FORTUNE HARMONY

EU antitrust regulators have halted their investigation into world No. 1 shipbuilding group Hyundai Heavy Industries' $1.8 billion merger with Daewoo while waiting for the companies to provide information.The European Commission said it stopped the clock on Wednesday."Once the missing information is supplied by the parties, the clock is re-started and the deadline for the Commission's decision is adjusted accordingly," the EU competition enforcer said in an emailed statement.In some cases, virus-hit companies have delayed responding to requests for information, a factor now taken into account by the EU watchdog.

If one ever needed proof that, no matter how dire the situation, there is always a silver lining, look no further than the crude tanker market, which has seen it day rates skyrocket in the face of a global pandemic that has effectively ground world commerce to a crawl.As is the case with other gravity defying business phenomena, geopolitics is a central factor, in this case a battle between Russia and Saudi Arabia to flood the world with oil in the face of declining demand and prices.“The outbreak of the coronavirus has impaired major economies around the world and slowed down demand for oil products,” said Peter Sand, BIMCO’s Chief Shipping Analyst

Remote vessel and equipment surveys have been available in the maritime world for years, but classification societies are seeing increased demand for these services as more firms turn to digital solutions to continue business during the coronavirus outbreak.Using real-time video communication tools, and even drones and robotics when applicable, surveyors are able to work with stakeholders to perform inspections without having to be on site, which is especially beneficial amid current COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Greensea introduces a new hull crawler that easily attaches a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to a ship hull without magnetics, allowing the operator to “drive” the ROV and payloads over the hull. Initial hull crawlers are designed to work exclusively with the VideoRay Mission Specialist Defender ROV. The hull crawler represents a milestone in Greensea’s hull robotics program, which is advancing navigation and localization capabilities for a fully autonomous robotic hull inspection and proactive in-water cleaning solution.  “VideoRay is a valued Greensea partner with a dynamic and powerful ROV.

The U.S. government and Florida were working on a plan on Wednesday to allow thousands of cruise ship passengers exposed to an onboard coronavirus outbreak to disembark, a day after President Donald Trump urged the governor to drop his opposition to their docking.Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he was not opposed to them docking in his city. But he said a clear protocol was needed to protect residents of his South Florida city from infection.“There can be no missteps in this process,” he told CNN.“We have to be comfortable knowing that they are being quarantined in such a way that they do not infect the rest of the community,” Trantalis said.