Container lines

Five container lines cooperating on a joint service linking Far East Asia with Australia plan to revise the port rotation of the service to incorporate a direct call at Qingdao.

Major container lines have announced rate increases for a variety of trades, with most slated to take effect in August.

The three new shipping services that kicked off this spring from Asia to the East Coast via the Suez Canal still may be shaking out, but there’s no doubt they’re helping to accelerate the momentum the route has built over the past several years.

Spot container shipping rates in the Asia-Europe trade soared 165 percent in the week of July 4 as general rate increases carriers implemented on July 1 took hold, according to the World Container Index.

Wine exports from Europe to Asia have become a major staple of backhaul eastbound container trades in recent years as alcohol demand has surged. Yet growth is now threatened by a trade dispute between the EU and China.

Shipping lines are entering the peak season in the major east-west trade lanes at a decided disadvantage because they aren’t taking the steps necessary to control capacity to match modest growth in container volumes.

Tumbling shipyard prices and easy credit are driving the recent surge in container ship orders at a time of industrywide overcapacity, according to consultant Drewry.

China’s manufacturing activity weakened and new export orders slowed last month despite the improving U.S. economic outlook.

The U.S. trade deficit in goods expanded to $63.4 billion in May, up $5.0 billion from April, as exports fell by $0.9 billion to $130.3 billion, and imports rose by $4.2 billion to $193.7 billion.

Hamburg Süd has added a direct call at Salerno, Italy, to its route from the U.S. Gulf Coast and South Florida to the western Mediterranean.

The top 21 ocean container carriers increased the combined capacity of their fleets by 6.3 percent in the past year amid slowing cargo demand, according to industry analyst Alphaliner.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines today reported that the fore part of the MOL Comfort has been recovered and its towing has resumed, after it was disconnected from the tow wire during its salvage operation on July 2.

U.S. steel imports in May were 2.801 million tons, increasing 2.3 percent from 2.738 million tons in April (revised), but declining 8.6 percent compared with May 2012, according to government reporting.

Emirates Shipping Line has launched its Central China India Service, which connects central and Southern China with Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent...

Le Fonds stratégique d’investissement has closed its $150 million investment in CMA CGM Group through mandatory convertible bonds.

Captain Wei Jiafu, one of the most prominent maritime industry leaders over the past decade, has stepped down as chairman of the board of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines reported that during the ongoing salvage operation of the MOL Comfort, which snapped in half on June 17 during inclement weather in the Indian Ocean...

South Africa’s trade deficit in May was 11.03 billion South African rands (about US$1.11 billion), improving from a deficit of $1.61 billion in April.

Cargo from Asia to the Mediterranean rose 10 percent in April, jumping from a monthly average of 366,000 20-foot-equivalent units in the first quarter of 2013 to 401,000 TEUs...

CMA CGM has reorganized CMA CGM America, the U.S. agent of the CMA CGM Group, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., in conjunction with the departure of Frank Baragona, chairman of CMA CGM America.

Sea Star Line has taken delivery of 150 new 40-foot refrigerated containers in the second year of a five-year equipment replacement plan.

Direct ChassisLink, an intermodal marine chassis provider in North America, has acquired Hyundai Merchant Marine’s U.S. chassis fleet, comprising more than 23,000 chassis...

Gulftainer has welcomed the CMA CGM Alexander Von Humboldt container ship on its maiden voyage and call at the Khorfakkan Container Terminal at the Port of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates.

Hanjin Shipping will continue to seek out more opportunities for its terminal-handling business both to support its own global service network and to offer third party services.

Starting week 32, Hapag-Lloyd will introduce a new call at Paita, Peru, on its Mexico-Peru Service.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has reported that the aft part of its fractured MOL Comfort container ship sank today in the open sea in the Indian Ocean...

Hapag-Lloyd and OOCL have decided to suspend calls at Charleston, S.C., from the Gulf Mexico Express Service in order to improve schedule reliability to and from Mexico and the U.S. East Coast.

Evergreen Line has launched two new services, the ISC-Bangladesh Service and the Intra-Gulf Service, to enhance its network in the Indian subcontinent and the Persian Gulf.

Yang Ming Marine Transport’s board has unanimously elected Hermann Yu as president and chief operations officer, succeeding Robert Ho.

One patrol boat and three tugboats have arrived at the site of the fractured MOL Comfort in the Indian Ocean and are proceeding to rescue its cargo and hulls, according to the latest update from Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

State-owned Shipping Corp. of India plans to increase rates in its westbound trade from India to Europe and the Mediterranean, starting July 1.

CMA CGM has announced plans to consolidate operations in India by combining agency functions of its wholly-owned subsidiary ANL into CMA Agencies (India) Pvt. Ltd.

ANL Singapore — part of CMA CGM — and Agility, a logistics provider, will launch a new joint venture, ANL Agencies PNG Ltd., in Papua New Guinea on July 1, 2013.

CMA CGM has added a weekly westbound call at Durban, South Africa, to its MIDAS service, connecting India and the Persian Gulf with southern and western Africa.

DFDS’s bid to buy Scandlines, a German-Danish ferry operator, was not accepted, meaning DFDS is no longer part of the sales process.

The CMA CGM Jules Verne has made its maiden call at the Terminal de France in Port 2000 in Le Havre, France, as part of its first rotation on the French Asia Line 1 service, connecting Northern Europe with Asia.

STX Pan Ocean, a South Korean shipping company, has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection, according to court records, Bloomberg reports.

Geoje Island in South Korea is an unlikely catalyst for major changes in how global trade is conducted. Tourists flock to its rolling tree-clad mounts to hike through the spring blossoms. But nestled among the hills in Ogpo Bay sits one of the world’s largest shipyards.