By Bloomberg News Mar 26, 2025 (Bloomberg) –President Xi Jinping is making China’s presence more felt across the Indo-Pacific region by testing US allies on sensitive issues, as Donald Trump’s attention…
https://gcaptain.com/xi-tests-us-allies-in-indo-pacific-as-trump-focuses-elsewhere/
By Pacific Forum Line / Quay Shipping
Pacific Forum Line (PFL), has announced a service upgrade to help restore supply chains and address congestion and operational challenges at Australian, New Zealand and Fiji ports.
Launching in late April 2023, PFL’s new Australia New Zealand Pacific (ANZPAC) service will provide fixed-day fortnightly sailings with 3 x 1700 TEU vessels operating from the East Coast of...
R/V Petrel on its side in a Scotland dry dock on March 22, 2023. Photo Via Twitter
A Navy research vessel tipped over while in dry dock in Edinburgh Wednesday, according to local reports.
R/V Petrel appeared to tip about 45 degrees while in dry dock in the Imperial Dock in Leith, Edinburgh, according to the newspaper The Independent. The paper reported 21 people were taken to the hospital with injuries with another 12 treated at the dock and released.
Petrel dislodged from the dry dock a Scotland...
It’s been a busy few weeks for the Swire shipping conglomerate!
Break bulk
First up, Swire Projects, a projects and heavy lift shipping services division of Swire Shipping, completed its first voyage to Western Australia carrying 88 Ore Cars (wagons) for resources company BHP.
Swire Projects used its 19,000-deadweight heavy lift multipurpose vessel, Johnnie Bryan, with lifting capacity of up to 480 mts, to carry the cargo...
Ingeteam announces that they would like to present the new project to refurbish the Balboa Shipyard at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, in Panama City, where Indar pumps will help to reduce and control leaks in the dikes to prevent possible flooding. The shipyard was built more than 100 years ago to provide repair and maintenance services to vessels transiting the Panama Canal. It has recently been purchased and refurbished to bring it back into operation,...
https://mfame.guru/ingeteam-announces-indar-pumps-installed-in-balboa-shipyard/
IMO set to expand regional presence with new office in Pacific
IMO’s Technical Cooperation Committee at its 71st session (TC 71) (20-24 September) has approved the establishment of an IMO Regional Presence Office (RPO) for the Pacific Islands region. If approved at the thirty-fourth extraordinary session of the Council (08 – 12 November 2021), this will see the Pacific Region become the sixth to feature an IMO RPO.
The existing RPOs are: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire for west and central Africa...
USS Bullhead in World War II. US Navy Photo
A memorial to the 84 officers and crew of the last U.S. Navy ship lost in World War II, USS Bullhead (SS-332), was recently unveiled in Fremantle, Western Australia, a vital homeport to American, British and Dutch submarines in the Pacific theater.
The memorial, located outside the Western Australian Maritime Museum, was dedicated Aug. 6., the 76th anniversary of the submarine’s sinking by Japanese aircraft in the Java Sea, off the coast of Bali near...
By NYK Line
NYK (a Shipping Australia member) has concluded a long-term consecutive voyage charter (CVC) contract with JFE Steel Corporation for a new large bulk carrier that uses LNG (liquefied natural gas) as its main fuel.
This vessel will be the first LNG-fueled capesize bulk carrier to be built by NYK. The ship will be delivered in early 2024 and will be used in the Pacific trade of...
https://www.shippingaustralia.com.au/nyk-to-build-companys-first-lng-fuelled-capesize-bulk-carrier/
Another Maersk ship loses hundreds of boxes overboard in the Pacific reports Splash 247.
Casualty on the PacificThe Maersk Eindhoven 13,100 teu, became the latest boxship casualty in the Pacific. She suffered a blackout while en route to California and a subsequent loss of hundreds of containers overboard.
The accident happened near Japan as the 11-year-old ship made its way from Xiamen in China to Los Angeles.
According to reports, the crew is safe and propulsion restored. The vessel tracking...
https://mfame.guru/blackout-on-mega-boxship-causes-another-major-mishap/
PACER Plus, the Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Islands free trade agreement has entered into force.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham said PACER Plus was a major step in strengthening Australia’s relationship with our Pacific partners and would play a valuable role in supporting recovery in the region from COVID-19.
“This trade deal ensures greater market access and lower tariffs across a range of products which...
https://shippingaustralia.com.au/cross-pacific-free-trade-agreement-enters-into-force/