Salvors have successfully refloated the Panamanian-flagged containership Hanjin Aqua that ran aground off Sangiang Island, Indonesia on December 4, according to Hanjin Shipping.

The vessel was refloated on January 6, 2016, over a month after its grounding.

It is planned that Hanjin Aqua will sail to Singapore where it will discharge the containers on January 20, 2016.

Previous attempts to self-float the boxship were unsuccessful as the ship was unable to pull free from the rocky shallows it got stuck in.

Hanjin Aqua ran aground while sailing to Jakarta from Port Adelaide, at Sunda Strait, damaging its hull and breaching some of its ballast compartments.

The ship is reported to be carrying 2,303 TEU of cargo including hazardous waste.

Some 156 passengers and crew were rescued after a Malaysian-flagged ferry Zuhairi collided with a lightless barge and partially sank near Semporna port, Malaysia, in the evening hours of January 6, according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

As the ferry was slowly sinking, the authorities managed to rescue the passengers within an hour following the collision.

Some 21 people were hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries.

The exact number of passengers travelling aboard the ferry is unknown, however, the officials said that the ferry was presumably sailing with 160 passengers, of Malaysian and Filipino origin.

At the time of the incident, Zuhairi was on its way from Bongao island in southern Philippines to Semporna.

The Sabah Marine Department has formed a team to investigate the cause of the collision. The team will conduct interviews to establish the cause of the accident.

According to the officials, the barge that took part in the collision could not be located at present.

No new crew members or debris from the sunken supramax bulk carrier Bulk Jupiter have been detected during the recent search operations, the vessel’s owner and operator Gearbulk said in a statement.

Bulk Jupiter sank on January 1 about 150 nautical miles off the coast of Vung Tau, Vietnam, killing two of the crew members, with 16 still missing, and only one survivor.

A fleet of vessels and planes, under direction of the Vietnamese Coast Guard are participating in the operations from where Bulk Jupiter issued distress signals.

Gearbulk said that Bulk Jupiter departed Kuantan on December 30, 2014, at around 20:00 hours local time, with 19 crew members, all Filipinos, on board and about 46,400 mts of Bauxite in bulk, stowed in all five of her cargo holds.

The vessel issued distress signals at 22:54 hours local time on January 1. The Japanese Coast Guard received the distress alert and immediately initiated a search and rescue operation. One lifeboat and a life raft, both empty, from Bulk Jupiter have been observed by M/V Zim Asia in the vicinity.

The tug boat, M/V OLNG Muttrah, picked up one surviving crew member in the area, identified as the chief cook Angelito Roxas.

Container shipping company American President Lines Ltd has kick started its Guam Saipan Express (GSX) service with the arrival of U.S-flagged vessel, APL Guam at the island of Guam for the first time on 1 January 2016.

“We are thrilled to kick-start 2016 with the first cargo shipment on the GSX route,” said John Selleck, APL General Manager, Guam/Micronesia.

“With 75% of Guam’s inbound freight originating from the U.S. mainland, the GSX service provides essential cargo shipments from the U.S. mainland to Guam and Saipan. Moreover, with the GSX’s connections in Yokohama and Busan, we connect Guam and Saipan with the world through APL’s global network.”

Designed primarily to give Guam and Saipan shippers an alternative option for shipments from the U.S. mainland to these markets and vice versa, the GSX service connects with APL’s weekly U.S.-flagged Eagle Express service (EX1) in both Yokohama, Japan and Busan, South Korea.

Prior to calling Guam, the 1,100-TEU APL vessel made its first call to Saipan. Upon returning to Yokohama, APL Guam will begin its regular two-week rotation, calling Guam, Saipan, Busan and Yokohama on Saturday, Sunday, Thursday and Tuesday respectively. In particular, the fortnightly GSX service is scheduled for weekend arrivals for ready cargo availability on Monday mornings in both Guam and Saipan.

German shipping company F.Laeisz GmbH has signed a financial agreement in Beijing with Chinese multinational banking company Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC). Under the agreement, ICBC will provide USD 65 million worth of buyer’s credit to F.Laeisz GmbH for two vehicle roll-on/roll-off ships under construction at Chinese shipyard COSCO Dalian Shipbuilding. The deal comes following the last month’s signing of a financial deal with yet another German shipping company Peter Döhle, also intended for financing ship construction. F.Laeisz GmbH has eight car carriers in its fleet featuring 11,760 DWT in capacity. The company operates a fleet of about 40 vessels, boasting over 1.7 million DWT in total. Aside from car carriers, the company’s fleet includes container ships, bulk carriers, gas carriers and research vessels.

The Chinese government has issued a list of companies involved in offshore shipbuilding that made it to the so called “White List”, local media report.

The companies that make it to the list have a better chance of receiving financial loans from Chinese banks.

In the first batch, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) selected seven shipyards, all state-owned, those being: CIMC Raffles, China Merchants Heavy Industry, Cosco Qidong Shipyard, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore, and Cosco Nantong Shipyard.

The announcement follows a period of revision of the shipbuilders’ applications that was launched in July this year.

Previously, the Chinese government said that the list would aim at consolidation of offshore businesses, along with encouraging of technological progress and innovation. The specific benefits that offshore shipyards that make it to the list would enjoy are yet to be disclosed.

The list is similar to that of China’s “White List” of conventional shipyards that were made eligible for restructuring within China’s reform of the sector aimed at boosting competitiveness by cutting overcapacity.

The ‘White List’ was announced in 2014 by China’s government, as an additional incentive for shipyards which comply with the country’s requirements in areas such as ship emissions, offering the rule-abiding shipyards benefits such as tax rebates and bank credits.

A devastating offshore market is expected to impact UK-based developer and producer of marine engines Rolls-Royce harder than expected in 2016.

In the guidance for 2015, the company announced that its marine performance continued to be impacted by weakening offshore markets and continued deferment or cancellation of orders. The company expects a further 15-20% decline in offshore marine market demand, weakening marine profit by a further USD 113-152 million.

The profit headwinds are likely to reach around USD 987.3 million in 2016, compared to 2015. Many of the headwinds impact higher than average margin segments of the business, or businesses where fixed costs are relatively high, the company said.

“While 2015 remains broadly as expected, the outlook for 2016 is very challenging. The speed and magnitude of change in some of our markets, which have historically performed well, has been significant and shows how sensitive parts of our business are to market conditions in the short-term,” Chief Executive Warren East said.

The company updated its outlook saying that they expect a revenue of up to USD 2,505 million for its marine business in 2015, compared to USD 2,202 million in 2014. Profit for this section is expected to be at USD 60.7 million.

As informed, Land & Sea progress was in line with full year expectations, although weakness in the offshore market continues to adversely impact the business. As a result, while expectations for the full year remain unchanged, the risk of further deterioration remains high in 2016.

Although many Land & Sea businesses had good order intake in the quarter, the offshore business intake was very weak. New contracts included MT30 gas turbines for the Royal Navy’s Type 26 Global Combat Ship, MTU diesel engines for the refit of the Royal Navy’s fleet of Type 23 Frigates and a new agreement for the supply of engines for a range of Sunseeker luxury yachts.

Rolls-Royce added that since the end of the quarter they have announced a further restructuring program within their marine business. This will focus on reducing corporate and administrative costs, including a 400 reduction in headcount – in addition to the 600 announced in June – with most of the early savings being reinvested in increased R&D to strengthen the competitive position of the business.

US liquefied gas shipping company Navigator Holdings has entered into a long term charter for a midsize gas carrier.

Navigator said that it will enter into a construction contract for this fully-refrigerated LPG vessel with Hyundai Mipo Shipyard in South Korea. The ship should join the company’s fleet in August 2017. The company’s second midsize ethane carrier will front-run the contract until delivery of the newbuild.

In its financial results for the third quarter of 2015, Navigator reported a revenue of USD 78.2 million, and net income of USD 22.7 million. The company’s EBITDA increased to USD 44 million, notwithstanding Navigator Aries being out of service following her collision in June 2015, and the sale of Navigator Mariner.

During the quarter, the company took delivery of a further newbuilding vessel, Navigator Centauri, and since the quarter end Navigator Ceres joined the fleet.

Navigator has an existing order book of 8 semi-refrigerated gas carrier newbuildings, for delivery between January 2016 and March 2017.

Ulstein’s largest offshore construction vessel yet, yard number 302, named Island Venture, has entered the final stage of her sea trials.

Island Venture, being built by Norwegian shipbuilder Ulstein Verft for Island Offshore/Edison Chouest Offshore, has been thoroughly tested at sea trials this week, and after the final tests are finished, the vessel will return to the yard by the end of the week to be completed.

“The sea trial has so far gone as expected. Some challenges will always emerge on sea trials, but we are now well underway with the DP tuning. With hard work, further testing and class punch towards the delivery, we will manage to complete our mission. 

“This is the largest ship and one of the most advanced projects so far. I believe we will manage to deliver this time as well thanks to our dedicated employees and suppliers that are currently working night and day to complete the vessel,” Ulstein Verft’s project manager Per Svein Brekke said.

Expected to be delivered in Q4 2015, the Island Venture is an SX165 design developed by Ulstein Design & Solutions. The vessel was launched from Ulstein’s dock hall on August 25, 2015.