Jim Wilson

Addressing fires on container ships requires a holistic risk-based approach and prioritization of risk prevention and mitigation enhancement when developing amendments. To support ongoing work on developing revisions to SOLAS or new regulations concerning detection and control of fires in cargo holds and on the cargo deck of containerships, experts in containership fires and Formal...

Members of Shipping Australia’s NSW State Committee from across New South Wales met online and in person recently at the headquarters of the Port of Newcastle on the Hunter River to discuss industry issues. After beginning our meeting with the Acknowledgement of Country and after reminding all present that Shipping Australia is committed to complying...

Victoria’s new Allan Labor Government has called for zero-emission freight transport and has set reduction targets to hit net zero by 2045. The state’s Department of Transport and Planning hosted a Freight Decarbonisation Summit to connect government, industry and transport operators. The Victorian government added that it will co-design policies, regulations, infrastructure and technology to...

Shipping Australia today expresses its support for DP World in its enterprise bargaining dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia. We call for the MUA to resume negotiations. The average daily value of the container trade in the whole of Australia is about AUD$724.14 million per day. About 1-in-5 jobs depend upon logistics. About 99.92%...

The European legal regime that boosts competition in shipping, increases the frequency of liner shipping, increases the connectivity of port pairs and reduces freight rates will be allowed to die. The legal instrument goes by the snappy name of the “Consortia Block Exemption Regulation,” and it will be allowed to lapse in April 2024. Analysts...

Australian agency and shipping service provider CoastalBridge Agencies has joined Shipping Australia as a full member! Focused on representing shipping lines working in Australia, CoastalBridge offers a range of agency services to vessel owners and operators. Services include owner agency, vessel husbandry, cargo owners agency, equipment control and management, vessel allocations, supply chain and trade...

In a turbulent global landscape marked by geopolitical events like the war in Ukraine, the maritime industry showed remarkable resilience, adapting to new, lengthier trade routes. Maritime trade volumes dipped 0.4% in 2022 but are on track for a 2.4% rebound in 2023 and above 2% growth through 2028. A sector-specific analysis shows that containerized...

Shipping Australia’s own Mehrangiz Shahbakhsh explained how autonomous shipping is developing and gave insights into its human elements at a prestigious law conference recently. Speaking at the 48th National Conference of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (MLAANZ), which was held between October 4-6 in Perth this year, Ms Shahbakhsh explained that...

World economic growth will slow from 3% in 2022 to 2.4% in 2023, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, has warned. Arguing that the world economy is “at a crossroads, where divergent growth paths, widening inequalities, growing market concentration and mounting deb burdens cast shadows on the future”, the body has called for a...

A maximum market of about 9,000 to 12,900 large merchant ships will be suitable for a retrofit to  alternative fuels but only a “small number” will actually be retrofitted, according to new analysis by class society Lloyd’s Register. The analysis considered vessels in existence and on order up until 2030, after which the class society...