The EU has backed the world’s first law on green shipping fuels that sets ambitious targets for shipowners to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Legislators have agreed to a deal that will see the greenhouse gas intensity of fuels cut by as much as 80% by 2050. The regulation puts further pressure on the International Maritime Organization which only has a current goal of cutting annual emissions by at least half by 2050, compared with their level in 2008.

Shareholders have largely backed Euronav management by keeping three current supervisory board members and rejecting major shareholder the Saverys family’s three independent candidates in a vital vote in Brussels this week. But two existing directors were ousted as clan patriarch Marc Saverys and the chief financial officer of the family’s shipping company CMB, Patrick de Brabandere, joined the board, together with John Fredriksen and his group’s second nominee, shipping investor Cato Stonex. The vote will be seen as a victory for Euronav, leaving three independent candidates to balance out two each from the major shareholding groups who have very different visions for the Belgian tanker owner’s future.

Braemar boss James Gundy has said his shipbroking group is not handling any sale-and-purchase business linked to the shadow fleet of tankers carrying sanctioned oil. Hundreds of tankers have changed hands since Russia invaded Ukraine, and many of the new owners are unknown. But the London-listed company has not been involved, Gundy told TradeWinds this week. “We can’t. There are rules we have to go by. We are playing exactly by the rules.”

In this week’s Streetwise shipping finance newsletter, Joe Brady takes a look at Cool Company’s journey to this week’s NYSE listing in the Big Apple and the market back stories that paved its way.

Idan Ofer’s Eastern Pacific Shipping has dived in on two LR2 tanker newbuilding berths recently freed up at China’s Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. Eastern Pacific is understood to have signed a letter of intent on the 115,000-dwt aframax product carrier newbuildings but firm contracts have yet to be inked.

UBS’ takeover of Credit Suisse will probably cause little to no upheaval to the latter’s shipping clients — at least the Greek ones. Four days after the two Swiss lenders announced a plan to merge, UBS said on Thursday that it intends to hold on to and expand its Greek wealth management activities — an area in which Credit Suisse has already made large inroads through its combined ship lending and wealth management operations.

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