Cosco Aqaba completes 20-ship delivery for Coscon 
China's Jiangsu New Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has delivered the 4,253 teu container ship Cosco Aqaba, which completes a series of 20 identical sisters that Coscon ordered in late 2007 and early 2008. However, the deliveries had been deferred due to the market situation. Cosco... more
ECSA and ETF call on EU for strategy to curb growing piracy
As the Gulf of Guinea develops into a new hot spot of piracy, the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) have called on the EU-toobox to address the growing problem. The organisations demand in a press statement... more
Everyone wants a piece of the cake 
The port of Singapore is the uncontested leader when it comes to regional container volumes, and also in terms of the transhipment of consignments destined for other parts of the world. Competitors from neighbouring countries such as Malaysia or Indonesia are currently working... more
MOL to launch biannual vessel safety campaign
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has announced the launch of its biannual safety campaign targeting all MOL-operated vessels, starting on 1 October. As part of this project, president Muto, executives and other personnel will concentrate their visits on MOL-operated vessels to meet... more
Alphaliner: Deeper capacity cuts on FE-Europe route needed
According to the analyst Alphaliner, freight rates on the Far East-North Europe route have halved in the past eight weeks, as carriers struggled to hang on to the rate gains attained in July. The SCFI spot rates to North Europe currently stand at USD 765 per teu, down from USD... more
Focus on cash control impacts ship operating costs
International accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens says total annual operating costs in the shipping industry fell by an average of 1.8% in 2012. This compares with the 2.1% average rise in costs recorded for the previous year. There was a significant reduction in... more
Ecu-Line aquires US company Econocaribe
The Belgian NVOCC Ecu-Line, part of Indian Allcargo Logistics, has acquired Econocaribe Consolidators, the third largest LCL consolidator (NVOCC) in the US. With its headquarters in Miami, Florida, Econocaribe has nine offices in the US and 22 receiving terminals throughout... more
Drewry: sailing cancellations to increase due to P3 wait
According to the English analyst Drewry, more sailing cancellations are on the way as the P3 alliance has yet to spell out its intentions in any detail, and competitors will be loathe to risk losing market share by taking more radical capacity reduction measures in the... more
Florida ports receive bonds to enhance infrastructure
Rick Scott, the governor of Florida, and the state cabinet have approved a budged of USD 150 million in bond proceeds to finance port projects across the state through the Seaport Investment Program. The majority of this money is to be used to prepare Florida's ports for... more
EU sets up forum to tackle sulphur compliance issues
The European Commission has announced the creation of the European Sustainable Shipping Forum (ESSF) to assess the progress towards complying with the IMO's 0.1% sulphur content in marine fuel, which is due to enter into force as of 1 January 2015 in the SECAs (Sulphur Emission... more