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Local & International News ||.. |
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New World Alliance chops Transatlantic capacity by a third
-by Mike Wackett- |
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The members of the New World Alliance (NWA) - APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and MOL - have announced plans to cull capacity shared with Maersk Line by 'around one-third' from December on the troubled Transatlantic tradelane.
The NWA and the Danish carrier have been exchanging space on the route, but falling demand and lack of success in pushing rates back up to sustainable levels has forced the radical move.
Subject to regulatory filing, the ATN/TA3 - Maersk loop US East Coast to Europe service provided by slots on Maersk Line vessels [only APL and HMM]will be suspended from December - coinciding with the start of the 'slack season'.
The NWA members said that although the move would eliminate 'excess capacity', enhancements on other routes would 'ensure continued service reliability' and 'rapid transit times'.
The revisions are:
APX/TA1
Additional calls at Antwerp and Le Havre with new rotation: Manzanillo, Miami, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, New York, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Le Havre, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, Manzanillo, Los Angeles, Oakland.
[Maersk Line continues as a slot charterer]
ATS/TA2 - Maersk loop
An additional ship will be added and the rotation will henceforth include calls at New York, Savannah and Miami, as follows: Houston, Mobile, Norfolk, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Bremerhaven, New York, Charleston, Savannah, Miami and then back to Houston.
[MOL will relinquish its share after the restructure]
According to the latest data produced by the European Liner Affairs Association (ELAA), trade between Europe and North America was off in August by 16% and 26%, respectively westbound and eastbound, compared to the same month of the previous year.
-Source: Containerization International- |
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Sante Shipping to start Haiti service
-by Martin Dixon- |
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Florida-based Sante Shipping Lines is launching a new container service between Miami and the Carribean island of Haiti. Starting October 28, the service will depart Miami every two weeks to Cap Haitien and Gonaives aboard the Sante MANNA, an 181TEU container ship.
Bruno Ramos, Sante's ceo said: 'Haiti and especially the northern markets that we will serve are in need of regular, dependable cargo delivery service that will provide much needed goods and humanitarian cargo to the Haitian people.'
The executive went on to say that more Caribbean destination ports would follow soon.
-Source: Containerisation International |
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Zim Line optimistic about the future
-by Matthew Beddow- |
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Financially challenged Zim Integrated Shipping Services has moved to reassure customers that its future is optimistic. The carrier said that it has 'secured agreements and understandings in
principle with banks, bondholders, shipyards and shipowners holding more than 95% of the
company's debt and obligations'.
An agreement has also been formally approved with the bondholders' committee to reschedule its debt.
All steps taken so far still have to be approved by shareholders of parent company Israel Corporation,
which are next due to meet on November 1, 2009.
If approved, according to agreements reached so far, Zim Line will receive more than USD500 million of new financing from the company's banks (both Israeli and foreign) between 2009 and 2010.
The funding will be scheduled for repayment over more than 10 years to enable Zim Line to
complete new vessels purchases.
Existing debt will also be rescheduled, with repayment periods in some cases extending up to
10 years. Moreover, the banks have agreed to grant full or partial grace periods of up to three years on principle repayments.
Moreover, Israel Corporation will invest over USD450 million, which includes the conversion of existing loans. Along with related parties, it will also provide a USD100 million safety net to ensure sufficient liquidity for Zim Line, should it be necessary.
And Zim bonds worth approximately USD350 million, which were previously due for repayment between 2012 and 2015, will be deferred to at least 2016.
Although it has been confirmed that some shipyards have agreed to postpone newbuild deliveries (at a price), the extent to which the owners of the vessels chartered by Zim Line have agreed to help out remains unclear. Earlier this month Danaos contested Zim Line's decision to unilaterally reduce the amount of charter hire paid for six container vessels by 35%.
In summary, most stakeholders appear to have accepted the conclusions of the independent report commissioned by Israel Corporation stating that Zim Line had a viable future, despite some of its assumptions about cargo flow and freight rates levels being contentious, and the fact that Zim Line's financial performance over the past eighteen months was worse than most. For every dollar of revenue earned in 2008, it lost 5 cents at operating level (EBITDA), and during the first six months of the year it lost 26.6 cents.
-Source: Containerisation International-
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