South China Morning Post News

The United States on Wednesday blacklisted 24 Chinese companies and targeted individuals it said were part of construction and military actions in the South China Sea, its first such sanctions move against Beijing over the disputed strategic waterway.The U.S. Commerce Department said the two dozen companies played a “role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China Sea.”Separately, the State Department said it would impose visa restrictions on Chinese individuals “responsible for…

Taiwanese shipping line Evergreen has confirmed its plans to build a total of ten 23,000 TEU containerships.According to a stock exchange filing, the new vessels would be built at three shipyards  in South Korea and China.According to the reports from the South China Morning Post, the enormous order will cost Evergreen anywhere between US$1.4 billion and US$1.6 billion. It is estimated that each vessel will cost between $140 million and $160 million.The new vessels could see Evergreen become the sixth biggest carrier line in the world, overtaking major Japanese alliance Ocean Network Express (ONE).Six of the vessels will built at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea…

China is working to develop a 33,069-ton nuclear icebreaker, which would be even bigger than the epic nuclear-powered vessels built by Russia.South China Morning Post reported that while the purpose of the ship has not been specified, the plan is to have a 152-metre long, 32-metre wide and with a displacement of 30,000 tonnes.China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) has invited bids for the contract to build the vessel and it is described in the tender documents as an “experimental platform”.The deadline for interested parties to tender was Wednesday (yesterday), with no bids permitted from outside mainland China.The specification is small for an aircraft carrier, but a military affairs expert said it would help develop China’s shipbuilding ability.

Danish inventor Peter Madsen was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murdering, sexually mutilating and dismembering a Swedish female journalist with premeditation aboard his home-made submarine in Copenhagen harbor in 2017.Madsen, dressed entirely in black, sat motionless as the Copenhagen City Court handed down its verdict in a grisly case straight from the pages of a dark Scandinavian psycho-thriller.Already well known in Denmark for his submarines and his plan to send a human into space in a home-made rocket…

Thirteen Chinese fishermen died after their boat collided with a Hong Kong oil tanker in international waters off Japan, state media Xinhua reported on Friday, citing sources at China's consulate in Osaka. Three people were found alive after Thursday's collision. It was not known if there was any damage to the tanker or what caused the accident. The two vessels collided 400 km (240 miles) north of the Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, east of North Korea, state media reported. The identities of the victims have not yet been confirmed, Xinhua reported. The 290-tonne Chinese fishing vessel Lurong Yuanyu 378 had 16 people on board, according to the South China Morning Post.

Japan says its concerns over China's military buildup in the South and East China Seas are shared by many other countries. The issue is expected to be discussed at upcoming talks between the two countries, says a report in Reuters. "Honestly speaking, not only the Japanese people but also states of the Asia-Pacific region and the international community have big worries," Kishida said. Ties between China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-largest economies, have long been plagued by a territorial dispute, regional rivalry and the legacy of Japan’s World War Two aggression. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas.

Approximately 120 people were injured when a high-speed jetfoil heading from Macau towards Hong Kong hit an “unidentified object” last night south of Lantau Island. The injured, aged between six and 83, were sent to seven hospitals, with 87 discharged as of this morning. In addition to the five patients in critical condition, five were categorised as serious and 27 stable. Over 170 people on board the ferry lost power after colliding with an "unidentified object" in the water, according to the boat's operator, Shun Tak. The local media quoted passengers who described there being chaos after the crash. The Turbojet lost power after the accident and water began seeping in as passengers scrambled in the dark for lifejackets. "It went dark.

The closed-door talks on what is believed to be merger discussions between Cosco and China Shipping continue, reports local media. According to JoC, the Chinese executives of the carriers have been tight lipped on the discussions, but it is widely believed that the lines are thrashing out ways to merge the container and bulk shipping divisions. Reports say that the Beijing government would like preliminary merger plan within three months, beginning from August. The merger is in line with China's current strategy of consolidation of state-owned enterprises (SOE).

The ocean carrier merger - between China’s two state-owned megacarriers, COSCO and CSCL - rumours are back in the news! The beleaguered state behemoths struggling in a protracted industry slump  - China Ocean Shipping Group  (Cosco) and China Shipping Group -  were ordered to come up with a merger plan late Thursday, sources told the South China Morning Post. The mainland’s two largest shipping and logistics conglomerates together control 11 listed entities in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Singapore. The companies’ five subsidiaries listed in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong all applied for a trading halt after market close on Friday, which they said was to plan “material matters”.

The bill requiring ocean going ships to switch to low sulfur fuel while at berth in Hong Kong could effectively raise the cost of shipping containers through the city. Under the new Hong Kong Air Pollution Control (Ocean Going Vessels) (Fuel at Berth) Regulation, OGVs will be required to use low-sulphur marine fuel, LNG and any other fuels approved by the Director of Environmental Protection. According to a report in South China Morning Post, the law for greener Hong Kong has raised concerns on who should bear the costs for an environmentally clean port. Several international shipping lines reportedly said that they were studying ways to minimise the hit. Levying a surcharge on their customers remains the most viable option. Box lines mulling passing on extra cost of fuel.

Japanese market players ramp up their design efforts for fuel-efficient engines to challenge Korean yards as demand for super-cooled fuel is set to soar, says a report in South China Morning Post. A total of 50 to 60 LNG ships annually are forecast to be delivered globally in 2017 and 2018, aided by US shale export projects, according to an estimate by analyst Masanori Wakae at Mizuho Securities. Of the total, 12 to 15 ships may be delivered by Japanese suppliers, with the remainder likely to be supplied by the Koreans. Japanese yards delivered seven vessels in 2008 and just two ships in 2013, according to Wakae. Japanese shipbuilders…

The captain of Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry’s Seasmooth passenger ferry, Lai Sai-ming, was on Saturday found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter over the 2012 Lamma island ferry disaster. He was also found guilty of endangering the lives of others at sea by a Hong Kong court. Chow Chi-wai, the captain of the other boat involved in the collision, was acquitted of manslaughter but convicted of the lesser charge of endangering the safety of others at sea. The two captains had blamed each other for the Oct. 1, 2012, collision, which left this highly organized and overwhelmingly safe southern Chinese city traumatized. The verdicts came down after a 60-day trial and four days of deliberations. The crash was Hong Kong's worst maritime accident since 1971.

The South China Morning Post has reported Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd is mulling the possible sale of a 40 percent stake of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) to a quartet of state-owned mainland China companies. If it goes through, the move would underscore Hutchison’s recent tactic of monetizing port assets to free up capital to support other high-growing businesses. HPH is talking to a consortium of mainland Chinese companies as it is planning to a HK$160 billion ($20.6 billion) stake in its ports business. Hutchison holds an 80 percent stake in HPH, the world's largest container port operator by throughput with a foothold in 52 ports in 26 countries.

Even though Greece's new left-wing government set alarm bells ringing in Beijing when it halted the privatization of the port this week, analysts say Athens is merely posturing, reports South China Morning Post. China will remain as "privileged partner for Greece". Cosco officials in Piraeus and China are playing down concerns over the new government’s plans for the port of Piraeus. When the new Greek Government led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made halting the privatization of the Port of Piraeus one of its first initiatives, there were immediate concerns in China that it might take further actions that could impact the operations of Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT), which is operated under a 35-year concession by Cosco Pacific.

The vessel would be based at the small town of Sansha on one of the Paracel Islands and a regular patrol system would be set up from the base gradually, report the 'South China Morning Post', citing the 'China Ocean News'. Sansha was established two years ago to administer areas of the South China Sea that are also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines. The decision to base the patrol boat in the area was part of an agreement between Sansha and the maritime authorities in Hainan, according to the Chnese nespaper report.

The State Council has issued a three-year plan, ending in 2015, to upgrade and restructure the mainland's troubled shipbuilding industry, a further move to stabilise economic growth, reports the South China Morning Post (SCMP), citing Xinhua. The sector faced "unprecedented, severe challenges" as a lack of new orders, owing to weakness in the global shipping market, had exacerbated overcapacity in the industry, Xinhua reported, citing a government document. The sector is among those - including iron and steel, cement, electrolytic aluminium and flat glass - that must accelerate the phasing out of overcapacity, according to a July 24 statement from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, cited by SCMP.

China will set up a joint Arctic research centre in Shanghai with Danish, Icelandic and Norwegian institutions, building on improving diplomatic ties with Nordic countries, as it bids to raise its stake in the faraway but resource-rich region, reports the South China Morning Post. The launch of the China-Nordic Arctic Research Centre may signal new intentions in Beijing's foreign policy, analysts say. Beijing has yet to articulate an official Arctic strategy, but it has become firmer in its polar ambitions. The Shanghai-based Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), which is behind the collaborative China-Nordic research centre and will fund it, was reluctant to comment on the centre's missions, saying planning was still in the initial stage.

New cruise ship passenger terminal at Kai Tak in Kowloon is functionally ready, but not in the best form to welcome first travellers next week. A week before the HK$8.2 billion Kai Tak Cruise Terminal welcomes its first vessel heavy rain penetrated the roof. The immigration counters, connecting bridges, waiting halls and one of the two planned berths are completed ahead of the arrival of cruise passengers on board Royal Caribbean International's Mariner of the Seas ocean liner on Wednesday. But a clean-up exercise is in order, reports the 'South China Morning Post'.

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.

Striking dockers step up their action outside owner Li Ka-shing's office building to urge Asia's richest man to intervene. According to the South China Morning Post research has shown that the industrial action could have cost the port operator, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, HK$100 million in revenue since the strike began. The dockers, on their 21st day off the job, moved their base from the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals after they failed to resolve their pay dispute at a recent meeting with Global and Everbest Port Services. Source: South China Morning Post

Estimates by the Port Development Council show container volumes through the 9 Kwai Tsing container ports fell 5.9 per cent in March. While the month-long dockers strike is costing Hongkong International Terminals a reported HK$5 million a day, the actual cost of the dispute is costing the maritime and logistics industry much more as ships and cargo are diverted to other ports, reports the South China Morning Post. Citing the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association, the South China Morning Post adds that shipping lines and logistics firms have also been hit with extra costs as ships burn extra fuel while waiting to berth and vessels and cargo are diverted to other ports…

Hong Kong dockworkers accept Hutchison Port Holdings 9.8% pay offer, end 40-day strike at the container terminal. The workers settled their dispute late Monday by agreeing to the pay offer from four middleman contractors that provide staff to a container terminal operator controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, reports the 'South China Morning Post'. The strike by 450 workers delayed cargo being moved on and off ships at the terminal, resulting in a backlog of 80,000-90,000 containers at the port during the strike, according to the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics. Source: South China Morning Post

Hull modules for the huge container ships are being built in Shandong and delivered by barge to South Korea' Daewoo Shipbuiding yard. Twenty of the ships, which can each carry 18,270 20-foot containers and at 399.25 metres long, are being built for Maersk Line by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, reports the 'South Chilna Morning Post', which cites Peter Bertelsen, lead hull superintendent at Maersk Maritime Technology, as informing that  a lack of capacity…