Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
January 28, 2014
China will have 12 free trade zones, Beijing announced a couple of weeks ago. Interesting, considering that Shanghai can’t even explain exactly what its own highly publicised free trade zone will be doing. So far it is all hot air and hyperbole…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
October 1, 2013
Earlier this year, the world’s three top carriers announced they would put their rivalry aside on the east-west trades and combine services in a gigantic container shipping alliance. Switzerland-based MSC and France’s CMA CGM plan to link up with Maersk on the P3…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
August 13, 2013
The battle for the hearts and minds of shippers has begun as two port-operating giants compete for Britain’s containerised trade. Felixstowe, owned by Hutchison Port Holdings, has been a long established hub and the busiest, and biggest, port in the UK.
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
June 19, 2013
The mega vessel sharing agreement between the world’s three biggest container lines is going to completely dominate Asia-Europe trade with ships from Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM having a good 40 percent share of the market. The P3 Network, as it is called…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
May 7, 2013
Some ports lend themselves, via geographic location or strategy, to transshipment. Singapore, for instance, had a throughput of 31.6 million TEUs in 2012, but more than 90 percent was comprised of containers in transit. Geographically, Singapore…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
April 3, 2013
A port strike is not something normally associated with Hong Kong, but the biggest terminal operator in the city has been crippled for six days now, with no sign of a resolution. Hongkong International Terminals, or HIT, says the strike is costing it more than US$600…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
March 6, 2013
When it comes to infrastructure projects in Hong Kong, environmental concerns are rarely allowed to stand in the way. The grossly wasteful and pointless Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is a case in point, and we do not have the slightest doubt…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
July 4, 2012
Alphaliner’s chart of the week focuses on the new tonnage that has been added by the top 20 container shipping lines in the past 12 months. As incredible as the capacity is – 844,000 TEUs for a fleet growth of 6.4 percent – the one carrier that stands out is CSAV.
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
June 1, 2012
Hengsha Island is just off the coast of Shanghai at the mouth of the Yangtze River where it flows into the East China Sea. Considering the Yangtze is one of most heavily polluted waterways in China that oozes past many intense industrial manufacturing areas…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
April 3, 2012
Just when you thought the 2011 shipping industry losses could not possibly get any worse, along comes one of China’s state owned carriers to set the benchmark at a new low. As China’s largest line, that honour naturally fell to Cosco, and the…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
January 25, 2012
The Year of the Dragon begins now, represented in the Chinese zodiac by the Water Dragon. There is some irony in that, because the worst drought in 50 years has forced Chinese maritime authorities to close the Yangtze River above the port of Wuhan, more than 600 miles upriver from Shanghai.
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
December 9, 2010
The dry bulk shipping business is going through a tough time. It is an incredible 80 percent down on the market peak in May 2008, and rates have led carrier operators on a wild and volatile ride ever since. The industry is currently oversupplied with bulk carriers…
Posted to Far East Maritime
(by
Greg Knowler)
on
May 25, 2010
If your port is at the confluence of the busiest sea lanes in the world, if it is the world’s largest refuelling port and the biggest oil storage centre in Asia, there is a lot of crude and bunker fuel floating around. So when there is an accident at sea…