The European Commission is upgrading new electronic systems necessary to apply the provisions of the new Union Customs Code. The EU Trader Portal is a single electronic access point at EU level for accessing the electronic customs system. Traders will be using this to get information on tariff classification of goods.

The four-year MEPSEAS project aims to enhance the countries’ capacity to implement a number of high-priority treaties, including the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships; the Anti-Fouling Systems Convention; the London dumping of wastes at sea convention and protocol; and the Ballast Water Management Convention.

The European Transport Workers Federation and the European Community Shipowners’ Associations have discussed possible solutions to increase women’s participation in the shipping industry in Europe. Today, women amount for 2% of the seafaring workforce available for the EU fleet.

Digitalization will be an important aspect to reduce shipbuilding and repair costs, the US Navy said. In fact, the Navy will try to leverage this in order to build a larger fleet. Digital modeling can also decrease time in design process by enabling engineers to test capabilities in few days rather than needing weeks or months.

Whales travel all around the world’s oceans, communicating with complex sounds. They currently are at the top of the food chain and play an important role in the overall health of the marine environment. However, despite their size and importance, they are in serious danger. Today 6 out of the 13 great whale species are endangered, even after decades of protection. So one issue emerges: Protecting whales. What can we do to protect whales and what has already been done to save these creatures?

More than 100 migrants from the container ship 'Alexander Maersk' arrived in the southern port of Pozzallo in Sicily on Tuesday, June 26. The mayor of Pozzallo welcomed the Italian interior minister's decision to let the ship dock. An Italian doctor at the port examined the people and said that they are generally good in their health.

During a salvage operation, an 18-member team noticed a crack on the upper deck of the container ship 'SSL Kolkata' that had caught fire on June 13, while underway off Sandheads, Bay of Bengal. This discovery changed the plans of the team as they decided to empty the ship of the containers and the fuel before towing it to a port.

After the oil spill that was reported at the Port of Rotterdam, the port authority along with emergency services installed oil booms around the vessel as quickly as possible to prevent the further spread of the oil. The installation was successful but some of the oil had already spread beyond the incident area. 

The Boris Vilkitski LNG tanker left the Yamal plant on Friday for Montoir terminal in France,  after spending more than a week without operating. In addition, Christophe de Margerie appears to have loaded, and is now leaving the area. Moreover, the LNG tankers Vladimir Rusanov and Eduard Toll are waiting offshore the Yamal LNG plant. 

The IMO invited ISO to develop a standard for methyl/ethyl alcohol as a marine fuel and a standard for methyl/ethyl alcohol fuel couplings. ISO will work on these standards and provide them as soon as possible, but noted that there was limited experience with such fuels in practice. Currently there are eight large ships which operate on methanol.