Swiss-based container carrier Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) christened the latest in a series of twenty 19,224 TEU container ships, MSC Sveva, during a ceremony held at the Port of Le Havre, France, on July 20. The 199,272 dwt MSC SVEVA belongs to an Oscar-class of container ships which feature a length of 395.45 meters and a width of 59.08 meters, and are one of the largest sea-going vessels in the world. MSC SVEVA will be deployed on the Asia – Europe route, according to&n...

Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines has placed an order for eight 1,900 teu boxships worth a total of $212m to $236m from Japanese yard Naikai Zosen Corporation. Delivery dates for the newbuildings were not specify, according to a stock exchange filing from Taipei-listed Wan Hai. The last time that the largely intra-Asia player made vessel purchases was in May 2015 when it bought three secondhand 5,600-teu containerships from Japan’s K Line. Source: http://www.seatrade-maritime.com

Struggling South Korean yards exhibiting at this year’s Posidonia event in Greece seem to be on a roll over the past few days as they clinch the badly-needed new orders. One of those shipbuilders is certainly Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (Sungdong), which has won its first order for this year. Namely, the yard’s traditional partner Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) has ordered construction of two 74,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) crude-oil carriers with an option for tw...

South Korea is launching a KRW 11 trillion (USD 9.5 billion) worth fund for state-run banks intended for the country’s ailing shipbuilding and shipping industries, the government announced on Wednesday.   The banks being targeted by the fund are Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), which are hit the most by unprofitable loans, especially as they are forced to push their maturity now that the country’s major shipbuilding and shipping companies emba...