|
Summary for January 7, 2013 - January 11, 2013:
|
Monday, January 7, 2013 Top StoryReport: "Niche" shipping markets like gas and car haulers will recover in 2013
Gas, cars and oil carriers are "niche" markets of the shipping industry, said the Artic Securities ASA report, which are helped by conditions, including barriers to entry. The investment bank picked Golar LNG, which has a fleet that transports liquefied natural gas, and vehicle carrier Wilh. Wilhelmsen as its two most promising stocks this year. "Shipping equities have generally been under pressure through 2012 as most segments are suffering from overcapacity, but we see 2013 as the year when deliveries abate in most markets," the report said. Billionaire John Fredriksen is the largest shareholder of Golar LNG, Golden Ocean and Frontline 2012. The bank predicted overcapacity would remain an issue for container carriers, crude oil vessels and dry bulk haulers through 2013. The largest crude tankers will average $23,000 a day in charter rates this year, down from $25,200 in 2012, according to Arctic. For more of the Bloomberg report: bloomberg.com Jacksonville port awaits Congressional approval for key infrastructure projectProgress at the port of Jacksonville has been in a holding pattern, according to many insiders. The new TraPac cargo terminal, finished in 2009, was expected to bring a surge of volume to JaxPort that has not yet materialized. Hanjin Shipping is planning to build a terminal next door to TraPac. One problem revolves around Mile Point, a section of the river on which strong crosscurrents make it difficult for full container vessels to make it to TraPac. The port has been waiting for Congress to give the okay to the Army Corps of Engineers for the $36 million Mile Point project for years. "When I first got here, I was told it would be addressed by 2011," said Dennis Kelly, director of the TraPac terminal. "Well, 2011 has come and gone." "It's time for some action from these people," said Elaine Brown, port advocate and former Jacksonville City Council member. "We've been sitting here on first base for way too long. Let's get one thing done so we've got at least one phase of the perfect port done. Let's get going." The TraPac terminal has the capacity to handle 800,000 to 1 million TEUs annually, but currently handles approximately 180,000 TEUs, about 20 percent of JaxPort's volume. Prior to opening, JaxPort had forecast TraPac would generate 300,000 to 400,000 TEUs in the first years, based on a 2008 report by Fitch Ratings on the business outlook of the port. But the recession hit just before TraPac opened. Navigation problems at Mile Point have restricted the size and cargo loads of vessels that can use Jacksonville. The crosscurrents at the junction of the St. Johns River and the Intercoastal Waterway can be strong enough to turn around a cargo ship. The unpredictable currents are stronger in the deepest parts of the shipping channel, prohibiting the passage of big ships to TraPac for three quarters of an average day. JaxPort says the Mile Point fix would up TraPac's volume to 340,000 TEUs yearly and would generate 1000 jobs for the region. Port officials say the state is ready to provide the $36 million it will cost to alter the coastline of the river so that the currents won't be so strong at Mile Point. The sticking point is that Congress hasn't passed a water resource development act, usually used to approve funding for such projects, since 2007. Chris Kauffmann, chief operating officer for JaxPort, said the Senate could vote in early 2013 for the act. The Army Corps of Engineers will tentatively decides this month on the optimal depth of the 40-foot ship channel. For more of the Jacksonville.com story: m.jacksonville.com Long Beach starts reconstruction of Gerald Desmond BridgeThe Port of Long Beach broke ground on the $1 billion Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement on Tuesday. The project will replace the old bridge with a new structure that will feature 500-foot towers, more traffic lanes, a higher clearance for the new generation of cargo ships, bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways, according to port officials. The a cable-supported span, connecting Terminal Island to Downtown Long Beach, is a key link for truckers who carry about 14 percent of the nation's imported goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the rest of the country. The development is expected to foster $2 billion of regional economic activity and create about 3,000 jobs a year over three years, port officials say. For more of the Long Beach Press-Telegram: presstelegram.com Coast Guard investigates Alaskan drilling ship for violationsThe Coast Guard is launching a criminal investigation into possible federal violations concerning the activities of a Noble Oil 572-foot oil drilling and exploration ship hired by Royal Dutch Shell to look for oil in the Arctic. The Royal Dutch Shell-owned drilling rig, the Kulluk, ran aground last Monday after it repeatedly slipped the line of the boat towing it in rough waters. The Noble ship working for Shell, the Discoverer, may have been operating with serious safety and pollution control problems, raising the level of environmental concern about drilling in the Arctic. In a routine inspection, the Coast Guard found more than a dozen "discrepancies" with safety and pollution management on board Noble's Discoverer in late November. When the Coast Guard Investigative Service was called in, the crewmembers had been provided with attorneys and refused to answer questions. The ship was grounded until safety violations were repaired. The ship is currently being fixed in Seward. The Kulluk has also had recent violations, including three enforcement warnings for being a source of pollution in 2012 and a Coast Guard inspection last May that found 19 deficiencies in electrical and maintenance systems. Officials say there is no sign that the Kulluk, carrying 143,000 gallons of diesel, is leaking fuel. On Thursday, a coalition of 46 Democratic members of Congress called on Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to join with the Coast Guard in investigating whether the fleet contracted by Shell should operate in the Arctic Ocean. "Noble continues to cooperate fully with Coast Guard to address any deficiencies they may have identified in their inspections of the ship," said Noble spokesperson John Breed. "Noble will continue to cooperate with the Coast Guard so that the ship can safely travel to the shipyard in Washington State to conduct any further repairs." For more of the CBS News story: cbsnews.com Life of Pi movie poster "container ship" actually grounded fishing boatAs many of our readers would notice instantly, the sinking container ship on the Life of Pi film poster is actually the beached shipwreck of a fishing boat off the coast of Scotland. The Life of Pi poster seems to be a heavily edited image of The Sovereign, which has been stranded on the Aberdeenshire coast near Fraserburgh since 2005. Some locals, who have long wanted to banish the eyesore, see that it might spark a bit of tourism for the village. For more of the Mail Online story: dailymail.co.uk
Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Top StoryBNSF to boost crude oil cargo by 40 percent in 2013
Rose said BNSF, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, would spend "a couple hundred million dollars" on capital improvements to carry more petroleum to refineries from the Bakken shale formation in the Northwest U.S. He said that crude oil shipments would grow to 700,000 barrels daily by the end of 2013. Bakken's crude oil is putting the U.S. on track to be the world's largest oil producer by 2020, and is helping BNSF mitigate a slump in commodity cargoes. "We're the 1,000-pound gorilla in the oil markets," said Rose. "Crude by rail is going to be really strong for us. It's been a real benefit to us to replace some of that lost coal business." BNSF, which Warren Buffett took over three years ago in a $26.5 billion deal, experienced a drop in coal shipments of 6.2 percent in 2012, compared with an average decline among North America's seven largest railroads of 9.8 percent. For more of the Bloomberg story: bloomberg.com Iron ore imports to China could be a boon to shipping, says Morgan StanleyIncreasing steel prices and diminishing stockpiles of iron ore in China, the world's largest steel maker, could trigger a surge in iron ore imports and hike shipping demand, according to Morgan Stanley. Iron ore is at the lowest inventory level in more than two years and Chinese steel mills are buying iron ore as prices rise and industrial activity improves, reported Morgan Stanley analyst Fotis Giannakoulis in a report yesterday. "The sharp rise of iron-ore prices driven by aggressive buying from mills amid higher steel prices is building up the case that demand may be improving on the back of China's new urbanization initiatives," Giannakoulis' report said. "A new wave of purchasing looks possible." Ore at China's Tianjin port traded at $153.90 a metric ton, up 33 percent for the highest rate in 15 months, and ore inventories at the port dropped 24 percent since the end of August to 72.97 million tons. The average daily revenue generated by Capesize ships increased 4.6 percent to $5,488 on Monday, according to the Baltic Exchange. Panamax and Supramax vessel earnings were minimally changed at levels of $5,301 and $7,729, respectively, the exchange reported. Handysizes dropped 0.5 percent to $6,584. For more of the Bloomberg story: businessweek.com Long Beach commissioners postpone Middle Harbor project voteThe Port of Long Beach Harbor Commissioners decided to postpone the Monday vote on the 1.2 billion Middle Harbor project, which will combine and reconstruct old shipping terminals. The vote seems like a formality, since the project has already begun and the port has inked a multibillion-dollar deal with Orient Overseas Shipping Line to occupy the terminal once it's finished. The item was withdrawn from the schedule in order for newer board members and the public to review the project, according to Harbor Commission President Susan E. Anderson Wise. "There will be a study session about the overall project, its phases and various contracts will be reviewed in order for the board to have a broader understanding of the entire project before voting on the project budget," Wise said. "This is just one example of the meshing of governance and management to adopt and employ best practices that will continue to set this port apart." The study session has been tentatively scheduled for Jan. 22. The 342-acre project, set to be finished in 2019, includes six Pier E construction projects involving Middle Harbor. For more of the Long Beach Press-Telegram story: presstelegram.com Barges increase loads as Corps dredges and clears the MississippiBarge operators have recently started to increase their cargo loads on the Mississippi, as emergency work to dredge and remove rocks from the shallowest stretch of river has been successful in keeping the shipping channel open during the worse drought since the 1930s. "We're back, moving up here," said Martin Hettel, manager of bulk sales for AEP River Operations of St. Louis, to Bloomberg on Monday in Thebes, Illinois. The expedited work on the river between Illinois and Missouri, along with a warming trend and predicted rainfall, will maintain the needed 10-foot depth for navigation near Thebes this month, said Major General John Peabody, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley division. Shipping lines on the Mississippi in January routinely haul up to $2.8 billion in cargo, reports the American Waterway Operators industry association. Illinois Senator Richard Durbin and Representative Richard Enyart were briefed at the Thebes courthouse by Army Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard officials, and taken on a tour of the river. Dredging and rock removal will continue throughout the month, and by the end of the week the channel will be two feet deeper to a total depth of 10 feet, said Peabody. Contractors are working to widen certain bends of the river. This means barge owners can once again use towboats, which need 10 feet to operate. In two weeks the dredging and clearing will move to a stretch of river near Grand Tower, Illinois, Peabody said. For more of the Bloomberg story: bloomberg.com Another ship strikes Bay BridgeAn empty oil tanker, the Overseas Reymar, hit the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Monday morning. No oil leaked into the water, officials said. The Coast Guard is investigating human error as a possible cause of the accident. The tanker hit the easternmost tower of the western span of the bridge at 11:37 a.m. and a fireboat was sent to the scene, said Mindy Tallmadge on behalf of the San Francisco Fire Department. The fenders around the tower were damaged, according to Caltrans, but the bridge itself was unharmed. No one was hurt. The tanker was empty, according to spokesman Charlie Goodyear of the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association, who said the base of the bridge tower was damaged. Goodyear also noted a pilot was aboard when the ship struck, and damage was reported to the starboard side of the ship. The double-hulled Overseas Reymar is 751 feet long and 105 feet wide and has a maximum speed of 14 knots. The ship is owned by Osg Shipmanagement Greece and headquartered in Majuro, a large coral atoll in the Marshall Islands. This is the second time in five years that a vessel has hit the western span. In November 2007, when the single-hulled container ship Cosco Busan hit a Bay Bridge tower, it spilled 53,000 gallons of fuel oil. But in this case, the Overseas Reymar's hull survived with only "scrapes and dents," said Goodyear. For more of the SF Chronicle story: sfgate.com
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Top StoryReport: Higher container carrier GRIs unsustainable due to weak demand
Report: Global car logistics market expandingThe global automotive logistics market is looking up, according to a recent industry report, due to the strength of emerging international markets. International Trade Commission advised to limit U.S. patent-based import bansIn some cases, patent owners should not be allowed to block sales or imports of products based on the use of standards that help products from different manufacturers work together, according to the Justice Department and U.S. Patent and Trade Office, which jointly issued the paper. The altered stance puts added pressure on the U.S. International Trade Commission, which is considering the issue as part of a request by Samsung Electronics to stop imports of Apple products made in Asia. A final decision is expected Feb. 6. The ITC’s action in this matter “will be important to the continued vitality of the voluntary consensus standards-setting process and thus to competitive conditions and consumers in the United States,” the two agencies wrote. The joint policy paper asserts that, while patent owners have the right to exclude others from using their inventions, the public benefit of allowing that is limited when it comes to so-called standard-essential patents. Other complaints the ITC will soon consider filed by owners of standard-essential patents include Google’s Motorola Mobility unit against Microsoft, an InterDigital Inc. case against Huawei Technologies Co. and one filed by Ericsson AB against Samsung. For more of the Bloomberg story: www.bloomberg.com Tesoro to convert Hawaiian refinery into import terminalIndependent refiner Tesoro Corp. will halt the production of fuel at its refinery in Kapolei, Hawaii, and convert the facility to an import, storage and distribution terminal, according to company officials. For more of the Business Week story: investing.businessweek.com Medicinal find in ancient Roman shipwreckAncient gray disks containing zinc and beeswax found aboard a shipwreck more than 2,000 years old might have been used as medicine for the eyes, according to researchers. For more of the Huffington Post story: huffingtonpost.com
Thursday, January 10, 2013 Top StoryILA walks out of regional New York/New Jersey contract negotiations
Port of Portland commissioners say yes to container incentive programThe Port of Portland commissioners voted to pay shipping lines $10 per TEU to give them incentive to keep calling at Terminal 6 amidst an ongoing dockworker labor conflict that has slowed operations there and driven up costs. The commissioners voted 7-2 yesterday to pay the container carriers up to a collective $1 million, in addition to subsidizing the company that runs the Port of Portland container yard. The carriers asked for the subsidy to help mitigate rate increases by ICTSI Oregon, the firm that took over Terminal 6 operations in 2011 and is negotiating a new terminal-use agreement. ICTSI Oregon must implement higher rates because of higher costs, reduced productivity and lower revenue, Port spokesman Josh Thomas said. The labor conflict at Port of Portland arose last summer between the ILWU and ICTSI Oregon, the terminal operator, when the union claimed two reefer maintenance jobs that had been done by the electrician's union for decades. The National Labor Relations Board eventually ruled that the contested jobs belonged to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, not the ILWU. Slowdowns in container movement began in May, when the dispute over the reefer jobs started. Over the past seven months, crane productivity has dropped from 28 moves-per-hour to 23, according to a presentation shown at the commissioner meeting. The ILWU said the conflict concerned much bigger issues than two jobs, asserting that ICTSI was resisting the West Coast longshore collective bargaining agreement. Litigation continues over this dispute and a port subsidy of as much as $2.7 million to ICTSI. In a statement the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said the port was squandering public resources and scapegoating union members, who continue to work productively, and stating ICTSI Oregon has mismanaged operations since taking over the terminal and has replaced a positive work environment with a "hostile" one. Thomas said the container incentive program will "hopefully buy some time" until long-term solutions are found. For more of the Oregon Live story: oregonlive.com For more of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer story: seattlepi.com Report: China and U.S. drive global auto growth over next 4 yearsChina and the U.S. will remain the respective number one and number two vehicle producers in the world over the next four years with China driving growth, according to a newly released industry report. The "Global Light Vehicle and Powertrain Forecast," offered jointly WardsAuto and AutomotiveCompass, asserts automakers should consolidate the number of platforms supporting their vehicles and increase the percentage of cars and trucks that rely on smaller engines. The monthly report predicts growth in all global regions through 2018, with total vehicle output increasing 23 percent over the next six years. It asserts China will dominate the Asia-Pacific region especially through 2016, when production in China alone will rise to a massive 26 million units, an increase of 7.5 million units from last year. Production in the U.S. is forecasted to increase by 1.3 million by 2016, while production in the third-highest producing country, Japan, is predicted to drop by 875,000 units over the next four years, with capacity shifting to other regions, according to the forecast. By 2018, the report says, India will step ahead of South Korea and Germany to rank fourth in vehicle producing nations. The companies also say that Volkswagen will have the top-produced platform in the world by 2015, predicting its MQB architecture will end the three-year dominance of Toyota's MC platform that began in 2012 (when it overthrew Hyundai's HD architecture) and is expected to continue through 2014. The forecast also confirms the emerging trend of production consolidation among global platforms. In 2012, 31 platforms accounted for half of global production. In 2016, that number will decrease to 27, according to the report. Los Angeles and Long Beach ports seek to lower trucker trouble ticketsAn initiative has been launched to lower the number of transaction problems as trucks pick up or deliver containers at the marine terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to speed container movement at the ports, according to an announcement by PierPass. About 5 percent of all terminal transactions in the U.S. result in trouble tickets, which add about an hour to the "turn time" or the amount of time a truck spends at a terminal, according to a 2011 report by the National Cooperative Freight Research Program. Most trouble tickets can be prevented through better communications before a truck arrives at the terminal gates, the NCFRP report said. PierPass has surveyed terminal operators at Long Beach and Los Angeles to determine the most common causes of trouble tickets. They found Trouble tickets are usually tied to inaccurate or incomplete information about an import container delivery or an export-booking problem. When given a trouble ticket, a driver has to go to a "trouble window" for resolution, which results in delays and higher costs. "Trucking companies can avoid most trouble tickets and reduce turn times by checking with the terminals' web-based systems before coming to the terminal gates," said Bruce Wargo, president of PierPass, a nonprofit company created by marine terminal operators to address multi-terminal issues at the ports. "These systems let dispatchers confirm the availability of import containers or the validity of export booking numbers before prematurely sending a truck to the terminal." PierPass is distributing a fact sheet to trucking companies with tips on trouble-ticket prevention. The organization also released a video yesterday in which stakeholders representing terminal operators, trucking companies and the ports discuss approaches to reducing trouble tickets. At the APL Terminal in the Port of Los Angeles, 34 percent of trouble tickets in July and August 2012 were issued when truckers arrived to pick up containers that were on hold. The second-largest group (20 percent) was due to the container number not matching the number on the Bill of Lading, which can also be checked online before delivering a container. Vietnamese cargo ship runs agroundThe MV Agnes, a Vietnamese cargo ship, ran aground on Cemara Beach in West Lombok, Indonesia on Monday due to rough seas. The Agnes, with a gross register tonnage 3,901 tons and a length of 105 meters, beached just after leaving Lembar Seaport, West Lombok. "The ship had just unloaded cement it was carrying at Lembar Port a week before. It was en route to Singapore when it ran aground," Lembar Port sea traffic division unit head Jasra said on Thursday. Port and local search and rescue agencies are working with the West Nusa Tenggara water police to help the ship. For more of the Jakarta Post story: thejakartapost.com Submit Your Press |
Revenue for ships that haul liquefied gas, automobiles and oil products will go up this year, according to a report from an Oslo investment bank.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad will hike crude oil shipments by 40 percent in 2013, helping to offset a drop in coal cargo, said CEO Matt Rose. 
Despite attempts by container carriers to increase profits by upping freight rates and pulling capacity from east-west trade routes, the increased container freight rates will likely drop due to sustained weak demand, according to an industry report.
Photo credit: John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger