TOP STORY

GTT’s Mark III membrane system is back in the spotlight. Photo: GTT

Thermal tests on some LNG carriers fitted with Mark III membrane-type cargo containment systems are showing a large number of possible issues with their secondary barriers sparking a debate about changing existing regulations to minimise required repairs and offhire time.

Shipowners, class and membrane-type designer GTT are embroiled in talks about whether certain repairs need to be made or whether the existing regulations should be rewritten to limit the scope of these to particular areas of the tank.

Read Lucy Hine’s exclusive article here

IN THE NEWS

  • Danish product carrier specialist Torm has struck another deal to expand the fleet, pouncing on eight LR2 vessels for $399m. The Copenhagen-listed company said the ships were all built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries between 2010 and 2012 and have fuel-efficient eco specifications. Read more on this here.
  • It has taken a while, but London-headquartered Oil Brokerage has moved back into the lead pack on broker consolidation with a raid on a top name in the US market. Oil Brokerage has hired away six crude brokers from privately owned house McQuilling Partners, which is headquartered on Long Island in New York. Read the complete article here.
  • Shipowners from the Middle East have become increasingly prominent in secondhand tanker markets as fears grow over the potential spread of the Israel-Hamas war to neighbouring countries. Analyst Eva Tzima noted a divergence in opinion on the conflict’s next stages in shipping and oil markets. Read the full story here.
  • The risks facing ships plying Ukraine’s grain corridor were thrown into the spotlight this week as a pilot was killed, a bulker was damaged and three of its Filipino crew members were injured during a Russian missile attack at a port in Ukraine’s Odesa region. Read the story here.
  • Offshore support vessel shipbrokers are once again a much sought-after commodity following a wave of consolidation and the re-entry of big players into an improving sector. UK giant SSY entered the oil and gas support ship sector this year with deals to take over smaller shops Westshore in Norway and F3O Offshore Services in Germany. Read the full article here.

INSIGHT

In his weekly Streetwise shipping finance column, Joe Brady examines how consolidation has always been a difficult thing for the highly fragmented, highly ego-driven shipping industry. Even John Fredriksen’s record-setting $2.35bn acquisition of 24 VLCCs from Euronav is proof of that, he argues. Read the full article here.

COMMENT

The Eisbein, a German culinary dish of corned ham hock, usually cured and slightly boiled. Photo: VHBS

TradeWinds’ container shipping correspondent Ian Lewis argues that if it is getting bad for the liner operators, it will be worse for everyone else. The Eisbeinessen — one of European shipping’s biggest get-togethers — will draw a big crowd in Hamburg this week, with much of the talk at the event expected to be about the dramatic downturn in container ship markets. While Germany remains one of the leading centres for chartering container ships, some owners will be looking ahead and asking what there is to celebrate. Read the full article here.

AND FINALLY...

Participants in this year’s Clarksons dry cargo shipping diploma week were set an unusual challenge. Organisers of the event for early-career professionals working for the brokerage and its clients had to present a Dragons’ Den-style business proposal. Five groups pitched a six-ship deployment strategy based on their understanding of the outlook for the physical and forward freight agreement markets. This year’s winner delivered “a persuasive and well-reasoned business strategy, underpinned by a detailed financial analysis”, Clarksons said. Read this in full here