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ONE Apus Sets High-Tech Standards at Port of NY & NJ
The 2019-built boxship ONE Apus became one of the most high-tech ships to enter the Port of New York and New Jersey as it arrived at the Bayonne container terminal on its maiden voyage.
Built by Japan Marine United, it is the first ship to employ dual-rating system technology in its main diesel engine, a technology that facilitates flexibility in operations and boosts fuel efficiency to help reduce greenhouse gases.
ONE Apus, and the entire ONE shipping line, are part of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Clean Vessel Incentive program. The program provides financial incentives to encourage operators, charters, and agents of ocean-going vessels calling at port authority marine terminals to make engine, fuel, and technology enhancements.
The boxship is deployed on the East Coast 4 (EC4) service (Asia to US East Coast), under the Transport High Efficiency Alliance (THEA), making eastbound calls at Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cai Mep, Singapore, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston and westbound stops at New York, Singapore, and Kaohsiung.
ONE Apus is the sixth in a series of seven newly built 14,000-TEU magenta containerships.
ONE bringing some color to rail freight
Ocean Network Express’ (ONE) bright magenta vessels are starting to become a common sight on the high seas, and the distinctive branding is now making its way to the world of rail.
UK rail operator Freightliner Group posted pictures on its Twitter account of its newly painted locomotive 66868 named after ONE’s tagline “As one we can”.
Far from the usual dark hues that locomotives are usually the newly painted one looks distinctly pink, or magenta. It certainly should brighten up Britain’s rail freight network, and Freightliner said it was a “fantastic symbol of our continued partnership”.
APL fleet achieves 47% reduction in carbon emissions since 2009
Container carrier APL announced that its fleet has achieved a 47.4% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per container transported per kilometer in 2018, compared to its base level in 2009.
The result follows the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) of APL’s 2018 CO2 emission data by the global non-profit organization Business for Social Responsibility’s (BSR) Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG).
The Clean Cargo EPA data was verified by Lloyd’s Register Group according to the Clean Cargo verification protocol and principles of ISO14064-3:2006 standard.
“As part of the CMA CGM Group, APL is firmly committed towards the protection of the environment and the reduction of its carbon footprint. Building upon the successful results we have achieved in this area, we are determined to persevere in our pursuits for excellence in sustainable shipping,” said Dennis Yee, APL global head for safety security and environment.
The latest APL fleet carbon emissions reduction result follows CMA CGM’s recent announcement on reinforcing its environmental objectives.
APL is aligned with CMA CGM’s ambitious commitment to reduce its CO2 emissions per container transported per kilometer by 30% between 2015 and 2025, after the group has achieved a 50% reduction between 2005 and 2015. APL said the emissions reduction is made possible by driving operational efficiencies, fleet and voyage optimization, as well as the deployment of fuel efficient vessels.
In view of the upcoming IMO 2020 global regulation on limiting fuel sulfur content to 0.5%, APL will use low-sulfur compliant fuels across its fleet, and deploy LNG-fueled ships. The carrier will take delivery of nine new 22,000-teu LNG-powered containerships from 2020 onwards.
In addition, APL vessels fitted with cold ironing devices use shore power while at berth in the US West Coast ports, and in China’s Yantian after a successful pilot with the port.
By the end of 2018, Cosco Shipping Lines operated 362 international and domestic shipping routes, consisting of 228 international services, including international feeder services, 47 domestic services, and 87 Yangtze river and Pearl river shipping services.
BIMCO forecasts weak container shipping demand
BIMCO - the largest of the international shipping associations representing ship owners has “low expectations for demand growth in 2019” for the container shipping industry, says Peter Sand, the chief shipping analyst at the Copenhagen-based trade organization. In a report released this week, he said he takes a protectionist’s approach to global trade. He also said that while U.S. buyers increased their imports in the last months of 2018 in an effort to avoid threatened tariffs, imports fell in the first two months of 2019 as inventories were full due to the front loading.
“The inventory-sales ratio increased to 1.47 in December 2018 from 1.43 in November and grew to 1.48 in February. This rising ratio indicates that inventories are growing faster than sales, reducing import prospects for containerized goods on the transpacific trade lane,” Sand said.
The peak season for container shipping is July to September for the Far East to Europe and North America trade lanes, said Sand, and “to get an early indication of how well the peak season on the long hauls in 2019 will perform, we watch the intra-Asian trades closely.”
He said BIMCO has “started to see some weakness. This is the downside risk for which we are watching out. “Intra-Asian volumes tend to peak before the long-haul volumes do, as many of the semi-finished goods are in transit to final production stages just before the peak export season out of Asia starts in July,” he said.
Global container volumes in the first quarter of 2019 were just 91,000 TEUs higher than they were in the same 2018 period, said Sand, and that 0.5% growth is “massively below those of earlier years, where the global demand in Q1 2017 grew by 6.6% and in Q1 2018 by 3.6%.”
The low rate of growth “is a critical issue for an industry used to much higher growth — double digits for many of the years between 1999 and 2007, growing by an average of 10.2%, and coming down to an average of 4.3% between 2012 and 2018,” he added.
Growth is not uniform. Exports from the Far East in the first quarter were up by just 64,000 TEUs (0.5%). But Sand said growth in trade from the Far East to Europe and North America were partially offset by lower volumes to the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East, and South and Central America from the Far East.
He said volumes on the intra-Asian trades fell during the first quarter by 0.2%.
“The drop is a sign of weakening volumes in the supply chains and, ultimately, the result of fewer new export orders received by Asian manufacturers in recent months — something that will impact outbound volumes in the coming months,” said Sand. “Fewer export orders mean less transport of semi-finished goods between the Asian countries. So the freight rates on intra-Asian routes going from Shanghai to Japan, Korea and Singapore are increasingly relevant to keep an eye on, to spot the knock-on effect on the regional semi-finished goods market — and they are mostly moving sideways or slowly in decline.”
Sand said 53 containerships have been ordered in 2019, with 14 having a capacity of between 11,000 and 15,000 TEUs and 39 with cargo capacity between 653 and 2,500 TEUs.
“Our forecast is now for the fleet to grow by 3.1% in 2019,” said Sand. “This would be the second-lowest fleet growth on record.”
Sand said, “At the beginning of the year, BIMCO expected a small amount of capacity to be demolished. That amount is now predicted to double — to 200,000 TEU — on the back of much weaker than expected freight rates across the board for the year so far.”
He noted, “Only smaller ships will leave the fleet, as the larger ships are still comparatively new. Even though the market may stay unprofitable, sentiment, more than freight rates, has improved enough to disincentivize owners from scrapping. Even a sluggish demand outlook will not cause massive scrapping.”
FDI attraction - highlight in Vietnam’s economic growth
Accordingly, Foreign Direct Investment continues to prosper with nearly 1,400 projects and a fresh capital of 6.5 billion USD, the highest in three recent years.
Vietnam’s FDI attraction has increased more than 38% in the amount of capital and 26% in the number of projects during the last 5 months.
Last month, the People’s Committee of Hai Phong and Japanese Minato Vietnam inaugurated a complex of two residential and commercial buildings in Hai Phong city with a total investment of 105 million USD.
So far this year, Quang Nam province has attracted 169 FDI projects totaling 5.6 billion USD. Last year alone, the province granted investment licenses to 26 FDI projects worth more than 300 million USD.
Quang Nam is currently leading in the Central and Central Highlands region and ranking 13th among 63 provinces and cities in FDI investment in Vietnam. The result is attributed to the province’s reformed policies on foreign investment attraction.
Tran Van Tan, Deputy Chairman of Quang Nam province People’s Committee, said “Quang Nam plans to address the difficulties and obstacles faced by enterprises in a variety of ways. We will drastically reform administrative procedures, improve the local investment and business environment in order to create the best conditions for businesses.”
Major investors from the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea and many European countries have poured money into processing, manufacturing, high-tech, and environmental projects.
With 42 projects and a total registered capital of nearly 5 billion USD, the Republic of Korea is leading in FDI attraction in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. The province has set out many practical measures to lure more Korean businesses, said Nguyen Anh Triet, Director of Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Industrial Park Management Board.
“The advantage of Korean investors in Ba Ria-Vung Tau is that they often make quick disbursement and use advanced technology. Korean enterprises often have large capital with efficient production and trading, proactively participate in the province’s export value chain, and comply with the laws on environmental protection. In addition, they have performed well in the transfer of registered capital into implemented capital as scheduled,” said Triet.
Over the past 30 years, Vietnam has continuously improved financial institutions and preferential policies to attract and better manage foreign investment resources. Financial incentives often focus on corporate income tax, import and export taxes, and land. Vietnam is reviewing its preferential policies on land to generate revenue for the state budget and attract foreign investment projects.
At a recent conference on foreign investment attraction, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said “We need more flexible measures in place, including non-financial considerations such as project duration, investment form, and use of experts to attract large projects from multinational corporations, especially those have their headquarters in Vietnam. It’s essential to strengthen the capacity of supervisors and inspectors to enhance tax management and prevent transfer pricing.”
By the end of last year, Vietnam had more than 27,000 FDI projects worth a total investment of 340 billion USD from 130 countries and territories. FDI projects contribute nearly 20% to the national GDP. Currently, FDI is contributing 70% of Vietnam's total annual exports, helping to create a foreign currency resource and becoming a main contributor to Vietnam's trade surplus.
Shanghai port container volumes up in May
China’s Shanghai port has handled higher container throughput in May compared to the year-ago period, according to Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG).
The world’s busiest container port recorded throughput of 3.76m teu in May, an increase of 3.6% compared to 3.63m teu in May 2018, data from SIPG showed.
Last month’s box volumes also rose by 4.2% on a month-on-month comparison.
From January to May this year, the Chinese port registered a total throughput of 17.78m teu, up 5.2% compared to 16.9m teu in the same period of last year.
Cosco Shipping Lines to launch Hainan – Yangon service
Cosco Shipping Lines, the container shipping arm of Cosco Shipping Group, is to launch a service from Yangpu in Hainan, China to Yangon, Myanmar on 18 June. Cosco Shipping Lines will deploy three 1,300 teu boxships on this service, connecting Yangpu, Singapore, Yangon and Pasir Gudang, Malaysia.
Monaco Maersk sets loaded containership record
The Monaco Maersk has set the record for a loaded container vessel with 19,284 teu onboard departing Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia. The load on the Monaco Maersk eclipsed the 19,190 teu on the MOL Tribune in February this year. While the largest containerships now have a nominal capacity in the 21,000 to 22,000 teu range the maximum loaded capacity is in reality considerably less. The second generation Triple E vessel Monaco Maersk has a nominal capacity of 20,568 teu. James Wroe, Maersk Asia Pacific head of liner operations, explained that the record load is the result of outstanding dedication and full focus from everyone to set up the right operational conditions.
Source: World Maritime News, Seatrade Maritime, American Shipper, VN Customsnews
