Maritime Vessels Directory

Korea's Hanwha aims to buy up to 9.9% of Australian shipbuilder Austal in an after-market offer following its failed A$1.02 billion ($646.17 million) takeover bid last year, a term sheet showed on Monday.Hanwha has offered A$4.45 each for 41.2 million Austal shares, showed the term sheet reviewed by Reuters.The deal's bookrunners, in a message seen by Reuters, told investors the books had been covered for the transaction.The Korean company does not intend to make a takeover bid for Austal "at this time", the term sheet showed.Hanwha and Austal did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The offer price represents a 16.2% premium to Austal's closing share price on Monday of A$3.83.

Salvage Efforts for Stena Immaculate Tanker Continue in North Sea

16 hours ago

Stena Bulk, the owner of the Stena Immaculate oil tanker, said it is working closely with the manager of the vessel Crowley and U.K. agencies following the last week’s allision with incident the container ship Solong.Salvage experts from SMIT Salvage are continuing with their detailed onboard assessments of Stena Immaculate.As of March 16, the third-party salvage team has confirmed that damage resulting from the containership Solong striking the Stena Immaculate was limited to one cargo tank containing Jet A-1 fuel and one ballast tank containing sea water.At the time of the allision, the Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of Jet A-1 fuel.

Houthis to Escalate Attacks

2 days ago

The United States will keep attacking Yemen's Houthis until they end attacks on shipping, the U.S. defense secretary said on Sunday, as the Iran-aligned group signaled it could escalate in response to deadly U.S. strikes the day before.The airstrikes, which the Houthi-run health ministry said killed at least 53 people, are the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. One U.S. official told Reuters the campaign might continue for weeks.Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Sunday that his militants would target U.S. ships in the Red Sea as long as the U.S. continues its attacks on Yemen.

China Shipowners' Association Opposes U.S. Port Fees

4 days ago

The China Shipowners' Association opposes a U.S. proposal to slap hefty port entry fees on ocean cargo carriers that own or have ordered vessels from China, saying it violates international rules and U.S. laws, according to a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday.U.S. President Donald Trump's administration aims to partially pay for an American shipbuilding comeback with those fees, according to a draft executive order seen by Reuters.The CSA's members include China's COSCO Shipping, which is expected to be among the hardest hit by the fees proposed by the U.S. trade representative as part of that agency's investigation into China's growing domination of global shipping.

Environmental Disaster Most Likely Avoided After North Sea Ships Collision

4 days ago

Fears of an environmental disaster eased on Wednesday, two days after a container ship ploughed into a stationary U.S. fuel tanker off northeast England, as the vessel's owner said the detained captain was a Russian national.The Portuguese-flagged Solong had crashed with no obvious explanation into the larger Stena Immaculate, a tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military.Huge fires and explosions charred the Solong and left the Immaculate with a gaping hole, but owner Stena Bulk said most of its jet fuel cargo remained intact.Stena Bulk Chief Executive Erik Hanell said only two of 18 fuel tanks had leaked, or about 10% of the cargo.

Maritime Reporter and Engineering News (February 2025)