Briese Chartering is taking delivery of a series of modern coasters from Zhejiang Zengzhou Shipyard in Zhoushan. The first ship, the 3,415gt Porthos, was delivered in February 2018 and has since been renamed Monika (above). The innovative Open Top Eco 5000 vessels have been designed by Groot Ship Design BV with a very large box-shaped hold and a Groot CrossBow.

Deutsche Binnenreederei AG (DBR), the largest inland waterway transport operator in Germany, has launched a new regular liner service for transporting project and heavy lift cargo on the River Elbe. The new service, the Elbe Project Cargo Line (EPCL), was established thanks to a new co-operation with port operator Sächsische Binnenhäfen Oberelbe GmbH (SBO). The EPCL will ensure a reliable year-round link between SBO inland ports and seaports. To this end the operators will use shallow draught vessels, which will enable efficient transport of project cargo along the Elbe at a fairway depth of 120cm. Push barges servicing the EPCL station in SBO ports will ensure that the required shipping capacity is immediately available. Deutsche Binnenreederei AG is a leader of inland shipping transport in Central and Western Europe. The company handles containers, bulk, oversize and special cargo and has a fleet of over 300 vessels.

Fednav Limited took ownership of a 60th bulk carrier, the 20,673gt/2018 built Federal Dee, on 12th July. The ship is the latest in a series of 22 34,500dwt box-hold handysize bulk carriers ordered from Oshima Shipyard of Japan since 2013. As the world’s largest operator of ice-class dry-bulk carriers and Canada’s leading ocean-going, dry-bulk ship-owning and chartering group, Fednav operates a modern and high-performing bulker fleet of over 100 ships, the majority of which are owned.

Flex LNG of Norway took delivery of its 115,174gt/2018 built and 174,000m3 newbuilding LNG carrier Flex Rainbow (above) from Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in July. The carrier is fitted with fifth generation ME-GI machinery giving considerable fuel savings compared to traditional LNG carriers, according to its owner. Flex LNG has executed the sale-leaseback transaction of Flex Rainbow, which had been revealed in the first quarter results, with an undisclosed Asian lessor. The new ship is the company’s fourth LNG carrier on the water while four LNG carriers are currently under construction

Maersk Tankers took delivery of its newest Medium Range product tanker, the Maersk Callao, on 27th July. The 183m long, 32.20m beam and 50,000dwt vessel embarked on her first voyage following delivery from Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Ningbo, China. The 32,300gt/2018 built Maersk Callao is the third ship in a series of nine MRs ordered by Maersk Tankers back in 2015 under a contract worth $300 million. Her sister vessels, Maersk Cancun and Maersk Capri, were delivered in January and April 2018.

Ocean Yield took delivery of a newbuilding Suezmax crude tanker with a 10-year charter in mid-July. The 80,779gt/2018 built Nordic Aquarius has been built by Samsung Heavy Industries’ shipyard in South Korea and was put to work by Nordic American Tankers Limited (NAT) upon delivery.

Spliethoff Group of The Netherlands has opted for exhaust gas cleaning technology to make its vessels compliant with the 2020 sulphur cap. The company plans to retrofit over 30 of its ships with scrubbers, including vessels from Spliethoff, BigLift Shipping and Sevenstar Yacht Transport. This latest outfitting project has already started with the general cargo vessel Floragracht, which departed from the BLRT shipyard in Klaipeda, Lithuania on 26th June as the 24th ship in the Group’s fleets to be fitted with such equipment. In 2012, Spliethoff Group subsidiary Transfennica began installing scrubbers in their six Con-Ro vessels and this was followed in 2014-2015 by Spliethoff’s fourteen S-type vessels and three C-type ships of sister-company Wijnne Barends.

Stena Bulk has expanded its fleet in the Sonangol Suezmax pool with the addition of six Suezmax tankers in recent months. The ships in question are the 81,380gt/2006 built SKS Skeena, 83,377gt/2015 built Istanbul, 84,216gt/2012 built Almi Galaxy, 84,156gt/2014 built Almi Voyager and 84,216gt/2012 built Almi Sky. The Sonangol Suezmax pool, which was established in 2005, currently consists of 25 Suezmax tankers with an average age of seven years. Out of these, 6 are time chartered and 3 are under commercial management. The pool is operated in the form of a joint venture owned on a 50-50 basis by Stena Bulk and the Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol.