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CMA CGM Launches First 23,000 Teu Lng-Powered Containership CMA CGM has made a significant commitment to LNG as a marine fuel ordering nine 23,000 teu capacity new buildings, the largest LNG-fuelled vessels of any type built to date. The containerships will mark a shift to using LNG as marine fuel on the main long-haul trades rather than just on regional and coastal trades. The 23,000 teu ships will be deployed on the Asia – Europe trades. With the launch of the first 23,000-teu ship powered by liquified natural gas, company demonstrate that energy transition can be effectively successful in the industry if all the players work together. It paves the way to a global shipping approach where economic growth and competitiveness can coexist with sustainability and the fight against climate change. VCT Emerging As Transhipment Hub On The East Coast Of India Visakha Container Terminal (VCT) is located centrally and strategically on the East Coast of India between Kolkata and Chennai. The terminal handled over 0.45 million TEUs during FY 18-19 and is on the verge of crossing the 0.5-million TEU mark in FY 19-20, thanks to steady growth in traffic to/from adjoining areas at a progressive rate of 16 per cent complemented with inbound and outbound rail movement from/to the hinterland and also transhipment. VCT has the capability to handle large volumes of container transhipment traffic as compared to all the other ports on the East Coast because of its locational advantages, draught of 16.5 m, weekly main line and feeder service calls, highlighted a release. VCT, with proximity to the other hub and spoke ports and its own origin and destination cargo, is excitingly poised to become the preferred Regional Transhipment Hub on the East Coast of India. The commercial benefits (discounts on Vessel Related Charges) offered by Visakhapatnam Port Trust make the product even more attractive, sustainable and competitive in the long run by being the Gateway to the East for both Northern and Southern regions extending right up to Bangladesh and even Myanmar as an ideal Gateway in the Upper Bay of Bengal, the release emphasised. Performance Shipping Offloads Another Boxship Symeon Palios-led Greek owner Performance Shipping, formerly known as Diana Containerships, has sold 2006-built 6,541 teu post-panamax containership Pucon. Deliver is expected by December 5, to an unnamed third party, and the sale price is $20.215m. MSI values the vessel at $18.5m. The sale will leave Performance Shipping with just two container vessels, one post-panamax and one panamax, as well as an aframax tanker recently acquired from Maersk Tankers. It also has another aframax tanker set to deliver from Maersk as part of a two-ship deal. Hapag-Lloyd Launches Two More Services Connecting India In response to growing demand, Hapag-Lloyd will offer more services from and to India. Two new services, the South East India-Europe Express (IEX) and the Middle East-India-Africa Express (MIAX), will enter into operation in October, it was informed at a media and trade interaction organised by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. The IEX will provide the only direct connection between South and East India and Europe in the market. The weekly service, jointly operated with ONE, YML and COSCO, will be made up of nine 6,500-TEU vessels, with Hapag-Lloyd contributing four ships. The first departures are scheduled for October 26. “Hapag-Lloyd has a strong network of services connecting key markets through Indian ports. The launch of two new services —IEX and MIAX—will create stronger opportunities for ex-im cargo and for Indian manufacturers to cater to global markets. Oil Freight Rates Rocket After U.S. Sanctions COSCO Oil freight rates in the Middle East and Asia have increased by almost 20 percent today following new US sanctions on units of Chinese company COSCO for its alleged involvement in ferrying crude oil out of Iran. Asian oil buyers have been rushing to the shipping market to charter vessels, with rates for chartering VLCCs to deliver crude oil from the Middle East to Asia increased by almost 19% overnight, however there is also uncertainty over how the sanctions on the COSCO units - COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co, Ltd and its subsidiary COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman & Ship Management Co, Ltd - will be implemented. It has been reported that some oil buyers are delaying hiring COSCO tankers until they have a better understanding of the legal implications of the sanctions. Trading in shares of COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation remain halted following Thursday’s announcement of the new US sanctions. Sources: https://splash247.com/performance-shipping-offloads-another-boxship/ http://www.maritimegateway.com/vct-emerging-transhipment-hub-east-coast-india/ http://www.eximin.net/NewsDetails.aspx?name=42198 https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/