COSCO Shipping Ports More than Doubled Profit in 2017
Hong Kong-based port operator COSCO Shipping Ports said that it 2017 profits have more than doubled from a year earlier, partly due to a one-off disposal gain and higher operating profits. The subsidiary and listed company of China COSCO owned by COSCO Group said that its profit reached USD 512.4 million in 2017, representing an increase of 107.4 pct compared with 2016 when the profit stood at USD 247 million. The firm's full year revenue rose 14% to US$634.7 million. Benefitting from the economic recovery and with growth fueled by its acquisitions, the Group has achieved promising results for the year, with total throughput of 100,202,185 TEU. During the year, it completed the acquisition of a 51% equity interest in Noatum Port Holdings S.L.
APM Terminals Zeebrugge Regains Asian Service
The weekly Ocean Alliance NEU4 service, operated by French-based CMA-CGM, will link the port of Zeebrugge with the Asian ports of Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, and Yantian, China as well as Busan, Korea, beginning with the first call of the 13,380 TEU capacity APL Changi on May 16th. The NEU4 service is one of six Asia/North Europe services offered by the Ocean Alliance, which began operations on April 1st with CMA CGM, COSCO Container Lines, CMA CGM, Evergreen Line and Orient Overseas Container Line as members. The Ocean Alliance deploys approximately 350 container vessels with an estimated total container capacity of 3.5 million TEUs.
Largest Container Ship at Zeebrugge Port
While on her maiden voyage in the AEX1 service, the container vessel China Shipping Container Lines Globe, currently the world’s - or the “globe’s”- largest container vessel, moored at the port of Zeebrugge. The ship embarked on its first voyage in China last December. The CSCL Globe measures 400 meters in length and is approximately 59 meters wide. Its stunning maximum capacity is 19.100 twenty feet equivalent units. Lining the containers up in a row would result in a container chain of 115 kilometers. The Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea will be delivering four sister vessels in the course of the year. The continuously growing dimensions in shipping allow freight to be transported more economically.
China Firm's First European Container Terminal Holding
China Shipping Terminal Development agrees to buy a 24 per cent stake in APM Terminals' Zeebrugge in Belgium. The move came six months after the firm, which is wholly owned by China Shipping Container Lines, expressed interest in taking a stake in the Zeebrugge facility, one of three terminals at the Belgian port, reports the South China Morning Post. The company will acquire its interest from APM Terminals, the ports division of Danish shipping, oil and aviation group AP Moller-Maersk, which owns 75 per cent. Shanghai International Port Group holds the remaining 25 per cent interest in APM Terminals Zeebrugge which it bought for €27.16 million (HK$274 million) in 2010.
