Associations plead case for EU consortia block exemption regulation
The joint submission from the World Shipping Council (WSC), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), and the Asian Shipowners’ Association (ASA) pleads the case for renewal of the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (CBER) which allows container lines to share certain information which would otherwise be against antitrust rules.
The regulation is set to expire in April 2024 unless renewed. The European Commission invited feedback on the regulation as the business practices of container lines come under increased scrutiny after a period of higher freight rates, lower service levels and widespread disruption.
Can India be a shipowners’ market?
Over the past decade, ship leasing has grown to become a significant substitute as a provision for financing of ship acquisition. The ship leasing market is projected to further grow at a rather significant pace in the near future, with the expansion of the Chinese leasing companies.[1] India’s International Financial Services Authority (Hereinafter referred to as “IFSA”) , in line with the global trends in the ship leasing market recently released Framework for Ship Leasing.[2] The idea culminated by virtue of the Ship Acquisition,
Loading, unloading in Iran’s Imam Khomeini port hit 23m tons
The Director-General of Ports and Maritime Department General in Khuzestan province said that 23 million tons of commodities have been unloaded and loaded in Imam Khomeini port in the first half of the Iranian year (March 21, September 21, 2022). In the same period, foreign transit grew by 65 percent, tranship by 57 percent, and cabotage by 27 percent, he noted. The market-based approach, special attention to the issue of customer orientation and maximizing the maritime and port capacities, has led to a 7 percent growth in ship traffic compared to the same period .
Fallout from an ‘economic war’
Thailand’s customs-cleared export value continued to expand for a 17th consecutive month in July, but the growth rate slowed to 4.3 percent year-on-year after robust gains of 11.9 percent in June, 10.5 percent in May, 9.9 percent in April and 19.5 percent in March, which was the highest level since records began in 1991.
The slower pace of export growth in July was mainly attributed to a decrease in fruit shipments, a semiconductor shortage that affected production in related sectors, and lockdown measures in some major Chinese cities that interrupted production and lengthened delivery time. The weaker growth could signal a trend for the remainder of the year, with Chaichan Charoensuk, chairman of the Thai National Shippers’ Council, warning that high inflation globally, energy prices, freight rates and price volatility, as well as shortages of raw materials such as semiconductors, steel, cereals, animal feed and fertiliser, remain key threats to the prospects of the country’s outbound shipments.
Singapore developing standards for biofuel bunkering
Speaking at the opening of the Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition (Sibcon) on Wednesday, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, Chee Hong Tat said: “Singapore is preparing ourselves to bunker biofuels for oceangoing ships. Approximately 70,000 tonnes of biofuels have been supplied in Singapore across 40 biofuel bunkering operations using existing bunker tankers.” At present there is not international standard for the quality of biofuel bunkers and Singapore has developed a provisional national quality standard for marine biofuel to support the development of biofuel bunkering.
Black sea grain initiative set to reach 6m tonne milestone
The Joint Co-ordination Centre (JCC) of the initiative reported that a total of 5,903,748 tonnes of grain and foodstuffs had been exported from Ukraine under its supervision as of October 3, across 260 outbound voyages. Daily exports have range from 60,000 tonnes to 360,000 tonnes per day in recent weeks, leaving the 6m tonne milestone likely to be broken on October 4 or 5. On October 3, five vessels left Ukraine carrying 116,123 tonnes of grains and food products under the initiative’s watch, with cargoes of corn and wheat destined for various ports in Europe and Africa.
Currency turbulence having an impact on the ship recycling market
The ship recycling market has been facing some headwinds of late, as a result of the dollar’s rally. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “with the U.S. Dollar strengthening globally, concern remains in the Indian sub-Continent with their financial woes affecting sentiment. There have even been whispers emanating from Chattogram this week that the Letter of Credit issues currently being witnessed will not be resolved until next year.
Collaboration is key to scale up fuel availability in time
The energy and technology transition in maritime is gathering pace but has far to go to meet even IMO’s initial decarbonization ambitions for international shipping,” says Eirik Ovrum, Maritime Principal Consultant at DNV and lead author of Maritime Forecast to 2050. “For one thing, supply chains will have to change dramatically to make sufficient carbon-neutral fuels available where and when they are needed.” Fuelling the ongoing maritime energy transition “Shipping could face competition from other industries for the ideal carbon-neutral fuels.
Tanker market could be entering a bullish period
The tanker market is being heralded as one the main “beneficiaries” of the war in Ukraine and the shift that this sad development has created in trade flows. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “with the start of the final quarter of the year, it is now unequivocal that the market regime shift noted in the tanker sector these past couple of months is here to stay. After a prolonged period of poor performance and problematic fundamentals, things shifted incrementally towards a more bullish trajectory”.