Asia News

Container spot freight rates from Asia to Northern Europe fell 23.5 percent to $861 per twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange showed. Freight rates from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean fell 13.8 percent to $865 per TEU. Freight rates from Asia to the U.S. Freight rates from Asia to the U.S. East Coast fell 3.8 percent to $1,884 per FEU. Maersk Line, a unit in Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk, is the market leader with a global market share of around 15 percent.

Five Asia cruise destinations – Hainan, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Taiwan and Xiamen–jointly announced the launch of Asia Cruise Cooperation (ACC), a committed and resourceful alliance with a strong commitment to maximize the growth of cruise tourism in Asia. Launched at a cocktail reception at Seatrade Cruise Global in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the members of ACC vowed to provide full support to cruise lines to develop Asian cruise products. Riding on the success of Asia Cruise Fund founded in 2014 and the participation of Xiamen since January…

Oil major buys various grades from Qatar, UAE, Russia; re-sells Qatar Marine and Sokol. Royal Dutch Shell has snapped up more than 8 million barrels of Middle East and Russian crude oil loading in June and resold some cargoes at higher premiums as it profits from robust demand in Asia, five trading sources said on Friday. The region's pull on Middle East and Russian grades, priced off Middle East crude benchmark Dubai, has strengthened this month as a widening of Brent's premium to Dubai has made competing Atlantic Basin supplies more expensive.

Japan and China agree that a trade war will have serious consequences for the world economy, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said on Monday after a high-level economic dialogue between the world's third- and second-largest economies. Concern is growing about a trade row between China and the United States in which the two nations have threatened each other with tariffs. Japan has been criticised by U.S. President Donald Trump on trade and been hit with tariffs on steel and aluminum, but it has not yet threatened counter-tariffs.

From April 16-19, 2018, Naval Group will participate to the sixteenth edition of DSA, the Defence Service Asia exhibition. On this occasion, Naval Group will sign a contract with DCI to assist the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to implement a comprehensive E-learning system in order to train its naval forces all over the country.Naval Group and DCI put together their complementary expertise to provide e-learning solutions to the Royal Malaysian Navy. During a three-year program DCI will transfer the French Navy know-how to the RMN.

CMA CGM Group, a world leader in maritime transport, is pleased to announce the start of the Ocean Alliance Day Two Product. Based on the success of Ocean Alliance, the Ocean Alliance Day Two Product strengthens CMA CGM’s service offering by providing even better services and upgrades to the Group’s customers. The Ocean Alliance Day Two Product has a carrying capacity of around 3.1 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) with 331 containerships deployed on 41 services. CMA CGM will continue to play a major role within the alliance, deploying a fleet of 121 ships.

Jan Thorsgaard Nielsen, Senior Managing Director of Blackstone, is appointed Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of A/S. A P Moller Holding (APMH). APMH is a privately owned holding company and is the biggest shareholder in A P Moller-Maersk (APM), the Danish shipping giant. Jan T. Nielsen holds a Cand. Oecon. from Aarhus University, Denmark, and has been with Blackstone since 2005. He started working for Blackstone in London as an associate and was subsequently promoted to principal and Managing Director. During this time, Jan T.

Focusing on regional growth and development, the event will feature two full conference days, travel agent training, buyer appointment programs, and a full trade show floor. There are major  developments in the cruise industry marketplace with Asia, Asia-Pacific, and Australia set to host about 1.2 million passengers in 2012. Rama Rebbapragada, Chairman of the Asia Cruise Association and speaker at Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific said, " A major opportunity is the continuing popularity of cruising as a mainstream vacation option within Asia coupled by the increased deployment of newer and larger ships into the region. The Cruise Shipping…

Teddy Tsai, an Asia shipping and transport sector analyst with more than ten years’ expertise in investment research, has joined DnB NOR Asia at the bank’s regional headquarters in Singapore. Tsai has been appointed Deputy Head of Research in Asia and comes to the bank from his role as Head of Research at CLSA Capital Partners, in Hong Kong, where he worked as part of the investment team, developing overviews of the sectors including offshore supply, product tankers, dry bulk and container shipping.

While Maersk Line relaunched Asia-Europe Network to increase schedule reliability, Hamburg Süd upgraded schedule reliability in Asia – Europe/Mediterranean network. Maersk Line announced changes to its services connecting Asia and Europe to focus on improving the reliability of the world’s most comprehensive Asia-Europe network. Enhancements address customers’ needs for stable and efficient services and allow for competitive coverage of ports and main markets in both Asia and Europe.

China aims to establish a free trade zone in Hainan by 2020 and will encourage multinationals to set up their international and regional headquarters in the province, state news agency Xinhua reported citing a government document. The guidance was jointly issued by the ruling Communist Party and State Council, Xinhua said. It comes after President Xi Jinping announced on Friday that the country would grant foreign firms greater economic freedom in the southernmost province. Known for its sandy beaches and resort-lined coast…

40 MidEast VLCC cargoes fixed for early April loading. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which have fallen to six-month lows, are likely to hold steady around current levels as owners resist charterers' attempts to push rates lower, brokers said. "Rates are stabilising now - owners are resisting further falls. But I don't see the market going up," a European tanker supertanker broker said on Friday. "There's been a consensus of sentiment rather than any real improvement in the market. There are still a lot of ships available for charter," the broker said.

Grand Bahama Shipyard Limited (GBSL) has added three regional sales directors to its Marketing and Sales Division, with posts in the Americas, Europe and Asia/Middle East. According to the shipyard, their prime objectives will be to increase yard exposure, as well as develop future projects with existing and new customers for their refit, refurbishment or revitalization projects. Andre Szadzinski joined GBSL in August 2016 as Regional Sales Director for North and South America.

APL, ocean carriers, providing world-class container shipping and terminal services,  has announced the launch of the Quetzal Express (QEX) service, a new weekly service that directly connects the key markets of China, Mexico and West Coast South America. APL, part of the CMA CGM said that the QEX service promises the industry’s fastest transit time of 22 days from South China to Mexico. It is also the only service that offers a direct connection from Taiwan, Central and South China to Puerto, Quetzal and Guayaquil.

APL, one of the world’s leading ocean carriers,  announced that its China Philippines Express 1 (CP1) service will be making additional calls at the Chinese port of Xiamen and Batangas in the Philippines. This development extends the market coverage of the shortsea service that links South China and the Philippines. Each week, the enhanced CP1 service will directly call the Batangas port, facilitating shipments into and out of the economically-thriving Calabarzon region in the Philippines.

A British warship “changed its deployment” and arrived in Japan on Wednesday to join efforts to police U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. The Royal Navy frigate HMS Sutherland arrived at Yokosuka, the headquarters of Japan’s Maritime Defence Force fleet and home port of the U.S. Seventh Fleet’s carrier strike group. It “will be contributing to the international efforts to monitor prohibited trade at sea by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)…

Drewry’s Global Freight Rate Index, a weighted average of spot container freight rates across all major routes except intra-Asia, swung back in July by 13% to reach $1,403 per 40ft box. The global spot rate index had dropped to an all-time low of $1,113 per 40ft container in April. Drewry is in a unique position to track these trends through its Container Freight Rate Insight online platform, via which a constant panel of over 30 forwarders and NVOCCs report rates on a continuous basis.

Mr Vestring, 50, is a partner in Bain & Company's (Bain) Southeast Asia office. Of his 24-year career with Bain, Mr Vestring has spent over two decades in Asia advising leading companies on portfolio strategy, growth, mergers and acquisitions, merger integration, organisation and performance improvement. The companies he has advised include those in shipping, offshore & marine, industrial products, automotive, infrastructure, commodities, airlines and telecoms. Mr Vestring works closely with Asian and multinational companies to grow organically and inorganically across Asia.

A container shipping organisation urged companies on Wednesday to raise Asia-U.S. freight rates by at least $600 per 40-foot container (FEU) from Jan. 15, corresponding to an increase of 26.6 percent from the current level. The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) said the planned increase was part of an ongoing effort by members to reverse a decline in spot rates in the Asia-U.S. freight market. The organisation also said container shipping companies should reinstate a $400 per FEU peak season surcharge ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, with effect from Jan. 15.

The littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) departed Singapore Nov. 4 after completing a 14-month rotational deployment to Southeast Asia. During the deployment, the ship and crew operated with navies of 16 partner nations, participated in 11 multilateral and bilateral exercises, and made 10 strategic port visits across the region. "The rotational deployment of USS Coronado demonstrated the relevance of LCS as a platform tailor made for the dynamic and congested sea lanes, straits and archipelagos of South and Southeast Asia…

Tokyo Big Sight Conference Tower hosted the Southeast Asia Maritime Summit yesterday as a part of the Sea Japan 2018 exhibition. The packed conference hall was the stage for executives from five major ship associations -- Indonesian National Shipowners’ Association; Thai Shipowners’ Association; Filipino Shipowners’ Association; Malaysia Shipowners’ Association; and the Singapore Shipping Association -- to discuss the impact of increasing amounts of global emissions regulations as well as digitalization on their country's shipowners. Mr. Johnson W. Mr. Mr. Roy R. Mr. Ms.

The global offshore support vessel (OSV) market is expected to grow from an estimated $20.06 billion in 2018 to $25.66 billion by 2023, according to a recent report published by MarketsandMarkets. Ongoing offshore activities across the U.S., China, Brazil and the North Sea will help the market to expand at a CAGR of 5.04 percent during the forecast period, according to the report. Offshore exploration and production investments in the Middle East and the Asia Pacific regions are also expected to play a role in the forecasted growth.

Facing less-than-expected market demand, members of the G6 Alliance announced additional void sailings within the container shippers’ Asia-Europe service, suspending its Loop 6 service until further notice. The G6 Alliance, which consists of APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nippon Yusen Kaisha and Orient Overseas Container Line, said it continues to offer various services between Asia and Europe covering major port pairs with weekly sailings. The shippers said further service adjustments are possible as the G6 Alliance continues to review its product profile…