To accommodate the growing demands of importers and exporters on both sides of the Atlantic, Maersk Line announced expansion of its service offerings with new direct service to Montreal and Halifax, with integrated transshipment options in Algeciras and Valencia via Maersk’s APM Terminals. (more…)
Commenting on the new Maersk Line string, Halterm CEO & Managing Director Kim Holtermand noted: “At Halterm we are investing to meet the demands of all our customers. Maersk Line is the largest ocean carrier in the world, and it is a customer that we know well from years of service and a close working relationship. We are delighted that Maersk Line has selected Halterm as the base in Eastern Canada for its expanded Europe service offerings.”
With five ship-to-shore cranes offering container handling on vessels up to 22-wide and no navigational restrictions, Halterm International Container Terminal offers shippers and carriers efficient export connections from the U.S. Midwest, Toronto, Montreal and across the Atlantic Provinces. The terminal is in the middle of a $10 million expansion of its container and reefer handling capabilities, with increased reefer capacity now on-line and one of three new Rubber-Tired Gantry cranes (RTG) already delivered. The remaining two RTGs are expected to be delivered in October 2018, allowing Halterm to stack containers five-high across import and export zones – an effective increase in yard capacity of 60,000 TEUs, up 40 per cent overall.
By Mike Wackett
Container lessors are enjoying a purple patch, as demand remains strong, driven by solid growth in global container trades and shipping lines opting to hire equipment rather than buy. (more…)
By Mike Wackett
An acute shortage in the availability of charter tonnage could force carriers to shelve their plans to launch new liner services this summer. And a big hike in daily hire rates for container ships that do become available, combined with spiralling fuel prices, will force a rethink on the economics of the planned new and enhanced ventures. In particular, the hitherto workhorses of new service links, the classic panamax ships of 4,000-5,300 TEUs are “virtually sold out” according to the latest report from Alphaliner. (more…)
By Alexander Whiteman
The Asia-Pacific region will take an even bigger share of the global contract logistics market, as the developed economies of Europe and the U.S. lose ground. According to Ti’s Global Contract Logistics 2018 report, contract logistics providers in Asia-Pacific will see their market share increase by almost 7 per cent in the next four years, with China the big winner. “China’s contract logistics market continues to expand at an unrelenting pace, with a 2017 real growth rate of 13.7 per cent,” says the report. (more…)
By Mike Wackett
Investors are increasingly concerned that, with only 18 months to go until IMO’s 0.5 per cent sulphur cap regulations, container lines still have no clear strategy on how they will comply, and how the change will be paid for. This ‘wait and see’ approach is regarded as a red flag by investors who worry that the lines will stumble into the default solution, in January 2020, of burning the 50 per cent-more-expensive low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) in their ships without proper compensation. (more…)