A Regional Meeting of Asia’s leading seafaring nations has highlighted the plight many seafarers face in the event of a maritime accident and has pledged to lead the drive towards proper and effective implementation of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Labor Organization (ILO) agreed Guidelines on the Fair Treatment of Seafarers.

Madrid - PANSA (the Polish Air Navigation Service Provider) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the publication of the first edition of an Airspace Strategy for Poland (ASP).

Imports at the U.S.’s major retail container ports have slowed down from their pre-holiday peak but remain at unusually high levels as retailers continue bringing in merchandise before tariffs increase in January, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

A vision for inland waterway transport (IWT) in the Baltic Sea Region as well as means to strengthen inland shipping were highlighted in Brussels this week, when about 90 participants from around the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) gathered to discuss the future of inland waterway transport to the final conference of project EMMA. The three-year-long project has brought inland shipping and inland waterways such as Elbe, Oder or Vistula higher on the political agenda.

The world’s fastest growing ship registry has now joined more than 2,000 other maritime professionals by becoming the latest associate member of BIMCO – The Baltic and International Maritime Council.

American sanctions on Iran took full effect once more on Monday, and the U.S. Treasury Department has published a new list of blacklisted Iranian entities. The government-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) appear prominently, along with their vessels and subsidiaries.

Palau International Ship Registry, the world’s fastest growing flag, added yet more vessels into its fleet with the signing of two new ship registrations during Seatrade Middle East 2018 (STMM) held last month in Dubai.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for September showing that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs) rose 5.5% compared to the same month in 2017. This was a slowdown from the 6.4% growth recorded in August year-over-year. Capacity climbed 5.8% and load factor slipped for the first time in eight months, down 0.3 percentage point compared to the year-earlier period, to 81.4%.

There are 1,966 vessels which have deliveries dates scheduled for 2018. However only 1,100 have hit the water so far this year, meaning 44 percent of the 2018 orderbook is outstanding, according to VesselsValue.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), rose 2.0% in September 2018, compared to the same period the year before. This pace of growth was relatively unchanged from the previous month but was less than half the five-year average growth rate of 5.1%.

The Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) continues to play a central role at the International Maritime Conference and Exhibition (INMARCO) which is held every four years.

The oil and gas industry requires strong, durable work boats with a long serviceable life. Marsol International Limited have access to a family of workboats made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), a material known for its versatile strength and long-lasting durability, which are ideally suited to the harsh working conditions of the offshore environment.

The bulk sector is navigating its way out of the doldrums but market correction has come at a price, delegates attending Bulk Terminals 2018 learned last week.

Hong Kong has the potential to become an even more attractive international hub for arbitration in the Far East if it develops a more global strategy and embraces foreign investment, according to Edward Yang Liu, Hill Dickinson counsel in Hong Kong.

In the first three quarters of 2018, total throughput in the port of Rotterdam was 0.4% lower than in the same period the previous year. Container volumes continued to grow at a markedly higher pace than the first nine months of 2017 – even recording a new all-time high in August. Wet and dry bulk, however, showed a decline in volume – although LNG and biomass were two positive outliers within these product segments. All in all, 350 million tonnes of cargo was handled in the port of Rotterdam, a decrease of 1.5 million tonnes compared to last year. The port expects to make up some of the difference in the fourth quarter, so that the throughput recorded for 2018 in its entirety will be more or less equal to that of 2017.