Missile attacks threaten global supply chain crisis at Suez Canal: Two boxships attacked, one on fire
15.12.2023
Missile and drone attacks by Houthi militia on merchant ships passing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden could trigger a global supply chain crisis.
The latest attack was reported today (15 December) on the Liberian-flagged 14,993 TEU container ship Al Jasrah, operated by Hapag-Lloyd, in the Red Sea. The vessel sustained damage from the missile attack as it was sailing through the Bab al-Mandab strait, causing a fire on deck and a container to fall overboard, said the British maritime security firm Ambrey.
Another attack was reported yesterday (14 December), when a missile was fired at the 10,100 TEU container ship Maersk Gibraltar. The missile did not strike the ship, which was sailing from the port of Salalah in Oman to the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
This follows a string of attacks including missile strikes on a Norwegian-flagged vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and a container ship operating between Asia and the Mediterranean. On 12 December, a vessel operated by shipping company Ardmore came under missile attack in the Red Sea.
Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, an ocean freight shipping data and intelligence platform, believes the situation could have serious consequences for global supply chains.
"All ships transiting the Suez Canal must sail through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and the Houthi militia has made clear that any vessel is a target. I do not believe the Suez Canal will close, however, if there are further significant escalations then we cannot rule it out, even if it is just for a few days," he said.
Sand mentioned that a closure of the Suez Canal could have a severe impact on the global shipping industry, recalling the Ever Given incident and its consequences. "The ocean freight industry has been deeply scarred by Ever Given and is frankly terrified of any situation which threatens the closure of the Suez Canal," he pointed out.
More than 50 vessels transit the Suez Canal every day, carrying billions of dollars of goods to North Europe, the Mediterranean and North America East Coast. Houthi militia in Yemen, which has stated sympathies with Hamas and according to the US Government, are being armed by Iran, has claimed the missile and drone attacks on merchant ships are in response to the conflict in Gaza.
With ongoing restrictions in the Panama Canal due to drought, the latest situation in Suez could not come at a worse time for the ocean shipping industry, according to Xeneta analysis.
Sand said, “We are already seeing ocean freight liner operators and owners choosing to reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region. Due to the importance of the Suez Canal to global supply chains, even a small disruption can have big consequences.
“The main alternative is to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, which adds up to 10 days sailing time for services from Asia to North Europe and East Mediterranean.
“We may also see the cost of moving freight by ocean increase dramatically. Depending on the scale and duration of any disruption at the Suez Canal, we could see ocean freight shipping rates increase by anything up to 100%.”
Maersk to deploy first large methanol-enabled ship on Asia – Europe trade lane
07.12.2023
Maersk will launch the first of its 18 large methanol-enabled vessels currently on order, deploying it on the AE7 service string connecting Asia and Europe.
On 9 February 2024, the ship will enter service on the AE7 string, which includes port calls in Shanghai, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo and Hamburg with Ningbo being its first destination.
The AE7 string has the following port rotation:
Ningbo (China), Shanghai (China), Nansha (China), Yantian (China), Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Port Tangiers (Morocco), Felixstowe (UK), Hamburg (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), London Gateway (UK), Le Havre (France), Port Tangiers, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Jebel Ali (UAE)
The container vessel built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has a nominal capacity of 16,000 TEUs and is equipped with a dual-fuel engine enabling operations on methanol as well as biodiesel and conventional bunker fuel.
The Danish ocean carrier has set a Net-Zero greenhouse gas emissions target for 2040 across the entire business and has also set tangible and ambitious near-term targets for 2030 to ensure progress. Maersk has secured sufficient green methanol to cover the vessel’s maiden voyage and continues to work on 2024-25 sourcing solutions for its methanol-enabled vessel fleet.
“Deploying the first of our large methanol-enabled vessels on one of the world’s largest trade lanes, Asia - Europe, is a landmark in our journey towards our Net-Zero target. With the vessel’s capacity of 16,000 containers, this will make a significant impact in our customers’ efforts to decarbonise their supply chains, and we are looking forward to introducing more methanol-enabled vessels on this and other trades during 2024,” commented Karsten Kildahl, chief commercial officer at Maersk.
Ahead of its deployment, the vessel will be named at the shipyard at the end of January 2024. The following two sister vessels will be deployed in the first half of the next year with naming events taking place in Yokohama, Japan, and Los Angeles, US.
Maersk expects to take delivery of four additional sister vessels in the second half of 2024.
At the time of deployment of the first large vessel, it will be the only second container vessel in the world that can sail on green methanol, the first being the feeder vessel Laura Maersk which entered service in September this year.
Maersk has currently 24 container vessels on order with dual-fuel engines and able to operate on green methanol. Twelve of the ships will have 16,000 TEU of container capacity, six will have 17,000 TEU capacity and six will be able to carry 9,000 TEUs.
Boxships now hit by Panama Canal crossing restrictions
28.11.2023
Container ships are now being held up in the Panama Canal as the number of transit slots for such vessels will be reduced from 1 January 2024, according to Linerlytica’s report.
Linerlytica noted that congestion at the Panama Canal is starting to build up with 22 container ships waiting at the end of last week, of which 14 are neo-panamax vessels. Several carriers have already announced new fees for Panama transits including MSC who will impose a US$297/container Panama Canal Surcharges (PCS) from 15 December.
Until now, container ships had not been affected by the transit limits, which were effected to manage the drop in water levels due to droughts. This was because priority was given to vessels on liner services.
However, the Panama Canal Authority is taking drastic measures, reducing the number of daily neo-panamax transit slots on the canal from eight to five from January 2024, with a weekly limit of 35 transits.
Boxships currently account for 29 weekly neo-panamax transits (before adjustment for blanked sailings) of which 18 are northbound voyages (to the US) and 11 are southbound (from the US). These transits account for 83% of the January transit quota, leaving just 17% of these slots to non-container ships.
In February next year, the transits will be reduced further to 18 a day, with neo-panamax transits to be restricted to five a day.
As of 26 November, 22 container ships of 190,000 TEUs are waiting at the Panama Canal anchorage, the highest number recorded so far, of which 14 are neo-Panamax units.
Linerlytica said, “The situation will worsen over the coming two months as the new transit quotas kick in while ongoing protests have also affected landside access at some of the Panamanian ports.”
CMA CGM finally engages in scrapping
21.11.2023
French ocean carrier CMA CGM is scrapping a ship for the first time since the Covid-19-fuelled container shipping boom ended.
The 2003-built, 1,118 TEU feeder vessel, CMA CGM Tanger, owned by the French carrier’s Moroccan subsidiary, Compagnie Marocaine de Navigation (Comanav), has been sold for an undisclosed price, for recycling in Turkey. The Marseille-based company acquired Comanav in 2007, after the latter was privatised by the Moroccan government.
Cash buyers and brokers said that boxship demolition remains slow, possibly because ship owners still have substantial financial reserves from the boom years and can afford to keep elderly vessels running in the near term.
Global Marketing Systems said that market sentiments are improving in the Turkish ship recycling market, where prices have climbed to US$325/ldt, up by around US$5/ldt from the previous week. Given that CMA CGM Tanger light displacement tonnage is 5,245, the ship might fetch around US$1.7 million.
The cash buyer said, “Turkey continues to surprise the industry, with weekly ongoing improvements amidst a key depreciating fundamental that should have taken the steam entirely out of its domestic ship-recycling market.”
India mulls outsourcing mooring services to improve port charges for carriers
16.11.2023
In a significant policy modification that could spark labour pushback, the government of India is exploring a proposal to enable major port authorities to outsource many of their in-house services, especially pilotage and towage activity, for greater efficiency and cost improvements for users.
The move comes amid persistent calls by industry stakeholders, particularly ocean carriers, to lower marine charges, which they argue do not represent a competitive operating environment for regular direct calls.
According to industry arguments and estimates, Indian ports are substantially costlier than their peers like Colombo or other Asian hubs.
A long-term maritime growth plan titled “Amrit Kaal Vision 2047,” unveiled recently by the Indian government, has recognised the need for new policy measures to make domestic ports more competitive.
“Ports may also consider outsourcing of services such as pilotage and towage to third-party service providers,” said the document.
It further noted, “Major ports, being a government body, have to operate under certain restrictions, which may limit the operational performance and efficiency.”
The document went on to explain: “Outsourcing may lead to better operational efficiencies, thus reducing the cost of providing the service.”
Additionally, according to the government, some of the key global ports, including Singapore and Jebel Ali, have already adopted this “outsourcing model” of operations.
“Major ports are facing multiple challenges related to captive tugs such as high maintenance costs, low availability of owned tugs, frequent breakdowns due to lack of proper up-keep and maintenance, unionized manpower,” the vision paper suggested.
“Ports sign license contracts with towage service operators and operators directly charge vessel owners for the service,” it added.
While there has been a marked improvement in the infrastructure ecosystem, higher port call costs are increasingly seen as a deterrent for mainline carriers wishing to add more direct calls on the Indian coast.
Indian efforts to develop some of its ports into regional transshipment hubs haven’t proven successful thus far, with DP World Cochin or Vallarpadam Terminal in the greater spotlight.
“Establishment of a transshipment hub in India would also involve infrastructure development to match the requirements of shippers and vessel operators,” said the “Amrit Kaal Vision 2047” document.
“An assessment has been conducted across key parameters – availability of draft, proximity to maritime routes and hinterland connectivity to identify ports which have the potential to act as a transshipment port for India,” it also noted.
India has 12 major or publicly-owned ports and some 200 minor ports along its 4,600 miles of coastline.
According to port data obtained by Container News, Indian ports (major/minor) saw about 1.4 billion tons of freight traffic in the fiscal year 2022-23 through the end of March.