2M: The 2M alliance between Maersk Line and MSC cancelled its so-called Condor service connecting Asia and Europe, effective mid-September. The Condor service, which has a nominal weekly capacity of 9,500 TEU, ceased operation on 14th September and will be deployed as a seasonal service if there is sufficient demand. This line called at Southampton and will be replaced from October 2015 by 2M’s aE2/Swan service that employs the consortium’s largest ships including Maersk Line’s Triple-E vessels.

G6 Alliance: Poland’s Port of Gdansk handled its first g6 alliance-affiliated container ship, Hapag Lloyd’s 142,295gt/2013 built/13,167 TEU Hong Kong Express (above), on 11th August. The maiden call followed the announcement by g6 alliance to include Port of Gdansk in their Loop 7 port rotation, a weekly service calling at six European ports in the following rotation: Rotterdam, Hamburg, Gdansk, Gothenburg, Antwerp and Southampton, before crossing the Indian Ocean to Asia. In Asia, Loop 7 calls Qingdao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Yantian and Singapore. 

CMA CGM Group recorded a $156 million net profit for the quarter ended 30th June, up 66.7% compared to the $94m net profit in the second quarter of 2014, with greater volumes carried and a dip in unit costs helping offset a sharp fall in freight rates and industry overcapacity. Volumes carried during the second quarter increased by 6.2% year-on-year, to 3.3 million TEUs, compared to global market volume growth of between 1% and 2%. The company is currently expecting to take delivery of one 2,100 TEU vessel, one 9,300 TEU vessel, and two 18,000 TEU vessels, including the CMA CGM Bougainville (above), set to become the largest container ship sailing under the French flag. The latter was in fact delivered on 25th August and her name pays tribute to the French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, who led, as Captain, the first French official world tour in the 18th Century. The 400m long, 58m beam and 18,000 TEU capacity ship will call at Le Havre every 77days on the FAL service between Europe to Asia. From 10th August Tilbury’s London Container Terminal (LCT) has been a weekly call for CMA CGM’s Euraf1 service between Northern Europe and West Africa. The new service will provide competitive transit times allowing amongst other commodities, the export of banana reefer containers from West Africa to the UK. Six vessels with a capacity of 3,500 TEUs each will sail the following weekly rotation: Tilbury, Dunkerque, Antwerp, Le Havre, Montoir de Bretagne, Tanger Med, Algeciras, Dakar, Abidjan, Dakar, Algeciras, Tilbury.

COSCO Holdings Co., one of China’s biggest shipping companies, has agreed an order for 11 new container vessels built for $1.51 billion, as it seeks to cut costs. Six ships will be built by shipyards controlled by parent China ocean Shipping group Co. The balance will be built by units of China Shipbuilding industry Corp. and China State Shipbuilding Corp. The ships, to be delivered from 2018, will each have capacity of 19,000 TEU.

Deltamarin has unveiled the A.Delta.2300, a new containership reported to be the ‘best-in- class’ design in terms of cargo capacity, flexibility and fuel economy. The first state-of- the-art container ship of this series has recently been introduced by the company. The hull form ensures low resistance combined with high propulsion efficiency. Together with the ballast-free approach, this results in an increased utilisation rate of about 73% (1,700 TEU) of nominal container intake at scantling draught carrying a 14t TEU container. The daily main engine fuel oil consumption is decreased to 42 t/day at a 19-knot service speed resulting in superior fuel efficiency of 0.033t/TEU/day. A low deadweight per TEU ratio of less than 16 DWT/14t TEU is thus achieved, which is commonly gained only in larger container ships. This efficiency decreases the EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) value to approximately 37% below the IMO reference line. Optional features of this ship design include LNG readiness, a flexible number of reefer plugs, shaft generator PTO/PTI, scrubber/SCR implementation and gearless design as well as several ice classes.

Diana Containerships has said that the sale of one of its Panamax vessels, which was lined up in July, has fallen through. The 2001-built Cap Domingo was to be sold for $24.25m but the deal was subject to verification by the buyer’s board of directors no later than 4th September. This did not happen so the 3,739 TEU ship remains chartered to Rudolf A. Oetker KG. Six days later the 71,786gt/2008 built/6,500 TEU Rotterdam was delivered to Diana’s fleet with sister ship Hamburg to follow in November.

EIMSKIP (The Icelandic Steamship Company) has decided to cancel a container ship ordered at Chinese shipbuilder Rongsheng Shenfei. The vessel forms part of a contract signed in 2011 that entails construction of two 875 TEU container ships. The first vessel, the Lagarfoss (above), was delivered in June 2014 and has served the company well. However, the shipping company decided to scrap the second unit as there have been construction delays which are likely to continue. This ship was planned for delivery in the fourth quarter this year at the latest. Eimskip is to seek the refund of $13.1 million (plus interest) which the company has already paid in relation to the construction.

Evergreen has signed an order with Japanese shipbuilder Imabari Shipbuilding for ten 2,800 TEU Class B-type vessels, in addition to the order for ten similar vessels announced in August from CSBC in Taiwan. The first 211m ship is planned to be delivered during the first half of 2018 with the completion of the series due by the first half of 2019. All twenty new buildings are planned to be deployed in the intra-Asia trade. The company has also signed agreements with Shoei Kisen Kaisha, the ship owning arm of Imabari Shipbuilding group, to charter five 14,000 TEU container ships to be delivered in 2017 and eleven 18,000 TEU container ships to be delivered in 2018 and 2019.

Hapag-Lloyd’s merger with CSAV provided “significant” increases in volumes, cost savings and revenue in the first half of 2015, but average freight rates still fell compared to a year earlier. The line carried 3.7 million TEU in the first six months of 2015, up 29.4% compared to the same period in 2014, as Hapag-Lloyd recorded a profit of €157.2 million for the period compared to a loss of €173.3 million for the same sector of 2014.

Maersk Line’s second generation Triple-E ships ordered in early June will have a twin propulsion system, like their predecessors. at the time the contract was signed for 11 ships of 19,630 TEU, with options for a further six, final specifications were still being considered, with no decision at that stage on whether to have one or two engines. Of the 18,000 TEU class ships now in service or on order, Maersk is the only line to have chosen to go for a twin skeg design. The first generation of Triple-Es, ordered in 2011, with a capacity of 18,270 TEU, have now all been delivered. The next series, also being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, are slightly larger in terms of capacity at 19,630 TEU, although the dimensions will be the same, at 400m long with a 58.6m beam. They will enter service between 2017 and 2018. Two engines may require more maintenance, but each one is smaller and so more fuel efficient. In addition to the 19,630 TEU series Maersk Line has also ordered nine vessels of 14,000 TEU capacity to be delivered in 2017. The $1.1bn contract includes options for another eight vessels. Earlier in the year, Maersk ordered seven 3,600 TEU feeder vessels. The three orders placed so far this year are worth $3bn, while the group has allocated $15bn to be invested in Maersk Line over five years up to 2019. The money is to be spent on ships, retrofits, containers and other equipment. The carrier has also imposed a ban on shipments of calcium hypochlorite by certain vendors after a recent fire on board the 94,483gt/2006 built Maersk Seoul. Although it is not yet clear whether the explosion and subsequent blaze was caused by calcium hypochlorite, a bleaching and water-purifying agent, the company has taken action as a precaution. Several containers on the ship were destroyed in the fire in July as the Maersk Seoul passed the coast of Oman, forcing her to return to an anchorage off Jebel Ali. In the past, calcium hypochlorite fires have destroyed ships. In 1999, CMA Djakarta was badly damaged by fire thought to have been started by the chemical. Other notorious containership fires in recent years include those on the 4,400 TEU Hanjin Pennsylvania in 2002, Hyundai Fortune in 2008, and the 8,200 TEU Charlotte Maersk in 2010. The Hyundai Fortune and Hanjin Pennsylvania infernos were attributed to fireworks. The safety requirements were initially tightened after the Charlotte Maersk incident but increased further following the Maersk Seoul fire. The ban applies to certain vendors in India and China, because of the way the cargo is packed and the type of containers used. In early September Maersk announced that aE9 loop will be replaced by a seasonal service to improve capacity utilisation due to lower than expected demand. The Maersk group APM Terminals acquired Barcelona-based Grup Maritim TCB in early September which adds 11 terminals in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Turkey and Spain to APM Terminals’ portfolio. With this deal the APM Terminals global Terminal Network grows from 63 to 74 terminals in 40 countries across five continents. The 11 acquired terminals add 4.3 million TEU in capacity and 3.5 million TEU in estimated annual container volumes.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. has commenced demonstration tests of a new windshield for containerships, which has the potential to reduce wind resistance, save fuel, and reduce Co2 emissions. The new windshield was installed on the bow of the MOL Marvel (above), and a demonstration test of its effectiveness in reducing Co2 emissions is under way. The move was driven by the need to address the greater wind resistance arising from the increasing height of the containers loaded on the decks of today’s ever larger containerships. The shield is horseshoe shaped which encloses the front line of the stacked containers to maximize the wind resistance-reducing effect while minimising the weight of the main unit. The unit has enough design strength to meet the ClassNK rules concerning wave impact pressure. in addition, by obliquely setting the containers placed along the sides of the vessel behind the windshield, the sides of the vessel will be more streamlined, further reducing wind resistance. MOL expects an annual average reduction of 2% in Co2 emissions, assuming the device is mounted on a 6,700 TEU containership plying the North Pacific Ocean route at speed of 17 knots. The shield is also expected to protect ships from green water on the bow deck when sailing in bad weather.

MSC: on 21st August the import-Export Bank of China announced that it had signed a contract with British BCAP investments Holdings to provide $690m financing for the 10 new Panamax containerships that the buyer ordered at Jinhai Heavy industry and which will be later chartered to Mediterranean Shipping Co. This represents new financing for an upgrade to an order placed two years ago by Norway’s Sinoceanic Shipping and inked with the same shipbuilder. Sinoceanic ordered ten 8,800 TEU vessels at Jinhai in May 2013 for $81.2m per unit, scheduled for delivery between 2016 and 2017 but the new builds have been upsized to around 10,500 TEU at an estimated $90m apiece. On 27th August the 94,402gt/2014 built MSC Ajaccio summoned the assistance of the Spanish maritime salvage and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo to tow the 9,400 TEU container ship after she suffered problems with an oil pump west of Cap Finisterre and was drifting towards Cap Touriñán. The crew of the disabled 300m long containership were unsuccessful in their attempts to fix the fault so salvage vessels Don Inda (3,646gt/2006) and Sebastian De Ocampo (771gt/2005) were dispatched to the scene. The MSC Ajaccio was en route from Las Palmas to Rotterdam when the problem arose. The MSC Australia Express Service began calling at DP World London gateway Port on 7th August, following changes to the service. The line will now provide direct calls between DP World London gateway Port, King Abdullah port in Saudi Arabia, Colombo in Sri Lanka and ports around the Australian coast. It will be the fastest direct service between Northern Europe and Australia in the market.

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) named its latest 8,888 TEU container ship at a christening ceremony held on Changxing Island in Shanghai on 26th August. The OOCL Genoa (above) was named by her sponsor Mrs. Tamiko Onaka at Hudong- Zhonghua Shipbuilding (group) Co. The ship is scheduled to join the company’s fleet this year and will serve the OOCL South China 2 service on the Trans-Pacific trade lane with the following port rotation: Da Chan Bay, Hong Kong, Yantian, Kaohsiung, Long Beach, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Hong Kong, and Da Chan Bay in a 42-day round trip.

TOTE Maritime’s second LNG powered containership, the 36,751gt Perla Del Caribe was launched on 29th August at the general Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, USA. The ship is the second of two Marlinclass containerships built here for Jones act shipping company TOTE Maritime. The ship’s sponsor, Ms. Emma Engle, a third generation shareholder of Saltchuk, TOTE’s parent company, christened the ship with a traditional champagne bottle break over the ship’s hull. Alcinda Buirds, a 32-year NASSCo employee, then pulled the trigger to release the ship into the San Diego Bay. Upon delivery of the first vessel, Isla Bella, in late 2015, the Jones act-qualified ships will operate between Jacksonville, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Perla del Caribe is due for delivery in the first quarter of 2016. The Marlin-class is based on proven containership- design standards and includes DSME’s patented LNG fuel-gas system, a single MAN B&W ME-GI dual-fuel gas-powered engine with two 900 cubic meter sternmounted cryogenic fuel tanks. The vessels will operate under charter agreements with Sea Star Line LLC, an operating company of TOTE Maritime.

UASC container ship Alula experienced a small fire in one of her containers at Hamburg in the early hours of 28th August. Firefighters spent three and a half hours putting the fire out on the 13,500 TEU, 141,077gt/2012 built ship. The fire is thought to have started in a container full of cardboard. Thirty containers were quickly discharged from the ship so that firefighters could get access to the source of the fire. No one was injured in the incident and the owner was able to assess any damage to the 349.5m long, Malta-flagged vessel. The 27,786gt/2005 built containership Cape Moreton later caught fire on 12th September while berthed at the Manila international Container Terminal in the Philippines. Firefighters battled the blaze and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Yang Ming Line has accepted delivery of the fifth 14,000 TEU SAVER Containership, the 146,651gt YM Wellness. The Seaspan newbuild was constructed at Hyundai Heavy industries Co., Ltd., and will commence a ten-year, fixed-rate time charter with Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. This delivery expands the Company’s operating fleet to 83 vessels. The company then ordered five more 14,000 TEU containerships for delivery in 2018 and 2019 to be chartered out to Japanese liner company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.