Bangladesh’s most aggressive buyer of secondhand tonnage Meghna Group has started 2025 in the same vein as last year.

The Dhaka-based owner has picked up another modern Japanese-built and owned ultramax bulk carrier adding to at least four units that had joined its Mercantile Shipping Lines last year.

Brokers report Tokei Kaiun’s 2020 Iwagi-built Nord Magellan going to Meghna in a deal worth about $29.2m.

The 63,500 dwt unit, which has been on a long-term charter to Denmark’s Norden, went for $3.3m less compared to the 2020 Tsuneishi-built ultramax Erin Manx back in November, Genoa-based shipbroking group Banchero Costa noted.

Meghna is listed on VesselsValue with a diversified fleet of nearly 60 vessels. The company is also being linked to another Japanese-built ultramax buy, forking out $27.6m for Bocimar’s 2018-built CMB Rubens.

Two European tanker brokers have joined forces with news Odin-RVB from The Netherlands is taking over Barcelona-based Iberica Tanker Chartering.

“As the shipping landscape continues to evolve, we recognize the changing demands and expectations of our stakeholders. This merger is yet another pivotal step in our long-term strategy to adapt, innovate, and continue as a comprehensive shipping solutions provider, equipped to offer a diverse range of logistics services,” the two companies stated in a release. 

Shipbroking has been through a decade of considerable consolidation including big names joining forces as well as niche, boutique houses bought out. Odin-RVB is itself the result of a merger five years ago between Odin Marine Europe and RVB Shipbrokers.

The chief executive of Germany’s Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), Sebastian von Hardenberg, has been elected as the new president of InterManager.

He takes over from Columbia Shipmanagement president and CEO Mark O’Neil, who has been at the helm of the industry association whose members manage over 7,500 ships since 2021.

Von Hardenberg joined the Schulte Group in 2005 and served as BSM’s chief financial officer from 2015 until January this year, when he took the top job, succeeding Ian Beveridge.

He was previously vice president of InterManager, a position that has now been filled by Raal Harris, chief creative officer at Ocean Technologies Group.

Japanese floater expert Modec and Toyo Engineering Corporation have obtained approval in principle from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for a blue ammonia FPSO.

This FPSO is intended to produce and store blue ammonia using associated gas that has conventionally been reinjected into the reservoir without specific applications. The gas will be supplied by an oil and gas FPSO nearby.

It will also be equipped with a carbon capture and storage facility to capture not only CO2 generated in the process of converting associated gas to ammonia but also CO2 from gas turbine generators. This makes it possible to minimise CO2 emissions from the FPSO during ammonia production.

The hull, which stores and offtakes the produced ammonia, was developed in collaboration with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding.

The concept of producing blue ammonia offshore was created through the use of Modec’s expertise in the overall layout, hull design, and mooring technology used in conventional FPSO projects while Toyo contributed with its expertise in ammonia production process design and FPSO equipment design.

“This AiP is an initial step in the development of a floating solution for alternative energy production and will continue to strive to refine and mature this concept to address the key challenges for commercialisation identified through this development,” Modec said.

Midnight tonight sees liner shipping go through its largest reshuffle in a decade as companies jump ship from existing alliances on the main east-west trades.

THE Alliance will become the Premier Alliance, with Ocean Network Express (ONE), HMM and Yang Ming Marine Transportation as partners, and Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) helping plug gaps on Asia-Europe tradelanes. 

MSC is ditching Maersk in the 2M vessel sharing agreement to largely go it alone, and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd subsequently exiting THE Alliance to join the Danish carrier in what will be called the Gemini Cooperation.

The only grouping remaining intact come February 1, the Ocean Alliance, made up of COSCO, OOCL, CMA CGM and Evergreen, will also be the one with the largest market share and widest market coverage this year, according to analysis from Linerlytica, an Asia-based container shipping consultancy. 

Data from rival Alphaliner shows the Ocean Alliance will deploy a total of around 390 container vessels with an estimated nominal capacity of nearly 5m teu.

Linerlytica data shows the Ocean Alliance will have what it describes as a “dominant” position on the transpacific with 15 sailings to the west coast and eight sailings to the east coast. It will also have the widest coverage to North Europe with a seventh service to be added, matching MSC’s coverage. MSC will remain the dominant carrier to the Mediterranean, according to Linerlytica, with the Swiss line offering six weekly services. 

The Linerlytica data shows the Gemini Cooperation made up of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will become the smallest alliance with the fewest number of weekly sailings on offer in 2025.

Attention is now turning to how smoothly this alliance shuffle will go. 

“We think the upcoming alliance reshuffle which could disrupt schedules and the official announcement of tariffs … could arrest the sharp rates decline and keep rates at a relatively high level in 1H25, boding well for transpacific contract negotiations,” states a recent liner markets report published earlier this month from HSBC.

Analysts at Copenhagen-based Sea-Intelligence have argued that since it has now been more than four months since the announcement of the new alliance networks from the carriers they should have had ample time to prepare a smooth transition into their new networks. 

“Sure, there will be some operational hiccups – that is unavoidable when hundreds of vessels change schedules – but this is happening during the slack season after Chinese New Year, and should hopefully be manageable,” Sea-Intelligence noted in a recent weekly report. 

The relationship between shipowners and technology providers must be fixed to save shipping’s decarbonisation ambitions, writes Benny Hilström, vice president of business development at WinGD.

Shipowners and operators need technology providers that keep their promises in order to avoid frustration, disruption and delay. That applies in day-to-day operations and is even more critical when promises are made around new technologies that require significant investments.

As someone who has worked on both sides of the technology provider/shipowner relationship, I see worrying signs that this essential trust is being eroded – and putting commercial and environmental sustainability at risk. Our industry needs to move forward with bold decisions and commitments to our decarbonisation ambitions, but this can only happen from a foundation of trust. 

As a shipowner, you spend up-front based on assurances of future performance. So when technology underperforms, is unreliable, or fails to meet initial claims, trust erodes. The problem is compounded when suppliers shift blame, revise earlier performance guarantees or deliver slow, costly resolutions. This undermines confidence not just in the technology but in the providers themselves.

This erosion of trust becomes even more significant when it comes to decarbonisation investments. With soaring stakes and mounting carbon costs, shipowners are hesitant to commit, often due to overpromised claims or technologies abandoned when challenges arise. This cycle of disappointment only slows decision-making, making it harder to take the bold steps needed.

No doubt, supplying innovative technologies is tough. Suppliers invest upfront in the solutions they think customers will need only to find the wind has changed – this fuel is out of fashion, that regulation throws a curveball, someone else has gotten there first. The pressure to go to market first and to sell in volume is enormous to recoup research and development spending, including all those dead ends.

The trust of customers cannot be sacrificed to market pressures. Unlike consumer goods, maritime technology failures come with significant long-term costs. For the supplier, this means taking responsibility, delivering fast and cost-effective solutions, and fostering genuine collaboration.

Meaningful partnership, mutual transparency and aligned interests are the key to a supplier-customer relationship in shipping. Those ideas are often touted but seldom deployed. Across my experience spanning both ship technology and shipowning, the partnerships maintained on this basis have been successful. Having the owner fully engaged from the very start – whether you are designing a new engine or trialling a new service concept – happens to be the best way to deliver a solution the shipowner needs in a way the technology company can manage.

The technical challenges facing shipping are extreme as we grapple with climate ambitions, the optimisation potential of digitalisation and a trade outlook that is increasingly volatile. Even the biggest companies – including the ones I have worked for – cannot do it alone. Trusted partnerships are the only solution both to those challenges and to more successful day-to-day ship operations.

By prioritising trust and accountability, the industry can overcome technical challenges, optimise operations and realise its decarbonisation ambitions. Without it, the path to a sustainable maritime future remains in jeopardy.

Having been one of the fastest growing classification societies during the first two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) became the big loser among members of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) over the past 12 months. 

Data from Clarksons Research shows that among IACS members, IRS was the only class society to register a fleet decline over the past year, its classed fleet dropping in size by a sizeable 13.5% with nearly 4m gt leaving. 

The class societies celebrating the largest growth in gt terms over the past year were Houston-headquartered ABS, Italy’s RINA and Beijing-based CCS.  

A Greek shipping company has pleaded guilty and was sentenced for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and falsification of records.

Eurobulk, run by the Pittas family, admitted to violating APPS in April 2023 during a port call by the Good Heart in the port of Corpus Christi as well as falsification of records during that same port call.

US district judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has now ordered the company to pay a criminal fine of $1.125m. The company must also serve a four-year-term of probation during which it will be subject to an environmental compliance plan with a monitorship to ensure future compliance.

“It is crucial that we strive to eliminate threats to our waters through holding overseas corporations accountable,” said US attorney Nicholas Ganjei. “Our office will continue to seek justice when foreign vessels fail to comply with the APPS and then seek to cover it up. The environmental harm inflicted and falsification of records merit the sentence imposed today.”

The Good Heart’s former chief engineer, Greek national Christos Charitos, 72, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced for an APPS charge for failing to record discharges in the vessel’s Oil Record Book (ORB). Christos was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.

On at least two occasions in April 2023, Charitos ordered lower ranking engine personnel to discharge the contents of the duct keel  – a pipe tunnel that begins in the engine room and runs forward under the cargo holds – directly into the sea without using the Oily Water Separator (OWS). The discharges contained oil.

Also in April 2023, Charitos ordered the second engineer to make a fresh water connection to the OWS. By making such a connection, the oil content meter on the OWS was tricked so that the OCM could not verify the actual oil content of the discharge from the OWS. All of these discharges should have been recorded in the ORB. However, no entries were made.

Wolfgang Lehmacher and Mikael Lind write for Splash today sharing some of their input to the recently released World Economic Forum AI TradeTech report.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to change international trade. AI will improve efficiency, costs, and decision-making. McKinsey reports that AI implementation can reduce forecast errors by 50% and logistics costs by 15%, while companies leveraging AI have seen inventory levels decrease by 35% and service levels improve by 65%. This article highlights seven areas where AI may transform trade, the benefits ahead, and the barriers to overcome.

1. Intelligence and negotiations
   AI systems can identify market trends, predict demand, and better automate negotiations in e-commerce and B2B sales. This technology could also level the playing field for smaller businesses. However, concerns over data privacy and ethical implications may slow adoption, particularly in developed nations.
2. Optimising trade through automation
   AI can help supply chain management by making real-time adjustments based on demand changes, improving customer satisfaction, lowering costs, and freeing working capital. Challenges include ensuring reliable predictions in uncertain conditions and managing data synchronisation across multiple trade nodes.
3. Enhancing risk management and resilience
   AI tools can monitor risk factors, from supplier operations to natural disasters, allowing businesses to adjust operations swiftly. AI assists in supply chain mapping, simulation, and developing contingency plans. The effectiveness of these systems depends on data quality and overcoming resistance to data sharing among business partners.
4. Facilitating trade through language and cultural barriers
   Advanced machine translation systems powered by neural networks are breaking down language barriers in international trade. AI also assists in localising digital presence for different markets. Challenges include changing international trade regulations and AI’s limitations in processing context-specific language nuances.
5. New possibilities in trade finance
   AI can assist in credit assessment, risk evaluation, and fraud detection in trade finance. Integration with smart contracts and distributed ledger technology could revolutionise supply chain finance, potentially reducing processing times for instruments like letters of credit from weeks to hours. Technical and regulatory challenges, as well as ethical concerns, remain.
6. Streamlining compliance and customs
   AI can automate customs processes, detect anomalies, prevent fraud, and help companies manage complex trade risks. Challenges include lack of interoperability between computer systems and concerns about the accuracy of AI-driven customs decisions.
7. Ensuring ethical sourcing and sustainability
   AI systems can track materials throughout value chains, assess suppliers, and help companies avoid unethical partnerships. AI can also assist in improving Scope 3 emissions calculations and recommend more sustainable alternatives. Effectiveness depends on data sharing and collaboration across global value chains.

The impact of AI varies across developed and developing markets, public and private sectors, and businesses of different sizes. As we navigate this AI revolution, a human-centric approach that fosters collaboration between human experts and AI systems will be crucial. Trust is essential in trade, and users are more likely to embrace AI-powered solutions when complemented by human oversight and expertise.

Challenges such as data privacy, cybersecurity, regulatory complexity, and ethical concerns must and will be addressed to fully realise AI’s potential in trade. Businesses, governments, and other stakeholders in the global trade ecosystem are well advised to prepare for the AI revolution, as those who embrace this technology early and thoughtfully stand to gain a significant competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving, currently volatile, and uncertain world of international commerce and trade.