Container Shipping Services News

Afghanistan's first refrigerated cargo was exported to India through Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar.Sistan and Baluchistan Ports and Maritime Director General Behrouz Aghaei stated that Afghanistan's first refrigerated cargo containing refrigerated grapes was exported to Indian port of Jawaharlal Nehru Port through Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar.He added: "Chabahar Port’s main Refrigerated Container Site with the capacity of 150 Containers for unloading and Loading Refrigerated Goods is under construction. In the current conditions, Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar is equipped with a temporary refrigerator for storage of refrigerated cargo containers with a capacity of 160 Containers."Aghaei emphasized that In the near future…

The provider of container shipping services MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is a new member of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), which works to preserve the marine environment by promoting sustainable maritime industry best practices and educating the public."MSC is committed to promoting a sustainable business model, remaining true to its roots and its core family values. Regardless of the challenges and transformation we might face in today’s business world, our approach does not and will not change: we have a genuine passion for the sea, an unparalleled nautical heritage and a strong commitment to our employees and communities…

South Korean shipowners Heung-A Shipping and Sinokor Merchant Marine have confirmed that they are in talks to merge their container businesses, reports Pulse News. According to various media reports, the South Korean liner companies have decided to merge their container shipping services by the end of the year before joining forces with Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM). HMM had already agreed to become a strategic partner to Sinokor and Heung-A by creating an HMM+K2 consortium. The two companies would sign the deal on April 3, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Korea Shipowners’ Association. It said that Korea Shipping Partnership (KSP)…

In the medium term, demand for container shipping services should continue to rise in tandem with expected ongoing growth in global trading volume, says Hapag-Lloyd. As a result, the container shipping industry’s medium-term growth prospects remain intact, says the company in its investor outlook for 2017. In its latest economic outlook (April 2017), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects global economic growth to reach 3.5% in the current year. This forecast means that the global economy is set to grow at a slightly faster rate in 2017 than in the previous year (+3.1%). According to the IMF, the volume of global trade, which is key to the demand for container shipping services, will increase by 3.8% in the current year (2016: +2.2%).

World No. 1 shipping company Maersk Line gained EU antitrust approval on Monday for its acquisition of Hamburg Sud (HSDG) after agreeing to pull the German company out from five consortia on trade routes to address competition concerns. The bid by Maersk, part of Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk , underscores the wave of mergers in an industry struggling with over-capacity and slowing global trade. Hamburg Sud will withdraw from the consortia on trade routes connecting northern Europe to central America…

APL has announced the introduction of a second vessel to its Guam Saipan Express (GSX) service. Serving both Guam and Saipan, the APL U.S. flagged service will be refined from a fortnightly to a weekly service. “The enhancement of the GSX service is timely as infrastructure development, tourism and commercial activities continue to build up in Guam. Being a trusted U.S. flagged carrier, APL aspires to actively contribute towards these developments with our container shipping services. The more frequent GSX service will speed up essential cargo shipments from the U.S. mainland to the islands, especially Guam where 75% of her inbound freight originate from the U.S. mainland,” said John Selleck, APL General Manager, Guam/Micronesia.

Malaysian port operator Westports Holdings saw second quarter net profit jump 31% to MYR159.9m ($39.6m) from MYR122.1m in the previous corresponding period due to an increase in container volumes. Correspondingly, revenue also climbed to RM522.6mil from RM405.3mil last year. For the first six months, the port operator’s net profit stood higher at RM330.9mil from RM242.3mil in 2015. Revenue for the first half of the year chalked up to RM987.3mil against RM804mil in corresponding period last year. Westport announced its first interim single tier dividend of 7.3 sen per ordinary share in respect of the current financial year ending with entitlement date on Aug 11.

All signs point to a continuation of struggling theme for containerized-ocean-freight industry  into 2016 and beyond, warns a study by AlixPartners. The containerized-ocean-freight industry suffered in 2015. Its continuing financial woes accelerated because nearly all key financial indicators declined from 2014. At the heart of the industry’s problems, a persistent global supply-and-demand imbalance is to blame. All signs point to a continuation of that theme into 2016 and beyond. The most-recent forecasts expect global container fleet capacity to grow by 4.6% in 2016, and another 4.7% in 2017, though spot prices for major routes have dropped 21 to 44% from a year ago because of plunging demand, now about half the current growth forecast.

Sima Marine, a subsidiary of Dubai-based Simatech Shipping, one of the largest container feeder servicing companies in the world operating 54 ships, has launched coastal container shipping services in India. The coastal container shipping service will operate from Kochi connecting Mangalore in Karnataka, Goa and Mundra in Gujarat. Simatech Shipping is one of the largest container feeder servicing companies in the world operating 54 ships with partners, including 15 of its own. For the exclusive coastal service operations in the country, the Indian subsidiary has also acquired two 1,500-TEU container vessels, Sima Godavari and Sima Narmada, which have already started their operations now. These ships are now sailing with Indian flag to work within the cabotage law.

China's biggest shipping line China Ocean Shipping Corporation (Coscocs) has revealed an ambitious plan to increase its container shipping capacity to hit a 2 million TEUs over the next three years, says China Daily. The company is raising the operational capacity in an effort to seize a larger slice of the cake, known as the East-West and South-North routes. Wan Min, general manager of China COSCO Shipping, said Chinese shipping companies mainly operate container shipping services on Asia-Africa and China-Southeast shipping lines, the competition will therefore focus on major shipping lines in particular Asia-Europe and Asia-America routes.

Shares of Cosco Group and China Shipping have taken a hammering on the stock markets  as two major companies lost about $900 million in total market value after the government proposed combining its two key ocean liner groups, reports Bloomberg. China’s shipping giants led the declines with drops of as much as 30 percent, the most on an intraday basis in more than 10 years. The shares had been halted from trading since August pending an announcement by their parent companies. Cosco  shares have been suspended from trading since August 11, after it was reported that its majority shareholder Cosco Group is eyeing a privatisation exercise for the struggling shipping company.

China Shipping Group has launched container shipping services in Moldova, becoming thus the second foreign companies to have the operation in the country's only port of Giurgiulesti. The hub is vital for Moldova as its economy suffers as a result of the Russian embargo on Moldovan goods. The decision of Chine Shipping Container Lines to expand its services to Moldova is part of the Chinese government’s initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road via its Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road projects. "The event is of great significance," said Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister Tudor Ulianovschi at the launching ceremony…

Oy Langh Ship Ab will receive a new managing director at the turn of the year, when the current managing director, Hans Langh, takes over as Chairman of the Board for the shipping company. Laura Langh-Lagerlöf has been elected as the company’s new managing director, effective January 1, 2015. The shipping company’s current Chairman of the Board, Tom Niemi (MSc Tech, chemical engineering), thanks Hans Langh for his more than 30 years of leadership with the company: “Hans has successfully steered the company through many storms.

As Britain’s new hub port celebrates its first birthday DP World London Gateway has expanded its network of shipping links and destinations, attracting a series of new deep-sea container shipping services. Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has confirmed that from next month (December), its service from South Africa to UK/Northwest Europe will make a direct London Gateway call, switching from the Port of Felixstowe. The new rotation will offer the best possible UK port coverage, MSC has told shippers.

Dynamar has published “INTRA-MEDITERRANEAN CONTAINER TRADES”, the latest report in its Container Trades and Markets series. Salient details and interesting findings of the new report are discussed here below. Intra-Mediterranean (2014) Container Trades is all about the 170 services operated by 40 different shipping companies deploying 275 container, Ro/Ro and multipurpose ships with container capacities of 400 to 3,000 TEU that populate the intra and coastal all Mediterranean waters. Through nearly 100 ports in 24 countries, they serve some 700 million people in frequencies of between twice and many times per month, carrying an average of 275,000 full TEU of regional trade and feeder boxes every week.

Top container shipping companies A.P. Moller-Maersk and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co cleared the last regulatory hurdle to launch a vessel-sharing pact, but companies that use their services voiced concerns, particularly in China. The tie-up won U.S. approval on Wednesday after four out of five commissioners at the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) voted not to seek further information from the two shippers about the impact of the alliance on exporters and ports, one of the commissioners told Reuters. Maersk said the approval had been the last it needed from regulators around the world, including in China and the European Union, and that the alliance would begin operations in January.

It all began with a pre-World War II contract between China's then "ship king" and a Japanese company to lease two Chinese freighters. When the one-year lease was up in 1937, the ships were nowhere to be found. That year also marked the start of a full-scale war between China and Japan. And so began a protracted legal case which came to a head last weekend, when a Chinese court ordered the seizure of an iron ore carrier owned by the successor to the original Japanese company in compensation for the loss of the two Chinese vessels. The impoundment has created unease in Japan's government, which warns that the action could affect Japanese businesses in China. It remains unclear whether the sudden ruling by the Shanghai Maritime Court would herald the seizure of more Japanese assets.

It all began with a pre-World War Two contract between China's then "ship king" and a Japanese company to lease two Chinese freighters. When the one-year lease was up in 1937, the ships were nowhere to be found. That year also marked the start of a full-scale war between China and Japan. And so began a protracted legal case which came to a head last weekend, when a Chinese court ordered the seizure of an iron ore carrier owned by the successor to the original Japanese company in compensation for the loss of the two Chinese vessels. The impoundment has created unease in Japan's government, which warns that the action could affect Japanese businesses in China. It remains unclear whether the sudden ruling by the Shanghai Maritime Court would herald the seizure of more Japanese assets.

To better meet the needs of customers shipping to Haiti from the Dominican Republic and South Florida, Crowley Maritime Corp. has enhanced its liner container shipping services by renewing its second fixed-day sailing to Port-au-Prince from Rio Haina and Port Everglades starting this week. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Crowley reduced its twice-weekly service to Haiti to a single port call on Mondays due to infrastructure damage and resulting deterioration in the port's service capabilities. Now that the infrastructure has been repaired and those capabilities have been restored, customers once again will have the valuable option…

CP Ships has named Andrea Bolch as Vice President of its Europe-Asia Business Unit based in Ipswich, United Kingdom. US East Coast-India; South East Asia / India / Arabian Gulf. for Australasia. Bolch was previously Senior Vice President, ANZDL. Since joining the company as Commercial Director in 1992, she has held a number of senior management posts. Within the Ipswich-based Business Unit, Peter Hill continues as Vice President for the Australasia Business Unit having line management responsibility for the multiple services operated under the Contship Containerlines and ANZDL brands in the Australasian markets. These include: Europe-Australasia; Ocean Star Round-the-World; US West Coast-Australasia; Trans-Tasman and Australasia/Asia.

Group EBIT for 3Q08 of $52m was down 75% from 3Q07, while third-quarter revenue was up 16% year-on-year to $2.4b. Announcing the results, NOL Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. In 3Q08, NOL’s Container Shipping business, APL, recorded a 10% year-on-year rise in volumes in the third quarter to 622,000 FEU, driven primarily by the Intra-Asia trade, as well as an increase in Asia-Europe and Transpacific backhaul volumes. “APL volumes grew on a year-on-year basis, but overall demand in the main trades slowed considerably in the third quarter,” said Mr Widdows. APL’s average third-quarter 2008 overall headhaul utilization level was 90%, compared to 99% in 3Q07.

logistics provider (3PL) headquartered in South San Francisco, CA. of the acquisition were not disclosed. high-tech, healthcare, energy, mining, retail and apparel. Transportation division. Horizon Lines, Inc. business. shipping services between the U.S. Puerto Rico.

Middle East or the India sub-continent and trade with Afghanistan. efficient cargo gateway for Afghanistan. make regular, scheduled calls at Pakistan's main port. in Kabul, Jalalabad and Khandahar over Port Qasim. dependable cargo movement services to the region. to accommodate aid, security forces and commercial cargoes. formalities with Pakistani customs). Khandahar will cross the border at Chaman. Afghanistan, major cargo flows into the country are evident. efficient gateway for international trade. Persian Gulf through Pakistani ports. solutions to its customers for over 30 years. and India / Pakistan buying slots from the EPIC Consortium. where it operates the 3600 teu Indamex Colorado.