Container lines

Hong Kong-based container ship lessor Seaspan has signed contracts for the construction of five 14,000-TEU container ships at Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Ship management company TOTE Services, a division of Princeton, N.J.-based TOTE, has announced that its president, Jorge Aguirre, will retire on Jan. 31.

Maersk Line will implement a general rate increase from India to Latin America on Feb. 1.

A.P. Moller-Maersk, owner of ocean carrier Maersk Line, said the container shipping industry needs to hike rates by $300 to $500 per box on the Asia-Europe trade lane to yield profit, Bloomberg reported.

Container transportation company APL is introducing a new weekly service between Germany and Poland.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based trucking and marine freight company Trailer Bridge’s board of directors has appointed Chris J. Dombalis as a board member and CEO of the company, effective Jan. 16.

Orient Overseas Container Line has decreased its low water surcharge for all cargo shipments via the Port of Montreal, effective Feb. 1, following the latest projections for improved water levels in the Canadian St. Lawrence River.

Ocean carriers are planning to beef up the capacity of their services from Asia to the U.S. East Coast via the Suez Canal this year while consolidating or even reducing the number of all-water loops deployed via the Panama Canal.

Vigor Industrial has signed a deal with Daoda Marine Heavy Industry Company to buy a new floating drydock for $40 million.

Hapag-Lloyd has launched the Poland Express Service, a new weekly fixed-day route to and from Gdynia, Poland, to Hamburg and Bremerhaven in Germany.

French ocean carrier CMA CGM announced several rate hikes that will take effect in February and March.

Final year figures are expected to show that trade between China and India suffered a major slump in 2012 despite a softening in political relations between the two countries that have previously clashed over borders.

The Container Owners Association, which represents container shipping lines and container leasing companies, has appointed O I Kwon, senior vice president of the container business management division of STX Panocean...

In December 2012, India’s exports were valued at $24.9 billion, falling 1.9 percent from $25.3 billion in the same month the previous year, and imports were valued at $42.5 billion, rising 6.3 percent from December 2011’s $40.0 billion...

Hapag-Lloyd has revised the application date of the congestion surcharge that it plans to apply in the event of an International Longshoremen’s Association strike.

Indian shipbuilder ABG Shipyard has announced its plans to build a greenfield shipyard in three phases along the Indian state of Gujarat’s coastline, representing an investment of about US$912 million.

The U.S. trade deficit was $48.7 billion in November 2012, widening 15.7 percent from $42.1 billion (revised) in October 2012, reported the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Containerized imports should be higher each month over the next five months as U.S. retailers replenish their stocks for the new year, according to the Global Port Tracker published by the National Retail Federation and Ben Hackett Associates.

German carrier Hapag-Lloyd has announced a new service between Guaranao and El Guamache ports in Venezuela.

Maersk Line predicts strong demand on Europe-Asia trades through to Chinese New Year on February 10.

German carrier Hapag-Lloyd will increase rates on its trade between North Europe, including the U.K., and West Africa, effective Feb. 1.

Chinese exports ended 2012 surprisingly strongly, but economists expect the rebound to be short-lived.

The Panama Canal Authority has issued a notice to Vinci Construction Grands Projets to start building a bridge on the Atlantic side of the canal.

Japanese carrier Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has announced changes to its APX service, which runs between North America and Europe, and CNY service, which travels between Asia and the U.S. East Coast and West Coast and Panama.

Maersk Line postponed the effective date of its proposed congestion surcharge at West Coast ports until Feb. 14.

Container lines could earn nearly $5 billion this year, but only if demand meets projections.

Hapag-Lloyd has announced several changes to rates.

Maersk Line is ceasing to accept bookings to and from Gioia Tauro, Italy.

Maersk Line, the global containerized division of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, will start to call Marsaxlokk, Malta, on eastbound trips of the ECUMED service, which sails between Ecuador and the Ukraine.

Maersk Line will implement a general rate increase on its New Zealand to Australia trade lane, effective Feb. 1.

Maersk Line has cancelled three vessel calls to Ningbo, China, from Europe because of anticipated reduced demand during the upcoming Chinese New Year period.

Ingram Barge Co., a subsidiary of Ingram Industries based in Nashville, Tenn., has promoted Robert Barker to senior vice president and chief information officer.

The world container ship capacity reached 16.335 million 20-foot-equivalent units on Jan. 1, 2013, an increase of 6 percent from a year ago, according to industry analyst Alphaliner.