Weekly edition 19 April

Reefer containers destroyed in Fremantle Easter break blaze

A FIRE ripped through a Western Australian container yard on Easter Sunday, destroying 11 refrigerated containers and causing half a million dollars of damage.

IronClad moves closer to floating iron ore warehouse

JUNIOR miner IronClad has moved one step closer to exporting iron ore via a floating harbour off the coast of South Australia.

Seafarer was engulfed in flames owing to lack of training, knowledge

 

Australian to launch first Angolan maritime college

NOT long ago, Angola was one of the unhappiest places on earth.

Dilemma of Garden Island – review charts cruising’s docking options

NAVY requirements are essentially incompatible with long-term access of large cruise ships’ to Garden Island, according to the findings of a recently released review focused on the opportunities for greater civil-military cooperation in the use of finite berthing resources in Sydney Harbour.

Islamic ship finance goes mainstream

Shipowners can expect small slice of US$1trn pie, reports DAVID OSLER

Sanko Steamship grasps three-month financial lifeline

AILING Japanese shipowner Sanko Steamship has secured approval to freeze debt payments to domestic financial institutions after presenting turnaround proposals that could see it sell nearly 30 vessels and defer charter payments for three years.

VLCC earnings reach highest levels since February 2011

TIME charter equivalent earnings on the Baltic Exchange’s very large crude carrier Middle East-Asia benchmark route averaged US$25,176 during March, representing the highest monthly average since February 2011 when the Arab spring started and international oil supply began to be disrupted.

STX beats Japan rivals to LPG orders

GREECE’s Vafias Group has placed an order with shipbuilder STX for up to eight liquefied petroleum gas carriers, showing that under certain circumstances South Korean yards can compete against Japanese builders for small and intermediate LPG carrier orders.

US optimistic over growth

US IMPORTERS and exporters have expressed cautious optimism about the forthcoming peak season but are fully aware of problems in other parts of the world that could affect world trade.

Idle containership capacity falls by 20% in a fortnight

THE IDLE containership fleet has dropped by 146,000 teu over the last fortnight in March, representing a 20% decrease to 565,000 teu, according to the latest inactive vessel survey from Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

Maersk to super-slow steam

MAERSK Line has started to follow through with its plans to reduce capacity on the Asia-Europe container trade lanes by implementing super-slow steaming on five backhaul services, facilitated by the introduction of an extra vessel on each loop.

A tsunami of scrapping

NO BUSINESS in shipping takes it easy, but each sector has its lulls.

Cosco upbeat after heavy loss

AFTER posting the biggest yearly loss ever in the shipping industry, China Cosco Holdings has remained upbeat about market outlook this year and showed interest in making acquisitions, while launching a public attack on Vale’s safety record.

Internet use promises to shave ship costs

IMAGINING business without the internet and a social life without a mobile phone is unthinkable for most people these days, so why should seafarers not have the same access to modern technology while sailing?

Rates slump pushes Evergreen into the red too

EVERGREEN Marine posted a loss of T$3.1bn (US$105m) for 2011, compared to net profit of T$15.2bn in 2010.

Liberian mine exports 1m tonnes of ore

STEELMAKER Arcelor Mit tal said it exported 1m tonnes of iron ore from Liberia since it began production at its facility in the Nimba mountains last year, signalling the emergence of a new growth market from the region.

Warning to keep LPG carrier orders in check

A WAVE of newbuilding orders in the liquefied petroleum gas shipping sector, brought on by the relatively healthy market, would tip the delicately-balanced market into the danger zone for owners, shipbroker Barry Rogliano Salles warns.

Be prepared: sector set for dramatic growth – ABARES

AUSTRALIAN Bureau of Agriculture, Resource, Economics and Sciences (ABARES) is forecasting higher volumes of wheat and cotton exports over the next few years.

Bulk wheat exports – will the new regime be a toothless tiger?

A SIGNIFICANT change in the way bulk wheat is exported from Australia will take place later this year. Industry and accreditation body Wheat Exports Australia (WEA) is due to be abolished, along with the wheat export accreditation scheme from October.

New panamaxes taking spot business from older bulkers

Vessels built in the last four years dominate fixture lists as charterers prefer ships with lower bunker consumption, reports LIZ McCARTHY

China puts its foot on the gas as LNG imports keep rising

CHINA’s imports of liquefied natural gas in February were up 26% compared with the same period last year, with further rises forecast this year as the country boosts its import terminal capacity and starts receiving new volumes from Qatar.

CSA launches further public attack on Vale

THE CHINA Shipowners’ Association (CSA) said big miners should not be building their own fleets to hurt bulk carriers amid industry woes, launching yet another thinly veiled public attack on Vale.

Analyst questions transpacific mega-ships cascade

THE PROSPECT of the transpacific container trades being swamped by ships of 11,000 teu or larger is being downplayed by analyst Alphaliner.

Chinese box line falls into the red

CHINA Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) has reported a pre-tax loss of Yuan2.6bn (US$412.5m) on turnover of Yuan28.2bn, according to a statement released last month.

Casualty briefs 19 April 2012

Maritime

Insurers fear US will force piracy, terrorism link

WHILE some governments see links between Somali pirates and al-Shabaab as providing grounds for banning ransoms, there is scant evidence to support these claims, according to Aegis Advisory director Dominick Donald.

Pirates agree hostage release after 16 months of waiting

SOMALI pirates are to receive US$2.9m in “expenses” in a deal to free Malaysian-flagged boxship Albedo and 21 crew held hostage for 16 months.

Fuel leaks from ship aground in North Wales

SEVEN Polish seafarers are safe after being rescued by helicopter after the 2378 dwt German cargoship Carrier ran aground at Raynes Jetty in Llanddulas, North Wales, in heavy seas on the night of April 3.

Shipping opinion favours military intervention in Somalia

NEARLY two-thirds of shipping professionals favour large scale military intervention in Somalia to eradicate physically the pirate bases in that country, according to the first-ever survey of industry opinion on the piracy explosion.

Internet rollout recruits young seafarers

ROLLING out internet access across shipping fleets is critical to recruiting the next generation of seafarers, for whom social media and text communication are part of everyday life.

Whose cargo is it?

THE RECENT entry into insolvency proceedings in several EU countries by independent refiner and petroleum products supplier Petroplus has again highlighted the crucial role that the law governing disputes can have when trying to establish the right of ownership of cargo.

Boxship orders collapse

SHIPYARDS face a miserable year as newbuilding enquiries collapse, with interest in containership ordering particularly bleak. Latest analysis from Clarksons shows that just one contract was signed in the first two months of 2012.

Gas glut good for the US economy – and shipping

IN A year in which conventional tankers have at times traded at below operating cost, despite the high prices paid for their cargoes, it is interesting to note that precisely the reverse is true of liquefied natural gas.

Qingdao still wants to float despite past failures

CHINA’s Qingdao Port Group (QPG) still wants to be a listed company eventually, despite having failed in several previous attempts, but difficulties in restructuring may prove to be obstacles that are hard to overcome.

Dry bulk becomes world’s largest fleet

SHIPYARDS delivered 2755 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 164.5m dwt in 2011, of which two thirds were bulk carriers as owners went for larger capacity vessels across most ship types.

Inmarsat loses maritime business momentum

UK-LISTED satellite communications company Inmarsat reported flat growth in its maritime business as customers continued to migrate to broadband services in 2011.

Is fairy tale over for dry bulk sector?

THE current woes facing Sanko Steamship and Allied point to a tough year ahead for owners that depend heavily on chartered-in tonnage, as several sources point to the risk of a domino effect disrupting the market on a scale to match the impact of Korea Line going bust last year.

Lloyd’s List view

Scramble for Africa

Battle planning for serious casualties

It is worth considering that however good a master’s professional training might be, it probably has not prepared him for a position of ultimate responsibility in a major casualty, writes MICHAEL GREY

In the mix – people, cities and ports

DELEGATES from ports and port communities met in Newcastle recently to discuss the interaction of ports and their local port cities.

How the Titanic’s ghost influences shipping today

This week in maritime history

The Grill

This week’s subject is Adrian Denyer, CEO of Maritime Employees Training Limited (METL). Adrian sat down with Lloyd’s List Australia’s Oliver Probert to answer a few quick questions.