Container lines

Weak finances are forcing ocean carriers to rely more heavily on lessors to provide them with containers.

Consider the trans-Atlantic market an oasis of calm. For a container shipping industry focusing on the opportunities and pitfalls in the much larger Asia-Europe and trans-Pacific trades, or the rapidly growing north-south trade linking Asia to Africa and Latin America, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

China’s factory output and total new orders in July rose to their highest levels since March last year, improving the operating conditions of mainland manufacturers and supporting carrier predictions of third quarter container volume increases in the seasonal build up to Christmas.

A specialized reefer carrier is taking steps to renew its aging breakbulk fleet by purchasing two new container vessels.

Regional Container Lines has reorganized the port rotation of its Manila-Singapore (RMN) Service by adding a call at Batangas, Philippines, in an effort to circumvent growing delays at the nearby port of Manila.

The G6 Alliance is performing abysmally compared with its competitors when it comes to schedule reliability, according to a new SeaIntel report.

Several container lines announced this week general rate increases for the month of September.

More than a year after the container ship MOL Comfort and its 4,382 containers sank in the Gulf of Aden, shippers are watching developments in a Japanese court and awaiting a classification society’s report on the sinking.

Hawaii-focused Matson remains interested in entering the Alaska market if one of the two Jones Act carriers in that trade decides to sell.

Jones Act carrier Matson posted slight declines in second-quarter net profit and operating income but said it expects its operating results in the second half of 2014 to show improvement from a year ago.

Diversions from the West Coast to avoid longshore labor negotiations are creating delays of up to two to three weeks for some ocean cargo moving from Asia to the U.S. East Coast, according to a freight forwarder.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. reported a sharp deterioration in its container-shipping financials for its fiscal first quarter ending on June 30th and said that rates during the remainder of its year would not recover to the degree it had projected.

Interim result season is in full swing, and the financial reports reveal carriers in the container-shipping industry searching for a silver lining.

Despite managing to restore profitability in the past year, MOL president Koichi Muto said the company’s container division continues to lose money and can’t recover without massive changes.

Hanjin Shipping posted a net loss of $194 million in the second quarter, but the weak financial performance was eased by aggressive cost cutting in its container division that managed to lift the Korean carrier’s operating profit.

Expectations of a solid peak season from Asia to both Europe and North America could lead to higher ocean container freight rates in the third quarter, but the gains are likely to be only temporary.

Finnlines, a leading Baltic short sea shipping line, today posted its biggest quarterly profit in eight years as it sold surplus ships, axed loss-making routes and disposed of non-core operations.

Positive developments in China’s export space are raising expectations that the recent strong performance of air and ocean cargo volumes will extend into a solid peak season.

If the negative portrayal by China’s state broadcaster of the proposed 2M tie-up between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. this weekend has official backing, it could be an indication of internal political pressure to shield Cosco and China Shipping Container Lines from a stronger competitor.

A rise in traffic from Asia to Mediterranean ports has led to tight capacity and a substantial rise in spot prices.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association met for three days this past week without concluding negotiations; at the weekend, the parties announced a week-long recess in the talks. German carrier Hamburg Süd announced plans to acquire the container operations of Chile’s CCNI, in a move resembling the deal between larger competitor Hapag-Lloyd and Chile’s CSAV, and Crowley is reported to be in talks to acquire Horizon Lines’ Puerto Rico assets. Earnings reports by U.S. truckload carriers are pointing to a stronger freight recovery in the United States, though rail service continues to be held back. And on Friday, Anne S. Ferro announced her departure from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration after five years leading the agency.

Evidence of volume growth in east-west container shipping markets was revealed in Orient Overseas Container Line’s most recent results.

Hamburg Süd has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire the container operations of the Valparaiso, Chile-based Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica, or CCNI, by Dec. 31, 2014.

Costamare’s revenue and net income grew in the second quarter as the Greek container shipowner boosted its fleet of chartered vessels.

The United States retained its status as Japan’s biggest export market in the first half of 2014 after defeating rival China by a narrow margin.

CMA CGM said it will reorganize the rotations of its ASAF and WAX lines to improve service between Asia and West Africa.

German banks’ toxic shipping loans are a matter of concern ahead of the European Central Bank’s stress tests, the International Monetary Fund warned.

Matson Inc. has agreed to pay the U.S. government $9 million to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims for fuel surcharges on military household goods shipments between continental U.S. points and Hawaii and Guam.

Crowley Maritime Transportation is hailing the Florida East Coast Railway decision to open its newest Intermodal Container Transport Facility at Port Everglades...

China’s rejection of the P3 alliance dealt a blow to the idea of a mega-alliance, but the aftermath has paved the way for a variety of smaller vessel-sharing agreements to enter the market.

Service reliability in the container shipping business is set to improve as carriers with lower standards joining the big alliances will be forced to raise their game.

Crowley Maritime Corp. is in talks to acquire the Puerto Rico ships, routes and San Juan port facilities of competitor Horizon Lines for about $80 million, according to a report in Caribbean Business.

The post-Panamax container ship MSC Flaminia will rejoin Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s fleet this week, two years after being heavily damaged in a mid-Atlantic fire that killed three crewmembers.

India’s merchandise exports rose for the third straight month in June on a year-over-year basis, expanding 10.22 percent to $26.48 billion...

Evergreen Line has introduced a container service between the India subcontinent and the Middle East by acquiring slots on a weekly service operated by Simatech Shipping, the Dubai-based intra-Asia feeder line.

Zim Integrated Shipping Services said it finalized its debt restructuring deal after its parent Israel Corp. invested $200 million of new equity into the ocean carrier.