Tag: shipping market

Tehy remain pessimistic on the shipping industry's outlook Operators and analysts have turned more cautious on the outlook for the container shipping industry as the deteriorating European debt crisis and sluggish economic growth in other developed economies weighs on global trade activities.Hong Kong-based container shipping company Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (OOIL) has cut its capacity on routes to Europe by 20 percent amid lower demand for trade, Chairman and Chief Executive Tung Chee-chen said on Friday.Tung explained that he remains pessimistic on the shipping industry's outlook due to the slowdown in the global economy and higher costs."Asia-Pacific is good and growing. The problem is Asia to America and Europe," Tung told reporters on the sidelines of a logistics and marine services conference.In August, the operator of Hong Kong's biggest container line, which ships finished and semi-finished goods ranging from toys to garments to the West from Asia, reported an 86 percent slump in its first-half profit.OOIL said it expected "difficult" conditions next year as shipping rates continue to decline due to the sluggish global trade activities.The global container shipping industry had lost money in the third quarter, Tung noted. In October, OOIL reported that third-quarter revenue fell 8 percent from ...

Concentration on safe navigation Some years ago, there was a notable incident which occurred when a supply ship Master conning his ship out of harbour in thick fog, was so distracted by two separate telephone calls which he was trying to deal with simultaneously that he failed to pick up a third, rather more vital message from the port VTS, that was telling him he was heading straight for a concrete breakwater. And there was the famous case of the cruise ship collision which occurred when her watchkeeping officer subordinated his lookout duties to complete the garbage form which needed to be ready at the next port of arrival. Another memorable case involving bureaucratic procedures was that of the port arrival checklist on a ferry, the final few items left blank as by then, the ferry had crashed into the quay.There have been a number of strandings which have been contributed to by the inattention of the watchkeeper who was on a mobile telephone at the crucial moment. Communications and brilliant technology can sometimes be a serious distraction to people, who in a less technological age would have been keeping a good visual lookout, with less risk of their attention ...

Maersk has seen the value of its containership fleet fall 24% in the past 12 months Containership owners have seen billions of dollars wiped off the value of their fleets over the past year.Massive overcapacity has squeezed not only freight rates, but also the value of steel floating on water. The world's largest container ship owner, AP Møller-Maersk, has seen the value of its containership fleet fall 24% in the past 12 months.Its 222 vessels currently in service are now worth $9.1 billion, compared with $12 billion at the start of November last year,Similarly, major owner and operator MSC's fleet of 202 containerships in service at present are worth $6.9 billion, compared with $8.4 billion 12 months ago.A report reveals that the Vessels Value data shows that today's fleet values are closing in on what these ships would have been worth in November 2009 - continued declines in freight and charter rates this year have pushed asset values back to the lows of two years ago, when the containership market was suffering the worst downturn in its history.Online ship valuation service VesselsValue.com was launched this year by London-based sale and purchase broker Seasure Shipping and this week expanded its coverage ...

PWC analysed the performance of 150 shipping companies Everyone would agree that it has been a tough last couple of years for the world economy, global trade and the shipping industry. The markets have been particularly volatile and this has been reflected across the board, from commodity prices to freight rates, vessel values and bunker prices. Nevertheless, global trade in 2010 recovered to the same levels as in 2008 and as indicated by the results of our benchmarking analysis, the overall performance of shipping companies improved somewhat in 2010 compared to 2009.As in prior years, in preparing this third Global Benchmarking Analysis we have analysed the performance of 150 shipping companies across the various subsectors through some basic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) derived from their 2010 annual reports and monitored how these have evolved over the last 5 years.We have also tried to give some insight on the recent challenges and drivers of the industry on the basis of some of the qualitative information and disclosures in those annual reports. We trust that this analysis adds value to shipping companies and other participants in the shipping industry who wish to understand the impact of recent developments on the industry and ...

A second major Chinese shipping firm has halted payments to foreign ship owners Oil tanker company General Maritime Corp filed for bankruptcy protection and Denmark's Torm said it was in talks with creditors on Thursday as both fell victim to a glut of ships in the world fleet and gathering global economic gloom.Bankers expect more bankruptcies and restructuring in the sector as companies struggle with a worsening world economic crisis and lower earnings driven by a build-up of ships ordered when times were good.In a related sign of sector stress, a second major Chinese shipping firm has halted payments to foreign ship owners because of the downturn in the freight market.General Maritime, a leading crude oil tanker company, elected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a New York court as part of a restructuring agreement that includes a $175 million equity investment from Oaktree Capital management and extensions on debt repayments."Our operations are strong, but continued macroeconomic weakness and reduced tanker rates have diminished our cash flow and our ability to comply with certain covenants...," Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Pribor said in a statement.Earlier this month, China's transportation minister said the global shipping sector was in a downturn worse ...