Blog

It is now universally recognised that the entire world has been severely impacted by the coronavirus and nearly all areas of trade are affected. Very little has escaped the effect of the virus and the range of goods and services includes not only manufactured items such as vehicles and fashion items, spare parts and components and food, but huge areas of human activity especially tourism and travel are in meltdown. …

As governments come together at the UN International Maritime organization(IMO) to consider the next steps to decarbonise shipping, the global maritime industry urges them to proceed with the $5 billion research and development programme. Funded by the industry, the project is aimed at achieving the transformation of the industry away from its dependence on fossil fuels and to seek alternative zero carbon energy sources. …

The rush in 2019 to fit scrubbers in order to avoid the higher fuel costs of the IMO 2020 regulations, is proving to be an expensive tactic in view of the dramatic drop in oil prices. Largely due to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, causing the virtual collapse of the aviation industry, cut back on road journeys, the predicted $600 per tonne difference between low sulphur compliant fuel and heavy fuel oil, as all but evaporated with costs per tonne at around $300. …

During the last few months, due to the Covid 19 impact on world trade, the emphasis has been on shipping operations, fleets and container equipment availability. However, many ports which have in the past acquired an unjust reputation for slow reaction to change, are employing a wide range of advanced technical solutions for extra efficiency, security and environmental control. …

With the increasing global awareness of the effects of climate change, the search for new technologies which can increase efficiency, reduce costs plus carbon free fuels has intensified. The introduction of the IMO 20 light fuel has had a mixed response throughout the shipping industry and the race is accelerating to find a replacement for fossil fuels. …

Bimco, the world largest shipping Association, announces the adoption of the industry’s first ship sale and leaseback stand. Transactions have seen a substantial increase in recent years as an alternative method of ship financing, and BIMCO has adopted a new term sheet which will facilitate the negotiation of sale and leaseback deals and make the process cheaper for parties involved. …

In recent years there has been a noticeable increase in interest in less-than-containerload shipping. Currently, this increase is particularly related to the coronavirus pandemic. Only a month after the crisis had begun, container shipping capacity tightened. …

Since the start of the third quarter, the number of over 4000 teu plus ships for hire has dropped quickly. A number of regional operators in the Middle East and Indian subcontinent, picked up smaller units for deployment on intra-regional routes. The container ship time charter markets have experienced extreme ups and downs since January 2020. …

In order for the economy to function better it is necessary for transport to go through phases of development and modernization. The goal is to make transportation punctual and cost-effective. Still, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Today we are talking about which transport of goods is better air or water transport? …

Thomas Bagge, of the Digital Container Shipping Association, has for some time been attempting to introduce to create a digitally interconnected industry, thus providing customers with seamless, easy to use services. The association’s aim is to drive and develop technology standards and frameworks. …

According to London based shipping consultants Drewry, reliability is considered extremely low, thanks to the massive withdrawal of capacity since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic with 468 blank departures on East- West trades. …

Four years ago, Lu Yingji of the Far East Land Bridge, an international freight forwarding company, said to the Forbes reporter that their ultimate goal is to have one train per day delivering cargo to Europe - from a single city in China (Suzhou). …

The slowing of blanked sailings shows signs that the operators may think they have now removed sufficient capacity from the market. The level of blank sailings especially on east to west trades and it and some of the previously blanked sailings are being reactivated, according to SEA -INTELLIGENCE. …

More than 120 container ships which have been idle throughout the world lockdown, were reactivated towards the end of June. The consultant Alphaliner reported that at the beginning of July that the entire inactive fleet of 375 ships with a capacity of 1.8 5M teu, was down from the 453 ships for 2.3 2M teu reported just two weeks earlier. …

Predictions for the third quartal indicate that imports of this international trade will continue to rise and reach even higher numbers... …

As mentioned before transport has been severely impacted and challenged by this pandemic. It was tough to maintain sea freight prices, but things are looking at least stable if not better at this very moment. …

In the last several years, the economic scene globally was shaken and concerned by subjects like climate change, new shipping conditions and unsteady market. Noone expected and prepared for a global pandemic caused by an unknown virus – Covid19. The Coronavirus caused complete havoc on the world’s trading scene as well. …

The global corona pandemic caused unexpected challenges in both the world health scene and the business organization itself. This situation has reflected seriously on the local, regional, and world market. A large number of companies globally have failed to stabilize themselves since January this year. …

Many services have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic with hire falling by as much as 50%. However, it appears that carriers are starting to slowly resume some services. According to a spokesman for Alphaliner, an open 8500 teu vessel is getting a daily higher rate of $13,000 compared with $18,000 in May and there are examples of some operators agreeing to $10,000. …

Declining long-term contract rates on major tradelanes may worry ocean carriers, but the bullish short-term market is proving the “silver lining” that could shift their focus towards the spot market. Indeed, some carriers are suggesting that the future of large-scale annual volume contracts may be limited to a ‘new normal’ of rolling three-month deals, renegotiated in the light of increasingly volatile market changes. …