The View
Lloyd's List's weekly view on the big issues impacting and shaping shipping, providing timely insight and thought-provoking opinion
Puzzled by Aponte’s Gram Car Carriers deal? Don’t be
After putting together the world’s biggest shipping empire in little over five decades, it’s safe to say this guy knows what he’s doing
Panama Canal: It never pours but it rains
Reduced capacity could soon be the new normal for at least three years in every decade
Troubled water over a bridge
Marine insurance is proving its value after the past week’s spectacular casualty in Baltimore
Russia and China shouldn’t cut a special deal with the Houthis
Most seafarers won’t even know the beneficial ownership of the vessels on which they serve. But they have every reason to be afraid if the Houthis get it wrong
Dark fleet insurance? Not reassuring
It’s 2024 and we still still have vessels ‘owned’ by anonymous brass plate companies, ‘flagged’ with fictitious ‘registries’, ‘IMO numbered’ with digits based on mum’s birthday, ‘classed’ by little-known ROs and ‘insured’ by shaky fixed premium providers. This isn’t progress
Tipping point in the Red Sea
Wording of Conwartime and Voywar clauses are matters BIMCO could usefully revisit before the next crisis
The IMO is speaking softly on greenhouse gases. The time may come to use the big stick
Substantive regulatory measures should be the last resort. But last resorts are sometimes unavoidable
Sanctioning Russia is one thing, making restrictions stick is another
The murder of Alexei Navalny and the second anniversary of the Ukraine invasion have seen measures targeting the Kremlin proliferate. The West should pay more attention to ensuring the ones we have already actually hit home
Yes, governments can tell you what to do
Shipowners sometimes argue that they are merely humble ‘taxi drivers of the sea’. But few professions are as extensively regulated as driving taxis
You don’t have to be mad to invest in shipping. But it helps
Why bother with creative destruction when good old-fashioned destruction will do instead?
Flags of Deceit could take shipping back to the bad old days
Much more of this and Narnia, Utopia, Middle Earth, Freedonia, La-La Land and Big Rock Candy Mountain will be offering their capitals as home ports
The good, the bad and the ugly: the flagging standards of flag states
Flag states have a legal and moral duty to enforce the hard won safety standards that underpin global maritime trade, but the rise of the dark fleet supported by a growing list of opaque, outsourced flag administrations is undermining the rules-based order of global shipping
The week that marked a turning point for shipping in the Red Sea
The impact on the Suez Canal will not be permanent. But it is now effectively closed to those who are risk adverse, and/or allied to Western countries seen as supporting Israel
Shipping will overcome this Red Sea crisis
Until the full extent of the Houthi threat is known, we can only hope the tensions will ease and thank the brave sailors who continue to make trade possible
Operation Prosperity Guardian: Use it or lose it
Say thank you to the navies that are working together to keep the Red Sea open for business. Not to mention the thousands of seafarers putting themselves in harm’s way to ensure the world keeps trading
Navies must ensure trade flows in the Red Sea
Let gunboat diplomacy be confined to the past. But there are legitimate uses of gunboats in the 21st century; the continued flow of world trade is one of them
Alternative fuels need to move beyond the VHS versus Betamax stage
One was the better product. The other actually succeeded in the marketplace
How to keep the Panama and Suez canals open
Of course there are viable alternative routes. But simultaneous widespread disruption would be a strain on much of the shipping industry, not to mention the global economy
Shipping’s carbon challenge is a case of economic Darwinism
The EU Emissions Trading System is going to be difficult and expensive for shipping. It is without doubt flawed and there are many questions to be answered, but it will start to sift those who have been genuinely charting a new course from those who have been secretly hoping all this will just go away
How to make the 12th package of restrictions on Russian crude actually work
If the West wants to up the ante, increasing the scrutiny of attestation documents is a no-brainer. The proposal that the Danes would inspect Russian tankers would need to be part of a wider push to leverage choke points
Hamburg knuckles down in uncertain times
Food for thought aplenty at the annual Eisbein celebrations and in German shipowners’ boardrooms amid numerous industry challenges ahead. But the illustrious shipping nation is well versed in adversity
What the Maersk and Norden numbers are telling everybody else
Our lifetimes may never again see an era in which sailing vessels from A to B generates returns that make Gates, Zuckerberg and Bezos envious
Welcome to the shipping coalface
Everyone with a well-paid desk job in white-collar shipping services should be properly grateful to the workforce that keeps the industry moving
The contradictions of the Russian oil price cap
More Russian oil than ever before is being carried on sanctions-busting tankers exploiting regulatory loopholes. The entire scheme of sanctions stands or falls by an attestation mechanism that patently isn’t working
This is about more than the future of Euronav
Alexander Saverys’ perspective for tanker shipping is built around a business model that is radically different to the one Fredriksen exemplifies
World Maritime Day ambitions must match the rhetoric
For the IMO’s proceedings to represent anything more than a drinks reception accompanied by a token press release, shipping’s contribution to the fight for a better environment needs to be stepped up
Can shipping be relied upon?
There is a growing realisation in shipping that nebulous net zero pledges are starting to require action and investment, and will be harder to achieve than first thought. The divide between those who can and can’t be relied upon is widening
What is green about methanol?
Maersk is to be applauded for its ambition. But for mass adoption of methanol fuel to make environmental sense, the molecule shipping uses must be truly green — and there is plenty to suggest it won’t be
A week is a long time in politics. Just not when it’s London International Shipping Week
Britain’s schools are crumbling. So is UK maritime policy
Nothing is perfect. Certainly not alternative fuels
For those seeking guidance on what to do next, the MEPC80 targets may have been too weak a signal
What now for the dark fleet?
The dark fleet may be coming out of the shadows, but the cloud it casts over the rest of the industry is not going anywhere
What if Panama Canal droughts are the new normal?
Until now, shipping has always found a workaround to restrictions on using this key waterway. But it won’t be able to do so indefinitely
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