Container lines

The fleet of idle container ships above 500 twenty-foot-equivalent units has surged to a five-year high of 1.2 million TEUs and more vessels will join the jobless queue in the coming weeks, Alphaliner said.

Charter rates for container ships have fallen completely out of sync as owners in the most hard-pressed segments scramble to secure any short-term cover they can get.

Eimskip is eyeing fleet expansion after the Iceland container shipping and refrigerated logistics group, posted its best quarterly result since 2009.

DFDS’s record quarterly profit has highlighted the rebound in northern Europe’s short sea shipping traffic and the positive impact of low fuel prices as ships face tougher environmental standards.

The Asia-Australia container trade is facing capacity cuts and service withdrawals in the next few months that should give added impetus to rising freight rates that have been increasing since mid-year on a better supply-demand balance.

Container lines are withdrawing larger capacity vessels from the major east-west trades in a selective approach that will better tackle the chronic over supply problem, according to Drewry.

The Hong Kong Competition Commission will not take any action against industry sectors that have applied for a block exemption from the law that takes effect on Dec. 14 until the applications have been reviewed, according to the city’s liner shipping lobby.

CMA CGM moved a step closer to acquiring Neptune Orient Lines after entering into an exclusivity agreement with the Singapore carrier that could see a formal offer made in early December.

Demonstrating just how desperate carriers are to increase freight rates in a market plagued by overcapacity, the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement Friday announced the intention of lines in the eastbound Pacific to set a minimum rate of “at least $950 per 40-foot container to the West Coast,” effective Dec. 1.

CMA CGM’s reported third-quarter net profit plunged nearly 76 percent year-over-year to $51 million, amid the French carrier’s talks with Neptune Orient Lines over a potential merger.

Russia’s container transportation market is on the verge of consolidation. The country’s two largest, and ailing, container transport providers — container line and terminal operator Fesco and containerized rail provider Transcontainer — plan to merge.

Plagued by overcapacity and ongoing losses, the container shipping industry is rife with talk of potential mergers and acquisitions. The consolidation of the highly fragmented industry is long overdue, especially when contrasted with such other heavily capitalized transportation sectors as railroads and airlines.

The vessel backlog that’s plagued the Panama Canal since mid-October remains above normal levels, but canal authority officials say wait times are now diminishing since they started taking steps to expedite traffic through the waterway.

Crowley Puerto Rico Services has begun construction on a 900-foot pier at its Isla Grande Terminal in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to accommodate two liquefied natural gas-powered cargo ships the carrier will put into operation in 2017.

Hyundai Merchant Marine posted a loss of 24 billion South Korean won ($20.5 million) in the third quarter, amid ongoing speculation of a merger with its bigger compatriot Hanjin Shipping.

U.S. federal investigators have called off the search for the voyage data recorder of the sunken El Faro, prolonging the mystery of what caused the Oct. 1 tragedy that cost the lives of its 33 crew members.

Ship charterer Diana Containerships reported a loss of $9.1 million in the third quarter compared to net income of $1.4 million in the same period last year, as the cost of disposing a ship offset increased time charter revenue.

China government pressure on container lines to reduce export surcharges to support slumping exports is focused primarily on local charges with the impact so far being limited, according to a firm that provides online pricing tools and has visibility of carrier surcharges being assessed out of China.

India’s exports slumped for the 11th straight month in October, albeit at a slower pace than the previous two months, according to the newest provisional trade figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Supply and demand in container shipping will not be in balance for at least another three years with surplus vessel capacity in the market at a time when trade growth is starting to plateau, said veteran shipping expert Tom Behrens-Sorensen.

Like Yoda using the force to lift an X-Wing from the swamp of Dagobah, U.S. demand for Star Wars toys from action figures to lightsabers is forecast to help raise total containerized toy imports 10.9 percent year-over-year, according to JOC Senior Economist Mario O. Moreno.

State-owned Shipping Corporation of India reported its net profit swelled more than eight-fold in the second fiscal quarter through the end of September, helped by lower operating costs, a new depreciation charge and higher bulk shipping income

There is little prospect of a bidding war for NOL between prospective suitors Maersk Line and CMA CGM as the risks involved in acquiring a loss-making line in a weak market will lean heavily on the sale price, Drewry believes.

The 33 seafarers who perished on the cargo ship El Faro were remembered in an emotional ceremony at the U.S.-flag shipping industry’s annual Admiral of the Ocean Sea awards dinner Friday night in New York.

Spot freight rates for shipping a 40-foot container from Asia to the U.S. this week fell to ridiculously low levels.

Swollen inventories and sluggish global growth have led JOC Senior Economist Mario O. Moreno to cut his forecast for U.S. containerized imports this year to 5.4 percent from his previous forecast of 6.6 percent.

U.S. Navy searchers have located the navigation bridge of the cargo ship El Faro, which sank Oct. 1 with the loss of its 33-member crew, and are continuing to search for the ship’s voyage data recorder.

KMTC Line, South Korea’s third-largest container line and the country’s biggest player in the intra-Asia segment, is reviewing its fleet structure ahead of expected tougher conditions on intra-Asia routes next year due to rising capacity and sinking demand.

If the ocean container shipping industry is on the cusp of a wave of new acquisitions and mergers, the eventual outcome could be positive for carriers and shippers alike, industry participants say. Several carriers are in various stages of talks aimed at consolidation, including NOL with both Maersk Line and CMA CGM, Cosco and China Shipping Container Lines, and Hanjin and Hyundai Merchant Marine.

Top maritime officials in South Korea said a merger between Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine was unlikely because the benefits of such a move are difficult to see and it could have significant negative implications for the wider economy.

The fleet of idle container ships above 500 twenty-foot-equivalent units has risen to over 1 million TEUs for the first time since 2010 and is set to increase through the slack winter season, Alphaliner said.

Maersk Line announced it is enhancing its India-Far East service network by introducing two new loops via cooperation with other carriers.

Hapag-Lloyd posted a significantly improved operating profit, higher revenue and increased container volumes in the third quarter as the German ocean carrier benefited from its merger with Chile’s CSAV.

Minority shareholders not controlled by Beijing may be the biggest problem faced by attempts to merge Cosco and China Shipping Container Lines believes investment equity firm Jefferies.

Difficulties in estimating Neptune Orient Lines’ valuation, its unprofitability and the steady loss of market share by its APL container division will make a proposed sale of the Singapore-listed company no easy task.

Nearly a month after a queue of ships began to mount on either side of the Panama Canal, canal authorities say they are now taking steps to expedite the traffic, decrease transit times and reduce the current backlog of vessels.

Carriers on the Asia-Europe trade were on time more often in the past 12 months than their trans-Pacific counterparts, according to a study of container shipping schedule reliability by CargoSmart.

Acquiring Neptune Orient Lines would enable either Maersk Line or CMA CGM to strengthen their trans-Pacific business and mitigate each’s weakness in the Asia-Europe trade lane, according to a shipping analyst.

In the latest sign of its recovery from 2011’s earthquake and tsunami, the Port of Sendai-Shiogama in northeast Japan has begun a new regular container service to the Port of Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East.

Shreyas Shipping and Logistics recorded a 33 percent fall in consolidated net profit for the second fiscal quarter through the end of September, the combined result of slowing trade volumes, freight rate erosion and increased competition with the entry of new short-sea ship operators into the Indian coastal shipping market.