A union representing 360 workers on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence Seaway has gone on strike after failing to reach a contract agreement, temporarily shutting down the Great Lakes’ connection to the sea.

In a statement, union Unifor said that talks with its employer, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), are “1,000 nautical miles apart on wages.” The union said that it had made every effort to avoid a strike, but SLSMC had not made enough movement in its bargaining position.

“The SLSMC works to find a fair and competitive labor agreement that balances wage demands and market realities,” said the corporation in a statement. “As a result, the system will remain shut down until an agreement can be reached.”

SLSMC carried out plans for an organized shutdown of the seaway system over the course of the last three days. This allowed all vessels in transit to safely exit the seaway and its locks, and no ships got caught in the middle, the corporation said. The U.S. side of the operation is also unaffected.

However, more than 100 vessels outside of the seaway have been impacted by the shutdown. The corporation has applied to the Canada Industrial Relations Board to make Unifor provide staffing for the safe transit of grain-carrying bulkers.

According to SLSMC, Unifor is seeking exceptional wage increases inspired by union action in the automotive industry. Unifor also represents thousands of auto workers, and it just concluded negotiations with General Motors on a multiyear contract earlier this month. The terms of the contract with GM are generous, including a 20-25 percent raise over three years and two more paid holidays. They aren’t the only ones: on the other side of the Canadian border, new union leaders at the United Auto Workers have secured tentative offers from the Big Three U.S. automakers for a raise of 23 percent over five years – and the UAW is still holding out for an even better deal.

Samsung Heavy Industries reports it has developed a patent-pending device that is simple and easy to use that will dramatically decrease the number of containers lost overboard while boxships are at sea. They are reporting that initial testing is showing that loss rates can be reduced by up to 70 percent while not impacting the loading capacity or operation of the vessel.

The industry increased its focus on container losses after a series of high-profile events in 2020 where hundreds or even thousands of boxes were damaged or lost overboard from a single vessel. The World Shipping Council in its report tracking container losses reported that 2020 was the worst individual year in recent memory with nearly 4,000 boxes lost overboard followed by over 2,000 containers lost in 2021. High losses such as the nearly 6,000 in 2013 had most often involved the loss of a vessel, whereas the recent numbers were due to bad weather and vessel handling. The number however fell dramatically in 2022 to just 661 boxes.

Much of the industry’s focus has been on weather conditions and a phenomenon known as “parametric rolling” which in a following sea is especially hazardous for container vessels. The industry has issued advisories on vessel handling while technology companies are working on systems that can predict dangerous sea conditions.

Samsung however has taken a much simpler approach focusing on the racks and securing the lashing bridges. Their loss prevention device, known as Special Structure Anti-Container Loss, is an additional device attached to the lashing bridge. They are pointing to the “severe shaking” of boxes in bad weather as a key contributor to the losses. Once in place, Samsung reports the device minimizes the “left and right movement of containers even in bad weather.”

They are reporting that they have obtained certification from four of the world’s leading class societies, DNV, ABS, LR, and KR, and have completed over 10 patent applications outside of Korea for the device. They said in developing the device there was a focus on minimizing the size and weight to make it easy to install. They are saying it has a compact design and that it will work on existing ships without affecting container capacity.

Samsung reports that the prototype structure is now at the Pusan National University. They are conducting strength testing as they seek to validate the product and increase its reliability. The device has already drawn the attention from the world’s leading container shipping companies and Samsung anticipates that they will begin full marketing within the year for the product.

The Japanese shipyard Mitsui E&S shipbuilding has received an order for 30 cargo handling cranes for a customer in Vietnam. The procurement was made by the Port of Haiphong Joint Stock Company (CHP), a subsidiary of Vietnam Marine Corporation (VIMC), which is currently constructing the container terminal in the Lach Huyen area in Vietnam’s northern city of Hai Phong. The new port represents one of the first public-private partnerships between the Governments of Vietnam and Japan.

The order consists of six STS cranes and 24 RTGs. The STS cranes to be delivered have a 65-meter outreach and can be capable of handling large container vessels exceeding 15,000 TEU. This will be one of the largest crane orders for CHP for its port complexes in Haiphong area.

Mitsui has a record of delivering cargo handling cranes to CHP, with the last delivery made in 2007 as part of Japanese government’s official assistance to Vietnam. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is involved in the planning, design and construction of the new Lach Huyen Port.

Plans for the construction of Lach Huyen International Port were first launched in 2013 under Vietnam’s 2020 Seaport Development Plan. It is intended to be an extension of the Port of Haiphong, which over the years has seen a rise in demand for containerized cargo. The new terminal is designed to handle large container vessels, enabling direct exports from Northern Vietnam to the U.S and European markets without using transshipment ports in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The Lach Huyen Port is being developed on Cat Hai Island and connected by a sea bridge and access roads to mainland Vietnam. The port is being constructed in phases, and the first two container terminals have already been in operation since 2018.

The third and fourth terminals are still in construction and are expected to be commissioned by 2025, according to a statement in July by CHP. The procurement of the cargo cranes shows the works are on schedule.

Maersk is also working with Vietnam’s HATECO to develop another two deepwater berths at Lach Huyen, capable of handing 18,000 TEU vessels. In the initial phase, the facility will have five STS cranes and 14 RTGs.

Ukraine with support from a growing number of shipping companies is expanding its efforts to open the Black Sea shipping corridor and restore exports. Larger ships made the transit into Ukraine with reports from the markets that traders are taking the first tentative steps at offering Ukrainian grain.

Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov again took to social media to highlight the movement of four more bulkers. He reported that three new cargo ships were on their way to Ukraine for the loading of export products. He said they would be using the temporary corridor established by the Ukrainian Navy while the second vessel that traveled to Ukraine last weekend was now outbound on the corridor.

The Turkish-owned bulker Aroyat (18,315) dwt registered in Palau departed Chornomorsk this morning, September 22, loaded with 17,600 metric tons of wheat. The vessel had traveled into the port arriving last Saturday and is now following the corridor along the western shoreline of the Black Sea. It is heading to Egypt.

She is following the Resilient Africa which arrived off Turkey on Thursday, September 21. The ship is carrying 3,000 metric tons of grain from Ukraine. It is currently in the anchorage off Istanbul with reports that it will proceed to Asia.

Three more bulkers used the corridor and have now arrived at the Ukrainian seaports. The Liberian-registered Eneida (45,572 dwt) traveled to Chornomorsk arriving late today. The ship, which until recently was known as the Bosphorus Prince, is now reported to be managed from Panama. She had been holding in an anchorage off Turkey awaiting a contract.

Two of the vessels however went to the eastern port of Yuzhny marking the first ships to arrive there since July. The Azara (13,898 dwt) is registered in Palau and managed from Poland and arriving from Egypt. The largest of the ships is the Chinese-owned Ying Hao 01. The ship is 74,759 dwt arriving from China.

Kubrakov reports the ships will be loading both agricultural products and iron ore. Ukraine has only recently attempted to restart its ore shipments which were not covered by the year-long UN-brokered agreement which only covered foodstuffs. Kubrakov said the ships would be heading to China, Egypt, and Spain.

Traders are reportedly beginning to offer Ukrainian grains again, although at a steeply discounted price from the Ukrainian ports versus neighboring sources such as Romania. AgriCensus, a price reporting agency, highlights the lower prices as well as higher shipping costs for the products coming out of Ukraine. They note the limited number of ships and crews willing to make the trip. They however are reporting that additional contracts are expected and that additional ships have been fixed and are due to make the trip.

Russia continues not to comment on the Ukrainian exports and appears to have not made any attempts to approach the ships. The UK had warned that the Royal Air Force would be monitoring and seeking to deter any action against merchant ships in the Black Sea.

A coalition of leading maritime companies led by Bibby Marine and with financial support from the UK plans to develop the first zero-emission electric Service Operation Vessel (eSOV) to be used to support the offshore wind and energy industry. It is the latest entrant in the race to develop the first zero-emission vessels with a focus on the offshore sector and the potential of using power at the wind farms to charge the ships.

In their application for the UK’s Zero Emission Vessel Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition, the coalition points to the strong opportunities in the segment to support offshore wind operations. With the UK calling for 40 GW offshore wind energy in additional offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 expanding on the more than 10 GW already in operation, the group estimated that between 62 and 149 vessels will be required. They highlighted that all the UK-operating SOVs have so far been built aboard.

They are proposing a 295-foot vessel that would be primarily powered by electricity and batteries and have dual-fuel methanol-powered engines as backup. The ship will be ready for offshore charging and can recharge its batteries at night.

They expect that it will be possible to operate a two-week cycle onsite at an offshore wind farm emissions-free. Near shore the vessel will operate solely on battery power and also while onsite. For the long transits between the shore homeports and the farms, the vessel will use its engines and with methanol fuel, it would be possible to still reduce emissions by 90 percent versus fossil fuel operations. They noted in the application if offshore charging is not available, the vessel would use its methanol engines to recharge its batteries and would still achieve a 50 percent reduction in emissions compared to a conventional SOV.

DNV, which is one of the members of the coalition notes, “The number of fully electric and hybrid vessels will surge over the next few years, and continuing development on these technologies will be a key part of the maritime industry’s transition to a zero-carbon future.”

Bibby, which is leading the effort notes the vessel will be a natural progression in its decarbonization effort and the first new vessel for Bibby Marine in five years.

It was one of five projects that was announced today at London International Shipping Week as a winner in the UK Government’s competition designed to support the development of new zero-emission maritime technologies. Under the rules of the competition, the vessel needs to be in service by 2025.

They are estimating a cost of $37.5 million for the project with the UK government awarding them $25 million in funding. The project participants include Bibby Marine, Port of Aberdeen, Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, Kongsberg, DNV, Shell, and Liverpool John Moores University.

In the previous rounds of the funding competition, the UK has also awarded support to projects seeking to develop the technology required to provide offshore recharging capabilities. It has been highlighted that one of the challenges is the increasing distance from shore for the location of the wind farms, making onsite recharging critical. The UK projects are one of several looking at offshore recharging and creating vessels that are fully electric or use other technologies to be zero-emission ships.