Nov 18 0610 UTC UPDATE: The ship remains in the same position, attempt to refloat ISLA TAUTIL earlier failed. Chilean SAR ship FUENTEALBA arrived at the scene. No leaks reported.

Nov 17: General cargo ship ISLA TAUTIL loaded with fish meal for fish farms ran aground in the morning Nov 16 (LT) in pos 50 53S ; 74 13W, southern Chile fjords. As of 1415 UTC Nov 17, the ship is understood to be still aground, with Chilean patrol ship nearby monitoring situation. No salvage news yet.

New FleetMon Vessel Safety Risk Reports Available: https://www.fleetmon.com/services/vessel-risk-rating/

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https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2021/36161/general-cargo-ship-aground-southern-chile-fjords/

PUBLISHED NOV 17, 2021 7:03 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

The Blue X wave energy machine, which is designed to operate in harsh sea conditions and has the potential to be used in supporting offshore facilities wrapped up its first round of ocean testing. The 38-ton wave machine successfully completed its first season of testing in the waters north of Scotland and will now be serviced and prepared for new test in the summer of 2022.

“This has been an immensely valuable period where we have been able to understand how our machine operates in real sea conditions and gain practical experience in operations including towing, installation, removal, and access at sea,” said Cameron McNatt, Managing Director of Mocean Energy developers of Blue X. “This has given us tremendous confidence in our design – both in its ability to capture wave energy effectively, and also the way in which it dives below the biggest waves, enabling it to shed the heaviest loads.”

The 10kW prototype began its test phase in mid-June and since then has completed 154 days at sea, delivering steady outputs of up to 5 kW with peaks of 30 kW. It operated in sea states up to 2.3 meters maximum wave height.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/wave-energy-tests-completed-for-2021-in-scotland

General cargo ship FORTUNATE suffered mechanical failure soon after leaving Tuzla late Nov 17, destined for Poti Georgia, Black sea, in ballast. The ship was sailing in Marmara sea approaching Bosphorus, Istanbul Ship Traffic Services Center sent tug to assisted disabled vessel, FORTUNATE was towed back to Tuzla and anchored. As of 1630 UTC Nov 18, the ship remained in the same position.

New FleetMon Vessel Safety Risk Reports Available: https://www.fleetmon.com/services/vessel-risk-rating/

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https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2021/36169/cargo-ship-disabled-marmara-sea-towed-tuzla/

PUBLISHED NOV 17, 2021 8:07 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

South Africa received its first shipment of liquified natural gas this week, making what is being promoted as a turning point in the efforts to bring the LNG industry to Africa. While the first shipment was just one tank delivered on a containership, DNG Energy Group believes it will be the beginning of the company’s operations, which it expects to have fully operational in the first quarter of 2022.

DNG Energy received the consignment of LNG from Rotterdam arriving at the Port of Ngqura on the southern Africa coast on November 16. The tank was transported aboard the MSC containership MSC Brittany and offloaded at the port where the company is preparing to launch its LNG operations. Ngqura is a new African container port launched in 2009 near Port Elizabeth, approximately halfway between Cape Town and Durban.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/first-lng-delivery-to-south-africa-as-prepares-to-launch-first-lng-fso

PUBLISHED NOV 17, 2021 8:40 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Russia has begun sea trials on what it reports is the larger and most powerful icebreaker in the world. The nuclear-powered Siberia departed on November 16 sailing into the Gulf of Finland to begin three weeks of testing before commissioning.

The Siberia is part of the Russian Project 22220 being built by the Baltiysky Zavod (Baltic Shipyard). The vessel is reported to be 33,530 dwt with a length of 569 feet and a maximum beam of 112 feet. It is manned by a crew of up to 75 people. The icebreaker is powered by a pair of RITM-200 nuclear reactors generating 175 MW. Russian reports indicate that a new generation system was developed especially for these ships. The ship reported can travel at speeds up to 22 knots and is designed to handle ice up to nine feet thick at speeds of 1.5 to 2 knots.

For the next three weeks, the commissioning team will check the operation of the mechanisms and equipment of the icebreaker. Experts are planning to carry out a series of tests, including the operation of a steam turbine unit, electric propulsion systems of a ship, operation of shaft lines, and deck mechanisms (anchor and steering gear).

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/russia-begins-sea-trials-for-largest-most-powerful-nuclear-icebreaker

PUBLISHED NOV 17, 2021 6:24 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

The Federal Maritime Commission is launching a series of new initiatives focusing on the movement of containers as part of the efforts to improve trade flow and reduce the problems facing shippers across the United States. The efforts come as the Port of Los Angeles said that it is literally chocking now with empties, blaming the stacks of containers waiting to leave the port as the latest hurdle to reducing the backlogs at its terminals.

As would be expected, much of the FMC’s November monthly meeting focused on the supply chain issues and their impact on trade. During the hour-long open session for the monthly meeting, the FMC was briefed on U.S. macroeconomic indicators and their associated impact on shipping, the state of the U.S.-International ocean trades, vessel capacity, and pricing. The meeting continued with the closed session reviewing ocean carrier revenue and pricing, capacity, canceled sailings, and port calls.

Among the new initiatives being launched by the FMC, Commissioner Rebecca F. Dye will be heading up six supply chain innovation teams to identify and implement improvements to the process and timing of return and delivery of containers to marine terminals.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/fmc-focusing-on-container-movements-as-ports-struggle-with-empties

PUBLISHED NOV 18, 2021 2:39 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

The severe weather that struck Vancouver, British Columbia last weekend took out all rail service to the busy Port of Vancouver, shutting a key supply chain node for containerized cargo for the Canadian market. It also tore loose a barge in English Bay, briefly prompting concerns of a bridge strike.

The barge eventually ran aground at Sunset Beach, just a short distance from the Burrard Street Bridge in Vancouver’s stylish West End district. It has remained firmly lodged there since, high and dry on a rocky shore.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/barge-goes-aground-on-downtown-vancouver-waterfront

Evergreen is increasing its fleet and outfitting capacity with an order for two 24,000 teu vessels from Chinese shipyard Jiangnan and 55,500 containers from three manufacturers.

The new vessels will cost between $140 million and $160 million each and are scheduled for delivery in 2024-2025.

The new containers will cost Evergreen $338.5 million: $27,500 from Dong Fang International Container (Hong Kong), $15,000 from Guangdong Fuwa Equipment and $13,000 from CXIC Group. These are 20-foot and 40-foot units and will be delivered in mid-2022.

Among the liner operators, Evergreen now has the most newbuilding orders, with 78 vessels under construction. Alphaliner estimates Evergreen’s order book-to-fleet ratio to be around 45%.

In September, Evergreen ordered 24 vessels from another Chinese shipyard, CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, 20 15,000 teu vessels from Samsung Heavy Industries in March and two 24,000 teu vessels from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in June, as well as four 24,000 teu vessels from Jiangnan Shipyard due for completion next year.

Evergreen president Eric Hsieh recently stated, “We have never seen such high freight rates and the current situation is quite positive for the future business prospects of liner operators.”

In his view, the galloping increase in freight rates is mainly due to supply and demand dynamics, adding that in the first eight months of 2021, cargo volumes on the Asia-US West Coast and East Coast routes have increased by 30% and 25%, year-on-year, respectively, driven by rising electronics exports.

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Evergreen invests profits in more ships and containers

The Port of Long Beach reported its second-busiest October on record last month as it works to clear a backlog of containers that has limited capacity at terminals and hampered the flow of imports, the port said Thursday.

Volumes were strong enough to mark the port’s second-busiest October on record behind October 2020. Stevedores and terminal operators moved 789,716 TEUs last month, down 2.1% from last year.

Imports in October were down 4.3% to 385,000 TEUs, while exports were up 6.6% to 122,214 TEUs. Empty containers moving through the port, which have been a major contributor to the backlogs and highlight the significant trade imbalance, were down 2.4% to 282,502 TEUs.

“All sectors of the supply chain have reached capacity and it’s time for all of us to step up and get these goods delivered,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “In Long Beach, we are trying to add capacity by finding vacant land to store containers, extending terminal operating hours and implementing a fee that will incentivize ocean carriers to get their containers out of the Port as soon as possible.”

The fee Cordero refers to is the expanded “dwell rate” that the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are implementing to incentivize the flow of cargo containers moving through the two San Pedro Bay ports. The new policy imposes a daily fee on ocean carriers for the dwell time of import containers at the marine terminals, which starts at $100 per day and increases in increments of $100 for each day beyond the allowed dwell time (9 days or more for truckloads and six or more for rail). Ocean carriers have until November 15 to clear imported containers, which have already been unloaded from their vessels, before the fees are applied.

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Southern California Ports Defer New Container Dockage Fees

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced Monday that they will postpone until Nov. 22 their controversial container demurrage fees aimed at ocean carriers, a sigh of relief for helpless shippers who were facing stiff penalties for containers stuck at marine terminals.

In making their announcement, the ports cited a 26% reduction in the number of containers remaining beyond the limit, at least compared to Oct. 25, when they first announced the sanctions.

As we have reported, under the temporary policy approved by the Port Commissions of both ports, ocean carriers will be charged the container dwell fee for all import containers that remain at the marine terminals for 9 or more days for containers scheduled to move by truck, and 6 or more days for those scheduled to move by rail. Containers falling into these categories would be charged $100 per container, increasing in increments of $100 per container per day until the container left the terminal.

While some progress appears to have been made in removing detained containers in the weeks since the announcement of the new policy, figures updated Monday still showed more than 29,000 containers remaining beyond the limit at the Port of Los Angeles, including 20,800 that remained for 13 days or more. At the Port of Long Beach, the figure rises to 19,600 containers staying beyond the allowed time.

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Southern California Ports Defer New Container Dockage Fees