Freight Cost

Malaysia Mulls Second Shipping Line

Malaysia reportedly may set up a second national shipping line to help reduce freight charges between the peninsula and the states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo island, as traders in the two east Malaysian states had complained about high freight costs. "The proposal has come from the Ministry and the Cabinet is actively studying it," an official said. Malaysia International Shipping Corp., controlled by state oil firm Petronas, is currently the country's sole national shipper.

Caribbean Upcoast Trade Experiences Downturn

Shipping's most volatile market, the Caribbean upcoast trade, has plummeted in the last few days to levels not seen since last November and freight costs are now less than half of what they were just two weeks ago, brokers said on Tuesday. But they were also quick to point out that this was merely a normal part of the yearly cycle as refinery turnarounds start to bite into the supply-demand balance. "Every April for the last three years the Aframax (70

Submarines As Ore Carriers?

Russia'sNorilsk Nickel - a big metal producer -- has finished a feasibility study of a project to use nuclear submarines for ore shipments, which once started will cost $80 million, Norilsk's chairman said. "The feasibility study has been prepared and now the board of directors has to approve spending of up to $80 million for its implementation," Yuri Kotlyar said. "But even then the decommissioning of the submarines should be sanctioned by the state."

Sherborne Sensors New North American Ops

Sherborne Sensors Limited announced the establishment of Sherborne Sensors, Inc., a fully dedicated sales, marketing, logistics and support entity, now serving a growing number of customers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. From its offices in Mahwah (Bergen County), N.J., USA, Sherborne Sensors, Inc., is providing a number of enhanced local service offerings, including reduced product lead times and freight costs; real-time order fulfillment and applications engineering

Freight Rates To Fly High In Coming Years

The U.S. will become more dependent on tanker-borne petroleum imports in coming years, coinciding with a ship shortage which will push freight costs sharply higher, energy and tanker analysts said on Wednesday. "Products imports are playing a bigger swing role in the U.S. than ever before," Paul Horsnell of Oxford Institute of Energy Studies said. "They're becoming a structural feature of the U.S. system." Horsnell told members of the tanker owners' organization Intertanko

Single Hull Tanker Ban Could Send Freight Rates Soaring

When OPA 90 was introduced in wake of the Valdez accident, the stipulation that tankers trading in the U.S. must be double hulled was roundly panned throughout the world, as industry experts bemoaned the fact that one country have such a deciding impact on vessel design. How soon they forget. Ten years and a few tragic sinkings off European shores have let to Italy's sudden plan to ban single-hulled tankers from seven key port areas

MarAd Launches Transportation Freight Financing Program Website

The Maritime Administration (MarAd,) with the Export-Import Bank, has developed a program to provide added incentives for the commercial public to ship their United States export cargo on U.S.-flag vessels. Under this program, the Ex-Im Bank provides guaranteed working capital loans for transportation-related cost associated with the export move that is carried on a U.S.-flag vessel. Such transportation costs could include ocean freight, marine insurance, export packing, trucking

NOL Group: $254m 1Q Loss

High fuel costs, low freight rates conspire to create tough 1Q NOL Group, the Singapore-based container shipping and logistics company, reported a first quarter 2012 net loss of 254 million compared to a net loss of $10 million in the same period last year.  NOL said high fuel costs and low freight rates in container shipping affected first quarter 2012 performance.   NOL said that in the first quarter of 2012 it achieved about $100 million of cost savings under its ongoing

Shipping Lines Estimate Costs to Rise

Bloomberg reported that Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. and 11 of the largest shipping companies plying the Pacific Ocean said costs of moving cargo to the U.S. in 2006 will rise 7 percent on higher fuel prices, which may spur them to raise freight rates. The cost of transporting containers by trucks and railways will increase as much as 25 percent, the 12-line Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, whose members ship about 70 percent of trans-Pacific trade, said in a statement today.

AAPA Expresses Concern Over Stalled Contract

 The American Association of Port Authorities today sent a strong message to Congressional Senate, House and Committee leaders, urging them to "take swift action" to avert a rail strike on Dec. 6, which would lead to a discontinuation of freight rail service, potentially costing American businesses and consumers $2 billion a day.   "Railroads are a vital component of the freight transportation system and are critical to international trade and goods movement