German Shipping Line News

The German shipping line Hapag Lloyd said on Sunday it had evacuated the crew from its container ship, the Yantian Express, off Canada's east coast after a fire spread."Due to bad weather conditions, the fire has not been successfully contained yet and has significantly increased in intensity at times," the firm said in a statement on Sunday."For this reason, a decision was made to evacuate the crew. The complete crew is unharmed."Hapag Lloyd had said on Friday that it was trying to extinguish the fire.(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

German shipping line Hapag Lloyd said on Friday that it was trying to extinguish a fire on its Yantian Express container vessel off Canada's east coast but was being hampered by bad weather.A spokesman for Hapag Lloyd said the fire broke out on Thursday in a container on deck and spread to some other containers on the vessel, but the cause was not yet known.The 7,519 twenty foot equivalent ship was on its way from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Halifax in Nova Scotia via the Suez Canal…

German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd has cut its profit outlook for the year 2018 amid a challenging and volatile environment for ocean carriers. A Reuters report quoted the shipper saying that freight rates had recovered more slowly than expected while fuel and charter costs had ballooned. The report said that these developments cannot be fully offset by cost saving measures that have already been initiated. Hapag-Lloyd also referred to the uncertainty regarding the development of freight rates in the upcoming peak season as one of the factors for the outlook revision. According to a note to its investors, the reason for the revision is "an unexpectedly significant and continuing increase in the operational costs since the beginning of the year…

German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd has stopped one of two feeder services to Iran and will decide on the remaining one before a Nov. 4 deadline imposed by the United States, which has reimposed sanctions on Tehran.Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth largest container company, said it had initiated a process to stop handling products included in the list of commodities hit by U.S. sanctions, within the required wind down timeline.The group said it did not have any direct services handling Iran volumes of its own…

After evaluating performance in 2017, the German shipping line serving sectors such as pharmaceuticals, the automotive industry and the technology sector in Mexico expects maritime shipping volumes to experience double-digit growth in 2018 and foresees a continuous increase in cargo volumes. On holding its annual meeting with Latin American leaders in Mexico, the shipping line Hapag-Lloyd pointed to significant growth in infrastructure and operational capacities in the country on reporting its year-end closing for 2017. This positive development is thanks to the favorable outlook in maritime transport in Mexico and worldwide. During the current year…

German shipping line Hapag Lloyd and Arab sector peer UASC have completed a delayed merger which creates the world's fifth-biggest shipping company. The German company said on Wednesday that the deal to combine the two businesses, announced in April 2016 and sealed in July last year, has closed and been listed in commercial registers as of May 24, including a capital increase of 45.9 million euros. Qatar Investment Authority, through Qatar Holding, now holds 14.4 percent of Hapag Lloyd…

German shipping line Hapag Lloyd is close to completing a merger with United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) after UASC's shareholders agreed terms to repay outstanding debts, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. The deal to create the world's fifth-biggest shipping company, valued at about 7 billion to 8 billion euros ($7.8-$8.9 billion), had been scheduled to complete at the end of last year. It would give Hapag Lloyd access to bigger ships on the major Asia to Europe trade route.

A merger of Hapag-Lloyd and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has hit a snag, with the German shipping line and some banks seeking assurances that UASC's top shareholder Qatar remain committed to the deal for the long term, sources say. Hapag Lloyd Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen told a news conference this week he had underestimated the complexity of the 7 billion to 8 billion euro ($7.6-$8.7 bln) deal, which will create one of the world's largest shipping lines. Two finance sources…

The outlook for global container carriers remains rocky at the outset of 2017, according to a new study by AlixPartners. Hanjin Shipping Co.’s bankruptcy in 2016 sent shock waves through the industry, while Brexit and the new U.S. administration’s policies threaten to inject further uncertainty into the future of global trade. These stances could reverse policies that have supported the growth of containerization since the 1950s. Going into the important pricing season, companies need to do everything they can to retain the higher rates recently seen.

Dr. August Oetker KG announces that, after more than 80 years, it is divesting its shipping business and will be selling Hamburg Süd with all activities, subsidiaries and principal assets. The world's seventh-biggest container operator, Hamburg Süd, has been sold to Danish conglomerate AP Moeller-Maersk. Maersk Line didn't disclose the purchase price of Hamburg Süd when it announced the takeover on Thursday, saying it hoped to complete the deal by the end of 2017. According to WSJ, Maersk Line agreed to pay roughly $4 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions, making it one of the biggest deals for a container operator. The acquisition will boost Maersk's presence on North-South shipping routes.

The German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd posted an operating profit of €366m ($406m)  in 2015 compared with a loss of €382m a year earlier. The ocean carrier, which merged with the container arm of  Chile’s CSAV in late 2014, reported revenue of $9.8bn, up from $9.0bn a year earlier. The boxship owner says it has reached its earnings targets for 2015 as CSAV deal pushed up revenue. Revenue ballooned to 8.8 billion euros from 6.8 billion euros as container traffic jumped to 7.4 million 20-foot-equivalent units compared with 5.9 million TEUs last time, “primarily attributable” to the contribution from CSAV. The transport volume rose up to around 7.4 million TEU for 2015 from 5.9 million TEU in 2014.

Hamburg Sud has entered into a long-expected purchase agreement for Chilean shipping line CCNI (Compania Chilena De Navigacion Interocea) for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is expected to close by end-March pending approval by antitrust authorities, said Hamburg Sud, adding that the CCNI brand would continue. The Agreement between the German ship-owner and his South American counterpart was announced in July 2014. The transaction, in the amount of € 160 million was originally scheduled to conclude in December. The sale includes that of Agunsa Agencias Universales (Agunsa), which ensures the agent function of the Chilean company Valaparaiso and in the capital Santiago. The business generated US$750 million in revenues last year.

One of the biggest and most modern ship repair yards in the Middle East, Oman Drydock Company (ODC), has recently received its first LNG carrier, the Muscat LNG, owned by Oman Shipping Corporation SAOC. As part of its middle term service, Muscat LNG underwent the service operation at ODC during 11 days and was delivered within the estimated 12 days. The service operation for Muscat LNG included the mechanical cleaning of the main boilers and the fire sides. She was pressure tested and the LNG Cargo pumps, the ballast pumps and the safety and mounting valves for the main boiler were overhauled.