THE SHIPPING ASSOCIATION OF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING 8 July 2014 P3 s slow boat to China? With Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM now in damage limitation mode following their failure to get P3 agreed in China, what else can they do to cut costs? Following China s rejection of P3 last month, Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM are under pressure to find alternative ways to cut costs. In Drewry s view, one of these must be by reducing fuel consumption through increased slow steaming, as bunker costs account for well over half of all vessel running costs. It is not the only way, as clarified in Life without P3. Cash strapped competitors could easily follow suit on slow steaming as the carrier industry is still struggling with overcapacity, and shareholders are clamouring for remedial action. Without change, there will continue to be too many vessels chasing insufficient cargo, thereby putting yet more pressure on freight rates and profitability. One of P3 s biggest savings was intended to come from carrying more-or-less the same amount of cargo between Asia and Northern Europe with only eight sailings a week instead of nine. And to the Mediterranean, five loops were planned instead of six. The implication is that 11 of the carriers small 9,000 teu vessels would have been cascaded out of the former, and another 11 vessels of around 8,000 teu out of the latter. It will be a hard act to follow, as many of the displaced vessels could have been transferred to other trade routes where further economies of scale are possible, such as the Transpacific. Quantifying the amount saved through the entire P3 project is difficult, therefore, but the benefits of further slow steaming between Asia and Europe could make up a significant proportion of Inside this issue:
P AGE 2 P3 s slow boat to China? (Continued from page 1) Table 1 Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM Vessels the sum involved. over 9,000 teu on Order By lengthening the round voyage time of each existing weekly service between Asia and Europe by seven days through the Source: Clarksons addition of one vessel, Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM could effectively lose 15 surplus vessels whilst awaiting the cargo a 9,000 teu vessel a week between Asia Had P3 been allowed, the elimination of growth for which they were ordered to belatedly appear. Table 1 shows the vessels its members approximately $155 million and Northern Europe would have saved annually in bunker costs alone, according to Drewry s calculations, and port costs, diesel costs and vessel costs would have been on top of this. On the other hand, by lengthening the westbound and eastbound transit times of the three carriers existing nine weekly loops between Asia and Northern Europe by three and four days respectively (through the addition of one vessel), the annual bunker cost saving would amount to around $264 million, according to Drewry s calculations. This is based on the price of fuel being $610/tonne, whereas it over 9,000 teu that they had on order in has recently jumped to $640/tonne, and May for delivery up to the end of 2015, from would entail westbound vessels being which it can be seen that a good few candidates are approaching completion. and eastbound vessels being run at 12 operated at 16 knots instead of 18 knots, knots instead of 14 knots. For example, the CMA CGM Danube (9,400 teu) has just been delivered, and will In the Mediterranean, the elimination of soon be deployed in CMA CGM and one 8,000 teu vessel a week would have Maersk s jointly run BEX service between saved its members another $94 million Asia and the Black Sea. annually in bunker costs alone, whereas, by also lengthening the westbound and eastbound transit times of the three carriers six existing weekly loops by three and four days respectively, the annual bunker cost saving would amount to around $132 million. The speed adjustments would be more-or-less the same as for Northern Europe. However, whereas the financial benefit of the service eliminations between Asia and Europe originally envisaged by P3 would have all gone to its members, some of the savings resulting from increased slow steaming would have to be passed back to shippers via reduced bunker surcharges. Ignoring the split, and assuming an average vessel utilisation of 85% from Asia to Europe, and 65% on the way back, the three carriers and their customers together would save approximately $45/teu on every teu shipped during the speed reduction programme. It must be emphasised that these are very approximate calculations based on one service pattern in each trade lane, whereas there is little uniformity in either port rotations or vessel speeds, as shown in Table 2. Not all service speeds have to be further reduced either. Some service speeds could be maintained, creating dual speed alternatives. Also, the key to making the savings is having enough surplus vessels in the right place at the right time, which may not be possible. MSC only shares vessels with
P AGE 3 P3 s slow boat to China? Table 2 Service Speeds Between Asia and North Europe, June Moreover, slow steaming is not a win-win situation for carriers and shippers. Drewry has spoken to many shippers who claim that carriers slow steaming cost reductions ultimately cost them more money through the need to maintain higher inventory costs, so the initiative will be resisted. Source: Hellenic Shipping News 14 Source: Drewry s Carrier Performance Insight
PAGE 4 CMA CGM between Asia and Northern Europe, and Maersk The Trident Alliance formed, first members announced The Trident Alliance, a shipping industry initiative for robust enforcement of maritime sulphur regulations, has been formally launched. The Trident Alliance is a coalition of ship owners and operators who share a common interest in robust enforcement of maritime sulphur regulation and are willing to collaborate to help bring it about. The Alliance will partner with other groups who share its interest in robust enforcement, to support this objective. A growing group of companies The Trident Alliance welcomes all shipping companies that subscribe to the above. The current membership list includes: American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier (ARC) EUKOR Car Carriers Inc. Höegh Autoliners J. Lauritzen Maersk Rickmers-Linie Stena Torvald Klaveness UECC Unifeeder Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics The member company CEO s have each signed a Statement of Commitment, in which they commit to supporting robust and transparent enforcement of sulphur regulations as well as to comply with said regulations. Several companies are in the process of joining, and will be announced as their Statements of Commitment are filed. Membership will remain open to all shipping companies that wish to join. Roger Strevens, VP Environment of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics has been elected Chairman of The Trident Alliance. Robust enforcement of sulphur regulation is needed for health and the environment and, from the perspective of maintaining a level playing field, it is a business imperative. Already during its formation the Trident Alliance has raised awareness of the current shortcomings of enforcement and related consequences, particularly in the European ECA. Now our work starts in earnest, says Strevens. Focus areas There is no one way to bring enforcement about. In part this is because the reasons for good or poor enforcement will vary from country to country. As such the Trident Alliance will pursue a range of different solution strategies to bring about robust and transparent enforcement. This approach will be made possible by the different skills and resources of the different members in the alliance and the stakeholders it partners with. The main focus will be on communication to raise awareness of the issue, supported by member companies transparency on compliance, as well as on initiatives to foster innovation in enforcement technology. Source: Hellenic Shipping News
P AGE 5 Nicaragua canal route gets official approval A Nicaraguan government committee today approved the route of a proposed $40 billion canal project that will bisect the country and rival the Panama Canal waterway linking the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean. Environmental and social impact studies need to be completed, but both Nicaraguan government officials and HKND expect work to begin in December and for the canal to be completed within five years. Hong Kong-based HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co (HKND Group) is leading the project and unveiled the route in a Managua hotel presentation attended by the senior government officials, businessmen, environmentalists, and academics. Representatives of HKND, owned by Chinese businessman Wang Jing, said the canal will be 173 miles long, 250-580 yards wide and 90 feet deep, capable of handling the largest containerships in service or on the drawing board. Dong Yunsong, HKND chief of engineers, said six routes had been studied and the company had eventually settled on Route 4 that enters on the Pacific Ocean side of the country at the mouth of the Brito River, travels south of Rivas city and across Lake Nicaragua. Once across the lake the canal will head along the Tule and Punta Gordas rivers and exit into the Caribbean at Bluefields Bay. He said the mega project will require the hiring of more than 50,000 workers during construction and will indirectly create more than 200,000 jobs when in operation. It will consist of six subprojects, including the channel, construction of two deep-water ports, a free-trade area, tourism projects in San Lorenzo and an airport in the city of Rivas. "This project can greatly reduce the distance between countries of Asia and North America, and to the east coast of South America, he added. Wang s HKND Group obtained the right to dig and operate the canal for 50 years, with the possibility to renew the contract for another 50 years in the future. The Supreme Court in Managua approved the project, ruling that a Chinese-operated waterway did not infringe on the nation s constitution. The Nicaragua canal is an idea that dates back to the 16th century, and remains unbuilt largely because of significant construction challenges. The proposed channel will be more than three times longer than the 48-mile Panama Canal, and it took the U.S. 10 years to dig through the narrowest part of the isthmus. Challenges facing the project include exposing Lake Nicaragua, Central America s largest source of freshwater, to the risk of salinization once it is connected to the ocean, as well as disposing of the excavated dirt. Environmental impacts and potential seismic activity from nearby active volcanoes are also worries. Dong addressed these concerns in his presentation, saying the operation will not cause significant water changes to Lake Nicaragua or affect water use by residents of the watershed. The channel will use mainly the water in the basin of the river Punta Gorda, which is sufficient to operate the channel," he said. An artificial lake will also be formed after the construction of the canal with an area of 154 square miles. A total of 41 tanks will capture excavated material along the canal and the deposits will flattened and converted into high quality farm land. Volcano activity would not affect the normal operation of the canal, he said. But possibly the greatest challenge to the project is its financial price. Although the cost of construction is officially estimated at $40 billion, Alberto Alemán Zubieta, the former Panama Canal administrator, has estimated the project will cost at least $100 billion. Critics of the canal have said HKDN Group lacks credentials and does not have the necessary experience to undertake a complex project of such magnitude. Source: Journal of Commerce
P AGE 6 Suez fails to see anticipated gains in traffic The number of container ships passing through the Suez Canal in May was higher than in April but was down year-over-year for the 33rd straight month. The Suez Canal reported that 526 container ships passed through its gates in May, up 6.9 percent from April s totals. Though the canal broke the 500-ship mark for the first time since last October, May s totals were still 1.3 percent lower yearover-year. Total throughput stood at 1,426 ships, 3 percent higher than April s total ship traffic but down 0.3 percent year-over-year. That traffic is down at the Suez Canal may come as a surprise to analysts and shippers alike, who thought the Suez Canal would see increased traffic this year because of diversions from the Panama Canal and better rates. This year s contracting season for the trans-pacific showed that, for the first time, a greater percentage of the all-water eastbound shipments would move through the Suez Canal than the Panama Canal. Alphaliner confirmed the trend. Carriers moving a shipment from Hong Kong to New York on an 8,000-TEU vessel through the Suez Canal experience a $400-per-FEU lower slot cost than those sending the container on a 4,800-TEU vessel through the Panama Canal, according to Chaim Shacham, an industry consultant and former Zim Integrated Shipping Services executive. Delays in the Panama Canal s expansion project were expected to cause traffic through the Suez Canal to increase, because the Suez authority could attract more carriers to use their route as opposed to the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal has not released monthly container traffic data in a year. The number of container ships passing through the Suez in May was the highest since May 2013, when 533 container ships passed through the canal. Monthly container ship numbers have only topped the 500- ship mark five times in the past year. While the Suez isn t seeing the number of ships it had hoped for, the ships are undoubtedly larger. The canal is 66 feet deep and can accommodate vessels as large as Maersk s 18,270-TEU Triple E ships. In 2013, Drewry reported the average size of ships passing through the Suez Canal was 7,756 TEUs, while the Panama Canal s average ship size was below 5,000 TEUs. The Suez does, however, charge tariffs per ship. In 2013, the Suez Canal Authority charged about $1 million for combined southbound and northbound transits for 8,000 to 9,000 TEU ships. Source: Journal of Commerce
P AGE 7 Seagull releases training module for recovering persons from water A new module addressing the implications of SOLAS regulations for the recovery of crew and passengers in distress at sea has been released by leading maritime training provider, Seagull. The Seagull module, Recovery of persons from the water (CBT 297), is directed at management and operational staff responsible for a ship s safety management system. The need to recover people from water usually occurs at short notice in emergency situations. The training module will help those onboard to draw up a ship-specific plan and it emphasises the need for everyone onboard ship to be familiar with their role in it. The objectives include being able to identify the risks, recognise the factors that should be taken into account and list the essential requirements of a plan as well as know that drills must take place and be recorded. In addition, the module s objectives include being able to list the actions to be taken to help those rescued to recover from the effects of being in cold water and to identify actions that can be taken when direct rescue is not possible. Roger Ringstad, Roger Ringstad, Managing Director, Seagull AS, says: This module helps ship s staff prepare, revise and review plans and procedures in line with SOLAS 111/17-1), which came into force on July 1 2014 and means that all ships will now have ship-specific plans and procedures for the recovery of persons from the water. The requirements apply to new ships constructed (with keel laid) on or after July 1 2014, and to existing ships by the first periodical or renewal safety equipment survey after this date. Ro-Ro passenger ships have already been requested to carry means of recovery equipment and should have complied already with the requirements. Seagull s 60-minute, English language module has been created with the assistance of the Norwegian-headquartered supplier of safety, rescue and inspection equipment, Dacon AS, and with the UK company Jason s Cradle Man Overboard Solutions, whose MOB system is used globally to retrieve people quickly and horizontally from the water. The importance of the horizontal recovery position cannot be overstated, as an estimated 20% of persons die during vertical lifting, says Mr Ringstad. Horizontal lifting reduces the possibilities of dry drowning and it is one of the quickest and safest methods of retrieving both conscious and unconscious persons. Source: Hellenic Shipping News