OFFSHORE KING

The coronavirus lockdown has accelerated a digitalization drive in a global shipping and logistics sector that still routinely delivers many documents by bike messenger in some countries, according to industry leaders.Ports operator DP World said on Thursday it would join shipping company Maersk and other peers in a blockchain platform aimed at limiting the sector's costly paper trail."The situation around the coronavirus is a very good catalyst for making sure everyone in the supply chain can communicate with each other digitally," Mike Bhaskaran, DP World's chief operating officer for logistics and technology, told Reuters.

Everything about the HMM Algeciras is big, including the power output of its MAN B&W 11G95ME-C engine – the mightiest ever built by Germany-based MAN Energy Solutions.The 23,964 TEU containership is the largest ever built, recently launched for South Korean shipping company HMM at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) Okpo shipyard in Geoje, Korea. The newbuild measures 400 metres in length and 61 meters in beam, and has recently entered service between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal.The record-setting containership is the first of a dozen 24,000 TEU class vessels ordered in August 2018 for delivery this year.

Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the USCGC Myrtle Hazard to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Fla. This is the 162nd vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 39th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) delivered under the current program.The USCGC Myrtle Hazard is the first of three FRCs to be home-ported in Apra Harbor, Guam, increasing the presence for the U.S. Coast Guard in the Indo-Pacific Theater. Additionally, later in 2020, Bollinger will deliver the first of six FRCs that will be home-ported in Manama, Bahrain, which will replace the Island Class Patrol Boats supporting the Patrol Forces Southwest Asia, the U. S.

Towage operator Svitzer announced its Board of Directors has appointed Kasper Friis Nilaus, VP and current Managing Director (MD) of Svitzer Europe, to succeed Henriette Thygesen as global CEO of Svitzer A/S, effective June 15.Going forward, Nilaus will continue to report to Thygesen in her capacity as CEO of Maersk Fleet and Strategic Brands. Svitzer A/S remains a fully-owned AP Moller-Maersk company.Nilaus joined Svitzer as Business Development Manager in 2007 and has since held various global and regional positions within commercial and general management, latest as MD of Svitzer Europe -- a role he will hold until a successor is appointed.

Shallow water in Argentina's Parana River will slow exports and hurt the country's soy crushing margins at least through September, officials said, as more cargo ships are needed to carry the same amount of commodities.Drought has pushed the Parana to its lowest level in decades, complicating transportation and soymeal production.An increasing number of ships are running aground and higher costs are pressuring margins at the giant soy crushing plants that make Argentina the world's top exporter of livestock feed, used to fatten hogs and poultry from Southeast Asia to Europe."The Parana is at its lowest level in 50 years.