Petrobras has informed ship.energy that a christening ceremony for the Starnav Elektra – the first vessel that the Brazilian national oil company has chartered under its Mar Aberto fleet renewal programme – was christened on Thursday (17 September) at the Port of Rio Warehouse, at Rio de Janeiro’s Pier Mauá. Built at the Detroit Shipyard in Itajaí, the platform supply vessel (PSV) received an investment of approximately R$450 million and will now operate at platforms in Brazil’s oil-producing basins. The Starnav Elektra sailed from Santa Catarina to Rio de Janeiro with an all-female crew. Led by Captain Isabela Teixeira Ponce […]

Global commodity trader Trafigura has established a new group company, Volare Shipping Ltd., to own and operate a fleet of oil tankers that will include ‘ammonia-ready’ newbuilds. In a statement sent to ship.energy this morning (21 September), Trafigura said that Volare Shipping’s fleet will initially consist of six very large crude carriers (VLCCs) that are already on the water and eight newbuild vessels on order. Trafigura added that the newbuilds will have ‘ammonia-ready dual-fuel capability’ and be ‘fitted with additional internal tank coating and heating systems, enabling them to transport a wider range of cargo types’. The vessels will be […]

Japanese classification society ClassNK has announced that Japan Engine’s 6UEC35LSGH – which it describes as ‘the world’s first hydrogen-fuelled engine for large commercial vessels’ – has successfully completed land-based testing. In a statement issued today (18 September), ClassNK said that the engine ‘achieved a hydrogen co-firing rate of at least 95%, reducing GHG emissions by more than 95% compared with conventional heavy-fuel-oil engines’. Japan Engine, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Yanmar Power Solutions have been jointly developing the engine as part of a project under the aegis of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). Going forward, as part of […]