Container Shipping News

Hapag-Lloyd’s third quarter profit plunged more than 60 percent from a year ago as weak peak-season freight rates outweighed increased container volumes.

More than 10,000 people are feared dead after Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) caused widespread devastation in the central Philippines on Friday and Saturday.

Hanjin Shipping President and CEO Young Min Kim, saying he was taking responsibility for the company's continuing losses and delays in obtaining financial support from major creditor banks, announced his resignation on Monday.

U.S. steel imports in September totaled 2.761 million tons, declining 4.1 percent from August, but increasing 6.1 percent from September 2012, according to government reporting.

Even as Cosco becomes confident it will achieve a full-year profit and avoid delisting, it was denying reports that former chairman Wei Jiafu was placed under travel restrictions, after one of its top executives resigned under a cloud of investigation.

When Maersk Line CEO Soren Skou told the JOC’s TPM Conference in March that nearly 12 percent of container industry invoices are inaccurate, shippers took notice. It has been, after all, Maersk Line’s “highest customer service issue for some time,” one that potentially costs ocean carrier customers millions of dollars a year.

The mixed messages evident from China’s latest PMI readings were confirmed by the value of export contracts signed at the Canton Fair, China’s huge import and export jamboree.

Matson Inc. has signed a contract with Aker Philadelphia Shipyard for two new dual-fuel container ships that can be powered by either liquid natural gas or diesel fuel.

Maersk Line has lifted its congestion surcharge of $150 per 20-foot container imposed earlier on shipments to and from the Port of Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru), India.

Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA, the world’s biggest deep-sea roll-on, roll-off shipping line, reported its third quarter profit declined to $78 million from $246 million a year ago because of lower global car shipments and one-off items.

The chairman of Cosco Group expressed confidence on Nov. 6 that the company would achieve its financial goals for 2013, signaling the company is aiming to achieve a full-year profit and avoid delisting from the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Decreased cargo rates and lower volume year-over-year drove revenue drops at Seaboard Marine in the third quarter of 2013, according to Seaboard Corp., the parent company.

Container shortages aren’t expected to squeeze most U.S. grain and soybean exporters until early next year, but there are already signs of scarcity. Although inbound holiday goods are still delivering ample supplies of containers for Midwest exports, supplies will tighten as container carriers scale back their operations during the typically slow winter months, said Justin Cauley at agriculture marketing company Scoular.

U.K. private equity investor 3i has taken control of Scandlines, after buying out the co-owner of the ferry operator, and has refinanced its debt facilities.

CMA CGM has added a weekly call at the Port of Vitoria, Brazil, to its fixed-day, weekly BRAZEX service connecting South America’s east coast to the Caribbean.

Hanjin Shipping will receive a loan of 150 billion South Korean won (about US$141.4 million) from Korean Air, a major shareholder of Hanjin Shipping Holdings.

France’s Port of Le Havre has welcomed the maiden call of the Glovis Condor, a roll-on, roll-off vessel owned by Glovis, a South Korean company.

U.S. steel exports in August totaled 1.147 million tons, increasing 5.5 percent from 1.087 million tons in July, but declining 2.1 percent from August 2012, according to government reporting.

Major container lines have announced planned rate increases for a variety of trades, as detailed below, slated to take effect in November and December.

Don’t count on exports to the Caribbean and Central America as a panacea for what ails the sputtering trade with the rest of the recovering world economy this year. What were fast-growing trade lanes are taking a breather. Many tourists are opting to skip their tropical vacations, so those islands are not importing retail goods in anything like the quantity they need when snowbirds come flocking.

Trade growth to and from the Philippines is being held back by poor gateway performance and a lack of hinterland infrastructure, claim lines and forwarders.

Seaspan reported its net income in the third quarter of 2013 was $48.0 million, spiking 169.7 percent year-over-year from $17.8 million.

“K” Line saw group revenue and profit improve in the six months ended September 30, despite the poor performance of its container business.

Crowley Maritime’s liner services group and Seaboard Marine have entered into a vessel-sharing agreement in the South Florida-Costa Rica-Panama trade.

China Shipping Container Lines reported a net loss of 404.4 million Chinese yuan (about US$66.3 million) in the third quarter of 2013.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. plans to expand its IPAK Service between India and Europe by adding a call at King Abdullah Port, Saudi Arabia’s new gateway hub.

NOL Group’s extensive cost-cutting paid off in the third quarter as the Singapore-based shipping line posted a net profit of $20 million even as its revenue declined.

CAI International reported its net income in the third quarter of 2013 was $15.3 million, falling 9 percent year-over-year from $16.8 million.

The Port of Cleveland is in final negotiations with the Dutch company Spliethoff Group to run a global container service between the Great Lakes and Europe via the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

Cheng Lie Navigation, part of CMA CGM, has launched a new intra-Asia service, the KVT, connecting South Korea to Thailand and Vietnam.

The Federal Maritime Commission has completed seven compromise agreements with nine non-vessel-operating common carriers and freight forwarders, recovering a total of $617,500 in civil penalties.

Evergreen Group has unveiled the 8,508-TEU Ever Linking, the second L-type vessel to be built by CSBC Corp. in Taiwan.

The service schedule that the P3 Alliance plans to launch next May indicates that Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM will boost the combined capacity of their services on the trans-Pacific by a significant amount, while the increases will be smaller on the Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean lanes.

The U.S. trade deficit in goods expanded to $58.2 billion in August, up $0.1 billion from July...

Major container lines have announced planned rate increases for a variety of trades, as detailed below, slated to take effect in November and December.

Ocean carrier Korea Marine Transport Co. is establishing its own shipping agency in India to help expand operations in the country.

Costamare’s net income jumped to $20.9 million in the third quarter from $12.5 million a year ago as the Greek charter shipowner ordered its first container vessels with its U.S. equity partner, York Capital Management.

It sounds elementary: An exporter in an interior location needs empty containers.

U.S. farmers expect to harvest bumper corn and wheat crops this year, which should more than reverse the shortfall caused by last year’s drought.

The market for premium service in container shipping is fading, and that means carrier cost-cutting initiatives such as slow steaming with large, efficient vessels will trump rapid transit times...