by Canadian Sailings | Mar 5, 2019 | Brian Dunn, Corporate events & profiles, Featured, Ocean, Ocean Carriers, Other, Safety and Security
By Brian Dunn
The cost of hijacking and corruption
In the film Captain Phillips based on the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the character played by Tom Hanks is taken hostage for a ransom that was never paid after a tense standoff. Maersk Alabama was also the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
While hijacking is clearly the most dangerous type of situation facing shipping companies in some parts of the world, there are less severe incidents which still have to be dealt with on a daily basis. One of the most common is bribes to officials at certain ports who can make life difficult and costly if shippers don’t cooperate. (more…)
by Canadian Sailings | Mar 5, 2019 | Ocean, Ocean Carriers, Other, Other Stories, Shipbuilding and Repair, Tom Peters
By Tom Peters
The sleek new container vessel Tropic Hope made its inaugural call to the port of Halifax in January, launching a new era for niche carrier Tropical Shipping.
Tropical Shipping, headquartered in Florida, moved its sailing service to Halifax from Saint John in January 2017 and operates weekly between the Nova Scotia port and Palm Beach, Florida, as well as to Puerto Rico, the Eastern Caribbean and the Virgin Islands. The line calls Halifax’s South End terminal, operated by Halterm, moving between 40,000 and 50,000 TEUs annually. Tropical is the premiere carrier for temperature controlled cargo in the Caribbean, said Gordon Cole, Tropical’s Assistant Vice-President in Saint John. The shipping line maintains its administrative offices and a staff of 22 in the New Brunswick city. The carrier transports products such as french fries and other foods to the Caribbean, and returns with pharmaceuticals and other products. (more…)
by Canadian Sailings | Dec 12, 2018 | Ocean, Ocean Carriers, Other
By Mike Wackett
Hapag-Lloyd has rolled out its plans for recovering the extra cost of compliance with IMO’s 0.5 per cent sulphur cap for shipping, which comes into force in less than 15 months. It no doubt hopes its proposals will be better received by customers than those of its rivals – slammed by suspicious shippers as “lacking transparency” and “blatant profiteering”. (more…)
by Canadian Sailings | Dec 12, 2018 | Business and Economy, Environment, Ocean, Ocean Carriers, Other
By Sam Whelan, Asia correspondent
IMO’s 0.5 per cent sulphur fuel cap will cause an “existential crisis” for container carriers, unless they can pass on the added bunker costs to shippers. APL Chief Executive Nicolas Sartini said carriers had little choice but to opt for considerably more expensive low-sulphur fuel from January 2020, since the alternatives – using LNG or fitting ships with scrubbers – were not viable short-term solutions. “We are 100 per cent behind the regulation as it’s good for the environment,” he told delegates at the TPM Asia conference in Shenzhen in early October. “The problem is the new fuel cost is between $250 and $350 per tonne more expensive than the fuel we buy today.” (more…)
by Canadian Sailings | Dec 12, 2018 | Environment, Ocean, Ocean Carriers, Other
By Alexander Whiteman
Mandatory speed limits could be shipping lines’ best hope of achieving the IMO’s 2030 emissions reduction targets. Shipping officer for lobby group Transport & Environment, Faig Abbasov, told The Loadstar slow-steaming could “single-handedly” achieve the target. “We’re proposing mandatory limits, based on ship type,” said Mr. Abbasov, speaking on the sidelines of the Marine and Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73) in London. “Furthermore, our slow-steaming initiative is based on an annual average rather than per individual journey, meaning priority shipments could travel at a faster rate.” (more…)
by Canadian Sailings | Dec 12, 2018 | Ocean, Ocean Carriers, Other
By Mike Wackett
OOCL plans to begin the switch to low-sulphur fuel for its fleet of around 100 container vessels during the second half of next year, in readiness for compliance with IMO 2020.
Unlike some of its peers, the carrier has made no reference to scrubber technology that would enable vessels to continue to burn cheaper heavy fuel oil (HFO) from 1 January 2020 when the 0.5 per cent sulphur cap becomes law. The Cosco subsidiary said it had estimated the extra cost of compliance with IMO 2020 for its vessels could be more than “half a billion dollars”. (more…)
