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Ocean carriers have become adept at reducing capacity on an ad hoc basis when cargo volumes drop, and this operating strategy could reach a new level next month during the annual Chinese New Year celebration. With indications that factories in Asia will begin closing in early February and remain shut for as long as three [...]  Orient Overseas Container Lines announced recently the christening of two 13,208-TEU container ships, the M/V OOCL Brussels and the M/V NYK Helios, at a ceremony at Geoje Island Shipyard in South Korea. These ships are now the two largest with OOCL’s worldwide fleet and the largest ever built for OOCL by Samsung Heavy Industries. These [...]
Carriers that already have idled about 6 percent of the global fleet are likely to start idling more ships in the next few weeks as the peak season winds down, according to a global shipping consultant. The glut of global vessel capacity next year and the year after is beginning to look like 2012 all [...] Maersk, the largest container line by market value, will report a 44 percent gain in net income to 21.9 billion kroner ($3.8 billion) for this year, according to the mean of 18 analyst estimates. The Copenhagen-based company also owns oil tankers and drilling rigs, with container shipping generating 45 percent of revenue, data compiled by [...] State-owned China Shipping is planning to order up to 20 new supertankers for the fleet of a joint venture aimed at giving Beijing more control over its energy supply chain but which will add to the vessel glut in the struggling freight market. A Chinese ship buying spree would provide much needed business to the [...] The widened Panama Canal will definitely benefit the global shipping industry, but industry insiders differ as to the benefits for Hong Kong and mainland Chinese shippers. Willy Lin Sun-mo, the chairman of the Hong Kong Shippers’ Council, said the benefits to local shippers would not be that great. He said although bigger ships would be [...] From ABC Australia: The shipping industry is blaming rising costs and competition for its struggle to make profits. Last year, the world’s largest container ship operator, Maersk Line, lost up to $7 million a day. Director of sales for Maersk Line, Gerard Morrison, says exporters should be paying more to ship containers of grain around [...] Daily rates for Panamax vessels, that typically haul coal and grains, plunged to the lowest in more than eight weeks as a glut of ships swamps the number of cargoes available for loading. Returns for Panamaxes, the largest size able to navigate the Panama Canal, lost 2.2 percent, sliding to $7,096 a day, the lowest [...] The biggest concerns of agricultural exporters as the 2012 peak shipping season approaches are equipment availability, adequate vessel space and volatility of freight rates. Exporters who addressed the annual Agriculture Transportation Coalition conference in San Francisco said they are looking for a good, though probably not a spectacular year in terms of volume. [...] The majority of ocean container carriers will lose money in the second quarter following their failure to fully implement rate hikes in May and June, Alphaliner says. However, operating margins are expected to improve significantly in the period as average rates and capacity utilization have risen, while fuel costs have declined 5 percent, the container [...]
Maersk and rivals such as Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM lost money last year as high fuel costs exacerbated a price war. In addition to raising freight rates in response, they pooled or idled ships and reduced speeds to curb vessel supply. The decline in the index indicates those price increases are reversing as ships [...] Container shipping freight rates are profitable again and could rise further if trade picks up over the summer, the head of A.P. Moller-Maersk, the Danish shipping and oil group, said on Thursday. The recovery in rates could signal a brighter outlook for the global shipping industry, which has struggled to emerge from a four-year slump [...] South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, shown above, along with Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, have benefited from the industry’s move away from China’s cheaper vessels. Overall sales by Chinese yards have been difficult as struggling shipowners seek quality vessels to offset rising maintenance and fuel costs. Chinese shipyards are offering [...]
Global rates had dropped as the industry added ships in anticipation of an economic recovery, causing overcapacity. Maersk said its first-quarter result was hurt by a 9 percent drop in freight rates and 31 percent higher fuel prices. A.P. Moeller-Maersk fell the most in more than two years in Copenhagen trading after saying its container [...] Several major carriers have recently reported losses. Among them: Hapag-Lloyd Posts $172 Million First Quarter Loss German ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd’s first quarter net loss widened to 132.4 million euros ($172 million) from 22.1 million euros ($28.7 million) a year ago as lower freight rates and higher fuel costs outweighed double-digit growth in container traffic. (More [...] |
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