PANAMA CANAL TRANSITS BOUNCE BACK AFTER DROUGHT Recovering from drought related restrictions in the previous year the Panama Canal saw a 25% jump in transits for the first four months of FY2025. Credit: Panama Canal Authority At a Glance Daily transits of the Panama Canal are back up to 36 from just 22 in late […]

MARITIME INDUSTRY WITNESSES THE GREATEST “SHAKE-UP” OF THE DECADE Tonight, January 31, 2025, the maritime industry will undergo the largest restructuring in a decade as shipping lines “jump” from their current alliances on the main East-West trade routes. THE Alliance will become the Premier Alliance, with Ocean Network Express (ONE), HMM, and Yang Ming Marine […]

RACE TO INVEST IN EXPANDING THE MARITIME TRANSPORT FLEET Numerous maritime transport enterprises are planning to expand their fleets with various types, from container ships, bulk carriers to tankers, to enhance their competitive advantage and consolidate market share. Enterprises Rushing to Invest in New Ships According to Transport Newspaper, many maritime transport enterprises have been […]

KAIKO SYSTEMS: INTRODUCTION OF SIRE 2.0 MARKED MAJOR TURNING POINT IN MARITIME SAFETY The introduction of SIRE 2.0 in September marked a pivotal turning point in maritime safety and inspection practices with shipowners and operators being forced to operate with more transparency and accountability under the new inspections system, notes Fabian Fussek, Co-Founder & CEO, Kaiko […]

DECARBONISATION: THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY’S MOST PRESSING CHALLENGE IN 2025 Navigating the future of sustainability in shipping through biofuels, ETS taxation and emissions certificates. In the last few years, heavy emitters have witnessed the development of decarbonisation solutions, with financial markets facilitating connections between low-carbon fuel producers and consumers, offering solutions for a rapid scale-up and […]

2024 WORST YEAR ON RECORD FOR SEAFARER ABANDONMENT, SAYS ITF New data from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reveals abandonment of seafarers by ship-owners increased by 87% in 2024 from the previous year.  The abandonment of seafarers is spiralling out of control, increasing nearly two-fold with 3,133 seafarers abandoned by ship-owners in 2024 compared […]

DRY BULK CARRIERS: “THE STRIKE” OF THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE Drinking too much “snakebite” cocktail will make you sick. The question for dry bulk shipowners is, how long will this drunkenness last? For those born in the Year of the Ox (like 1949, when Chairman Mao declared the founding of the People’s Republic of […]

MARITIME HEALTH: TACKLING CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AMONG SEAFARERS In recent years, the maritime industry has observed a concerning rise in cardiovascular disease (CVD) cases among seafarers, according to the West P&I Club. Incidents such as heart attacks and cardiac arrests are becoming alarmingly common, underscoring the critical need to prioritize heart health for those working at […]

TANKERS BEST PLACED IN THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE As shipping slithers somewhat apprehensively into the Year of the Snake, analysts reckon tankers – whether hauling gas or oil – are best placed to see an uptick in fortunes. The Lunar New Year is not starting too well with many sectors struggling to break even […]

CONTAINERS: SNAKES AND LADDERS he container shipping freight market has felt like a game of snakes and ladders since the pandemic. Shippers negotiate the trade board, hoping to make steady progress. Sometimes the rates they pay climb exponentially up a ladder for a while, for instance when the pandemic and the Red Sea crisis caused […]