Container lines

Growing global demand for bourbon, a solely U.S. produced liquor, is giving U.S. East Coast ports a sweet, down-home surge in containerized cargo.

CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest carrier in deployed capacity, increased revenue and cut operating expenses in the April through June period according to quarterly figures released today.

Global schedule reliability has declined for the first time in six months, as carriers continue to deal with congestion in North Europe and the U.S. West Coast, according to a new report from SeaIntel Maritime Analysis.

The air cargo industry has been battling declining market share for years as cost-sensitive shippers move long-haul cargo from air to ocean transport, but that trend may be coming to an end, PIL Managing Director Teo Siong Seng says.

Robert Sappio, former longtime executive at APL, has been named chief operating officer at SeaCube Container Leasing.

Emirates Shipping Line is the latest container line to impose surcharges on India-bound cargoes in response to the months-long intermodal delays that have led to serious equipment imbalance issues at India’s premier container gateways.

China Shipping Container Lines drifted into positive territory in the first half as a gain from one-time asset sales offset high costs and stubbornly weak freight rates that are troubling the liner industry.

China Cosco Holdings saw its first-half losses soar to $338 million as a difficult shipping environment and the disposal of vessels dragged its year-over-year net profit down by 130 percent, despite solid growth in container volumes.

Jeffrey Boston has succeeded Chris Dombalis as chief executive officer at U.S. mainland-Puerto Rico carrier Trailer Bridge.

Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. could eventually operate ships of up to 19,200-TEUs on east-west trades that touch the U.S., within their planned “2M” vessel-sharing agreement, according to a filing with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission.

An investment consortia including the U.S. private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has acquired a portfolio of nine feeder container ships previously owned by German KG funds.

CMA CGM has joined other major liner operators in imposing congestion surcharges on inbound inland containers handled at the ports of Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva) and Pipavav, India’s leading container hubs, to compensate for the extra costs caused by intermodal delays.

Canadian export growth is slated to rise to 4.7 percent this year and 7.7 percent in 2015, as global and particularly U.S. demand builds, non-energy shipments rise, and the Canadian dollar weakens, according to the Royal Bank of Canada.

While the melting polar ice cap presents opportunities for carriers to take cheaper and faster cross-Arctic shortcuts between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the chilly routes represent a dilemma for the marine insurance industry.

Spot rates in the trans-Pacific trade are holding steady as peak-season volumes continue to keep capacity tight on trips to the U.S. East and West Coasts.

Maersk Inc. has sold its U.S. headquarters building in Madison, New Jersey, for a reported $53.3 million and leased offices in nearby Florham Park, New Jersey.

Carriers’ strategy to bundle logistics services with container shipping services appears to be “unraveling,” according to Alphaliner’s latest newsletter.

CSAV has announced plans to introduce a new weekly service, the IMEX Sling 1, connecting the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and North Europe, starting in late October.

Middle East-based Simatech Shipping has announced the launch of a fortnightly feeder service linking Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal, a new private facility in India’s Port of Tuticorin (V.O. Chidambaranar), with Colombo, Sri Lanka, starting this month.

Cargo is being rolled and space allocations are being cut on trans-Pacific eastbound services as capacity continues to tighten to the U.S. East Coast. Space to the U.S. West Coast is also extremely tight, shippers say, reflected in stronger volumes moving through West Coast ports.

APL and OOCL have imposed surcharges on import containers bound for India’s northern hinterland region.

Protests will continue on the U.S. West Coast against Israel-based Zim Integrated Shipping Services, as new actions are scheduled in Seattle and Tacoma next week.

Another week of volatility in the spot market has brought container rates down over all of the major trade lanes, according to the latest readings of the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index.

CMA CGM, China Shipping Container Lines, Orient Overseas Container Lines and Pacific International Lines have plans to launch a joint service connecting Northeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Neptune Pacific Lines, an ocean carrier specializing in the Australia/Oceania trade, has purchased Polynesian Shipping Line Limited, another carrier in the same market.

Carriers and other transport companies are doing their best to dispel fears of spreading the deadly Ebola virus as shipping continues between the virus-stricken countries of Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea and the rest of the world.

CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container line in deployed capacity, plans to make a port on a French island in the Indian Ocean into a transshipment hub to serve markets in Africa, the company said in a statement.

Simatech Shipping, X-Press Feeders and Orient Express Lines have expanded their joint ASX Service between India and the Middle East by adding a direct call at Adani Hazira Container Terminal, a private facility in western India.

Japan’s exports to the United States rose for the first time in three months in July on a year-on-year basis despite a sharp decline in auto shipments, according to preliminary trade figures released by Japan’s Finance Ministry.

The Port of Oakland was returning to normalcy Wednesday after four days of on-again, off-again demonstrations by anti-Israel protesters involving the Zim Piraeus container ship.

In reporting its second-quarter and first-half 2014 results this week, Maersk Line again showed how its financial fortunes are diverging from most of the rest of the container shipping industry.

The cost benefits of Evergreen Marine joining the CKYH Alliance were reflected in its second-quarter earnings, which saw the Taipei-based carrier returning to profitability.

Overall capacity operated by the Top 21 container carriers increased 5.6 percent or 847,000 TEUs in the last 12 months, according to industry analyst Alphaliner’s latest newsletter, furthering chronic overcapacity in the container shipping market.

Neptune Orient Lines said Wednesday media reports that it plans to sell its logistics business, APL Logistics, for up to $900 million are "preliminary and exploratory in nature.”

Taiwanese ocean carrier Yang Ming Line has upgraded its intra-Asia service network to better meet growing demand in the region.

Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. do not require regulatory approval from China for their proposed “2M” vessel sharing agreement on the east-west trades, Maersk Line said today.

The findings of a Chinese Ministry of Transport probe into rate filing by container lines and NVOCCs in the China-Japan market are expected to be released shortly. The case is being watched closely by foreign carriers to see whether China applies the same standard to its own carriers as it did to the erstwhile P3 Network.

Maersk Line reported a profit of $547 million for the second quarter as the container shipping division helped drive up the Maersk Group’s half-year earnings by 42 percent year-over-year.

Despite generally strengthening spot rates in the head-haul east-west trades, the trend is unlikely to last because underlying volatility is growing, especially in the Asia-Europe trade, according to SeaIntel.

Intra-Asia specialist Wan Hai Lines reported a 7.2 percent increase in container volumes in the first half of 2014, pushing revenue up nearly 10 percent as the shipping industry continues to feel the effects of increased demand.