Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 15/01/2016
1. Singapore Slashes Port Dues
Singapore will grant an additional 10% concession on port dues for containerships calling at the port as part of efforts to help shipowners cope with the prolonged slump in the shipping market. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and port operator PSA Corporation said they have proactively worked on answers as the tough market saw Singapore box throughput in 2015 fell by 8.7% year-on-year to 30.9m teu.
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2. Hapag Fleet Set for Dramatic Shrink
Hapag-Lloyd, Germany’s largest shipping line, has revealed it has cut its fleet by 23 ships by laying them up or returning chartered vessels as it fights horrendous market conditions especially on the Asia-Europe and Asia to South America tradelanes. Rolf Habben Jansen, the Dutch CEO of the line, said Hapag-Lloyd had cut its operating fleet from 198 ships to 175 since autumn. Its fleet capacity has shrunk from around 1m teu to 945,000 teu.
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3. Seafarer Stabbed by Shipmate
A Ukrainian seafarer has died onboard the small Turkish boxship Mani, having been stabbed by a fellow crewmember of Azerbaijani origin. The incident happened off the Russian port of Kavkaz on the afternoon of January 10. An investigation is underway. Local media report the 20-year-old Ukrainian was stabbed in the neck and took some hours before dying. The Panamanian-registered ship belongs to Midway Shipping.
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4. Pirates Set to be Deported
Eight Nigerian pirates have been deported by the Ghanaian authorities upon the directive of the Minister of the Interior. They were handed over to Nigerian authorities by a team of officials represented by the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service. They were arrested following a complaint lodged by the Nigerian owner of the vessel, "MT Mariam" which was hijacked together with its crude oil cargo.
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5. Iranians Return to the Fold
National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) is ready to return to the international market as soon as the sanctions against the country are lifted, and the company is planning to acquire more vessels to optimize the fleet, Ali-Akbar Safaei, managing director of NITC, has said. According to Safaei, sanctions on the company will be lifted in the first stage of implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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6. Maersk Line Remains The Biggest
Maersk Line, a unit of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, has retained its position as the world’s largest container shipping line, according to Alphaliner. It is still the world’s largest ocean carrier by capacity but its closest rivals, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM, posted higher fleet growth rates during 2015. It is safe from its closest rivals with a fleet growth of 4.1 percent in 2015.
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7. Former Nigerian Maritime Boss in Dock
The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says is set to arraign former MEND chief, Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), and Patrick Akpobolokemi, a former director general of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA. The duo face a 40-count charge of alleged money laundering , conspiracy, stealing and diversion of funds, the EFCC said.
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8. What Does Clay Say?
Industry insider Clay Maitland has been sharing thoughts on the year ahead for shipping. He believes the scrapping of containerships will gather speed and scope, but the boxship glut will still hang over the industry at the end of 2016. He jokes that the considerable supply of redundant former shipping company executives, will cause park bench congestion..while China’s output and demand will continue to slump.
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9. Unusual Storm Causes Concern
An unusual North Pacific Storm is reportedly tracking through main shipping lanes and is causing some concerns for traffic in the area. The developing storm over the central North Pacific is still forecast to reach 948 MB over the next 18-24 hours with winds increasing 65-90 knots and seas building over 16 meters (52 feet) up to 240NM west and south of the center.
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10. The Big Emissions Cut
Cutting emissions in a world already experiencing climate change has been one of the key topics last year as world powers met in Paris to talk measures aimed at curbing global warming of more than 2°C. Even though shipping has been left out of the Paris Agreement, there is a mounting pressure on the industry players to shift to more environmentally-friendly solutions.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
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