Container lines

The widespread use of liquid natural gas (LNG) to power the main engines of container ships is a long way off, believes Seaspan co-founder and CEO Gerry Wang. That is in contrast with a growing view that due to its environmental benefits and at least currently lower costs versus fuel oil it is poised to become the next bunker fuel of choice for the shipping industry.

Hapag-Lloyd today pinned its financial future to the expansion of the G6 Alliance into the key east-west liner trades and its takeover of Chile’s CSAV, as its first-quarter loss widened and revenue declined.

In an interview with JOC’s Greg Knowler, Seaspan CEO and co-chairman Gerry Wang discusses changing container carrier priorities, mega-ships and why the shipowner welcomes downturns.

If you are a shipper and ask container lines what they are doing about CO2 emissions, expect several to disappoint you. But some may pleasantly surprise you.

Zim yesterday announced the imminent launch of an enhanced service structure between Asia and the West Coast of North America after it agreed to expand its cooperation with the G6 Alliance.

The results of the 2014-15 service contracting season in the eastbound Pacific are in, and from the perspective of ocean carriers, they’re not pretty.

Some shippers welcome larger container ships and carrier alliances as a way to add capacity and restore carriers’ health, but they warn that ports will have to adjust to avoid bottlenecks and added costs.

Domestic U.S. waterborne transportation for containerized cargo has failed to find a substantial market, but that has not stopped the federal government from pressing ahead with studies exploring the quixotic idea. A just-released study says a service along the U.S. West Coast is potentially viable but faces multiple hurdles.

MOL Liner, Evergreen Line and Cosco Container Lines plan to launch a direct weekly service from Asia to West Africa in June.

With a cautious eye on the West Coast longshore contract negotiations that will begin on May 12, U.S. retailers expect containerized imports in May to increase 3.5 percent over May 2013, with year-over-year growth tapering through September.

Recent changes in the Asia-West Africa lane have resulted in increased capacity, putting further pressure on freight rates.

Asia-to-Europe container shippers with tight supply chains are finding that ships are increasingly arriving late versus published schedules.

U.S. containerized footwear imports plunged 22.4 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2014, according to statistics compiled by PIERS, the data division of the JOC Group.

Continuing improvement in the Hawaiian economy should lead to modest growth in the Hawaii trade this year, according to a container carrier serving the islands.

Danaos Corp. is optimistic on prospects for the ship charter market as ocean carriers look to mergers and acquisitions and alliances to manage their costs and gain economies of scale.

Hapag-Lloyd at the weekend informed its customers that it will be prepared to levy what could be large congestion surcharges on shipments to and from the United States in the event that work stoppages occur during West Coast longshore contract negotiations this summer.

Hapag-Lloyd is offering two new feeder services to Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, effective this month.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. said it will launch a direct service connecting India, the Middle East, the Red Sea and the United States.

Attorneys for Thomas Farmer claim the former Crowley Liner Services vice president’s antitrust conspiracy indictment is invalid because Puerto Rico is neither a state nor a nation.

Yang Ming Marine Transport has revamped its intra-Asia service network by forming new vessel-sharing and slot exchange arrangements with other ocean carriers on the routes.

China’s relentless urbanization will likely keep imports of U.S. containerized logs and lumber brisk in the coming year.

The International Maritime Bureau reported the lowest first-quarter level of global piracy attacks this year since 2007, although the agency warned that the threat of piracy is still present.

A temporary space shortage on the trans-Atlantic is looming thanks to implementation of the G6 Alliance in that trade lane.

Costamare posted higher revenue and earnings in the first quarter, as the Greek charter shipowner expanded its container fleet.

Hanjin Group took a major step towards shoring up its financially shaky foundation yesterday with a shakeup of the group’s shareholding structure and the appointment of chairman Cho Yang-ho as the CEO of South Korea’s largest shipping line.

DFDS today said it is shuttering a route between the U.K. and Denmark in response to tougher environmental regulations coming into force in January that will sharply raise the cost of ships’ fuel.

Shippers look set to face rising freight rates on the Asia-Europe trade in the second quarter as improving demand allows container lines to stand firm on planned general rate increases (GRIs).

The opening of the enlarged Panama Canal in 2016 likely will trigger a “massive” surplus of 4,000- to 5,000-TEU container ships, many of which will have to be scrapped regardless of their age, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

China Cosco Holdings scrapped 16 vessels in the first quarter as part of its company restructuring and fleet renewal program.

Full-year 2013 numbers are in for the U.S. containerized ocean trade, and, as expected, year-over-year growth in imports, exports and total trade was middling.

Multipurpose ocean carrier NileDutch and Singapore-based Pacific International Lines have reached a vessel-sharing agreement to jointly operate a new container service between Asia and West Africa, starting in mid-May.

Hapag-Lloyd’s largest individual shareholder, Klaus-Michael Kuehne, said the carrier should team up with another line after its forthcoming merger with Chile’s CSAV so it can compete more effectively with the world’s top three carriers.

What is today a small club of carriers operating or having ordered 18,000-TEU ships or larger is likely to grow, but not necessarily overnight, as carriers intensify their focus on reducing costs without regard to greater market or infrastructure implications.

In the mature and stable, some would say boring, trans-Atlantic trade, one category of containerized shipments is booming. The volume growth of U.S. auto exports and auto parts imports ranks first among the top five commodities shipped.

Cascading of larger vessels from east-west into north-south trades is nothing new. But the pace of cascading and the impact it’s having in traditionally profitable north-south markets are gaining increased attention.

Joseph J. Cortese, who retired last year as U.S. national sales manager at United Arab Shipping Co. after more than 40 years in the shipping industry, died April 20 at his home in Middletown, N.J. He was 67.

The planned merger of Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd and Compañia Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) moved closer after shareholders controlling just 2.7 percent of the Chilean company’s stock voted against the deal that will create the world’s fourth-largest ocean container carrier.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. has announced the launch of a new container service between Asia and West Africa, starting at the end of this month.

Japan’s trade surplus with the United States narrowed for the second month in a row in March on a year-on-year basis, as imports surged at a much faster pace than exports, according to preliminary figures released by the Finance Ministry.