Asia News

ZEBOX, the international innovation accelerator founded by CMA CGM Group Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé, has announced four winners of its first Asia-Pacific Challenge for Impact competition, held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.The competition, organized in partnership with CMA CGM Vietnam and technology company FPT, focused on developing solutions for maritime operations, logistics and artificial intelligence applications.Held on October 15 at the Caravelle Saigon Hotel as part of France Vietnam Forward…

DNV has become the first non-Japanese recognized organization authorized by Japan's Flag Administration to apply floating offshore wind classification rules in the country.The authorization allows DNV to apply its floating offshore wind rules within Japan's regulatory framework, supporting the classification and technical assessment of floating wind installations.The rules cover floating substructures, mooring and station-keeping systems, as well as associated safety and utility systems.DNV said the approval strengthens its ability to provide technical expertise…

Saitec Offshore Technologies and Japan's Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) have agreed to extend operations at the 2 MW DemoSATH floating offshore wind demonstrator in Spain through 2027, with Japanese construction company Kumagai Gumi joining the project as a new partner.The three companies have signed a cooperation agreement to continue operating the floating wind turbine at the BiMEP open-sea test site off the Basque coast, shifting the project's focus towards research…

Oil markets initially treated the Iran war as a brief bullish disruption in a long-term bearish trend. But traders are now betting that oil prices will remain elevated through 2028, forcing a rethink of the global inflation outlook.Eight months into the war, the buffers that helped absorb the initial energy shock – most notably onshore crude oil stockpiles – are wearing dangerously thin. At the same time, the recovery in crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz remains fragile…

PetroChina International on Thursday will use liquefied natural gas to bunker a vessel in Singapore for the first time, Chairman Wu Junli said, widening the alternative-fuel options it can offer shipowners at the world's top refuelling port.The trading arm of Chinese state major PetroChina 601857.SS was one of eight firms that received LNG bunkering licences from the Singapore government, and it also has a licence to supply methanol to ships.PetroChina will also complete the acquisition of a methanol bunker vessel on Friday, Wu told the Singapore International Bunkering conference.Citing Clark

Asia LNG Transport (ALT), a joint venture between NYK and MISC Berhad, has signed a long-term time-charter contract with Malaysia LNG for a newbuild liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier that will transport LNG to Japan.The vessel will be constructed by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China, with delivery scheduled for 2028.Following delivery, the carrier will be deployed in LNG transportation services to Japan under the charter agreement.The vessel will have a cargo tank capacity of 18…

Eleven sailors were missing at sea on Tuesday from a ship sunk by a drone attack off the coast of Bulgaria, possibly the second deadly sinking of a cargo vessel in the area in a week, prompting Bulgaria to summon Russia's ambassador.Two cargo ships were hit by drones overnight and one was sunk, Bulgarian officials said. Bulgaria stopped short of explicitly accusing Russia of carrying out the attacks but Prime Minister Rumen Radev said their outcome "benefits the Russian Federation".There…

Several top energy executives were dropped from the schedule of the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh, as Saudi authorities pressed ahead with the event despite deadly attacks on the capital claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.The chief executives of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell, Chevron and BP had all been expected at the event, which began on Sunday, but were no longer on the agenda that conference organizers released early Monday.“To everyone who travelled to Riyadh, thank you…

Iran is still reviewing a US response to its proposal regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and will reply to Washington via intermediaries when the review is over, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.Baghaei also told a press conference that Iran continues to exchange messages via intermediaries, without elaborating. Qatar and Pakistan, among others, have acted as mediators in efforts to end the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.After a June interim ceasefire crumbled and on-off strikes resumed…

Abu Dhabi-based NMDC Group has inaugurated its new Abu Al Bakhoush heavy-duty cutter suction dredger in Nantong, China, expanding its fleet of more than 170 vessels and strengthening its capacity for offshore and marine infrastructure projects.Built by Jiangsu Haixin Shipping Heavy Industry, the self-propelled vessel measures 148 meters in length and has a maximum dredging depth of 38 meters.The dredger is equipped with a 7.8 MW cutter and total installed power of 30,040 kW, enabling it to undertake heavy-duty rock cutting and dredging operations for offshore trenches…

Japanese shipping company NYK has conducted a maritime emergency response drill simulating the grounding of a large bulk carrier and a subsequent fuel oil spill in Japan's Seto Inland Sea.The full-day exercise, held on September 30, involved a simulated accident aboard an NYK-owned and operated bulk carrier managed by NYK Bulkship Partners (NBSP), an NYK Group company.The scenario involved a vessel approximately 300 meters long and measuring about 100,000 gross tons suffering…

The US imposed fresh sanctions on Iran on Thursday, targeting individuals, networks and 17 vessels for transporting Iranian crude, oil products and petrochemicals, the Treasury Department said, as Washington stepped up economic pressure on Tehran.The sanctions are part of the department's "Operation Economic Outcast," which aims to cut Iran's funding for the war with the US, missile construction, cyberattacks and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC."Today's action represents…

Asian countries are racing to raise their oil stockpiling capacity, complete a regional power grid and speed up renewables in response to supply risks laid bare by the Iran war.Southeast Asia has been worst hit by the energy impact as 80% of the oil transported through the Strait of Hormuz from the Gulf flowed to the region before the Iran war began."The most advanced efforts are support for the development of oil stockpiling systems in each country and regional joint stockpiling on (a) voluntary basis…

Lamprell has signed an agreement with International Maritime Industries (IMI) to fabricate several offshore structures, including a production platform and jackets, at IMI's Ras Al-Khair facility in Saudi Arabia.The fabrication work forms part of an offshore engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) project being delivered by Lamprell.The agreement marks the first offshore production platform and jacket fabrication scope undertaken at IMI's Ras Al-Khair yard…

Twelve crew members were injured after an unknown projectile struck Panama-flagged oil tanker On Peace while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz, India's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.A tanker was attacked on Monday causing a fire in its engine room, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported without naming the vessel."With the assistance of Omani authorities, the injured crew have since been evacuated and are receiving medical treatment in Khasab, Oman," the foreign ministry said in a statement.Eleven of the 12 injured crew members are Indian nationals, it said, a

Bulgaria has halted its search for the missing crew of a ship that sank after being hit by a drone about 70 nautical miles (130 km) off its coast, Vice-Admiral Rumen Nikolov of the Maritime Administration Executive Agency said on Wednesday.Early on Tuesday, two ships were hit in a drone attack in Bulgaria's Black Sea exclusive economic zone. One sank and the other was damaged. The crew of the damaged ship were rescued, but the crew of the sunken one remain missing.Nikolov said 12 crew members were believed to have been on board the ship which sank, all of them from Syria.

Oil prices climbed on Wednesday as the market weighed supply constraints from a storm heading for US oil-producing regions and attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia against increased supplies of Middle East crude.Brent futures LCOc1 rose 81 cents, or 0.8%, to $101.39 a barrel by 0635 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 gained 61 cents, or 0.7%, to $90.05 a barrel.US forecasters said on Tuesday a storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico would become…

MISC has named Th’ailib, the first of three new 174,000-cubic-metre liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers secured under long-term charter agreements with QatarEnergy, at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in South Korea.Th’ailib will enter a firm 15-year charter with QatarEnergy starting in 2026, with two additional vessels scheduled for delivery as part of MISC's participation in the energy company's LNG fleet expansion programme.The three vessels form part of the second phase of the program.

Sanmar Shipyards will build six new tugs for FAIRPLAY Towage Group under a fleet expansion program covering vessels for harbor, escort and offshore operations, with deliveries scheduled throughout 2027 and 2028.The order comprises three Robert Allan-designed vessel classes with bollard pulls ranging from 80 to 120 tonnes. All six will feature IMO Tier III-compliant main engines, Ice Class notation and FiFi 1 firefighting capability.The largest vessel will be a RAmpage 4200 offshore tug with 120 tonnes of bollard pull…

Two people have died and 11 crew members have been rescued after the Royad Mammadov cargo ship sank in the Black Sea, Romanian authorities reported, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the vessel had been struck by Russian drones.The incident occurred on October 5 in Romania's exclusive economic zone, about 30 nautical miles south of Sfântu Gheorghe and outside the country's territorial waters, according to Romania's Ministry of Internal Affairs.Zelenskyy said the vessel was carrying corn in neutral waters when it was sunk by Russian drones.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) and classification society ClassNK have launched a joint research project to measure the effectiveness of roll damping tanks (RDTs) on large container ships under actual operating and sea conditions.ONE will provide onboard measurement data from vessels in its fleet, while ClassNK will combine the data with numerical simulations to quantify the tanks' roll reduction performance.Roll damping tanks reduce a vessel's rolling motion through the controlled movement of liquid within a tank.

Norwegian shipbuilder Vard, part of Fincantieri, has opened a new design and engineering office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and plans to grow its workforce there to more than 40 engineers in the coming years.The new Vard Design and Engineering Vietnam center brings together engineers working across structural design, piping and machinery, HVAC, naval architecture, hydrostatics, stability and marine electrical disciplines.The office expands Vard's ship design and engineering capacity in Vietnam and will work as part of the company's international design network…

Seatrium has been awarded the conversion of Karpowership's LNGT Akdeniz into a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), marking the ninth FSRU conversion project between the companies.Work on LNGT Akdeniz is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2027, with Seatrium responsible for engineering, conversion, integration, installation and commissioning of the vessel's regasification equipment and associated systems.The converted vessel will have regasification capacity of up to 600 million standard cubic feet per day and will join the LNG fleet of Kinetics…