Cape Of Good Hope News

The last 12 months has seen values rise to near-record levels across several sectors of the shipping industry, fuelled by the post-covid shipping boom and a strong newbuild market.The report states that the newbuild market experienced continued growth, with a notable rise in orders, particularly in the Post/Panamax and Capesize sectors. Chinese dominance in both ordering and shipyard production remains a defining trend, further consolidating their position in the bulker industry.Container…

The operator Tug Malta has held a naming ceremony for its latest tug, Med Aldebaran, following its delivery from Damen’s shipyard in Vietnam.With more than 80 tonnes of bollard pull at its disposal, the tug of Damen RSD Tug 2513 type will add significant strength to the company’s operations in Malta’s Port of Marsaxlokk.The tug is a compact, maneuverable vessel combining elements of ASD and tractor tugs.The Med Aldebaran tug has been outfitted with a Damen Marine NOX Reduction System.

On December 4th, Tug Malta held a naming ceremony for its latest vessel, a Damen RSD Tug 2513, in Malta. During a celebration attended by the Prime Minister of Malta Robert Abela, the vessel was named Med Aldebaran.With more than 80 tonnes of bollard pull at its disposal, the new vessel will add significant strength to the company’s operations in Malta’s Port of Marsaxlokk. The RSD Tug 2513 is a compact, maneuverable vessel combining elements of ASD and tractor tugs to deliver an ‘always bow first’ approach to towage.

Hapag-Lloyd expects lower profitability in the fourth quarter but still at a "good level", after freight rates peaked in the third quarter, Rolf Habben Jansen, the CEO of the German shipping company, said at a press conference on Monday.Habben Jansen also expects disruptions in the Red Sea linked to Houthi militants to continue well into 2025, meaning that rerouting around Africa would continue.Hapag's nine-month net profit fell by 47% as diverting container ships around Africa…

Chevron Marine Lubricants has extended its global supply capacity to include Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to serve vessels avoiding current conflict areas.Chevron’s current range of marine engine lubricants, including the Taro Ultra range, will be available to ships calling at the multi-cargo port which is located on the western perimeter of Algoa Bay.The port is operational 363 days a year. In addition to bulk and container handling, Port Elizabeth has a berth for liquid cargo operations.Prior to 2023, records indicate an average of 1,050 visiting vessels over a 36-month period.

A.P. Moller-Maersk expects strong demand for shipping goods around the globe to continue in the coming months, though does not expect to resume sailing through the Suez Canal until "well into 2025".Attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by Iran-aligned Houthi militants have disrupted a shipping route vital to east-west trade, with prolonged re-routing of shipments pushing freight rates higher and causing congestion in Asian and European ports."There are no signs of de-escalation and it is not safe for our vessels or personnel to go there ...

The ongoing impact of conflict in the Red Sea, spiraling freight rates and congestion across global ocean container supply chains resulted in record high carbon emissions from the ocean container shipping industry in Q3.The Xeneta and Marine Benchmark Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), which measures carbon emissions across Xeneta’s top 13 ocean container shipping trades, hit 107.9 points in Q3 – the highest on record and up 12.2% compared to a year ago before the Red Sea crisis.The CEI is based on Q1 2018…

Liquefied natural gas shipping rates have hit multi-year lows and may extend losses going into 2025, analysts and shipping sources said, with new tankers being added at a faster rate than LNG production is rising and spot demand still tepid.New LNG tankers, built in anticipation of rising U.S. exports after a plunge in Russian gas supplies to Europe in 2022, are coming online earlier than liquefaction projects, which have been delayed amid inflation from strong wage growth and a shortage of skilled labour and equipment.With more ships expected to come…

International shipping company Hapag-Lloyd raised its full-year earnings guidance on Thursday citing stronger-than-expected demand and higher freight rates.Despite increased expenses from the diversion of vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, Hapag-Lloyd says it now expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2024 of between $4.6 billion and $5 billion, up from previous guidance of $3.5 billion to $4.6 billion.However, given very volatile freight rates and major geopolitical challenges…

The two people leading Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk into the new Gemini Cooperation spoke at the Xeneta Summit in Amsterdam last week expressing confidence in the new alliance achieving its ambition of 90% service reliability.The Gemini Cooperation will begin operating on February 1 next year, with a new hub and spoke approach of mainliner and transshipment services designed to increase reliability.Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, and Kenni Skotte, Vice President and Head of Ocean Network Product at Maersk…

Ships carrying Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia are returning to the longer routes around Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than those along the Arctic shore as the winter season begins, LSEG data showed on Thursday.Russia's new Arctic LNG 2 project also lacks enough ice-class gas carriers to continue navigation along the Northern Sea Route, although some such tankers still sail it.According to LSEG data, the conventional gas tanker LNG Megrez loaded at Yamal LNG plant on Oct. 2 and started its voyage around Africa to Asia with arrival set for Nov.

BIMCO has released its Container Shipping Market Overview & Outlook September 2024 with Niels Rasmussen, BIMCO’s Chief Shipping Analyst, highlighting that the disruption caused by ships being rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope remains the key ship demand driver.As a result, ship demand is forecast to grow three times faster than cargo volumes in 2024. Without it, ship supply would have grown faster than ship demand but instead BIMCO expects that the supply/demand balance will on average be tighter during 2024 than during 2023.“During the second half of 2024…

In February 2025, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will launch their Gemini Cooperation aimed at delivering a flexible and interconnected ocean network with schedule reliability above 90% once fully phased in.The companies unveiled the concept in January 2024 and have been working on finalizing the details of a joint ocean freight network on East-West trades. Depending on which network the cooperation will phase in, the new network will consist of either 300 or 340 vessels:Trans-Suez Network: Approx.

Fuel oil exports bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast slumped to their lowest level since January 2019 last month, a sign of weakened refinery demand as margins have softened, analysts said.Feedstocks like high sulfur fuel oil and other heavy residues can be refined into higher value products such as gasoline and diesel using secondary units.But loadings of those products to the Gulf Coast, America's largest refining hub, fell by a third in August from the prior month to 260,000 barrels per day (bpd)…

Niels Rasmussen, BIMCO’s Chief Shipping Analyst, predicts a stronger 2024 than 2023 for crude and product tankers.This is despite weaker cargo volumes during the first half of the year.The BIMCO Tanker Shipping Market Overview & Outlook August 2024 states that muted fleet and supply growth in both markets during 2024 is a key enabler for the relatively significant strengthening of the supply/demand balance predicted.Longer sailing distances due to rerouting of many ships via the Cape of Good Hope help ensure strong tonne miles and demand growth in 2024 even if cargo volume growth is limited.

The containership CMA CGM Belem has arrived safely at anchorage in the Port of Ngqurha after losing nearly 100 containers in heavy seas off the coast of South Africa.The Maltese-flagged vessel suffered a significant stow collapse and a loss of 99 containers overboard while encountering severe weather off the coast of Richards Bay on the night of August 15, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) said.The 336-meter-long vessel had initially sought refuge at Maputo Bay but was redirected to Gqeberha…

Oman's Salalah port reported a 16% decline in container volumes in the first half of the year as ships reroute around the southern tip of Africa to avoid missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea.The port, which is Oman's closest to the border with Yemen, handled 1.679 million shipping containers in the six months to June 30, compared with 1.999 million a year earlier, Salalah Port Services Co said on Thursday.Shipping lines that are avoiding the Red Sea area bypass the route where Salalah is located…

Dubai-owned DP World reported a 59% drop in first-half profit on Thursday as the ports and logistics company grappled with shipping disruptions in the Red Sea as tensions flare in the Middle East due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.Missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea since October by Yemen's Houthi militants, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war, have forced many ocean freight firms to re-route vessels away from the Suez Canal to…

The BIMCO Dry Bulk Shipping Market Overview & Outlook July 2024 by Niels Rasmussen, BIMCO’s Chief Shipping Analyst, anticipates that the supply/demand balance will strengthen in 2024 but weaken in 2025.Supply is estimated to grow by 3-4% in 2024 and 1.5-2.5% in 2025, while demand is projected to grow by 4.5-5.5% in 2024 and weaken by 1-2% in 2025.Freight rates are expected to stay strong during the rest of 2024, but demand could ease amid high inventories among importers. Freight rates are expected to weaken in 2025…

The ocean container shipping market reached a tipping point in July, with long term rates on major fronthaul trades showing signs of life just as spiraling short term rates begin to soften.The Xeneta Global XSI®, which covers all valid long term contracts in the market, edged up 2.5% in July to stand at 151.5 points.More notably, the underlying XSI® sub-index for Far East Exports – which includes the world’s biggest fronthaul trades to Europe and the US - increased 12.6% in July…

The maritime industry is seeing significant fleet growth in the containership sector as the volume of newbuild deliveries eclipses previous highs.“Since the beginning of the year, the capacity of the containership fleet has increased by 1.6 million TEU. Compared to one year ago, the capacity has risen 11% to 29.5 million TEU, the fastest fleet growth in 15 years,” said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO.During the first half of 2024, a total of 264 ships with a combined capacity of 1.6 million TEU have been delivered from shipyards…

The dramatic spike in the ocean freight container shipping market is reaching its peak as importers push back against spiraling spot rates.Data released by Xeneta today, Monday, shows average spot rates from the Far East to US East Coast increased by 3.7% on July 15 to stand at USD 10,045 per FEU (40ft equivalent shipping container). Into the US West Coast, spot rates increased by 2.0% to stand at USD 8,045 per FEU.While this means spot rates are up almost 150% on these trades since the end of April…

Global demand for ocean freight container shipping hit an all-time record in May amid soaring spot rates and severe port congestion.The 15.94m TEU transported by ocean in May beats the previous record of 15.72m TEU set in May 2021, according to data released by Xeneta and Container Trades Statistics.The record levels of demand in May brings year-to-date volumes to just under 74m TEU, which is an increase of 7.5% compared to the first five months of 2023.Emily Stausbøll, Xeneta Senior Shipping Analyst…