The auction of the assets of Bouchard Transportation Company proceeded on July 18 under the process approved by the bankruptcy court. Before the auction, the reorganization officer for the oil barge transport company had selected an initial bid of $110 million for assets, which included 12 barges and 17 tugboats. Reports indicate, however, that the initial bidder selected by the company was outbid during the auction.

The non-operating container ship owner Seaspan Corporation announced Wednesday that it has raised $750 million in "blue"-branded bonds, up 50 percent from a planned $500 million issuance. The funds will be used for sustainability-linked purposes in line with a previously-released "blue transition bond framework," which names LNG as the transition fuel of choice for the short to medium term. 

The European funding programme Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which supports projects that have a significant positive impact on the European transport network, is to award funding of €10.91 million to the complex project Extra Container Capacity Antwerp (ECA). By awarding funding to this project, Europe is not only underlining the importance of the port of Antwerp as a major European hub that forms part a global network, but also of the corresponding need for future-proof infrastructure. This European support will be used to carry out detailed studies to identify the most sustainable solution, in order to create a supported project that reconciles the needs of the economy, the environment and our climate.

Dublin Port Company last year recorded “a strong financial performance” with operating profits of €44.15 million despite challenges from Brexit and Covid-19.

Nakilat announced its financial results for the first half of the year ended 30 June 2021, with the company achieving a net profit of QR 636 million compared to QR 550 million during the same period in 2020, an increase of 15.6%.

Ocean carriers are pushing back against the White House's push to scrutinize pricing power in the container shipping industry.  

Maritime Payment Solutions, LLC (d/b/a ShipMoney), a global provider of digital payment solutions for maritime companies, has launched the ShipMoney Money Transfer Scheduler. This new feature allows seafarers to preschedule automated transfers from their ShipMoney cards to bank accounts, companion cards, as well as for cash pickup via MoneyGram, TransFast and soon, Western Union.

In April’s Logistics Executive Briefing, Drewry flagged the issue of “extreme freight rates” and predicted that spot rates would continue to increase. Three months on, spot rates have jumped by another 70% or so and we expect rates to get close to $20,000 on some lanes.

Overseas Shipping Group (OSG) announced that the company is launching a strategic review in response to an unsolicited takeover proposal to acquire all the outstanding shares of the operator of crude and petroleum tankers and barges. According to the announcement, OSG’s Board of Directors working with Evercore as its financial advisor has commenced a strategic process to explore, review and evaluate a range of strategic alternatives which could include a sale of all or part of the company, a merger or other business combination with another party, or remaining a public company and continuing to execute on management’s long-term business plan.

What began as a crippling year as trade tariffs and the COVID-19 pandemic torpedoed imports and exports through the Port of Long Beach (POLB) and the Port of Los Angeles (POLA), the twin ports of San Pedro Bay, California, turned out to be a record-breaker by year’s end with another boom fiscal year expected to follow in 2021.