Weekly edition 28 June

Infrastructure boss demands new, positive approach to port growth

INFRASTRUCTURE Australia (IA) chief executive Michael Deegan has applied the blowtorch to Australian ports, accusing them of a generating poor returns and failing to invest in infrastructure.

Movements in key industry posts

ADRIAN Denyer of Employer-Union backed Maritime Education and Training (METL) is to stand down as CEO. His inaugural two-year term has now concluded. Mr Denyer has handed over to Simon Earle, formerly the organisation’s operations manager.

Port productivity probe stirs a hornet’s nest of comment

A NEW economic analysis on Australian port productivity, competitiveness and the cost of wages has proven highly controversial. Several prominent commentators have lined up to bash the report, The Effect of Wages on Australian Port Costs and their Competitiveness in an International Context.

Breakbulk liner services: new Swire venture

SWIRE Shipping has officially launched a new North Asia-Southeast Asia-PNG-Australia-NZ breakbulk liner service after the company’s board last week gave the formal green light.

Continued fall for imports of big machines

THE VOLUME of heavy machinery shipped to Australia fell to a seven-month low in May with the fifth consecutive monthly decline in volumes being recorded.

ATSB seeks comment on whistle-blower program

AUSTRALIA’S Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is asking for public submissions as part of its consultation on changes to the legislation it administers.

New Zealand costs changes to border control – how it adds up

NEW ZEALAND is preparing for an overhaul of its border management system that could see industry members footing half the bill for the new changes through a 23% increase in combined Customs and biosecurity transaction fees.

Weak sugar harvest could kill Atlantic supramax trade

THE BUOYANT south Atlantic supramax market seen so far this year could face a threat from an expected decline in Brazilian sugar exports that is set to hit activity and charter rates.

What the eurozone crisis means for the bulk and tanker trades

The Asian dawn is undermined by the onset of twilight in Europe, reports Edward Price

Vale says valemaxes can benefit Chinese steel plants

VALE has claimed that valemaxes can benefit Chinese steel plants by lowering shipping costs for iron ore, in its latest lobbying efforts to gain access to ports in China.

Treading water

It was once Australia’s most dynamic and profitable container trade but now, some lament, North & East Asia is just like the rest: a dour, grinding struggle between too many players over sustenance rates and contested cargoes. DALE CRISP reports.

Subdued market keeps service structures stable

SIX MONTHS of cooperation in the North & East Asia-Australia trade appears to have had a calming effect on the normally somewhat volatile seascape, although whether it is the rationalisation itself or the underlying drivers that have kept a lid on things is unclear.

Vietnam reform drive after scandals

Maritime industry scandals force government to push for transparency, reports TOM LEANDER

First-half brings record low for capesize trade

THE CAPESIZE spotmarket is coming to the end of its worst six months on record, after a massive drop in Brazil-China iron ore trade that has sustained extremely low charter rates.

EU orders report on tanker security

BRUSSELS is to study the consequences of a terrorist attack on a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas, oil or chemicals.

Evergreen’s 13,800 teu charter deal in the balance

EVERGREEN’s belated bid to acquire ultra-large containerships through a long-term charter contract appears to be on the verge of collapse, leaving the line’s fleet upgrade plans floundering.

CMA CGM posts loss but forecasts 2012 profit

CMA CGM posted a first-quarter loss of US$248m but returned to an operating break-even position in April and expects to achieve a healthy full-year profit.

RS Platou points to shipping recovery in 2014

THE WORST is over: that is the central message of Norwegian investment bank RS Platou’s latest report on shipping markets. Though some sectors, including dry bulk, are just bottoming out now, by next year all segments of the shipping market – tankers excepted – should have improved.

London ruling on challenge to withholding of consent

COMMERCIAL contracts frequently provide that a party’s right to take certain action requires the counterparty’s consent, but often also include the qualification that “such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld”.

GL to help Chinese recycling yards come up to scratch

HAMBURG-based class society Germanischer Lloyd is to help to bring Chinese ship recycling yards up to a level that will comply with incoming international regulations.

Casualty briefs 28 June 2012

Maritime

East African development could now become pirate target

COMMERCIAL vessels transiting the High Risk Area (HRA) are now a far more difficult prey for Somali pirates than they were in 2010, leading to the possibility that pirates will target other areas such as East Africa.

New generation must learn from history

THE NEXT generation of shipping needs to learn from history, must not touch the plate if it is hot and should “for god’s sake, learn Chinese” – this was the sage advice from the panel of shipping gurus addressing Lloyd’s List’s inaugural Business Briefing, held at Posidonia forum in Athens this month.

Greek owners will stay put, but not at all costs

GREEK shipping has often stood by its homeland – even though the mentality of a world-class, competitive international shipping community has generally rubbed awkwardly against the domestic realities that have culminated in the country’s bankruptcy.

Lloyd’s List view

A heavy load

Stay the right way up

Titanic sank on an even keel, yet 100 years later we are designing cruiseships that will roll over if they are holed, writes MICHAEL GREY

Shipping lunch hears details of port of Melbourne plans

STEPHEN Bradford was the guest speaker at the Shipping Australia lunch on June 20.

This week in maritime history

Meat exporters welcome lifting of US restriction

The Grill

This week’s edition of The Grill is excerpted from Lloyd’s List Australia’s 2011 publication 25 Faces of Australian Shipping, and features Ron Koehler, CEO of DB Schenker in Australia and New Zealand. Mr Koehler was interviewed by NICOLE GOOCH.