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Thursday, August 25, 2016
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OOCL to cancel transpacific and Asia-Europe sailings in October
HONG KONG's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has announced the cancellation of transpacific and Asia-Europe sailings in anticipation of low demand in October.
On the Pacific, this will affect the Central China 4 (CC4) service, estimated to arrive Shanghai on October 7 in Week 40 east bound, with an ETA in Los Angeles on October 22 in Week 42 west bound.
The service resumes with 5,000-TEU NYK Atlas (NAL) 091E/W: ETA Shanghai on October 14 in Week 41 on EB, and ETA Los Angeles on October 29 in Week 43 on WB.
The announcement also affects South China 2 (SC2): ETA Shenzhen-Da Chan Bay on October 9 in Week 41 on EB, and ETA Long Beach on October 25 in Week 43 on WB.
The service resumes with 8,888-TEU OOCL Miami (OIM) 032E/W: ETA Da Chan Bay on October 16 in Week 42 on EB, and ETA Los Angeles on October 29 in Week 44 on WB.
In the Asia-Europe trade, this will affect Loop 5: the 13,208-TEU OOCL France (OFS) 003W/E (ETA Kwangyang on September 30 in Week 39 on WB, with an ETA at Le Havre on November 4 in Week 44 on EB).
It will also affect Loop 7: the 13,900-TEU APL Raffles (RAF) 015W/E (ETA Qingdao on October 10 in Week 41 on WB, and ETA Rotterdam on November 14 in Week 46 on EB).
In the Asia-Med trade, this will affect the EMX service, and the 4,253-TEU ZIM Genova (GVO) 046 W/E (ETA Busan on October 7 in Week 40 on WB, and ETA Novorossiysk on November 6 in Week 45 on EB).
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17,859-TEU CMA CGM Vasco Da Gama runs aground off Southampton
ONE of the world's biggest containerships - the 17,859-TEU CMA CGM Vasco Da Gama - has now been inspected for damage after it ran aground off Southampton.
The ship ran aground shortly after midnight as it made its way to Southampton, reported Singapore's Splash 24/7. The ship was refloated within an hour and preceded to the port where an underwater survey was commenced.
Mega ship grounding incidents are a matter of growing concern. Last February, the 19,000-TEU CSCL Indian Ocean created a traffic jam in the River Elbe after it ran aground approaching Hamburg.
Last month, the 9,971-TEU Maersk Shams ran aground while in a southbound convoy of 33 ships in the Suez Canal. The ship held back the rest of the convoy that had to wait as the vessel was refloated at with the assistance of canal tugs.
Last year in February, the 13,892-TEU APL Vanda, which ran aground on the Bramble Bank, having lost power while approaching Southampton. Eight tugs refloated the boxship just a few hours after it got stuck, on the high tide.
Again in Southampton in February, 2015, the 51,000-ton Hoegh Osaka, packed with Land Rovers and Range Rovers, ran aground and flopped on its port side off Southampton. It was righted on the high tide and towed under the coast guard supervision.
And in December 2015, the 9,000-TEU Maersk Saigon ran aground at the port of Santos, Brazil, having reportedly left the channel and hit bottom 30 metres beyond the fairway's edge.
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Trucker injured when Calais migrants throw petrol bomb to stop him
A POLISH trucker was injured when migrants seeking to stop him for a ride to England threw a petrol bomb at him on the Calais ring road on the channel coast.
The man told the local paper, Nord Littoral, that migrants had surrounded his truck and began tapping on the cab to get him to stop and let them on.
But he kept going despite a barricade having been set up on the road.
"Several seconds later, I looked in the mirror and saw that the vehicle was alight from what I think was a Molotov cocktail," he told the newspaper.
Using an extinguisher, the driver succeeded in putting out the fire himself before firemen arrived.
However, he suffered injuries to his legs and hands and required hospital treatment as an outpatient.
A number of reports recently indicate that security for trucks approaching the port has deteriorated in recent weeks, with Lloyd's Loading List reporting last month that migrants in Calais had apparently resorted to throwing petrol bombs to slow and stop trucks on the ring road leading to the French channel port to gain access to road freight trailers.
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Asia-Europe rate war's end boosts spot market, but fails to lift contracts
ASIA-EUROPE rate war is over, and the spot market is bound to improve though little can be expected on long term contract rates, says London's Drewry Maritime Research.
Drewry's latest Container Insight Weekly notes that west bound demand growth remained muted, and prospects for this year's third quarter peak season are "uninspiring".
But changes may come when contract rate renegotiations with beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) start again in November, Drewry said.
"While BCO rates are unlikely to drop any lower in 2017, the highly competitive environment when the alliances regroup next April probably means there will not be any appreciable increase in BCO rates next year," say Drewry analysts.
Looking back, Drewry says second quarter headhaul volumes rose were up 1.8 per cent year on year, following a 1.2 per cent rise in the first quarter, a "respectable rate of growth given the current state of the world's economy."
April was up 7.7 per cent following gains in March, but May and June were down providing a 12-month rolling average at the end of June of minus two per cent.
"If one can speak of some modest upturn in the trade it is not due to things getting better, but more to them no longer getting worse," said Drewry.
First half cargo into Russia, for example, was down 30 per cent, but in the first quarter of 2016, volumes went up 2.2 per cent.
Western sanctions imposed on Russia also impacted on the economies of its neighbours, but here again there is clear evidence that a recovery in imports is underway, Drewry said.
"In the second quarter, Asian exports entering Latvia rose 6.3 per cent and those to Lithuania climbed by almost 12 per cent."
Loads to Finland still contracted by 4.5 per cent, "but that was a vast improvement on the percentage losses the country was experiencing a year before." However, demand for Asian goods remained weak in Estonia with second quarter losses still running at 23 per cent.
"German imports continue to remain sluggish, falling by over one per cent between April and June," said Drewry.
"It is understood that there has been another drift of cargo bound for south Germany - as well as traffic to the Central European markets of Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia - towards a Mediterranean routing via Adriatic ports."
French volumes recovered in the second quarter, following a 3.7 per cent drop in the first three months, but it said there were concerns that further terrorist atrocities during the summer might dampen consumer demand in the second half of the year.
"Cargo to the UK rose more than four per cent in both quarters, but it was reported that some British importers had called forward third quarter orders ahead of the Brexit referendum amid concerns that the pound would fall in value if the decision were to leave, Drewry noted. "That turned out to be a shrewd move.
"It is too early to say what the long-term implications will be for this trade arising from the UK's vote to withdraw from the EU, but the 10 per cent fall in the value of the pound likely to suppress growth for UK imports."
Drewry said carriers had reacted to the stagnant demand growth by trimming capacity, estimating that 4.4 per cent of slots had been removed from the system between January and July year on year.
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Tauranga's profit drops 2.4pc to US$56 million, but box volume up 12pc
NEW ZEALAND's Port of Tauranga saw its annual net profit fall 2.4 per cent year on year to NZ$77.3 million (US$56.24 million) drawn on revenues of NZ$245.5 million, down 8.5 per cent.
Disappointing performance was blamed on an increase in depreciation charges and a sharp drop in log volumes. Also contributing was a NZ$32 million decrease in revenue as a result of having to equity account Tapper Transport as an associate company within the port's new Coda logistics partnership.
But container traffic was up 12.1 per cent to a record 954,000 TEU. Following the completion of dredging to deepen and widen the port's shipping channels, the first 9,500 TEU ship is scheduled to start calling at the port in October. It is the first port in New Zealand to be able to accommodate vessels of this size.
"Over the long term, large ships have the potential to deliver in excess of NZ$300 million in annual savings to the country's exporters and importers," said Port of Tauranga chairman David Pilkington.
"Port of Tauranga continues to consolidate its position as the country's leading freight gateway. With our NZ$350 million five-year investment programme largely complete, we have capacity to continue to grow freight volumes for the foreseeable future and importantly relieve constraints now emerging elsewhere in the country's port infrastructure," said Mr Pilkington.
Said port CEO Mark Cairns: "Following the introduction of the new shipping services we expect to handle over one million TEU in the year ended June 2017."
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USWC to 'lose 5pc of market to USEC' with wider Panama, local dredging
ASKED by Bloomberg, US east coast ports said they expect to grow only one per cent a year at the expense of their west coast rivals as the widened Panama Canal and their own harbour dredging gives them greater access to bigger ships carrying more cargo.
But not that much and not that fast, most agree.
East coast ports expect these two elements will allow them to capitalise on increasing tonnage, said a lengthy report from Bloomberg BNA (Bureau of National Affairs), the news agency's Washington-based service for "legal, tax and compliance professionals".
The port of Baltimore says the expansion has allowed it to attract new business from Maersk and the Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) and Evergreen.
"You're going to see the same amount of cargo on fewer ships," said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official Steve Coleman.
"We are expecting that the opening of the expanded Panama Canal will result in the diversion by 2020 of no more than five per cent of the containerised imports currently routed through US west coast ports," said Jock O'Connell, international trade adviser for the LA consulting firm Beacon Economics.
The Australian infrastructure and environmental services company Cardno Ltd also projected a five per cent shift in market share from west coast ports to the east and Gulf coasts.
Carno project director Bob West said growth at east coast ports will stem both from taking some market share from the West and "growth in trade itself".
Dredging at the Port of Savannah is scheduled to be completed in 2019 and the port of Charleston, SC, is expected to begin handling 14,000 TEU vessels later this year.
Also, a project to raise the Bayonne Bridge's roadway to 215 feet above water from 151 feet to give larger ships access to other large terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey will not be completed until late 2017.
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Armed attacks on Nigerian crude makes Angola No 1 African oil producer
CRUDE oil production disruptions in Nigeria reached 750,000 barrels per day in May, the highest level since January 2009, according to the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) latest Short-Term Energy Outlook.
The increased disruptions come as guerrillas continue to focus attacks on oil and natural gas infrastructure in the West African region.
"EIA expects Nigerian oil production to remain depressed through 2017 as a result of militant attacks.
Nigeria is a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and was Africa's largest oil producer until surpassed by Angola this year.
Nigeria's crude oil production disruptions are concentrated in the Niger Delta region, an oil-rich area bordering the Gulf of Guinea that is the mainstay of the country's crude oil production.
Since the beginning of 2016, the guerrillas of Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), locals who want a share of the oil revenues, conduct attacks on oil and natural gas pumping facilities and pipe lines.
The NDA's attacks have resulted in immediate and severe disruptions in crude oil production, as some of the attacks have targeted key oil-gathering and export infrastructure, said the US Energy Department press release.
Nigeria's oil production averaged 1.9 million b/d in 2015. By May 2016, Nigerian oil production had fallen to 1.4 million b/d, nearly a 30-year low, below that of Angola, now the No 1 oil producer.
The Nigerian government announced in June that it had agreed to a ceasefire with the NDA, but the group refutes that statement and has conducted numerous attacks since then.
More recently, the Nigerian government announced it will resume payouts to the guerrillas under the amnesty programme.
But because payouts are just one of the NDA's many demands, crude oil production stoppages are likely to continue until the Nigerian government and the NDA can reach a comprehensive agreement.
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Once again rivals, China and Japan compete for influence in African trade
KENYA will become the first African nation to host the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI).
The conference in Nairobi on August 27 will be attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and 35 African heads of state.
The conference has sparked debate over whether Japan is reacting to China's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), reported Nairobi's Daily Nation.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade CS Amina Mohamed says that the rivalry between the two Asian nations has allowed developing countries in Africa to benefit from both.
"There is competition between everybody. It is a small market place," Ms Mohamed said.
"Everybody is competing in the same space. And if there is no competition, there is a problem. It simply allows us to choose the best."
During the last TICAD summit in Japan in 2013, Japan pledged US$32 billion to support Africa. China, on the other hand, pledged $60 billion in development during the last FOCAC meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.
China is now Kenya's largest trading partner, worth KES600 billion (US$5.92 billion) twice the value in 2013.
On the continent, the Chinese are dealing with more than 240 infrastructure projects worth KES5.7 trillion, according to the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi. China's trade with Africa in 2015 was $220 billion, about 10 times the Japan-Africa trade value.
According to Ms Mohamed, Kenya has been the greatest beneficiary of Japanese aid to Africa. Since 2012, Japan has pumped KES450 billion into Kenya on loans, grants and scholarships. She expects KES12 billion to be injected into the economy from the conference.
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Study: EU court likely to say its ruling trumps UK court on Brexit
WHETHER the UK is subject to EU court ruling on the legality of its will to leave the European Union has been identified as a point of contention in a Brexit implications study in Chicago's National Law Review.
The study by Jens Rinze, Frankfurt partner with Cleveland international law firm Squire Patton Boggs, had little to say on British view of the matter, but was clear what the European view was likely to be.
"The Treaty establishing the European Economic Area the European Court of Justice held that the EEC-Treaty, albeit concluded in the form of an international agreement, nonetheless constitutes the constitutional charter of a Community based on the rule of law." he said.
"Accordingly, intention to withdraw from the European Union is a constitutional rule of the European Union subject to legal and constitutional review by the [European] Court of Justice." said Dr Rinze.
Dr Rinze said that given the "autonomous approach which the Court of Justice takes in respect of interpreting and applying European law independent from the individual domestic approaches of EU Member States" it is likely that it would not defer to national courts in this matter.
"This is because the Court of Justice would argue that the European Union is a constitutional Union which exists outside of and beyond mere international treaties," said Dr Rinze.
Also discussed without conclusions were questions of whether Britain could declare itself ready to quit the EU on the authority of the government versus and parliamentary vote on the question or a new election.
Another avenue pursued, again without conclusion, whether proceedings in front of the Court of Justice under Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) could be undertaken.
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Shanghai Pudong ups volume 2pc in 7 months to record 919,461 tonnes
SHANGHAI Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal (PACTL) increased cargo throughput in the first seven months of 2016 by two per cent year on year to a record-breaking 919,461 tonnes.
Import volumes increased 2.9 per cent to 382,929 tonnes during the first seven months year on year.
International imports rose 3.6 per cent to 355,920 tonnes while domestic imports fell 4.8 per cent to 27,009 tonnes.
Exports grew 1.4 per cent to a figure of 536,532 tonnes with international volumes up 1.4 per cent to 504,707 tonnes and domestic throughput rising two per cent to 31,825 tonnes.
"Despite challenging market conditions, we succeeded in beating last year's record results within the first seven months of 2016," said PACTL vice president Lutz Grzegorz.
"This is due to the fact that international imports and domestic exports are increasing again.
"Secondly, we managed to grow our business by improving quality standards and investing in infrastructure," Mr Grzegorz said.
With Iberia Airlines and Aeroflot Russian Airlines joining PACTL in June and July, the company gained five new customer airlines in the first seven months.
Processing 49.6 per cent of the air cargo handled at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, PACTL further increased its market share in this period.
In April 2016, PACTL officially inaugurated its new IATA CEIV certified Cool Centre.
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Air freight forwarders in Bangladesh battle with capacity squeeze
AIR FREIGHT forwarders in Bangladesh have been struggling to handle the country's imports and exports amid capacity constraints, exacerbated by the diversion for Hajj operations of Biman Bangladesh Airline's wide body aircrafts which reduced available capacity for exports.
"Export containers could not be loaded on feeder vessels for almost 10 days because of huge pile-up of import containers. As a result, many shipments earlier destined for different seaports of the world had to be converted to air to meet buyers' deadline," said Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BAFFA) spokesman Nurul Amin.
The present crisis worsened after the nine-day Eid-ul-Fitr holidays created a logjam, Mr Amin was cited as saying in a report by the Financial Express in Dhaka.
Mr Amin, who is also managing director of Tower Freight Logistics Ltd, said even before the present predicament, air freight capacity from Bangladesh had dropped due to the cancellation last month of Lufthansa's weekly freighter operation from Dhaka, while some other airlines had either reduced, re-routed or changed aircraft or frequencies.
These measures have resulted in 400 tonnes of weekly capacity being taken out of the market.
At the same time, increases in demand for air freight from China and their capability to pay high freight charges, has prompted airlines to give priority to those shipments from their hubs.
Industry insiders warned that the present capacity situation may continue until mid-October. Again, there could be another brief peak in November ahead of Christmas.
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Amigo flies 9,000 Indian goats, sheep to UAE by air in one month
AMIGO Logistics has transported 9,263 goats and sheep from Nashik, a city in the northwest region of Maharashtra in India, to Sharjah in the UAE on board six flights over the course of one month.
Nashik-based Amigo Logistics, which started non-scheduled air cargo service from July 15, plans to export industrial and other agricultural goods as well, using chartered IL-76 freighters, reported Delhi's Times of India.
The next air cargo flight is scheduled to take off on August 22 and will carry 1,500 goats and sheep.
Assistant vice-president of Sovika Aviation, N S Hans, which is providing ground handling services for air cargo services, said: "We are in talks with some pharmaceutical companies in and around Nashik for export of pharma products by air."
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Kuehne + Nagel signs 10-year lease for warehouse at Heathrow
SWISS forwarding giant Kuehne + Nagel has signed a 10-year lease for a 86,500 square feet facility to distribute food and drink products from London Heathrow in a joint venture with Segro and Aviva Investors.
The distribution facility is located in the North Feltham Trading Estate, which is the largest non-airside asset in the Airport Property Partnership's (APP) portfolio at Heathrow.
Operations manager at Kuehne + Nagel, Bill Thatcher, said: "As one of the leading global air cargo logistics providers, it was imperative that we secure a facility with good access to Heathrow's Cargo Terminal.
"APP's unit at North Feltham was the perfect solution and we're excited to begin operating from the new facility."
Said APP and Segro business unit director Alan Holland: "We are pleased to have signed this new deal just three miles from Heathrow's Cargo Terminal and with excellent access to the main road networks.
North Feltham's strategic location is a great fit for major logistics providers such as Kuehne + Nagel."
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