Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Surging bunker prices are reshaping freight dynamics, with fuel costs now accounting for a significantly larger share of freight than usual. While all vessels are exposed to high prices, scrubber-fitted ships remain relatively better positioned. This creates further upside risk for freight rates despite limited disruption to dry bulk fundamentals. While the US/Israel–Iran conflict has …

Email is still the spine of maritime operations. Chartering instructions, spares orders, crew changes, port documentation, vendor payments to name a few. Most of it moves through inboxes, even as ships add new digital tools. But the way shipping markets treat email risk is far from uniform. In my work across Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, the …

Despite the latest market disruptions due to the war in the Middle East, newbuilding ordering activity has been moving forward. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal said that “newbuilding activity progressed on a healthy pace last week, with 10 orders for 35 firm plus 4 optional orders, across he dry bulk, tanker, containership and …

Describing the situation in the Strait of Hormuz as an “incredibly dynamic environment”, Jos Standerwick, head of membership at the Baltic Exchange, yesterday sought to clarify a landscape that has “trapped 1,000+ vessels” and threatens the safety of thousands of seafarers. Moderating a webinar co-hosted with Maritime London, Standerwick first introduced Saleem Khan, chief data …

Chinese corn imports declined to approximately 3.8M mt in 2025, down from 8.4M mt in 2024. Of this, around 2.5M mt originated from Brazil (Panamax: ~2.0M mt vs. 1.78M mt in 2024), while imports from the U.S. totaled 169k mt (Panamax: ~153k mt vs. 1.36M mt in 2024). This contraction aligns with China’s policy direction …

The ship recycling market had a mixed week in terms of its performance. In its latest weekly report, Best Oasis (www.best-oasis.com), a leading cash buyer of ships, said that “the Indian ship recycling market experienced a slight slowdown this week as the strengthening U.S. dollar has made purchases more expensive for local buyers, resulting in …

Shipping companies must improve how they collect, structure and use operational data if they are to remain competitive in an increasingly regulated and digital operating environment, according to new research from Lloyd’s Register (LR) and OneOcean. The report, Mastering maritime data for competitive advantage, launched today (18 March) at the Smart Maritime Network Conference in …

“During the first 11 weeks of 2026, bauxite shipments have surged 16% y/y, driven by strong Chinese demand for Guinean cargoes. Guinean bauxite has remained highly competitive, accounting for 79% of shipments and pushing non-Guinean bauxite shipments down 3% y/y. Bauxite has been one of the fastest growing dry bulk commodities, growing 10% on average …

The tanker market could be headed towards a new normal, significantly higher than the pre-Iran war period, but sill stable, compared to the wild volatility of the past couple of weeks. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Xclusiv said that “the conflict in the Arabian Gulf has rapidly evolved from a geopolitical shock into a …

Tensions in the Gulf have been escalating for nearly two weeks, culminating most recently in U.S. strikes on military targets on Kharg Island, Iran’s primary crude export terminal. In parallel with disruptions to export flows, Gulf producers have announced production curtailments of approximately 10 million barrels per day, equivalent to around 5 VLCC cargoes per …