China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) is expected to switch from a container liner operator into an integrated financial services platform with leasing businesses following the approval for a major asset restructuring outlined in February. The company’s new sectors would cover vessel leasing, container leasing and non-shipping leasing as core and shipping financing as a feature. As a result of this, the company’s Board of Directors proposes to change the name from China Shipping Container Lines Company Limited to COSCO Shipping Development Co., Ltd. Wärtsilä has been awarded the contract to supply a series of newbuild Chinese container vessels with a total of 24 nine-cylinder Wärtsilä 32 Auxpac generating sets. The units will power six 21,000 TEU capacity ships being built at the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard (SWS) for CSCL. The order was placed in June with Wärtsilä’s joint venture company CSSC Wärtsilä Engine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (CWEC). The Wärtsilä 32 is the most powerful of the company’s Auxpac range of generating sets. In March of this year, the engine was ordered for 8 new CSCL container ships, in January 2015 for 5 new container vessels built for China Ocean Shipping Group (COSCO), and also in 2015 for another 11 new COSCO vessels. Four Wärtsilä 32 engines are required for each ship and delivery of the latest order is scheduled for mid-2017.

CMA CGM announced on 13th June that it planned to delist Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) following its takeover of the Singaporean operator. Minority shareholders could sell their shares to CMA CGM until 18th July. That same day CMA CGM and PSA Singapore Terminals Pte Ltd. unveiled plans for a joint venture company CMA CGM-PSA Lion Terminal Pte. Ltd. (CPLT) to operate and use four mega container berths at Pasir Panjang Terminal Phases 3 and 4 in Singapore. CPLT will start operations from the second half of 2016 to provide long-term terminal services to CMA CGM and its shipping line affiliates, hence securing best-inclass services for its fleet.

On 28th June CMA CGM passed the 91.05% ownership threshold of NOL and intended to exercise its compulsory acquisition rights. Following its all-cash voluntary conditional general offer for NOL which was launched on 6th June 2016, CMA CGM owned 2,376,715,557 shares as of 28th June, representing approximately 91.28% of NOL’s share capital. NOL shareholders who had not accepted the offer, at a price equal to the Offer Price of SGD1.30, in accordance with the Companies Act (Chapter 50 of Singapore) would be subject to CMA CGM’s compulsory acquisition rights once the July deadline passes.

The 65,730gt/2004 built and 5,770 TEU capacity containership CMA CGM Rossini suffered a fire in hold No.5 whilst at the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka on 15th June. The fire broke out as the ship was berthing. There were no injuries reported in the incident and the company said that the fire did not spread to other containers in the hold. The ship operates on the Europe Australia Express (EAX) service. The new Panama Canal system has also been declared a major strategic route to CMA CGM among others. The canal decreases by 11,000 kilometres the distance between Shanghai and New York on the Manhattan Bridge CMA CGM Service, compared to a route via Cape Horn and decreases by 8,700 kilometres the distance between Malta and Guayaquil on the MGE CMA CGM Service. In 2015, the CMA CGM Group was the canal’s second largest client for containerised transport. Today eight Group services sail through the Canal representing one vessel a day.

COSCO Shipping: On 12th June the 93,702gt/2016 built Neopanamax vessel COSCO Shipping Panama (above) departed Piraeus to make the inaugural transit of the expanded Panama Canal on 26th June. The 299.98m long and 48.25m beam Cosco Shipping Panama was launched in January 2016. Originally named Andronikos, the vessel was renamed by China COSCO Shipping to pay respect to the people of Panama and for the honour of the inaugural transit. The ship was selected during a draw for the inaugural transit through the expanded waterway. The vessel was built in Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., Ltd, the same company that constructed the valves that control the flow of water through the new locks of the Canal. During the inauguration, the COSCO Shipping Panama transitted the Agua Clara Locks on the Atlantic side during the early morning and Cocoli Locks in the afternoon. The regular schedule of transits through the Expanded Canal followed the next day, 27th June. After the inaugurals, the The new canal could spell the end of the Panamax container ship but, with a shortage of new feeder ships, the displaced Panamax vessels could, according to some industry experts, become the “new normal” feeder ship.

DP World London Gateway received two more of the UK’s most technically advanced quay cranes on 15th June 2016. The cranes arrived on the River Thames having completed the long sea voyage from China aboard the 37,658gt/1981 built piggy back ship Zhen Hua 10 via the Cape of Good Hope. When installed the cranes will match DP World London Gateway’s existing cranes in providing the greatest lift-height above water of any quay cranes in the UK. They are for the third Berth at the state-of-the-art container terminal, providing additional trade infrastructure for the UK when the facility opens later this year. At their highest point, the quay cranes stand at 138m tall, the same height as the London Eye. They weigh 2,000 tons and were unloaded from the vessel onto DP World London Gateway’s quay wall using pulleys and winches at high tide. The process of moving these mega-structures safely onto the quay takes 45 minutes. A further 20 automated stacking cranes and additional 10 modules have already been installed, while in April, the port took delivery of a fleet of hybrid shuttle carriers. Once the third berth is open, DP World London Gateway will have 1250 metres of quay wall, providing three deepwater berths and more ultra-large container vessel capacity than any other port in the UK.

Hanjin Shipping is planning to return a total of 38 chartered vessels once their contracts end as part of its restructuring efforts. These consist of 20 containerships and 18 bulk vessels by 2017. As of April 2016, Hanjin had 100 container vessels in its fleet, 37 of which were owned and 63 on charter plus 151 bulkers, 91 of which were on charter while 60 were company owned. Hanjin is also looking to refinance its Long Beach Container Terminal, which has the capacity to handle more than 3m TEU annually. Its mile-long quayside is capable of accommodating vessels of more than 10,000 TEU capacity. The Seoul-listed carrier is also looking to sell its 37.69% stake in Shanghai Hanjin Freight & Transportation, 60% holding in Shandong Hanjin Logistics and 50% stake in Dalian Hantong Logsictics, for Won8.9bn ($7.5m), Won9.5bn and Won 2.7bn respectively, according to reports.

Hapag-Lloyd’s 142,295gt/2012 built Hamburg Express went to the aid of two stranded sailors in the South China Sea on 4th July. She was among a number of ships that happened to be in the area when the distress call was issued. Over two hours after the call went out, the second officer spotted the small yacht as it was pitching and rolling under sail among 2.5m high waves and the crew of two, from Hong Kong, were rescued.

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (HMM) gained the most in more than two decades in Seoul trading on 22nd June, triggered by optimism that a restructuring plan for South Korea’s second-biggest container shipping company would get a boost as it seeks to join the world’s largest shipping alliance. The company had started talks to join the 2M Alliance, which is led by AP Moeller-Maersk A/S and Mediterranean Shipping Co. Upon this news breaking, shares of Hyundai Merchant advanced by the daily limit of 30 percent in Seoul, the most since October 1995. HMM and larger rival Hanjin Shipping Co., are among unprofitable operators worldwide that are taking steps including debt restructuring and asset sales to improve their balance sheets as overcapacity and slowing trade lead to a prolonged downturn in rates.

Lomar Shipping, a UK-based ship owner, has expanded its shipping fleet with 6 containerships ranging in capacity from 1,700 TEUs to 2,492 TEUs. The vessels, acquired from a number of international owners for undisclosed sums, are expected to enter Lomar Shipping’s fleet by August. The ships in question are the newbuilding Guangzhou Trader, purchased from Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard, the 2000-built Devon Trader, the 2001-built Kent Trader, both built in Germany, 2002 German-built vessels Suffolk Trader and Norfolk Trader, and the Nagoya Trader. Lomar Shipping has a fleet of over 80 vessels of which 50 are sub-panamax container vessels.

Maersk Line is likely to make increased use of the expanded Panama Canal and reroute one or more services with larger vessels to begin sailing through the new lock system. The extension of the canal has doubled the waterway’s capacity to permit the passage of larger vessels, from the 5,000 TEU capacity Panamax vessels to the New Panamax vessels with a capacity of up to 14,000 TEU.

In 2016, Maersk Line is expecting to perform more than 400 vessel transits through the Canal whilst carrying more than 400,000 containers. The Panama Canal accounts for roughly 5% of world sea trade and the expanded Panama Canal is estimated to generate a 3% increase in cargo volumes transitting the Canal. Since 60% of the Panama Canal traffic either begins or ends in USA ports it will have a direct and notable impact on the trade between Asia and the United States East Coast.

Just a dozen of the 70 heads of state invited to see the debut of the third set of locks on 27th June on the new 50 mile long waterway attended the ceremony.

The 94,730gt/2015 built Maersk Shams, operating for Maersk on a long-term time charter, was refloated during the evening of 5th July after grounding in the Suez Canal earlier that day. After the incident the ship went to the Suez Canal anchorage for assessment. The 9,971 TEU and 117,176dwt capacity vessel was on a southbound transit en-route from Algeciras to Aqaba at the time of the mishap.

Mitsui O.S.K. Line’s 113,042gt/2016 built MOL Benefactor (above) became the first containership with a capacity of 10,000 TEU or more to transit the recently expanded Panama Canal on 1st July. The ship was also the first Neo Panamax containership to transit the Canal following the inaugural passage of the 9,500 TEU COSCO Shipping Panama on 26th June. The 119,324dwt, 337m long and 48.2m beam ship is deployed on the G6 Alliance’s new NYX service which provides a direct link between Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan and New York, Norfolk and Savannah on the U.S.A’s East Coast plus connections are provided to/from Latin America via Manzanillo, Panama. The 12.36m draught ship also had an eye watering $841,000 toll levied against her, owing to her size, for using the new canal system. Canal tolls increased on 1st April and are paid by Panamaxes and Neo-Panamaxes alike, calculated according to a ship’s load and capacity.

MSC’s 194,308gt and 19,437 TEU capacity MSC Jade has entered service powered by MAN B&W’s largest and most powerful engine to date. The engine is a MAN B&W 11G95ME-C9.5 two-stroke engine rated at 75,570 kW (103,000 horsepower). The MSC Jade also features four MAN L32/40 auxiliary engines with a single MAN turbocharger. The ultra large containership operated by MSC was delivered by DSME in late May. The engine was built by Doosan Engine in South Korea and is the first in a series of six ordered by MSC, with a second sister vessel on sea trials.

Two other vessels are also completing construction at rival shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries and are due for sea trials in June. Since 2013, MAN’s G95 type engines have proven popular among the large (9,000 to 21,000 TEU) capacity container market, with 68 installations to date. The engine, with a bore of 950mm and a stroke of 3,460mm, provides 6,870 kW/cylinder at 80 rpm and 21 bar MEP (in L1) and was introduced as a supplement to the successful S90ME-C9/10 engine types, allowing the engine to be further de-rated thanks to the larger cylinder bore and/or fewer cylinders to be installed.

OOCL’s 39,174gt/1998 built and 2,992 TEU capacity OOCL Belgium was out of action in mid-June undergoing unscheduled maintenance in the port of Montreal, Canada, due to a suspected issue with the vessel’s main engine.

The work was recommended by the surveyor following a main engine inspection at the port of Montreal thus delaying the 40,972dwt container ship’s Gateway Express 1 (GEX1) service by two weeks. OOCL instigated a schedule recovery plan by phasing in the 41,358gt/2009 built Cap Harrisson to the GEX1 service in Antwerp on 16th June to operate a single round voyage. The 245m long OOCL Belgium previously encountered problems when her propeller was damaged after reportedly hitting ice in the Strait of Belle Isle in February 2013.

United Arab Shipping Co. (UASC) shareholders voted unanimously in favour of a merger with Hapag-Lloyd in June but the two lines will remain in separate alliances until the end of March, 2017. UASC is owned by six Arab states, with Qatar having a 51% stake and Saudi Arabia 35%. The balance is shared between United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain.

After the merger, their interest in the enlarged line will be 28%, with Hapag-Lloyd shareholders owning 72%. Hapag-Lloyd shareholders also voted in favour of the planned merger, while several competition regulators will need to approve the deal before it can be formally signed. CSAV currently owns just over 31% of Hapag-Lloyd while the City of Hamburg has a 20% stake, as does German billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuhne. TUI owns 12% while other shareholders who invested in last year’s IPO have around 15% of the equity. Hapag-Lloyd is a member of the G6 alliance, but will move to The Alliance, which is being set up by six carriers. UASC currently operates within Ocean Three along with CMA CGM and China Shipping.