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Dry Bulk Market: Rollercoaster Ride Continues

Capesize The market continued its rollercoaster ride last week opening with negative sentiment, but turning around in dramatic fashion by the week’s end. The BCI 5TC reduced from $11,182 at the end of the previous week to a low of $9,898 on Tuesday, but rebounded to $11,621 by Friday. Reasonable cargo volumes were reported out of West Australia to China with rates for C5 lingering around $6.50-$6.75, whilst time charter rates in the Pacific lifted from low to mid-teens level by Friday. In the Atlantic Basin sentiment was given a ...

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To scrub or not to scrub

One way or another, ship owners are soon going to have to make big, and in some cases expensive, changes to meet compliance. New International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations coming into force at the start of 2020 will slash the allowed concentration of sulphur oxides in fuel from the current 3.5% to just 0.5%. While strict sulphur limits had already been a fact of life for operators sailing in Emission Control Areas in Europe and North America, these new caps will now apply everywhere around the globe. The options available ...

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Cosco Focuses on Pacific International Lines as Takeover Target

China’s Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. is eyeing Singapore’s Pacific International Lines as a potential takeover target as it looks to expand its footprint in developing markets. Cosco recently bought part of debt-ridden PIL’s container-manufacturing business, and executives at the Chinese carrier believe they could wrap up a deal for the entire business if PIL’s owners decide to sell, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The two operators aren’t in formal acquisition talks. Singapore-based PIL is run by the Teo family and company Chairman Teo Siong Seng is a ...

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China’s export container shipping index drops in April

China’s container transport for export purposes continued to contract last month due to weak demand during low seasons, according to a report released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. The average China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) came in at 799.65 in April, down 3.8 percent from the previous month. The pace eased from the 6.3-percent decrease registered in March, the exchange said. In the first four months of 2019, the index averaged 839.88, picking up from an average of 817.8 for 2018. The sub-indexes for most routes went down in April, ...

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US-China tariffs add bearish sentiment to trans-Pacific shipping markets

The recent developments between the US and China regarding tariffs have added some considerable bearish sentiment to the trans-Pacific shipping routes, with imports into the US likely to slow significantly in response to the news. In the container market, the implementation of tariffs will have a huge impact on trans-Pacific head hauls, with capacity utilization likely to take a tumble as some US importers try to mitigate their exposure to these new regulations. This, in theory, could spell an end to the relatively firm trans-Pacific all inclusive rates that the ...

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Weber Weekly Tanker Report Week 19 2019 – Spot Market Summary

Although we did see signs of inquiry picking up in the Arabian Gulf (AG) VLCC sector, the over-supply of tonnage continued to weigh on

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Shipowners Seek to Slow Services to Meet Emissions Limits

Looming new environmental regulations are triggering sharp divisions in the shipping industry between vessel operators investing billions of dollars to reduce emissions and others who want to stave off the financial impact by simply slowing down ships. More than 100 shipowners, including some big Greek and German charter businesses, have signed a letter to the International Maritime Organization, an arm of the United Nations that works as the global marine regulator, calling for slower sailing speeds to cut greenhouse gas emissions. If adopted, the measure could ripple across international supply ...

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Gibson tanker report – Orderbook in Focus

One of the forward looking indicators of how healthy (or unhealthy) the tanker supply/demand balance could be in a couple of years is the

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VLCCs: Looking for Renewed Upward Momentum

VLCC An uninspiring week for owners saw rates flat at WS 37 for 270,000mt from the Middle East Gulf to China. Going west, the market was steady at WS 18 Cape to Cape for 280,000mt to the US Gulf. West Africa to China basis 260,000mt dipped two points to WS 38. Loop to China was fixed at $4.5 million. Suezmax Owners’ resistance in West Africa bore dividends as a West Africa east run went at WS 80 basis 130,000mt and Cepsa paid WS 65 to Spain, up from WS 60 ...

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ShipsFocus Weekly Chemical Shipping Report, Week 19 2019

ShipsFocus Weekly Chemical Shipping Report, Week 19 2019

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Hyundai Heavy, DSME, Samsung vie for 60 Qatari LNG ships

Competition is heating up among Korean shipbuilders to win 60 anticipated orders from Qatar, which would expedite the domestic shipbuilding industry’s rebound from a long slump, industry analysts said. They said a key point will be about how many empty shipbuilding slots each company can secure before commencing construction. According to industry officials, last month the state-run Qatar Petroleum sent invitations to tender reserve shipbuilding capacity for LNG carriers to major shipbuilders across the world, including Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries. ...

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Chinese steel mills regain taste for high-grade iron ore

Chinese steelmakers are regaining their appetite for high-grade iron ore despite record-high ore prices, mill managers and traders say, as recovering profit margins spur plants to seek efficiency gains and ramp up output. Steel firms had been forced to slash input costs through switching to low-quality ore in late 2018 as steel margins dived amid record output. A sharp surge in iron ore prices in early 2019 – sparked by a catastrophic tailings dam failure at a Vale SA mine in Brazil – also fueled that switch. But as China’s ...

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Middle East oil grab hits fever pitch as supply squeeze persists

Oil refiners across Asia are bidding up crude prices from Abu Dhabi to Oman as they compete for supplies to make up for lost Iranian and Venezuelan exports. July-loading cargoes of grades such as Murban and Das were bid at premiums of $0.80 to $0.85/bbl above the official selling price on Friday on an electronic trading platform operated by S&P Global Platts. That would be the highest spot differentials in at least three years for the grades, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Upper Zakum crude was also bid at ...

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Eleni P – Interpreting an Off-Hire Clause

In Eleni Shipping Limited v Transgrain Shipping BV (The Eleni P) [2019] EWHC 910 (Comm) the Commercial Court considered an appeal under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 by Owners of an award in which the Tribunal rejected Owners’ claim for hire to be paid by Charterers during the period for which the vessel was detained by pirates in the Arabian Sea. Facts On 29 April 2010 voyage orders were given by Charterers for the vessel to load a cargo of iron ore from a port in Ukraine for ...

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Trade war cuts U.S. liquefied natural gas exports to China

No liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels that left the United States in March and April have gone to China, Refinitiv Eikon shipping data shows, as the trade war between the two nations escalates. On Friday, the United States increased its tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25% from 10%, rattling financial markets already worried the 10-month trade war between the world’s two largest economies could spiral out of control. So far this year, only two vessels have gone from the United States to China – one in January ...

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