Ocean Alliance News

French shipping company CMA CGM and its business partners COSCO Shipping 601919.SS, Evergreen 2603.TW and OOCL said on Tuesday that they had agreed to extend their 'OCEAN Alliance' co-operation deal for another five years beyond 2027, to 2032.The 'OCEAN Alliance' partnership aims to help customers deal with their supply chains by offering up fast transit times and access to a wide range of ports, said CMA CGM.The agreement to extend the partnership was signed in Shanghai on Tuesday."The decision to extend our co-operation for at least five more years forges our commitment to meet our customers

It might be easy to blame EALs, but the ongoing causes of stern tube damage are varied, and possibly declining.Environmentally Acceptable lubricants (EALs) gained market traction with the introduction of US VGP regulations in 2013. Since then, DNV has observed two major trends. The first, starting in 2013 was early life damage, either during sea trials or within the first five years of operation, where aft stern tube bearings typically failed under extreme load conditions. Then from around 2018…

Thordon Bearings and Wärtsilä have announced the formation of the Blue Ocean Alliance to develop and promote a stern tube-less ship concept.The Blue Ocean Alliance brings together Thordon Bearings, Wärtsilä, the School of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), naval architect SDARI (Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute CSSC) and ABS.The companies say that the concept of a ship design that does not require a…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary on Wednesday announced the successful digital acoustic tagging of 14 sei whales in waters offshore Massachusetts. This is the first time researchers have successfully tagged an endangered species in the United States using an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone. The data will help authorities to better inform offshore wind energy area selection.BOEM said that the collected data would shed important light on the whales’ acoustic behavior…

The Biden administration recently issued a sweeping Executive Order [1] aimed at protecting and enhancing competition, and the transportation sector—including air, ocean, and rail—is among the industries specifically identified and likely to see heightened antitrust scrutiny under the new directives. This executive action was soon followed by the long-awaited announcement of Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (Division), Jonathan Kanter, who…

A total of 302 of 2,693 containership sailings, or 11%, have been canceled in May on all the main line trades, according to the latest data from maritime intelligence company eeSea, revealing the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on global shipping.In the first six months of 2020, a total of 1,675 sailings have been canceled, or 11%; which comes out at 13% for 2M, 17% for Ocean Alliance and 17% for THE Alliance, while only 8% of non-alliance sailings have been canceled.However, the number of sailings alone only tells part of the story.

Germany's largest port, the Port of Hamburg not expecting reduction in container throughput caused by liner service changes announced by Ocean Alliance and Maersk.From April, the Ocean Alliance NEU 5 service handled by EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg – CTH is being transferred to Antwerp, said a press release from the a sea port on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, 110 kilometres from its mouth on the North Sea."This service will be run by the Ocean Alliance Partner, CMA CGM as FAL 3 with an approximate annual volume of 150,000 TEU," it said.Going forward, according to CMA CGM, the entire container volume carried until now to and from Hamburg by this service will be handled by the five Ocean Alliance liner services continuing to call in Hamburg.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has joins a group of innovative carriers who use the New York Shipping Exchange (NYSHEX) to offer their customers the ability to enter digital and mutually enforceable contracts.With seven of the leading global ocean carriers on NYSHEX, over 60% of global capacity is represented. The member carriers also represent all three container shipping alliances: 2M, Ocean Alliance and THE Alliance, providing NYSHEX shipper members a broad array of service options to choose from.“NYSHEX enables us to offer our customers an additional platform to contract with us, whereby the agreed terms are mutually enforceable. The guaranteed equipment…

According to Norway-based ocean freight rate benchmarking and market intelligence specialist Xeneta, long-term contracted ocean freight rates for carriers continued their downward trend this month, however by only 0.1% globally. The company said the decline comes against a backdrop of increasing overcapacity, and that widespread blanked sailings and on-going concern over US-China relations were adding to industry uncertainty.Xeneta said that long-term rates have followed a pattern of decline since the middle of 2018…

The deep-water port of Nansha in Guangzhou, a city of 15 million people in the vicinity of Hong Kong, has doubled the number of direct connections with North Europe and West Africa, following the arrival of the Elly Maersk.The Elly Maersk departed from Nansha for Rotterdam on 28 July; the first departure of the new 2M service, doubling the number of direct departures from Nansha to Rotterdam. The Ocean Alliance also already has direct connections with this fastest growing port in the south of China.Nansha port started international departures ten years ago, quickly becoming the most important port for ‘Africa Trades’ from the south of China.Direct departures to and from Europe (NWC and MED) and the west coast of North America were only added in recent years.

Florida's largest port,  Port Tampa Bay has marking a major milestone and partnership with CMA CGM as Port customers, local officials, and business leaders gather to celebrate the inaugural call of the CMA CGM DALILA at The Ports America Terminal.CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics, begin their weekly direct ocean carrier service between Asia and Port Tampa Bay today. CMA CGM's excellent transit times will significantly improve the competitiveness of the region's importers and exporters, transforming Tampa Bay's economic landscape.With a capacity of 8,500 to 9,500 TEUs (container units) per vessel, these are also the largest container ships ever to call at the Port.

The Port of Dunkerque, France's biggest harbour on the North Sea in terms of the total traffic throughput, is continuing to develop its combined transport plan with the implementation of the Flandres Express (FLEX) rail service to the East of France.Created in 2013, Nord Port Shuttle (NPS), has gradually developed a network of containerized river services between Dunkerque and the main inland ports of the Hauts-de-France Region.With the setting-up of a rail service between Dunkerque and Metz, the operator has integrated a new mode of high-volume transport into its services accessing a major economic area.The FLEX service will offer a weekly round trip during the start-up phase with Metz…

China’s Vice President Wang Qishan visited the HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) at the Port of Hamburg.Wang was greeted by the Chairwoman of the Executive Board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), Angela Titzrath, Hamburg’s First Mayor, Dr Peter Tschentscher, and representatives of the Chinese container shipping company Cosco Shipping Lines. Wang headed a 40-strong party of high-ranking Chinese government officials, and the terminal operator said the visit emphasizes Hamburg’s importance as a global trade gateway.The largest container vessels of Chinese shipping company Cosco Shipping Lines are handled at the facility of Container Terminal Tollerort every week. On Thursday, for instance, the Cosco Shipping Aries was docked at the CTT quayside.

Today, the Panama Canal completed a trial transit of Evergreen’s Triton, the largest vessel in dimension and container cargo capacity to pass through the Expanded Canal since it opened in June 2016.The Neopanamax containership Triton, which has a Total TEU Allowance (TTA) of 15,313, a 20-row beam of 51.2 meters and a length of 369 meters, transited northbound from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.Similar to the milestone Q-Flex transit completed on May 12, today’s achievement was made possible by an increase to the maximum allowable beam for vessels transiting the Neopanamax Locks.

The Panama Canal completed a trial transit of Evergreen’s Triton, the largest vessel in dimension and container cargo capacity to pass through the Expanded Canal since it opened in June 2016.The Neopanamax containership Triton, which has a Total TEU Allowance (TTA) of 15,313, a 20-row beam of 51.2 meters and a length of 369 meters, transited northbound from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.“We are excited about the opportunities enabled by the Triton’s trial transit,” said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano.“Our team continues to offer the additional capacity, and deliver on our promise to provide unparalleled safe and efficient service to our customers.

The Singapore-based family-owned shipping company Pacific International Lines (PIL)  announced that PIL will be enhancing our Transpacific service by offering direct services from Vietnam to the U.S West Coast, with effect from end April 2019.America China Service 5 (AC5) will be adding Haiphong as first port of call with effect from 30th April 2019.Full rotation of America China Service 5 (AC5): Haiphong - Nansha - Hong Kong - Yantian - Long Beach - Oakland - Yantian - HaiphongPIL also launched a new string, America Cai Mep Service 2 (AC2), achieved through slot agreement on Ocean Alliance PSW3 service, with effect from 28th April 2019.Full…

The first container-ship in the new Asia service Loop 7 - the Taurus,  14.424 TEU, belonging to the Ocean Alliance - has berthed in the Port of Hamburg.Port of Hamburg said that this service is part of the new Day 3 Product, with which the Alliance consisting of CMA CGM, Cosco, Evergreen and OOCL is entering its third year.With DAY 3, the Ocean Alliance has 330 containerships in 38 services, increasing its transport capacity to 3.8 million TEU. With Loop 7, six out of seven Ocean Alliance Asia-North Europe services call at the Port of Hamburg.In total 21 liner services currently sail between Hamburg and the Far East, of which 14 are container liner services.The new Asia-North Europe service Loop 7 is served by ten Evergreen units between 13…

After two months of steady increases in long-term contracted rates for containership operators, the latest XSI Public Indices report from Xeneta shows a reversal of fortunes, with rates falling by 4.2%.According to the report’s crowd-sourced data - covering over 160,000 port-to-port pairings, with 110 million data points – all major trading corridors saw month-on-month declines, plunging the indices to its lowest level since June 2018.However, unfortunately for those on the asset owner and operator side, notes Xeneta CEO Patrik Berglund, that map is currently showing somewhat challenging terrain.“This is a turn of events,” Berglund comments.

Florida's largest port Port Tampa Bay welcome the announcement by the CMA CGM Group, that it will begin serving Port Tampa Bay in late May 2019 on its Pacific Express 3, or PEX3 service.With a presence in 160 countries and a fleet of 506 vessels, CMA CGM serves over 420 ports across the globe and is a member of the Ocean Alliance. The PEX3 port service rotation will be as follows: Singapore – Vung Tau – Hong Kong – Shekou – Ningbo – Shanghai - Busan – Panama Canal - Houston – Mobile – New Orleans – Tampa – Miami – Singapore."We are delighted with this announcement by CMA CGM," said Paul Anderson, Port Tampa Bay President and CEO. "This is a further testament to the growth of the US Gulf market and the significance of the Tampa Bay/I-4 Corridor region…

Short-term container rates on the China Main ports to North Europe Main ports have seen a slight drop since the beginning of the year. However, compared to Spring and Autumn 2018, overall the industry sees an increase, said a report from Xeneta, the ocean freight price benchmarking and market intelligence platform transforming the shipping and logistics industry.Xeneta reports rates on the up, with February 7, 2019 ticking in at USD1700 market average rate for a 40' box. Also, bunker prices are not as outrageous as before. Cargo from China to the United States has been moving at a record pace, but a slowdown is expected for the main…

The world’s largest operational agreement between shipping companies Ocean Alliance -CMA CGM, COSCO SHIPPING, Evergreen and OOCL - has announced the launch of their Ocean Alliance Day 3 Product starting April 2019."Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM Group, signs with his partners the launch of Ocean Alliance Day 3 Product, which will start in April 2019," said a press release from the shipping group.On the occasion of this announcement, Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, stated: “This new agreement with our Asian partners will enable us to propose to our customers an unrivaled and competitive service offering. It is a milestone in our development strategy.

Partners in the world’s largest operational agreement between shipping companies have agreed to extend their alliance until 2027.The Ocean Alliance, consisting of CMA CGM Group, COSO SHIPPING, Evergreen and OOCL, was launched in 2017 for an initial period of five years with an option for a five-year renewal.The partners confirmed they will extend to the alliance's full 10-year duration, during a signing ceremony in Hainan, China on Thursday.Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group…

CMA CGM Marco Polo, the largest container ship in the world, docked at the major international seaport Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT) in the southern Vietnamese province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, commencing a new weekly service to transfer cargo directly from Vietnam to Northern Europe.Important guests, including senior government officials will attended the vessel maiden call’s celebrations jointly organised by CMIT and CMA CGM at the Cai Mep terminal in Ba Ria Vung Tau Province.CMIT is a deep-sea container terminal and market leader for global ocean carriers serving the South Vietnamese economy. Since 2018, CMIT operates with a license to handle container vessels up to 194…