The 14 July has had revolutionary resonance since 1789 when republicans stormed the Paris Bastille, and now the same date this year looks set to have some revolutionary implications for the global shipping industry, as we report below.
Meanwhile in shipping's trading markets, sale-and-purchase activity continues to surge, driven by soaring rates for containerships and broad strength in the dry bulk business. Will tankers be next?
Here's what I've been reading this week:
1. Shipowners face triple whammy in Europe's final ETS plans on emissions
If shipowners thought they'd be sharing the cost of the European Union's Emissions Trading System when it goes into effect in January, they'd better think again. Though it's not final until the rules are unveiled in less than two weeks, the indications are that owners will be expected to pay all allowances fees, and ships on international journeys will be included, as Paul Berrill reports.
2. Cargill's Dieleman: EU emissions trading scheme could spur decarbonisation
But the shipping's inclusion in the ETS is not without its proponents. Cargill Ocean Transportation president Jan Dieleman told reporter Max Tingyao Lin the move needs to happen, and that it could kick-start shipping’s decarbonisation. But, of course, he's not a shipowner.
3. Greek shipowners are making asset plays a badge of honour
Savvy timing is the name of the game for Greece's asset play-driven shipowners, and the hot market in the bulker and containership spaces is leading to some frothy profit taking, as Athens correspondent Harry Papachristou writes. One player sold a bulker — and hardly a new one — for $46m after buying it for just $11m, for a gain of well over 300%.
4. Costamare boosts bulker fleet with fresh buy of a dozen vessels
But not every one in Greece is busy cashing in the bulker sale-and-purchase market. Athens-based Costamare, a heretofore containership owner that is listed in New York, is getting in in a big way, adding 12 dry bulk ships after jumping into the market with an inaugural fleet of 16.
5. Qatar closes in on LNG shipowner selection for newbuilding mega-haul
It's a step towards what is likely the biggest shipping deal around. Qatar Petroleum is mulling over technical offers from shipowners and is poised to decide on a list of companies that can make commercial offers in the middle of this month on contracts to provide it with a raft of newbuilding LNG carriers.
6. Pioneer Marine's Papoulis and Tapaktsoglou eye expansion with management buyout
What at first looked like the final chapter of the Pioneer Marine story may instead be the start of a new one. Last Friday, it looked like the company could be headed for its end after putting its fleet up for sale. A week later, it has emerged that Pioneer Marine executives are stepping in to save the company in a management buyout.
