Capesize For most of the week the rates were nudging up under a flurry of activity in the Pacific as levels for the West Australia to China C5 route were being fixed in the upper eight-dollar level for usual 170,000dwt vessel, 10% cargo. FMG fixed a Newcastlemax for end-November, loading at $8.65. By the end of the week there was a softer tone and the route ended being marked close to $8.75. Kepco covered a couple of Australia cargos to Youngheung, loading end-November. There was talk of Saldanha Bay to ...

As the shipping industry prepares for a wave of emissions regulation hitting it over the coming years, methanol suppliers are looking to take advantage of the situation to take a share of the 300 million mt/year global bunker market. Shipping companies face a significant rise in costs when the International Maritime Organization’s global 0.5% bunker sulfur cap comes into effect next year, with 0.5% sulfur bunker prices currently at a premium of about $230/mtto high sulfur fuel oil at Rotterdam. Delegates at the European Methanol Summit in Dusseldorf this week ...

With the enforcement date of the IMO 2020 low-sulphur regulation now only 6 weeks away, shippers and forwarders are starting to get their cheque-books out to help ocean carriers cover the additional cost of the cleaner, low-sulphur fuel. On 4 December Drewry will publish the first Bunker Adjustment Factor reference price based on low-sulphur fuel and in line with our independent BAF indexing mechanism. Using this mechanism, the bunker reference price will change from the previous high-sulphur IFO 380 fuel to the new low-sulphur fuel and affect the new BAFs ...

VLCC With at least half of the VLCC market participants meeting in Dubai this week, fixture activity has been sporadic, with rates slipping slightly. However, the market is reported to have bottomed and is now rebounding. This is evidenced by a couple of fixtures reported on subjects at improved levels. 270,000mt Middle East Gulf (MEG) to China was last rated at WS 75, down two points week-on-week, although at time of writing, WS 76 is reported on subjects. Meanwhile, 280,000mt MEG to the US Gulf (USG), basis Cape/Cape, has fallen ...

Big data, AI and the promises of other new technology-enabled possibilities are being talked about all the time. For many of us in the supply chain, logistics and transportation industry, it is hard to imagine the efficiencies tech will bring, as we are still trying to understand how to best compile excel reports and make sense of it all. In the age of IoT, the connectivity of devices is rapidly progressing. In the case of logistics, the end-to-end tracking of cargo in real-time is now a reality. What was once ...

EuroDry Ltd., an owner and operator of drybulk vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for drybulk cargoes, announced today its results for the three- and nine-month period ended September 30, 2019. Euroseas Ltd. (“Euroseas” or “Former Parent Company”) contributed to the Company seven subsidiaries comprising its drybulk fleet of six vessels, one Ultramax and two Kamsarmax vessels built between 2016 and 2018, and three Japanese-built Panamax vessels built between 2000 and 2004 (the “Spin-off”). The Company was spun-off from Euroseas Ltd. on May 30, 2018. Historical comparative period reflects the ...

The China Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) reported significant drops in freight indices in the United States routes this week due to slowdown of market shipments. NCFI, a wind vane of China’s busiest port’s freight rates for the international container shipping market, stood at 690.2 points Friday, down 4.9 percent from last week. Freight indices in the routes from Ningbo-Zhoushan port to the east and west coast of the United States quote 829.8 points and 818.1 points accordingly, dropping by 7.6 percent and 12.2 percent from last week. According to ...

Saga Tankers ASA reported a net asset value (NAV) of NOK 309.4 million end of the third quarter 2019, corresponding to NOK 1.16 per outstanding share, excluding minority interests and with Vallhall valued at book value. By the end of the third quarter, Saga had a cash balance of NOK 119 million. All long-term debt are related to the real estate owned by Vallhall (Saga’s ownership is 55%). During the quarter, the net market value of shares held in SD Standard Drilling Plc and Vistin Pharma ASA decreased with NOK ...

The trans-Pacific container trade from Asia to North America is headed for its first annual decline in a decade, according to Alphaliner. Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and COSCO are the carriers that have lost the most market share this year as volumes have contracted. The France-based container shipping analyst predicts that the eastbound trans-Pacific container trade will register its first negative growth year since 2009, with a 2% drop expected for the full year 2019. “While volume growth has remained marginally positive in the first three quarters of this year despite ...

The IMO, which met in London this week to discuss how the shipping industry can continue to decarbonise, has agreed that a goal-setting approach is the best way to reduce carbon emissions in the short-term. Full details of the approach will be resolved next year. States and NGO’s discussed the details and the complexities of the different submitted proposals and how they would cut emissions and impact states. After lengthy discussions it was clear that there was no appetite for prescriptive speed reduction regulation. The IMO concluded that a mandatory ...

Danish shipping giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk AS on Friday posted forecast-beating third-quarter net profit amid lower fuel costs, but warned that growth in the container market is slowing more than previously thought as global economies weaken and escalating trade restrictions weigh. Maersk MAERSK.B, +4.38% reported a total quarterly net profit of $520 million from $396 million in the year-earlier period. A FactSet analyst poll had expected a net profit of $359 million. Net profit attributable to shareholders totaled $506 million. Maersk, which is considered a barometer of global trade, confirmed that ...

Qatar knew of an Iranian plan to attack four ships off the UAE coast in May but failed to warn its US, French and British allies, according to a western intelligence report. Two Saudi tankers, a Norwegian tanker and a UAE vessel were targeted by explosions near the port of Fujairah on May 12 amid rising tension between the United States and Iran over US sanctions seeking to block all Iranian oil exports. “Credible intelligence reports indicate that the IRGC-Quds Forces Naval unit is responsible for the Fujairah Port attacks, ...

On November 10, 2019, OOCL held a 50th Anniversary Free Family Fun Day event at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM) to celebrate the company’s fifty years anniversary with the Hong Kong community and just before the kickoff of the Maritime Week in the city. Specially arranged exhibits, videos, souvenirs and family activities were organized to share with visitors who came to learn more about Hong Kong’s home carrier and the city’s colorful maritime history. In November of 1969, OOCL’s founder Mr. C. Y. Tung made international headlines for establishing ...

On behalf of the European shipping industry, ECSA warmly welcomes the confirmation of Adina Ioana Vălean as the new Transport Commissioner-designate, after the hearing at the European Parliament held yesterday. Of Romanian nationality, Ms Vălean has been active in EU-level policymaking as an MEP since 2007. She was rapporteur on the Connecting Europe Facility, a key EU funding instrument to promote growth, jobs and competitiveness through targeted infrastructure investment at the European level. The transport component of the CEF has been an important funding instrument to help realise Europe’s transport ...

A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Friday prospects for a pick-up in demand for seaborne container traffic were clouded by an uncertain economic outlook but the shipping group’s focus on driving down costs helped its shares higher. The world’s biggest container shipping firm said global container demand was expected to grow by 1%-3% next year compared with 1%-2% in 2019. But it said that “the continued weakening of global sentiment, above all in the manufacturing sector, reduces the likelihood of a growth pick-up in 2020.” Despite headwinds from the U.S.-China trade war, ...