Ocean carriers continued to lose money between the Mediterranean and North America in the first two months of the year, underlining the need for more rationalisation of services and greater use of transshipment...

May 7th 2013 marks the start of a six-month consultation period in which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will seek widespread input on the administrative burdens that may result from compliance with IMO instruments.

Iron-ore shipping costs had the longest streak of gains since September amid speculation that plunging prices for the steelmaking commodity are spurring demand for vessels.

A surplus of tankers competing to ship 2 million-barrel cargoes of Middle East oil contracted to the lowest since January as demand for the vessels strengthened in the world’s biggest crude-loading region.

U.S. President Barack Obama saying the country will probably become a net exporter of natural gas signals that new volumes will add demand for ships hauling the fuel in liquid form, Arctic Securities ASA said.

CMA CGM, MSC, Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd representing 40 percent of the world container shipping industry have met to discuss the piracy threat towards international shipping. The meeting focused on piracy in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean and West Africa.

Traditionally merchant ships are fitted with diesel engines, most of them running on heavy fuel oil (HFO) rather than the more costly marine diesel oil (MDO). The next decade, however, could see a remarkable change in the fuel being used on ships. Dual fuel engines are, in fact, already in strong demand today.

In recessions companies with cash flow problems are under the microscope. Cash is king; survival of the fittest is the rule; and to the victor go the spoils. Although shipowners under pressure wake with a heavy heart, their colleagues with big balance sheets and small obligations are not necessarily any happier. For them recessions are for building future businesses, and that can be almost as stressful as bankruptcy.

China has played a major role in the soybean trade for the last decade (importing 58mt in 2012, accounting for 61% of global imports and 80% of domestic soybean consumption), but has only recently emerged as an importer of increased volumes of wheat and coarse grain.