Three decades is a long time for the corporate memory of any company, even titans like ExxonMobil it seems. It is reversing strategy put in place after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 to keep a tight in-house eye on the tankers it uses. Would it not be interesting to see the risk analysis-cost saving matrix on that one. And will others follow suit?
The rest of the news agenda remains packed with revealing insights, so here is what I have been reading this week:
1. IMO's Kitack Lim says 'failure is not an option' at key carbon meeting
It is a key moment for shipping's decarbonisation drive as the International Maritime Organization's main environmental committee meets to discuss the next regulatory step to achieve the UN body's greenhouse gas cutting goals. Correspondent Adam Corbet reports that secretary general Kitack Lim kicked off the discussions with a stark warning: failure is not an option. It remains to be seen whether the committee will adopt ambitious measures, and the European Union is not waiting to find out as it gears up to finalise shipping's inclusion in its Emissions Trading System in mid-July.
2. ExxonMobil ditches in-house vetting by outsourcing to Stena
US energy giant ExxonMobil has taken another step in the gradual outsourcing parts of its large tanker operation. The company is closing down IMT, its Singapore-based tanker vetting division. It is handing over the work to Maritime Global Services, a new arm of Stena group's Northern Marine Management, as reporter Bob Rust reports.
3. Daughters push on as Greek shipping moves with a changing world
Rising to take the reins of a family-controlled Greek shipping company was once the realm of the male heirs. Now, daughters are increasingly bucking the trend, with the likes of Semiramis Paliou, Maria Angelicoussis and the Procopiou sisters playing leading roles in their family empires, as Athens correspondent Harry Papachristou writes in our Greece Business Focus.
4. Zombie boxships come back to life with rates of $100,000 per day
Mark Twain would have been right if he had said reports of the death of classic panamax boxships had been greatly exaggerated. In a hot containership market, Ian Lewis reports that Andreas Hadjiyiannis-led Cyprus Sea Lines is said to have scored a $100,000 per day charter rate for the 5,060-teu S Santiago (built 2006).
5. 2020 Bulkers boss Magnus Halvorsen's MH Capital buys into Braemar
Magnus Halvorsen has gone from nemesis to shareholder. He used to be the top finance man at shipbroker Clarksons before taking the helm at 2020 Bulkers. Now, Halvorsen's MH Capital has unveiled a stake in arch-rival Braemar.
6. Kahn and Harren: He ain’t heavy, he’s my partner
First, there was the squad. That is the team that shipowners Martin Harren and Michael Kahn formed to explore ways Germany’s SAL Heavy Lift and Dutch contractor Jumbo Maritime could combine their heavylift vessel fleet. The combination became a reality three years later, and Kahn and Harren explain in an interview with Ian Lewis how things are going for the partnership.
