Tag: containerships

The need for risk management - in freight as in other areas of business - has never been more important. Shipping markets may have seen millions of dollars of value washed away by the financial crisis and rampant over-ordering, but volatility is ever-present.Most commodities - dry and tanker freight included - have long since embraced the move towards index-based pricing and the use of cash-settled swaps or futures contracts to hedge out price risk, but one shipping sector is holding out: containers.In some ways it is easy to see why container swaps have not taken off until now. The carriers signalled their opposition early on and the recession in freight rates gives good reason not to divert attention from the core business. As volatility and risk increase, both these arguments become harder to defend.The other major preventative factor is that unlike bulk, box rates are traditionally priced on private, long-term contracts, with little transparency on what one shipper is paying compared to another, even to the same line for the same volumes. The move to transparency, the lines believe, would remove their pricing power.But this too is changing. The recent Container Freight Derivatives Association (CFDA) Global Container Freight Forum in ...

Extra regulation of container weights will not solve the safety issues According to the European Shippers Council (ESC) extra regulation of container weights will not solve the safety issues in container transport, is superfluous and hardly feasible.ESC's concern is that the discussion is becoming entirely focused on a relatively small risk factor instead of taking a more comprehensive look at the whole process of shipping containers.The focus instead should be upon looking at other important matters such as procedures for lashing, ship maintenance and stowage.The European shippers also expressed their doubts that IMO is the right institution for regulating container safety issues in itself. ESC's representative said that they are working together with labour unions and other parties in the maritime industry to get the voluntary UNECE / ILO guidelines for container stuffing updated as soon as possible.According to ESC it is this institution that should take the lead in improving the quality of container stuffing and possibly prescribe legislation on the issue. Poor stuffing is a problem for all modes of transport, not solely the maritime industry.ESC points out that IMO's SOLAS regulations already contain a requirement that shippers should declare the weight of their containers correctly. Adding another ...

Container feederships are containerships which carry cargo to and from the main "hub" ports Container feederships are containerships which carry cargo to and from the main "hub" ports served by the large deep-sea vessels around the network of secondary ports and terminals which the main line ships would be unable to reach on account of their size. They are an important link in the logistics chain in that they enable cargo to travel as long as possible in the most economic and environmentally sustainable way - by sea. In the past, many feeders were main line ships that had been displaced from their deep sea routes by larger vessels, but which had plenty of useful life left in them. Specialist feederships have evolved over the years to provide the most efficient carriage of containers.Much will depend upon the routes these smaller containerships are designed to serve. In North Europe, many of the secondary ports have their own container handling gantries, so gearless ships (those without their own deck cranes) will be employed. In the South East Asian and East Asian container trades, while the ships will usually be handled at the hub ports by the high speed shiploading gantries, in ...

Bureau of International Recycling survey findings re container security The results of a recent survey conducted by the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in conjunction with an international trade association have served to underline the challenges associated with container security and theft from containers.The recent survey of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) membership found that thefts occurred from consignments carried by all of the major container shipping lines, on shipments originating in many countries. The common factor was that the thefts occurred in consignments almost exclusively bound for southern China- though this is more a reflection of the fact that the country is by far and away the biggest importer of scrap metals. Losses were however also reported in other parts of the world.IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan commented: "We share the concerns of the BIR over the scale and nature of the theft of scrap metals in certain parts of the world. The results reveal that all too often valuable cargoes - notably copper scrap exports- are removed from shipping containers before they reach their intended recipients. The reported losses run into millions of dollars, with one BIR member reporting losses in excess of USD 1 million in a ...

RENA latest update Salvage activity this week has focused on the demobilising of equipment after the joint venture salvage partners, Smit and Svitzer, completed the current phase of the salvage operation by recovering all accessible containers, a month ahead of schedule.SalvageA total of 940 containers from Rena have now been processed ashore.The owners and insurers of Rena have issued a tender for the next stages of the operation, which will now shift to wreck removal. While this process is underway, Braemar/Unimar has taken an expanded role of monitoring the wreck site - see below for more detail.MNZ's role, of overseeing the salvage and container/debris recovery operations, remains the same.Braemar updateThe Braemar/Unimar recovery team has taken advantage of the fine weather this week and successfully lifted a number of containers from the seabed.Operations Manager Neil Lloyd says the low swell conditions allowed the Unimar marine team to forge ahead with the operation, which has taken months of careful planning.Five containers in a variety of locations were hauled from the sea floor with the help of divers - and lifted onto the Sea Tow 60 barge operated by Unimar, Braemar's New Zealand partner in the clean-up project."While the fine weather this week ...

IMO receives formal proposal The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has received a formal proposal co-sponsored by a broad array of industry organizations, labor, and governments to require loaded containers to be weighed to determine their actual weight.The proposal was submitted by Denmark, The Netherlands, the United States, BIMCO, the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), and the World Shipping Council (WSC). The IMO's Subcommittee on Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers will consider the proposal at its next meeting in September."Misdeclared container weights are a recurring safety problem on shore, on ships, and on roadways. It is time to fix that problem. We are pleased that there is such a broad cross-section of industry and government agreement on a specific and effective remedy," said Torben Skaanild, Secretary General of BIMCO."The cosponsors of this proposal are recommending a legal requirement that port terminal operators and ships must have a verified container weight in order to export a loaded container. This will protect workers in the port, on the ship, and other cargo owners against the various risks created by misdeclared containers," said Peter Hinchliffe, Secretary General of ICS."The ...

Work to recover debris from beaches The lifting of sunken containers from the Rena ship wreck has begun off the Astrolabe Reef in Tauranga.Seven containers have been lifted from the seabed in the past week, from within less than 50 metres of water in close proximity to where the ship ran aground.The clean-up, carried out by Braemar Howells, is part of an extensive operation involving sonar surveys, checks by Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROV) and work by divers to prepare container wreckage for recovery.This procedure will be repeated for the remaining containers, located at a similar depth.Work to recover debris from beaches is continuing.The Rena owners have been closely monitoring the recovery operations and Braemar Howells was recently assigned to widen its sphere of interest to include overseeing the wreck's safety and security, and monitor its status. The team will also work to minimise and clear away any debris that may escape the vessel as a result of adverse weather conditions.Meanwhile, debris collected from Bay of Plenty and Coromandel beaches recently has included container wreckage, refrigerator container foam, rope, sheets of plywood and beads.Beaches continue to be surveyed by cleanup teams - including re-visiting beaches already cleared, as rough sea ...

IMO DSC 17/7 IMO issues Circlular DSC 17/7 regarding Development of Measures to Prevent Loss of Containers.In June 2012, a broad array of industry stakeholders that included the governments of Denmark, The Netherlands and the United States along with a group of fivemaritime industry associations lead by the World Shipping Council, co-sponsored a formal proposal to the IMO to amend the SOLAS convention to require that the weight of all loaded containers be verified prior to loading onboard a vessel for export. The IMO's DSC 17 will consider this proposal at its September 2012 meeting.For more information, click here.Source: IMO

Labor and terminal operator groups, along with U.S., Denmark and the Netherlands, back proposal Container line, labor and terminal operator groups, along with the Danish, Dutch and U.S. governments, want the International Maritime Organization to require laden containers to be weighed before they are loaded onto ships, rather than just taking exporters' word on the shipments' weight.The IMO's Subcommittee on Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers is expected at its next meeting in September to consider the proposal aimed at making transport safer on ships, docks and roadways. Aside from the U.S., Dutch and Danish governments, the proposal is co-sponsored by the Baltic and International Maritime Council, the International Association of Ports and Harbors, the International Chamber of Shipping, the International Transport Workers' Federation and the World Shipping Council."For years, the United States has required all its export containers to be weighed. This has not impaired supply chain efficiency, and it has improved safety. The technology exists to weigh containers accurately and efficiently, and it should be a universal, required practice," said Dr. Geraldine Knatz, president of IAPH and executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.Under the Safety of Life at Sea Convention, shippers are required to declare the ...

ClassNK has released a new revised edition of its Guidelines for Hull Girder Torsional Strength Assessment which comprise section of the leading class society's Guidelines for Container Carrier Structures.In order to respond to the rapidly increasing size of container carriers, as well as rationally address the latest theories and methods of container carrier design, ClassNK began to a comprehensive process to review and update its Guidelines for Container Carrier Structures in 2011.The Guidelines for Container Carrier Structures are comprised of a total of 4 separate guidelines developed to help shipyards and designers address a number of technical aspects of container carrier design, including guidelines for "Assessment of Direct Strength Analysis", "Hull Girder Torsional Strength Assessment", "Fatigue Strength Assessment", and "Ultimate Longitudinal Bending Moment Capacity Assessment".The Guidelines for Assessment of Direct Strength Analysis were revised and released in September 2011, with the remaining guidelines expected to be released in the near future. The revised edition of the Guidelines for Hull Girder Torsional Strength Assessment is available for free via the "Guidelines" section of the ClassNK website. ClassNK has also released a new revised and upgraded version of its "PrimeShip-HULL(DSA)/Guideline for Containers Carriers", software designed to rapidly perform the calculations laid out ...