Petro pirates prey on Malacca Strait's busy shipping lanes
SIX fuel tankers have been hijacked and drained in the Malacca Strait or nearby waters of the South China Sea since April without an arrest being made, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
The latest attack, earlier this month, came when armed pirates boarded a tanker, took the crew hostage and stole part of the cargo, an incident being investigated by Malaysia's Maritime Enforcement Agency.
"Petro pirates", as they are being called, have their own bunker barges come alongside to siphon of four million of litres of diesel worth US$2 million on the black market, in one case, Reuters reports.
Even daylight ship-to-ship onloading and offloading of fuel oil is not unusual as many vessels are fuelled by special bunker tankers while they are moored.
While the hostage taking piracy of East Africa is falling, petro piracy of west Africa is on the increase and being emulated off Malaysia and Indonesia.
"Off West Africa, tankers have always been an attractive target for pirates," said Sven Gerhard, German insurer Allianz's hull and marine liabilities chief, who suggested the business model was being copied locally.
Piracy declined worldwide 11 per cent last year to 264 reported incidents off East Africa and the Indian Ocean off Somalia. But attacks increased sevenfold in Indonesia over five years, where 106 of those 264 incidents took place.
"Stealing fuel is a recent trend. It never happened in my time," said Aga, 62, the nickname of a Batam shipping agent and former pirate who still counts many pirates among his friends, according to Reuters.
Stolen diesel, fetching $400 - $650 per tonne is sold to dealers serving Batam's dozens of ports and shipyards for use in trucks, boats or generators, or to Singapore dealers where fuel is expensive.
"Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, with thousands of islands," said Jarek Klimczak, a master mariner and senior risk consultant at Allianz. "The proper control and monitoring of all of its waters is nearly impossible, even for an advanced navy. And Indonesia's navy is far from advanced."
About a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade passes through the Malacca Strait, a choke point on the route between the Middle East and the energy-hungry economies of East Asia.
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Hapag-Lloyd warns of surcharges as new eco fuel costs 50-100pc more
COSTLY low-sulphur fuel prices are expected to be 50 and 100 per cent above normal bunker costs, and will be driven up even by higher demand from 2015 onwards, warns German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd.
"Consequently, Hapag-Lloyd will need to revise the current Low Sulphur Fuel Surcharges for all quotations with a validity into 2015," said a company statement.
"As from January 2015, all shipping lines will be affected by stricter low sulphur fuel laws on trades crossing North Europe, the Baltic, US and Canada. The sulphur content in fuel has to be reduced from one per cent to 0.1 per cent. California applies this rule already today," said the company.
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Striking LA, LB harbour truckers agree to mayor's cooling off period
LOS ANGELES truckers returned to work having agreed to terms of a cooling off period brokered by LA mayor Eric Garcetti, which included agreements from employers to accept drivers back without retaliation.
"This week, striking port truck drivers showed tremendous courage and commitment to stopping the injustices they face hauling the goods that Americans rely on every day," said Teamsters vice president Fred Potter.
"The drivers agreed to a cooling off period because Mayor Garcetti committed to investigate the injustices the drivers presented and take strong action," Mr Potter said.
After a five-day strike against three of the port's drayage firms, which delayed cargo clearance at LA and Long Beach, the truckers voted in favour of a cooling off period.
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Volatile Asia-North Europe freight rates fall 8.1pc to US$1,302/TEU
CONTAINER shipping freight rates are continuing on a downwards trend on the Asia to North Europe trade lanes, retreating 8.1 per cent to US$1,302 per TEU at the end of last week, according to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index.
So far this year freight rates have risen for nine weeks but declined for 19 weeks. However, average rates for 2014 are higher than last year's at $1,277 per TEU versus $1,090 in 2013.
The comprehensive index fell 2.6 per cent to $1,100 per TEU over this period. The rates to ports in the Mediterranean fell by 7.8 per cent but transport charges were stable on routes to US west and east coasts, said Reuters.
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Jilted CMA CGM likely to join UASC and CSCL - Drewry, Alphaliner
MARSEILLE-based CMA CGM is expected to look for its own vessel sharing agreement with another carrier now it has been jilted by Maersk and MSC, according to London's Drewry Shipping Consultants and Paris-based Alphaliner.
Both research houses agree that leading candidates are the United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) and China Shipping Container Liner (CSCL), after hopes of being included in a Maersk-MSC-CMA CGM alliance were torpedoed by Chinese regulators.
Said Drewry: "Both [UASC and CSCL] have recently ordered 18,000-TEU ships, and have worked with CMA CGM in the past, but there are other options. They may be needed as CMA CGM has 28 ships of 9,000 TEU on order, some of which are more suitable for north-south trades."
Alphaliner agreed that CMA CGM would likely join "CSCL and UASC in a potential '2CU' alliance". What could emerge, said Alphaliner, is a "four-way battle involving the 2M, 2CU, CKYHE and G6."
Drewry said Maersk and MSC in their substitute 2M proposal were attempting to meet Chinese regulatory objections in that the new configuration reduced market share, and does not look so much like a merger.
Alphaliner agreed: "Unlike the aborted P3, the 2M will not include joint marine operations and the 2M joint coordination committee will not have any independent executional powers.
"This differs from the P3's Network Centre, jointly owned by the carriers and would independently manage the entire vessel pool with centralised cost sharing as well as decision making powers to withdraw sailings," said Alphaliner.
On market share, Drewry said: "Maersk and MSC's 32 per cent share of effective westbound vessel capacity, is more than a 30 per cent normally allowed under the European Union's consortium regulation, so this will require close scrutiny."
Alphaliner said the main conflict area will be the Asia Europe trade, where the 2M vessel sharing agreement would control 33 per cent of the Asia-North Europe capacity and 38 per cent of the Far East-Mediterranean capacity.
"Although the 2M carriers' capacity share on these two trades will still exceed the 30 per cent market share threshold that the regulators have used in assessing dominant market control, the two carriers stress that the 2M will be a traditional VSA and would not constitute a 'closely associated alliance'," said Alphaliner.
"CMA CGM's options are limited at this point, as it seems to have little time to react to the 2M announcement. According to the carriers, both Maersk and MSC have already given notice to their current slot partners to terminate all relevant east west slot arrangements," said the Paris-based analyst.
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Abidjan gains bank funding to go ahead with second box terminal
A SECOND container terminal is to be built at Abidjan port in Ivory Coast after EUR200 million (US$272.81 million) was raised by the Banque Atlantique, SocGen and Afreximbank.
The new contract, awarded to a group led by France's Bollore last year, will boost capacity at one of Africa's busiest ports that serves as a gateway for landlocked nations to the north a transit hub for the world's top cocoa grower.
Port traffic is booming and total tonnage surpassed 21 million tonnes in 2013, reported Reuters.
Banque Atlantique has raised EUR100 million and Societe Generale and Afreximbank provided EUR50 million each, according to director general of Banque Atlantique Souleymane Diarrassouba.
"It's to allow the port of Abidjan to start the work on a second container terminal," said Mr Diarrassouba, without giving a figure for the total cost of the project.
The port deal also includes France's Bouygues and a subsidiary of Maersk.
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CSCL receives sixth 10,036 TEU on America-Asia Container (AAC) series
CHINA Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) has received its sixth in a series of eight ships of 10,036 TEU from Hudong Zhonghua ordered in October 2011, valued at US$94.3 million per vessel.
According to Paris-based newsletter Alphaliner, the carrier did not exercise its option for four additional units in April 2012 of an overall order split between Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) and Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industries.
THe CSCL Yellow Sea is to be deployed on its America-Asia Container (AAC) service along with her five sister ships, of which CSCL Autumn and CSCL Bohai Sea joined following delivery in May.
The delivery will complete capacity increases from 8,500 TEU to 10,000 TEU scale on the loop which is slot-shared by Evergreen, UASC and Yang Ming.
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Taiwan's Evergreen slot-shares on Japan-US service (JPX)
TAIWAN's ocean carrier Evergreen is to slot share on jointly operated Japan Express service (JPX) by Grand Alliance partners Hapag-Lloyd, NYK and OOCL together with Hanjin.
The JPX will connect Kobe, Nagoya, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Oakland, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe. It has a five-week turnaround deploying five vessels of 3,400-4,200 TEU.
This will add to Evergreen's offering in a service it slot shares with MOL-K Line 'JAS' service which calls at LA and Oakland, US also.
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Seaspan takes in charge 10,000-TEU newbuilding for Hanjin fleet
MEGA containership deliveries are continuing after SEASPAN took delivery of the 10,010-TEU Hanjin Tabul, the fifth of seven sister containerships ordered in June 2011 from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.
The ownership of the seven ships is split between Seaspan, with three ships, and Greater China Intermodal Investments with four ships, and has the backing of firm ten-year charters from Hanjin Shipping with options for two more years, reported Alphaliner.
Seaspan and its Marshall-based investment vehicle, GCI, have another 14 sister ships on order, of which ten are backed by MOL charters while no charterer has been named for the last four vessels, to be delivered in 2016.
The newbuilding has joined the Mediterranean-Asia-US west coast 'PM 1' pendulum service.
She follows the Hanjin Ami delivered to GCI in early June. The last two Hanjin sister ships are scheduled for delivery in the first half of next year.
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EU probes Dutch port tax scheme, warns France, Belgium and Germany
EU COMPETITION authorities have warned France, Belgium and Germany, while opening a full investigation into Dutch port taxation methods they suspect violate European law, Reuters reports.
The European Commission has already told the Dutch to abolish the corporate tax exemption for public companies, arguing it gave its agencies unfair advantage over their private counterparts.
The Netherlands agreed to comply, but it kept the exemption in place for the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Zeeland, Groningen and Moerdijk.
The commission also warned France and Belgium it had similar suspicions and called on Germany to provide detail of its own port tax schemes.
"The commission needs to verify that public companies, including port operators, are not given more favourable tax treatment than their private competitors," said EU antitrust commissioner Joaquin Almunia.
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9,200-TEU Mexico City is delivered to APL for Asia-USEC trades
THE 9,200-TEU APL Mexico City, the last of 12 newbuildings of the same size built in Korea at the DSME shipyard (Daewoo), ten of which were ordered in July 2010 by parent group, NOL.
A report by Alphaliner said the ships were originally meant to have a carrying capacity of 8,400 TEU, but this was later upped to 9,200 TEU in June 2011, with two more vessels ordered at the same time.
The newbuilding has joined the G6 Asia-US east coast CEC service via the Suez Canal. She will replace Hapag-Lloyd's 8,598-TEU Vancouver Express, which will join CCNI, which sublet her from Hapag-Lloyd on the Asia-east coast South America Loop 2 (SEAS 2/ASAX 2/ASAS 2/NGX 2).
The service is operated by Maersk Line, CMA CGM, Hamburg Sud, CCNI, CSCL and Hanjin Shipping, with Hapag-Lloyd and CSAV co-loading.
The newbuilding follows the APL Houston, delivered in March.
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Dunkerque port achieves 10pc higher cargo volume in first half
DUNKERQUE port has seen a 10 per cent increase in cargo volume in the first half of the year boosted by a good performance in general cargo and bulk solid volumes.
First half volume rose to 23 million tons, which was two million-ton year-on-year increase, increasing container traffic 17 per cent to 154,000 TEU.
Ro-ro traffic increased 14 per cent to 6.70 million tons, compared with last year. The number of trucks and trailers showed a rise of 17 per cent with 278,000 freight units.
Ore traffic was up by 20 per cent, but coal volumes at 2.08 million tons were down 27 per cent. Grain exports reached 1.33 million tons at the end of June, up 185 per cent, reported the American Journal of Transportation.
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Port of Savannah delivers fresher fruit through USDA pilot programme
GEORGIA Ports Authority participation in a US Department of Agriculture pilot programme will see the launch of fruit shipments from South America, previously trucked to southeastern markets, to Port of Savannah as of September 1.
Citrus fruit, grapes and blueberries will be chilled for at least 17 days prior to entry into the US to protect against fruit flies under the USDA pilot programme. The process will be done in producing countries, including Peru, Chile and Brazil, or at transshipment points such as Panama.
The fruit will move in refrigerated containers held just over freezing during transit aboard cargo vessels, effectively cutting the time the fruit must remain stationary for treatment.
"Bringing cold treatment to the Port of Savannah is just one example of USDA's commitment to facilitating trade while protecting American agriculture," said USDA deputy administrator Osama El-Lissy, Plant Protection and Quarantine programme.
Besides faster delivery, the programme also cuts logistics-related emissions by reducing truck miles and allowing more efficient shipments. Trucks carrying refrigerated cargo containers may be loaded up to 100,000 pounds (truck and cargo weight) on Georgia highways, where domestic trucks may be loaded only to 80,000 pounds.
"Cold treatment is an environmentally-friendly alternative to fumigation-based pest control methods that emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere," said APL vice president Eric Eng.
Garden City Terminal in Savannah has a refrigerated container capacity of more than 2,600 containers. The refrigerated boxes are powered by 600 chassis plug-ins and 2,016 container rack slots. The Port of Savannah is the only port in the nation to use reefer racks on this scale.
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US road builders urge Congress to commit to full upgrade of highways
THE American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) has urged the houses of Congress not to stop as restoring funding to the states, but to fully commit themselves to highway improvement nationwide.
"While we appreciate the efforts of the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance committees to keep federal transportation funds flowing to the states, these actions must not be the latest punt and leave the stadium," said ARTBA president and CEO Pete Ruane.
"The Highway Trust Fund has been limping from crisis to crisis for the past six years as America's transportation network continues to decline. Therefore, our message to Congress is simple: Your job isn't close to being done.
"It's incumbent upon lawmakers in the House and Senate, and officials from the Obama Administration before the end of 2014 to develop a long-term and sustainable Highway Trust Fund solution that supports future transportation capital investments," said Mr Ruane.
"Anything less ignores the fragile state of our nation's economy and does a great disservice to the tens of millions of motorists, businesses, and workers who rely on the transportation network every day to support their livelihoods."
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Cathay, Dragonair June cargo volume increases 15pc to 40,444 tonnes
CATHAY Pacific and Dragonair carried 140,444 tonnes of cargo and mail in June, an increase of 15 per cent for a 64.9 per cent load factor, while increasing passenger volume 5.1 per cent to 2,611,868.
Capacity, measured in available tonne kilometres, increased 10.2 per cent while revenue tonne kilometres rose 10.8 per cent. Year to date, tonnage increased 8.6 per cent while capacity was up 10.8 per cent and RTKs were up 12.1 per cent.
Cathay Pacific general manager cargo Mark Sutch said the upswing in cargo demand seen in May continued into June with a surge towards the end of the month as shippers rushed to meet month-end and quarterly deadlines.
"Demand remained robust out of Hong Kong and mainland China, particularly on the transpacific lanes. Shipments of perishable items continued to boost load factors out of North America back into Asia, while Europe benefited from higher-yield shipments of specialised products, Mr Sutch said.
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Air France-KLM air freight continues to fall in June, down 4.3pc
AIR France-KLM's cargo traffic fell by 4.3 per cent in June year on year, attributed to overcapacity on a number of long-haul routes, particularly, North America and Asia.
"While not representing a turning point in market trends, the June traffic figures as well as bookings for July and August nevertheless reflect the overcapacity on certain long-haul routes, notably North America and Asia, with the attendant impact on yields," a company report said.
"This comes on top of the persistently weak cargo demand and the challenging situation in Venezuela identified in the first quarter."
The airline said due to these factors, it is revising its full-year EBITDA target from EUR2.5 billion (US$3.4 billion) to EUR2.2-2.3 billion.
There was also a 9.4 per cent reduction in full freighter capacity, reported Air Cargo World.
Cargo traffic declines were recorded in all regions, with Asia-Pacific the highest at 5.4 per cent and the Caribbean/India Ocean at the lowest with 1.7 per cent. Americas decreased by 3.4 per cent, and Africa/Middle East 4.3 per cent year on year.
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Boeing predicts 36,777 orders for new aircraft over next 20 years
BOEING projects that demand for 36,770 new aircraft over the next 20 years will rise 4.2 per cent, reflecting an on-going shift in demand from very large aircraft to efficient new twin-engine products such as the B787-10 and new B777X.
The company said in its annual Current Market Outlook (CMO) that it estimated the total value of these new aircraft will amount to US$5.2 trillion. "This market is strong and resilient," said marketing vice president Randy Tinseth.
"With new and more efficient airplanes entering service, the growth in air travel is being driven by customers who want to fly where they want, when they want," he said.
Fuelling this year's forecast is the single-aisle market, where it is estimated 25,680 new aircraft will be needed in this segment, that make up 70 per cent of the total units in the forecast, a company statement.
Boeing forecasts that 8,600 new aircraft will be needed in the twin-aisle segment, led by small wide-body planes in the 200 to 300 seat range such as the 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliner.
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Korean Air increases frequency to Americas and Southeast Asia
KOREAN Air, South Korea's flagship airline, is to increase frequency on routes to the Americas and Southeast Asia during peak season.
It will increase flights from 17 times a week between Seoul/Incheon and Honolulu to 21 times a week (three flights per day) from July 24 to September 10.
From July 26 to August 24, the airline will also increase its flights on the Seoul/Incheon-Guam route from seven times a week to 11 times a week in order to meet the increasing demand on this route.
The additional flights will depart from Seoul/Incheon at 2135 hrs on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and arrive Guam at 0315 hrs the next day. The return flights will depart from Guam at 0515 hrs and arrive Incheon at 0905 hrs. Additional flights to Guam will be operated by B737 seating 138 passengers.
The airline will strengthen its reach into the Southeast Asia market by increasing its frequency. During the peak season starting from July 23 to August 24, flights between Seoul/Incheon and Chiang Mai, Thai frequencies will be increased from four to seven times a week.
The flights on the Seoul/Incheon- Nha Trang, Vietnam will be increased from twice a week to 4 times a week from July 19 to September 10 and Seoul/Incheon - Kota Kinabalu route will also be increased from twice a week to 4 times a week from July 28 to August 22.
In addition, commencing July 28, Korean Air will operate daily flights on the Seoul/Incheon-Da Nang route with three additional flights. This will allow passengers from the Americas to have easier access to Da Nang, one of the major port cities in Vietnam.
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HAFFA warns of mass cargo loss if HK fails to step up digital game
THE Hongkong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics Limited (HAFFA), has warned of massive cargo loss unless the territory increased its computer savvy, but also said it had won support for an e-hub proposal that addreses the problem.
HAFFA's Supply Chain e-Processing Hub plan aims to help local businesses mesh with e-freight and e-commerce expectations of such bodies as the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
"HAFFA, together with its technology partner, Tradelink, has developed the e-hub proposal with the aim of benefiting all industry stakeholders and Hong Kong as a whole," said HAFFA chairman Paul Tsui.
The association plans to develop the e-hub as well as provide financial assistance to help small and medium size businesses to migrate to the new platform.
The e-hub has been developed to "cope with the impending global trend of e-commerce and the need to develop high-value-added logistics and trade services", said Dr Tsui.
"Hong Kong is no longer the only choice to export shipments from the mainland; the status quo will further weaken our competitiveness. The development of e-hub is essential and crucial to maintaining Hong Kong's competitive edge.
"We cannot adopt a wait-and-see approach - we need to act now," Dr Tsui declared.
As a cloud-based solution, the proposed e-hub will enable all parties along the supply chain to access, process, add and accumulate data pertaining to a shipment or transaction.
HAFFA proposes a three-tiered implementation of the e-hub, each with a pilot programme before to full operation.
Stage one would connect freight forwarders, carriers and cargo terminal operators; stage two would add relevant government agencies, while stage three would connect to shippers.
The next two stages would add connections to other industry communities, such as banks, insurers and financial institutions and overseas national single windows.
"It is crucial that the industry quickly achieves a similar reputation in cargo data exchange. In the last couple of years, Hong Kong has lost its top container port status," said Dr Tsui.
As a neutral common platform, the e-hub will provide a cost-effective solution for the trade and logistics industries for cross-border e-commerce, facilitate data flow and enhance the IT capabilities of SMEs along the supply chain.
Supporting the initiative are the Hong Kong Airport Authority, the Association of Aircargo Truckers, CFS & Logistics Association, Container Terminal Operators Association and the Liner Shipping Association.
Other supporters include the Hong Kong Logistics Association, Sea Transport and Logistics Association, International Air Transport Association, Logistics Cargo Supervisors Association, the British Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Chamber of Hong Kong Logistics Industry, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Goods Vehicle Fleet Owners Association, the General Chamber of Commerce, the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and the HK Institute of Purchasing & Supply.
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