News
Container shipping market looks up in 2010
container
The prospects for the container shipping market are looking much better than 12 months ago, as both volumes and rates have been rising recently and the increases “appear to be to be resilient,” according to the Paris-based consultancy Alphaliner. It points towards growing “optimism among operators with a stronger-than-expected surge in demand in the pre-lunar [...]
Transpacific cargo capacity crunch delays retail shelf-stocking
cargo
While there may be early signs for recovery in the transportation industry recovery, a considerable shipping capacity crunch for Asia-North America container shipments has sent retailers scrambling to get merchandise to store shelves. Key analysts at the 10th annual TPM conference on March 1-2 in Long Beach, Calif. will discuss the impact of the cargo [...]
Ship finance would ‘take years’ to return to its peak
cargo
The industry will have to wait for several years before the ship finance market returns to its peak, a senior official of DVB Bank, specialist in the international transport finance business, has warned. The situation in the Middle East is far better than what’s prevailing in Europe, even as banks today are expressing more interest [...]
Danish Troops Free Bulk Ship from Pirates
piracy
Danish special forces stormed a dry bulk ship Friday after reports that it had been captured by armed Somali pirates, the Associated Press reported. The Danish troops approached the vessel in an inflatable dinghy and scaled the side of it, a naval spokesman said. But there were conflicting accounts as to whether any of the [...]
Ship Owners Mull Fleet Expansion After Recession Cut Prices
oil-tanker
Tanker companies including General Maritime Corp. and Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. may expand their fleets after the recession sent ship costs to five-year lows last year. Prices for five-year-old very-large crude carriers, or VLCCs, dropped to $77.1 million on Dec. 14, the lowest level since March 2004, according to price assessments compiled by the London-based [...]
Dry-Bulk Shipping: All Eyes on the Horizon
cargo
The fourth quarter was kind to dry-bulk shipping companies. With rates for their services reaching levels not seen since before the crash, dry bulkers will likely post strong profit and cash-flow numbers when they go public with their quarterly results later in February. Indeed, for a brief moment in October, a few ship owners were [...]
Shipping companies continue to face rough weather
cargo
The rough weather faced by the shipping industry in terms of earnings continued in the third quarter with major shipping firms reporting sharply lower profits and, in some cases, net losses during the quarter. This is despite the fact that the freight market, both in the dry and tanker segments, picked up some traction during [...]
Global spending on new ships declines 88% in 2009
conteiner
Spending on new ships plunged 88 percent last year as the global recession sapped funding and charter rates retreated, Clarkson Research Services Ltd. said. Companies ordered vessels worth a combined $17.9 billion, down from $153.6 billion in 2008, the shipbroker said in a report on its Web site Thursday.
Freight rates for commodity carriers and oil [...]
Container shipping market looks much better
conteiner
The prospects for the container shipping market are looking much better than 12 months ago, as both volumes and rates have been rising recently and the increases “appear to be to be resilient,” the Shipping Gazette reports citing the Paris-based consultancy Alphaliner. It points towards growing “optimism among operators with a stronger-than-expected surge in demand [...]
Ships warned of tougher rules to combat pollution
ship
SHIPS and vessels arriving at Shanghai ports will be subject to tighter checks and face tougher fines if they break a revised national regulation on the prevention and control of marine pollution. Shanghai maritime supervisors will also be given more powers over marine pollution when the regulation comes into force by March.
They will be authorized [...]
