Sealand Express Solutions, Inc.

25/07/2015

JAPANESE shipping giant MOL will levy a rate increase on cargo from Asia (excluding Malaysia and India) to Mexico and the west coast of South America from August 15.

MOL to levy $750/TEU Asia-WC Latin America rate hike August 15
JAPANESE shipping giant MOL will levy a rate increase on cargo from Asia (excluding Malaysia and India) to Mexico and the west coast of South America from August 15.

The increase will be US$750 per TEU and US$1,500 per FEU. Should you require further information, customers are advised to contact the customer service team.

25/07/2015

Shippers, stakeholders hail President Aquino's liberalising Philippines cabotage law.

Shippers, stakeholders hail Aquino's liberalising Philippines cabotage law

25/07/2015

Manila yards half full and ready for action, port authority says

The two terminals in Manila that experienced chronic congestion for much of last year are currently just over half utilized and ready for the peak season, according to the Philippine Ports Authority.

28/03/2015

Germanwings Co-Pilot Was Unfit to Work on Day of Plane Crash

(Bloomberg) -- The Germanwings co-pilot believed to have deliberately steered a plane into the French Alps had a note from his doctor certifying him unfit to work on the day of the crash that he never passed on to his employer.

The note was among torn-up medical documents found during police searches of Andreas Lubitz’s Dusseldorf apartment and his parents’ house about 140 kilometers (87 miles) away, the prosecutors office leading the German probe said Friday.

Investigators are increasingly focusing on the 27-year-old’s health in trying to understand why he appears to have intentionally driven Germanwings Flight 9525 into a French mountainside on Tuesday, killing himself and 149 passengers and crew. A person close to the probe said Friday that he suffered from an unspecified mental illness.

“Witness questioning on the matter and analysis of medical records will still take a few days,” Ralf Herrenbrueck, spokesman for the Dusseldorf prosecutors, said in a statement. “As soon as we have reliable findings, we will further inform relatives and the public.”

28/03/2015

Shipowners see market swinging in carriers' favor by 2016

NEW YORK — Shipowners that charter out container ships to liner operators are optimistic that the container shipping market is turning around and that charter rates for their vessels will increase as shipping lines turn to them to fill a gap between supply and demand that will start to open up in 2016 and after.

A panel of independent shipowners forecast that the combination of continuing global economic growth and declining delivery of new ships next year means that vessel supply and demand will come into balance and create more demand and thus higher charter rates for their assets.

“We are going to see a re-acceleration of trade over the next two years and given the fact that the orderbook now is at 18 percent of the global fleet compared to 50 percent in 2009, we believe that demand is going to outstrip growth and that we are going to have opportunities going forward to have pricing increases and a tighter overall market,” Charles Lupinski, senior analyst at Global Hunter Securities, said at the 9th Annual Capital Link International Shipping & Offshore Forum in New York on Monday.

He said liner shipping companies are turning to the charter markets to fulfill their needs for new, more fuel-efficient and cost-effective container ships. “The liner companies want to preserve their capital for things like terminals” he said.

More than half of the fleets operated by the top 20 container lines is chartered, according to Alphaliner, he said.

A panel of four independent shipowners told the forum that demand for newer charter vessels is picking up while ship operators are managing to control capacity through slow-steaming and alliances.

The outlook for better returns on capital invested in new container ships is being enhanced by low oil prices, said Dr. Herman Klein, president of the German Society for Maritime Technology, who next month will become chief operating officer of Offen Ship, a German charterer with a fleet of 100 container ships, bulkers and product tankers.

“Lots of offshore projects are on hold, so the major shipyards of the world are hungry for new orders and this might lead to lower prices for new container vessels,” he said.

Sai Chu, chief financial officer of SeaSpan, the largest independent charter container ship owner, said new ship orders are currently at the lowest levels they have been in 10 years. “The liners have been working together to rationalize supply, and there is an interest in large ships, so broadly we see a well-balanced orderbook with industry fundamentals improving, which we expect to continue going forward” he said. “So our forecast is for an improving environment for the industry and ultimately it’s a good place for container ship owners to be.”

The container ship market this year is expected to progress much as it last year, but will show marked improvement next year, as new ship deliveries slow. “We see an improving market, not so much within this year, but more within next year,” said Aristides Pittas, chairman and chief executive of Euroseas, which owns a fleet of dry bulk and container ships.

“Overall in 2016, when new ship deliveries will only be a bit more than half of what they will be this year, we think there will be a very good market. And demand is sure to be good enough, so our best case calls for a not too surprisingly good market in 2015. And 2016 should be great, but this is shipping and anything can happen,” Pittas said.

Evangelos Chatzis, CFO of Danaos Corp., a Greek company that owns 56 container ships, said 2015 will be stable, but that next year, “on the back of the slow year in ordering in 2014, we will not have as many ships in the water so demand will outpace supply in 2016.”

Chatzis said Danaos is buying new ships with capacities of ships of 18,000-20,000 20-foot container units, but only with contracts sfor long-term charters in place. “You cannot go wrong acquiring ships at historically low prices.” He said it was ordering medium-sized ships in the 16,0000-TEU range with shorter-term charters in place.

Global demand is likely to grow faster on the north-south trade lanes than on the east-west trades, Klein said. The growth is trade will not necessarily lean that we will see more vessels on these trades, but that we will see a higher utilization and this will come from well-organized alliances,” he said.

The outlook for container ship charter rates comes as container carriers are gradually improving their financials, the consulting firm AlixPartners said in a recent presentation

27/03/2015

Andreas Lubitz: the ‘perfectly normal' young co-pilot who killed 150 people

Neighbours and friends struggle to explain actions of Germanwings first officer believed to have deliberately crashed Airbus 320 in French Alps

27/03/2015

Live: Post Germanwings air crash, airlines say 2 crew members must in cockpit at all times

An Airbus A320 belonging to Germanwings has crashed in the southern French Alps, a security source has told AFP, adding that there were about 142 passengers and six crew on board.

27/03/2015

No slowdown as data shows solid Asia-Pacific air cargo growth

HONG KONG — Air freight carried by Asian carriers grew by a solid 12.8 percent in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2014, according to data from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

The pre-lunar new year shipment rush was early this year, with freight activity picking up in late January and the first half of February. But even though the comparisons were skewed, international air cargo demand registered a hefty 20.5 percent jump in February year-over-year.

“Air freight demand achieved an impressive 12.8 percent increase during the two month period, with robust demand for Asian exports, particularly to North America, where the recent port dispute affected some maritime shipping operations,” said Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general.

The solid February growth in demand outpaced a 12.6 percent increase in offered freight capacity, resulting in a 4.2 percent increase in the average international freight load factor to 65.2 percent, giving a welcome boost to carrier profitability.

"The demand outlook for Asian carriers remains broadly positive, supported by the benefits of lower oil prices,” Herdman said. But he warned that airlines in the region were are having to carefully match capacity growth with actual demand, all the while coping with the effects of increased currency volatility that was affecting both costs and revenues.

One of the carriers benefiting from the improving air freight market is Cathay Pacific, the world’s largest cargo carrier. The airline and its sister carrier Dragonair carried almost 30 percent more cargo in February than during the same month last year, and even added capacity to cope with the lunar new year surge in demand.

In the first two months of the year, tonnage at Cathay Pacific and Dragonair rose by 19.6 percent against a capacity increase of 16 percent and a 24.5 percent rise in revenue ton kilometres. Again, it was the North American demand that drove the cargo business.

Cathay Pacific general manager cargo sales and marketing Mark Sutch said the high year-over-year tonnage growth reflected the overall improvement in the world’s air cargo markets compared to early 2014, along with extra capacity added by Cathay Pacific in response to the increase in demand.

“February’s figures were spurred by a surge in exports prior to mainland factories shutting down for the Chinese New Year holidays. Demand fell away over the holiday period, as expected, but saw quite a rapid pick-up, particularly on the North American lanes,” he said.

27/03/2015

HONG KONG's Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) will start building of Terminal D at Thailand's Laem Chabang Port within a year, the company said.

"We expect construction to begin within one year, pending completion of the internal planning process," Sanga Sanguansaksri, marketing manager, Hutchison Laemchabang Terminal told Seatrade Global.

Three of the four terminals at the main gateway for Thailand's imports and exports are 130 kilometres from Bangkok.

Hutchison is the largest operator at the port, with operations at Terminal A at sections A2 and A3, Terminal C at C1 and C2 and also has the concession to develop and operate Terminal D. It was granted six concessions at Laem Chabang by PAT in 2004.

Last year, Mr Sanguansaksri said throughput at Hutchison terminals in the port was two million TEU, for capacity utilisation of 77 per cent. Its Terminal C zones serve bigger ships with a draught of 16 metres.

Port officials said throughput hit 6.4 million TEU in 2014, on capacity of 9.1 million TEU but would rise to 10.8 million TEU with the addition of Terminal D.

With only 300 metres of quays and 400,000 TEU capacity, Terminal B4, run by TIPS Co Ltd, saw throughput of one million TEU.

With transshipments only one per cent of throughput, Laem Chabang is a gateway port that ranks as the world's 23rd busiest container port, with a throughput of 6.04 million TEU in 2013.

27/03/2015

THE extreme leftwing of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is urging members to reject the contract negotiated by the union leadership and demands more pay for less work.

The Transport Workers Solidarity Committee says the tentative contract gives employers "a free hand to automate without counter demands of shorter shifts tied to wage increases".

Said the committee's flyer: "Left unchecked, it will gut the ILWU's coastwide power and bury the last militant union in the US."

The union declined comment on the flyer, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce, adding that will hold a rally at 7 pm Tuesday March 31 outside of the international headquarters of the ILWU in San Francisco.

Full-time, unskilled and semi-skilled longshoremen earn an average US$147,000 a year more than double that of degree-holding resident doctors in hospitals, court prosecutors and senior FBI agents, who earn between $63,000 and $67,000 a year.

Citing the ILWU's "proud history of class struggle and the fight for democratic principles codified in the Ten Guiding Principles," the solidarity committee accused the ILWU leadership of flouting those principles, "using top-down control to direct longshore workers to cross picket lines and keep contract negotiations secret".

27/03/2015

THE Israel Ports Company has accepted the bid from the Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) to operate a new port in Haifa, reports IHS Maritime 360.

SIPG was awarded the government tender on March 23 to operate the new port for 25 years, which is expected to commence operations in 2021.

The ILS3.96 billion (US$1 billion) port is already under construction by Shapir Engineering and the Ashtrom group at a cost of and SIPG will put in another ILS1 billion before it opens.

Israel planned to build a rail line linking its Red Sea and Mediterranean ports that could handle potential overflow from the Suez Canal on the freight route between Asia and Europe. Once completed, Haifa Port will lie in the centre of this freight route, said the IHS report.

SIPG beat out the Dutch company Til, Germany's Eurogate and Manila-based ICTS.

The largest port in Israel, Haifa handled 26 million tonnes, including 1.36 million TEU in 2013.

27/03/2015

Driver wage hikes could raise truckload pricing 12-18 percent

Hefty increases in truck driver wages will propel truckload rates higher in 2015 and beyond, potentially pushing pricing up by double digits, a transportation analyst warns. Truckload rates may need to rise as much as 12 to 18 percent to pay for higher driver wages.

“While our current earnings models assume low-to-mid-single-digit (truckload) price increases over the next couple of years, we would like to point out these estimates will likely be proven wrong,” David G. Ross, a managing director at the Stifel Transportation and Logistics Research Group in Baltimore, said March 24 in a note to investors.

The reason? Truckload carriers will need to raise driver pay substantially to attract the type of qualified candidates needed to haul freight. On top of that, a host of new driver-related regulations will make hiring truck drivers harder, and more expensive.

“The risk in the upcoming increasingly difficult regulatory environment is to the upside on pricing, meaning we believe it is much more likely shippers face double-digit rate increases over the next few years (absent a freight recession) than see annual rate increases lower than we are baking into carrier earnings models,” Ross told investors.

“The biggest cost component for a truckload carrier is labor (which is primarily drivers), comprising anywhere from 25 percent to 35 percent of revenue,” Ross said. “Therefore, if we believe (truckload) driver wages need to go up approximately 50 percent to bring them in-line with the (wages paid in the) LTL market and attract significant new entrants, underlying pricing would need to rise 12 percent to 18 percent, all else equal, to fund these increases.”

Truckload driver wages began climbing significantly last summer, led by significant, often double-digit pay hikes at Swift Transportation, Schneider National and U.S. Xpress Enterprises. This week, refrigerated truckload carrier C.R. England raised driver pay for the fourth time since November, offering a 26 percent wage increase on average to experienced team drivers in its National and Western regions.

The latest driver wage hike at Salt Lake City-based C.R. England, effective March 19, followed pay increases as well as bonuses earlier this year for company and independent contractor driver trainers and solo company drivers in the Western fleet.

For-hire trucking companies nearly doubled their hiring rate last year, expanding payroll by 46,000 jobs, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The annualized growth rate in trucking employment rose from 1.5 percent in January 2014 to 3.5 percent this January, BLS data show. But carriers still struggle to find truck drivers and keep them.

Increasingly, the driver shortage and driver pay is a global problem. Trucking operators in the United Kingdom complain of a severe driver shortage, and they’re asking the British government for help. Low driver pay and low trucking rates have been factors in wildcat trucker strikes in Colombia and Brazil this year.

In the U.S., the American Trucking Associations estimates carriers are short about 35,000 drivers, a number the ATA warns could hit 100,000 as the economy expands.

Continued economic growth will create more trucking jobs but those jobs are likely to be even harder to fill. As the U.S. unemployment rate drops toward 5 percent in 2015, fewer hireable candidates — those who are drug-free and have good driving records — will be available for trucking companies to bring onboard. They’ll already be working elsewhere.

That will only serve to push driver pay and trucking rates higher, especially if U.S. wages overall begin to rise, as many economists anticipate. And that may finally narrow or even close the widening gap between the average truck driver wage and the average overall U.S. wage, a gap that widened from 1 percent in 2001 to nearly 12 percent in 2013.