Rates for Panamax ships that carry grains and minerals fell for a 14th day amid speculation that demand to transport Latin American crop cargoes is slowing.

On 30 April, Ebba Maersk made her first port call in Busan, South Korea. The world’s largest vessel, with a capacity of 15,001 TEU, is now including Busan on the AE10 service to North Europe.

Four Polish sailors and one Russian kidnapped from a German container ship by pirates off the coast of West Africa on April 26 have been released, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The mercantile marine ministers of Greece, Cyprus and Malta will meet in Piraeus, Greece, where the Greek ministry is based, to discuss issues concerning the sector ahead of the Greek EU rotating presidency in the first semester of 2014.

Navios group has purchased the 180,000-dwt Magnolia (built 2009), according to broker reports. The price being reported is between USD 26 - 33.5 million.

The Danish ambassador in London, and future director of the Danish Shipowners' Association, Anne Hedensted Steffensen, has officially handed over the Danish candidacy to the IMO Council for the 2014-2016 period.

Ocean carriers’ recent container terminal sales implies the need for more cash reserves to see them through a further period of financial drought. Although ocean carriers’ recent annual reports paint a profitable picture in 2013, continuing asset sales indicates that confidence is not running high.

Gasoline tanker bookings from Europe to the United States have surged in May as traders have bet U.S. demand will grow in the summer driving season, despite high inventory levels.

Hyundai Heavy Industries failed for eight years to win ship orders from China. That ended when it pledged to build the world’s biggest container carrier. China Shipping Container Lines Co. said it chose Hyundai Heavy to construct five vessels that can each carry 18,400 20-foot boxes.