Japanese export ship orders made a strong recovery in fiscal 2010, which ended on March 31, after sinking at their fastest pace in 17 years in the previous fiscal year.[Read More]
Source: Journal of Commerce
Japanese Ship Orders Doubled in FY2010
Japanese export ship orders made a strong recovery in fiscal 2010, which ended on March 31, after sinking at their fastest pace in 17 years in the previous fiscal year.[Read More]
Source: Journal of Commerce
Hyundai Mipo to benefit from increased small-ship scrapping
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, the world's fifth largest shipbuilder will benefit from increased small-ship scrapping, a South Korean brokerage said Thursday.[Read More]
Source: Xinhua
LDA to grow dry bulk fleet as ships stay cheap
French shipping group Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) said it could acquire more vessels on top of a recent order with a Chinese builder as it seeks to profit from attractive prices.
LDA is pursuing a "counter-cyclical" strategy to expand its fleet during a current downturn in freight, with the expectation the market will have recovered when the new ships are delivered, Philippe Louis-Dreyfus, the group's president, told reporters.
[Read More]
[Read More]
Source: Reuters, Forexpros
Multipurpose Shipping Market Review and Forecast 2011
The cargoes carried by multipurpose vessels straddle the dry bulk and containership markets, so it is natural that these segments compete with MPVs for cargoes. More than that, the markets driving these sectors also drive the MPV market and the three are closely linked when it comes to future demand. In order to forecast market share, it is therefore necessary to look at how both these sectors are faring in their traditional roles.
The Drewry teams for the dry bulk and containership sectors see positive demand growth for the mid-term, albeit still at historically subdued levels. This would imply that the MPV share of these sectors should remain steady, however this does not appear to be the case.
There is always another side to the balance equation – the supply of vessels able to carry these commodities. Handy bulk carriers are the main competitor for the breakbulk demand and the dry bulk orderbook is, to say the least, overfull. This means that competition for cargoes is expected to be fierce over the next few years.
The other side of the MPV market – general and project cargo – is also facing increasing competition from the containership and Ro-Ro fleets. Interestingly, the recession has diminished the threat from the container market as the orderbook for that sector has reduced through cancellations and slippage. That said, the current level of over-age tonnage is barely 3%, while the orderbook is a steady 24% of the current fleet. That is somewhat less than the same comparison for the MPV fleet (28%) and Handysize (34%) but still represents a steady stream of newbuilding deliveries in the medium term. These deliveries, coupled with the improving demand scenario for container volumes, should improve the supply-demand balance within the containership sector and should direct vessels away from the MPV market, so having a positive effect on rates.
Given that the MPV share of the pure container market is so low (less than 2%) it is assumed this is unlikely to show any significant change over the period. More concerning is whether – or indeed by how much – this sector will encroach on the general and project cargo demand. A number of container lines are already positioning themselves as project carriers and it is here that the real threat to the traditional MPV demand now lies.
Source: Drewry
Positive trend in ship safety, says DNV president
Singapore, 13.04.2011: “Year on year improvements in ship safety is now turning into a negative trend. This is extremely worrying and requires a stronger focus on competence development both onboard and onshore,” DNV’s President Tor E. Svensen said at Sea Asia.
“Statistics show that the accident frequency has started rising from a historic low. This trend is supported by increased pay-out from the insurance companies. Technology, rules and compliance will never bring us to the expected level of safety without focusing stronger on the human element,” Tor E. Svensen said.
“Historically, the safety focus on shipping has been on technical improvements. Most employees dealing with the operation of the vessel in a shipping company have a technical background. Audits and inspections are strongly focused on technical compliance. This technical focus has brought major improvements to ship safety. Now,” Mr. Svensen said, “is time to increase focus on the soft issues.”
“The improvement potential is great,” Svensen claims. “DNV has made some observations when performing audit and projects for shipping companies. These show that much of the training offered could be more effective with more time spent on actual training of higher quality. Shipping companies struggle to deliver training on soft skills, and few companies measure the effects of their training.”
Possible initiatives to improve safety level include safety culture mapping, crew resource management training, and safety performance monitoring through leading and lagging indicators.
“Public and regulatory focus has moved towards environmental risk and away from human safety and personnel risk. We need to re-establish the balance between safety and environmental risk. Zero tolerance to loss of human life is equally important as zero environmental damage,” Tor E. Svensen said.
Source: DNV
Source: DNV
Attacks off the Somali coast drive piracy to record high, reports IMB
Piracy at sea hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2011, with 142 attacks worldwide, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) global piracy report revealed today. The sharp rise was driven by a surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia, where 97 attacks were recorded in the first quarter of 2011, up from 35 in the same period last year.
Worldwide in the first quarter of 2011, 18 vessels were hijacked, 344 crew members were taken hostage, and six were kidnapped, IMB reported. A further 45 vessels were boarded, and 45 more reported being fired upon.
“Figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea in the past three months are higher than we’ve ever recorded in the first quarter of any past year,” said Pottengal Mukundan, Director of IMB, whose Piracy Reporting Centre has monitored piracy worldwide since 1991.
In the first three months of 2011, pirates murdered seven crew members and injured 34. Just two injuries were reported in the first quarter of 2006.
Of the 18 ships hijacked worldwide in the first three months of the year, 15 were captured off the east coast of Somalia, in and around the Arabian Sea and one in the Gulf of Aden. In this area alone, 299 people were taken as hostage and a further six were kidnapped from their vessel. At their last count, on 31 March, IMB figures showed that Somali pirates were holding captive 596 crew members on 28 ships.
“We’re seeing a dramatic increase in the violence and techniques used by pirates in the seas off Somalia,” said Captain Mukundan.
He added: “The overwhelming number of vessels hijacked off Somalia took place east and north east of the Gulf of Aden. The positions of some of the attackers’ mother ships are known. It is vital that strong action is taken against these mother ships to prevent further hijackings.”
Large tankers carrying oil and other flammable chemicals are particularly vulnerable to firearm attack. Captain Mukundan said: “Three big tankers of over 100,000 tonnes deadweight have been hijacked off the Horn of Africa this year. Of a total of 97 vessels attacked in the region, 37 were tankers and of these, 20 had a deadweight of more than 100,000 tonnes.”
A number of countries are employing their navies to take a tough stance against piracy. In a recent show of force, commended by the IMB, the Indian navy captured 61 Somali pirates on a hijacked ship off India’s west coast.
Elsewhere, in the first quarter of 2011 nine incidents were reported off Malaysia, including the hijacking of a tug and barge off Tioman Island. Vessels were boarded in seven incidents by robbers armed with guns and knives.
Five incidents have been recorded for Nigeria, with three attacks against vessels in Lagos. Crews in the area are reporting increased violence, including one incident where all 27 crew members were injured. IMB’s concerns about an expansion of Nigerian-style piracy have been heightened by the hijacking of a chemical tanker off neighbouring Benin, which its captors finally directed to Lagos.
IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) is the only manned centre to receive reports of pirate attacks 24 hours a day from across the globe. IMB strongly urges all shipmasters and owners to report all actual, attempted and suspected piracy and armed robbery incidents to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre. This first step in the response chain is vital to ensuring that adequate resources are allocated by authorities to tackle piracy. Transparent statistics from an independent, non-political, international organization can act as a catalyst to achieve this goal.
Source: ICC Commercial Crime Services
Source: ICC Commercial Crime Services
Korea regains top shipbuilding spot
[Read More]
Source: Korea JoongAng Daily
Dry bulk market keeps on falling, on low demand and high supply
The dry bulk market has kept its falling patern this week, with the industry’s benchmark, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) retreating again yesterday to end the session down to 1,309 points, a daily slump of 1.13%. On the positive side, the Capesize market stopped tis fall, to end the session marginally higher at 0.19 percent to 1,573 points. At the same time, the constant fall of the panamax sector finally led rates lower than Capesizes. Since the beginning of the year, Panamaxes had been the top earners of the dry bulk market, in a sector’s paradox that tended to become the norm. Yesterday, the panamax segment lost further ground to end down by 2.40 percent.[Read More]
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
Shinsegae upscale outlet faces restrictions
By Choi He-suk - The Korea Herald
Shinsegae Corp.’s new premium outlet in Paju, north of Seoul, could face government restrictions after smaller retailers protested that it hurts their businesses.
The Small and Medium Business Administration launched an inquiry on Monday to determine the scale of damage sustained by small- and medium-sized discount outlets in the area since Shinsegae Chelsea opened on March 18.
The smaller stores claimed their number of customers has dropped significantly as the Shinsegae outlet had more than 600,000 visitors in the two weeks following its opening.
The state agency requested on March 14 that Shinsegae postpone the opening. But the company refused, prompting the SMBA to begin a process for compulsory arbitration.
After the investigation is concluded in early May, the agency will issue an order expected to restrict its operations.
If the firm fails to comply, it could face punishment of up to 50 million won ($46,000) in fines or less than one year’s imprisonment.
In May 2010, an association of fashion outlet merchants in Gyeonggi Province requested government mediation claiming that Shinsegae Chelsea’s opening could threaten their businesses.
After negotiations to exclude brands that overlap with stores in nearby outlets from Shinsegae Chelsea failed, the SMBA advised the outlet to postpone the opening on March 14 according to the Act on the Promotion of Collaborative Cooperation between Large Enterprises and Small-Medium Enterprises, which was ignored by Shinsegae Chelsea.
While the SMBA is looking to intervene, the operators of the outlet are claiming that as it is registered as a real estate rental business, it is not subject to the regulations.
The outlet, whose business registration was as a retail and wholesale of clothing and real estate rental firm, changed to real estate rental only on March 22.
The SMBA for its part is maintaining that the outlet is subject to its intervention as the outlet’s operations are affecting those of small and medium-sized businesses in the area.
Shinsegae Corp.’s new premium outlet in Paju, north of Seoul, could face government restrictions after smaller retailers protested that it hurts their businesses.
The Small and Medium Business Administration launched an inquiry on Monday to determine the scale of damage sustained by small- and medium-sized discount outlets in the area since Shinsegae Chelsea opened on March 18.
The smaller stores claimed their number of customers has dropped significantly as the Shinsegae outlet had more than 600,000 visitors in the two weeks following its opening.
The state agency requested on March 14 that Shinsegae postpone the opening. But the company refused, prompting the SMBA to begin a process for compulsory arbitration.
After the investigation is concluded in early May, the agency will issue an order expected to restrict its operations.
If the firm fails to comply, it could face punishment of up to 50 million won ($46,000) in fines or less than one year’s imprisonment.
In May 2010, an association of fashion outlet merchants in Gyeonggi Province requested government mediation claiming that Shinsegae Chelsea’s opening could threaten their businesses.
After negotiations to exclude brands that overlap with stores in nearby outlets from Shinsegae Chelsea failed, the SMBA advised the outlet to postpone the opening on March 14 according to the Act on the Promotion of Collaborative Cooperation between Large Enterprises and Small-Medium Enterprises, which was ignored by Shinsegae Chelsea.
While the SMBA is looking to intervene, the operators of the outlet are claiming that as it is registered as a real estate rental business, it is not subject to the regulations.
The outlet, whose business registration was as a retail and wholesale of clothing and real estate rental firm, changed to real estate rental only on March 22.
The SMBA for its part is maintaining that the outlet is subject to its intervention as the outlet’s operations are affecting those of small and medium-sized businesses in the area.
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