THE SHIPPING ASSOCIATION OF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO ING IONAL SHIPP IN INTERNAT IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING 9 May 2014 Outlook Brightens for Ro- Ro Carriers After suffering through the nese antitrust authorities with Eurotunnel, the op- longest recession in the in March slapped a $225 erator of the undersea link Inside this issue: crisis-ridden Eurozone million fine on six compa- between the U.K. and since World War II, roll-on, nies, including market France, which has cap- Outlook Brightens for Ro- 1 roll-off carriers could use leaders Wallenius Wil- tured almost 39 percent of Ro Carriers an injection of good news. helmsen Logistics, “K” truck traffic in the world’s Line and NYK Line for busiest Ro-Ro market. IMDO: Bigger Ships than 3 Maersk’s Triple-E Fuel Mar- With a long-stalled eco- their part in a price-fixing Further financial hits are ket Overcapacity nomic recovery gaining scheme on ocean freight possible, the Journal of Commerce staff has re- traction in Europe and the rates on international Air freight transferring to 4 outlook improving for car routes. ported. Several class- sea, study shows and truck shipments, ac- action lawsuits were launched in the U.S. last More Shippers Benchmark 5 cording to The Journal of Whether the accelerating summer, and European Their Shipping Costs Commerce Online, Ro-Ro trade growth will come in antitrust authorities are carriers are finally getting it. time for some carriers is investigating alleged car- an open question. Some tel activities. There are However JOC says that ro-ro carriers, Journal of also concerns that growth this doesn’t mean that the Commerce has said, are in global automobile ex- industry is yet out of the still in danger of failing ports will slow as produc- woods. The last six years and others will have to tion increasingly shifts to of economic ineptitude withdraw from routes in import markets. squeezed operating mar- the key northern Europe For now, however, the gins, drove weaker compa- market when tough envi- industry is enjoying a mini nies to the brink of collapse ronmental regulations -boom, with traffic climb- and stalled urgently needed take effect next year. The ing above pre-recession consolidation, making the once-buoyant Baltic Sea levels. Ro-Ro traffic grew recovery all the more diffi- routes face further volume 3.5 percent year-over- cult. declines as the Russian year in 2013 at Rotter- economy hovers near re- dam, Europe’s largest And just as the outlook cession. Shipping lines port, driven by recovery started to brighten, Japa- also face a tough battle on key U.K. routes. Con- IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING P AGE 2 (Continued from page 1) end of the year, boosting capacity agricultural equipment and static ro- of its Mediterranean-Americas ser- ro cargoes. tainerized volume, by contrast, vice by 35 percent. slipped 2.1 percent in the same pe- Despite growing global sales, car “K” Line rival MOL is embracing the riod. Scandlines, the Danish-German carriers must be prepared to keep shift in production to drum up busi- ferry operator that sold its freight arm pace with shifts in export patterns ness for its car carriers. It just in 2012, carried 700,000 trucks and as automakers shift production in, launched a weekly three-vessel ser- trailers on its passenger vessels in 2013, up 3.2 percent from the previ- or closer to, importing nations, thus vice transporting new cars from the ous year, while passenger numbers reducing the demand for seaborne east and west coasts of Mexico to were down 1.8 percent. shipments. ports in the North American Free Trade Agreement region. Meanwhile, DFDS, one of North Mexico has emerged as a major Europe’s largest ro-ro shipping and market that likely will replace Japan The Atlantic service, operated by logistics groups, is prowling for fresh as the second-largest exporter of MOL subsidiaries Nissan Motor and acquisitions following a largely slow cars to the U.S. by the end of the World Logistics Service (USA), will period after it snapped up Maersk’s year, according to consulting firm connect the Port of Veracruz, Mex- Norfolkline subsidiary for around IHS Automotive. A Honda plant ico, with Jacksonville, Fla.; Bruns- $425 million in 2010. And Greece, a that opened in the state of Guana- wick, Ga.; Baltimore; Port Newark key ro-ro shipping hub that was widely expected to default and exit juato in February will produce and Davisville, R.I. A second weekly the euro two years ago, is showing about 200,000 Fit hatchbacks a service will sail from the Mexican Pa- signs of recovery. year, boosting Mexico’s exports to cific port of Lazaro Cardenas to San 1.7 million units in 2014, some Diego; Richmond, Va.; Portland, The uptick is coming at just the right 200,000 more than Japan. And a Ore.; Tacoma and the Canadian port time as carriers take delivery of new, new Mazda plant that opened a of New Westminster. larger ships, most earmarked for in- few weeks later with an annual out- tra-Mediterranean long-haul routes put of 230,000 cars will help Mex- Meanwhile, carriers continue to add between Europe and West Africa and ico overtake Canada as the largest services to keep pace with growing the east coast of South America. automobile exporter to the U.S. by regional markets for cars, trucks and Naples-based Grimaldi is adding the end of 2015, IHS Automotive mining equipment. Wallenius Wil- three multipurpose container/ro-ro predicts. helmsen expanded its service to vessels to its fleet this year; fellow South America’s west coast in April, Italian carrier Atlantica di Navigazi- Japan’s “K” Line, whose 100-strong adding a monthly call to San Antonio, one is phasing in five Ro-Ro ships it fleet carries some 3.3 million cars a Chile, and boosting a network span- acquired from Hong Kong’s Pacific year, believes the move of produc- ning 13 ports in Europe, the U.S., Basin for $200 million; and Ignazio tion plants to importing nations will Mexico and Latin America. Messia, also Italian, will deploy four limit growth in seaborne automobile new container/ro-ro units at the end trade, and is diversifying its client Source: Journal of Commerce Online of the year. Danish carrier Nordana base to carry more construction will deploy a new ro-ro ship by the and mining vehicles, heavy trucks, IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING P AGE 3 IMDO: Bigger Ships than Maersk’s Triple-E Fuel Market Overcapacity The G6 liner alliance is planning to outdo P3, its main rival, World Maritime News has said, by ordering even larger container ships than Maersk’s Triple – E which can carry 18,000 TEU, according to the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) in its Weekly Market Review for Week 17. G6 are considering up to 20 vessels over 19,000 TEU as analysts profess cost effi- ciencies, based on larger cargo volumes per ship, and economies of scale are crucial for G6 to successfully compete on the Asia – Europe trade routes with P3. Alphaliner data shows that currently the average size of P3 ships is around 10,300 TEU in com- parison 8,200 TEU for G6. The deal is expected to continue to fuel market overcapacity, with analysts believing that 21,000 TEU can be the absolute maximum size given yard and port constraints; however plans for 23,000 TEU ships have been drawn up. Within the G6 alliance there is not total agreement over the desired ship size, indi- cated earlier this year by NYK opting to build 14,000 TEU ships rather than go for larger tonnage. NYK president reportedly explained the move by pointing to problems with port re- strictions and inefficient port operations in relation to megaships and his belief that smaller is better. Source: World Maritime News IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING P AGE 4 Air freight transferring to sea, study shows A study by transportation transported by air as in a of pollutants per unit of consultancy Seabury, ac- reefer container. Today, to- cargo. cording to Seatrade Global, matoes are transported al- Brand indicated that fur- has found 100,000 TEU per most entirely in containers. ther technological innova- year of freight has moved The same holds true for nu- tion in reefer containers from air to sea transport in merous other perishable would increase the propor- the last 10 years. commodities. The volumes tion of cargo carried on The shift, amounting to that have shifted to ocean ships even further. The 5.4m tonnes of cargo since transport are significant for ability to dramatically slow 2000, was the ripen- attributed to ing proc- advance- ess ments in re- “opens up frigerated ocean container transport technology, as a vi- explained the able al- report’s au- ternative thor Derek to air Brand, mari- cargo on time advisor some of at Seabury. the longer Had the pro- trade portion of routes,” cargo trans- he con- ported re- cluded. mained at 2000 levels, air freight would have the air cargo industry.” grown at an average an- Source: Seatrade-Global nual rate of 4.5%, rather The transfer of freight from than the 2.6% it has actu- aircraft to shipping is a ally seen, the report has positive development for shown. greenhouse gas emissions, with economies of scale re- “A decade ago, tomatoes sulting in far lower fuel were just as likely to be consumption and emissions IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING P AGE 5 More Shippers Benchmark Their Shipping Costs More shippers are benchmarking their container shipping costs to ensure that they secure the most favourable freight rates possible.