1. BOURBON RHODE search resumed, at a lesser scale
BOURBON RHODE Oct 9 UPDATE: SAR has been resumed, though at a much less scale. SAR was resumed after a surge of protests in Croatia and Ukraine, sparked by frustrated relatives and friends of missing crew, and after Croatian and Ukrainian Governments made official calls to French Government, asking it to re-think SAR suspension, and resumed it as soon as possible. Relatives already established a Fund with the main purpose of financing private jet or jets, to launch air surveillance in the area. Their hopes were strengthened by 3 rescued sailors testimonies, insistent on seeing 7 missing crew board life raft, and by Oct 7 report from offshore tug ALP STRIKER (IMO 9737230), saying that ship’s crew spotted some signals resembling distress flares. As of 0400 UTC Oct 9, 4 ships were engaged in SAR, including ALP STRIKER, plus air surveillance provided by the US Hercules C-130 plane. http://maritimebulletin.net/2019/10/09/bourbon-rhode-search-resumed-at-a-lesser-scale/?fbclid=IwAR1d6tazn0fXjCjasIlijtmo2uSMYqUMhk594xQ0tLdD3qTb3MIS78412CI
2. Dry Bulkers Still In Demand
Ship owners are still craving for dry bulk carriers, as evidenced by the latest weekly reports. Shiproker Banchero Costa said this week that “in the dry market 2 x Kamsarmax under construction at COSCO Zhoushan were sold en bloc at $29mln each basis prompt delivery. A Chinese built Panamax, the Genco Thunder, 76,000 dwt built Jinagnan in 2007 was sold at $10.4mln to Greek buyers. https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/dry-bulkers-still-in-demand/
3. China Oil Imports From Ship-to-Ship Transfers Surge in September
Chinese oil imports from ship-to-ship transfers surged last month as flows from some traditional suppliers were crimped by the White House’s aggressive trade and foreign policies. Some 910,000 tons of crude, three times as much as in August, was offloaded at Chinese ports after being transferred in the South China Sea, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s unclear where this oil came from, but moving crude from one vessel to another at sea is a common way of disguising the origin of cargoes. https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/china-oil-imports-from-ship-to-ship-transfers-surge-in-september/
4. Novatek in talks on LNG transhipment after U.S. sanctions China COSCO tankers
Russia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Novatek is in talks to tranship its Yamal cargoes in Norway or Russia’s Murmansk because it is unsure of the impact of U.S. sanctions on the Chinese COSCO tankers it uses, a Novatek official said. The United States imposed sanctions on Sept. 25 on state-owned COSCO’s subsidiaries, COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co and COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman & Ship Management, for allegedly ferrying Iranian crude. https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/novatek-in-talks-on-lng-transhipment-after-u-s-sanctions-china-cosco-tankers/
5. Oil Tanker Earnings Top $100,000-a-Day Mark
Oil-tanker earnings surged above the $100,000-a-day marker on the benchmark route as a looming ship-fuel revolution combined with U.S. sanctions to supercharge rates. The rates for ships hauling 2-million-barrel cargoes of Middle East oil to China climbed more than 15% to $113,047-a-day, according to data from the Baltic Exchange in London. That’s the highest in data going back to February 2017. https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/oil-tanker-earnings-top-100000-a-day-mark/
6. MABUX: Bunker Market this morning Oct. 09
Meantime, world oil indexes also demonstrated downward changes on Oct.8. as tensions rose between China and the United States ahead of high-level trade talks. Brent for December settlement decreased by $0.12 to $58.24 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery fell by $0.12 to $52.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Brent benchmark traded at the premium of $5.61 to WTI. Gasoil for October delivery decreased by $10.00. https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/mabux-bunker-market-this-morning-oct-09/
7. Cargill, Maersk Tankers and Mitsui join forces to identify cost-effective ways for shipping to slash carbon footprint
Cargill, Maersk Tankers and Mitsui & Co have established a strategic collaboration to try and identify cost-effective ways for shipping to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) it emits. Initially, the partnership will focus on testing and trials of existing proven technologies on ships under their command, with work already underway with several owners to invest in and install energy saving devices onboard vessels under their charter. https://splash247.com/cargill-maersk-tankers-and-mitsui-join-forces-to-identify-cost-effective-ways-for-shipping-to-slash-carbon-footprint/
8. Cyprus Shipping Chamber and Cyprus Union of Shipowners to merge
The Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC) and the Cyprus Union of Shipowners have approved a merger agreement to unify the two associations in order to promote closer cooperation between the two entities. “The aim of this effort is, through the merging of the CSC and CUS, to create a new unified association representing Cyprus shipowners, shipmanagers and the wider Shipping Industry at large, in Cyprus and internationally, on all policy, operational and labour shipping matters, administered by one secretariat,” the CSC said in a statement. https://splash247.com/cyprus-shipping-chamber-and-cyprus-union-of-shipowners-to-merge/
9. Shelf Drilling secures jackup contract extension
Dubai-based Shelf Drilling has secured a three-year contract extension for its jackup rig High Island VII in direct continuation of its current contract for drilling operations in the Arabian Gulf. The new contract also includes a two-year option. Earlier this week, Shelf Drilling was also awarded contract extentions for another four jackup rigs High Island II, High Island IV, Main Pass I and Main Pass IV from Saudi Aramco. Shelf Drilling currently operates a fleet of 37 jackup drilling rigs. https://splash247.com/shelf-drilling-secures-jackup-contract-extension/
10. Greek Shipowner Torched Tanker in $77 Million Fraud, Judge Says
A Greek shipowner orchestrated a plan for men posing as pirates to attack and set fire to his tanker, in an elaborate fraud to seek $77 million in insurance money, a London judge found. In 2011, Marios Iliopoulos lured the ship’s master and chief engineer, as well as seven Yemeni coast guards, into a conspiracy off the coast of Yemen still being investigated by the City of London Police, Judge Nigel Teare ruled Monday. Drawing a line under years of legal battles, the judgment dismissed a claim by Suez Fortune Investments, a company linked to Iliopoulos, and its Greek bank to force a syndicate of insurers to pay out. https://www.shippingtribune.com/news/shipping/Greek+Shipowner+Torched+Tanker+in+%2477+Million+Fraud%2C+Judge+Says
