Jim Wilson

Victoria’s 26/27 budget has announced $124.5 million to progress activities at the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal at Hastings. The funding will be used to progress the Environmental Effects Statement process for the first heavy-duty facility of its kind in Australia, a Victorian Government statement reads. Minister for Ports and Freight Melissa Horne commented that “We...

Students of the ITALC and IFCBAA Diplomas of Customs Broking and Diploma of Freight forwarding may in the future be granted credit for the Australian Maritime College’s degrees, following an announcement earlier this week. AMC has announced that it will assess and and recognise the IFCBAA programmes along with relevant industry experience. This collaboration provides...

Japanese maritime academic and former seafarer Professor Momoko Kitada has been awarded the International Maritime Organization’s Gender Equality Award 2026.   The award was presented by IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez during a ceremony held at IMO Headquarters in London (18 May) to mark International Day for Women in Maritime. The recipient of the Gender Equality Award is selected...

In the recent Federal Budget, the Australian Federal Government announced a variety of shipping, trade, maritime measures. These include: Disruption provision of interest free loans from the National Reconstruction Fund to help manufacturing and logistics businesses in critical supply chains manage market disruption; $4.5 million over three years from 2026–27 for the Commonwealth Scientific and...

Seafarer happiness may possibly have taken a little bit of a wobble of late, according to the Mission to Seafarers (MtS) Seafarers’ Happiness Index. But an alternative view based on the same data is that seafarer happiness is holding up remarkably well and, indeed, there appears to be an ongoing improvement in happiness. The MtS...

Orient Overseas Container Line has held the naming ceremony of OOCL Wisdom, the Company’s first methanol dual‑fuel container vessel. The ship will be the first of a series of seven vessels. With a maximum capacity of 24,168 TEU, OOCL Wisdom is said to be the world’s largest methanol dual‑fuel container vessel. All main engines, auxiliary...

About 2.32% of ships inspected by an International Association of Classification Societies inspection campaign had power related deficiencies. Just under 37,000 ships had their emergency power supply inspected over the full course of the year 2025 and deficiencies were found on 853 vessels. IACS notes that there were several critical and recurring equipment failure points...

Global shipping bodies, BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping have recently welcomed the entry into force of the UN Convention on the International Effects of the Judicial Sale of Ships (the “Beijing Convention”). The bodies made their announcement in may although entry into force took place in mid-February this year. However, this Convention is...

Japanese shipping major, NYK, has carried out a demonstration trial in Singapore to verify the interoperability between the vessel’s autonomous navigation system and the port systems. According to NYK Line, the car carrier equipped with marine DX technologies, including an autonomous navigation system, a large-motion mitigation system, and anonboard Wi-Fi network covering the entire vessel....

The Mission to Seafarers has appointed Guy Platten as its new Chair. Platten, a chartered master mariner and the former Secretary General and CEO of the International Chamber of Shipping, brings more than four decades of senior leadership experience to the role. Commenting on his appointment, Platten said: “I am deeply honoured to take on...