Russia-Ukraine

Cummins CEO moves company forward after record civil emissions fine

COLUMBUS, Ind. — Cummins Inc. CEO Jennifer Rumsey is moving the engine-maker and power distribution company forward after paying a record civil fine for emissions cheating that she said brought some over-the-top federal criticism.

Cummins in December settled a 4 ½-year-old case by paying a civil fine of $1.675 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency. About 1 million engines in Ram pickup trucks — Cummins’ biggest-selling engine program — contained data-defeating emissions software. The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cummins-ceo-moves-company-forward-after-record-civil-emissions-fine

Top ocean shipping stories of 2023: War, drought and detours

Ocean shipping routes are always in flux, but 2023 took it to a whole new level.

Trade routes were blocked or impeded by geopolitics, labor and weather: sanctions on Russia, U.S.-China tensions, dockworker union unrest, drought-driven cuts at the Panama Canal, and attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Ocean trade detoured around each obstacle. When vessels divert in large numbers, it makes headlines, but that flexibility is one of ocean shipping’s greatest strengths. Ship diversions, as the software...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/top-ocean-shipping-stories-of-2023-war-drought-and-detours

US pulls trigger on Russian sanctions, blacklists 2 crude tankers

It took a while but it finally happened: The U.S. Treasury Department has begun sanctioning tankers transporting Russian crude oil valued above the West’s price cap.

Since Dec. 5, 2022, the Group of Seven nations, members of the European Union and Australia have barred their countries’ marine service providers from working with tankers carrying Russian crude priced above $60 per barrel. Tankers carrying crude above the cap that use G-7, EU or Australian services have been threatened with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-pulls-trigger-on-russian-sanctions-blacklists-2-crude-tankers

How US military equipment for Ukraine is shipped across Atlantic

America has committed a massive sum — $43.7 billion and rising — toward military equipment for Ukraine. Simultaneously, the U.S. and NATO have ramped up their joint exercise, Operation Atlantic Resolve, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

For heavy military equipment that’s being transported across the Atlantic, ocean shipping plays a central role, led by one company in particular: U.S.-flag operator American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier (ARC).

According to Chris Heibel, ARC’s head of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-us-military-equipment-for-ukraine-is-shipped-across-atlantic

Container shipping has a Europe problem and it’s getting worse

chart of Asia-Europe spot rates

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With all the attention on U.S. consumers and inventory levels, Europe’s importance to shipping lines...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/container-shipping-has-a-europe-problem-and-its-getting-worse

Sanctions on Russian crude and diesel exports are failing

a chart showing premium for loading Russian tanker cargoes

Mainstream European tanker owners have largely abandoned the Russian trade now that the country’s crude and diesel have breached Western price caps. The so-called “shadow” fleet — tankers operating outside Western insurance and financial circles — has taken over.

Western sanctions had two goals: First, keep Russian oil flowing, and second, curb oil revenues to Putin’s military. Goal No. 2 is in major trouble. Russia’s export revenues are increasing as the price of its crude and products rises...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sanctions-on-russian-crude-and-diesel-exports-are-failing

Russian crude prices have breached the G-7 price cap. Now what?

chart of Russian crude pricing

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The price of Russian Urals crude, exported from ports in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea, is now at or...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/russian-crude-export-prices-breach-g-7-eu-price-cap-now-what

How LNG shipping kept Europe’s wartime energy supply secure

A year ago, an armada of ships came to Europe’s aid, bringing U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas to replace Russian pipeline gas supplies lost in the wake of the war. The outlook for the coming winter was dire despite the surge of American LNG cargoes — then it grew even worse.

A fire and explosion took Texas’ Freeport LNG facility offline last June, removing a major U.S. export source. The price of natural gas in Europe hit $100 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in late August, the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-lng-shipping-kept-wartime-europes-energy-supply-secure

What will happen if Russia blocks Black Sea grain ships?

Russia is threatening to pull the plug on the Black Sea Grain Initiative on May 18, blocking Ukrainian seaborne exports of corn and wheat. The European Union has banned Ukrainian agriculture exports to neighboring Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia until June 5, with an extension through year-end possible. The Tolyatti-Odessa pipeline, a key conduit for Russian exports of ammonia — a vital fertilizer feedstock — remains offline.

CNBC recently warned that “the basic food security of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/what-will-happen-if-russia-blocks-the-black-sea-grain-ships

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