Splash247: Splash Wrap: Trading missiles

Published by Splash247

The violent Hormuz shipping crisis made many headlines this week with fresh attacks between the US and Iran and tanker strikes off Oman that killed three seafarers. Hopes of a near-term resolution rose on Thursday after President Trump suggested a US-Iran peace deal could be signed as early as this weekend. Tehran was more guarded, however, stating it had yet to make a final decision. Images also emerged from the Indian Navy (pictured above) extracting an unexploded missile warhead from the VLCC Olympic Life, which was en route from the UAE to Kochi when it was struck.

Belgian gas shipowner and infrastructure provider Exmar took delivery this week of what is being billed as the world’s first oceangoing vessel powered by a dual-fuel ammonia engine. The 46,000 cu m midsize gas carrier Antwerpen was handed over by South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Hrvoje Mihovilović, founder and CEO of ELNAV.AI, building practical AI safety systems for bridge operations, was this week’s big Maritime CEO interview. “If AI is designed mainly for remote monitoring, scoring or blame-by-replay, it can damage trust and weaken just culture,” he warned.

Among this week’s many Contributions, Niklas Weidmann, managing director of Tilla, stood out for his handy, big picture advice on how to cut crew travel costs.  Crew travel sits as a clearly visible line item in most crewing budgets. It is typically the second-largest cost after salaries. 

A deep dive into the latest Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) and so-called burst congestion published this week by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence forms the basis for the latest edition of the Splash Wrap podcast, carried below.