As delegates head to London for MEPC 84 and the next round of talks on the Net Zero Framework, shipping industry heavyweights are lining up to endorse the universal authority of the IMO and the value of a single global rulebook – but as ever, opinions vary on the climate regulations at issue. The main shipowners associations – ICS, BIMCO, CLIA, Intercargo, WSC and Intertanko – say that they remain committed to the NZF, offering both input and support; the world’s top three flag registries – which represent half of all global tonnage – are encouraging member states to look beyond the NZF and consider something different. 

All of these stakeholders are unanimous in calling for unity behind IMO as a global regulator, citing the unique advantages of a worldwide level playing field. The ICS-led group encourages member states to “consider all options to achieve a global agreement,” thereby preempting a patchwork of different national emissions requirements in different places. The EU’s complex regional regulation for greenhouse gas emissions is often cited as a cautionary example of what might face shipping if it does not achieve a “fit-for-purpose” global ruleset at IMO first. 

Specific industry-association requests for the NZF include acceptance of the use of…

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Avondale Global Gateway (AGG), in partnership with JEDCO, announced it has been selected as an inaugural recipient of an investment through Louisiana Economic Development’s FastSites program, a statewide initiative that accelerates site readiness and positions Louisiana to compete for transformative industrial projects. AGG participated in the program’s official launch in Baton Rouge, where CEO Adam Anderson was invited to speak alongside state leaders, highlighting the site’s strategic importance to Louisiana’s economy.

“Public investments that improve the readiness of maritime and logistics sites are critical to growing Louisiana’s trade economy,” said Port of New Orleans Board Chairman Mike Thomas. “Avondale Global Gateway is an important multimodal logistics hub within Port NOLA’s jurisdiction, and infrastructure investments like this in Jefferson Parish strengthen our region’s ability to drive economic opportunity.”

Since acquiring the former Avondale Shipyard, Avondale Global Gateway’s parent company, T. Parker Host (Host), has transformed the 275-acre property into a premier multimodal logistics hub. What was once a distressed industrial complex with just six people on site now supports more than 600 workers across operations,…

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[By Associated British Ports]

Associated British Ports (ABP) is delighted to become a founder patron of the Horizon Youth Zone in Grimsby to help support the charity in providing a safe, inspiring place for young people.

As Founder Patrons, ABP will join a growing family of businesses, organisations and philanthropists contributing to the charity’s annual running costs. This enables Horizon to keep offering state-of-the-art facilities, new opportunities, and first-class youth work to thousands of young people in North East Lincolnshire.

Andrew Dawes, Regional Director for ABP in the Humber said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be a Founder Patron of Horizon Onside Youth Zone.

It’s a privilege to support a project that will create opportunities, raise aspirations, and make a lasting difference for young people across North East Lincolnshire. We very much look forward to work alongside them in showcasing opportunities across our port and maritime sector in the Humber.”

Horizon CEO, Lucy Ottewell Key said: “We are grateful for the generous support of Associated British Ports. Their belief in Horizon Youth Zone is a powerful message to the young people of North East Lincolnshire that their futures matter. Thanks to this support, more young people will have a…

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Mariners have complained about excessive alarms for years, and anyone who has spent time in a modern engine control room knows how multiple beeping alarms can consume the crew’s attention. In a new report, Lloyd’s Register warns that the problem is getting out of hand. The proliferation of alarm noise has the potential to increase risk, and for little gain, LR found.  

To get a picture of what alarm fatigue looks like on board, LR collected data from 11 vessels over the span of 2,000 operational days. The dataset contained 40 million alarm events, and rates peaked on one ship at about 2,600 alarms per day (on a cruise ship). 

The best practice standard in shoreside industries is to try to limit alarm rates to 30 events per hour, but fewer than half the ships in the study met that target. The result, LR concluded, can be an exhausting environment: on ships with unattended machinery spaces, alarms demanded crew attention during rest periods more than 60 percent of the time. 

The rapid-fire alarms damage trust in the ship’s systems and dampen morale. Crewmembers may decide to get by with workarounds: some are “forced to silence alarms without acknowledgement or physically bypass alarm circuits, normalizing unsafe practices,” LR found. The real risk is that…

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The Baltic is a notorious hotspot for GPS interference, particularly in the region around the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. But pinning down the extent and the nature of the problem requires careful research. A team from GPSPatron and Gdynia Maritime University have carried out that work – first with shore-based data collection, and now with on-the-water data from a research vessel at sea. 

Between June and October, the joint team used a sophisticated interference detector aboard the research vessel Imor on trips near the Polish coastline, including several approaches to the maritime boundary with Kaliningrad. The sensor suite was built to detect interference with GPS, Galileo and GLONASS – three out of the four GNSS satellite constellations – in order to identify simultaneous attacks on multiple channels. 

The intensity of jamming (and the research vessel’s itinerary) varied over the course of the study. Jamming was most intense in late June and July, when GNSS positioning was unavailable off Gdansk about 17 percent of the time. The power level of the interference became stronger as the vessel went further out into Gdansk Bay, away from the port. In addition, strong spoofing components targeting the GPS and BeiDou constellation signals were detected when…

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[By: Kongsberg Maritime]

Kongsberg Maritime has signed a significant contract with Turkish shipbuilder and leading tugboat operator Med Marine to supply US series azimuth thrusters and a combination of electric and hydraulic towing winches for nine new tug designs. The agreement includes Med Marine’s new ‘VoltRA’ all-electric tug, which will be built at the company’s Eregli Shipyard, renowned for its modern infrastructure and craftsmanship.

The new contract covers the supply of eight shipsets of Kongsberg Maritime’s high-performance US255 azimuth thrusters for Med Marine’s RAmparts 2500-W and RAstar 3200-W tug designs. The pioneering ‘VoltRA’ electric tug will be powered by Kongsberg Maritime’s US205 azimuth thruster. The project further strengthens Med Marine’s position as one of the most experienced builders of technologically advanced tugboats serving global operators.

The scope of supply also includes five shipsets of Kongsberg Maritime’s newly launched electric towing winches and four shipsets of hydraulic winches. Introduced earlier this year specifically for the tug market, the new electric winches have been engineered to meet the demanding operational requirements of next-generation electric tug operations. Powered by frequency…

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Mitsubishi Shipbuilding celebrated the naming and launch of the new training ship Wakashio Maru at its Enoura Plant on October 23. While it while be the fifth training ship for the National Institute of Technology at Toyama College, it will be the first new vessel built for the program in 31 years.

The new vessel, which was also the first built by MHI for the college, will go into service providing practical training in ocean navigation for mariners and is part of an effort by Japan to enhance training for the industry. The ship, which is scheduled to be handed over in March 2026, will also conduct surveys and experiments related to operations and the ocean for purposes such as a variety of educational and community contribution activities to train maritime personnel.

The ship will be approximately 370 gross tons with a capacity for 60. It will measure 56 meters (184 feet) and have an operating speed of 12.5 knots.

The vessel will include comfortable, individually tailored living quarters and design features to foster seamanship, the company reports. In addition to providing practical training environments with a navigational simulator and a training switchboard so that trainees can learn through hands-on experience, it will also have wooden decks that require…

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The US Coast Guard arrested the master of a containership this week after the pilot guiding the ship to port reported the captain was exhibiting signs of intoxication. A field sobriety and breathalyzer test administered by the USC after the vessel docked found the captain was impaired more than six times the legal limit for commercial mariners.

The vessel, the MSC Jubilee IX, is a 108,770 dwt containership with a capacity of 8,800 TEU. The ship had arrived in the anchorage near Everett, Washington, coming from Busan, South Korea, with a stop in Vancouver, Canada. Built in 2008, the vessel, which is registered in Liberia, appears to have joined the MSC fleet in March 2025.

A Puget Sound pilot boarded the MSC Jubilee IX on August 20 to guide the ship to port in Seattle and reported to the US Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound that the vessel’s captain was exhibiting signs of intoxication. The pilot and first mate operated the vessel during the transit from an anchorage to Terminal 5 at the Port of Seattle without incident.

After the vessel docked, a Coast Guard boarding team and the Coast Guard Investigative Service boarded the ship and commenced a port state control examination. During the investigation, they administer the sobriety test.

The captain was arrested…

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The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka issued a sweeping condemnation of the events surrounding the fire aboard the containership X-Press Pearl in May 2021 and the resulting environmental damage. The court ordered $1 billion in compensation to be paid by the shipping companies and their agents, while also ordering investigations into the government’s handling of the casualty.

The case was initiated by the fishing community, which filed petitions citing the extensive environmental damage and loss of their livelihood. After reviewing extensive reports, the court agreed, calling the casualty “the worst marine chemical catastrophe in recorded history in the Indian Ocean.” They cite the release of 25 tons of nitric acid, 70 billion plastic nurdles, and other hazardous chemicals from the loss of the vessel, which was carrying 1,500 containers. It also cites the numerous dead turtles, dolphins, and whales that washed ashore.

In a 361-page judgment released today, July 24, the court finds the shipping companies and their agents “conceded” the casualty resulted in significant environmental harm. However, it says the non-state respondents in the case “did not present their own qualification of the loss caused in financial terms.”

The five-member court set the loss…

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India’s Directorate General of Shipping reports that efforts to remove the fuel from the wreck of the MSC Elsa 3 are being delayed due to peak monsoon conditions and a change in salvage teams. The wreck appears to be stable, but they are anxious to remove the fuel to prevent a potential environmental disaster with the wreck just 18 nautical miles from shore.

The authorities had previously expressed frustration with the slow progress at the wreck site demanding a plan and setting deadlines for MSC Mediterranean Shipping and T&T Salvage. They had anticipated that the pumping of the fuel from the tanks would be underway by the beginning of July at the latest. The wreck is believed to have approximately 85 metric tonnes of diesel and 367 metric tonnes of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) aboard.

The first phase of the diving effort was successful in capping the tanks and stopping oil leaks. However, from daily patrols and monitoring efforts, the Directorate General is reporting a “light rainbow sheen” near the site. It measures approximately 1 kilometer by 50 meters, but they believe the oil is dissipating naturally in the environment.

The current oil leaks are residual contaminants the authorities stated. They believe it is coming from enclosed areas such as…

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