SMI Newsdesk Archives :

The Isle of Man Ship Registry is to introduce an annual registration fee in April of £700 per vessel irrespective of ship size or type. The levy, the first in its 25-year history, will include offering “substantial discounts” to multi-vessel owners registering with the flag while other fees for services and certification will be reduced.

According to the registry, the new fee structure will also provide discounts for owners and … Read More…

Athens-headquartered Tsakos Shipping & Trading is joining forces with Cyprus-based Columbia Shipmanagement, part of Schoeller Holdings, in a joint venture that will take over management of the Greek group’s fleet of around 85 vessels.

The new entity, to be named Tsakos Columbia Shipmanagement (TCM), will start operations towards the end of the second quarter of this year, managing the 50-strong tanker fleet owned by Tsakos Energy Navigation, the group’s US-listed, … Read More…

Genoa-based classification society RINA is to class the world’s first offshore Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), taking a lead in the developing market for floating LNG terminals.

Addressing the Mare Forum Houston conference, Massimo Volta, RINA’s General Manager America, said: “Italy leads the world in implementing offshore LNG terminals. We have recently brought the Adriatic LNG terminal on stream, and we have five more live projects for floating … Read More…

For financially-sound buyers, 2010 will prove a likely year of opportunity according to shipping accountant and adviser Moore Stephens, as fallen asset prices leaves cheap purchasing potential wide open for hungry acquisitions.

“2010 will be a tough year for shipping, and toughest of all for the yards. But it will be a year of opportunity for anyone with cash and access to finance, as they pick up cheap assets from … Read More…

Norway-based Ship Equip has launched a new in-house training programme known as the Ship Equip Academy, created in order to serve both employees and customers as part of an effort to maintain and increase the level of industry knowledge as well as distributing the skills and expertise generated in the company.

According to CEO Ivar Nesset, the programme will be a strategic tool in the effort to reach long … Read More…

German bulk- to-container shipping giant, Thomas Schulte, has become the first global shipping company to voluntarily commit itself to the requirements of the Hong Kong Convention on Ship Recycling even though entry into force of the convention is expected to take at least another five years.

Hamburg-based Schulte, which operates a fleet of almost 50 vessels, has contracted Germanischer Lloyd to issue certificates for the fleet of 33 existing and … Read More…

Mike Ball has been elected to succeed Chris Fisher as chairman of the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA), with effect from April 2010. Currently manager of the bunker department at Gearbulk (UK) Ltd, Ball has extensive experience as a seagoing engineer officer and is a former director of H Clarksons, with responsibility for its bunker broking desk.

Speaking at the sixteenth IBIA annual dinner in London on February 15, Mike … Read More…

Plans for the EU to set greenhouse gas emission limits for ships using EU ports moved a step closer last month when the Commission published a new report looking at various ways of charging for maritime emissions. It concludes that emissions trading is the best and most feasible way of providing a financial incentive for reducing shipping’s contribution to global warming.

With shipping a global industry, the EU’s preferred option … Read More…

The long-running ‘risk and reward’ debate over responsibility for honouring debt when a ship owner files for bankruptcy has raised its head again after shipmanagement giant V.Ships moved to defend itself over allegations raised by an internet campaign that it was not paying its suppliers.

Poland-based supplier Jastra Co Ltd was so incensed over the non-payment of a €4,296 bill that it launched a website reproducing all the … Read More…

A new training initiative, GAC Training & Service Solutions Limited (GTSS), has been launched through a joint venture between GAC and the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) which will provide innovative and cost saving training solutions for seafarers.

The partnership will provide expert delivery of a portfolio of training courses for both seafarers and shore-based shipping personnel working in the LNG and tanker markets as well as other maritime … Read More…

Oslo-listed dry bulk company Golden Ocean Group has taken steps to secure cash flow as it remains bullish about the future markets, especially in the anticipation of increased growth coming from the Far East.

In order to reduce counterparty risk for its capesize newbuilding programme, Golden Ocean has restructured the long-term charter of one of its capesizes under construction at Jinhaiwan Shipyard, having agreed for its charterer to pay … Read More…