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25 March 2023 - Year XXVII
Independent journal on economy and transport policy
22:27 GMT+1
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FORUM of Shipping
and Logistics


  The subject would deserve an analysis on its own as there has been such an intense activity throughout the year on movements of military material, either for interventionist reasons or simply for training purposes. The dramatic events of September 11th in the U.S. and the intervention of the international community in Afghanistan did not however produce the same repercussions as the Gulf War did ten years ago.

The different military organisations have become much better structured and did not panic when it came to transporting troops and material this time. The American Military Sealift Command drew from its experiences in the past and only resorted to the spot market occasionally to cover its needs, without causing any particular waves or price hikes. The U.S. and the U.K. are definitely the two countries with the best-integrated fleets and best-fitted to meet their transport needs. There are in practice the only two countries with an operating service mechanism capable of making arbitrages between ships on long-term charter, owned vessels and spot charters.

Of course other European countries have shown themselves to be interventionists as well, but have not yet taken the necessary steps to be able to enforce this policy in the long-term. This waiting attitude adopted by military organisations has some perverse effects on the market. First of all, a number of very old ships, which have been financially written-off for a long time, win a lot of these tenders without their owners being able to find steady employment for them over the year as a whole. It gives the military the benefit of covering their transport needs at competitive costs, but with little anticipation for the medium or long-term. This attitude may become difficult to manage sooner or later.

In practice there are still a lot of ships in service built in the middle and at the end of the 70's. Although it is possible to charter and buy these second-hand ships cheap today, the effect of a fairly massive scrapping would soon be felt in terms of transport supply and also immediately in prices. Owners of more modern ships, built in the 80's and early 90's could then hope for a second breath, as they are amongst those suffering most from the current very low freight rates and lack of employment. The running costs of meeting such low utilisation and the poor returns of period business have pushed some owners into laying-up, often unable to compete with older ships in the spot "military" market.

As frequently the case, it is impossible to generalise about this market and the specific character of each ship makes them almost individual special cases - with one or two additional knots, a car deck, a straight or quarter ramp, etc. - matters which differentiate one from the other and can make or break a deal. All these are items which potential buyers of second-hand vessels will have to take into consideration in their choice.
 

The predominant tendency over the last few years, which has led the majority of large operators to own their ships rather than charter-in has not reversed, on the contrary. The initiatives of owners, which have ordered newbuildings to "play the market" have proven to be highly dangerous.

Armada has reduced their assets over the last years to simply ensure a continuous employment of their ships, and it does not seem that they are in an expansionist mood.

Stena, who several years ago threw themselves into a phase of renewing their fleet in an inspired manner, have the big advantage of working with a "safety-net", capable of operating an arbitrage on their own lines if ordered vessels should find themselves without tramping employment. Nonetheless Stena still have to absorb three more ships of 3,000 lane metres in the year 2002.

The owner Visentini remains today an isolated case of really gambling on the future, building his ships in his own yard and with his own designs but with undeniable success. This unique example is worth citing for its visionary aspect, and in parallel with a policy of renewing the smallest and oldest ships, finding success with sales to Stena as well as the Turkish Ege Roro, for example.

Other owners like Ernst Russ are paying the cost of the very reduced activity on the spot market. Already owners of four ships of 1,650 lane metres backed with period charters, they have received at the beginning of the year a unit of 2,500 lane metres 22.5 knots, which saw its initial employment in the Atlantic prematurely terminated in the autumn, leaving this splendid ship on the shelf in a capricious market.

It will be interesting to see how the sector of the market of fast 2,500-3,000 lane metre ships will evolve in the course of 2002. There is a fragile balance and the market got tossed about during the second half of the year due to the introduction of three ships from Ege Roro (2,500 lane metres). One of them finally found a home with Cotunav. Certain niche services, which operate with ships of 1,800-2,000 lane metres, could benefit in 2002 from a possible swap of the bigger sizes of 2,400-3,000 lane metres to allow them to increase their transport capacity at reasonable costs. Maybe we will see a new class of routes coming into service and finally shedding in compensation to congested roads. Will the recent accidents that have hit the trans-Alpine road tunnels lead to new policies favouring short-sea shipping? We very much doubt it, as history tends to have a shorter and shorter memory, and we would rather bet on the well-conceived private initiatives, which should finish being crowned with success sooner or later.

Having found shelter in different business management structures or having been sold, a good number of ships built for Russian operators continue to liven up the market with varying fortune, but with a preponderance for the largest ships to find period employment on long-haul routes. Egon Oldendorff operating through a Norwegian commercial management structure (Atlantica Shipping) already got his way into the closed circle of tramp owners and seems set to enlarge his presence in this market, on condition to define and target precisely the type of ship to focus on, which while remaining risky could prove profitable.
 

Tomorrow' Given the age profile of the fleet, and the ever-approaching deadline of demolition of the oldest ships, we believe that this is a propitious time to invest in good quality ships of not more than 15 years at a reasonable price. Assuming that the life span of these is realistically about 25 years, it is possible that this choice over the medium term should be positive.

On long-haul routes, the charter market has been particularly quiet. The decline in the chartering activity is in this instance also linked to the number of new ships, which have gradually replaced tramp ships, despite the level of new deliveries in 2001 being below that of the preceding two years. Grimaldi has remained the most active player in the pure ro-ro sector (as opposed to the ships of PCC and PCTC). Elsewhere, Delmas, who is in partnership with Grimaldi on the Mediterranean / West African Coast trade, has undertaken an external growth transaction at the end of the year, taking control of their common partner Setramar. Earlier in the year we had the case of Grimaldi taking control of Atlantic Container Line, a good example if needed of the interaction between ro-ros and containers. We can also mention that at the end of the year DFDS, emblematic actor in the ro-ro market took majority control of Lys line, a Norwegian operator of containerships.

Facing a difficult horizon for numerous owners in the container transport market (at least until end 2002), it is not impossible that we will see several "forced mergers" between niche market operators in this sector with the biggest ro-ro operators.

Finally and unless there is an important volume of new orders in the next two years, the ratio of deliveries to demolitions should naturally get inverted, which could signal the beginning of a new tendency in the market.

To be continued'
 

The Ro-Ro market in 2001

The noose tightens'

 
 
The concept of a ro-ro ship is a commitment to a somewhat unconventional flexibility in the shipping world, as much by the autonomy it offers in ports with difficult access, as by the diversity of cargoes that can be handled in ports non or badly equipped with shore-cranes. While simple and dependable, it seems important to remember that the ro-ro is also irreplaceable on certain routes. Clearly the development of port infrastructures for containerships, handling methods or storage capacities have a direct effect on ro-ro traffic, but there is still a lot to be done before a massive substitution of one system over the other can be envisaged.

In terms of comparable units, the capital costs for transporting a 40-foot container by containership are a lot less than the same movement of a trailer on a ro-ro vessel. The transport cost argument of course weighs heavily for shippers in their logistical choices and economic pros and cons, but it is not the only item to be taken into consideration. Others factors count such as handling speed and above all the continuity in the transport chain by land in the shortest time.

If all these constraints prevail on a short or medium haul routes, then the ro-ro takes precedence over the container. Nonetheless it is a case of "David and Goliath". As we have frequently pointed out, although the container has got the lion's share of certain long-haul ro-ro routes, both means of transport can and should exist together in various parts of the world. We however do not imagine that the ro-ro fleet will double in the next ten years, as we have seen that has happened in the containership sector.

On the other hand, we have witnessed a rejuvenation of the fleet, which while not producing a sizeable increase in capacity, has had the merit of allowing operators a better quality of service. The analysis of the ro-ro fleet remains a complicated affair given the diversity of ship types, since the evolution of the ro-pax concept lends itself in practice to producing ships which have more affinity to ferries than pure ro-ros. Few new orders have been recorded in 2001, and deliveries have also been considerably reduced in 2001 compared to the past three years. Although the freight market has the same profile as last year's in terms of volume, time charter rates have been globally reduced.

roro fleet, by year of built

roro demolitions and deliveries

The ro-ro market and geo-politics
Profession: tramp owner'
Roro - CR Tanger CR Tanger 
9,332 dwt, 1,900 lane metres, blt 1978, sold by Delmas (France) to Pasifae Shipping Company (Greece)

 



Shipping and Shipbuilding Markets in 2001

I N D E X

›››File
FROM THE HOME PAGE
Austria's Gebrüder Weiss has inaugurated a new logistics terminal in Tyrol
Reutte / Lauterach
It is located in Reutte, near the border between Austria and Germany
Maersk-SIPG agreement for bunkering of green methanol in the port of Shanghai
Shanghai
Expected supply from ship to ship of the new container ships ordered by the Danish company
ESPO, ships should use cold ironing systems in ports, if available, already before 2030
Brussels
Ryckbost : It is hoped that the requirements for ships related to when to use electricity at berth clarify the matter
ECSA, EU agreement on ship fuel gives strong political signal and provides clear climate goals and guidance for industry
Brussels / Rome
Assshipowners, welcome our main instances
T&E, today's EU decision marks the beginning of the end of dirty fuels in the shipping industry
Brussels
The organisation highlighted the need to prevent the agreed standards from presenting loopholes
Agreement of the Parliament and of the EU Council on the use of fuels for decarbonisation of shipping
Agreement of the Parliament and of the EU Council on the use of fuels for decarbonisation of shipping
Brussels
From 2034, the share of renewable fuel will have to be more than 2% percent. Emissions will have to be reduced by 2% percent by 2025 and by 80% percent by 2050. From 2030 container ships and passenger ships will have to use ground electricity in major European ports
Subscribed to the contract to sell the yards Hellenic Shipyards to the Greek shipowner Prokopiou
Athens
The tender had been won with an offer worth 62.5 million euros.
ESPO presses why the ports that play a significant role in the EU's energy supply are also admitted to the TEN-T network
Brussels
According to the association, it is necessary to also take into account their role in the acceleration of the spread of renewable energies
In 2022 OOIL achieved record economic results
Hong Kong
In 2022 OOIL achieved record economic results
Drop in performance in the second half of the year
In 2022 French ports handled 293.7 million tonnes of cargo (+ 5.1%)
Ports
The figure is -6.0% percent lower than that of the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
Grimaldi signs agreement for the 67% acquisition of the Igoumenitsa Portuale Authority
Athens
Grimaldi signs agreement for the 67% acquisition of the Igoumenitsa Portuale Authority
"Our goal is to make the Greek airport realize its full potential for the benefit of all stakeholders, from shipping, transport and tourism to the local community," said Emanuele Grimaldi, who is also the first person to be able to make the Greek government.
Fedespedi, in 2022 container traffic in Italian ports increased by 2.4%
Milan
Overall decline of -1.0% of volumes in other container ports in the Mediterranean
In 2022 the port of Hamburg recorded a new record of goods from and for Austria
Hamburg
They amounted to 6.3 million tonnes (+ 12%)
Assshipowners represented to the EU the instances of Italian shipping on decarbonisation
Assshipowners represented to the EU the instances of Italian shipping on decarbonisation
Brussels
Messina : the new IMO CII, as it is thought today, leads to opposite effects compared to environmental safeguards, penning precisely the Italian navige
Protocol to develop the Alexandria Smisting stopover in an intermodal freight hub
Alexandria
By the end of 2024, the masterplan will be defined for the realization of a modal interchange pole
Ferretti group buys the Ravennate shipyard of the Rosetti Marino
Forlì
The acquisition has envisaged an initial investment of around 40 million euros.
A.P. Møller-Mærsk will sell the Maersk Supply Service to the parent company A.P. Møller Holding
Copenhagen
A.P. Møller-Mærsk will sell the Maersk Supply Service to the parent company A.P. Møller Holding
Transaction of the value of 685 million
Joint venture TX Logistik-Samskip-duisport to manage the intermodal terminal logport III in Duisburg
Joint venture TX Logistik-Samskip-duisport to manage the intermodal terminal logport III in Duisburg
Duisburg
It has an annual traffic capacity equal to 250mila units of cargo
Abu Dhabi Ports initiates a series of agreements to carry out port terminals for goods and cruise liners in Egypt
Abu Dhabi Ports initiates a series of agreements to carry out port terminals for goods and cruise liners in Egypt
Abu Dhabi
Signed the concession contract for the multipurpose terminal in Safaga
In February -43.1% of container traffic in the port of Los Angeles confirms the crisis phase of California's ports
Los Angeles
In February -43.1% of container traffic in the port of Los Angeles confirms the crisis phase of California's ports
They also suffer from the East Coast port scans. Expect a modest recovery starting in March
Freudenberg, Meyer Werft and Royal Caribbean are realizing a new fuel cell system for the naval sector
Papenburg
Freudenberg, Meyer Werft and Royal Caribbean are realizing a new fuel cell system for the naval sector
The first exemplar could be installed on the new "Silver Nova" cruise ship that will be completed in the next few months.
FEPORT satisfied with changes to the EU general exemption rules by category
Brussels
The federation continues to cover public investment of up to 150 million euros in ports, including those for cold ironing, the federation said.
Liberty Lines orders three more monocarena naval vehicles at Spanish shipyard Armon
Belrose
Liberty Lines orders three more monocarena naval vehicles at Spanish shipyard Armon
They will add to the nine already commissioned
Ceremony of laying of the keel of the Silver Ray by Silversea Cruises
Papenburg
The luxury cruise ship is under construction at Meyer Werft
Launched in China the first of two LNG Small Scale & Bunker ships for Fratelli Cosulich
Genoa
Will be taken in delivery in September
The CDA of Interporto Padova unanimously approved the draft budget 2022
Padova
Profit after taxes in line with that of the previous financial year
In Genoa, a centre for the development of new technologies for decarbonisation of shipping has been inaugurated.
Genoa
CapLab will be managed by Ecospray Technologies and the DICCA of the University of Genoa
Collaboration Agreement between the AdSP of the South Tyrreno and Ionian Seas and the University of Calabria
Cowithout
The agreement covers several areas of activity and expertise
In 2022 the transits of trucks through the Swiss Alps decreased by -1.7% percent. Stagnation of rail transport
Bern
In 2022 the transits of trucks through the Swiss Alps decreased by -1.7% percent.  Stagnation of rail transport
Still far away the goal of the transfer of the loads from the road to the rail
In the only fourth quarter of 2022, HHLA Group revenues grew by 4.9%
Hamburg
Operating profit fell by -8.8%
Touax closes 2022 with record revenue
Paris
Expected in 2023 normalization of the container market
E-fuel should only be reserved for air and sea transport
Rome
It highlights an analysis of Transport & Environment, which considers them not useful to decarbonisation of road transport
Agreement between five international organisations to increase the safe transport of cargo in containers
London
Memorandum of understanding subscribed by CINS, CHIRP, COA, ICHCA and SMDG
The port of Livorno initiates an agreement with the Uruguayan ANP for the development of traffics, in particular of forest
Livorno
The port of Livorno initiates an agreement with the Uruguayan ANP for the development of traffics, in particular of forest
In 2022, the labronic climber handled 2.13 million tonnes.
SAILING LIST
Visual Sailing List
Departure ports
Arrival ports by:
- alphabetical order
- country
- geographical areas
Rixi reassures on the implementation of the sea rollover of the Fincantieri shipyard of Sestri Ponente
Genoa
Rixi reassures on the implementation of the sea rollover of the Fincantieri shipyard of Sestri Ponente
MIT will launch the discussion with Italian Railway Network for moving the railway line
Maersk Air Cargo inaugurates an aeromerci service Europe-China
Copenhagen
Maersk Air Cargo inaugurates an aeromerci service Europe-China
It is the first air link for the transportation of goods between Denmark and Asia
In 2022, rail transport to and from the port of Livorno grew by 35.8%
Livorno
Drop of -35.4% in the Piombino stopover
In February, drop in freight traffic in the ports of Algeciras and Barcelona
Algeciras / Barcelona
Decreases of -12.3% and -11.6% respectively
PSA stores 2022 with record financial performance
PSA stores 2022 with record financial performance
Singapore
Revenue up 71.2%
Seabourn has sold the luxury cruise ship Seabourn Odyssey at MOL
Seattle
It was built by the yard T. Mariotti
Fine of $950mila at Taiwanese Wan Hai Lines
Washington
Transactive agreement with US federal agency FMC
In the third quarter of 2022, the traffic of goods in Greek ports fell by -3.1% percent.
In the third quarter of 2022, the traffic of goods in Greek ports fell by -3.1% percent.
Pyreo
Passenger in growth of 19.2%
Anti-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Guinea
Rome
Anti-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Guinea
It involved the ship "Commander Foscari" of the Navy and the mercantile "Great Luanda" of the Grimaldi
A Eurosceptic Federagents looks to South
Rome
Opportunities from the industrial, logistical and commercial activism of the MENA area countries
AD Ports initiates a letter of intent for the realization of a multipurpose terminal in the port of Pointe-Noire
AD Ports initiates a letter of intent for the realization of a multipurpose terminal in the port of Pointe-Noire
Abu Dhabi
The agreement has the duration of one year
ONE orders ten more new container ships from 13,700 teu
Singapore
They will be taken in delivery in 2025 and 2026
Tarlazzi (Uiltransport) : detach contract increases to avoid tensions in the world of work
Rome
"The government has a responsibility to avoid the transport of people and goods," he said.
PORTS
Italian Ports:
Ancona Genoa Ravenna
Augusta Gioia Tauro Salerno
Bari La Spezia Savona
Brindisi Leghorn Taranto
Cagliari Naples Trapani
Carrara Palermo Trieste
Civitavecchia Piombino Venice
Italian Interports: list World Ports: map
DATABASE
ShipownersShipbuilding and Shiprepairing Yards
ForwardersShip Suppliers
Shipping AgentsTruckers
MEETINGS
On April 18 Assiterminal will be confronted with politicians and practitioners on the challenges of portugal
Genoa
Meeting at the headquarters of the Federation of the Sea in Rome
On April 13 at Ancona a conference on health and safety at work in the port of port
Ancona
It is organized by Inail Marche in collaboration with the Central Adriatic Sea AdSP
››› Meetings File
PRESS REVIEW
Pressure grows on shipping industry to accept carbon levy
(The Guardian)
Leith Docks: 25 injured after research ship Petrel topples over in 'terrifying' 'major incident' in dry dock
(The Scotsman)
››› Press Review File
FORUM of Shipping
and Logistics
Relazione del presidente Daniele Rossi
Napoli, 30 settembre 2020
››› File
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