Greetings from Maritime Weekly, a newsletter published by Apex Group for Maritime World Services, a business advisory, executive search, and events management platform for the global maritime ecosystem. Our editorial board comprising reputed maritime, logistics, and media leaders curates key maritime news and analyses once a week, to support you in making informed decisions in the week ahead. Over 5000 senior executives and officials from the global maritime and logistics ecosystem benefit from the insights shared by Maritime Weekly.
What is topical this week
Trade Lanes- EU and Japan have agreed to pursue a bilateral trade deal. A perspective on preferential trade agreements says that they enhance trade as well as its vulnerability. Oversupply of vessels is expected to continue in chemical shipping, impacting freight rates.
Maritime Infrastructure- Imports have risen significantly in US ports this year. DP World is looking to replicate Jebel Ali in Senegal. ICTSI does not plan to renew the contract to operate and maintain Muara Container Terminal at Brunei.
Multimodal Connectivity- Hamburg port achieved a record in rail transportation. First Indian cargo ship arrived at Pangaon river port in Bangladesh. HAROPA Ports are conducting road shows across India to increase traffic to its ports.
Shipbuilding- US Navy and Reliance Defence have announced their agreement for ship maintenance and repair of the US 7 th Fleet. A perspective says, naval shipbuilding in South East Asia is likely to remain challenged.
Maritime Nation India 2017- This week we are happy to welcome LogisticLeads as our media partner. Maritime Weekly interacted with Mr. P L Haranadh, Deputy Chairman, and Visakhapatnam Port Trust on the steps taken for modernization of the port, future investment plans, Sagarmala project, impact of Budget 2017 and GST in port sector. Maritime Nation India 2017 is also privileged to have received a letter of endorsement from the Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu
Maritime Capital- China’s COSCO shipping has set up a logistics investment fund. Germany’s DB Schenker has invested USD 25 Mln in the online freight booking platform UShip. US-Port of New York New Jersey has approved an investment plan of USD 32 Bln in Capex over 10 years.
People and Technology-DP World is seeking collaboration with Tesla on technology for global port operations. Kalmar has secured a large contract for supply of hybrid shuttle carriers for Tangier Terminal, Morocco. CMA CGM has also signed up with Alibaba for online booking of container space.
Leisure and Cruise- Southeast Asian cruise tourism is set to benefit from the growing traffic from China and Australia. India needs to catch up on cruise tourism infrastructure. Auckland has benefited from its busiest ever cruise ship week.
Have a great week ahead.
The Maritime Weekly Editorial Board.
Global Maritime Trade
|
EU and Japan agree to pursue bilateral trade deal
The Japan Times, 18 February (3 minutes read)
Japanese Foreign Minister and EU Trade Commissioner confirmed their resolve to conclude the ongoing free trade negotiations between the two countries signalling increasing preference for bilateral deals. While a broad agreement is within sight, the parties are divided over market access and tariff removal. However, there is pressure to sign the deal before elections in major European nations start in April. Read More
|
|
Preferential trade agreements enhance trade and its vulnerability
EurekAlert, 16 February, 4 minute read
Bilateral- and multilateral trade deals are beneficial for the growth of trade and volumes; however, these do not contribute to make the growth resilient to economic, political, and social shocks around the world. Policy makers need to consider both long and short-term growth and resilience, from a network perspective. Further, the merits of continued trade growth need to be evaluated based on economic, environmental, and social aspects….
Read More
|
|
Oversupply of vessels expected to continue in chemical shipping
Global Trade, 18 February, 2 minutes read
The global fleet of chemical shipping vessels is expected to grow further in 2017, despite the existing surplus shipping capacity, due to large number of orders placed in previous years. This surplus, and the resulting competition, is likely to lead to further reduction of time-charter rates for larger ships, over long hauls. The increase in trade volume between US to Europe and North East Asia is unlikely to make up for this surplus.
Read More
|
Maritime Infrastructure
|
US Ports-Imports rise significantly
The Wall Street Journal, 14 February, 3 minutes read
Post-election consumer confidence, retailer restocking, and a strong dollar have boosted imports in US ports. The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports reported an increase of 10.6% in January itself with a countrywide average of 5%. Much of the import volume came from China and researchers also attribute this increase to low ocean freight rates. It appears that that higher freight rates and new taxes on imports, expected to be levied by the Trump government, would do little to hinder trade flow.
Read More |
|
DP World is looking to replicate Jebel Ali in Senegal
Fairplay, 14 February, 3 minutes read
Dubai based global terminal and economic zone operator DP World (DPW) has submitted its plans to the government of Senegal to develop a multipurpose port in its capital city of Dakar. The project is a vital step in DPW’s plan to replicate the Jebel Ali business model in other regions. Long-term partnerships between the government and private companies like DPW are expected to promote growth in the African nation.
Read More |
|
ICTSI not renewing contract to operate and maintain Muara Container Terminal at Brunei
Business World, 15 February, 3 minutes read
As a part of Brunei government’s overall restructuring, the contract for maintenance of the Muara Port will now be handled by the state owned Darusalam Assets Sdn Bhd. The plans of developing a special economic zone near the port is the key factor in the non-renewal of the maintenance contract, as it’s outside their key competency, that has been with International Container Terminal Services Inc. since 2009.
Read More |
Port Connectivity
|
Hamburg port achieves a record in rail transportation.
American journal of Transportation , 15 February, 4 minutes read
In a report released by Port of Hamburg in their annual press conference, they reported a 1.5% increase in rail-freight traffic volume transported from the seaport to the hinterland despite a falling trend in the same across Germany. This rise in rail freight traffic can be attributed to Warsteiner Brewery and Conjoin and the direct block trains they offered to firms to connect to Port of Hamburg. Any spare capacity on the Warsteiner container train is offered to shippers and forwarders while Conjoin looks at the marketing and other aspects.
Read More |
|
First Indian cargo ship arrives at Pangaon river port in Bangladesh
India Today, 18 February, 3 minutes read
First cargo vessel, Shonartori Nou Kalyan-1, arrived in Bangladesh from India via the internal river ports under the coastal shipping agreement signed between the two countries in 2015. In the program held for offloading of the cargo, the Commerce Minister of Bangladesh elaborated that cargo will depart from Pangaon to India every 15 days. The trade link is expected to save both time and money for businesses in both the countries.
Read More |
|
HAROPA Ports conducts road shows in India
Hellenic Shipping, 17 February, 4 minutes read
A delegation led by Mr. Herve Martel, CEO-Port le Havre, and President-HAROPA Ports, France is visiting India from February 20-23 to support increase in container trade between India and the French ports of HAROPA. The delegation is expected to meet with potential customers, trading partners, and officials during their road show across four cities. HAROPA aims to be the gateway to Europe and has the potential to give a competitive edge to Indian exports in the international market.
Read More |
Shipbuilding
|
US Navy and Reliance Defence announce ship repair agreement for US 7 th Fleet
The Business Line, 13 February, 3 minutes read
Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited have signed a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA), for the maintenance of the seventh fleet of the US Navy. This agreement follows the logistics pact signed between the two countries in August 2016 The 7 th fleet operates in the Asia-Pacific region and has nearly 100 vessels. Reliance Defence is expected to secure approximately USD 233 Million in revenue over the next five years.
Read More
|
|
Naval shipbuilding in Southeast Asia is likely to remain challenged
Eurasia Review , 15 February, 3 minute read
A perspective on shipbuilding in Southeast Asia brings out that while almost every Southeast Asian nation is involved in shipbuilding for their country’s navy, the naval shipbuilding industry in these countries is expected to have very limited scope. This could be attributed to the long term problems faced Southeast Asian shipyards, such as corruption, lack of profitability, and low levels of expertise. Most regional shipbuilding enterprises import their systems and weapons and only build the shell However the nations are keen to collaborate and coproduce better ships with other countries.
Read More
|
Maritime Nation India news
The Maritime Nation India initiative is presented by Maritime Weekly, a member of Apex Group. It is a think tank in the making and provides business advisory, executive search services, and conducts business events for the maritime and logistics ecosystem. The 2nd edition of Maritime Nation India is being held from the 14th to 16th September 2017. This 3-day international exhibition and conference provides a global platform for exhibitors and participants to explore business opportunities in the Indian Maritime Sector and is already receiving enquiries for participation from our readers.
|
This week we are happy to welcome LogisticLeads.com as our media partner. Logistics Leads is a network to connect with exporters, importers, and logistic agents worldwide. It helps companies forge relationships with each other.
|
|
Also, this week we are privileged to have received a letter of endorsement from Shri Suresh Prabhu, the Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Government of India. It is our pleasure to report that his thoughts resonate with Maritime Nation India’s philosophy and he has spoken about the initiatives Ministry of Railways is taking to promote trade and ease of doing business in the country. We are confident that with his good wishes and support, Maritime Nation India 2017 will be a success.
|
Stay tuned to our newsletter to remain updated on key developments and events that Maritime Weekly supports.
Thought Leadership
|
Maritime Weekly recently had the opportunity to interact with, Mr. P L Haranadh, Deputy Chairman, Visakhapatnam Port Trust. He shared his views on the steps taken for modernization of the port, future investment plans, Sagarmala project, impact of Budget 2017 and GST in port sector. Excerpts:
Visakhapatnam Port has taken numerous measures for the modernisation of the port viz. deepening its inner harbours to receive Panamax vessels, adopting the PPP mode for modernisation of berths, deploying RFID technology on entry gates to reduce traffic congestion, and promoting ‘ease of doing business’ by taking initiatives for digitisation and e-mode transaction.
Visakhapatnam Port has planned significant investments to augment its capacity from existing 98 million tonnes to 133 million tonnes by 2020. The Union Budget 2017 as per Mr Haranadh, will support the reduction of logistics cost in transportation. Once GST comes into force, it is expected to bring parity in taxes across the country, which will further promote ease of doing business in India and reduce the logistics and transportation costs. Read More
|
Maritime Capital
|
China- COSCO shipping sets up logistics investment fund
Seatrade Maritime News, 17 February, 3 minutes read
The provincial government has backed COSCO Shipping of China to set up a logistics investment fund called, COSCO Shipping Logistics. The company will be wholly owned by COSCO Shipping and it will work with COSCO Shipping Development to use the funds. The USD 874.2 Million fund is expected to invest in cold-chain logistics, logistics infrastructure, industrial parks, and e-commerce. The initiative aims to develop strategic investments and generate returns for the group.
Read More |
|