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The International Monetary Fund today announced sharply-lowered world growth forecasts for this year and 2026 and warned the outlook could deteriorate further in an escalating trade war sparked by President Trump’s century-high tariffs impacting all countries. The global economy is predicted to grow 2.8% this year, down from a previous forecast of 3.3%, and by […]

According to a new report from Sea-Intelligence, container shipping lines have dramatically increased blank sailings on Transpacific routes as a result of the escalating trade conflict between the U.S. and China. Under the latest developments, the U.S. boosted tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, while China retaliated with 125% tariffs on U.S. imports and restrictions

China’s biggest container carrier, Cosco Shipping Lines, today struck out at the revised plan by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to charge steep fees to Chinese-built vessels docking at American ports. “We firmly oppose the accusations and the subsequent measures,” Cosco Shipping Lines said in a statement. “Such measures not only distort fair competition

The volume of world merchandise trade is expected to decline by 0.2% in 2025 under current conditions, nearly three percentage points lower than what would have been expected under a “low tariff” baseline scenario, according to the WTO Secretariat’s latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report released on 16 April.  This is premised on the

Following two days of negotiations during its 2025 session at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, the Subcommittee on Wages of Seafarers of the Joint Maritime Commission (JMC), reached a bipartite agreement to update the current ILO minimum monthly basic wage for an able seafarer from US$673 to US$690 as of 1 January 2026,

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed a rise in global piracy and armed robbery incidents in the first quarter of 2025 – driven by a spike of incidents in the Singapore Straits.  A total of 45 cases of piracy and armed robbery against ships were recorded in the first three months of 2025

A groundbreaking Joint Development Agreement (JDA) has been signed to establish the world’s first liquid hydrogen import corridor, connecting the Sultanate of Oman, the Netherlands, and Germany. This corridor will link the port of Duqm in Oman, the port of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and key logistics hubs in Germany, including the port of Duisburg

The fifth meeting of the International Labour Organization’s  Special Tripartite Committee (STC) on the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) concluded last week with some hard-fought achievements for seafarers, led in the negotiations by ITF Seafarers’ Section Vice Chair, Mark Dickinson. Noteworthy amongst the amendments adopted was the designation and recognition of seafarers as key workers “… to