Container lines

New Zealand freight and logistics company Kotahi has pledged to provide Maersk Line with 2.5 million 20-foot containers of exports over the next 10 years.

Nautilus Holdings Ltd., which charters 16 container ships to ocean carriers, filed for bankruptcy protection, citing a “depressed” charter market.

The worst is over for the Asia-Europe container trade as slow-steaming and scrapping of old vessels begin to address excess capacity, according to a recent report from HSBC’s transport analysts.

Container lines will continue to look to vessel-sharing agreements to reduce their operational costs, but new alliances will likely be less ambitious following the Chinese rejection of the P3 Network, SeaIntel Maritime Analysis CEO Lars Jensen says.

U.S. private equity fund KKR is reportedly mulling the sale of UN Ro-Ro to its previous owners.

The European Union today extended by five years an antitrust exemption for liner shipping consortia, in the face of opposition from shippers.

After 13 years of working closely with container lines to develop their electronic cargo booking and tracking capabilities through INTTRA, its former CEO Ken Bloom is moving on to solve a different problem: how to change the way the shipping industry operates.

European shipowners have asked the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers to endorse a maritime security plan aimed at safeguarding ships around the globe.

Japan’s exports to the United States fell for the first time in 17 months in May on a year-on-year basis.

At the end of this month, four ocean carriers will launch a new joint service connecting China, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Hamburg Süd said it will focus on further cost cuts and expansion of its core routes to and from South America through 2014.

Hapag-Lloyd has plans to restructure its West Africa service network, including its West Africa Service and West Africa Mediterranean Express, in June and July.

China’s rejection of the P3 Network is a blow to Maersk Line, which had expected the global container ship alliance to produce large savings, analysts say.

A shortage of seafarers in the officer corps is expected to worsen, threatening carriers’ bottom lines, according to Drewry’s recently published Manning 2014 Annual Report.

Cheaper ship charter rates and growth in cargo volumes are bringing gains to the bottom lines of ocean carriers operating in services between Asian countries, Drewry says.

A small business based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, took home one of the state’s most coveted business awards with an aggressive export strategy.

Container ships with capacities of 10,000 TEUs or greater are more likely to be delayed at European ports than smaller vessels.

A Greek ship manager said it is working with Lloyd’s Register and Daewoo Shipbuilding to develop LNG-fueled ultra-large container ships of 14,000 TEUs.

Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India are poised to kick their export growth into higher gear over the next five years.

Container shipping veteran Richard “Dick” Craig was promoted to CEO of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. America on June 9.

Eleven sailors from the Malaysia-flag container ship Albedo held hostage for more than three years by Somali pirates have arrived safely in Kenya, according to mediators who helped secure their freedom, Al Jazeera reported.

Despite recent improvements, global container lines’ schedule reliability and on-time container delivery have been worse every month so far this year versus last year.

Asia’s export growth will bounce off the lows of 2012-13 and still be the envy of the world over the next five years.

Pet products are a serious and fast growing business in China.

Customs brokers and forwarders are asking the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission to create procedures to help them better handle potential work stoppages at U.S. West Coast ports.

Maersk Group says it completed a $5.1 billion syndicated revolving credit facility to replace loans maturing in 2015, reducing its financial costs.

Maersk Line said it intends to raise rates on shipments between the Mediterranean and North America, beginning July 1.

Maersk Line is denying claims that its profits are inflated because it gets a discount from its Maersk Group sister company APM Terminals, a major global terminal operator.

The CKYH partners and Evergreen Line are making moves to allow them to seek a vessel-sharing alliance in the trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trade lanes.

Greek shipowners are faced with a decision: increase investments in more efficient container ships to stay competitive, or return to their roots in bulk shipping.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission is clarifying rules pertaining to congestion surcharges planned by trans-Pacific carriers in the event of U.S. West Coast work stoppages.

Shipping Corp. of India reported a marginal net profit for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013-14, which ended March 31, 2014.

The start of the World Cup in Brazil next month could give U.S. beer imports a much-needed kick in growth this year.

As a niche carrier with a growing refrigerated forwarding business and aggressive plans to expand, Eimskip is poised to ride the waves fueled by larger vessels and booming inter-Asia trade. Much of this promise centers on the container shipping and refrigerated logistics group’s ability to handle a wider variety of reefer goods throughout the supply chain.

In announcing sharply lower losses for the first three months of the year, CSAV said it expects to close on a merger agreement with Hapag-Lloyd in the fourth quarter.

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

The following excerpt from Culture shock in Maersk Line, the new book by maritime industry analyst Lars Jensen, CEO & Partner at SeaIntel Consulting, discusses the situation today at the world’s No. 1 container carrier.