Weekly Edition 11th March 2010

US ransom ban could hit Suez transits

SHIPOWNERS will abandon the Gulf of Aden and large parts of the Indian Ocean if a US threat to ban ransom payments becomes law, a seminar in Brussels heard last week.

Terrorist attack fear for Malacca Strait tankers

SHIPS passing through the Strait of Malacca need to tighten up security following reports that terrorists may be considering an attack on a tanker, a circular from the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) has warned.

Judge may cut sentences in Neftegaz-67 collision case

SCENE OF TRAGEDY: The Neftegaz-67 is lifted out of Hong Kong waters in April 2008. Eighteen seafarers died after a collision with the bulker Yao Hai.

Frozen out – Baltic ice traps 1,000 passengers

THE EXTREME weather conditions that saw dozens of ships and more than 1,000 passengers trapped in Baltic ice last week was expected to improve early this week, easing pressure on the region’s icebreaking fleet.

Casualty Briefs - 11th March 2010

 

Iron ore set to soar

THE CONTRACT price for iron ore could surge by up to 80% from next month amid rumours that earlier predictions of an increase half that size could be grossly under-estimated.

Victorian focus on empty strategy

THE VICTORIAN Transport Association looks like it got its wish to see container line executives at its Melbourne empty container management forum.

Bligh to ignore miners’ stance on QR

QUEENSLAND coal producers have united to bid for ownership of QR’s coal rail network in central Queensland in the face of an unyielding position from the state government.

Danish safety authority delivers harsh report on FPSO incident

MAERSK FPSOs and Lloyd’s Register both played a straight bat to a scathing Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) finding on the causes of the Maersk FPSOs-owned Ngujima-Jin floating production storage and offloading vessel explosion off Western Australia last year.

News of rights issue boosts DP World shares

DP WORLD shares rose 5% after weekend reports that the Dubai-based global ports operator may offer new shares to shareholders and that troubled parent Dubai World could sell an additional stake in its subsidiary.

Rail investment to bear freight fruit: BITRE

THE BUREAU of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) expects rail freight timetables to change by mid-year to reflect investment in infrastructure, especially between Sydney and Melbourne.

Maersk Drilling negotiations become right royal stoush

MORE in sorrow than in anger it seems, Maersk Drilling has rebutted an attack from offshore energy unions on its negotiating stance and treatment of unionised workforce aboard the Nan Hai VI drilling rig.

World growth will drive export earnings – ABARE

THE INCOMES of Australia’s commodity exporters are poised to improve amid expectations the world economy is on the mend, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE).

Anketell Point home to new deepwater port

THE WESTERN Australian Government has backed the construction of a deepwater iron ore port at Anketell Point, 30 km east of Karratha.

Airfreight demand up in January

THE INTERNATIONAL aircargo sector rebounded in January, with demand for freight climbing 28.3% from a year ago, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Leak forces evacuation of POTA depot

ABOUT 50 workers were evacuated following a chemical leak at P&O Trans Australia’s Melbourne Port depot on Tuesday morning.

ACCC draft decision to reject ARTC’s Hunter plan

THE AUSTRALIAN Competition and Consumer Commission has signalled its rejection of proposed rail access arrangements which would affect coal shipments through the port of Newcastle.

National freight strategy slips into the slow lane

THE FEDERAL Government could go to the next election without a national freight strategy, with Australia’s transport and logistics industry doubtful the long-awaited policy will be tabled until the end of the year.

Hapag-Lloyd clears 4,000 teu in Sydney

HAPAG-Lloyd evacuated about 4,000 teu of empties from Patrick’s container terminal at Port Botany last week using the freshly-built boxship, JPO Volans.

Minister gives inside running on Victoria’s truck lane ban

WHILE many Victorian motorists thought it was about time a ban on heavy vehicles using the inside lane of multi-lane freeways was proposed, the reaction was cooler in the industry and elsewhere.

Planned QR structure is the right one for all players – Hockridge

COMPARISONS between the de-monopolisation of Telstra and the likely structure of a listed QR National were unfair because the markets within which the two companies operated were like “chalk and cheese”, QR chief executive Lance Hockridge said this week.

Local arm holds up in CEVA Logistics results

CEVA South Pacific (Sopac), the Australasian arm of CEVA Logistics, was one of the better performers for its parent company last year.

OLD PROBLEMS THAT CALL FOR NEW PORT SOLUTIONS

I AM REPLYING to your articles entitled “Empty box problem exacerbated by lines: CBFCA”, which was published on your newswire on February, and “VTA looks forward to liner talks on empty boxes” published on the newswire on March 2.

Plenty of capacity waits – no fear of oversupply

THERE remains enough spare oil production ship capacity available for the immediate future and more could become available for redeployment when existing contracts finish.

FPSO sector – reasons to be cheerful

Oil at US$70-$80 per barrel is reviving interest in floating production, reports MARTYN WINGROVE

Demand picking up across the globe

IN BRAZIL, state energy group Petrobras is leading the way in deepwater projects, with international oil companies trailing in its wake.

Box carriers: slow steaming here to stay

SLOW steaming is delivering cost savings for container lines beyond the obvious one of cheaper fuel bills.

No-frills box start-up set for trans-Pacific launch

TIMING is everything. Starting a new container service across the Pacific would have seemed the height of folly a few months ago, given the desperate straits of this particular trade, which has been worst hit of all by the recession.

Navies seize 35 pirates as tanker hit

EUROPEAN anti-piracy naval forces have captured 35 suspected pirates over the past four days and thwarted six separate attacks on vessels in the Gulf of Aden.

People powering recovery

Every business lives or dies by the talent and commitment of its people, so the job market is always in sharp focus for management. The economic storm of the past two years has changed the face of recruiting in transport industries. JENNIFER PERRY looks into the future

Momentum for role of women

THE BUSINESS case for encouraging female participation or ‘gender diversity’ in the workforce is a strong one, and especially so for the transport and logistics (T&L) industry, where over three quarters of the workforce are male.

Workforce scan defines areas of greatest need

The Transport & Logistics Skills Council’s Environmental Scan (E-Scan) acts as a “warning system” for the transport and logistics (T&L) industry by identifying which occupations will be in skills shortage for the next 12 months and why.

Truck body fights licensing anomaly that is costing jobs

THE EXISTING licensing system for heavy vehicles (HV) is a major regulatory obstacle that is impacting the ability of Australia’s trucking industry to recruit and retain drivers, according to the Australian Trucking Association.

National approach to personnel born of Queensland initiative

AN INNOVATIVE government/industry partnership is achieving widespread success tackling transport and logistics workforce issues.

Web recruiting tool is generation friendly

THE SOUTH Australian Freight Council (SAFC) is using social media on its Logistics Information & Navigation Centre (LINC) website to give generation Y and Z careers information on the transport and logistics (T&L) industry in a way they want it.

Shippers tell of fears over pricing collusion

SHIPPERS have again raised questions over possible antitrust breaches by container lines on major trade routes amid rising freight rates and capacity reductions.

PierPass becoming financially unviable

THE GROUND-breaking scheme designed to prevent the southern Californian ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach from grinding to a halt under the weight of too much cargo is now struggling as freight volumes languish.

Box sector ‘out of intensive care’

A NEW container sector analyst’s report suggests the deterioration in market conditions has “clearly stopped” despite a weak finish to 2009, although “macroeconomic variables” continue to send mixed signals about demand.

Maersk posts shortfall but eyes profit return

CAUTIOUSLY consigning shipping’s annus horribilis to history, AP Moller- Maersk Group reported a US$1bn loss for 2009 and predicted a modest return to profit this year.

Obama export drive highlights line’s plight

PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s push for an export-led US recovery has left container lines in a quandary about how best to respond to the challenge.

State support ‘hindering box recovery’

INTERVENTION by governments and other interested parties to prevent a major container line from collapsing could be counter-productive in the long run, delaying much needed industry consolidation.

Idle boxships down as slow steaming is gathering pace

THE NUMBER of idle boxships has again shrunk reflecting rising cargo volumes and the effects of super-slow steaming on the supply and demand equation, according to latest Alphaliner figures.

Chinese ore forecast to hit 1.3bn tonnes

CHINESE annual iron ore imports could peak as high as 1.3bn tonnes a year before 2020 – double last year’s level – and create demand for an additional 584 capesize bulk carriers researchers with DnB NOR bank, one of the world’s largest ship financiers, said.

MOL outlines big LNG fleet growth

CHINA’S insatiable appetite for liquefied natural gas has prompted Mitsui OSK Lines to go on an LNG carrier spending spree.

BHP iron ore boost

REPORTS have emerged that BHP Billiton, one of the largest dry bulk charterers, is selling iron ore on the spot market at prices 40% above the contract price to small steel mills now annual contracts have expired.

Box lines left reeling after unexpected volume surge

A HUGE surge in container volumes over the past three months has caught container lines by complete surprise and left them uncertain whether to reactivate idle tonnage even though their customers are screaming for extra space straightaway.

Kolding slams ‘casino’ box derivatives market

MAERSK Line chief executive Eivind Kolding has dealt a blow to the fledgling container derivatives market by describing it as a potential freight rates casino.

Shipping debt heads east

Asian banks are starting to lend to foreign shipowners, a trend that is consistent with the shift of shipping to the region, reports STEVE MATTHEWS

NO SYMPATHY

 

A PAPER TRAIL

 

UNDER THE RADAR

 

First in racing

THERE were finely tuned engines of all sorts at Melbourne’s Avalon Airport last week as the V8 supercars touched down on a specially chartered Emirates SkyCargo flight from Bahrain for the first Australian leg of the 2010 V8 Championship Series. It was the first time Emirates SkyCargo had operated a return charter flight specifically to and from Australia.

Shipping generations clear path for handover

IT IS the unsettle generation – a population expecting the best and, in tough business conditions, facing inevitable disappointment when budgets are trimmed and positions are cut.