Hapag-Lloyd to Seek Cost Cuts After Net Profit Slump
German container shipper Hapag-Lloyd said on Thursday the global oversupply of container ships and a crisis in the Red Sea will force it to cut costs in 2024, adapting sailings and ports following a bruising 83% fall in net profit.Ship operators face prolonged disruption while Yemen-based Houthi militants are attacking vessels travelling on one of the world's busiest routes, wiping out the benefit from higher freight rates with costly redirections around Africa.Hapag-Lloyd's problems chime with those of competitors such as Maersk and CMA CGM, exacerbated by the arrival of additional ships orde
MOL Teams Up with Rio Tinto for Decarbonization of Maritime Transportation
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and Rio Tinto have signed the partnership agreement to enhance collaboration on both safety and crew welfare initiative and decarbonization of maritime transportation.MOL and Rio Tinto have agreed to further collaborate on shipping decarbonization in addition to the existing commitment to the DOO program through a deal signed on January 24, 2024.The DOO program is a Rio Tinto initiative aimed at enhancing safety and improving crew welfare in the…
Fire Caused by Blasts Breaks Out on Ship Southeast of Aden
A fire caused by nearby explosions broke out onboard a vessel southeast of the Yemeni port city of Aden on Monday, before being contained, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency and British security firm Ambrey reported."The Master reports the fire onboard has been extinguished and that the crew are all safe. Coalition Forces are responding," UKMTO said in a recent update on the incident.It later added that the vessel was clear of the area and was proceeding to its…
IMO’s PPR11 Agrees Guidance on Key Environmental Issues
The IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 11) agreed new guidance on several key environmental issues.Meeting from February 19 to 23, 2024, the following guidance will now be submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee for approval this March (MEPC 81) and October (MEPC 82):• the safe transport of plastic pellets by sea• best practices for cutting black carbon emissions from ships operating in or near the Arctic• reducing risks of use and carriage…
Asia LNG Imports Are Robust, But Record Supply Keeps Spot Prices Muted
The spot price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is continuing to meander at low levels amid ample supply from major exporters and signs that winter demand is easing in the top-importing regions of Asia and Europe.The spot price for LNG delivered to north Asia ended at $9.60 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week to Feb. 2, up slightly from the seven-month low of $9.50 the previous week.Spot LNG prices have broken their usual seasonal pattern of rising during the northern winter and again in summer…
NYK Line Stops Vessel Transits in Red Sea
Japan's Nippon Yusen, the country's biggest shipper by sales, on Tuesday suspended navigation through the Red Sea for all the vessels it operates, a spokesperson told Reuters.The company, also known as NYK Line, has also instructed its vessels navigating near the Red Sea to wait in safe waters and is considering route changes, the spokesperson said.It is the latest operator to cease traversing the key shipping corridor following an advisory from the Combined Maritime Forces to stay clear of the region after the launch of U.S.
Israel Working to Clarify COSCO's Position on Shipping to Israel
Israel's Transport Ministry on Tuesday said it was seeking to clarify Chinese shipper COSCO's reported decision to halt shipping to Israel.Israeli media this week reported that COSCO had suspended shipping to Israel.
Ship Traffic Through Suez Canal Down 20% Due to Houthi Attacks
Shipping traffic through the Suez Canal fell 20% between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2 compared to a year earlier, according to the PortWatch platform, after shipping companies began re-routing vessels in response to attacks by Yemen's Houthis.From Dec. 15, when Maersk became the first shipper to announce diversions, until Jan. 2, the most recent date for which International Monetary Fund's PortWatch has data, the number of tankers and cargo ships passing through the crucial shipping lane fell by 10%.But seven-day averages only began dipping on Dec.
Container Lines Continue to Divert from Suez Canal
Hapag-Lloyd will continue to divert its vessels around the Suez Canal for security reasons, a spokesperson for the German container shipper said on Friday, adding a further assessment would be made on January 2.Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen, Japan's largest shipping companies, also said their vessels with links to Israel were avoiding the Red Sea area. Both companies said they were monitoring the situation.Shipping companies including Hapag-Lloyd and Denmark's Maersk earlier…
Harim Preferred Buyer of HMM
Harim Holdings on Tuesday said it has been chosen as the preferred bidder to buy control of South Korea's biggest container shipping company HMM in what people with knowledge of the matter said was a 6.4 trillion won ($4.92 billion) deal.Harim and HMM creditors Korea Development Bank and Korea Ocean Business will negotiate a final deal by the first half of 2024 for 58% of the shipper, said the people, declining to be identified as they were not authorised to discuss terms.Harim entered bidding via a consortium led by its bulk shipping unit Pan Ocean.
X-Press Feeders to Use Green Methanol in Q2 2024
Singapore-based container shipper X-Press Feeders plans to use green methanol bunker to fuel part of its fleet in Europe in the second quarter of 2024, a senior executive said on Tuesday.The move comes as the European Union will extend its Emissions Trading System (ETS) next year to cover carbon dioxide emissions for all ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above entering EU ports.Shippers can buy carbon credits to offset emissions or burn lower-carbon fuels such as methanol and biofuels, although supply of these fuels is limited.
Palmali Aims to Expand Shipping Ops in the Black Sea
Istanbul-based tanker operator Palmali has become the top shipper for Ukraine's Black Sea-borne sunflower oil exports, one of the country's key export products, and plans to expand further, its chairman Mubariz Mansimov said.Azeri-born Mansimov said Palmali was the most active operator in the increasingly dangerous Black Sea, and plans to expand its presence in Ukraine by placing an order for 10 more cargo carriers and starting trading operations early next year. Since pulling out of the U.N.-brokered deal that guaranteed safe shipment of Ukrainian food products in July…
Management Change at German Dry Bulk Shipper
Monique Hezel-Reyntjens will retire effective December 31, 2023, having worked in and led what is now known as BeKa HGK GmbH for almost 42 years. Her parents, Franz Josef and Corrie Becker founded the dry shipping company in 1982. Monique Hezel-Reyntjenshas played a significant role in the success story at BeKa HGK; she worked in the chartering section from the outset and in the course of time became a shareholder and has been its managing director up to now. She will be succeeded by Florian Bleikamp (34)…
Hapag-Lloyd Posts 77% Drop in Nine-month Net Profit, Cuts Outlook
German container shipper Hapag-Lloyd on Thursday posted a net profit of 3.2 billion euros ($3.43 billion) for the first nine months of 2023, down by 77% from a year earlier, and cut its forecasts for full-year earnings.Net profit was down from 13.8 billion euros in comparable 2022 when the shipping industry, a proxy for global trade, boomed amid post-pandemic recovery and because logistics disruptions drove up prices for consumers.This year, the global economic slowdown and the clearing of port log-jams sent freight rates down sharply…
Ocean Freight Shipping: Rough Seas Ahead, But Growth Still on the Horizon
The Xeneta Summit has heard the ocean freight shipping industry will find new ways of working together in the face of a volatile market.Stanley Smulders, Director of Marketing & Commercial at Ocean Network Express (ONE), took part in a keynote Q&A with Xeneta CEO Patrik Berglund during the Summit in Amsterdam this week to discuss the major challenges facing the industry.While there are rough seas ahead, Smulders maintains growth is still on the horizon.He said: “The current market is at best volatile…
Thungela Says Coal Terminal Workers' Strike Not Impacting Exports
Thungela Resources, South Africa's largest shipper of thermal coal burned in power stations, said its shipments of the fuel have not been impacted by a workers' strike at the country's key coal export hub. Workers at Richards Bay Coal Terminal, which is owned by coal exporters including Thungela, Exxaro Resources, Glencore, and Seriti, have been on a strike for the past three weeks. A two-week strike at South Africa's state-owned ports and rail company Transnet last year hit coal shipments…
Hapag-Lloyd CEO: Counter Offer for HHLA Would Not Be In Our Interest
Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said on Thursday that it would not be in the container shipper's interest to make a counter offer for HHLA, the main operator of Hamburg port, and may instead cut its traffic through the hub.On Wednesday, Switzerland-based MSC, the world's biggest container shipping company, offered to buy almost half of the port operator in a deal that could be worth nearly 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion).Speaking to Reuters in an interview, Habben Jansen said that as a result of MSC's bid…
Hapag-Lloyd Net Profit Dives 67% in H1
German container shipper Hapag-Lloyd HLAG.DE on Thursday posted net profit of 2.9 billion euros ($3.18 billion) for the first half of 2023, down by 67% from a year earlier, but maintained its full year earnings forecast.The net profit compared with 8.7 billion euros in 2022 when shipping, a proxy for global trade, enjoyed a boom as economic growth rebounded following the end of pandemic lockdowns and as logistics disruptions raised freight rates for customers. Rates have since fallen as logjams have eased and the economy is slowing.
Nine Organisations Commit to Book and Claim Systems
Nine companies across the maritime value chain have issued a joint statement expressing their commitment to developing and implementing robust book and claim chain of custody systems to accelerate the early phases of shipping’s decarbonisation. The signatories of the joint statement – Aspen Shipping Decarbonization Initiative, DHL Global Forwarding, Hapag Lloyd, Kuehne + Nagel, Norden, Oldendorff Carriers, ONE, Torvald Klaveness, and Yara Clean Ammonia –belong to the Getting to Zero coalition…
Monjasa Acquires Two Tankers
Oil and shipping group Monjasa announced it has acquired the oil and chemical tankers Monjasa Thunder (19,991 dwt) and Monjasa Shipper (7,991 dwt) for bunkering and cargo operations across West Africa and in the Arabian Gulf. Both tankers will assume operations during this month.Monjasa said it has already taken delivery of Monjasa Thunder (formerly Solando) in Riga, Latvia and Monjasa Shipper (formerly Pearl Mercury) in Singapore, and the two tankers are currently inbound Lomé, Togo and Dubai, UAE respectively.
Top Shipper of Russian Oil Secures Indian Cover as Western Certifiers Exit
An Indian agency has stepped in to provide safety certification for most of Gatik Ship Management's fleet, a major carrier of Russian oil to India, after Lloyd's Register and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) withdrew classification for many of its vessels, records show.Mumbai-based Gatik, which has emerged this year as a significant player in Russian oil transport, also recently reflagged at least four of its vessels to Mongolia, according to data from maritime platform Lloyd's List Intelligence.This followed the de-flagging of 36 of the Gatik-managed fleet by St.
Time to Meet the US Mariner Shortage Head On
We have a national and economic security crisis on our hands. It is time for Washington policymakers to stop dancing around the facts and looking for small fixes. The U.S. mariner shortage is real and it poses an unescapable threat not only to our ability to establish lines of communication to the U.S. warfighter, but also to our nation’s ability to project power through international trade.Two Congressional hearings held on March 28 illustrate the challenge. First, General Van Ovost…
Cultivating Tomorrow’s Waterways Workforce
The American Waterways Operators (AWO) is taking action to help address an industry need and a national imperative to recruit, retain and develop the next generation of maritime employees.As much as the tugboat, towboat and barge industry contributes to our nation’s prosperity and security today, we are an industry with an incredibly bright future that has even more to offer in the years to come. Our industry is uniquely positioned to be part of the solution as shipper-customers…