Container lines

With indications that factories in Asia will begin closing in early February and remain shut for as long as three weeks, carriers are telling their customers to expect more blank sailings this year than during past Lunar New Year celebrations.

Container freight shipping company Evergreen Line will launch a feeder service linking Greece, Turkey and Malta at the end of January.

Japanese carrier “K” Line will enhance its intra-Asia service with better transit times between Japan and Thailand.

Typhon announced today it is launching its marine convoy escort service, effective immediately, according to Homeland Security Today.

Hapag-Lloyd has announced a general rate increase from Japan to North Europe and the Mediterranean, effective April 1.

Hapag-Lloyd will increase rates on its Far East westbound trade, effective March 15.

That Wan Hai Lines attributed its third quarter profit turnaround to its decision to shift resources from the destitute Asia-Europe market to growing intra-Asia trades is testament to the strong fundamentals underpinning Asia’s regional trade.

Third-party logistics providers that don’t operate container ships, but buy space on them to resell to shippers, don’t think the outlook for carrier rate increases this year is very strong.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has received approval in concept from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai for the installation of a packaged container ballast water treatment system that can fit in a vessel’s cargo hold.

Hong Kong-based container lessor Seaspan has signed contracts for the construction of four 10,000 20-foot-equivalent unit container ships at Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding and Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding.

A shipping executive in the trans-Pacific trade told importers to expect more canceled sailings than usual during the annual Chinese New Year celebration because many factories in Asia will stay closed for as long as three weeks beginning in February.

Costamare’s net income fell to $22.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 from $26.1 million a year earlier as the Greek container ship owner’s charter revenue dipped to $95.2 million from $102 million.

China’s vehicle exports hurdled the 1 million unit barrier for the first time in 2012 as sales abroad increased 29.7 percent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

US Fab, a Vigor Industrial company, will begin construction on a deck barge for Harley Marine Services at Vigor’s Swan Island shipyard in Portland, Ore.

The European Commission has opened an investigation into whether some public support measures granted by Portugal in favor of the shipyard Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo comply with European Union state aid rules.

The U.K.’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office Minister Alistair Burt has specified how the department’s maritime security funds will be spent this financial year.

Orient Overseas (International), the parent of Hong Kong-based container line OOCL, reported total volume for OOCL in the fourth quarter of 2012 was down 0.7 percent compared with the same period last year.

German ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd will decrease its low water surcharge for all cargo moving through the Port of Montreal to and from North Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa, as well as East Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, effective Feb. 6.

CMA CGM announced a peak season surcharge from all Asian ports to all northern European ports. The surcharge will be $250 per 20-foot container, effective Jan. 28.

Hamburg, Germany-based Norddeutsche Vermogen Group and Munich-based Conti Group have appointed H. Schuldt Shipbrokers, part of Norddeutsche Vermogen Group, for the joint marketing of their container fleets.

Cosco Container Lines will implement a general rate increase for all shipments from northwestern Europe and the Mediterranean to the Far East and India and Pakistan region, effective March 1.

Nashville, Ind.-based transportation forecaster FTR Associates’ Shippers Conditions Index for November fell slightly from October to a reading of -5.3, a sign that 2013 will be challenging for shippers.

Moody’s downgraded HSH Nordbank’s standalone financial strength rating, citing the impact of the deepening crisis in the shipping market on the world’s biggest ship finance bank.

Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department reported the volume of exports of goods in November 2012 increased by 10.2 percent, and the volume of imports of goods rose by 7.6 percent, compared with the same month in 2011.

CMA CGM has reduced some of its services into and out of China, in anticipation of reduced production during the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Naviera Master Line de Venezuela, a division of Miami-based Master Line Shipping Company, has selected Port Manatee in Florida for a new container and breakbulk service to Caribbean and Central and South American locations.

German carrier Hapag-Lloyd has revised its Europe-Asia Loop 5 service. It will now call Southampton, England, instead of London’s Thamesport.

German carrier Hapag-Lloyd has postponed its general rate increase for dry shipments from Canada and the U.S. to East Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.