South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) claims its new ‘Hi-FIN' propeller device that is attached at the hub of the propeller and is suitable for installation on containerships will lower bunker fuel consumption by up to 2.5 per cent compared with the same type of vessels without the attachment.

Savings for a typical 8,600-TEU containership would translate to about US$750,000 per year, according to HHI.

The shipbuilder said that orders for propeller attachment have been placed by ship owners for over 30 vessels to date, reported Vancouver's Ship and Bunker.

To achieve the fuel savings, the device works by generating countering swirls that offset the swirls generated by the propeller, thus improving propulsion efficiency.

The performance claim follows a year-long trial of the device installed on a 162,000 cubic metre capacity LNG carrier ordered from Maran Gas.

FOUR of the six G6 alliance members posted operating losses in 2014 as the network struggled to integrate their east-west networks, according to Alphaliner's review of financial results.

Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen alluded to problems within the G6, saying he had not been 'super-satisfied' with its G6 membership, reports London's Loadstar.

All three old New World Alliance (NWA) members chalked up losses last year - APL, US$143 million; Hyundai, $99 million and MOL, $228 million.

Of the three old Grand Alliance (GA) members, only Hapag-Lloyd posted a loss ($149 million), with NYK back in black producing a $46 million gain while Hong Kong's OOCL profit soared to $230 million.

The GA and NWA merged Asia-Europe routes in March 2012, followed by Asia-US east coast services in May 2013 and Asia-US west coast in May 2014.

Loadstar says there has been much industry speculation that the G6 is more cumbersome than its 2M and Ocean Three rivals partly because of the high number of partners of differing corporate cultures.

Alphaliner suggested that the integration of the G6 services 'has not been smooth' - in particular on the US west coast, where the six carriers operated out of seven different terminals in Los Angeles and Long Beach. 

It is understood the G6 agreement runs until 2016, unlike the 10-year 2M deal between Maersk and MSC.

HONG KONG's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has announced it is cancelling a sailing in anticipation of slackening demand over the Qingming Festival and Easter week from Friday April 3 to April 7.

Thus. the company will withdraw the following Asia-Europe sailing: Asia–North Europe service (Loop 4) on Week 14 (ETA Ningbo on April 3).

For further information, the company asks to customers to contact their local representatives.

JAPANESE shipping giant MOL will increase the rate on all cargo moving to Tamatave in Madagascar and Maputo and Beira in Mozambique by US$150 per TEU and $300 per FEU from April 1.

The company made the announcement in a customer advisory in which it said it was making a general rate restoration in order to sustain service levels.

AN estimated 6,000 demonstrators joined the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) workers on a Los Angeles protest march against employers who refuse to give into their demands, reported the San Bernardino Sun.

Led by high school students, ILWU members, their friends and relations, marched down Harbour Boulevard along the San Pedro waterfront, carrying signs that read: 'We support the ILWU and they support us.'

Dana Middle School principal Steve Gebhart said he joined the march with his family because he feels strongly about the issue. 'A lot of my students?families depend on the union,' he said.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino organised the march more than a week after the employers, of the Pacific Maritime Association, suspended night shifts for unloading ships to focus on moving containers out of congested yards. The decision affected more than 800 jobs, according to the ILWU.

Quay crane operator Jerry Ancich said he lost hours because employers have cancelled dockside shifts until more boxes are cleared from the backup yard.

'The manning of the machines has been cut back so ships are just anchored out in the bay,' Ancich said. 'Work opportunities are slim. It's very hard to get a job.'

Mr Buscaino, an ex-LA police constable, who represents the harbour area, has criticised the employers?decision, saying that cutting night shifts 'is another step closer to a lockout' that would hurt residents and make port congestion worse.

'We say to the PMA, 'Let the ILWU do their jobs,'' Mr Buscaino told the rally. 'We say this to the PMA, 'Let the ILWU clear our ports. Do not stand in their way.' Our economy’s here in the harbour.'

The employers of the PMA released a statement:

'Nearly three months ago, the ILWU began a coordinated series of slowdowns intended to pressure employers to make concessions at the bargaining table. 

'Ever since, PMA and its members have worked hard to counter the growing backlog of cargo that threatens to bring our ports to gridlock. Despite ILWU rhetoric, there was no significant congestion in Tacoma, Seattle or Oakland prior to their slowdowns, which began on Halloween night in Tacoma and at other major ports the following week. 

In southern California, the ILWU's targeted slowdowns have severely worsened existing congestion by withholding the skilled workers who are most essential to clearing crowded terminals. All the while, cargo sits idle, the economic damage to our communities worsens and the reputation of west coast ports is harmed. PMA renews its call for normal operations on the docks while we continue to negotiate a new contract,' the PMA statement said.            

SHANGHAI International Port (Group) Co yesterday reported a 27 percent jump in net profit last year after its container throughput expanded.

Its net profit hit 6.68 billion yuan (US$1.07 billion) while revenue added 1.9 percent to 28.7 billion yuan, the company said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The average earnings per share reached 0.29 yuan.

Container terminal operations are the core business of the largest port group on the Chinese mainland.

The port operator handled 35.29 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) at its container terminals in 2014, a rise of 1.51 million TEUs from 2013.

But the company saw a slight drop in its cargo throughput to 539 million tons last year.

The company has also tied up with other interested parties to boost its core business. At the end of December, the company teamed up with the Hunan provincial government to form a container business joint venture.

The company said it made a breakthrough by attracting foreign capital to expand its port operations when it tapped beneficial polices unveiled for Shanghai’s free trade zone.

LEAD-TRANS SHANGHAI OFFICE WISH YOU HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Harim Group & JKL Consortium has been selected as the preferred bidder for Pan Ocean’s fleet.

The consortium, made up by poultry processor Harim and Korean private equity group JKL Partners, is expected to pay up to USD 968 million for the acquisition.

The South Korean shipping company said in a filling to Singapore stock exchange that the bidder was selected as the result of the bidding which was closed on 16 December, 2014.

South Korea-based bulk carrier, formerly STX Pan Ocean, was put up for auction in mid-October.

Pan Ocean entered court receivership in June last year, for the second time in two decades, after its parent company STX Group failed to sell the unit due to an ongoing downturn in the industry.

However, based on the latest performance figures Pan Ocean seems to be on the right track of recovery due to a changeover to lower cost structure and implementation of rehabilitation plan through the on-going rehabilitation procedure.

The company recorded a USD 191 million profit for third quarter of the year, compared to a loss of USD 533.92 million in the same period in 2013.

PORT Lafito, a private port under development in Haiti, and Puerto Rico's Port of the Americas are the latest in the Caribbean vying to become transshipment hub hoping to handle postpanamax ships, which will transit the expanded Panama Canal in early 2016.

The ports' plans were unveiled during the 38th annual Conference on the Caribbean and Central America in Miami, reported the Miami Herald.

The Haitian port proposes dredging to 17 metres from its present 12 metres, according to Port Lafito director Pierre Liautaud.

The Puerto Rican port in Ponce is big ship-ready with a draft of 15 metres. Port officials would like to see the Port of the Americas become a major global shipping hub in coming years and are looking for an international port operator to run it.

But the seas are already crowded with ports both in the United States and the Caribbean that want their deep water to capitalise on the expansion of the Panama Canal, which will allow the passage of ships that can carry three times as many containers as the panamax ships can today.

Billions of dollars of investment in new ports and port improvements have been made throughout the region or are being contemplated in this race for deep water.

PortMiami is dredging its shipping channel to a depth of 50 to 52 feet and will be the first US east coast port south of Norfolk, Virginia, with water deep enough to handle a fully loaded post-Panamax ship.

But not everyone is convinced this part of the world needs so many deep-water ports.

'We have too many ports in the Americas and there are too many ports that are developing container capabilities beyond what will ever be needed,' former Tampa port authority CEO Richard Wainio. 'There will be winners and losers.'

Since September the spot market on Asia – North Europe trade routes has tracked a similar course of falling rates to that of last year, and therefore it is difficult to foresee that the westbound Beneficial Cargo Owner (BCO) rate fixtures for 2015 will be any higher than this year, according to Drewry.

The November 1 General Rate Increase (GRI) on Asia – North Europe trade lanes provided some respite for carriers after two months of falling spot market rates, but Drewry believes that despite good headhaul cargo growth profitability, this trade will continue to rely more on cost saving than revenue enhancement.

September volumes of Asian exports were over 100,000 teu lower than those of August and it proved to be the third weakest month of the year to date after February and April,

Drewry reports. Nevertheless, westbound traffic levels for this latest month still posted a gain of 6.1% over September 2013. During the first nine months of 2014, the year-on-year growth rate registered 8.5% but between June and September the pace of growth on a 12-month rolling average basis has remained remarkably constant at around 7.8%.

Christmas goods have moved on the water earlier this year and the end of the peak season in this trade came more at the beginning of September rather than traditionally at the end. This change is partly a consequence of slow steaming, and with this cost-saving measure unlikely to be reversed despite much lower oil prices, importers have adjusted their supply chain schedules accordingly, says Drewry.

During the third quarter, Far Eastern goods bound for Germany and UK rose by 10.9% and 10.2% respectively compared to the same period in 2013, but among the major markets it was the Netherlands which stood at the forefront with a 12.5% gain, according to Drewry. For Belgium and France the pace of growth was lower at 6.9% and 5.3%. Imports into Russia, on the other hand, fell by 5.7% and this drop in demand affected adjacent areas through which quantities of Russian transit cargo flow. Finland and the three Baltic States all posted a year-on-year decline in volumes between July and September.

The culling of individual sailings during October did little to stop rate erosion; it is simply a means for the carriers to save costs where they can and Drewry says that further blanked sailings can be expected as the year runs to a close, although not on the scale of what took place in October. No single service has been actually suspended during the slack season, and in the meantime, Zim continues to place an ad hoc sailing each month which according to Drewry tends to unsettle the market.

Outside the peak periods the carriers are still unable to maintain spot market rates at any constant level. Between the start of September – when vessel utilisations were dropping down to below 90% – and the end of October, rates fell sharply from around USD 2,100 per 40ft to USD 1,300.

Drewry says that the carriers will argue that shipments carried at spot rates represent only a small proportion of their overall cargo mix, with annually and quarterly contracted rates yielding appreciably higher revenue than the rates that were being offered in the spot market during October. However, the collapse yet again of the spot market demonstrates the lack of any self-discipline on the part of the shipping lines and their failure to learn any lessons from the past, according to Drewry.

The renegotiation of many BCO contracts for 2015 started in November and because spot rates had fallen below the 2014 contract levels (USD 1,500-USD 1,600) it was imperative that the lines secured as much of the November 1 GRI quantum (set at USD 900-USD 1,000 per teu) as possible, says Drewry.

In the first week, market rates did soar USD 1,200 per 40ft but thereafter retreat occurred with USD 300 of the increase being given up in the second week of November alone. A further GRI for December 1 of around USD 800 per teu has been declared to ensure that spot rates do not fall too far below USD 2,200 during this critical renegotiation period.

There is also likely to be another GRI in the middle of January designed to drive up spot rates during the pre-Chinese New Year cargo build-up, says Drewry.

Dear Valuable Partner,  
 

We are pleased to announce that effective from Nov 10, 2014, Lead Trans Company will be moving to new and larger premises.

New location is: 

Room 1801 & 1808, Building 10 Hai Shanghai Plaza ,Dalian Road No. 990 ,Shanghai City, China

Zip Code:   200086

Tel :        021-65382335

Fax:        021-65382120

This move will promote us to a higher development and we will do our most to provide more satisfied service to all customers. We would like to thank you for your continued supports.

                                     Yours Truly

                                                                               Shanghai Lead Trans Int’l Logistics Co., Ltd

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       12^th NOV,2014

New shipbuilding orders at China’s shipyards continued to build up with figures rising in the first nine months of 2014 over the year-ago period, according to data from the ministry of industry and information technology.
From January to September this year, Chinese shipyards landed new shipbuilding orders with a total tonnage of 52.49m dwt, a jump of 37.9% compared to the same period of 2013.
The existing shipyard orderbook in the nine-month period ended 30 September 2014 stood at 154.71m dwt, an increase of 35.7% year-on-year and up 18.1% compared to the end of 2013.
In completed shipbuilding jobs, Chinese yards produced 26.06m dwt in capacity of vessel tonnage, down 14.9% compared to the previous corresponding period, the ministry data showed.
In the first three quarters of this year, Chinese shipbuilders accounted for 53.2% in global market share for newbuilding orders, 47.6% in global share for existing orderbook, and 38.3% for completed vessel tonnage.
Meanwhile, 87 main yards monitored by China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (Cansi) generated a combined revenue of RMB213.3bn ($34.7bn) in the first nine months of this year, representing an increase of 13.5% year-on-year.
Net profit, however, fell 11.5% year-on-year to RMB3.8bn due mainly to low newbuilding prices and rising operating costs.

　　United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) is on a major expansion drive, investing more than $2 billion in bigger ships and forming alliances with peers to boost efficiencies and ride out tough markets.
The shipping industry has been battling overcapacity, linked to a glut of new vessels ordered during a boom period before the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, forcing operators to look for ways to overcome one of the worst slumps on record.
Despite the oversupply, companies are looking to ditch older and smaller container ships for fewer but larger ones – aiming to command better economies of scale and cut fuel costs.
“Size matters in this business,” said Jorn Hinge, the Middle East group’s chief executive and president. “We are in expansion mode,” he told Reuters in an interview.
“With the economic disasters of the past number of years, it has not exactly been good for consumer confidence. Although container trades are growing, they are growing at a lot slower pace than people had planned for,” he added.
Container ships transport consumer goods such as electronics and food in metal boxes, with a standard length of 20 feet (6 metres), known as TEU (20-foot equivalent units). The world’s biggest container group Maersk Line, with nearly 600 vessels, carried 17.6 million TEU in 2013.
Hinge declined to provide details on profits, but added that UASC expected to reach a volume of 2.35 million TEU in 2014, a rise from 1.8 million TEU carried in 2013 and 1.6 million TEU in 2012.
“Once all newbuildings currently on order have been delivered, we estimate annual volumes of 4 million TEU,” he said.
UASC has 17 container ships on order for delivery between 2014 and 2016 — the first to be supplied in November — with a total contract value of $2.3 billion, the company said.
These include six 18,000-TEU ships, known as Triple-E vessels and the largest in the world by capacity, each almost as long as four soccer pitches. Maersk was the first carrier to order such vessels and more lines have followed suit.
Hinge said the order for Triple-E vessels was made in cooperation with China Shipping Container Lines Co Ltd (CSCL) , which will buy five separate Triple-E ships.
The two groups have a joint arrangement to share the vessels, helping to build further scale.
Attempted tie-ups between shipping rivals have gathered pace in recent months. A planned service-sharing alliance between Maersk Line and the world’s number two and three players, Swiss firm Mediterranean Shipping Co and France’s CMA CGM, collapsed in June following opposition from China’s anti-trust authorities.
Following that failure, CMA CGM announced in September a new alliance with UASC and CSCL.
Analysts expect UASC’s expansion efforts will enable it to punch far above its weight. According to consultancy Alphaliner, UASC’s market share, based on fleet capacity, is estimated at 1.9 percent. Maersk, at the top end, is estimated at 15.3 percent.
“In a hugely tough ‘box ship’ market today, economies of scale are vital to achieve the necessary savings and maximise tonnage carried on routes,” said Andrew Preston, shipping partner with law firm Clyde & Co.
“Conversely, there is always room for smaller operators with greater penetration and the ability to service less busy routes and regions.”

　　
NEW MARKETS
Like many carriers, UASC has focused on the Asia-to-Europe route — a source of major container volume given China’s growth in recent years and consumer markets in Europe.
Hinge said UASC was looking to enhance its presence in other markets including South America, forming a cooperation agreement with Germany’s Hamburg Sud last month.
“We give space to Hamburg Sud on the East-West trades and they give space to us on the North-South trades. Thereby, we achieve the same goal but without investing in additional assets and creating more capacity in the market,” Hinge said.
Hamburg Sud, which already has a big presence in South America, announced in July that it would acquire the container operations of Chilean line CCNI.
Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd and Chile’s Compania SudAmericana de Vapores secured conditional European Union approval in September for their tie-up to create the world’s fourth-largest container shipping company.
UASC, founded in 1976, has corporate headquarters in Dubai, and is owned by the governments of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq. Qatar holds a 51 percent stake in the group, which owns and operates a fleet of 56 ships, excluding the current orderbook.
In April 2013, UASC suspended all services to and from Iran due to a tightening of sanctions imposed on Tehran by Washington and Brussels over its disputed nuclear programme.
Hinge said the loss of the Iran trade had hit carriers operating on the Middle East Gulf route as volumes had fallen, adding to wider market pressures they face.
“Many carriers are suffering from that now,” he said. “This is a part of being in liner shipping.”

International air freight volumes are forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent over the next five years, according to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Airline Industry Forecast 2014-2018.
The fastest growing market are expected to be emerging economies, particularly the Middle East and Africa.
'This year, more than US$6.8 trillion worth of goods, equivalent to 35 per cent of total world trade by value, will be transported around the world by air,' said IATA director general Tony Tyler, former CEO of Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways.
Since 2011 growth in freight tonnes has averaged 0.63 per cent per year. But the industry cannot afford to be complacent, Mr Tyler warned.
'Despite the positive picture, the overall risks to the economic outlook, and therefore to air freight, remain towards the downside. Trade protectionism is a constant danger,' he said.
'According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), between November 2013 and May 2014 alone, 112 new trade-restrictive measures were enacted by G20 governments. Geopolitical concerns, volatility of oil prices, and competition from rail and sea could also affect this forecast.'
To enhance air cargo competitiveness, the industry is aiming to cut average transit times by up to 48 hours by 2020. To achieve this, airfreight is modernising its processes, improving quality and reliability, and widening the range of services offered.
A key component of modernised processes is the e-Freight project, which will render air cargo shipments paperless. As a first step, the industry is adopting the e-Air Waybill (e-AWB). In September 2014 global e-AWB penetration reached 19.4 per cent, meaning the 2014 industry target of 22 per cent is within reach.
The United States, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will each be adding one million additional tonnes of freight by 2018.
The fastest growing international routes will be between the Middle East and Asia, at 6.2 per cent. Within Middle East (4.6 per cent), North America to South America (3.9 per cent), and Europe to Southern Africa (3.8 per cent).
Significant volume imbalances will continue. The imbalance in flows from Asia to North America is estimated to be 1.1 million tonnes in 2018, and from Asia to the Middle East the imbalance will be 0.6 million tonnes.
By 2018, the 10th largest international air freight markets will be the US (10,054,000 tonnes), China (5,639,000), the UAE (4,974,000), Germany (4,763,000), Hong Kong (4,648,000), Korea (3,487,000), Japan (3,480,000), the United Kingdom (2,808,000), Chinese Taipei (2,350,000) and India (2,223,000).