Maritime Vessels Directory

Following years of disruption to US soya bean exports due to the US-China trade war, the first seven weeks of the 2020/2021 marketing year, which runs from 1 September to 31 August, have seen the strongest exports ever. By October 15, 11.4 million tons of soya beans had been exported by the US, an 85.3% jump from the first seven weeks in the previous marketing year. It is also 19.4% above the previous record in the 2017/2018 marketing year in which 9.6 million tons of soya beans were exported in the same period.Average weekly exports so far this year stand at 1.6 million tons, or 22 Panamax loads (75,000 tons). This is almost double the weekly average of 880,692 tons (12 loads) last year.

Malaysia: One Dead, 124 Rescued After Offshore Vessel Rams into Oil Platform

3 hours ago

A crew member of a Malaysian offshore support vessel drowned after the ship collided with the oil rig it was serving off Sarawak, on Malaysia Borneo, the coastguard said on Tuesday.The ship, the Dayang Topaz, rammed into the beramB oil platform after its anchor cable broke in bad weather, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) head Mohamad Zubil Mat Som said in a statement.The crew member drowned after jumping into the sea along with 124 others, who were later rescued, Mohamad Zubil said.The beramB platform is operated by Petronas Carigali, the oil exploration unit of state oil firm Petronas.

US Issues Fresh Sanctions Targeting Iran's Oil Sector

12 hours ago

The United States on Monday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's oil sector, including the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Tehran.The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it was slapping sanctions on key actors in Iran's oil sector for supporting the Quds Force, the elite foreign paramilitary and espionage arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."The regime in Iran uses the petroleum sector to fund the destabilizing activities of the IRGC-QF," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.

Container Lines Expect US Import Binge to Lose Steam

12 hours ago

Surging shipments into the United States are fueling record high freight costs and logjams at seaports, but transportation executives say the rally will lose steam with a second wave of COVID-19 restrictions on the cards.Container shipping companies, which move goods for customers including Amazon.com and Walmart, got stung late last year and early this year when COVID-19 halted trade around the world, and they question whether the U.S. import boom can be sustained."Let's not get carried away," Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of Germany's Hapag Lloyd, told reporters. "This is just a spike that no one has foreseen in an unusual period. There will be a correction to that."U.S.

Gibbs & Cox Establishes Houston Office

12 hours ago

Naval architecture and marine engineering firm Gibbs & Cox announced it is expanding its services into Houston with the aim to generate revenue in non-naval markets, develop and sell new products and/or services to non-traditional clients and contribute to existing programs."Over the last several months, we have hired a number of staff from the Houston area and expect this trend to continue as we continue to grow with our recent contract wins," Gibbs & Cox said in a statement on Monday.

Maritime Reporter and Engineering News (October 2020)

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