Container Shipping News

Samudera Shipping Line’s board of directors has announced that Torkis David Parlaungan Batubara, executive director and CEO of the container line, has resigned, effective May 22. He will also cease as a member of the nominating committee.

BG Freight Line, the short sea specialist based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, will increase the frequency of its services to Liverpool, England, in June.

Starting June 9, Cosco and ANL will jointly operate Sino Australia Service with six vessel deployments, including five vessels from Cosco and one from ANL.

APL will boost rates for dry and refrigerated cargo in its trade from Asia, Australia, East Africa, the Middle East and West Asia to Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, starting June 1.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. will increase rates on three of its trade routes, effective June 1...

Cosco Container Lines will hike rates for all shipments, including refrigerated cargo, in its trade from the Far East to South America’s east coast, starting June 14.

Hapag-Lloyd will boost rates for all cargo and container types on its trade from East Asia, excluding Japan, to the Persian Gulf, effective June 1.

Euroseas today reported a net loss of $4.6 million in the first quarter of 2013, improving from a net loss of $9.0 million in the first quarter of 2012.

MSC Belgium has introduced a new container release system that allows customers in the Port of Antwerp in Belgium to collect their containers quickly in a secure environment.

Fesco, the operator of Russia’s largest ocean carrier, has successfully sold $75 million of corporate bonds, just weeks after it closed on a $800 million bond sale.

Maersk Line swung to a $204 million operating profit in the first quarter from a $599 million loss a year ago, its fourth successive quarter in the black, driven by cost savings, higher freight rates and a lower fuel bill that more than compensated for flat container volumes.

The European Union’s trade surplus expanded to €15.8 billion (appoximately US$20.4 billion) in March....

Shreyas Shipping and Logistics announced plans to launch a coastal container service between West India and South India.

CMA CGM, Maersk Line, Hamburg Süd, CSAV, China Shipping Container Lines and Hanjin will restructure their services between the Far East and South America’s east coast by launching three joint services in July.

Hapag-Lloyd will raise rates for all cargo and container types on three of its trade routes, as of June 15.

Samskip Multimodal has increased capacity on short sea services connecting Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to Hull, U.K.

Wilson Sons reported net income in the first quarter of 2013 totaled $19.5 million, jumping 169.7 percent from $7.2 million in the first quarter of 2012.

German ocean carrier Hamburg Süd today ruled out an early revival of stalled merger talks with its rival Hapag-Lloyd as it announced a modest improvement in its 2012 results.

Hapag-Lloyd nearly halved its operating loss in the seasonally weak first quarter as the German ocean carrier posted modest gains in freight rates and cargo volumes and paid less to fuel its ships.

Maersk Line will boost rates on its trade route from the Mediterranean to the Far East, effective June 1.

New regulations for the non-tank vessel response plans will be discussed at the 2013 National Maritime Salvage Conference, taking place from Sept. 9-12 at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.

Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores will modify the northbound rotation of its U.S. Gulf service by introducing a direct call at Cartagena, Colombia, in replacement of Caucedo, Dominican Republic.

In April, shipping lines and shipowners took deliveries of 13 new container ships with a combined capacity of 108,142 20-foot-equivalent units, according to Clarksons.

OOCL will boost freight rates for traffic from Asia to New Zealand, starting July 1.

Hapag-Lloyd today signaled its determination to reverse the accelerating rate slump on the Far East-Europe route by announcing a general rate increase of $1,000 per 20-foot container for westbound shipments to north European and Mediterranean ports from July 1.

Maersk Line will deploy the first 12 deliveries of its new Triple E container ships in its expanded Asia-Europe AE10 string. The first of the 20 ships in the series will make its maiden call at Busan on July 14.

Sunship Schiffahrtskontor KG has confirmed that all of its five crew members who were abducted during the boarding of its container ship City of Xiamen off the coast of Nigeria on April 26 have been released.

Neptune Orient Lines Group today reported profit in the first quarter of 2013 was $76 million, improving from a net loss of $254 million in the first quarter of 2012.

Gati Ltd. has sold a 40 percent stake in its shipping subsidiary, Gati Ship Pvt. Ltd., to a strategic partner for Rs. 8 crore (about $1.5 million).

KFC, food safety regulators in China and the international poultry industry are spreading the word that heat kills the Type A H7N9 influenza, along with any other virus present.

Cosco Container Lines will raise rates for all shipments from the Far East and Indian subcontinent to Panama and the Caribbean, including Venezuela, Columbia and Costa Rica, effective June 1.

An explosion occurred yesterday in the engine room of United Arab Shipping Co.’s vessel Asir en route from Suez, Egypt, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, resulting in the loss of power of the vessel and injury of three officers.

A greater degree of cooperation between forwarders, shippers and lines might help engineer a more sustainable and effective global ocean freight industry, according to an official at DHL Global Forwarding.

Container carriers began the year with seemingly unshakeable resolve to increase rates on refrigerated cargoes, saying the prices were far below what carriers need to earn a return on their sizable investments. Now rates seem to be in a freefall.

New York State’s 524-mile canal system opened for the season this week, welcoming commercial traffic and recreational boaters, Times Union reports.

Emirates Shipping Line will raise rates on trade from the Far East and Southeast Asia to the Middle East, starting May 15.

The volumes of Hong Kong's total exports and imports of goods rose year-over-year, up 11.3 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively, Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department reported May 9.

Pacific Forum Line has announced a few changes to its Southpac service.