Trade Networks News

Hyundai Merchant Marine says still in talks to join 2M; joining an alliance was precondition for HMM debt relief. Doubts about the future of Hyundai Merchant Marine Co Ltd surfaced on Friday after Denmark's Maersk Line said the South Korean shipping firm was no longer being considered for the 2M vessel-sharing alliance. Joining an alliance with major shipping firms was one of the conditions of a debt restructuring deal between heavily indebted Hyundai Merchant Marine and its creditors in May so any breakdown in talks could raise serious questions about the future of South Korea's largest shipping firm. Maersk Line, part of A.P. Moller-Maersk, said it was still in talks with Hyundai Merchant Marine but they were no longer about it becoming an operating partner in the alliance.

Other container shipping firms may join Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd in receivership before the industry emerges from its current shakeout, the vice chairman of world number three player CMA CGM said on Wednesday. South Korea's Hanjin filed for protection from creditors in late August, stranding $14 billion in cargo and sending shockwaves through global trade networks. Outlining his predictions for the next three to five years for an industry struggling with overcapacity and sluggish demand, CMA CGM Vice Chairman Rodolphe Saade said consolidation was "the name of the game".

Hanjin's failure largest ever among container shippers; collapse has disrupted global trade networks. The collapsed Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd could not compete against global rivals that were supported by their governments, the chairman of its parent firm told a South Korean parliamentary hearing on Tuesday. The world's seventh-largest container shipper sought court receivership in late August after its creditors led by a state bank halted further support, stranding $14 billion in cargo and sending waves through global trade networks. "Hanjin Shipping lost the game of chicken played among large shippers," Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho told the hearing.

A Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd vessel is finishing unloading in California and scheduled to leave port on Monday, shipping industry officials said, as shareholders and executives associated with the South Korean firm pledged funds to help resolve the turmoil created by its collapse. The Hanjin Greece docked in Long Beach on Saturday after a U.S. bankruptcy court granted it protection and terminal operators agreed to take it. Truck drivers probably will begin moving containers from the Greece on Monday while the vessel prepares to leave late in the day for the Port of Oakland, said Teamsters spokeswoman Barbara Maynard and shipping traffic controllers.

A U.S. judge said on Friday he will grant Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd provisional protection from creditors in the United States, enabling some vessels to dock and unload at U.S. ports. South Korea's Hanjin asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood to issue an order that would prevent creditors from seizing Hanjin ships or property, and allow cargo owners to make arrangements to retrieve goods stranded in warehouses. Sherwood said he would sign the order later on Friday. Earlier, the company received authority to spend the money needed to dock at U.S.

Growth, competitiveness and sustainability are the three axes that underlie the Port of Barcelona's Third Strategic Plan 2015-2020, which sets the main objectives for the coming years. This Plan maintains the Port's mission as defined in the previous two plans: “To contribute to the competitiveness of customers by providing efficient services responding to their needs for maritime transport, land transport and logistics services”. The new Plan takes up the objectives of the preceding two plans and incorporates the current conditions of international trade markets - volatility, concentrations of maritime companies, restructuring of the transport sector, etc. - which have led to a scenario of increasing competitiveness between ports and logistics chains.

The Egyptian government is pressing ahead with the first major expansion of the canal in almost 150 years, to allow ships to pass north and south concurrently, reports Telegraph. The Suez Canal Area Development and the Second Suez Canal Projects are the most important drivers of economic recovery in Egypt and mark a turning point for a country that has been marred by continuing instability. The project – which has been underwritten by Egyptians subscribing to around $8bn (£5.2bn) of canal investment certificates – will have a similar impact on the economy as the original route. The Egyptian public financed the new canal by investing $8.5bn in just eight days.

The Windsor Port is key area in the planned $7-billion worth of investments to transform Canada’s most important transportation and trade networks, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway. Approx $60 million has been spent in Windsor to improve infrastructure the last five years. The investment helps ensure Windsor will remain a key port and vital part of the waterway’s growing success, said David Cree, CEO for the Windsor Port Authority. He hoped the public appreciates the scale of investment to keep the seaway modern and efficient. New port investment in Windsor includes the new $30-million HMCS Hunter building at the foot of Mill Street and another $30 million spent improving the Sterling Fuel-Miller Aggregates dock in the 3600 block of Russell Street.