Daily Briefing June 18 2021
Free to read: Blankings rise as Yantian disruption continues | IMO adopts new emissions measures | MEPC adopts ‘toothless’ Arctic HFO ban | ITF points to flag failings in abandoned crew ordeal
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What to watch | Analysis | Markets | In other news
What to watch
Lloyd's List Intelligence data shows congestion spreading to nearby ports as the disruption at Yantian spreads to the nearby hubs Nansha and Shekou.
The International Maritime Organization has adopted technical and operational efficiency requirements for international shipping, the first new measures since it agreed on a decarbonisation strategy in 2018.
The IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee has adopted a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic which environmentalists have derided as toothless.
The abandoned crew of the Qatar-owned bulker Ula (IMO: 8102414) have been allowed to return home following their two-year ordeal.
Analysis
It’s raining bulkers in the secondhand market but the soaring number of S&P deals in the sector means that there are also plenty of willing sellers.
The proposal for a $5bn research and development fund for shipping has been given another fighting chance by the International Maritime Organization.
Markets
Global Ship Lease said it has agreed a second significant boxship acquisition within days, with the purchase of four panamaxes for $148m.
China looks set to overtake Japan as the largest importer of liquefied natural gas this year, spurred by the breakneck expansion of a recovering economy which lifted its imports of the supercooled fossil fuel to record levels.
US consumer demand is maintaining pressure on the key west coast ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, even as spending on services becomes an available option again.
In other news
CDB Financial Leasing said it has ordered 10 middle-range product tankers in China, a move that underlines its continued expansion mode.
The fractured global supply chain is raising hackles among those who rely on container shipping, but calls for greater regulation are unlikely to gain traction for the foreseeable future.
Seafarer training should focus less on specific future skills and more on a broader digital literacy that would enable mariners to prepare themselves for shipping’s evolution, a webinar heard.
Eleven Chinese companies — including large manufacturers, port operators and logistics firms — have so far joined the TradeLens blockchain-based container logistics platform.
An Australian stevedoring company is taking a state government to court after police quarantined 13 of its workers for allegedly breaching coronavirus protocols at the northern port of Darwin.
The International Group pool took a pounding last year, with 18 casualties resulting in an aggregate estimated ground-up gross cost of $677m.
M/Maritime, the Greece-based dry bulk carrier, is backing the revival of a historic domestic shipbuilding and repair facility.