Six crew members of a Palau-flagged tanker were kidnapped by pirates off Nigeria last week. The incident occurred at the Bonny Outer Anchorage on April 19, 2019, the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre said. Identified as the 3,100 dwt Apecus, the anchored tanker was boarded by unauthorized persons who kidnapped the six seafarers. The remaining crew was reported safe, the IMB added. The Nigerian Navy was notified and an investigation into the incident has been launched. Built in Germ

Germany’s Deutsche Bank has agreed the sale of a USD 1 billion portfolio of legacy shipping loans to an entity owned by funds managed by Oak Hill Advisors and Värde Partners. The bank said that the transaction is expected to close in early Q3 2018, subject to relevant regulatory approvals. Deutsche Bank informed that it remains committed to the shipping business. “Following this disposal and other derisking strategies we have implemented, the bank will be left with a performi

The current debate at the IMO and MEPC is attempting to focus on reducing the volumes of CO2 the escape from the exhausts of commercial ships. Many attempts have been made in recent years in this regard including installing scrubbers on the ship’s funnels, turning ship’s main engines off in port and burning lower carbonized fuel in certain coastal waters. The current debate arises from the so-called Paris Agreement on climate change which was endorsed by most countries but pr

European Union voters in France, Germany, Italy and Greece think their countries are heading in the wrong direction but there is not yet any Europe-wide inclination to follow Britain towards exiting the bloc, according to a poll published on Thursday. Britain’s shock June 23 Brexit vote, which was praised at the time by then U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump as a “miracle”, has raised questions about the future of post-World War Two attempts at European integration. Af

The fall of South Korea’s biggest container line Hanjin Shipping Co. is similar to the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and has materially impacted the shipping industry, Seaspan Corp. Chief Executive Officer Gerry Wang said. Seaspan, the Hong Kong-based container-ship leasing company that has three vessels chartered to the distressed line, is evaluating all options and examining systemic risks resulting from Hanjin’s bankruptcy filing, Wang said in an interview