Breakbulk News

News that the International Atomic Energy Agency had verified Iran’s compliance with requirements to curtail its nuclear program raised the hopes of project shippers eager to help restore Iranian infrastructure and energy production. But most companies will have to wait a while — and the wait may be longest for U.S. companies, which are likely to be stuck in line behind their European Union counterparts.

Operators of multipurpose vessels are catching it from all sides. Slumping oil prices are causing cancellations of energy projects, and there’s increasingly stiff competition from container ships, roll-on, roll-off vessels and bulk carriers.

Uncertain global demand for LNG and development of new export capacity could affect the project cargo industry by forcing cancellation of announced plants. Analysts are questioning whether several announced U.S. LNG export terminals will be built.

The Panama Canal Authority said its new locks will be inaugurated June 26, more than two years after the original completion target.

The Port of New Orleans is exploring the feasibility and cost of converting the former Avondale Shipyard on the Mississippi River into a breakbulk cargo terminal.

The Panama Canal Authority will set draft restrictions on shipping using the vital east-west waterway as the El Nino weather phenomenon causes water levels to fall well below average for this time of year.

Three Great Lakes shipping organizations are urging the U.S. Coast Guard to reverse “glaring errors” that will sharply increase pilotage fees during the annual navigation season that started with Monday’s reopening of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Two German shipping companies have been sentenced to pay $1.5 million after pleading guilty to charges arising from use of a “magic pipe” to illegally dump oily bilge water from the general cargo ship BBC Magellan.

Paris-listed Bolloré Group, which holds 21 port concessions worldwide and operates 14 container terminals in Africa, announced a 2 percent drop in revenue for 2015 to $12.2 billion.

Construction work is set to commence on the second phase of the only deep-sea port in central Africa at Kribi, Cameroon after a second round of financing was arranged with the Export-Import Bank of China.

APM Terminals-operated Pipavav Port’s efforts to grow container volumes received a big push earlier this week when the INDFEX, or India-Far East Express, consortium introduced a regular weekly call at the minor facility on India’s west coast.

NileDutch, a specialized West Africa container line, has acquired the Europe to West Africa services and operations of independent Maersk Line subsidiary Safmarine.

Rickmers Group posted higher earnings and revenue, driven by the dollar’s rise against the euro, an increase in the number of ships under management, and cost cutting, but a write down in the value of its vessels resulted in a bottom line loss.

AAL and Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG will launch a joint semi-liner service using multipurpose vessels with heavy-lift capability between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Container traffic at the Port of Baltimore jumped 12 percent year-over-year in January, after the Maryland port saw volume rise 8 percent year-over-year last year to a record 523,848 containers.

The poor relations between Turkey and Russia have the latter focusing on the active development of the Northern Sea Route through the melting Arctic during the next several years, according to recent statements of Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

Hapag-Lloyd plans to more aggressively seek shipments too large or heavy to fit into standard containers, and has established teams in Asia and the Americas to focus on oversize cargo.

Container and bulk ships transiting the Suez Canal fell in both number and tonnage terms in January, continuing a trend of declining traffic that gained momentum in the second half of last year.

Global economic growth will be stuck in low gear this year at around 2.5 percent, continuing the weak GDP that has put the brakes on trade for the past few years, IHS Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh told the 2016 TPM Conference in Long Beach on Monday.

Rickmers Maritime slumped to a $129.2 million loss in 2015 from a $16 million profit a year earlier on increased write offs on the value of its ships and depressed container charter rates.

Rickmers Group has reiterated its 2015 results forecast in response to the recent slump in its corporate bond.

It’s a boom time at U.S. Gulf ports for imports of steel and project cargoes. From Florida to Texas, the region’s ports are enjoying a second year of increased import volumes, driven by a strong dollar and U.S. economic growth.

China’s rising import demand for wood pulp to feed its paper and packaging industries is expected to create significant opportunities over the coming years both for container lines and specialized open hatch gantry crane (OHGC) vessel operators, a transport conference in Bremen, Germany, heard recently.

France’s River Seine port of Rouen has for a long time made a specialty of the north-south regular line trades, particularly those between northern Europe and west Africa.

SSA Marine Vice President John DiBernardo says it is no wonder that many container terminals today are struggling to handle the cargo surges generated by big ships. They continue to do business much as they did in the days of breakbulk shipping, acting as storage sheds as they await the arrival of truckers who show up in randomly.

Three former “K” Line and NYK executives have been indicted for alleged participation in a scheme to rig bids and fix prices for international shipments of roll-on, roll-off shipments to and from the United States.

Rickmers Group’s operating profit rose 35 percent in the first half, as its shipping unit returned to the black and a strong dollar boosted revenues.

Cutbacks to exploration and production budgets by oil and gas producers are reverberating across the breakbulk and heavy-lift sectors as material and supply shipments slump.

Rickmers Holding has switched its legal status from limited partnership to stock corporation, paving the way for a potential initial public offering by Germany’s biggest container ship owner and manager, most likely in New York.

After the world financial meltdown and recession of 2008, many hoped that the market balance in multipurpose shipping could be restored by at least 2015.

Rickmers Group’s net income stalled and revenue declined in 2014 but Germany’s leading container ship owner and manager continued to grow its fleet and restructured its loans.

Rickmers Maritime sank to a $16 million net loss in 2014 from a $23.5 million profit in the previous year as impairments and lower containership charter rates in the third quarter offset a profitable final three months.

So many breakbulk and heavy-lift carriers are losing money that industry analysts expect some smaller carriers to face bankruptcy in 2015 or consolidation with other carriers, at the very least.

Baltic Reefers will acquire NYKCool from NYK Reefers, the refrigerated shipping segment of Japanese shipping giant NYK Line on Sept. 1.

Rickmers-Linie has named Waldemar “Val” Poulsen as president and CEO of Houston-based Rickmers-Linie (America), effective July 1.

Ron Widdows, the high-profile U.S. chief executive officer of Rickmers Group, will step down from his post tomorrow, May 1, the leading German shipowner announced today as it posted its 2013 results.

The market for breakbulk and heavy-lift ocean cargo is emerging from the doldrums it experienced last year. Although a backlog of global industrial projects carried the heavy-lift sector through 2012 and construction of new pipelines and wind farms in the U.S. filled inbound multipurpose breakbulk vessels that year, demand largely dried up in 2013. But the picture is brightening, and the market is positioned for a significant recovery in 2014 and 2015.

Rickmers Maritime Trust has established a Singapore $300 million (about US$240.5 million) corporate bond program to fund capital expenditure.

Rickmers Group is adding €75 million (about US$103.4 million) to its €175 million corporate bond issued in June.

Rickmers Group, the German shipowner, has established a joint venture with funds linked with U.S.-based Apollo Global Management to buy container ships.