January 11, 2023
The intended merger between the Norwegian oil tanker shipping company under Cypriot flag, Frontline, and the Belgian sector peer Euronav is definitely off. Frontline pulls the plug, and the company does not give an official reason for abandoning. In reaction to the news that came like a bolt from the blue, Euronav management says that […]
January 03, 2023
The ferry connection on the Belgian river Scheldt, the so-called Antwerp ‘water bus’, is a huge success. The number of annually transported passengers increased year after year, growing from 105 000 to 775 000 in five years. That is why Aqualiner decided to deploy larger ships this year. The water bus has been operational since […]
December 23, 2022
Today, traffic will be able to cross the steel arch bridge over the Albert Channel in Viversel (Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium) again. That is what the Flemish Waterway (Vlaamse Waterweg) announced on Thursday. All bridges on the Channel had to be raised to allow inland shipping barges with four containers stacked on deck to pass under […]
December 15, 2022
IKEA launched its first ‘low-carbon’ delivery operation to customers in Paris on Wednesday, with the help from the Belgian inland waterways specialist Blue Line Logistics. From now on, IKEA will use the Seine river and electric last-mile delivery vehicles to bring the furniture to the customers’ homes. “We are the first major distributor to serve […]
September 27, 2022
Belgian CMB.Tech and Dutch-British based Windcat Workboats, both daughters of bulk shipping giant Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), announce they will build six extra hydrogen ships to transport personnel to and maintain offshore wind farms. The catamarans will be delivered in 2022, 2023, and 2024 to be used by joint venture partners Thomas Services Maritime (TSM) […]
September 06, 2022
French RoRo-ferry company La Méridionale has equipped as the world’s first one of its ships, the Piana, linking Marseille with the Ile of Corsica, with a diesel particle filter. It eliminates up to 99,9% of fine particulate matter and 99% of sulfur emissions. Today there are no regulations for ships on these particles, known to […]
August 30, 2022
American electric outboard manufacturer Vision Marine Technologies has set a new ‘electric’ speed record on the water, breaking the 100 per hour barrier at 109 mph (175,4 km/h) with a 32-foot (9,7 m) catamaran equipped with two E-Motion 180E outboards. The world’s most powerful electric outboards currently. At the wheel of the purpose-built one-off speed […]
August 24, 2022
Two Swedish EV pioneers, Volvo-sister Polestar and electric ‘flyboat’ inventor Candela, found each other on the water. Polestar will supply the battery and charging systems for Candela’s revolutionary hydrofoiling speedboats, giving the startup a boost in scaling up. “To make electric boats mainstream, we need to build thousands of boats every year. Working together with […]
August 11, 2022
Nippon Express (NX) Italia has launched an ‘eco-friendly’ last-mile delivery service in Venice, Italy, using hydrogen-powered boats to navigate the canals. Venice just got its first public hydrogen filling station in June 2022, only the second in the whole of Italy, one of the laggards in Europe regarding this alternative zero-emission fuel. Nippon Express Group […]
August 11, 2022
Due to the persistent drought and record temperatures, the water level in the Rhine near Kaub, between Koblenz and Mainz in Germany, is dropping so low that many cargo ships will no longer be able to sail there as of Friday. That is a problem for the industry. The Rhine, one of the busiest waterways […]
August 11, 2022
On Wednesday, the new Willems quay in Balen along the Dessel-Kwaadmechelen channel has been officially inaugurated. “The installation of such quays has to promote inland shipping and inspire other companies,” said Flemish Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) at the inauguration. Inland shipping has the capacity to remove another 160 000 trucks from the […]
August 10, 2022
In Antwerp, the 2,5 millionth passenger on the Waterbus that travels down the Scheldt was honored on Tuesday. According to the Flemish government, which is funding the project, the Waterbus is very popular and has left behind the logical dip of the corona period. One in three passengers also takes a bicycle on board, which […]
June 28, 2022
A new study on the cost of decarbonizing European shipping shows that running ships on green hydrogen-based fuels would hardly make consumer goods more expensive. On the contrary, green shipping would add just a few cents to most consumer goods. “Green shipping would add less than 10 cents to a pair of Nikes,” says Faig […]
May 05, 2022
Starting this week, passengers can again take the Waterbus between Brussels and Vilvoorde through the canal. Weekly operations come first, from July the service is extended to the weekend. From 2 May to 31 October, the Vivaldi Waterbus will run every weekday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and between 1 July and 15 August […]
April 29, 2022
The new Port of Antwerp-Bruges, a fusion of the harbors of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, wants to become “the green entry to Europe”. Its ambitions are not to be sneezed at: Port of Antwerp-Bruges wants to become Europe’s largest international export harbor, and at the same time reconcile economy and climate. Port of Antwerp-Bruges is determined […]
April 11, 2022
Belgian oil tanker giant Euronav and its Norwegian peer, Frontline, want to merge into what’s to become the world’s biggest oil tanker company. The new fleet will consist of 115 tankers, 69 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), 57 Suezmax tankers, and 20 smaller Aframax ships. But after the news of negotiations starting broke last week, […]
March 23, 2022
A team of Belgian researchers is analyzing the effects of offshore wind farms on marine life. The nature reserve of the Princess Elisabeth Zone in the North Sea can only be used for energy production if the impact on plant and animal life is limited. The ‘EDEN 2000’ research project – ‘Exploring options for a […]
March 22, 2022
Last week, Norwegian-Swedish, shipping and car handling company Wallenius Wilhelmsen, has received the first shipment of 3 000 Polestar EVs at its new expanded marine terminal, Bastenaken West, at the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium. The company accelerated the planned 50-hectare expansion project of the marine terminal to cope with the increasing demand for EVs […]
March 02, 2022
The car carrier Felicity Ace, catching fire nearly two week ago passing by the Azores with some 4 000 vehicles aboard, has sunk on Tuesday to a depth of more than 3.000 meters on the ocean floor. Several EVs on board kept on burning for days, but apparently, the massive smoke was no longer seen. […]
February 22, 2022
Six days after a fire broke out on car carrier Felicity Ace, some 90 nautical miles SSW of the Azores, the abandoned ship is still burning. Apparently, the electric vehicles (EVs) onboard – all from the Volkswagen Group – keep the fire raging. It’s not clear yet whether an EV caused the fire initially. The […]
February 07, 2022
The Energy Observer, the experimental zero-emission catamaran of French entrepreneur Victorien Erussard that circumnavigated the globe twice, gets a commercial successor in what has to become one of the world’s first fully-electric cargo ships, powered with hydrogen and fuel cells and Aerowings. The Energy Observer 2 will be 120 meters long, 22 meters wide, and […]
February 02, 2022
Despite being a small manufacturer of hypercars in a small town in Sweden, Koenigsegg has never been shy of developing pioneering technology. With the electric dawn settling, the company confirms its reputation by introducing a revolutionary electric motor, which packs massive power without a weight penalty. Or, you could argue Koenigsegg is showcasing two such […]
February 01, 2022
Last Sunday, marine services provider Jan De Nul has launched ‘Voltaire’ on the Cosco Shipping yard in Nantong (China). It is the world’s largest installation vessel for constructing wind farms at sea. Wind turbines are becoming larger and larger, and most installation ships today will not be able to transport and install next-generation wind turbines. […]
January 28, 2022
Aquafin, Ekopak, Water-Link, and PMV signed an agreement to build a new water purification plant in the harbor of Antwerp. The idea is to improve purified wastewater from Antwerp households and upgrade it to be used as process water for the industry. The project will cost 108 million euros and is expected to be operational […]
December 08, 2021
The inland container barge FPS Maas is the first of the fleet to start sailing between Rotterdam and Antwerp on hydrogen-powered fuel cells. Dutch shipping company Future Proof Sailing just signed a long-term agreement with AirLiquide to supply green hydrogen in specially designed multi-modal hydrogen storage containers on deck. As a zero-emission vessel owner, FPS […]
November 23, 2021
In Norway, the world’s first fully electric and autonomous sailing container ship Yara Birkeland has successfully completed its maiden trip last week under human surveillance, but without help. The short 7,5 nautical mile trip (13,7 km) offered several challenges like maneuvering out of a small fjord, avoiding other commercial ships, pleasure craft, and kayaks. The […]
November 10, 2021
On Tuesday, Antwerp has officially inaugurated the new ferry connection between the left and right banks of the river Scheldt. The ‘Marnix van Sint-Aldegonde’, as the boat is called, replaces the 90-year old ‘Simon Stevin’ and is far more sustainable. The name refers to Philips de Marnix (1540 – 1598), Lord of Saint Aldegondis, writer, […]
September 21, 2021
If your ‘flygskam’ (flying shame) level is high and you can spare a few extra days, why not take a sailboat for your next trip? To Corsica or the Americas – like Greta Thunberg did – instead of flying? Sailcoop, a French cooperative society, wants to organize regular services for passengers to traverse the Mediterranean […]
September 17, 2021
The British-Dutch oil and gas company, Shell, plans to construct a large production unit for biofuels at the Shell Energy and Park Rotterdam (the Netherlands), formerly known as the Pernis refinery. The Rotterdam plant will produce 820 000 tons of biofuels a year. “A facility of this size could produce enough renewable diesel to avoid […]
August 27, 2021
Danish shipping giant Maersk announced this week it has ordered eight new ocean-going container ships that will run on carbon-neutral methanol instead of heavy fuel. The vessels will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) by 2024 and have a capacity of approximately 16 000 containers (Twenty-Foot Equivalent – TEU). Methanol can be burned in […]
August 11, 2021
In Japan, the first passenger ferry for commercial use with two hydrogen diesel combustion engines has been officially launched on Tuesday. The ‘HydroBingo’ was developed by Belgian shipping company CMB’s tech daughter, CMB Tech, together with Japanese shipbuilding and shipping firm Tsuneishi in a 50/50 joint venture. It is a 19-tons ferry accommodating 80 passengers […]
August 03, 2021
Almost without a wavelet, unnoticed by the media, Europe’s first fully autonomous – solar-powered – water taxi has been commissioned in a pilot project in Teylingen, near Leiden in the Netherlands. Residents can call up the water taxi with an app to bring pedestrians and cyclists across the Groote Sloot to the recreational areas of […]
July 27, 2021
Italian-Swiss shipping giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) will study the next twelve months the feasibility of an oceangoing cruise ship on hydrogen as a zero-emission alternative. The study will be carried out together with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and Italian gas group Snam. The three companies formulated their intention to build the world’s first hydrogen-powered cruise […]
July 16, 2021
The EU Commission Fit for 55 proposals are finally targeting the maritime shipping sector left undisturbed for decades regarding CO2 emissions. Shipping will be included in the Emissions Trading System (ETS), where companies will have to buy CO2-quotas from 2023. In Europe, shipping companies are not averse to using the EU ETS system, although it’s […]
