Lars Jensen News

The queues of container ships outside major Chinese ports are lengthening by the day as COVID-19 outbreaks in manufacturing export hubs threaten to unleash a fresh wave of global supply chain shocks, ship owners, logistics firms and analysts say.China is experiencing its biggest spike in COVID-19 infections since an initial outbreak in the central city of Wuhan was contained in early 2020.The spread of the highly-infectious Omicron variant this month has led to movement controls across China…

Global container shipping rates have surged to records on a spike in restocking demand in the United States and Europe, container scarcity at export hubs, and changes in freight flows because of the coronavirus pandemic, shipping sources said.The Freightos Baltic Global Container Index (FBX), a weighted average of 12 major global container routes, rose to $2,359 per forty-foot equivalent (FEU) container this week, the highest on record and up 30% since July 1."The spike is driven by very high demand for container freight since July…

Mergers and acquisitions activities for shipping carriers are expected to slow down in 2018, and instead will likely to pivot to freight forwarders, where the industry can expect to see an increase in M&A talks, says online freight forwarder iContainers. Following an unprecedented number of mergers and acquisitions over the past few years, iContainers says this trend can now be expected to ebb. “In terms of carriers, I doubt we will see anymore movements in the near future. I don’t see any major players breaking right now.

The merger between China Shipping group and the Cosco Group has given rise to a mammoth company that could trigger stability and extended consolidation in the global shipping industry, says a report in the WSJ. The merger will free the two Chinese shipping groups from competing against each other at home and abroad, in an industry swamped with oversupply and depressed freight rates. The new world leader in shipping industry is likely to own 832 ships including containers, dry-bulk vessels and tankers amounting to almost $22 billion. In comparison, AP Moller Maersk owns only 262 containers ships, which have a total value of $12.3 billion according to VesselsValue.com.

Chinese shipping behemoth Cosco Holdings has confirmed it will order 11 container megaships for $1.5 billion, despite an estimated 30 percent overcapacity in container shipping having sent freight rates to levels that at times don't even cover the fuel cost of moving containers across oceans, The Wall Street Journal reported. It has placed an order for 11 19,000 TEU containerships at four domestic shipyards. This is the largest single order for container ships Chinese yards have ever received. When fully-loaded, such ships cut that cost by about 25 percent compared to smaller vessels. China COSCO stated in its filling to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on September 9 that it has ordered two container ships at Dalian COSCO Khi Ship Engineering (DACKS) for $270.6 million…

A.P. Moller-Maersk Q1 net profit $1.207 bln vs $1.072 forecast; Raises full-year outlook. Profit at A.P. Moller-Maersk's container shipping business, a bellwether for global trade, more than doubled in the first quarter as demand on the world's busiest route between Asia and Europe picked up and it cut costs. That helped the Danish shipping and oil group beat forecasts for net profit on Wednesday and prompted the company to raise its outlook for the full year. The jump in profit at Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipping company, is an early sign the company is starting to recover from several tough years in the industry. Container shipping firms have been struggling with overcapacity and too few goods to transport as a result of a weak global economy. A.P.

The next hacker playground: the open seas - and the oil tankers and container vessels that ship 90 percent of the goods moved around the planet. In this internet age, as more devices are hooked up online, so they become more vulnerable to attack. As industries like maritime and energy connect ships, containers and rigs to computer networks, they expose weaknesses that hackers can exploit. Hackers recently shut down a floating oil rig by tilting it, while another rig was so riddled with computer malware that it took 19 days to make it seaworthy again…

It is impossible to view the global container shipping business without looking at it through the prism of vessel capacity being added to the market. What happens over the next two years will be a direct result of the glut of newbuildings that are flooding into service and wrecking freight rates. Just consider these numbers. During the first four months of 2013, Alphaliner puts the new containership deliveries at 496,000 TEUs. According to data supplied by PR News Service ComPort, almost 250,000 TEUs of that will be comprised of vessels with a nominal capacity of 10,000 TEUs and up.

INTTRA, an active worldwide network for ocean shipping, and SeaIntel, container shipping market analysts, announce the availability of the initial publication of the industry’s only shipping reliability report that combines on-time performance with schedule reliability measures. “For the first time shippers can now analyze actual container delivery time versus vessel arrival time on a country-by-country level,” said Lars Jensen, CEO of SeaIntel Maritime. “This is a game changer in how shippers can evaluate carrier performance and make more informed decisions on how their freight is moved. “For the first time shippers can now analyze actual container delivery time versus vessel arrival time on a country-by-country level,” said Lars Jensen, CEO of SeaIntel Maritime.

Talk about ups and downs. In 2009, the container shipping industry lost US$16 billion. In 2010, it made a profit of $20 billion, and last year was back in the red ink business with an $8 billion loss. This year? Break even is about the best prediction available even with a surge in freight rates as general rates increases (GRIs) imposed by the carriers in the first few months have largely stuck. By May, shipping lines on the Asia-Europe trade saw rates surge to 2010 levels with solid spot increases being reported on the transpacific.

Drewry Shipping Consultants estimate that container shipping lines collectively lost $5.2 billion in 2011. To thrive in 2012, the industry will have to tackle declining rates and a potentially chaotic round of mergers and acquisitions. Business leaders will discuss the potential scenarios and predictions for the upcoming year at UBM Global Trade's JOC Container Shipping Conference ShanghaiJune 4-5 at the Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou Hotel. Some analysts, including SeaIntel's Lars Jensen,  believe that container shipping rates have bottomed out and the worst of the declines may have come and gone. Others in the industry anticipate that the largest carriers will continue to build market share and use their financial muscle to drive smaller carriers out of key markets like Asia-Europe…