Container lines

A container-carrying barge that Crowley Liner Services added to fill a void left by Horizon Lines’ exit from Puerto Rico is scheduled to arrive Monday in San Juan on its first voyage.

Spot rates continued to tumble on the major east-west trades this week with the Asia-Europe price per 20-foot container hitting $620, its lowest rate in more than 18 months, according to the latest reading of the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI).

Many container shipping lines have amassed huge debt by ordering mega vessels in a bid to drive down unit costs, but weak demand and an oversupply of tonnage will make it difficult to improve financial performance, according to AlixPartners’ 2015 Container Shipping Outlook.

Ocean carriers must unlock more value from alliances and accelerate internal transformation programs to restore profitability, according to Boston Consulting Group.

The agency responsible for the operation and management of the Panama Canal has asked for an international arbitration panel to review a $233 million award to the consortium expanding the waterway.

Container lines’ overall on-time arrival rates on major east-west routes improved slightly in February despite U.S. West Coast port congestion that upset trans-Pacific schedules, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Japan’s exports to the U.S. rose for the sixth consecutive month in February, surging 14.3 percent to 1.215 trillion yen ($10.0 billion) on the back of brisk auto shipments, according to preliminary trade figures released by the Japanese Finance Ministry this week.

A bill requiring ocean going ships to switch to low sulfur fuel while at berth in Hong Kong was tabled at the Legislative Council today and, if passed, will effectively raise the cost of shipping containers through the city even as it steadily loses market share to Shenzhen.

An improved balance between the supply of container ships and demand for capacity is emerging as ordering of new ships has slowed down, a shipping analyst said.

Environmentalists and human rights activists warn that Nicaragua’s granting of a 100-year concession to a Hong Kong construction firm with unclear financial backing sets in motion a nightmarish scenario fraught with violence, depletion of the region’s largest source of freshwater and destruction of biodiversity.

Idle container ship capacity edged up to 242,000 TEUs on March 9 from 206,000 TEUs two weeks earlier, representing 1.3 percent of the world fleet, according to Alphaliner.

In an attempt to reduce port bottlenecks, the Narendra Modi-led Indian government has approved a special state-aid scheme for the construction of new infrastructure suitable for handling coastal vessels at publicly owned major ports.

Facing higher transportation costs and a shift in consumer demand, shippers are changing how and what kind of apparel they import into the U.S.: opting for less expensive cargo that can be packed and stacked over luxury goods shipped on the hanger.

Mexico’s recent expansion of its ban on U.S. poultry after authorities confirmed a case of bird flu in Arkansas is the latest blow to exporters whose containerized shipments have steadily fallen since China and South Korea imposed their own bans months ago.

India’s merchandise exports in February plunged 15 percent from a year earlier to $21.5 billion, following an 11.2 percent decrease in January, marking the lowest value in three years, according to provisional figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The average ship turnaround time at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex in the fourth quarter was twice that experienced by carriers in August, with the congestion during the three month period costing carriers an estimated $150 million, or $1.5 million per weekly service, according to analysis by Drewry.

Container line financials are gradually improving thanks to asset sales, reduced operating expenses, debt reduction and effects of a 50 percent drop in bunker fuel, says the consulting firm Alix Partners.

U.S. shippers importing goods from Asia to the West Coast are paying more in the spot market for ocean shipping but getting worse service in return, a function of carriers’ pricing power gained from strong demand and the effects of the congestion.

The usually staid U.S.-South America ocean container trade is undergoing a shakeup, and it starts at the top of the carrier hierarchy.

A look at full-year 2014 U.S. West Coast containerized ocean trade via Asian ports.

A proposed Hong Kong rule requiring use of low-sulfur fuel for ships while at berth — a less stringent rule that those applied in U.S. and some European waters — will take effect on July 1 if approved by the Legislative Council next week.

Carriers in the trans-Pacific eastbound market are hoping to leverage robust volumes, higher spot rates and the disruption tied to the recent U.S. West Coast labor standoff to achieve higher rates in annual contracts with shippers that take effect on May 1.

The yawning cargo imbalance on the North America-Mediterranean container trade is still widening and carriers need an economic recovery in southern Europe to narrow the gap, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Cargo sourced directly from beneficial cargo owners is becoming a steadily larger piece of Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s U.S. import cargo, further underscoring its transformation from an outsider, dependent on intermediaries for freight, to the largest carrier serving the U.S. market.

Bruised by the experience of the current West Coast port disruption, shippers speaking at the 15th annual TPM Conference last week in Long Beach, California, gave a ringing endorsement of service and reliability as key elements in ocean carrier relationships.

Clarksons posted higher profit and revenue in 2014 but the world’s biggest maritime services company said it faces “extremely challenging” conditions in some shipping markets.

A new design for a refrigerated ship built for banana shipments and roll-on, roll-off cargo promises more capacity, faster loading and unloading, and better fuel efficiency than its counterparts, its designer says.

Grimaldi Group is close to sealing a $300 million order for five large car carriers that will operate on the North Atlantic trade lane.

A final Japanese government report on the 2013 break-up and sinking of the MOL Comfort has called for amended ship design requirements to better ensure the safety of large container ships.

The idle container ship fleet has increased over the past two weeks and likely will continue to grow as a steady stream of new vessels is delivered, according to industry analyst Alphaliner.

While the growth pace of overall U.S. trade is slowing, perishables trade expansion is “significantly faster,” World City President Ken Roberts said at the JOC's 15th annual TPM Conference.

The 15 top container carriers are at risk of significant and damaging cyberattacks, according to the head of a leading market intelligence provider and cybersecurity firm in the industry.

Ship sizes have reached the point of diminishing returns and container lines should be focusing instead on introducing differentiation into their service offering, Martin Stopford, director of Clarkson Research Services in London, told delegates at the 15th annual TPM Conference in Long Beach.

U.S. containerized imports in 2015 will increase a paltry 1.7 percent, dragged down by West Coast port congestion, JOC Economist Mario Moreno told the 15th annual TPM Conference in Long Beach on Monday.

Japan’s third-largest shipping line, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, announced Monday it would be beefing up its LNG and bulker vessels over the next four years, while downsizing its container shipping fleet.

MOL on Monday confirmed orders and charters for six 20,150-TEU vessels that catapults the Japanese carrier into the ranks of the operators of the world’s largest container ships.

SeaLand, the hallowed container shipping brand relaunched by Maersk Line in January, sees an opportunity to gain market share in the Latin American lanes resulting from two mergers — between two German container lines and two Chilean carriers.

A premium shipping market awaits container lines who would be willing to offer premium service at a higher price than commoditized service offered by most carriers today, Kuehne+Nagel Chairman Karl Gernandt told TPM 2015.

Rickmers Group, the leading German ship owner and manager, said it has successfully concluded negotiations with its bankers to restructure 1.28 billion euros (US$1.43 billion) of loans.