Dry Cargo

It might seem like an obvious statement to regular readers of Seatrade Maritime News but despite the global COVID-19 pandemic the world shipping continues to work pretty much as usual round the clock.

A crew member of the bulker Corona suspected of having the coronavirus – COVID-19 has tested negative for the virus in South Africa.

Brazil’s mining giant Vale is considering a temporary closure of its Malaysian distribution center Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal (TRMT), which would result in 800,000 tonnes of lost iron ore shipments over the first quarter of 2020.

The coronavirus – COVID-19 – is sweeping through the global economy but the global shipping industry continues to operate keeping world trade running despite facing severe disruptions.

Reflecting the trend towards renewing their fleets with larger vessels at the beginning of March the Greek-owned fleet of vessels over 1,000 gt was down on 12 months ago but up in terms of carrying capacity and gross tonnage.

Denmark’s Clipper Group has inked an agreement with Norway’s Torvald Klaveness to take over the Bulkhandling pool, the world’s oldest pool of supramaxes and ultramaxes.

The multipurpose vessel (MPVs) and heavylift vessel segments are expected to experience a weak demand in the second half of this year on the back of reduced Chinese exports and the impact of the spread of the coronavirus, according to analyst Drewry.

Brazilian miner Vale says that the fuel tanks on the stranded very large ore carrier (VLOC) Stellar Banner remain intact as two oil spill response vessels reach the site of the grounding.

A very large ore carrier (VLOC) Stellar Banner operated by Polaris Shipping is listing badly off the northern Brazilian state of Maranhao.

Genco Shipping & Trading is looking to disposed of all its 10 handysize bulkers as part of the company’s fleet optimisation and renewal plan.