A new yacht-style cruise ship which is billed to be at the forefront of the ultra-luxury segment of the market was floated today, January 23, in Ancona, Italy at the Fincantieri shipyard. Name Four Seasons I, the new cruise ship is also part of the emerging trend seeing luxury hotel brands leveraged into the cruise industry.

The companies report the design brief for the cruise ship called for mixing a superyacht that evoked mid-century glamour with the luxuries of the Four Seasons brand. Designer Fredrik Johansson, partner and executive director of Tillberg Design of Sweden, says the cruise ship’s design captures the glamour of Aristotle Onassis’ superyacht Christina O and the jet-setting lifestyle of fictional secret agent James Bond (007).

Fincantieri received the order in July 2022 valued at approximately $1.25 billion for the cruise ship with options for two additional vessels. The project is being led by Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings and investors Fort Partners and licenses the Four Seasons brand. Before the first construction block was set in the dry dock in July 2024, Four Seasons Yachts exercised the option for a second vessel valued at more than $417 million and due for delivery in 2026.

 

Rendering of the Four Season I (Four Seasons Yachts)

 

Four Seasons I will be a 34,000 gross ton cruise ship measuring 679 feet (207 meters) in length. It has 95 luxury suites featuring large balconies and floor-to-ceiling ocean views. The most distinctive of the suites is a multi-level 457 square meter (nearly 5,000 square foot) Funnel Suite. The designers highlight that each of the suites provides 50 percent more living space per guest and the vessel will have the highest space ratio in the industry. It will feature a 1-to-1 staff-to-passenger ratio.

Among the unique amenities is a 66-foot outdoor pool. According to the company, it is a unique design for lounging in the Four Seasons’ style. It also will feature a choice of multiple restaurants, a large spa, and areas for children. There will also be a marina for boating and water activities.

 

Cruise ship was floated on January 23, 2025 (Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings)

 

Work on the yacht began with the keel laying on July 9, 2024, and the vessel was floated at the shipyard in Ancona. It is now beginning outfitting with Fincantieri scheduled to deliver Four Seasons I before the end of 2025. The cruise ship is due to enter service in January 2026 in the Caribbean before repositioning to the Mediterranean and Greek Islands in the spring.

Four Seasons follows Ritz Carlton into the cruise segment. Accor’s Orient Express is building the world’s largest sailing yacht, the OE Corinthian, which is due to enter service in the summer of 2026. 

The boom in containership construction and the transition to alternative fuels continues with South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering reporting its first order of 2025. The shipbuilder which is part of HD Hyundai booked an order valued at approximately $2.58 billion which is being widely linked to French shipping giant CMA CGM Group.

Reports from South Korea reported a letter of intent was in place and the industry was broadly reporting the order as a follow-on move by CMA CGM which continues to be at the forefront of the move to LNG dual-fuel vessels. KSOE provided few details other than the order is for 12 “mega” containerships which will be delivered by December 2028.

Media reports indicate the vessels will each have a capacity of 15,500 TEU with deliveries commencing in late 2027. It follows CMA CGM’s order in the second quarter of 2024 order for a dozen 15,000 TEU liquefied natural gas vessels from Hyundai Heavy Industries.

CMA CGM, which is currently ranked third with a capacity of over 3.8 million TEU, has been investing in the energy transition as part of a fleet modernization and expansion program. As of the third quarter of 2024, the group highlighted more than 40 operational alternative fuel vessels and a total investment of $18 billion for 131 vessels by 2028 that will be capable of running on low-carbon energy, including biomethane, biomethanol, and synthetic fuels.

The new order represents a strong start for HD KSOE which announced a target of $18.05 billion for orders in 2025, which while a 34 percent increase over the 2024 target projects a decline in total orders versus those booked in 2024. The group reported orders valued at over $20 billion in 2024. This first order of the year represents 14 percent of the group’s target for 2025.

The order continues the strong buildout for LNG-powered vessels and specifically containerships. DNV’s Alternative Fuel Insight database shows a total of 641 LNG-fueled vessels with 142 containerships in service. It reports LNG represents 10 percent of the current order flow and based on orders, the LNG-fueled fleet will double to 1,273 vessels by 2030.

Speaking at the Davos Forum in Switzerland this week, Executive Vice President of HD Hyundai Chung Ki-sun pointed to the continuing efforts in shipbuilding to lead the transition to alternative fuels. The group is focusing on a digital transformation outlining its blueprint for the future of the shipyards. HD Hyundai is partnered with big data company Palantir Technologies and highlighted a strategy for a 30 percent improvement in productivity and a 30 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030.
 

 

Hacking has risen up to dominate the risk landscape for energy companies, according to DNV. The class society's most recent survey found that two-thirds of energy professionals say that their company's leaders view cybersecurity as the greatest current risk to their business, and expect to increase spending on cybersecurity protections. 

The risks are growing with the expansion of new, digitized green power technology, which inherently creates new potential points of entry and exploitation."The whole energy sector – companies and governments alike – are working together on this massive challenge, which is increasingly complex because the technologies underpinning the transition are largely digital and scaling rapidly. With this comes cybersecurity risks,” said Ditlev Engel, CEO, Energy Systems at DNV.

Nearly half of the energy professionals surveyed said that the extra cyber risk is worth it for advancing the green transition, and the risk should be accepted as a cost of innovation. 

Geopolitical factors are also driving cybersecurity concerns in the energy sector, and three quarters of those surveyed said that their companies have paid more attention to cyber risk because of growing tensions (and growing risk of attacks sponsored by foreign powers). However, even more - four out of five - said that they were concerned about criminal hackers. 

Two-thirds also said that their firm's operational technology (OT) - the computer networks that control automated industrial systems- is especially vulnerable to attack, and most said that their OT is less well-defended than their IT networks. 

"In some companies, you can go to an industrial site and find people working on OT who have never spoken to their counterparts in other sites. They are doing what they have always done because that is how you achieve the required production," said Robert Valkama, Senior Manager of OT Cyber Security at Fortum. "The digital maintenance is missing and that’s hindering cybersecurity efforts."

Supply chain attacks are also a serious concern for energy projects. If threat actors can access an energy company's suppliers - or sub-suppliers - they could insert a malicious program or a weak point into an entire series of new equipment, before it leaves the factory. More than a third of those surveyed said that they believe that at least one of their suppliers had been infiltrated in the past and had decided to keep the breach secret.

"From attacks on supply chains, recruitment of malicious insiders, and the use of AI, adversaries are upping their game and the energy industry needs to keep up," said Auke Huistra, Director of Industrial and OT Cybersecurity at DNV Cyber. 
 

 

While the new government of Syria has terminated the Russian lease on the commercial seaport of Tartus, Moscow still holds out hope that it can keep a small sliver of the harbor that serves as a naval station, according to Russian outlets Izvestia and TASS.

Russia has had a "support point" at Tartus since 1971, the year that Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad seized power and signed an accord with the Soviet government. Over the decades, the pier became the Russian Navy's sole base in the Mediterranean, an essential refueling and repair station for the Mediterranean Flotilla. With the overthrow of Hafez's son Bashar al-Assad in December, its future seems in doubt and Moscow is negotiating with former enemies - Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a banned organization in Russia - over the base's survival. 

Earlier this week, it appeared that negotiations were over when HTS canceled the Russian lease on the port of Tartus' commercial section, which covered the majority of the inner harbor. Assad granted a 49-year lease to Russian engineering company Stroytransgaz in 2019, in exchange for an investment pledge of $500 million. The contract allowed Stroytransgaz to keep 65 percent of the profits of operating the harbor - until HTS ended the agreement and announced a takeover.

Russia may no longer control the commercial harbor, but HTS clarified Wednesday that the naval base is still up for discussion. Syria's new defense minister, Marhaf Abu Qasra, said that talks with Moscow continue. 

"There are negotiations being conducted by the presidency through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and until now, the final form is not clear, and we have not received any directive from the presidency regarding dealing with the Russian government," he told Al-Araby. 

Izvestia and TASS both carried the announcement and said that talks were ongoing, with contingency planning under way.

"Syria is under pressure now, so there is a possibility that we will lose the base in Tartus," military commentator Viktor Litovkin told Izvestia.  "And our leadership, knowing about this possible development of events, I think is now looking for a replacement for these bases. But where they will be located is a big question. There is no firm confidence that we will be able to settle in Libya, Algeria,  Egypt [or Eritrea]."

As of Wednesday, two Russian military cargo ships were moored near the naval base section of the port, where Russian vehicles and equipment from the Syrian campaign has been stockpiled for possible evacuation. Cloudy weather prevented a clear view of the piers by satellite (below). During the day, a Russian attack helicopter circled near the base and over the commercial section of the port, according to local journalist Qusay Noor. 

????????Med Sea Flotilla????????
Heavy clouds over Tartus today but you can't hide from synthetic aperture radar (SAR)

Sentinel 1????, 15:41 UTC on 22 Jan

4-5 vessels at the piers (including Sparta & Sparta II)

I don't think they are military given the grouping of ships near the anchorage pic.twitter.com/NPAajsQGW5

— MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) January 23, 2025

#Russian helicopters hovering over #Tartus port. After the cancellation of the investment contract with the #Russian company by the #Tartus Port Authority. pic.twitter.com/S2bC7vg9Ld

— Qusay Noor (@QUSAY_NOOR_) January 22, 2025

 

When the survey ship Manawanui went down off the coast of Samoa in October, New Zealand's small navy lost more than a tenth of its fleet. The vessel will not be replaced, New Zealand's defense minister said early this week, and her missions will be picked up by the patrol boat HMNZS Otago - a much smaller vessel lacking Manawanui's working deck and 100-tonne crane.

It is as yet unclear whether Manawanui's wreck will be raised, but refueling operations to reduce the risk of pollution are under way. The salvor is using a deck barge carrying tanktainers to store extracted petroleum from the ship, and it recently made its first planned trip back to port to drop off the first set of full tanks. The port backloaded empties onto the barge, and the salvors towed it back out towards the site to continue work. The barge's spread-moor system will remain in place between trips to and from the port, with its mooring cables temporarily hung on buoys so that they can be picked up later. 

Salvage barge on site off Upolu (NZDF)

Despite some early delays due to weather, the "complex and technical" defueling project is proceeding well, NZDF on-scene commander Commodore Andrew Brown said in a statement. He noted that the government of Samoa has reduced the scope of its precautionary restrictions on fishing in areas around the wreck site, which were implemented due to the risk of pollution from Manawanui's diesel fuel. Brown said that with New Zealand's help with water quality testing, further reductions are expected soon. An exclusion area of about 2,000 meters around the wreck will remain in effect. 

The cost of cleanup will be steep, but part of it will be covered by the New Zealand Defence Force's insurers, minister of defense Judith Collins told 1News. "Obviously Defence Force is supplying a lot of staff, a lot of equipment, all these things happening, but a lot of that is working with insurers," she said, declining to put a figure on the exact costs. 

 

Lithuania is preparing to join the elite ranks of the shipping industry with the launch of a pioneering hydrogen, electric-powered vessel that will provide harbor services. The ship which was recently floated fat the West Baltic Shipyard is among the first to adopt hydrogen technology and will be deployed for the Klaipeda State Seaport Authority in partnership with Baltic Workboats.

This shipbuilding project with a total value of €12 million (US$12.5 million) was commissioned last year by the Port Authority for a tanker that will be 42 meters (138 feet) long. It becomes the first green hydrogen, electric-powered ship in Lithuania and one of only a few in the world.

The ship's power system will consist of two electric motors powered by 2,000 kWh batteries and an innovative hydrogen fuel cell system. Depending on the intensity of the work, the port authority reports the tanker will be able to operate in the port of Klaipeda for up to 36 hours without additional power charging.

"We have not only launched a tanker, but also a new approach to port operations – cleaner, smarter, and more environmentally friendly,” said Algis Latakas, Director General of Klaipeda State Seaport Authority. “This first-ever hydrogen and electricity-powered ship is not only an innovative technological solution but also an important step in strengthening Lithuania's image as a modern maritime nation.”

The tanker's main function will be to collect stormwater, sewage, sludge, and garbage, as well as to ensure efficient waste management. The ship will be equipped with special tanks and a modern rainwater treatment plant that will allow the treated water to be transferred to the city's sewage treatment plants. The tanker will be ready to work around the clock and collect up to 400 cubic meters of liquid waste.

According to the current rules, vessels are obliged to hand over the waste they produce when they arrive and before they leave Klaipeda Port. In June 2024, a symbolic keel-laying ceremony at the West Baltic Shipyard of the West Baltic Shipyard Group marked the start of the ship's construction. The vessel is due to enter service before the end of 2025.

 

Vessel was floated and will complete outfitting to enter service by the end of 2025 (Klaipeda State Seaport Authority)

 

The hull has been fabricated and painted, with piping, valves, coolers, shaft lines, rudder feathers, heat and fire insulation installed. Once the tanker was moved into the water, the engine room equipment will be installed, the interior of the wheelhouse will be outfitted, the electrical wiring and the main electrical engines will be installed, the hydrogen system will be installed and other work necessary for the operation of the ship will be carried out. 

The Seaport Authority was charged with collecting waste from incoming ships, and the company decided to use modern and environmentally friendly equipment to further improve the quality of the ship's waste collection service.
 

 

After a high seas boarding, Spain's Guardia Civil brought the boxship Baltic Summer into port at Vigo to be searched for drugs - the latest in a series of busts at the quiet port of Vigo, just north of the Portuguese border. This time, however, the authorities came away empty-handed.

Baltic Summer was under way on a voyage from Puerto Bolivar, Ecuador when it was stopped by Spanish authorities and diverted to the harbor at Vigo, with assistance from the U.S. FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. It was not headed to Spain, nor elsewhere in the EU, but to St. Petersburg, Russia. The majority of the crew are Russian and Belarusian, according to Spanish authorities. 

Baltic Summer was suspected to be carrying a consignment of drugs, and was thoroughly searched by the Guardia Civil's Central Operative Unit. The examination turned up nothing, according to local media, and the crew and the vessel will be released to continue their onward journey. 

Baltic Summer's loading port, Puerto Bolivar, is the biggest export hub for bananas in Ecuador. High-volume consignments of bananas are a preferred vehicle for cocaine smugglers: South America's banana-exporting regions are near to cocaine-producing areas, and banana boxes get shipped to the preferred destination - Europe, where drug prices are high. As the world's most-shipped fruit, there are thousands of containers to sort through to find the "dirty" boxes amidst the far more numerous legitimate ones. At the destination port, customs officials face time pressure to release the containers fast because the fruit has a limited shelf life: it only lasts about one month from packing to unpacking before spoilage sets in, and less if precise temperature conditions aren't maintained - leaving little time for detention and searching.

In November, Spanish police in Algeciras seized the country's largest-ever single cocaine shipment. In a container of Ecuadorian bananas, they found 13 tonnes of the expensive drug, one of the largest busts on record anywhere. 

Top image: Port of Vigo / Dantadd / CC BY SA 2.5

The UK government is telling the developers of offshore sites including wind farms to adopt new tactics to ”reduce harmful noise” as they continue to build the projects. During surveys and development, they often encounter unexploded shells and bombs left over from the two World Wars that need to be disposed of as well as construction steps such as pile driving which creates underwater noise.

The government reports that there are over 300,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance from the First and Second World Wars that sit on the UK seabed. A 2020 report to Parliament estimated the number as high as 500,000 pieces. If encountered, it must be cleared during the construction of projects including offshore wind farms.

Just over a week ago, Shell reported it had discovered about 40 miles to the east of Shetland an unexploded bomb next to one of its gas lines running across the North Sea. In 2023, more than 70 unexploded ordnance were discovered during surveys in the Scottish North Sea for Ocean Winds’ planned Moray West project. 

“For too long we’ve been using Second World War technology to dispose of underwater unexploded munitions,” said Dame Joanna Lumley, a British actress and activist. For the past few years, she has been leading the campaign Stop Sea Blasts.

The new provisions are part of the UK Government’s Plan for Change launched in December 2024 by the government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. It focuses on the transition to renewable energy and revitalizing British industry. While setting ambitious goals to fast-track the delivery of clean power systems by 2030, the policy includes steps that call for reducing harmful noise levels in the seas.

Operators are expected to use low-noise disposal methods to clear ordnance by default, with noisy high-order detonations considered a last resort and restricted to extraordinary circumstances only. Developers will also now be required to demonstrate they have made clear efforts to reduce underwater noise during the installation of offshore wind turbines. This will be followed by a public consultation on setting a future noise limit for offshore wind construction. 

“These new measures support the construction of offshore wind that the UK needs, while making sensible changes to stop needless harm to underwater life,” said Marine Minister Emma Hardy. “As we expand offshore wind to make Britain a clean energy superpower through our Plan for Change, we need to protect the vulnerable animals of our seas.”   

The government highlights that it has partnered with The Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Evidence and Change program and representatives from the explosives and offshore wind industries to test and develop new, quieter technologies for bomb clearance, and pilot proposed noise limits during offshore wind construction.

By defining the policies, the government asserts that it will make the construction process simpler and ensure that future projects can be built at pace. The measures it reports will prevent construction delays caused by breaches in noise thresholds.
 

The captain of the ill-fated cruise ship Costa Concordia is back in the news 13 years after the loss of the ship which created global headlines. Italian media is reporting that Francesco Schettino, now age 64, has petitioned the courts in Italy for a form of early release from his 16-year prison sentence.

Schettino was in command of the cruise ship owned by Carnival Corporation’s Costa Cruises. The ship was in service for just six years built by Fincantieri and delivered in 2006. It was 114,500 gross tons with a capacity for 3,780 passengers and 1,100 crew making a week-long cruise in the Western Mediterranean.

On January 13, 2012, the Concordia left Civitavecchia, Italy, but Captain Schettino decided to deviate from the normal course to make a “salute” sailing close to Giglio island. He later blamed faults with the vessel, problems with the crew and misunderstanding of commands, and other issues, while it was alleged he was distracted by other people on the bridge. 

As they sailed close to the island and the cruise ship sounded its horn, it struck an underwater rock outcropping that fatally ruptured the hull and flooded the electrical controls rendering the ship immediately powerless and drifting. There were 3,200 passengers aboard and over 1,000 crew. A total of 32 people would die as the vessel foundered and during a botched evacuation.

Infamously Schettino abandoned the bridge with other officers. He later claimed he had fallen from the listing ship or that he had gone to shore to oversee the evacuation. A famous recording surfaced of the Coast Guard screaming and cursing at him, and ordering him back aboard the vessel. The cruise ship capsized, leaving passengers to fend for themselves and climb over the hull and down ladders in a rescue organized by the Coast Guard.

Schettino was sentenced in February 2015 to 16 years in prison for dereliction of duty, multiple counts of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning his passengers. His appeals were exhausted in 2017. He was ordered to surrender at a prison in Rome.

Under Italian law, Schettino filed for early release into a state of “semi-liberty” whereby he would be out of prison for the remainder of his sentence. This is available after the prisoner has served at least half their time in jail and has demonstrated good behavior.

The Italian media reports there are mixed reactions. The protests are expected to grow in advance of a court hearing. In addition to the 32 who died, many people were injured and carry emotional scars from the disaster. It was the largest cruise ship lost and led to extensive changes in the management of the industry. Costa Cruises paid a fine of more than $1 million in addition to settlements with the families and passengers. Carnival Corporation overhauled the management and training of its officers and in 2016 established a training center in the Netherlands.

An Italian court has set a hearing for March 4 to decide if Schettino will win his release from prison.
 

 

The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) subcommittee meets in London from January 27th to 31st to consider important unfinished business related to the environmental and climate impacts of international shipping’s growing presence in the Arctic. With this sensitive region being the canary in the mine for global climate breakdown, and with 2024 marked as the first year the Earth surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, it is crucial to pay close attention to what happens - or does not happen - during this meeting.

The question, unresolved since 2011, is whether the IMO should take mandatory action and impose requirements on the shipping industry to cut black carbon emissions in and near the Arctic. The Arctic is already at 2.5oC heating, with international shipping among the sectors contributing to this warming With the Arctic warming now four times faster than the rest of the planet and the short-lived climate forcer black carbon emitted in or near the Arctic being five times more potent a climate pollutant than when emitted outside the Arctic, it’s clear that the shipping sector must act.

Black carbon emissions from the shipping sector’s burning of residual fuels, such as heavy fuel oil (HFO), are a several thousand times more potent climate forcer than CO2 in the short term, and threaten the snow and ice-covered regions of the Arctic, primarily due to loss of albedo when it deposits on reflective surfaces.

Fortunately, fuels like HFO can be replaced with distillates or other cleaner fuels which can cut black carbon emissions by over 50%, and reduces their climate warming impacts drastically - effectively overnight. Thousands of ships already switch between residual fuels and distillates on a regular basis when entering IMO designated emission control areas (ECAs), with any additional fuel cost fully built in and accepted by the shipping industry. In the Arctic, distillate fuel is readily available and in widespread use, mainly by smaller vessels. However, larger ships, oil and chemical tankers, bulk carriers and general cargo vessels can and must implement a fuel switch.

Following IMO discussions in 2024 regarding the concept of ‘polar fuels’ - fuels acceptable for use in polar waters due to the lower emissions of black carbon - the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) proposed to define the characteristics of such polar fuels using four fuel quality criteria, the same that are used to characterize DMA distillates in the 2024 ISO standard. Since DMA dominates the global marine distillate market, these lower black carbon-producing DMA distillates – i.e. ’polar fuels’ - can be supplied to ships and bunkerers anywhere required for Arctic operations. The challenge for PPR12 will be to agree on the fuel quality criteria that would define ‘polar fuels,’ opening the way for a mandatory approach to the use of these fuels and other new and existing non-residual fuels with similarly low black carbon emissions in the Arctic under MARPOL Annex VI.

A second Arctic-specific issue under consideration at PPR12 concerns oil spills. Norway has proposed a possible definition of polar oil fuels which would be acceptable for use and carriage for use as fuel in Arctic waters under MARPOL Annex I. Norway first proposed to expand the output on reducing the risks of use and carriage of heavy fuel oil to include an upper pour point limit (the lowest temperature at which a fuel or lubricant will flow under specific conditions) in the definition of HFO in 2022. New fuel blends created to meet the requirements of the 2020 global 0.5% sulphur fuel cap have pour points above 0oC. Virtually all distillates including the proposed DMA ‘polar fuels’ have pour points of 0oC or less. Norway proposes a slightly different definition for ‘pour point polar fuel distillates’ than the ISO proposal for ‘distillate polar fuels’ which reduce black carbon.

Norway’s proposed MARPOL Annex I amendment encompasses the Polar Code’s Arctic Waters. This area however excludes a large part of the Arctic around Iceland and off the Norwegian coast, where ship activity and black carbon emissions are very high. To be effective at reducing black carbon emissions, a polar fuels regulation would need to cover the whole Arctic and not just the waters where ice cover or loose ice is likely to be present.

The IMO has committed to take global regulatory action to cut ship CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions at a meeting of its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 83) in April. The fact that black carbon isn’t a greenhouse gas but a form of particulate matter - soot - should not be an obstacle to similar regulatory action to reduce Arctic black carbon ship emissions and the impact on the Arctic.

In fact, in light of the strength of black carbon’s radiative forcing effect and given that the Arctic is facing the likelihood of exceeding multiple climate thresholds or ‘tipping points’ - the loss of summer sea ice, melting of the Greenland ice sheet, slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Oceanic Circulation (AMOC) - the IMO should not hesitate to act now to reduce black carbon emissions.

It is imperative that during PPR 12, member states endorse the concept of polar fuels - including distillate-grade marine fuels such as DMA or new fuels resulting in comparable or lower black carbon emissions - and agree as a matter of urgency to regulate emissions of black carbon from Arctic shipping.

Bill Hemmings is Black Carbon Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance.

 

Offshore services provider Havila Shipping is disputing claims by three of its bank lenders that the company is in default of its refinancing agreements. The company had worked for months before reaching terms in October 2024 to refinance nearly $91 million of debt due at the end of 2024 related to four now sold vessels and two that it continues to operate.

Havila is one of Norway’s large supply service companies to the international offshore energy industry. The company shows a total of 11 vessels, including PSV, subsea, and RRV, on its website and reports it also manages additional ships. It provides subsea construction, platform supply, and multi-field rescue recovery services.

The company asserts under the terms of an agreement announced on October 1, terms were set to refinance the fleet with three bank lenders and bondholders in two bond loans. It said the terms called for settling in cash $44 million and the remaining $46.5 million would be converted to shares. A new 2-year senior secured bond was issued in December valued at approximately $46.5 million to settle the cash debt. The company also reported at the end of December that the conversion for the other portion of the debt had been completed with a registration statement filed for the new shares.

As part of the agreement, Havila Shipping contends the three banks chose to extend the restructuring agreement by one year related to two of its vessels, PSV Havila Foresight and subsea vessel Havila Harmony, as well as four vessels, Havila Borg, Havila Clipper, Havila Fanø and Havila Subsea, which were sold.

Havila Shipping reported in a filing on January 21 that it had received a letter on behalf of the three banks that extended the restructuring agreement, claiming that the refinancing and issue of bond loan, which was used to redeem the debt of lenders who chose settlement at the end of 2024 in accordance with the agreement, is in breach of the restructuring agreement. It is also alleged that certain other circumstances constitute a breach of the restructuring agreement.

The operations of the Havila Foresight and Havila Harmony it says will service the outstanding debt during 2025. The remainder of the interest-bearing debt was to be refinanced and settled in cash at the end of 2025.

“The company disputes in full the lenders' understanding of the restructuring agreement,” the company writes in its response. “The company will, if necessary, have the matter resolved legally.”

The three banks are asserting that they will be entitled to declare a default on the outstanding debt, as well as to claim default interest and enforce security. 

Havila highlights that there are no cross-collateral agreements or cross-default linked to its new bond loan issued in December. 

It is the latest in a series of financial challenges for the offshore service provider. The offshore industry was challenged by a prolonged downturn which led to financial issues and consolidation. 
 

 

Fresh off her voyage to visit the wreck site of the lost Russian military cargo ship Ursa Major, the Russian spy ship Yantar headed north to map vulnerable subsea infrastructure in British waters, UK Defense Secretary John Healey told Parliament this week. 

Healey said that the Royal Navy has been monitoring Yantar throughout her transit, and he called her presence "another example of growing Russian aggression." 

"I also wanted President [Vladimir] Putin to hear this message: we see you, we know what you're doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country," Healey said. 

Nominally a research vessel, Yantar is operated by the Russian military's secretive Main Directorate of Underwater Research (GUGI), a dedicated subsea warfare division that reports directly to the Russian ministry of defense. GUGI is known best as the operator of Russia's special mission submersibles, notably the deep-diving Losharik and host submarine Belgorod, the world's longest sub. 

Yantar is capable of hosting submersibles for subsea survey, intervention and (analysts suggest) cable tapping or sabotage. Her activities in the North Sea, North Atlantic, Baltic and Irish Sea have prompted widespread suspicions that she is part of Russia's program to map NATO subsea infrastructure. 

HMS Somerset has been tracking Yantar throughout her voyage north, and closely, Healey said. 

"I changed the Royal Navy's rules of engagement so that our warships can get closer and better track the Yantar. So far, the ship has complied with international rules of navigation," he reported. 

Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset located and intercepted Yantar in the entrance to the English Channel, south of the traffic separation scheme at Ushant. Somerset shadowed Yantar as she navigated through waters close to France.

Healey also revealed that he had ordered a Royal Navy attack submarine to surface near Yantar the last time the Russian spy ship was in UK waters. Yantar visited the Irish Sea in November, where she was tracked by HMS Tyne. She also had a surprise visit from an Astute-class submarine, "strictly as a deterrent measure, to make clear that we had been covertly monitoring its every move," he said.  

"Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure," Healey emphasized. 

Officials from the Untied Nations provided the first independent confirmation to the level of damage that has been inflicted on Yemen’s Red Sea ports. The officials estimated that less than a quarter of the port capacities remain available expressing concern about the ability to get relief supplies to the citizens of Yemen.

"(The) impact of airstrikes on Hodeidah harbor, particularly in the last weeks, is very important," Reuters reports Julien Harneis, U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, told a U.N. meeting in Geneva on Tuesday, January 21. Harneis did not assign responsibility for the damage but warned it would impede the efforts to delivery food and fuel to Yemen. 

Reports from Yemen indicate there is about two months of cereal and fuel inventories in the ports. UN officials have been working with the local authorities attempting to maintain aid and had a long-term plan to repair damage to the Red Sea ports which have been under the control of the Houthis for a decade. In approximately 2018, the UN conducted an extensive survey of the port facilities and documents the lack of maintenance and problems that needed to be addressed.

In Hodeidah they are now saying four of the port’s five tugboats were sunk and the fifth damaged. Local officials claim the port’s capacity in Hodeidah, Salif, and at the Ras Issa oil terminal was reduced by 70 percent.

UN officials said the ports had been targeted four times in the past six months. U.S. raids focused on key assets during the long-running conflict in the Red Sea region, while the Israel Defense Force carried two large raids in December. 

The Israeli raids were in response to repeated missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthis. On December 19, they were there were a total of seven raids targeting Hodeidah as well as one on Salif and two on the oil terminal. In addition, Israel staged four raids on a power station south of Sanaa and two on another power station north of Sanaa.

The Houthi missile attacks continued and on December 26 the IDF conducted a second wave of attacks. That involved a reported 25 Israeli Air Force planes and included the port of Hodeidah as well as the power station and oil terminal. There was also heavy damage including the control tower, runways, and buildings at the Sanaa airport as well as additional targeting of the power station south of Sanaa.

Local officials are saying a total of eight tugs essential to the port operations were damaged. 

"The civilian crews who man them (the tugs) are obviously very hesitant,” warned Harneis. “The capacity of the harbor is down to about a quarter," he added, saying the port was used to transit a significant portion of imported aid.

The Houthis continued to launch missile attacks on Israel through January 18 and the announcement of the Gaza ceasefire. They have however threatened to continue to target Israeli shipping and warned more widespread attacks would resume if the truce is violated.

Harneis told the UN briefing that the danger remains high for additional attacks. He also said it was hampering UN mediation efforts to reach a political solution to the conflict. The Houthi forces seized the western areas of Yemen in 2014 and early 2015.
 

 

The runway at the mystery airfield on the Yemeni island of Abd Al Kuri remains enigmatically incomplete, with the gap at the northern end of the runway still extant as of January 22, 2025. However, the airfield may have had its first visiting aircraft. Early on January 17, what appears to be a medium-sized winged aircraft was parked on the apron in front of the small terminal building.  It was aligned with nose wheel guidelines for parking aircraft. 

With a wingspan of approximately 25 meters, if it was an aircraft it was not a C-17 or C-130, but bigger than a Twin Otter. It could possibly be a C-295 short take-off and landing aircraft used both for transport and maritime surveillance missions, for which the 1800 meters of completed runway would have been more than sufficient. Higher resolution satellite imagery will no doubt provide a more reliable answer on aircraft activity in due course.

Although the Gaza ceasefire has generated a statement from the Houthis that in the future, they will restrict their attacks on shipping to vessels that are either Israeli-flagged or owned, tensions remain high in the area while the true intentions of the Houthis become clear. The larger shipping companies in particular are likely to be cautious about re-routing vessels through the Suez Canal until the situation in Gaza becomes clearer. But recent air strikes on Houthi infrastructure have been significantly more damaging than attacks last year, and the ceasefire may have provided an off-ramp for the Houthis, which they were likely seeking.

Western countries appear to be taking no chances. The latest assessed plot of naval forces present in the region shows a heavy presence of naval vessels in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor to the north of Abd Al Kuri and Socotra. The Commander US Navy Central Command has also confirmed that the Iranian IRGC spy ship MV Behshad has also returned to the Gulf of Aden area, escorted by IRINS Alborz (F-72) and IRINS Bushehr (422) from the Iranian Navy’s 100th Naval Flotilla.

05JAN2024 Updated map of warships operating in Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea.

Updates:

INS Chennai (D-65) is en route to address a hijacking incident involving the vessel 'MV LILA NORFOLK' in the Arabian Sea, there are a total of 15 Indian… pic.twitter.com/OGIsqGJK0g

— Intelschizo (@Schizointel) January 5, 2024

 

The new Acting Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard reported that additional forces and equipment were being sent to key locations to enhance its primary mission of maritime border security. The statement came just hours after Admiral Kevin Lunday was elevated to lead the service after the Trump White House and acting head of the Department of Homeland Security dismissed Admiral Linda Fagan in part due to its perception of a failure in border security and coordination with DHS.

“Per the President’s Executive Orders, I have directed my operational commanders to immediately surge assets—cutters, aircraft, boats, and deployable specialized forces—to increase Coast Guard presence and focus,” in key areas wrote Lunday in a brief statement on Tuesday afternoon, January 21. 

Among the areas of focus cited in the announcement is the southeast U.S. border approaching Florida where it said the goal is to “deter and prevent a maritime mass migration from Haiti and/or Cuba.” Other areas include the border with the Bahamas, between the U.S. and Mexico in the Pacific, the maritime border between Texas and Mexico, and broader areas ranging from Alaska to Hawai’i, the U.S. territories of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Notably, the memo referenced the “Gulf of America” which is among the first times it was used after Trump issued an order for the federal government to use the name replacing the historic, and globally recognized, Gulf of Mexico nomenclature. 

The announcement said the U.S. Coast Guard would also provide, “Support to Customs and Border Protection on maritime portions of the southwest U.S. border.”

Admiral Lundy wrote, “Together, in coordination with our Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense teammates, we will detect, deter, and interdict illegal migration, drug smuggling, and other terrorist or hostile activity before it reaches our border.”

It is a continuation of one of the USCG’s core missions. Hours earlier, the USCG issued a press release reporting the interdiction of 26 individuals including nationals from Mexico, China, and Vietnam approximately one mile offshore from Oceanside Harbor, California on Monday, January 20. The Coast Guard Cutter Terrell Horne deployed a boarding team and transferred the individuals to U.S. Border Patrol custody. 

Since the beginning of 2025, the Coast Guard reported repatriating 20 Cubans found in a small boat approximately 36 miles south of Key West on December 30. The Coast Guard cutter Joseph Doyle also reported repatriating 58 people to the Dominican Republic, after two interdictions near Puerto Rico both on January 13.

The Miami Herald reports that illegal maritime migration from Haiti and Cuba slowed significantly starting in 2023 and 2024. It highlights increased patrols by the U.S. Coast Guard and Florida state authorities. Illegal arrivals went from “daily occurrences” in late 2022 and early 2023 to “barely one per month,” writes the Miami Herald. It notes the new efforts launched after the federal government was forced to close a park in the Florida Keys in January 2023 due to the number of migrants coming ashore.

Border security and increasing the efforts to stop illegal migrants was one of the key campaign promises of Donald Trump. The majority of the illegal migration comes overland and crosses the Rio Grande River along the U.S.-Mexico border.
 

The governing body of the Houthi movement released a statement first reported by Al Masirah TV confirming the crew of the car carrier Galaxy Leader has been released. The crew was held for nearly 14 months by the Houthis which said it was “port of the battle to support Gaza.”

The Supreme Political Council issued a brief statement today, January 22, announcing the release which had been rumored as imminent in recent days.  According to the statement, the release came after “communication” with the Hamas movement in Gaza and efforts by negotiators in Oman. 

The Houthis said the release “comes in support of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.” The rebels committed to supporting the truce negotiated by Oman, Egypt, and the United States but warned any violations could prompt further attacks. The Houthis released a statement on Sunday, January 19 saying they would permit the passage of foreign vessels in the Red Sea while continuing to target ships linked to Israel.

Al Masirah TV released images of the crew reportedly during the handover to representatives from Oman. The crew consists of 25 people from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Mexico. It is believed the crew will travel to Oman but no details were announced on the repatriation. 

The Galaxy Leader was the first vessel attacked by the Houthis with their forces boarding the car carrier on November 19, 2023, while it was under charter to Japan’s NYK and sailing without cargo to India. The Houthis cited the Israeli-linked ownership interests of the ship's commercial operator, UK-based Ray Car Carriers, as the reason for the seizure of the vessel and its crew. The vessel was diverted to an anchorage near Hodeidah, Yemen where it became a public spectacle including a visit by the Houthi military to “welcome the crew to Yemen.”

The Philippines and other nations as well as the IMO and other shipping organizations made repeated appeals for the release of the crew. They highlight their nationalities while saying the crew had no direct involvement in the conflict. The Philippines which had the majority of the crewmembers aboard the vessel repeatedly said the situation was complicated by “politics” warning it was likely to be a drawn-out process for the crew’s release.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez immediately released a statement today saying, “This is a moment of profound relief for all of us - not only for the crew and their families, but also to the wider maritime community... Today’s breakthrough is a testament to the power of collective diplomacy and dialogue, recognizing that innocent seafarers must not become collateral victims in wider geopolitical tensions.”

The Galaxy Leader (17,127 dwt) was built in 2002. The vessel is registered in the Bahamas. Today’s statement made no mention of the release of the vessel.
 

 

The world's top container carriers and their investors are warily eyeing a return to the Red Sea-Suez route after a year of profitable disruption - but the return will not happen quickly, executives and maritime security advisors say. 

Beginning in late 2023, Houthi attacks gradually forced most liners to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, adding weeks to each voyage and boosting ton-mile demand. As carriers pulled in every available ship to cover the extra time and distance on Asia-Europe routes, a looming overcapacity problem evaporated, replaced by an unexpectedly tight market and a boom in freight rates. As a result, carriers have had a profitable year - but there are revenue challenges ahead. 

Thanks to a ceasefire in Gaza, Houthi leaders have pledged to halt attacks on shipping. In expectation that liners may soon have to return to the Red Sea to remain competitive, analysts have downgraded the stocks of some ocean carriers in expectation of overcapacity and falling rates. Investors have already begun reducing exposure to the ocean freight segment in anticipation of lower earnings ahead. 

Blue-chip operator Maersk, the largest publicly-traded carrier, has lost about a tenth of its share price since the first rumors of a Gaza ceasefire emerged earlier this month. Jefferies has downgraded its rating to hold. Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk's partner on the Gemini Cooperation network, has also shed about eight percent of its share price since the start of the year. 

Israeli-owned carrier Zim, which sustained Israel's maritime logistics throughout the Gaza operation, has seen its stock slide by about a quarter since early January. Jefferies has lowered its price target for Zim, but kept its hold rating on the firm's shares. 

There is still no certainty about whether the Houthis will uphold their Red Sea truce pledge, which hinges in part on the progress of peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Houthi leaders have promised to watch Israel's implementation of the Gaza ceasefire carefully, and to resume attacks on Western shipping if fighting in the territory resumes. The truce also hinges on whether the U.S. and UK resume airstrikes on Houthi targets - another factor outside of the shipping industry's control. 

"Merchant vessels continue to be at risk due to fragility of the ceasefire and potential for Houthi subjectivity resulting in singular attacks," cautioned UK maritime security consultancy Ambrey. "A reduction of risk to shipping is assessed almost certain to occur gradually."

 

Advances in the chemistry of thermal reactions involving sulphur, oxygen and hydrogen can generate temperatures of 900 to 1200-deg C that can sustain the operation of externally heated gas/air turbine engines. The byproducts of the chemical reaction can be decomposed using intense heat and reused for multiple repeat cycles.

Introduction

The history of thermal energy storage for mobile applications dates back to the 1800s, involving a submarine that carried an insulated tank of saturated water at over 100-pounds/square-inch at 327 deg F. Modern solar thermal power plants use molten salt thermal storage at 1020 deg F. While latent-heat-of-fusion metallic compounds and mixtures combine very long usable service life with high storage density, thermal energy storage duration is short-term. While the reaction of mixing certain chemicals produces heat, it is possible to store the chemicals separately over extended duration until heat is needed.

Heat-producing chemical reactions involving some chemicals are actually reversible. A consortium based in Germany known as Pegasus is undertaking pioneering research into using sulphur thermochemistry to produce heat capable of sustaining the operation of externally-heated turbine engines. The reaction is intended to be reversible, with an external source of heat (like a shoreside nuclear reactor) decomposing the reaction byproducts into a form that can repeatedly be reused.

Heat of Formation

 The combustion of hydrocarbon liquid fuel with oxygen releases heat and produces new compounds such as steam and carbon dioxide. While electrolysis can separate hydrogen from oxygen, only photosynthesis from the natural world can separate carbon from oxygen. There are heat-producing chemical reactions that produce new compounds that can subsequently be thermally decomposed back to the original constituents and made available for future reuse to generate heat. Such is the case for mixing compounds of hydrogen, sulphur and oxygen, with sulphuric acid (H2SO4) first being decomposed into water (H2O), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and oxygen (O2).

 A second stage involves sulphur dioxide being decomposed to produce elemental sulphur, which is then stored.

When energy is desired, the reaction of sulphur with oxygen produces temperatures of up to 2,200 degrees F, with the heat of reaction being sufficient to sustain the operation of an externally-heated turbine engine connected to a bottom-cycle steam engine. If successful and viable, the research efforts of the Pegasus consortium have potential to form the basis of future ship propulsion.

Ship Propulsion

Research from Pegasus suggests that 50 hours of operation of an engine of 67,000 horsepower would require 5,000 metric tonnes of sulphur and 16,000 metric tons of sulphuric acid. A ship weighing 200,000 tonnes requires 100,000 horsepower to sail at 25 knots. Slowing the ship to 12.5 knots would reduce power requirement to 10,300kW or 13,800 horsepower, allowing for up to 235 hours of engine operation and a sailing distance of over 2,500 nautical miles. Following arrival at port, the spent compound would be transferred to barges that would sail to nearby a high-temperature nuclear power plant, where the compound would be thermally decomposed for reuse.

While still at port, other barges would arrive to deliver sulphur and sulphuric acid from a thermal recycling facility, to provide power for the next voyage. Future ships powered by sulphur thermal technology would sail between ports located near to a high-temperature nuclear power plant, or a solar thermal power plant capable of operating at the temperatures required to thermally decompose sulphur dioxide and recycle sulphur compounds for future application. While the original research focused on stationary thermal energy storage application, the sulphur thermal storage technology has potential in a mega-size transportation vehicle such as a ship.

Cost Issues

While gasoline might contain as much as 45,000 kilojoules per kilogram, sulphur holds some 12,500 kilojoules per kilogram. During early 2024, gasoline incurred a cost of $0.11 per kilowatt-hour while sulphur incurred a cost around $0.02 per kilowatt-hour. While it is presently not possible to recycle the combustion byproducts of gasoline to produce new gasoline, it is technically possible to thermally decompose sulphur dioxide to produce sulphur for future reuse generating heat. In ship propulsion, sulphur technology would be restricted to ships that sail at low speed and might make frequent stops to refuel.

There would be potential for ships powered by sulphur technology to sail coastal services and be assigned to short-sea shipping operation in regions of the world where high-temperature thermal technology would be available. Sulphur-based thermal storage technology would likely have to prove itself in stationary application, involving solar thermal power plants and high-temperature nuclear power plants where sulphur technology might be recycled during overnight off-peak periods. Once proven in stationary application over an extended duration including involving seasonal energy storage over extended time duration, experiments involving ship propulsion might begin.

Conclusions

While the maritime sector is subject to governmental pressure to reduce carbon exhaust emissions, some carbon reduction technologies incur high cost and raise the operating cost of a ship. Other evolving technologies actually reduce ship operating cost. At the present state of research, sulphur thermal storage technology offers the possibility of simultaneously reducing carbon emissions and overall operating cost. The ideal scenario would involve a single thermal power plant providing for the operation of a small fleet of vessels powered by sulphur thermal storage technology while engaged in coastal shipping and short-sea shipping.

 

The Russian port of Kozmino is a reliable earner for the nation's oil and gas sector, pumping out 900,000 barrels a day of premium Siberian crude for Chinese buyers. Kozmino's ESPO blend has consistently sold at full-rate market prices despite two years of Western sanctions, with few interruptions. That now appears to be changing due to U.S. sanctions on the "dark fleet," the collection of obscurely-owned, aging tankers that circumvent the G7 "price cap" on Russian crude exports. 

Earlier this month, the Biden administration imposed blocking sanctions on 180 Russian vessels, including about 160 tankers. The package targeted ships operated by state-owned Sovcomflot, as well as a collection of older ships held by anonymous firms. U.S. Treasury blocking sanctions create serious compliance risks for any entity that interacts with the sanctioned vessel, and a key stakeholder in the "dark fleet" trade - Shandong Port Group, the giant Chinese refining complex - let it be known that it would no longer accept sanctioned tankers. 

This package of sanctions covered about three-quarters of the tanker fleet that serves the short run between Kozmino and coastal ports in China, including Shandong. According to Bloomberg, the anchorage near the Kozmino loading terminal is now filling up with idle vessels, with nine tankers sitting just offshore - many more than normal. 

Even if Russia is able to source new unsanctioned tonnage to continue the trade at normal volume, the price of transport will go up. Given the clear risk of a vessel getting sanctioned for calling at Kozmino, Aframax charter rates for the run have skyrocketed, with brokers reporting prices of up to $5-7 million for a single voyage. 

More sanctions may be coming under the Trump administration. Over the past two days, President Donald Trump has suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to negotiate an end to his war in Ukraine, and that more penalties are possible if he doesn't. 

"I think he's destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think Russia's going to be in big trouble. You take a look at their economy. You take a look at inflation in Russia," Trump said Monday. 

In conversation with reporters on Tuesday, Trump said that it "sounds likely" that if Putin does not begin peace talks, more sanctions might be on the table. 

 

An industry collaboration known as the Safetytech Accelerate reports its latest round of supported feasibility studies has shown strong potential to cut fugitive methane emissions in the maritime industry. They report after the successful studies efforts are now underway to advance these research projects to on-ship trials as soon as possible.

Fugitive emissions happen across the LNG supply chain ranging from loading to engine delivery. While short-lived they represent another source of harmful unburnt methane entering the environment in addition to the more widely discussed methane slip where unburnt methane enters the exhaust during the combustion problem.

The Safetytech Accelerator launched its flagship Methane Abatement Maritime Innovation Initiative (MAMII) in September 2022 bringing together industry leaders, technology innovators, and maritime stakeholders with a focus on measuring and mitigating methane emissions in the maritime sector and also seeks to promote the adoption of solutions to reduce and eliminate methane emissions. This latest effort involved industry leaders Chevron, Carnival Corporation, Shell, and Seapeak as well as three technology supplies.

The group reports that identifying, quantifying, and mitigating fugitive emissions is another element of the effort. It says that it is another essential element to achieve industry-wide decarbonization goals.

Three companies and their technologies were the focus of the completed technology feasibility studies. Xplorobot which provides handheld devices and an AI-powered platform to detect and measure fugitive emissions studied the warm side of the gas fuel line evaluating the efficacy of the technology in detecting and quantifying methane emissions. For this technology, the next step is to deploy the kit in the field to further validate and optimize the technology.

A second study explored acoustic cameras from Sorama evaluating the viability for monitoring on LNG carriers. Strategically placed and handheld cameras detect the emissions by visualizing sound and vibration fields in 3D. A six-month pilot scoped the use of four fixed cameras aboard. They believe it demonstrated a capability to quickly identify the source of emissions and would provide a cost-effective option for ship operators.

Framergy studied its technology which would be used to store and purify methane to significantly reduce emissions during planned and unplanned venting events. The methane would be captured and stored at a lower pressure than conventional methods using the company’s filtering membrane made of a metal-organic framework material. Captured methane has the possibility of reuse or sale.

The Safetytech Accelerator reports the three studies show the potential to detect, measure, and mitigate methane emissions on LNG-powered ships. While methane slip – the unburnt release of methane during combustion – remains the largest source of methane emissions, they believe this work adds another critical element to the overall effort addressing methane emissions. The group is also supporting efforts to reduce emissions from engine exhausts. 

The Anchor Partners for the MAMII effort total more than 20 leading shipping and energy companies. Beyond the four companies that participated in these studies, others working with the effort include MSC, Lloyd’s Register, GTT, NYK, Mitsui O.S.K., CMA CGM, and others.