The study, which was conducted by MDS Transmodal, identifies the extent of capacity restriction in 2021 that resulted from scheduled port calls being skipped by shipping lines. It measured the number of container ship slots that were expected to be available at the port but never materialized because the lines skipped the port—often because vessels were already fully occupied by containers collected at ports called at earlier on the service.

Skipped ports have become part of how shipping lines are managing their heavily utilized fleets.

“Skipped port calls have multiple effects on shippers,” says James Hookham, director of the GSF. “They create local upward pressure on shipping rates, as shipping line agents ‘auction off’ available slots on the vessels that do call. Shippers also face unexpected surcharges for the handling and storage of delayed containers.

“More pernicious is the wider effect on national economies, especially those of developing nations that lose opportunity to deliver their exports, and hinder the recovery of their economy from the effects of lockdowns and COVID restrictions,” Hookham adds.

Source: www.inboundlogistics.com

Image: www.pexel.com

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The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, dipped 11 points, or about 0.5%, to 2,358 points, its lowest since March 8.

The main index has gained about 6.4% this quarter and 15.6% in March, its second monthly gain this year.

The panamax index dipped 95 points, or 2.9%, to 3,141 points. The index added about 22.1% this quarter, after posting declines in the last two. For the month, it was up more than 20%.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, fell by $850 to $28,273.

Dalian iron ore rose boosting a quarterly gain that was the biggest since end-2020, while the Singapore benchmark hovered around the $160 mark, as traders anticipated additional policy support to shore up China’s economy.

The capesize index gained 114 points, or 6.9%, to 1,760, but posted its second straight quarterly decline at 23.9% and an 8.8% monthly decline.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased $938 at $14,593.

The supramax index dropped 67 points to 2,808 points and increased about 22.6% for the first quarter of the year.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pixibay.com

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The North American cold chain market is expected to reach $118.55 billion by the end of this year, with industries from pharmaceutical to food manufacturers dependent on the latest advancements in efficiency and reliability. As e-commerce grows and rail and truckload volumes soar, there has been an increased need for specialty services such as refrigerated shipping.

Keeping cargo at optimum temperatures during transport takes experience that only comes from following rigid standard operating procedures (SOPs) combined with state-of-the-art technology, as well as clear protocols if problems arise. Here are four habits of highly effective cold chain shippers.

KNOW YOUR COMMODITY

When transporting temperature-sensitive freight, what you are shipping is as important as how it’s shipped. Produce is different from frozen packaged goods, which are different from pharmaceuticals or nursery stock. All stakeholders involved in the shipment—shipper, driver, dispatcher, receiver—should be familiar with the product and its specifications. The cargo’s temperature set point, acceptable temperature range, and, in the case of produce, pulping instructions, should be clearly and accurately documented on all required paperwork.

Less than a decade ago, cold chain shippers would wave goodbye to their freight at the loading dock, hoping their shipment would get to its destination safely and unspoiled. That scenario has changed with the advancements in new freight technologies providing visibility that mitigates risk and adds agility. Whether shipping by rail or by truck, cold chain providers can now deliver real-time information through GPS location tracking and onboard temperature-monitoring.

FOLLOWING SOPS TO THE “T”

As food moves through the supply chain, it is rarely more at risk than when in transit. Following a strict set of guidelines and SOPs is crucial for every step of the shipment’s journey. Shippers, drivers, and receivers should each have their own set of procedures to follow. Critical aspects of successful cold chain shipping include pre-cooling both cargo and trailer, knowing when to run a reefer unit on continuous versus start-stop, avoiding mixed loads of fresh and frozen cargo, and understanding best practices for loading and unloading temperature-sensitive freight.

ACCESS TO CAPACITY IN A TIGHT MARKET

Since the beginning of the pandemic, freight volumes have skyrocketed, and what scarce capacity there was in the truck market has become even scarcer. Refrigerated shippers were most affected, as there are fewer reefer units in the market than dry vans. Being able to access additional capacity when the market is volatile is essential to a successful cold chain strategy. Having the option to use asset-based or brokerage transport gives shippers multimodal solutions—a clear advantage when capacity becomes an issue.

Source: www.inboundlogistics.com

Author: Steve Covey, Executive Vice President, Hub Group

Image: www.pixibay.com

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But already there is disagreement about how it will work given the complexities of the shipping industry and how fast it can decarbonize.

Here is what is known so far about the process ahead.

Why should shipping be included in the ETS?
With about 90% of world trade transported by sea, shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s CO2 emissions.

Environmental campaigners say efforts by the industry to cut emissions are too slow and that including shipping in the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS) will speed up decarbonization.

What are the proposals at the moment?
Launched in 2005, the ETS compels manufacturers, power companies and airlines to buy permits to cover each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit.

Prices for permits in the scheme are nearing 100 euros ($114.44) a tonne, a level analysts say will spur further investment in low-carbon energy sources.

Last July the European Commission proposed adding shipping to the ETS gradually from 2023 until 2026 when shipowners would need to buy permits covering all their emissions inside the EU and 50% of their emissions from international voyages starting and ending in the EU.

The proposal must be negotiated by the European Parliament and EU countries before it becomes law.

However, the European Parliament wants shipping phased into the ETS earlier, by 2025.

It also wants the entity responsible for decisions affecting CO2 emissions such as buying the fuel to pay, meaning they would need to buy carbon permits. That could be the shipowner, or the commercial charterer or operator of a ship.

In contrast, the Commission has said shipowners should always bear CO2 costs.

Parliament wants the EU to consider extending the ETS to cover all shipping emissions to and from Europe, if regulatory efforts to curb emissions by the UN shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), fall short.

If IMO measures cut emissions quickly enough to avert disastrous climate change, the EU could roll back its inclusion of shipping in the carbon market, Parliament’s draft proposal said.

The European Commission’s proposal faces months of discussions. The European Parliament and EU countries can ask for changes to the text and agree on a final version.

How does the shipping industry view the proposals?
There are divergent views within the commercial shipping industry, which is made up of different segments including container, oil tanker and dry bulk.

There is disagreement over who will pick up the bill and whether it falls to the shipowner or the party that hires a ship, known as the charterer.

With millions of dollars in fuel costs for every voyage, the stakes are high.

The Union of Greek Shipowners, representing dry bulk, and tanker association INTERTANKO welcomed the inclusion of charterers saying those responsible for and benefiting from transporting cargo are responsible for emissions.

In contrast, the World Shipping Council (WSC) – representing container lines – says shipowners should share responsibility for decarbonization and that the proposed definition of a responsible entity “would corrupt the ETS”.

“Ship greenhouse gas emissions result from the combination of design technology, fuel consumed, and operational practice,” said WSC Chief Executive John Butler.

“A regional EU ETS carbon price must apply to all parties who have a role in GHG reductions – shipowners and operators.”

Pressure is building on the regulatory side too.

The IMO’s goal is to reduce overall GHG emissions from ships by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050, below targets set by countries such as the United States which have pushed for the agency to adopt a zero emissions target by 2050.

The IMO has said concrete progress was made in 2021 to combat climate change including new regulations to improve the energy efficiency of the world fleet, adding that it would work this year on revising its GHG strategy and finalize it in 2023.

The IMO has said regulations should come through the agency and be global in contrast to the EU’s approach, adding that regional legislation would not favor the concerns of developing countries.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexels.com

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The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, fell 24 points, or 1.7%, to 1,391, its lowest since mid-February 2021.

The capesize index slipped 55 points, or 6.2%, to 836, its lowest since June 2020.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, dropped by $455 to $6,935.

Iron ore prices fell on Monday as traders turned cautious ahead of the Spring Festival holidays and Beijing Winter Olympic Games, shrugging off a further liquidity-easing move by China’s central bank.

The panamax index edged 3 points higher to 2,013, snapping an 11-session losing streak.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which ferry 60,000-70,000 tonne coal or grain cargoes, rose by $32 to $18,119.

The supramax index fell 21 points to its lowest level since end-February 2021 at 1,728.

(Reuters – Reporting by Brijesh Patel; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pixabay.com

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The development by KSOE, the shipbuilding arm of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, one of the world’s biggest shipbuilders, comes amid growing global interest in rolling out hydrogen as a cleaner fuel alternative. Vessel makers worldwide are looking at ways to transport the gas, currently supplied via pipelines and trucks.

A major challenge is to keep the hydrogen chilled at minus 253 degrees Celsius – only 20 degrees above absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature – so it stays in liquid form, while avoiding the risk that parts of a vessel could crack.

“We already have developed a concept ship with a capacity of 20,000 cubic meters,” said Yoo Byeong-yong, vice president with Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering’s (KSOE) Energy System Research Institute.

Though small at 20,000 cubic meters compared with the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) supertankers – which can carry up to 266,000 cubic meters – the hydrogen tankers will grow in size as the technology develops.

Around 20 ships with a 20,000 cubic meters capacity are expected to be built in the decade starting in 2030, and if demand grows that could increase to 200 larger vessels of 170,000 cubic meters after 2040, according to industry estimates in South Korea, one of the world’s shipbuilding powerhouses.

“We foresee the global hydrogen market will grow rapidly after 2030 and demand for ships will grow accordingly,” said Yoo, speaking in a video interview from Las Vegas during the CES tech trade show. KSOE expects hydrogen tankers to be commercialized between 2025 and 2027.

KSOE’s Yoo said in the early stages ships transporting hydrogen would be fueled by LNG, but the vessels could be powered by hydrogen itself once the hydrogen market matured.

Shipping, which transports about 90% of world trade and accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s CO2 emissions, is under growing pressure from environmentalists to deliver more concrete action.

Industry regulators say first net-zero ships must enter the global fleet by 2030, and ships powered by green hydrogen could help meet the target.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexels.com

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After taking delivery of several ships last year, MSC or Mediterranean Shipping Company has capacity to move the equivalent of 4,284 million twenty-foot containers, Alphaliner said. That compares with Maersk’s 4,282 million.

Both companies, which according to Alphaliner hold markets share of around 17%, said size was not the objective.

Asked for comment, Maersk, which has been the biggest shipper for decades, referred to comments made by CEO Soren Skou in May.

“I would like to be CEO of the world’s largest shipping and logistics company, and I believe I have a good chance of holding on to that for some time to come,” Skou said.

“Our goal isn’t to be number 1. Our goal is to do a good job for our customers, delivering strong returns and not least be a decent company for all other stakeholders doing business with Maersk.”

Bottlenecks caused by a surge in demand for consumer goods as the world emerges from the initial pandemic impact has driven container shipping rates to record highs.

MSC, privately owned by the Aponte family, said in an emailed statement it emerged at the world’s biggest container carrier after investing in new ultra-large vessels “to meet the acceleration of global trade and specific client demand for our services”.

“At MSC, we never set a specific target to be the biggest. Growth, profitability and supporting customers are what have driven us,” said MSC Chief Executive Soren Toft, who joined the company from Maersk in late-2020.

Since 2016, Maersk has sold its oil and gas business and bought such as warehouses to transform itself into an integrated logistics company rather than a conglomerate.

It owns the majority of its container shipping capacity, while MSC has chartered some two-thirds of its capacity, Alphaliner said.

Alphaliner says CMA CGM and Cosco are the third and fourth-biggest container shipping companies with 12.6% and 11.6% market share, respectively.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexels.com

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The announcement could lead to the cancellation of the deal, one of the biggest to emerge from the normalization of ties between Israel and the UAE last year. Environmentalists had petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to block the agreement.

Signed between an Israeli state-owned company and a venture with Emirati and Israeli owners, the deal allows for oil unloaded from tankers in the Red Sea port of Eilat to be moved across Israel in an existing pipeline to the Mediterranean coast.

Responding on Thursday to the Supreme Court petition, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government said it would not intervene and would instead allow the Environmental Protection Ministry to play its regulatory role limiting activities that pose ecological risks.

“We blocked the entry of dozens of oil tankers into the Gulf of Eilat,” Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg said in a statement, adding that Israel “will not become a bridge of pollution in an era of climate crisis”.

Israel’s energy minister had previously come out against the deal, citing ecological risks to Eilat’s fragile coral reefs.

The Israeli state-owned company involved in the deal, Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC), said the deal has “significant geopolitical and economic advantages for Israel and its citizens.”

EAPC said it was committed to protecting the environment and would continue its dialogue with the Environmental Protection Ministry over its pipeline activities.
The other company involved in the deal, MED-RED Land Bridge, did not immediately provide a comment.

Source: www.maritimelink.com

Images: www.pexels.com

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“This has been an unprecedented year,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy. “We’ve seen more disruption than ever before because of issues along every step of the supply chain and continued strong consumer demand, but we’re also seeing more cargo and faster growth than ever before. There are still ships to be unloaded and containers to be delivered, but everyone in the supply chain has worked overtime this year to try to overcome these challenges. For the most part, they have succeeded, and consumers will be able to find what they need for the holidays.”

Imports for 2021 are expected to total 26 million 20-foot equivalent Units (TE), an increase of 18.3% over 2020 and the highest number since NRF began tracking imports in 2002. The projected total would top last year’s previous record of 22 million, which was up 1.9% despite the pandemic. The growth rate would also be the highest on record, topping 16.7% in 2010 as the economy recovered from the Great Recession.

While imports do not correlate directly with sales, the record comes as NRF expects holiday sales during November and December to grow 11.5% over last year.

Despite the double-digit import growth for the year, monthly totals have settled to single-digit year-over-year growth, a pattern expected to continue at least through the first quarter of 2022.

“After nearly a year of what seemed like runaway growth once the economy reopened from the worst days of the pandemic and unleashed pent-up consumer demand, port data now shows imports settling down,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “As economic activity slows after the holidays, we do not expect to see a resurgence of year-over-year double-digit import growth. Instead, it will be more like ‘steady as she goes.’ ”

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U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.21 million TEU in October, the latest month for which final numbers are available. That was up 3.5% from September but down 0.2% from October 2020, marking the first year-over-year decline since July 2020. The decline ended a 14-month streak of year-over-year growth that began in August 2020 after stores initially closed by the pandemic reopened and retailers worked to meet demand. Even with the decline, October was still among the five busiest months on record.

Port have not reported November numbers yet, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.21 million TEU, up 5.1% year-over-year. December is forecast at 2.2 million TEU, up 4.6%.

January 2022 is forecast at 2.24 million TEU, up 9% from January 2021; February at 2 million TEU, up 7.3% year-over-year; March at 2.19 million, down 3.3%, and April at 2.2 million TEU, up 2.2%.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexel.com

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