Thursday, December 22, 2011

ITF newsletter on the economic crisis

ITF newsletter on the economic crisis

Link to Economic Crisis Newsletter

Happy New Year

Posted:

The MEC will be taking a break until 05 January 2012 - Season's Greetings!

Company shorts - 22 Dec. 11

Posted:

The global economic crisis has taken a heavy toll on Italy's BM Shipping Group, which was declared bankrupt. Eight vessels it had bought three years ago for €80 million are to be sold for scrap.

Chile's shipyard Asenav has won a US$200 million order to build two new offshore vessels for Maersk Supply Services; they will be delivered in 2014 and 2015 to operate in the Canadian offshore market.

The Hamburg Port Authority has unveiled a 3.5 per cent increase in port fees for 2012. It will be a special provision for mega-ships, with fees capped at the 11,000 teu level.

Singapore's Equinox Offshore Accommodation has awarded a US$140 million contract to Sembawang Shipyard, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine, for a ro-pax conversion.

Maersk Line has announced its weekly CRX service between Mexico and Costa Rica, and Northern Europe would be resumed in January 2012.

India has planned to triple its port capacity up to 3.1 billion tonnes by 2020, as its annual containerised traffic has grown by 13 per cent within the last five years.

Sources: Lloyd's List; International Freighting Weekly; 19-20 December 2011

Economic recovery slower than expected

Posted:

Declining global freight volumes represent a signal for weak growth in the near future, according to a recent statistics brief from the International Transport Forum at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sea trade in the European Union and the US stays below pre-crisis levels, and air cargo volumes have decreased to figures just above those recorded in 2008. Exports by sea to Asia have kept a positive trend and reached levels higher than before the crisis - with 28 per cent more for the EU countries and 17 per cent more for the US. Air trade with Asia countries has declined this year.

Source: Lloyd's List; 19 December 2011

Maersk Line tops reliability tables

Posted:

Maersk Line with 75 per cent and Hamburg Süd with 74 per cent overall on-time rate have been the most reliable container lines in November 2011, according to SeaIntel Maritime. However, the reliability of all carriers has declined slightly to 63 per cent, one per cent less than in October 2011. In a more detailed analysis taking into consideration reliability by the hour, SeaIntel Maritime says that Maersk Line had a 95 per cent reliability on Asia to Europe, and transpacific trades. Maersk retains the number one spot with 88 per cent of all its vessels arriving on time within 24 hours. 

Source: International Freighting Weekly; 19 December 2011

Record year for Los Angeles port

Posted:

The Port of Los Angeles on the US west coast is set to export in excess of two million teu by the end of this year, as it handled 195,877 teu in November, its highest monthly level. Export of US goods was boosted by a weak US dollar. The largest US container port handled 1.9 billion teu in the nine months to September 2011, 5.5 per cent more than the previous year. In the meantime, the Port of Long Beach's annual drop in volumes can be blamed on the departure in December 2010 of California United Terminals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai Merchant Marine, to Los Angeles.

Sources: International Freighting Weekly; Lloyd's List; 19 December 2011

G6 Alliance to start operations

Posted:

Six container lines, three members of the Grand Alliance (NYK Line, Hapag-Lloyd, and OOCL) and three members of the New World Alliance (APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, and Mitsui OSK Lines), have decided to launch a new network service in April 2012. The G6 Alliance is to deploy 90 vessels for the Asia to Europe routes, covering more than 40 ports. The new partnership is a new development in the container shipping market aimed at competing with mega-ships services provided by giant carriers.

Source: Lloyd's List; 20 December 2011