CMA CGM announced on 7th December that it is to acquire Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), reinforcing its position in global shipping. The proposed cash acquisition of NOL stood at SGD 1.30 per NOL share, representing a 49% premium to NOL’s share price, fully financed. 

Containerships Ltd. Oy of Helsinki, Finland, has selected London Thamesport to re-establish a direct service from and to the southern part of the UK offering regular and fast connections with Germany, Finland, Russia and the Baltic States. 

Evergreen Marine has allocated 10 vessels ordered in the summer to its Green Compass Marine subsidiary, which has signed contracts with Japan’s Imabari Shipbuilding and Taiwan’s CSBC Corp. 

Hanjin’s 51,032gt/2013 built and 4,500 TEU Hanjin Aqua went hard aground in Indonesia’s Sundra Strait on 4th December off Sangiang Island. She had 2,303 containers aboard and was travelling from Adelaide to Jakarta when she ran into difficulty. The ship listed and local reports suggested the hull was breached although there was no danger of the ship sinking. 

Lomar Shipping has awarded a twin 2,700 TEU containership order to China’s Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard with an option for an additional two vessels. Lomar Shipping, subsidiary of Libra Group, had earlier ordered six 2,200 TEU container vessels at Guangzhou Wenchong, subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). 

MacAndrews and OPDR have commenced a new weekly joint service between North West Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. This regular service, known as Portugal & South Spain Service (POSS), will call at Tilbury, Dunkirk, Rotterdam, Leixoes, Setubal, Lisbon, Algeciras and Cartagena. Three 700 TEU container vessels will be deployed on the service. 

Maersk Line’s 109,534gt/2007 built Maersk Altair became the largest containership to visit the port of Trieste, or any Adriatic port, on 18th November. The 11,200 TEU ship is deployed on an Asia-Mediterranean service jointly operated with MSC through the 2M Alliance. The ship had the day before called at the port of Koper in Slovenia, and then called at Rijeka, in Croatia, as these three ports are the only ones in the Adriatic Sea able to accommodate containerships of more than a 10,000 TEU capacity. Since the launch of its vessel upgrade programme in 2011, with the conversion of 17 of its S Class 8,200 TEU ships to 9,600 TEU, Maersk Line will have boosted its fleet capacity by 55,000 TEU, once the latest series of upgrades is completed.

 MSC’s 66,289gt/2000 built MSC Gemma was damaged after a collision in Antwerp when she hit the fenders at Zandvliet Lock. The accident happened whilst entering the lock with assistance from two tugs whilst carrying only 400 TEU. The vessel sustained a 3-4m breach in her starboard side above the waterline. 

Ningbo Ocean Shipping Company (NOSCO) has signed shipbuilding contracts with Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding for the construction of four 1,000 TEU containerships. The vessels will be classified by CCS, and the first vessel is expected to be delivered before March 2017. NOSCO is a fully owned subsidiary of Ningbo Port Group, and it operates a fleet of 42 vessels with total capacity of 410,000dwt. 

Nordic Hamburg has ordered four dual-fuelled 1,400 TEU containerships from Huatai Heavy Industry of Nantong, China. The new vessels are scheduled to be delivered close to the end of 2017.

The biggest container ship in the world, the MSC Maya, made its maiden call at Southampton on 15th December (above). The 192,237gt and 395.4 metres long vessel, which can carry a world-leading 19,224 containers, is just the latest giant container vessel to call at the port in recent weeks. She is the first of the four Oscar class vessels to call at the port’s container terminal.