Charter rates for offshore support vessels (OSVs) operating in the Middle East may decline as more owners push out extra tonnage, offsetting the positive effects of healthy offshore oil and gas activities, according to Atlantic Navigation.

Cairo: Egypt’s Suez Canal toll hikes, which raise prices between 2-5%, have been implemented as of today, renewing concerns that shipowners will re-route ships around the Cape of Good Hope rather than pay the fees.

Copenhagen: Six seafarers from the Danish vessel Leopard held hostage by Somali pirates since January 2011 have been released.

Dubai: Bahri (formerly National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia) has today taken delivery of a new 26,000dwt RoCon general cargo vessel, named the Bahri Hofuf, from Hyundai Mipo in South Korea.

Lagos: Three seafarers from Sri Lanka and one each from Russia and Myanmar were taken hostage after 14 heavily armed pirates boarded a container vessel and breached its citadel, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has reported.

Cairo: Libya is to commence shipments of 12m barrels of oil to Egypt next month, in a deal worth $1.2bn.

Merchant marine issues have gone mainstream; the firestorm in the shipping press during the past few weeks over US food aid with implications for US-flag shipping, has moved into mainstream outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington...

Lagos: Container ship Hansa Marburg has been attacked and four crew kidnapped 130nm off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, operator Leonhardt and Blumberg says.

Oslo: Gas transportation company IM Skaugen (IMS) today announced a drop in gross revenues and profit in the first quarter of 2013.

Dubai: DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem told stakeholders the Dubai maritime giant handled 12.8m teu globally in the first three months of 2013.