Jim Wilson

A century and a half after steamships revolutionised the maritime industry, the sector is now undergoing another transformative shift toward remotely operated and autonomous ships. This transformation is evident in innovative pioneer projects worldwide, including but not limited to AUTOSHIP (Autonomous Shipping Initiative for European Waters), Yara Birkeland, the Autonomous and Remote Navigation Trial Project...

Houthi militants released the 25-member crew of the PCTC Galaxy Leader (IMO: 9237307) earlier this week, a move that was welcomed around the world. Nationals from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Mexico and Romania were kidnapped in November 2023 at the start of the Hamas-Israel war when the Galaxy Leader was illegally hijacked and detained in...

Expert seafarers, years of individual, collective and corporate navigational seafaring experience, and access to the best and most up-to-date available charts simply could not save a cargo ship that ran afoul of commercial shipping’s oldest threat: bad weather. Concerns had been raised about whether the master, Marinus Wijsvliet, or his senior crew had made an...

A 37% cut in reportable incidents at the stevedore Qube has occurred because of new simulator-based training, according to a joint statement between Qube and simulator provider Motum. As is well known in the industry, Qube is (among other things) a provider of automotive stevedoring services. Qube drivers must unload cars parked as close as...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that three ports in northern Western Australia will have First Port of Entry Status. Applications for expanded border services at Wyndham, Ashburton and Dampier have been given the green light by the Albanese Government, allowing goods subject to biosecurity and other controls to land here and enter Australia. “This...

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As the year gets underway, it’s apposite to take a couple of moments to mull over what may lie ahead in the coming 12 months (well, 11.5 months now, but you get the idea). The IMO Secretary General, Arsenio Dominguez, recently set out the IMO’s 2025 priorities which boil down to seafarers, security and decarbonisation....

Containership chartering: well, that’s was certainly a notable freight rate year for the containership sector that was. As 2024 closed its books, we saw a year-on-year three figure boost in in charter rates in nearly every ship size category, in nearly every time charter duration. One of those charter rates, for vessels at the 4,250...

As is, by now, well known, the waterfront union has withdrawn its highly damaging and disruptive industrial actions against the stevedore Qube. Shipping Australia had previously given a variety of media briefings and wrote to State, Territory and Federal politicians urging intervention in the industrial relations campaign. We pointed out that the strikes were damaging...

A new direct shipping route between China, Indonesia and Adelaide will provide South Australian importers and exporters with significantly improved access to key North Asian markets, Flinders Port Holdings, has declared. The ship, MSC Sijing, which departed Outer Harbor earlier this week, was the first vessel to arrive in Adelaide as part of MSC’s new...