Unquestionably, the big news this week came from Singapore, where BW-controlled Hafnia made a move for rival product tanker giant Torm. Hafnia is acquiring a 14.45% holding in its Danish rival from Oaktree Capital Management in a deal worth about $311.4m leading many analysts to speculate whether this is a first step to a takeover – something that would create a tanker giant with a fleet closing in on 200 ships.
On the global stage, there was plenty of attention given to Beijing and Xi Jinping’s giant military parade earlier in the week. With Vladimir Putin in attendance, Russia secured agreement to build a colossal natural gas pipeline through Siberia and Mongolia to feed China’s insatiable demand, a deal that threatens to redraw the global energy map — and sideline a chunk of seaborne LNG trade in the process.
In terms of the most-read stories on Splash this week, tech has led the way. Splash‘s dedicated tech coverage can be accessed here.
Starlink Maritime’s decision to slash the cost of its unlimited data package by 90% has been read by more than 11,000 people, while news from Japan and the delivery of the world’s first commercial ammonia-fuelled engine proved equally popular.
Splash has been covering significant progress in ammonia engine technology recently, with tests demonstrating substantial reductions in emissions, and reports on pioneering bunkering operations, including the world’s first green ammonia bunkering in China and the ordering of the first ammonia bunkering vessel by Itochu.
This week, DNV issued a data-packed white paper on ammonia’s progress as a shipping fuel, which forms the focus of the latest Splash Wrap podcast carried below.
