As shipping activity heats up in the Arctic, environmental advocates are encouraging the IMO to take action on the continued use of HFO and emissions of black carbon above the 66th parallel. Black carbon - soot from the exhaust stack - settles back out of the atmosphere, and when it lands on ice, its heat-absorbent properties accelerate melting. This contributes to ice loss, enhancing ease of navigation but also causing environmental harm. 

Arctic traffic has doubled in the last 10 years, and is on track to keep growing. According to advocacy group Pacific Environment and the Clean Arctic Alliance, the fix is as simple as mandatory fuel switching to a "polar" distillate, much like an ECA zone in European waters. This would close what the NGOs describe as a loophole in current rules: the IMO Polar Code banned HFO in parts of the Arctic in 2024, but the treaty's provisions allow many vessels to continue using heavy fuel oil until 2029, and certain areas in the North Atlantic and the Barents Sea are exempt.

"Despite technical assessments and calls for voluntary measures at the IMO, black carbon emissions from Arctic shipping continue to grow unchecked. Without mandatory requirements, markets lack the certainty needed to shift fleet operations toward lower black carbon options," said Kay Brown, Arctic policy director at Pacific Environment.

Progress at IMO has been slow, Pacific Environment said, in part because of lower awareness of the impacts of black carbon and in part because of political differences among member states. A ban on the use of HFO in the Arctic would raise fuel costs for a number of regional shipping interests: fishing and cruise tourism in northern Norway, Greenland and Svalbard; small local ports in northern Alaska and Canada; and the Russian-controlled Northern Sea Route, which Moscow is attempting to grow into an international thoroughfare. 

"Because marine distillates are generally more expensive than the heavier HFO, VLSFO and ULSFO residual fuels, requiring the use of marine distillates could increase operational costs for shipping companies operating in the Arctic. Increased costs may lead to higher freight rates, which could affect the pricing of goods transported to and from Arctic regions," the NGOs acknowledged.

The NSR might be the highest-volume route affected by a potential fuel mandate. Voyages on the eastern half of the route are largely restricted to the warmer months because of heavy winter ice, but with investments in icebreaker tonnage and shrinking ice cover, Russia's government believes that it will soon be able to maintain year-round navigation - a long-sought goal. 

 

The Chishan Group, a leading operator in China's distant-water fishing fleet and an alleged user of Uighur forced labor, has bought its own shipyard in Rongcheng, Shandong Province.

On July 22, Chishan Group closed on the acquisition of Shandong Baibuting Shipbuilding, a sizeable yard in Rongcheng that has been idle for years. It began life as Rongcheng Haida Shipbuilding in 1953, the early years of the Mao era, and specialized in vessels for China's fast-growing fishing fleet. In 2007, it was acquired by Wuhan Baibuting Group - a real estate and industrial conglomerate - and renamed Shandong Baibuting Shipbuilding. 

Baibuting Group planned to grow the yard with a focus on small bulkers and freighters, but the purchase was ill-timed to the business cycle. With the onset of the Great Recession, shipbuilding demand fell, and by 2012 the company was taking in no new orders. Clarksons data suggests that its last merchant ship delivery took place in 2013. Recent satellite imaging of the site confirms that it has been unoccupied and idle, with no signs of active construction or staged materials. 

The Shandong Baibuting facility is a slipway yard with no graving docks, and is capable of building and launching vessels of up to about 35,000 dwt, according to local media. Under Chishan's ownership, it will be renamed Shandong Fulton Shipbuilding, and will be retooled to compete for regional and national business. It is Chishan's first venture into shipbuilding. 

Shandong Fulton Shipbuilding is about an hour and a half north by road from one of Chishan's largest installations, the Rongsheng Haibo Seafood processing complex. In 2022, the Outlaw Ocean Project found extensive evidence of the use of ethnic Uighur forced labor at this site.

China's government encourages the resettlement of participants in its involuntary reeducation program in Xinjiang, a majority-Muslim region in China's northeast where Beijing has made an all-out effort to assert political and cultural control for the past nine years. Multiple internal company newsletters - available to the public on Chishan's own website - discussed the arrival and integration of a large cohort of Uighur workers from Xinjiang, some 2,000 miles away from Shandong. Outlaw Ocean also found extensive social media video footage created by ethnic Uighurs showing their work and life at the Rongsheng Haibo plant.

The U.S. government prohibits any imports of goods produced by Uighur labor due to human rights concerns; several American importers stopped buying Rongsheng Haibo's squid after the Outlaw Ocean Project's report was published. (Chishan and its subsidiaries have denied employing any personnel from Xinjiang.)

The Outlaw Ocean team also connected Chishan's distant-water fleet to illegal fishing off the coast of North Korea, a violation of UN sanctions. Chishan vessels have also been linked to suspected labor rights and fishing rights abuses in operations off Argentina, a rich squid-fishing region where the Chinese fleet has repeatedly squared off with local authorities. 

China's distant-water fleet is currently struggling due to high cost pressures, according to the Chinese agriculture ministry. In a memo distributed to state and local governments in January, the ministry recommended easing immigration controls for foreign (typically Indonesian) workers on Chinese fishing boats, speeding up subsidy payments, and encouraging new construction to replace aging distant-water vessels. By contrast, China's shipbuilding sector is booming: Chinese yards are winning the majority of the world's orders by tonnage, and countless idled shipbuilding plants are coming back online, often under new ownership. 

Top image: A fishing harbor and shipyard in Rongsheng, Shandong (TSVC1190 / CC BY SA 4.0)

The growth of the U.S. offshore wind energy, telecommunications, and other sectors continues to contribute to the growth of U.S. shipping. Cable manufacturer Nexans and Crowley Wind Services announced a new partnership that will develop and operate a Jones Act-compliant cable lay barge.  

The 300-foot, U.S.-flagged barge will be built in Louisiana and tested in the U.S. Gulf to Nexans specifications. Once completed, it will be crewed with U.S. mariners under Crowley’s operation. It is designed to support the installation of subsea transmission lines necessary for offshore wind energy, telecommunications, and other major industrial applications.

"This barge will support our existing fleet of cable laying vessels, the Nexans CLV Aurora, Nexans C/S Skagerrak, and Nexans CLV Electra, and we are pleased to be working with Crowley on developing the capability to lay nearshore subsea cable in the U.S.," said Pascal Radue, executive vice president of Nexans' PWR-Transmission Business Group, highlighting the significance of the partnership. 

Among its features, the barge will be the first to have vertical injectors along with a dynamic positioning system and a multiple-anchor positioning system, which allow for accurate and efficient cable placement, even in challenging conditions. The barge has a 3,500-ton capacity carousel to lay and bury subsea cable using burial tools such as a vertical injector, a jet sled, or a jetting ROV, with the potential to be upgraded to 7,000 tons with two carousels for bundle cable lay and burial.

According to the companies, it will play a critical role in laying and burying the subsea cables needed to deliver energy from offshore to the grid onshore. It will provide solutions for the expansion of U.S. energy sources and other industrial uses that require underwater cabling.

The barge is positioned to support Equinor’s Empire Wind offshore wind farm for New York. It can also be configured to lay or repair cable for a multitude of other subsea applications. 

“The cable lay barge will provide a productive supply chain solution for offshore energy, telecommunications, and other sectors,” said Graham Tyson, vice president of operations, Crowley Wind Services. “Coupled with our U.S. maritime fleet and mariners providing feedering services and other logistics and project management capabilities, we could not be better equipped to serve the needs of industries seeking subsea cable solutions.” 

Crowley, a privately held, U.S.-owned and -operated maritime, energy, and logistics solutions company, formed Wind Services in 2023 as a joint venture with Morgan Stanley Investment Management. It is leading the redevelopment of the port in Salem, Massachusetts and it also ordered a Service Operations Vessel (SOV), which is bing built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding and in partnership with ESVAGT. The vessel is due to go into service in 2026 to support Siemens Gamesa’s service operations on the Dominion Energy Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
 

In what is being called a “vital step” for Scotland and the UK’s renewable energy ambitions, the Scottish Government has granted consent for the proposed Berwick Bank offshore wind farm. If the project is developed, it would supply twice the annual needs of Scotland’s households and enough power for around 17 percent of the UK’s households.

The massive project has been more than a decade in the planning highlights SSE and is one step closer to proceeding. The consent from Scotland is the last major approval necessary for the project to proceed. However, it still must win a power contract under the UK’s Contracts for Difference scheme, which will likely launch its next round in September. SSE also needs to reach its final investment decision.

The approval comes just days after Donald Trump admonished Scotland to “Stop the windmills,” during his visit. He told reporters, “You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, running your beautiful fields, and valleys, and killing your birds, and if they’re stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans,” reports the BBC. They highlight that Trump began opposing Scottish wind farms because they “would spoil the view from his golf course.”

The UK government, however, is strongly behind renewable energy. Prime Minister Keir Starmer outlined a plan to install up to 50 GW of capacity as part of a mass deployment of offshore wind over the next five years. The government increased the financial package for renewable energy in 2024, and it has been reported that they will further improve the support in the next round.

 

 

SSE’s plan for Berwick Bank calls for it ultimately to consist of up to 307 turbines. It would be located approximately 23 miles off the east coast of Scotland in the outer Firth of Forth. The company reports a rated capacity of 4.1 GW, which would make it the largest in the world. The UK’s Hornsea 3, which is currently under construction, would be the largest individual wind farm at 2.9 GW, and if all four phases of Hornsea were completed, it would ultimately have reached 6 GW. Ørsted, however, in May said it was discontinuing Hornsea 4 in its current form.

The Berwick Bank project has faced opposition from groups that say it would endanger birds and harm the region’s environment. SSE counters that it would create over 9,000 jobs at peak construction and could inject £8.3 billion of value into the UK economy. 

SSE has not provided a target date for the project. The next CfD round is expected to announce results by early 2026.

[Brief] On Thursday, three crewmembers aboard a Republic of Korea Navy amphib were injured in a fire that broke out in a machinery space, the service reported. 

At about 1549 hours on Thursday, the tank landing ship ROKS Hyang Ro Bong caught fire while transiting into a base in the Jinhae district, just west of Busan. The blaze was sparked by one of the vessel's auxiliary engines. 

180 people were evacuated from the ship for safety when it reached the pier at 1810 hours, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. Dozens of first responders arrived to help with firefighting, along with fireboats and fire trucks. As of late Thursday, the firefighting efforts were still under way. 

One of the vessel's crewmembers sustained first- and second-degree burns from the fire and was taken to a hospital for medical care. The other two victims complained of breathing difficulties, and are reportedly recovering.

ROKS Hyang Ro Bong is a 1,700 dwt tank landing craft commissioned in 1999. 

The issue of intermediaries in the oil supply chain surfaced in Australia this week as a tanker arrived from India, likely with Russian oil. It is leading to calls to close loopholes in the sanctions, which so far have focused on direct Russia trade but have not extended to products made from Russian crude in intermediary countries.

The European Union recently focused on this same issue, imposing sanctions on a refinery in India in which Russia’s Rosneft is an investor. Donald Trump also continues to threaten secondary sanctions on the buyers of Russian oil, including India, unless Russia moves forward with peace talks and a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The issue emerged in Australia as the Greek-owned tanker Seferis (113,839 dwt) approached Western Australia. The vessel is reported to have departed India’s Jamnagar refinery on July 11, loaded with gasoline likely refined from Russian stock.

Protestors called for the vessel to be turned away, but it was pointed out that the vessel was not in violation of the sanctions. It provided legitimate documentation that it had been loaded in India, and even the critics had to admit it is nearly impossible to determine the source of the stock. The vessel docked at Kwinana terminal, approximately 25 miles south of Perth, early on Wednesday, July 30, to offload.

Australia has imposed broad sanctions on Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. For the first time, it also recently imposed sanctions on shadow fleet tankers.

The protestors pounced on reports that nearly half of the feedstock going into Jamnagar is coming from Russia. Calling the fuel “blood money,” they said Australia must move immediately to stop these imports.

Australia, according to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, imported approximately US$650 million of oil products from India in the first four months of 2025. Most of it was likely made from Russian stock. About 90 percent of Australia’s imports from India come from the Jamnagar refinery.

Western Australia’s Defense Industries Minister, Paul Papalia, speaking to the media on Tuesday, highlighted the prospect of “Russia getting around sanctions and getting its oil to market… by sneaky means.”

There are indications that the pressure building on intermediaries may be working. Reuters is reporting that India’s state refineries have all suspended purchases of Russian oil this week. They are said to be scrambling to find alternative sources, primarily in the Middle East. However, the report notes that the state refineries are not the largest buyers, which remain the private companies in India, including Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy.

After the EU sanctions against Nayara, there have been multiple reports of tankers diverting. Reuters reports that companies are demanding that their contracts be canceled due to the sanctions.

Japan’s Ministry of Defense issued a final report detailing a more than 40-year scheme in which the country’s shipbuilders collected fraudulent payments that funded equipment used on the country’s submarines and gifts to members of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. The Ministry apologized to the country and said it is disciplining 93 members, including the Vice Defense Minister, supervisors, commanding officers, and submarine captains.

The investigation began after an audit by the Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau discovered issues with the finances of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which, along with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is the main builder and repair yards for the country’s submarines and defense force. The report cites KHI for widespread involvement but says MHI, Japan Marine United, and Sasebo Heavy Industries were also involved in the fraud to a lesser degree.

The report says the scheme could be traced back to 1985 with Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The shipbuilder was reported to have been involved in fraudulent transactions and to have created a “slush fund” valued at over $11 million in the last six years. The shipbuilders submitted fraudulent bills for supposed repairs to the submarines to the government. 

Kawasaki they found used some of the money to fulfill requests from submarine crewmembers for items such as refrigerators, heating units, or repair materials that were not submitted as official requests but were being used on submarines. However, they also uncovered a pattern of gifts given to members of the Defense Force. The report details 13 crewmembers and supervisors who received personal items unrelated to their duties. Valued at over $9,000, they said the gifts included gaming consoles, golf equipment, and watches. One person was reported to have received almost $3,300 worth of gifts.

Nearly $3 million was paid to subcontractors. Kawaski reportedly also used a portion of the money to purchase personal items and beer coupons.

The other shipbuilders were also involved, but the report said they mainly fulfilled requests from personnel from the Maritime Self-Defense Force. This was for items to be used on the submarines, such as monitors or chairs.

Among the 13 individuals receiving the personal gifts, three were supervisors who determined the repairs required for the submarines. They were also responsible for overseeing the suppliers. The Ministry said it would be taking separate punitive actions against those individuals.

"We deeply apologize for causing a scandal that has greatly undermined expectations and trust," said Chief of Staff Admiral Akira Saito at a news conference on Wednesday, July 30. "We will create an atmosphere in which members can say wrong things are wrong."

Saito will lose 10 percent of his salary for one month and receive an official reprimand. Vice Defense Minister Kazuo Masuda was also strongly reprimanded for not properly overseeing the Chief of Staff.

A total of 73 supervisors and two commanding officers received reprimands. A total of 17 submarine captains received warnings.

KHI, earlier this year, was ordered to pay more than $6.6 million in taxes related to the scheme. The report, however, found that the shipbuilders were mostly responding to requests from the members of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. As such, the shipbuilders are not being excluded from future dealings with the Defense Force and the Ministry.
 

 

The U.S. Navy has called off a multiday search for a sailor who is believed to have gone overboard from the carrier USS George Washington, the service said in a statement Wednesday. 

On Monday, while George Washington was operating in an exercise in the Timor Sea, a sailor was reported missing and potentially overboard. The carrier and her escorts - USS Robert Smalls and USS Shoup - began a concerted search effort, aided by the carrier's air wing. The Australian Border Force and Australian Defense Force also contributed to the search. 

The effort was unsuccessful, and was called off on Wednesday afternoon. The lost sailor's name has not yet been released, pending notification to the family. 

At the time of the incident, the George Washington CSG was participating in a large-scale joint exercise with Australian forces, Talisman Sabre 2025. The multilateral exercise included 43,000 personnel from 19 nations, and the Royal Navy carrier HMS Prince of Wales was among the participating vessels. 

George Washington has a difficult history of crewmember fatalities. During a five-year yard period from 2017-22, nine sailors assigned to the ship died by suicide, including three in April 2022 alone. A command investigation found that the crew's quality of life during the yard period was austere and demanding, and that morale aboard was low; the report led to significant changes in how the Navy assigns enlisted servicemembers to yard periods and provides for their accommodations. 

 

The government of South Korea has secured a favorable 15 percent U.S. tariff rate by pledging a $350 billion investment package in American industry, including a $150 billion "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again" investment in U.S. shipyard capacity. 

The idea of a very large Korean shipbuilding investment has been actively discussed for months as a possible bargaining chip in trade negotiations, and the rumors picked up after Japan made a $400 billion industrial investment commitment of its own. Unlike Japan's proposal, Korea's pledge has a specific carve-out for shipyards.

The objective of the fund is to provide loans, guarantees and investments that will help Korean shipbuilders to expand into the U.S. market, industry insiders told Korea Herald. President Donald Trump broadcast a different interpretation, suggesting in a social media post that "South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself" (caps original). 

U.S. shipbuilding is largely conducted for defense purposes, and the sector has been a top expansion target for Korean yards for years. Korea's "Big Three" have a high degree of skill in complex shipbuilding but a declining market share in the commercial space, handicapped by a domestic labor shortage and fierce Chinese competition. With yards in the U.S., they could market their capabilities to the biggest shipowning enterprise in the world - the United States Navy, which has more employees, more capex resources and a more valuable fleet than any other entity. The Navy's annual expenditure on new ship construction comes to about $30 billion, equal to about 15 percent of all merchant ship orders worldwide in 2024.

"The US market is about warships rather than commercial vessels," one Korean shipbuilding executive told Korea Herald. "The warship market is huge."

Korean shipbuilder Hanwha has already begun testing the waters with overseas ship repair services for Military Sealift Command, and has received positive reviews for its work. Hanwha's business plan for its newly-acquired Philly Shipyard also proposes some amount of military sales. 

Like the earlier Japanese deal, Korea's investment pledge is a handshake commitment, and does not yet include specific projects or an investment timeline. The overall $350 billion fund would amount to 70 percent of annual Korean government spending, so less costly ways of achieving the total (like loan guarantees) and an investment spread out over time may be part of the proposal. 

For Korea, the short-term gains from the deal are essential. Without an agreement, U.S. tariffs on Korean autos and other exports would have risen to 25 percent, undercutting their competitiveness in the lucrative American consumer market. “We just overcame a big challenge,” South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung said. “Today’s deal eliminated uncertainty in the export environment.”

An additional Korean pledge of $100 billion in purchases of U.S. LNG and other energy products over the remainder of Trump's current term will support energy trade volumes. The EU has previously pledged to buy $250 billion in American energy products annually over the same period, an amount that many independent analysts suggest is unlikely to be achieved. 

The government of the independent nation of Saint Maarten in the Caribbean has become the latest to warn of fraudulent operations promoting its supposed international flag registry and the issuance of seafarer papers. It reports that it has been working with the International Maritime Organization and the Kingdom of the Netherlands to warn of these fraudulent representations and to firmly declare these operations are not authorized or associated with the country.

“Our integrity is not for sale, and our flag will not be misused,” declared Grisha Heyliger-Marten, Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport, and Telecommunications for the Country St. Maarten. She warns that St. Maarten does not operate an international flag registry nor does it issue seafarers’ papers, documents, or ship certificates for vessels exceeding 500 gross tons.

The Equasis database currently lists 20 vessels as falsely displaying the flag of Saint Maarten. It includes a 160,000 GT crude oil tanker, a 114,000 GT LNG carrier, and a total of 16 tankers. There is also one bulker claiming to be flagged in the country.

St. Maarten reports that it first became aware of this fraud nearly five years ago when a concerned seafarer from India questioned the authenticity of his certificate. The individual told the government he had experienced difficulties verifying the legitimacy of the documents and became suspicious.

The Ministry reports it launched an investigation and immediately notified the Government of the Netherlands. Also working with the IMO and the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding organization, an international warning went out to MOU member states and flag states around the world.

“The Ministry deeply regrets the losses incurred by innocent seafarers who, through no fault of their own, have been misled and financially harmed by these deceptive operations. We are committed to pursuing every legal avenue and collaborating with international partners to eradicate these fraudulent activities and seek justice against those responsible,” Heyliger-Marten says in the government statement.

The Ministry highlights the websites of two companies, Maritime Safety & Technical Administration (MSTA) and IMS Registry, as examples of online sites offering services for the purported registry. The Ministry says its investigation identified that “fraudulent certificates and documents” were being issued, and it declares, “These organizations falsely claim authorization from or association with Country St. Maarten.”

It further reports that the Netherlands escalated the matter with U.S. authorities. The U.S. authorities it says confirmed that the MSTA Registry “had fraudulent links to St. Maarten, Belize, and California.”

St. Maarten has continued its campaign against the fraud by alerting the IMO. It is also urging all seafarers, employers, and maritime stakeholders to verify credentials through official channels and to contact St. Maarten’s Maritime Affairs Office if there are any doubts or questions.

This is the latest example of countries reporting that their identity is being used improperly. In 2022, Equatorial Guinea reported it was also launching a crackdown on fraudulent ships. The rise of the so-called shadow fleet has also seen an increase in false flag reports. After the U.S. sanctioned five tankers in December 2024 that claimed registry in Guyana, the country’s government issued a denial, reporting it does not operate an open registry. It said only companies and individuals in Guyana can apply for its registry and denied any association with the tankers.
 

The struggle over the operations of the terminals at each terminus of the Panama Canal continues with Panama’s Comptroller General announcing his office has filed lawsuits seeking to void the 2021 contract extension with CK Hutchison. It is the latest twist in the political wrangling that has seen Donald Trump assert China controls the Panama Canal while Panama’s Government has defended its sovereignty. 

Anel Bolo Flores, Comptroller General of Panama, has spoken out against the contract extension granted by the prior government in 2021 to Panama Ports Company, which is 90 percent owned by CK Hutchison. The government of Panama has a 10 percent ownership stake in the company. In April, under political pressure from the United States, the Comptroller General reported that his office was starting an audit of the contract and the renewal process.

Speaking at a press briefing in Panama, Flores said on July 31, “The contract was bad, one-sided and abusive, against the interest of the country,” Bloomberg reports. Without releasing the details of his audit, Flores said the contract extension was “poorly negotiated.” He contends the audit found “many irregularities.”

CK Hutchison in April issued a detailed statement asserting that the contract is “valid, in force, and compliant with all legal requirements.” It highlighted that in 2020, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic concluded that the company was “in substantial compliance with the clauses and obligations of the concession contract,” which was also later certified in 2021by the Panama Maritime Authority.

The company has been in Panama since 1997, as the United States moved to complete the handover of the Canal under the 1977 treaty. Hutchison operates terminals in Balboa and Cristobal and in 2021 was awarded a 25-year extension of its concession in a no-bid process.

Flores has repeatedly spoken against the process conducted by the prior government and contends the renewal was “never legally authorized.” He cites tax breaks and amendments, which he says are costing Panama up to $1.3 billion in lost revenue.

The Comptroller General’s office said it is filing two legal cases with the country’s Supreme Court. One seeks to declare the extension unconstitutional, and the other seeks to void the 2021 agreement.

Also at issue is the proposed sale of the Panama Ports Company to an investment group led by BlackRock and MSC’s Terminal Investments Ltd. Trump hailed the deal as returning the Panama Canal to U.S. control, but the deal has encountered strong opposition from China, which says it is U.S. manipulation that would harm Chinese trade.

Flores commented as part of his briefing, saying, “They are talking about billion-dollar deals here, which do not include Panama, the true owner of the Panamanian ports," reports Reuters. "That is why we have taken the actions we are taking, because we are not satisfied."

The lockup agreement between Hutchison, BlackRock, and TiL expired on July 27, but Hutchison reported on Monday that talks were continuing. It said they were exploring inviting a Chinese investor to join the consortium, a step that is seen as face-saving for the Chinese government. Adding a further element to the negotiations, CMA CGM’s CFO told investors on Tuesday, the French company is looking at the deal and expressed interest in possibly acquiring some of the terminal assets controlled by CK Hutchison. 

Hutchison reported in March that it had reached two parallel tentative agreements with the BlackRock-TiL consortium. One was for the acquisition of the Panama company operating the Balboa and Cristobal terminals. The other deal is for the 43 ports operations worldwide outside China. 

Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino told reporters during his weekly briefing on Thursday that maybe the solution would be a public-private partnership to run the terminals. He said the situation is now in the hands of the court, but that he does not think the Hutchison contract would continue or be amended. He has been adamant that the canal and its operations are Panama's and that he would ensure it remains a Panamanian asset. Earlier this year, he took steps to end some of China's involvement with Panama while rejecting Trump's claims of Chinese domination.

 

Understanding and learning ammonia’s behavior through advanced simulation is key to enhancing safety and building the confidence needed to support broader adoption, writes Gu Hai, VP, Technology (Pacific), ABS

The maritime industry is seeking to accelerate its transition to alternative fuels to meet global decarbonization targets. From LNG and methanol to ammonia and hydrogen, each offers unique advantages in the quest for decarbonization.

Among these, ammonia stands out as one of the leading candidates for achieving net-zero emissions due to its carbon-free combustion and potential scalability.

However, its adoption hinges on addressing critical safety challenges such as toxicity, flammability and corrosive properties. ABS is at the forefront of this transition, developing advanced frameworks to support ammonia’s safe integration into maritime operations while enabling compliance with evolving regulations.

Ammonia’s Challenges

Ammonia's toxicity is probably the most significant barrier to its widespread adoption, with health risks even at low concentrations. The transition to ammonia fuel will require comprehensive retraining of maritime personnel, as existing seafarer competencies do not address ammonia's unique hazards.

While ammonia handling expertise exists in specialized industries like refrigeration and fertilizer production, scaling this knowledge across global shipping presents significant challenges.

The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) is the training standard for alternative fuels but rules for ammonia are designed around experience with LNG as fuel. These will require revision to address ammonia's toxicity, material incompatibilities and specific emergency response protocols.

This combination of risks creates a challenge to the processes employed in shipboard safety management. The optimum multistep approach will utilize well-established techniques and potentially combine these with a new approach that draws data from the initial process and uses new agentic tools to analyze behaviors and responses in emergency situations.

Safety management baseline approaches

Ammonia safety management begins with systematic hazard identification through structured methodologies that have proven effective across industrial applications. Hazard Identification (HAZID) and Hazard and Operability study (HAZOP) workshops serve as collaborative platforms where multidisciplinary teams systematically map potential failure modes across the entire ammonia fuel system lifecycle.

These workshops employ structured brainstorming techniques, historical incident analysis, and expert knowledge to identify risks spanning from routine bunkering operations to emergency scenarios in confined engine room spaces.

The effectiveness of HAZID/HAZOP workshops is particularly evident in ammonia applications where the acute toxicity requires comprehensive risk understanding before system deployment. These sessions identify not only equipment-related hazards but also human factors risk, such as crew exposure during routine maintenance or emergency response procedures. The workshops produce detailed risk identification that serve as the foundation for subsequent quantitative analysis and mitigation strategy development.

In addition, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations represent a critical methodology in understanding ammonia plume behavior during accidental releases, providing high-fidelity predictions that inform safety system design. These simulations model complex physical phenomena including liquid ammonia vaporization, vapor cloud formation, and dispersion patterns under different environmental conditions.

Courtesy ABS

The technology enables engineers to visualize how ammonia plumes evolve in real-world scenarios, whether during ship-to-ship bunkering operations or within confined spaces like engine rooms and fuel preparation areas.

The sophistication of CFD analysis extends to real-time environmental factors, incorporating wind patterns, temperature variations, and atmospheric stability conditions. For maritime applications, simulations are used to model dispersion from releases via the venting mast, considered to be one of the major potential risks to crew, adjacent vessels and shoreside personnel.

The critical insights generated from CFD simulations directly inform the development of emergency response plans. Live drills and exercises remain essential for validating emergency response plans, providing valuable experience to support tabletop exercises. These exercises offer realistic testing of procedures and comprehensive evaluation of physical resources and infrastructure including emergency exits, communication systems, and medical equipment.

However, live drills have limitations including high costs, resource intensity, and potential safety risks when simulating hazardous scenarios. Therefore, simulation technology plays a crucial role in overcoming the limitations of live drills while providing safe environments for testing emergency procedures under diverse conditions and can be done prior to the ship’s construction.

Agent-based emergency response plan evaluation

While existing frameworks provide a structural foundation, ammonia's unique characteristics require significant adaptations to address specific hazards and toxicity concerns. Traditional emergency response plans designed for oil spills focus primarily on environmental contamination and fire risks, whereas ammonia incidents present immediate life-threatening toxic exposure risks that demand fundamentally different response priorities.

ABS's development of advanced ‘agent-based’ probabilistic risk analysis represents a significant advancement in emergency response plans by accounting for uncertainties in both ammonia plume behavior and human factors during emergency situations. This approach integrates CFD results, human behaviors, findings from HAZID/HAZOP workshops, with realistic leakage scenarios to simulate crew responses and consequences under various identified hazards.

Agent-based modelling represents a sophisticated computational approach for simulating complex systems through the interaction of entities, known as agents, each possessing distinct behavioral characteristics, properties, and decision-making capabilities. These agents operate as independent entities within a defined environment, where they can perceive their surroundings, process information, and execute actions based on predefined rules and adaptive behaviors.

The fundamental advantage of this methodology lies in its ability to capture emergent behaviors that arise from the interactions of individual agents such as human. It enables stakeholders such as shipowners, port operators, or bunkering facility owners to simulate realistic evacuation scenarios.

This approach allows for the examination of how individual differences and local interactions may lead to large-scale patterns in evacuation flows, bottleneck formation, and overall evacuation and mitigation performance.

Agent-based modelling provides a framework to include agents such as human behavior within simulations. The human factors such as decision-making process are then integrated into the agent-based modelling through Monte Carlo simulation techniques. This approach acknowledges that human behavior during emergencies is inherently stochastic, with individuals responding differently and unpredictably to similar situations based on factors such as location, moving speed, and stress levels.

By employing Monte Carlo methods – applying computational algorithms that use repeated random sampling to model the probability of different outcomes in a process with uncertain variables - the simulation can account for the variability in human responses and generate statistical distributions of outcomes rather than deterministic predictions.

An integrated approach

The integrated approach facilitates dynamic risk assessment, where event probabilities evolve as response operations progress, incorporating real-time changes in environmental conditions, resource availability and operational constraints. This temporal dimension is crucial for emergency response planning, as the effectiveness of interventions and the risks faced by responders and evacuees change continuously throughout an incident.

The framework considers time constraints that are fundamental to emergency scenarios, where delayed decisions or actions can have chain effects on overall system performance and safety outcomes. Environmental variables such as weather conditions and hazard propagation are integrated into the models, allowing for more realistic assessments of how external factors influence both agent behavior and system-wide emergency response effectiveness.

The integration of traditional emergency response frameworks with advanced simulation such as CFD and simulation-based quantitative risk analysis helps create a more robust, system-wide and time-dependent emergency response strategy. This comprehensive approach can help to enable identification of risk hotspots, evaluation of evacuation procedures, and improved co-ordination among emergency response participants.

Gu Hai is VP, Technology (Pacific) at ABS.

[By: MSC Cruises]

MSC Group’s Cruise Division today published its 2024 Sustainability Report reaffirming its commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, accompanied by an independently verified Energy Transition Plan (ETP) to clearly show how it is working to achieve this ambition.

The report, now in its sixth edition, highlights milestones in environmental innovation, responsible tourism, and social impact. It reflects MSC Group’s Cruise Division’s integrated approach to sustainability for its MSC Cruises’ and Explora Journeys’ brands.

Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Group’s Cruise Division, said, “As a family business, we do not operate ships just for tomorrow. We sail them for future generations, designed for fuel flexibility, guided by innovation, and powered by people who share our long-term vision.

“The Cruise Division in 2024 reaffirmed its commitment to advancing a bold and transparent sustainability strategy that balances environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic resilience.”

Report highlights include: 

• Launching of the Energy Transition Plan for the fleets of MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys, outlining interim absolute emissions reduction targets. This is a published roadmap to achieving net-zero GHG emissions from marine operations by 2050.
• Avoiding 50,000 tonnes of CO? emissions through fleet-wide optimisation tools (OptiCruise and Oceanly Performance) which support real-time operational efficiency and itinerary planning.
• An increase in shore power connections from 44 in 2023 to 142 in 2024, across 13 ports. All new ships since 2017 are shore-power ready with retrofitting continuing across the fleet, and the Cruise Division remains committed to using shore power wherever it's available.
• An increase in crew retention rate to 89 per cent, up from 83 per cent in 2023, demonstrating the commitment of the Cruise Division to employee engagement and development.
• The formation of a Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Committee, underlining a strong commitment to workforce equity across more than 140 nationalities.
• Continued investment in destinations like Ocean Cay, where environmental stewardship has enabled marine wildlife to thrive and coral restoration is underway.
• Whale strike prevention training for 469 key crew members in conjunction with marine protection charity ORCA to understand more about the species of whale at risk, how to identify them, and take steps to reduce the risk.
• More than 4,500 shore excursions offered in 84 countries, including 284 “Protectours”, low-impact experiences.

The report also shows that in 2024 the fleets of MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys together carried 4.6 million guests and sailed to 341 itineraries in 90 countries.

Looking Ahead
As MSC Group’s Cruise Division looks to the future, it remains focused on scaling clean energy solutions, retrofitting existing ships, advocating for port infrastructure investments, and collaborating across the maritime sector to accelerate the global energy transition.

Mr. Vago added, “There is no single solution to decarbonisation. It is a puzzle we solve piece by piece - with new technology, operational excellence, strong partnerships, and a shared commitment to move forward,”

The full 2024 Sustainability Report is available at: https://www.msccruises.com/int/sustainability

[By: Stena Bulk]

Leading tanker shipping company Stena Bulk has today announced that its Suezmax tanker, Stena Sunrise, has been officially registered under the Swedish flag during a ceremony in Singapore. The vessel is the first Suezmax tanker in modern times to operate under the Swedish flag, marking a significant step for Sweden’s maritime presence in the global crude oil trade. 

This milestone represents a historic moment for Sweden's shipping industry. While Swedish shipyards built several large crude carriers during the 1970s and 1980s, most were delivered under foreign flags. Over the past few decades, Sweden has had very limited representation in the largest crude tanker segments, with rare exceptions including the ULCC TT Nanny (1978–1984) and VLCC Vanadis (in the early 1990s), which briefly operated under Swedish registry.

Based on available records and internal knowledge, Stena Sunrise becomes the first Suezmax-class vessel to be flagged in Sweden and among only a handful of large crude carriers ever to do so.

The reflagging ceremony was attended by the Swedish Ambassador to Singapore, Anders Sjöberg, and the General Manager and Head of Stena Bulk Singapore, Johan Zander, who participated in the formal handover of the Swedish flag onboard the vessel. 

Stena Sunrise is the first of five Suezmax tankers that Stena Bulk plans to transition into the Swedish Register of Shipping. The remaining vessels – Stena Superior, Stena Suede, Stena Surprise, and Stena Sunshine – will be reflagged in the coming months in accordance with commercial and operational schedules. 

Erik Hånell, President and CEO of Stena Bulk, said: “We’re proud to see Stena Sunrise officially come under the Swedish flag and to have celebrated this milestone with a ceremony in Singapore. This step has only been made possible by the strong collaboration we have enjoyed with Swedish government authorities and maritime unions. We are excited to continue working together to bring four more of our Suezmax tankers under the Swedish flag in the coming months.” 

As Stena Sunrise officially joins the Swedish fleet, the occasion underscores how public–private cooperation can drive meaningful progress in revitalising Sweden’s role in international shipping.

[By: NorthStandard]

NorthStandard, a leading global marine insurer, has announced the strategic opening of a new office in Imabari, Japan. The expansion significantly strengthens the club’s presence in Asia and shows its deep commitment to serving the dynamic maritime sector in Western Japan.

The new regional office, which is set to commence operations in September 2025, will complement NorthStandard's well-established presence in Tokyo. It will focus specifically on providing enhanced, localised support to Japanese shipowners in and around the vital Ehime and Hiroshima prefectures.

Nobuhiko Sakamoto, a P&I Claims Director for Asia-Pacific, will relocate to Imabari to manage the new office. This expansion comes in direct response to growing local demand for NorthStandard's specialised marine insurance services and dedicated claims expertise.

Imabari is a critical hub in the global maritime industry, home to around 70 ocean shipping companies that collectively control a formidable one-third of the entire Japanese fleet. Its prominence is further highlighted by the biennial Bari-Ship Imabari Maritime Fair, which draws approximately 20,000 industry professionals.

"Establishing a dedicated operation in Western Japan unequivocally underscores our long-term commitment to maritime Japan as a whole," said David Roberts, Head of Asia-Pacific at NorthStandard. "This strategic move allows us to significantly strengthen our claims support for this immensely important group of members. We are delighted to make this additional investment and commitment to Japan at a time when its maritime industry continues to expand and prosper globally."

Sakamoto added: "NorthStandard is dedicated to delivering unparalleled service excellence at the local level. Our aim is to provide robust support to our members as they navigate the increasing complexities and challenges of the modern maritime landscape. Japan remains a top-three ship-owning nation by value, gross tonnage, and deadweight, making it a pivotal market for NorthStandard's P&I, FD&D, and specialty lines. Our experience has consistently shown that sustained growth in this market is nurtured by a deep, long-term commitment to tailored service provision and strong relationship-building."

The Imabari office joins NorthStandard's well-established and growing network across the Asia-Pacific region, which includes key operations in Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Nelson.

[By: The London P&I Club\

The London P&I Club has renewed calls on ship owners, operators and charterers to address potential risks when loading Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs) containing dry chemicals. The warning follows a number of incidents reported across the industry including hold fires and cargo damage in bulk carriers and general cargo ships. The issue is particularly common with vessels loading in Chinese ports.

Claims resulting from the incorrect storage and handling of FIBCs, also known as ‘jumbo bags’, can lead to significant claims, the Club notes. The Club also warns that failure to strictly comply with all relevant International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations and guidance governing the storage and handling of jumbo bags could even prejudice P&I cover.  

To help industry to understand the risks associated with incorrect handling and stowage of jumbo bags, the Club has developed a detailed video case study of a fictional bulk carrier MV Calm Sea, which can be used by vessel owners, operators and charterers, crew and port agents as a training resource for identifying risks, liabilities and best practices.

The video can be viewed or downloaded from here. A version in Chinese can be viewed or downloaded here.

Ian Barr, Chief Claims Officer at The London P&I Club said: “Given prevailing market conditions, assureds operating bulk carriers and general cargo vessels are receiving frequent requests to load jumbo bags in the same holds as breakbulk and steel cargoes or to store different bagged chemicals in the same hold. In cases of different bagged chemicals being stowed together, chemical contamination and reactions can lead to on-board vessel fires, which can result in the total loss of the entire contents of the hold and large claims. Serious problems also occur when FIBCs are stored incorrectly with breakbulk or steel cargoes, which can damage the integrity of the jumbo bags and cause significant spillage leading to delays, fines or claims.

“These cargoes may look harmless, but can be potentially very dangerous if not stowed and handled appropriately. We want to support the wider industry by raising awareness and helping operators globally to mitigate the risk of incidents and claims. We strongly urge owners, operators, charterers and Masters to use this resource and to be extra vigilant when developing stowage plans and loading FIBCs and other big bags onboard. They should alert their P&I Club so that assistance can be sought from qualified industry experts before proceeding.”

P&I cover may be prejudiced in the case of non-compliance with applicable regulations as adopted by the Flag State in relation to the storage of jumbo bags. This includes the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the Cargo Securing Manual (CSM), the Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing (CSS) Code and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG) Code.

 

[By CMT]

The shipping industry’s adoption of smart technology risks being undermined by the crew’s ability to understand the information they provide, according to a German diagnostics firm.

Condition Monitoring Technologies (CMT), a provider of engine performance analytics and training, has warned that crews are increasingly under-equipped to interpret the growing volume of diagnostics data produced onboard modern vessels.

“Ship operators are buying monitoring equipment,” CMT Managing Director David Fuhlbrügge said, “but crews are being asked to make critical engine operation and maintenance decisions based on diagnostic outputs they don’t fully understand.”

As shipowners invest in sensors and predictive maintenance tools to improve performance, reliability and reduce downtime, CMT said many are missing the point that someone must still understand the data and act on it.

Several independent studies appear to support this view. In Navigating the Sea of Data: A Comprehensive Review on Data Analysis in Maritime IoT Applications, published in Applied Sciences (August 2023), researchers at Gdynia Maritime University wrote: “The lack of skilled personnel can hamper data analysis efforts.

Furthermore, the maritime industry, being traditionally conservative, may be slow to adopt new technologies. While the initial allure of data analytics in the maritime sector seems heavily skewed towards bolstering operational efficiency, its applications are far more profound and expansive.”

A 2021 paper from Taiwan’s National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Systematic Review of Machine Learning in Condition Monitoring, concluded that while new tools hold major potential, success relies on high-quality data and user ability to interpret outputs.

Earlier research from Shanghai Maritime University (Li, Chen and Zhang, 2012) also highlighted the role of human insight. Their study on diesel engine condition monitoring found that advanced algorithms could detect engine faults with over 90 percent accuracy, but only if trained operators were present to interpret and respond to the signals.

CMT said this growing mismatch between systems and skills is particularly acute in engine rooms. “Thirty years ago, a crew of 30 might have several engineers who knew how to interpret pressure curves, vibration patterns, or scavenge air temperatures,” Fuhlbrügge said. “Today, crews are half the size, and a lot of that knowledge has disappeared. Skills are lost and needs to be relearnt.”

While some companies are shifting diagnostics and analysis to shore-based engine performance teams, CMT said that doesn’t negate the need for competent decision-making onboard. “You can’t outsource everything. When a problem emerges at sea, the person onboard needs to know what to do. And if they don’t, the result could be a dead ship!”

CMT provides condition monitoring systems along with remote training through its in-house academy. But the company said few clients integrate training into equipment procurement.

“There’s a reluctance to spend on people. And yet without trained personnel, even the best technology can’t prevent failure.”

The company is now urging shipowners and technical managers to rebalance their digitalisation strategies. “We’re not short of technology,” Fuhlbrügge   said. “What we’re short of are crews that know how to use it.”

 

The Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) clarifies that it has no restrictions or prohibitions on the recognition of Certificates of Competence or Proficiency Certificates issued by the Maritime Administration of the Republic of India. On the contrary, it recognizes and values the professionalism, experience, and quality of officers and seafarers of Indian nationality.

As the world's largest ship registry, Panama promotes international cooperation and reciprocity, and maintains open collaboration with all States Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended (STCW´78 Convention, as amended), in accordance with Circular MSC.1/Circ. 1163 of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

In compliance with our obligations under this Convention, we ensure that seafarers serving on Panamanian-flagged vessels receive appropriate training, assessment, and certification from qualified instructors, in accordance with Regulation 1/6 and Section A-1/6 of the STCW´78 Convention, as amended, and its STCW Code, considering that the human factor is fundamental to maritime safety, the protection of life at sea, and the marine environment.

The PMA applies strict criteria and control measures in the evaluation of seafarers' documentation to prevent fraudulent practices in the issuance of certificates, endorsements, and related technical documentation, in full compliance with the STCW´78 Convention, as amended, and it’s STCW Code.

The PMA remains committed to strengthening technical cooperation, training, and mutual recognition of seafarers' competency qualifications, with a view to achieving safe, efficient, and sustainable maritime transport, and to ensuring and respecting the well-being of seafarers worldwide as key workers.

 

 

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) congratulates Representatives Mike Ezell (R-MS4) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY11) on introducing the Port Cranes Tax Credit Act of 2025 (H.R.?4589) along with two original cosponsors: Representatives Randy Weber (R-TX14) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA2).

The bill will boost domestic manufacturing, bolster supply chain resiliency, and support national security by beginning to bring port crane manufacturing back to America. It does so by establishing a 25% investment tax credit for qualified U.S. facilities that manufacture or repair ship-to-shore (STS) and mobile harbor port cranes, along with a production credit of 40%, rising to 60% if at least 90% of crane components are American made. AAPA looks forward towards working with Congress to see this bill passed into law, which would bring crane manufacturing back to America much faster than tariffs on foreign equipment paid by American households and businesses.

“Without safe, reliable and affordable cranes, America’s ports would not be able to move the goods that sustain our economy and support the daily lives of American consumers,” said Cary S. Davis, AAPA President and CEO. “Instead of levying unfair taxes on port development, the Port Cranes Tax Credit Act is a tangible first step on the supply side towards incentivizing the reshoring of key cargo-handling equipment in the coming years since there are currently no domestic STS crane manufacturers. We thank lead sponsors Representatives Ezell and Malliotakis, alongside original cosponsors, Representatives Weber and Kiggans, for recognizing the need for supply side incentives - not punishments on the demand side through taxes - and encourage others concerned about the future of the port industry and our nation’s supply chains to support this bill and quickly get it to President Trump’s desk.”

“Our ports are essential to our economy—and our national security,” Ezell said. “They serve as the gateways for trade, driving billions of dollars in commerce and supporting millions of jobs across the country. But more than that, they are critical infrastructure, and their vulnerability can pose real risks to our national safety. From cybersecurity threats to supply chain disruptions, foreign control over critical components—like ship-to-shore cranes—creates unacceptable exposure to espionage, sabotage, and logistical choke points. The Port Crane Tax Credit of 2025 is about putting American workers and American safety first. It will incentivize the production and deployment of domestically manufactured cranes, reduce our dependence on adversarial nations, and stimulate investment in American manufacturing and innovation. This isn’t just an economic policy—it’s a national security imperative. I’m proud to introduce this legislation to strengthen our ports, empower our workforce, and reinforce the foundation of American resilience.”

“Modern cargo handling equipment is a major capital expense for Port operations. As the largest inland public port and logistic hub in Upstate New York, the Port of Albany couldn’t function without key equipment – from our mobile harbor cranes to our front loaders and forklifts. We have to keep the supply chain moving,” said Richard J. Hendrick Sr., Port of Albany CEO and AAPA Board of Directors Vice Chair. “The Port’s been operating for almost a century, and the numbers don’t lie – our overall economic impact on New York State is annually more than $813 million with approximately 4,500 related jobs. Vessel calls have increased 41% during the past year due to Heavy Lift work and breakbulk cargo. I’m proud of those numbers, and the people who make those numbers possible, year after year, but they need the right equipment. We need to support onshoring manufacturing and good manufacturing jobs, and to make sure that our U.S. ports are equipped to continue to get the job done. I applaud Representatives Malliotakis and Ezell, and original cosponsors Representatives Weber and Kiggans, for taking decisive action to move the 2025 Port Cranes Tax Credit Act forward.”

“Strengthening and securing our nation's supply chain resiliency depends on U.S.-built and manufactured port cranes. This bill addresses urgent national security concerns and our nation’s ports greatly benefit from this proposed legislation to create tax incentives to support domestic production of port infrastructure equipment,” explained Paul Anderson, Port Tampa Bay President and CEO.

"Congressman Mike Ezell’s leadership on the Port Crane Tax Credit Act of 2025 is exactly the kind of forward-thinking support Gulf Coast ports like ours need to stay competitive and meet the demands of a modern, American-made supply chain,” stated Bo Ethridge, Port Pascagoula Port Director. “Port Pascagoula plays a critical role in the regional economy, and as manufacturing continues to return to U.S. shores, our port is experiencing increased demand and new growth opportunities. Yet we remain the only major Gulf Coast port without cargo cranes, which is an infrastructure gap that limits our ability to diversify commodities. This legislation is a vital step toward closing that gap. With federal support, including incentives like this tax credit, we can move forward with the acquisition of two mobile harbor cranes that will significantly enhance our operational capabilities and position us to serve a broader range of industries and cargo types. We’re proud to work alongside Congressman Ezell to strengthen America’s ports and power the future of domestic manufacturing."

AAPA urges swift consideration of the Port Cranes Tax Credit Act by the House Committee on Ways and Means and encourages Senators to introduce companion legislation in their chamber. By supporting domestic production of port crane infrastructure, Congress can help ensure the competitiveness, security, and resiliency of America’s ports.

 

[By USCG]

 The Coast Guard Captain of the Port Honolulu reopened all commercial harbors in the Hawaiian Islands following the end of the tsunami advisory Wednesday.  

Coast Guard crews including an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Air Station Barbers Point conducted port assessments and overflights of harbors, waterways, and aids to navigation throughout the Hawaiian Islands. 

No observable hazards or pollution were reported.  

“The safety of all mariners has been our top priority throughout the tsunami warning in Hawaii,” said Capt. Nicholas Worst, commander of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu and Captain of the Port Honolulu. “While the ports are now fully reopened to maritime traffic, we are working continuously with our federal, state, local agency, and industry partners to assess any potential hazards and keep commerce flowing safely. Strong teamwork with our partners helps safeguard the maritime transportation system, which facilitates the delivery of over 98% of Hawaii’s goods.” 

The Coast Guard is urging all mariners to proceed with caution due to the potential for shoaling and unmarked hazards. Vessels and facilities should immediately report any dangerous situations or navigation discrepancies to the Sector Honolulu command center at (808) 842-2600.