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PortGraphic: COVID-19 and how vulnerable are European container ports to the drop in Chinese port volumes?

North Sea, U.S. Gulf Producers Work to Keep COVID-19 Off Platforms.

COVID-19 and the Shipowner's Legal Obligations.

COVID-19 saw global maritime trade collapse by as much as 10% in the first eight months of 2020 - leading to losses of up to $412 billion, reveals recently published Oxford research, which used sophisticated algorithms and tracking data to follow 100,000 vessels.

Researchers from NTU have modelled that pollutant emissions from the shipping sector increased significantly in major international seaports during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 continued to severely affect the wellbeing of seafarers in 2021, according to the Q4 report of the Seafarers Happiness Index by maritime charity the Mission to Seafarers.

Covid-19: Boskalis Stops Crew Changes, Cuts Spending.

Ferry Industry Seeks Financial Assistance Amid COVID-19.

Ship with COVID-19 on Board Piloted Remotely through Suez Canal.

COVID-19 to Wipe 20% of Traffic in Europe's Largest Port.

Italy-Bound Cruise Ship Had 36 COVID-19 Cases During Marseille Stop.

COVID-19: South Africa Bans Cruise Ships.

Stena Line Announces More Job Cuts Due To COVID-19.

What the cruise-ship outbreaks reveal about COVID-19.

USCG Oversees Disembarkation of 250,000 Cruise Ship Passengers Due to COVID-19.

UN organizations issue joint call for seafarers and aircrew to be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination.

Low-frequency sound from large vessels is a major, global source of ocean noise that can interfere with acoustic communication for a variety of marine animals. Changes in vessel activity provide opportunities to quantify relationships between vessel traffic levels and soundscape conditions in biologically important habitats. Using continuous deep-sea (890 m) recordings acquired ∼20 km (closest point of approach) from offshore shipping lanes, we observed reduction of low-frequency noise within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (California, United States) associated with changes in vessel traffic during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Acoustic modeling shows that the recording site receives low-frequency vessel noise primarily from the regional shipping lanes rather than via the Sound Fixing and Ranging (SOFAR) channel. Monthly geometric means and percentiles of spectrum levels in the one-third octave band centered at 63 Hz during 2020 were compared with those from the same months of 2018-2019. Spectrum levels were persistently and significantly lower during February through July 2020, although a partial rebound in ambient noise levels was indicated by July. Mean spectrum levels during 2020 were more than 1 dB re 1 μPa2 Hz-1 below those of a previous year during 4 months. The lowest spectrum levels, in June 2020, were as much as 1.9 (mean) and 2.4 (25% exceedance level) dB re 1 μPa2 Hz-1 below levels of previous years. Spectrum levels during 2020 were significantly correlated with large-vessel total gross tonnage derived from economic data, summed across all California ports (r = 0.81, p < 0.05; adjusted r2 = 0.58). They were more highly correlated with regional presence of large vessels, quantified from Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel tracking data weighted according to vessel speed and modeled acoustic transmission loss (r = 0.92, p < 0.01; adjusted r2 = 0.81). Within the 3-year study period, February-June 2020 exhibited persistentl

The COVID-19 global pandemic upended life around the world and disrupted global economic activity. It enabled a rare opportunity to measure the relationship between shipping traffic and the underwater soundscape in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Ship movements on the world's oceans dropped in the first half of 2020 as Covid-19 restrictions came into force, a new study shows.

The global COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp decline in vessel traffic in many areas around the world, including vessel-based tourism throughout Alaska, USA in 2020. Marine vessel traffic has long been known to affect the underwater acoustic environment with direct and indirect effects on marine ecological processes. Glacier Bay National Park in southeastern Alaska has monitored underwater sound since 2000. We used continuous, calibrated hydrophone recordings to examine 2020 ambient sound levels compared with previous years: 2018, the most recent year with data available, and 2016 for historical perspective. Park tourism occurs mainly in May-September. Overall, the number of vessel entries in Glacier Bay was 44-49% lower in 2020 (2020: n = 1,831; 2018: n = 3,599; 2016: n = 3,212) affecting all vessel classes, including the complete absence of cruise ships and only three tour vessel trips. In all years, we found clear seasonal and diurnal patterns in vessel generated noise, focused from 06:00 to 20:00 local time (LT) in the summer months. Broadband (17.8-8,910 Hz) sound levels in the 2020 Visitor Season were 2.7 dB lower than 2018 and 2.5 dB lower than 2016. Focusing on morning (06:00-09:00 LT) and afternoon (15:00-18:00 LT) time-blocks when tour vessels and cruise ships enter and exit Glacier Bay, median broadband sound levels were 3.3-5.1 dB lower in 2020 than prior years. At the 95th percentile levels, morning and afternoon peak times in 2020 were 6.3-9.0 dB quieter than previous years. A 3 dB decline in median sound level in the 125 Hz one-third octave band in 2020 reflects a change in medium and large vessel noise energy and/or harbor seal vocalizations. Our results suggest that all types of vessels had a role in the quieter underwater sound environment in 2020, with the combined acoustic footprint of tour vessels and cruise ships most evident in the decrease in the 95th percentile loudest sounds. This and other descriptions of the pandemic-induced