Japanese Carriers News

The European Commission (EC) said Wednesday that it had fined four maritime car carriers 395 million euros (U.S. $486.5 million). Four shipping companies – CSAV, K Line, NYK and WWL-Eukor – have been fined by the EC for collusion in operating a cartel on the car carrier trades, in breach of EU antitrust rules. All companies acknowledged their involvement in the cartels and agreed to settle the cases. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy said:"The Commission has sanctioned several companies for colluding in the maritime transport of cars and the supply of car parts.The three separate decisions taken today show that we will not tolerate anticompetitive behaviouraffecting European consumers and industries.

Orient Overseas International (OOIL) and its container unit OOCL have a good track record for above-average profits in a challenging market and a reputation for being a very well-run company, earning the moniker “The Perfect Bride” by Drewry Maritime Financial Research. Retaining the management team, processes and systems is a wise move and could be of enormous value to Cosco Shipping Holdings (Cosco), Drewry said. OOCL has an owned-fleet of 66 containerships aggregating approximately 440,000 teu. It is a young and modern fleet with an average age of 7.1 years and average nominal capacity of 6,600 teu. It is introducing its first 21,000 teu vessel with five more to deliver and options for another six which it could easily exercise.

U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner William P. Yesterday, I voted to reject the Tripartite Agreement proposed by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line); Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL); and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). This agreement was unanimously rejected by the Commissioners on the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC). This decision by the FMC in no way precludes the Japanese carriers from merging their container trade business units into a single stand-alone company. Rather, the vote recognizes that the FMC cannot approve certain actions that would allow the three Japanese companies to act as a merged entity prior to actually merging. The Shipping Act does not provide the Federal Maritime Commission with authority to review and approve mergers.

Japan's big three shippers will report earnings on Monday as yen strength threatens to widen annual loss estimates, in a sector shaken by shrinking demand and over capacity that has already sunk a major carrier. Nippon Yusen KK (NYK), Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd (MOL) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K-Line) - whose combined fleet of over 2,000 vessels includes tankers, dry-cargo carriers and container ships - will issue second-quarter results and updated full-year estimates that analysts say are currently too optimistic. The announcements will come just weeks after NYK said it would write down assets to the tune of 160 billion yen ($1.52 billion) in the July-September period.

New ship orders placed at Japanese yards fell by 80% during H1 2016 compared to H1 2015, according to data from the Japan Ship Exporters' Association (JSEA). According to ALIBRA Weekly Market Report , this is the worst decline since the autumn of 2008 in terms of gross tonnage. Yoshikazu Nakaya, a shipping analyst with Mizuho Bank, told Nikkei the current slump is "worse than the one following the global financial crisis” and thinks Japan’s shipbuilding industry “won't recover until 2021”. The current orderbook of vessels for export stands at 667 ships, of which 196 (30%) will be delivered this year, JSEA says. Some 227 ships (34%) will be delivered in 2017 and 196 (23%) will arrive in 2018.

The most often quoted reason for consolidation is the reduction in unit costs which can be obtained by an operator with a larger volume of business. The ways in which these reductions can be achieved in practice are discussed in a new white paper, Consolidation in the liner industry, published by Drewry. Consolidation may put a shipping line in a better position to chart its future, with larger volumes and a greater control of its own destiny. • COSCO and CSCL’s merger advances them to fourth place (previously sixth and seventh respectively) though around 4% points behind CMA-CGM. Other carrier combinations could achieve comparable scale and there has been plenty of speculation around the case for shipping lines of the same nationality to merge.

Dec. 7, 1941 is a day that America will never forget. Claiming more than 2,400 American lives, 21 ships sunk or damaged, and more than 300 aircraft lost, the attack on Pearl Harbor goes down as one of the worst attacks on American soil. The Japanese attack came in two waves. During the first wave, six Japanese carriers launched 181 planes carrying torpedo bombers, dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. Only 30 minutes later 170 more aircraft launched their attack on the Harbor. The U.S. was able to repair all but three of the ships sunk or damaged. The three ships that were beyond repair were USS Arizona (BB-39), USS Oklahoma (BB-37), and USS Utah (AG-16). This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Today in U.S. Naval History - June 4 1934 - USS Ranger, first ship designed from the keel up as a carrier, is commissioned at Norfolk, Va. 1942 - Battle of Midway (June 4-6) begins; during battle, the four Japanese carriers which attacked Pearl Harbor are sunk; this decisive U.S. victory is a turning point in the Pacific war 1944 - Hunter-killer group USS Guadalcanal captures German submarine, U-505 For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

Today in U.S. Naval History - June 4 1934 - USS Ranger, first ship designed from the keel up as a carrier, is commissioned at Norfolk, VA 1942 - Battle of Midway (June 4-6) begins; during battle, the four Japanese carriers which attacked Pearl Harbor are sunk; this decisive U.S. victory is a turning point in the Pacific war 1944 - Hunter-killer group USS Guadalcanal captures German submarine, U-505 For more information about naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center website at www.history.navy.mil.

MOL announced that it has voluntarily enrolled two of its vessels, the MOL Endowment and MOL Experience, in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Ocean Going Vessel Low Sulfur Fuel Program. MOL is one of the first ocean carriers to enroll in the Low Sulfur Fuel program, and is the first of the Japanese carriers to do so. The program provides incentives to operators of ocean vessels to utilize low-sulfur fuel in their main propulsion and auxiliary engines instead of bunker fuel known as Intermediate Fuel Oil 380. Switching to low-sulfur fuels reduces emissions of fine particles as well as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and nitrous oxide and contributes to the improvement of the environment.

1934 - USS Ranger, first ship designed from the keel up as a carrier, is commissioned at Norfolk, VA 1942 - Battle of Midway (4-6 June) begins; during battle, the 4 Japanese carriers which attacked Pearl Harbor are sunk; this decisive U.S. victory is a turning point in the Pacific war 1944 - Hunter-killer group USS Guadalcanal captures German submarine, U-505 (Source: Navy News Service)

1934 - USS Ranger, first ship designed from the keel up as a carrier, is commissioned at , 1942 - Battle of Midway (4-6 June) begins; during battle, the 4 Japanese carriers which attacked Pearl Harbor are sunk; this decisive victory is a turning point in the Pacific war 1944 - Hunter-killer group USS Guadalcanal captures German submarine, U-505 (Source: Navy News Source)

1934 - USS Ranger (CV 4), first ship designed from the keel up as a carrier, is commissioned at 1942 - Battle of Midway (June 4-6) begins. During battle, the four Japanese carriers which attacked Pearl Harbor are sunk; this decisive victory is a turning point in the Pacific war. 1944 - Hunter-killer group USS Guadalcanal (CVE 60) captures German submarine, U 505.

In the late spring of 1942, a Japanese carrier strike force launched more than 100 planes from the northwest to conduct an air attack on the U.S. military at Midway Atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. By 5:30 a.m. that day the United States located and identified the incoming Japanese threat. In an hour�s time, America and Japan engaged in what would later be looked back upon as the most pivotal naval engagement of World War II. June 4-6 marks the 65th anniversary and remembrance of the confrontation, which genuinely demonstrated the importance of the Navy�s aircraft carriers, after the U.S. fleet sank all four Japanese carriers involved, and consequently neutralized the Pacific front.