability, around 40 towage workers employed by SIC are set to begin an overtime ban on July 5, which will continue over a seven-week period, the union said.The ban would hugely disrupt the multi-million-pound contract to bring oil tankers on to the shore for oil processing and also on production for the Brent and Ninian fields, it added.

Melanie Olsen is harnessing 10 years of missile defense and electronic warfare systems expertise to drive rapid technological innovation in marine research and monitoring. Today, on International Women in Engineering Day, the AIMS Team Leader for Technology Development Engineering shares her unique journey.Growing up in a third-generation farming family near the small settlement of El Arish in north Queensland, Melanie Olsen thought engineers were train drivers.When a James Cook University engineering lecturer visited her small rural high school with a quad helicopter, Mel knew she’d found her career path and studied computer systems engineering at James Cook University.

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore has sold another vessel. This time the platform supply vessel Far Spirit.The company said Tuesday the vessel had been sold by its subsidiary Farstad Marine to an undisclosed buyer."Delivery of the vessel to the new owner took place today June 22nd, 2021. The sale of the vessel will result in an immaterial accounting effect for Q2-2021," Solstad Offshore said, without revealing the sale price. The Far Spirit vessel, of the VS 470 Mk II design, was built in 2007 by Westcon Olen yard in Norway.

Richard “Rick” W. Spinrad, Ph.D., an internationally renowned scientist with four decades of ocean, atmosphere, and climate science and policy expertise, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and the 11th NOAA administrator.“As an accomplished and respected scientist, educator, communicator and executive, Rick has dedicated his career to the science that is at the core of NOAA’s mission,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “I am grateful for his ongoing public service to the agency and the nation, and I look forward to working alongside him as we tackle the climate crisis, conserve our oceans, and grow our blue economy.