RED SEA-DRIVEN SURGE IN CONTAINER SHIPPING RATES LOSES MOMENTUM
Mass diversions of container ships around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope caused spot rates to surge, but the Red Sea effect has a limit, which may have already been reached. Upward momentum has slackened. Rates in most lanes have leveled off. Several indexes for European lanes have pulled back. Container lines are taking delivery of a record number of new ships this year, which should give them the added vessel supply to handle longer routes. Furthermore, the Chinese New Year holiday in early February should temporarily limit vessel demand, easing the squeeze.
VIZION PARTNERS WITH DUN & BRADSTREET ON RISK MANAGEMENT OFFERING
Supply chain visibility provider Vizion announced Tuesday it has released a new product to provide customers with live tracking and risk management capabilities. The new tool, TradeView, is made available through a partnership between the company and Dun & Bradstreet, which will be providing its own supply chain data to be leveraged with Vizion’s global shipment data. According to Vizion, the tool is designed to help supply chain actors from a wide array of sectors, including port and terminal operators, logistics providers, drayage companies, railroads, and retail providers, make better business decisions. Through the collaboration with Dun & Bradstreet, the tool empowers government workers, commodity traders and individuals in capital markets to enhance their economic forecasting capabilities. Vizion’s last solutions release was its Intermodal Rail Tracking in June. This feature focuses on the often-overlooked movement of containers from vessels to inland destinations, providing transparency on events like last free dates and available pickup dates to help shippers and logistics providers avoid access charges.
ONE MOVES AHEAD WITH AMMONIA-POWERED BOXSHIP PROJECT
Japanese containerline Ocean Network Express (ONE) is closing in on industry-first orders for ammonia-powered newbuilds. The Jeremy Nixon-led liner has just been awarded an approval in principle (AiP) for an ammonia dual-fuelled vessel, following quickly after signing orders for its first raft of methanol dual-fuelled vessels. The 3,500 teu vessel design was jointly developed by ONE, Nihon Shipyard and classification society DNV. ONE’s parent companies – Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK Lines and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha – are all committed to developing ammonia-powered ships across a range of segments. ONE has set a target to achieve net-zero GHG emissions, encompassing scope 2 and 3 by 2050.
NGO HIGHLIGHTS CONTINUING PROBLEMS IN SHIP RECYCLING IN 2023
NGO Shipbreaking Platform is out with its annual report on the shipbreaking industry remaining highly critical of the industry for its continued reliance on the Southeast Asian yards which they contend have the lowest safety and environmental records. According to its analysts, 85 percent of the world’s ships sold for scrap in 2023 went to Bangladesh, India, or Pakistan, despite the regulations that require environmentally sound recycling. While the overall rate of scrapping of ships has been down in the past few years and remained relatively flat year-over-year in 2023, the group highlights that the shipping industry is still avoiding regulations and finding ways to dispose of its ships without concern for safety and the environment. They repeated their calls for the EU and others to become more aggressive in their enforcement efforts. According to the NGO’s calculations, a total of 446 ocean-going ships and offshore platforms were scrapped in 2023. The vast majority, a total of 325, went to the three countries, with Bangladesh representing the largest amount with 170 vessels. India was a close second with 140 vessels. Turkey by comparison the NGO says received just 44 vessels while 49 vessels went to other parts of the world.
