The Week in Charts: Crisis-driven tanker demand propels Panama Canal to multiyear high | Iran accuses US of ‘destabilising’ maritime safety and security
- Panama Canal handled 342 tanker transits last month, up 60% versus the average before the Strait of Hormuz crisis
- US jet fired on an Iran-flagged tanker on May 6, damaging its rudder
- Tightening regulation causing split between more and less efficient tonnage
Lloyd’s List’s weekly showing of the data and figures behind our news, analysis and markets coverage
A SURGE of crude, product and chemical tanker transits propelled Panama Canal activity to a multiyear high in April, reported senior maritime reporter Greg Miller.
According to newly released statistics from the Panama Canal Authority, an average of 38.7 vessels transited per day in April — 28.4 through the older panamax locks and 10.3 through the larger neopanamax locks.
That is the highest monthly average in at least the past three and a half fiscal years, the period when Lloyd’s List has tracked this data.
Iran accuses US of ‘destabilising’ maritime safety and security
Actions taken by the US to enforce its blockade are “destabilising” maritime safety and security, according to Iran’s permanent representative to the International Maritime Organization, reported senior reporter Joshua Minchin.
In a letter to IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez, Iran’s permanent representative to the IMO Seyed Ali Mousavi said his country condemned “in the strongest possible terms the recent acts of aggression and piracy-style seizures carried out by the United States against Iranian commercial vessels”.
He specifically mentioned 300,000 dwt very large crude carrier Tifani (IMO: 9273337) and 281,501 dwt VLCC MAJESTIC X (IMO: 9198317), both of which were boarded by the US last month.
Bifurcation of the dry bulk fleet
Tightening regulation is expected to create a two‑tier dry bulk market, dividing modern, efficient tonnage from older, less efficient vessels, reported Joshua Minchin.
That’s the view of several key players in the bulker market, as the International Maritime Organization looks increasingly less likely to adopt a global carbon price by which all shipowners would be bound.
Instead, a possible alternative scenario is regional, fragmented emissions regulation, with other nations and regions implementing their own version of the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme and FuelEU policies.
Engine room fires look stubbornly high, Cefor reveals
The good news is that the incidence of engine room fires is no longer rising rapidly. The bad news is that they have stabilised at a level higher than that prevailing before the pandemic, according to the main Nordic marine insurance trade association, reported law and insurance editor David Osler.
A report published by Oslo-based Cefor — as it is known by its abbreviated Norwegian name — said that such blazes typically affect older vessels and certain vessel types.
The document highlights trends and risks associated with these fires and emphasises the importance of maintenance and prevention measures.
