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Fire at Thai port contained, over 130 taken to hospital
Flames ripped through a load of cargo, including chemicals, in Thailand's eastern Laem Chabang port on Saturday (May 25), forcing officials to evacuate workers and temporarily close three piers, authorities said.
More than 130 people were taken to hospital, some complaining of irritation in the eyes and throat, others of a burning sensation on the skin, but there were no major injuries, according to the Ministry of Public Health.
Red flames and clouds of thick black and white smoke poured out of the South Korean container ship KMTC Hongkong Co through the morning and early afternoon at pier A2, port director Yuthana Mokkao told Reuters.
Initial checks showed the blaze broke out in a load of cargo containing the chemical calcium hypochlorite, he said.
"We closed the pier where the fire broke out and two others that were affected by the fire."
The fire at the port in the industrial Chonburi province, east of Bangkok, had now been contained and officials were looking for the cause, he added.
HMM hopes for bright future with new corporate identity
South Korean shipping company HMM has launched a new corporate identity (CI), or logo if you will, which it says reflects its vision and ambition for a bright future.
The new logo as seen on the bow of a ship (on the left), and in its corporate colours (below), apparently features the pride of being Korea’s national flagship carrier and an intuitive grasp of the shipping business.
While we can see how “the blue HMM letter embodies the shape of the front of a large ship crossing the ocean” – indeed the logo does work rather well on the bow of a ship. We are somewhat more bemused how the sharp dip in a red straight line represents “the rising sun on the horizon where the ship is sailing”. Given shipping businesses unfortunate tendency to lose money it does look a bit like a red line showing losses with a sharp dip.
HMM ceo Jae-hoon Bae said, "It is memorable and meaningful for HMM to introduce its new CI today, which is expected to elevate the brand equity and value of the company.
“Based on the strong dedication and willpower that all employees have demonstrated, HMM will make a fresh resolution to become a global top-rated carrier in 2022.”
These ambitions are underscored by target set last October to expand its fleet to 1m teu and post $10bn annual revenue by 2022.
ZIM Cuts Net Loss in Tough Business Environment
Israeli shipping company ZIM managed to shrink its net loss in the first quarter of the year.
According to the company’s financial report, net loss was USD 24.3 million for the period ended March 31, 2019, compared to a net loss of USD 34.1 million in the first quarter of 2018.
Revenues reached USD 796.2 million in the first quarter of 2019, reflecting an increase of 6% compared to USD 751.4 million reported in the same period a year earlier. Volumes were also up by 4.3% at 668 thousand TEUs in the period.
“ZIM continues to pursue its strategic goals, and the Q1 2019 results reflect an improvement, achieved against a backdrop of challenging market conditions,” Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO, said.
Since the fourth quarter of 2017 and until the second quarter of 2018, freight rates have decreased while bunker prices, as well as charter rates, increased, negatively affecting the industry as a whole.
In the second half of 2018, freight rates started to recover, with a slight decrease during the first quarter of 2019, while bunker prices remained highly volatile.
Confronted with tough business environment, ZIM continued to record improvements and to introduce new services to its customers.
In September 2018, the company launched its strategic operational cooperation with the 2M Alliance in several lines between Asia and the US East-Coast. During the first quarter of 2019 such cooperation was further extended also in two additional trades: Asia – East Mediterranean and Asia – American Pacific Northwest.
“This cooperation is expected to create additional cost efficiencies, while enabling significantly upgraded service levels to our customers,” Glickman added.
CMA CGM orders container trackers
Shipping line orders additional “smart container” equipment from Traxens that allows shippers to monitor cargo.
CMA CGM said it has ordered 50,000 Traxens trackers, increasing its offering of “connected containers.”
Traxens sells trackers that allow shippers to trace shipments, monitoring location, temperature, shocks and when the doors are opened.
CMA CGM is an investor in Traxens and after testing the equipment for several years launched use of the equipment commercially in 2018.
Traxens said MSC committed last October to equipping 50,000 dry cargo containers with its equipment. It said it also has signed dozens of contracts with beneficial cargo owners and in March partnered with SNCF Logistics on real-time tracking of 5,000 rail wagons carrying traditional freight containers equipped with Traxens’ smart container technology on their way from France to China.
Global container port volume growth forecast cut to 2.5% for 2019: Alphaliner
Weak container volumes in the first quarter have seen analyst Alphaliner cut its global container throughput growth forecast for 2019 to 2.5% from 3.6%.
A survey of the Q1 figures more than 250 ports globally by Alphaliner showed volume growth of just 2.8%, which compares to 6.6% growth in the same quarter a year earlier and 4.7% in the final quarter of 2018.
“Weakening throughput growth in the year’s first quarter, and the expected decline in transpacific volumes as a result of an escalating US - China trade war, have weighed on full-year projections for container volume growth,” the analyst said in its weekly report.
The 2.5% growth projection for 2018 is significantly slower than the 6.7% growth in container volumes seen in 2017 and 5.2% in 2018.
The report noted that growth was uneven and the regions experienced a drop in volumes with Middle East port volumes falling by 10.1%, while Africa and Oceania volumes fell by 4.4% and 1.1% respectively.
“The weakness in Middle East volumes was caused by a 57% drop in containers handled at Iranian ports, while the transhipment hubs of Jebel Ali and Salalah also recorded declines of 9% and 12%, respectively,” the report said.
The African region was hit a by a 16% drop in volumes at South African ports and in Oceania the ports of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle all reported negative volume growth.
On a more positive trajectory Chinese ports, including Hong Kong reported 4.2% container volume growth in Q1 and North American ports 4.8%. However, the outlook is not so bright.
“The escalation of the trade war between China and the US is expected to bring down container volume growth rates in both countries over the coming quarters,” Alphaliner said.
Evergreen Container Ship Makes Record Transit Through Panama Canal
The Panama Canal completed a trial transit of Evergreen’s Triton, the largest vessel in dimension and container cargo capacity to pass through the Expanded Canal on Wednesday.
The Neopanamax container ship has a total TEU Allowance (TTA) of 15,313, a 20-row beam of 51.2 meters (168 feet) and a length of 369 meters (1,211 feet), and she transited northbound from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.
The transit surpassed the 15,000-TEU vessel threshold, establishing a new record in terms of total TEU capacity and exceeding the waterway's established maximum vessel length of 366 meters (1,201 feet).
Similar to the milestone Q-Flex transit completed on May 12, the transit was made possible by an increase to the maximum allowable beam for vessels transiting the Neopanamax Locks. Beginning in June 2018, the Canal increased the allowable beam from 49 meters (161 feet) to 51.25 meters (168 feet) due to the team’s experience gained from successfully operating the Expanded Canal for almost three years.
The Triton is deployed on Evergreen’s Far East – United States East Coast (AUE) service as part of the OCEAN Alliance network, which connects Asia and U.S. East Coast ports via the Panama Canal. The AUE service is comprised of 11 vessels ranging in size from 8,000 to 14,000 TEUs. The Alliance includes China COSCO Shipping, Orient Overseas Container Lines (OOCL), CMA CGM Group and Evergreen, which are among the Panama Canal's top customers by volume.
The record for largest container ship to transit the Canal by capacity was set on August 22, 2017 by the CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, which measures 365.96 meters (1,201 feet) in length and 48.252 meters (158 feet) in beam and had a 14,863 TTA.
Of the 6,000 Neopanamax vessels that have transited to date, nearly 50 percent have been from the container segment.
Source: World Maritime News, American Shipper, Straits Times, Maritime Executives
