Jim Wilson

Now in its third consecutive year, Shipping Australia Limited (SAL) and WISTA Australia welcomed a sold-out room at the RACV Melbourne City Club on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, to mark the IMO International Day for Women in Maritime. This year’s IMO theme was “From Policy to Practice: Advancing Gender Equality for Maritime Excellence”, focusing on...

The Mission to Seafarers writes: “To the Editor:  We read your article of 15 May 2026, “Seafarers aren’t quite as unhappy as you might think” and felt it important to respond. Constructive discussion around welfare data is welcome and necessary. No survey is beyond scrutiny, and we remain committed to ensuring the Seafarers Happiness Index...

Dr Marjorie O’Neill,  the NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and the member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for Coogee, told Shipping Australia guests at our luncheon this week that the NSW government is working on reforms to address long-term efficiency while tackling “very pressing” issues. “The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global fuel...

By Shipping Australia’s Victoria State Secretary, Charles Masters Deputy Chair for Shipping Australia Victoria Ms Sirisha Gunde officially welcomed the large group set to play at the La Trobe Golf Club.  The course was picture perfect, fairways trimmed greens finely shaved with play commencing under perfectly clear skies and no wind. In other words, the...

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...