Asia Dry Bulk-Capesize Steady as Owners Spurn Low Rates
Owners anchoring ships rather than fix at low rates. W. Australia-China capesize rates hit over two-month low. Freight rates for large capesize dry cargo ships on key Asian routes are likely to hold steady as ship owners resist charterers' attempts to push rates lower amid a dearth of cargo, ship brokers said. "We are reaching a floor, particularly in the Pacific. It's got to the point where owners just won't fix their ships," a Singapore-based capesize broker said on Thursday. "Charterers are seeing a bit of resistance - owners are anchoring ships," the broker added. That came as spot charter freight rates for an 180,000-deadweight tonne capesize vessel slipped below $4 per tonne for a voyage from Western Australia to China on Wednesday. That is the lowest since mid-May.
CMA CGM Upgrades Gulfbridge, Hispaniola Lines
Container shipping company CMA CGM Group announced its Gulfbridge service upgrade, and its Hispaniola feeder service optimization. To adapt the group’s offer to its clients’ demand, CMA CGM decided to improve its Gulfbridge service by decreasing its transit times to Colombia. The service first rotation will start on April 29, in New Orleans, with the vessel Frisia Loga. 2,500 TEUs capacity vessels will call ports in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea and East and West South American coast calls through its Kingston transshipment. To complete its regional coverage, the CMA CGM Group uses feeder services. Those services dispatch the containers transported on the main services via transshipment ports. Calls frequency will be increased. Transit times from Kingston will be reduced.
Cruise Line RCI Extends Oceans TV Agreement
UK's Oceans TV announce that Royal Caribbean International has extended satellite TV channel agreements for two of the cruise line's ships. The first agreement covers the provision of a wide package of satellite TV channels for Serenade of the Seas whilst it cruises in European and Middle Eastern waters in Winter and Spring 2013. Channels include BBC World News, BBC Entertainment and CNBC Europe for English speaking passengers. Italian cruise lovers can watch Rai News, Rai 1 and Mediaset Italia; TF1 and AB1 are available for French passengers whilst TVE Internacional and RTL Schweiz can be viewed by Spanish and German speakers respectively. The second agreement is for the supply of the TV Globo International satellite TV channel onboard Splendour of the Seas.
