China Shipping Container Lines’ 187,541gt/2015 built CSCL Indian Ocean went hard aground on Germany’s river Elbe on the night of 3rd February. Initial reports said the incident was caused by an apparent mechanical failure. Refloating on a high tide the next day was hoped for but she remained there a while longer. The Hong Kong-flagged ultra large container vessel measures 399.6m long by 58.6m wide. She is one of 5 CSCL ships with the capacity to carry 19,100 TEUs. The incident caused a minor impact on shipping traffic on the river.

CMA CGM and Port Bronka (St. Petersburg) signed a long-term agreement for container cargo handling towards the end of 2015. CMA CGM serves more than 400 ports over the world and is one of the largest container shipping operators in St. Petersburg, including reefer containers.

Evergreen Marine Corporation and a subsidiary have decided to proceed with plans to charter six 18,000 TEU container ships in 2017. As part of the Taiwanese shipowner’s long-term fleet renewal programme, the six vessels will replace older ships, which will be redelivered when their charters expire. Evergreen will introduce the vessels into its operating fleet and the CKYHE alliance with Cosco Container Lines, K Line, Yang Ming Marine, and Hanjin Shipping. Chartering the six ships will reduce unit operating costs and raise environmental performance through lower fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Hapag-Lloyd trimmed its fleet by 23 ships over a nine month period in 2015 by selling 11 ships, scrapping 5 and returning chartered vessels as it adjusts to market conditions, especially on the Asia-Europe and Asia to South America lines. The operating fleet has gone from 198 ships to 175, or 1m TEU to 945,000 TEU. The consolidation also means that Hapag-Lloyd, which merged with Chile’s CSAV in 2015, will slip from fourth to sixth in the global liner rankings. A growth rate of 3% is anticipated for 2016. From 16th February, Hapag-Lloyd introduced the new Black Sea Mediterranean Express (BMX) service. The short sea service offers a weekly connection between ports in Egypt, Israel, Turkey and major Black Sea ports with competitive transit times. Three ships with a nominal capacity of 1,700 TEU each and a high number of reefer plugs will be deployed with the first voyage commencing from Damietta. The port rotation is, Damietta-Port Said-Ashdodistanbul (Mardas & Marport)-Novorossiyskodessa- Constanta-Istanbul-Izmit-Izmir- Damietta.

Maersk Line switched two Asia-North Europe loop vessels to London gateway in late January after concerns over ship and quayside congestion at Felixstowe. Coupled with bad weather forecasts, the 6,252 TEU Maersk Kolkata (74,656gt/2003 built) diverted to the Thames facility whilst serving the aE1 service. The 8,850 TEU Maersk Lavras (89,097gt/2011 built) had also visited London gateway earlier the same week. Due to low freight volumes both the g6 alliance members and Maersk Line, on behalf of the 2M, published a list of blanked sailings during weeks 6, 7 and 8 of 2016, together with ‘contingency’ plans for bookings already made for the voided voyages. Maersk’s Samba service was switched from Tilbury to DP World London gateway Port on 21st March.

MSC’s 37,398gt/1993 built MSC Monica ran aground on the St. Lawrence River near Saint-Laurent, Canada on 22nd January but was refloated the next day with assistance from three tugs. Damage to the vessel’s rudder had required her to clear the fairway but she subsequently grounded in the shallow waters. Following the plight of the 75,590gt/2001 built MSC Flaminia in 2012 the European Commission has presented new EU operational guidelines for ships in need of assistance. The guidelines have been developed by a group comprised of Member States’ authorities. The EU operational guidelines were drafted to ensure better co- ordination and exchange of information among competent authorities and industry stakeholders involved in the response to an incident when a ship needs assistance. The German-flagged MSC Flaminia was rocked by a series of explosions in one of her cargo holds during a devastating fire while in international waters in the Atlantic Ocean. Three crew members were killed in the blasts, and the ship suffered severe damage. Due to the hazard, the ship was confined to the open sea for months and denied port access by nearly every possible EU country before Germany finally agreed to accept her into Wilhelmshaven in September 2012. The Commission’s aim is to promote a positive attitude towards the purpose of Places of refuge, in the interest of the protection of human life, maritime safety, security and the environment.

Seatrade Chartering, the world’s largest reefer operator, is gravitating its fleet to containers. In July 2015 Dutch-owned Seatrade ordered four 2,200 TEU containerships from the Chinese Zhejian Yangfan yard plus options on four more identical ones. Meanwhile these orders have been increased by two firm and two optional units, all forming part of Seatrade’s 2020 fleet renewal programme. This will ultimately, by the end of this decade, add 20 such container vessels to its current fleet, that now consists of 86 conventional ships. The newbuilds will be full-reefer-capacity ships.

TOTE’s (and the world’s) second containership to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the 36912gt Perla Del Caribe, was delivered to the US-based shipping company TOTE Maritime in late January. Built by general Dynamics NASSCO, a part of general Dynamics, the ship was delivered two months ahead of schedule and is the sister ship of the world’s first LNG-powered containership, the Isla Bella. The latter was delivered to TOTE in October 2015 and has since been operating between Jacksonville, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

UASC’s ultra large containership al Zubara suffered damage and lost containers during a storm on her maiden voyage. The vessel was sailing with 12,600 containers on board in Southern Europe when hit by a storm, forcing the vessel to make an emergency call at Malaga in Spain. The ship had no hull damage but railings and cargo secure lines were broken. It was estimated that three containers were lost overboard and several others were damaged. The ship resumed her voyage on 19th January after the damaged containers were removed and the railings and secure lines were repaired.

WEC Lines began weekly calls at the Port of Liverpool from 10th February, providing a new option for shippers looking to access central and northern UK markets. The brand new service will connect Liverpool with Lisbon, Setubal, Leixoes and Sines and vice versa, with other links to Ireland, Scotland, Morocco, Spain and the Canary Islands.