Container Shipping News

Maersk Line Limited is swapping nine of its 19 container ships in the Maritime Security Program for newer and more efficient vessels, the Maritime Administration announced Friday.

Eimskip, the struggling Icelandic container shipping and logistics group, lost $54.3 million after tax in the first quarter of 2009 compared with $52.5 million a year ago as revenue slumped by nearly

Consolidated cargo throughput at major ports in India grew by 2.13 percent in fiscal 2008-09, which ended March 31, according to the latest data released by the Indian Ports Association.

Container handling through the Port of Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, fell off sharply in the first two months this year, about the same as for U.S.

Container volumes at West Coast ports took an especially troubling dive in February and every major gateway felt the pain.

Container traffic moving through India’s Port of Jawaharlal Nehru registered a marginal decline in fiscal 2008-09 ended March 31, according to latest traffic figures released by port management.

Three major Japanese ports' container trade results were mixed in December, with Yokohama and Nagoya suffering continued declines while Osaka saw a slight rise despite the deep global economic downtur

Neptune Orient Lines reported April 2 that its 2008 profit plunged by 84 percent from the previous year on revenue that increased by 14 percent as container volume dropped sharply in the last quarter

CMA CGM said it is increasing its freight rates on eastbound trade between ports in the Mediterranean and the U.S. East Coast as of May 1.

Maersk Line announced it will implement a commodity general rate increase for the trade moving from Europe to Asia.

Beginning May 1, MOL's Gator Guarantee will provide a service guarantee on the company's own vessel strings, the Pacific Southwest Express and Japan-American Shuttle.

Evergreen Group founder Chang Yung-fa said Tuesday that Evergreen Marine, his group's container shipping line, will reregister a number of its ships back under the Singapore flag after having pulled t

HHLA, Hamburg's biggest container terminal operator, reported record earnings and revenue in 2008 but warned it expects a double digit decline in cargo this year.

London -- The number of laid-up container ships stabilized over the past fortnight, breaking five months of steep increases, as ocean carriers re-activate idle vessels with the onset of the spring car

The number of foreign trade containers handled by the Port of Tokyo rose for the second consecutive month in October last year on a year-on-year basis, increasing 3.4 percent.

The Environmental Protection Agency on March 30 proposed creation of an emissions control area that would require ships to burn cleaner fuels within 230 miles (200 nautical miles) of U.S.

Maersk Line will raise freight rates in the trade from North America to the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent.

Taiwan’s Evergreen Group said today it is forming a joint venture with its present agency in South Africa, Green Africa Shipping to establish a new agency that is called Evergreen Agency (South

APL’s container shipping volume plunged 21 percent and average revenue per 40-foot container dropped 16 percent in the four weeks from Feb.

Business conditions in the eastbound Pacific trades are deteriorating so rapidly that carriers will try to prevent the lowest of low-ball spot market rates from becoming de-facto contract rates.

Hamburg Süd will overhaul its Trident Service between Europe, Australia and New Zealand starting in May to cut network costs in the face of changing market conditions.

Maersk Line plans to implement a new round of rate increases for the trade moving from the United States and Canada to the Mediterranean.

From JOCsailings

The owner of a Norwegian tanker hijacked off Somalia's coast says there has been no recent word from the ship.

Maersk Line announced its Singapore-based subsidiary, MCC Transport, is implementing a rate restoration on intra-Asia services.

Yang Ming Line took delivery of the new 8,200-TEU YM Uniform and the 4,250-TEU YM Eternity, at a ceremony at Kaohsiung Shipyard of CSBC Corp., on March 24.

OD Global and Hanjin Shipping are partnering in a less-than container load service from China to the United States to speed international transit times.

The top executive of China Ocean Shipping Co. said recovery of the container shipping trade depends on revival of U.S.

Emirates Shipping Line plans to implement a general rate increase on the trade from the Indian Subcontinent to East Africa.

Special from JoC Sailings

Trailer Bridge lost $1.1 million in the fourth quarter, leaving the Jones Act tug-barge operator with a $3.2 million loss for all of 2008, sharply worse than the slim loss the carrier reported the yea

China Shipping Container Lines’ profit fell 99 percent in 2008 from the year before, the company reported.

London -- Germany's Hapag-Lloyd boosted 2008 operating profit by 19 percent from a year ago but warned lower volumes and weaker freight rates will lead to a "considerable decline" in 2009 ea

U.S.

Zim Integrated Shipping Services entered a cooperation agreement with the Grand Alliance on the service from South China to the U.S. East Coast via the Panama Canal.

Orient Overseas (International), parent of OOCL, reported that its profit plummeted by 89 percent for the year ended Dec. 31.

Nestlé selected GT Nexus to provide a central online hub to streamline ocean freight procurement negotiation and contracting processes.

The Suez Canal Container Terminal said March 24 it received a call by a container ship that tested the depth of its new berth depth, which is 47.5 feet.

Japan will apply the tonnage tax system to 10 domestic ocean-going shipping companies over five years from fiscal 2009, which starts in April.

London, March 23 -- TUI closed on the sale of ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd to a group of Hamburg-based investors after making several costly concessions to salvage the deal.