AXS-Alphaliner Newsl..

ALPHALINER 

Weekly Newsletter 

Web: www.axs-alphaliner.com | E-mail: data@alphaliner.com | Sales: commercial@axsmarine.com 

21.04.2009 to 27.04.2009 

Volume 2009 Issue 17 

Alphaliner Weekly Newsletter is the premier liner shipping news summary, compiled and distributed every Monday. 

The newsletter is available upon subscription. Information is given in good faith but without guarantee. Please send 

your feedback, comments and questions to data@alphaliner.com 

Top 5 Container Ports 

Mar 2009 Performance 

% Change vs Feb 09 vs Mar 08 

Singapore 18.5% -14.6% 

Shanghai 47.3% -8.8% 

Hong Kong 24.5% -18.9% 

Shenzhen 33.5% -21.8% 

LA/LB 23.0% -16.8% 

M teu 

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E 

1 Chart of the Week 

Weak first quarter volumes 

Idle fleet stays high at 10.6% 

Chinese ports 1Q liftings drop 12.8% 

4 Service Updates 

CKYH rearranges Asia Euope servce 

CSCL reinstates ME-FE-US pendulum 

Maersk adds Halifax on TA-3/TP-7 

Zim slots on GA FE-Med service 

CSCL takes slots on PNX from Zim 

CMA CGM adds Med-Japan link 

Maersk swaps AE European ports 

MOL boosts JSS 1 on intra-Asia 

K Line launch Shanghai-Japan loop 

SCI/MSC team up on ISES 

Hamburg Sud drop Europe-ECSA loop 

Other service updates 

9 Corporate Updates 

MSC continues fixtures spree 

China Navigation gains control of TOL 

COSCO 2008 liner profits slump 

CSCL 1Q loss hits $177M 

CSAV facing $400M loss for 1H09 

Horizon Lines books $10M loss for 1Q 

APL rates and volume continues to slip 

16 Delivery Updates 

New April deliveries 

Chart of the Week 

3.0 

2.5 

2.0 

1.5 

1.0 

0.5 

0.0 

Top 5 Container Ports - Monthly Throughput 

Jan 2008-Mar 2009 

Jan-08 

Feb-08 

Mar-08 

Apr-08 

May-08 

Jun-08 

Jul-08 

Aug-08 

Sep-08 

Oct-08 

Nov-08 

Dec-08 

Jan-09 

Feb-09 

Mar-09 

Weak first quarter volumes but March offers hope 

Container trade volumes recovered in March following the weak February 

figures but it is still too early to call a bottom to volume declines that 

ports have seen since September 2008. 

Alphaliner’s survey of the top 5 container ports showed a 29% month-on- 

month increase in the combined liftings for March at the ports of 

Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Los Angeles/Long Beach. 

Shanghai in particular recovered strongly, handling 2.18 Mteu, 47% more 

than the previous month. It is closing the gap with Singapore, which 

remained the top ranked port with handling volumes of 2.19 Mteu. 

A large part of the volume recovery in March was due to the resumption in 

shipments after the Lunar New Year holidays in many parts of Asia. The 

application of rate increases on a number of trades that took effect from 1 

April, particularly in the Asia-Europe sector, had also led to some pre-GRI 

bookings surge at the end of March. 

P a g e | 1 © Copyright Alphaliner 1999-2009 

Singapore 

Shanghai 

Hong Kong 

Shenzhen 

LA/LB

No. of Vessels 

160 

140 

120 

100 

80 

60 

40 

20 

0 

ALPHALINER Weekly Newsletter 2009-Week 17 

axs-alphaliner.com – the worldwide reference in liner shipping 

Carriers’ losses could 

reach $4Bn in 1Q 

Carriers with 1Q09 profit 

guidance/announcements 

CSAV -$265M 

NOL -$240M 

CSCL -$177M 

Idle Fleet Breakdown by Size Range 

as at 27 Apr 2009 

10 

55 

89 

114 

140 

Size Range in teu 

98 

Note, the count for the 500-1,000 teu 

range includes only ships which are 

usually deployed on container services 

and excludes the spot multipurpose units 

usually deployed on breakbulk, project 

cargo or tramp trades as they rarely 

interfere on container trades. 

The March volumes at the top 5 ports are however 16% lower than the 

corresponding period in 2008, reflecting the challenging conditions that the 

industry is facing. Overall first quarter volumes fell 19% against the 

previous year. 

Apart from the top 5 ports, all main ports are affected by the volume 

slowdown. In Europe, Rotterdam had reported a 16% decline in container 

volumes to 2.3 Mteu for the first quarter and the port forecasts an overall 

decline in throughput of 6%-10% for 2009. It says problems in container 

shipping continue to dominate for the time being and the recovery will 

begin “a little later than anticipated”. Antwerp also reported a 16% fall in 

first quarter volumes to 1.7 Mteu. Over in the US East Coast, the port of 

New York/New Jersey saw first quarter volumes drop 17% to 0.82 Mteu. 

Although there were some successes on the part of carriers in finally 

recovering some of the volumes and rate declines over the March-April 

period, the battle to regain profitability remains gruelling. Within the last 

two weeks, a number of carriers have issued profit warnings, cautioning 

that the first quarter earnings would be negative. Collectively, the Top 20 

carriers may be facing total losses that could exceed $4 Bn for the first 

quarter alone – the largest ever quarterly loss in the industry’s history. 

Idle fleet stays high at 10.6% 

The idle containership fleet increased marginally over the last fortnight, 

according to Alphaliner figures. As at 27 April, a total of 506 ships for 1.34 

Mteu was idle against 486 ships for 1.31 Mteu two weeks ago. The idle fleet 

now represents 10.6% of the cellular fleet against 10.4% a fortnight ago. 

The non-operating owners' share of the idle fleet continues to increase as 

carriers continue to redeliver ships at expiry of charters. The fleet idle for 

non-operating owners account has reached 274 units representing 425,000 

teu (31.8% of the total idle fleet). 

TEU Millions 

Idle fleet evolution Dec 2008-Apr 2009 

1.60 

1.40 

1.20 

1.00 

0.80 

0.60 

0.40 

0.20 

0.00 

Non Operating Owner TEU 

Carrier TEU 

©Alphaliner 


3.4% 

As % of 

total fleet 

7.2%



China 

Top 10 Container Ports 

Volumes Handled 

Jan-Mar 2009 

Chinese ports 1Q liftings down by 12.8% 

The newly released China ports statistics saw first quarter container 

handling volume in the country drop by 12.8% to 25.5 Mteu compared to a 

year ago. 

Amongst the main ports, only Yingkou, Qingdao and Tianjin saw an increase 

in volumes. The largest drops were seen in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) 

region of South China, with the Shenzhen ports dropping 21% while the 

emerging Guangzhou port (primarily Nansha) saw volumes drop by 24%. 

South China bore the brunt of the decline as it is most heavily exposed to 

the slump in the US and Europe, with export-oriented industries mainly 

concentrated in the area. Together with neighbouring Hong Kong port, the 

3 main ports in the PRD saw total volumes drop by 22% to 10.6 Mteu. 

Rank Port 

Mar 2009 

Mteu 

y-o-y 

change % 

Jan-Mar 

2009 Mteu 

y-o-y 

change % 

1 Shanghai 2.18 -8.8% 5.61 -15.1% 

2 Shenzhen 1.34 -21.8% 3.88 -21.2% 

3 Qingdao 0.86 2.6% 2.50 2.3% 

4 Ningbo-Zhoushan 0.84 -3.7% 2.26 -10.2% 

5 Guangzhou 0.85 -12.9% 2.15 -24.3% 

6 Tianjin 0.73 5.5% 1.93 1.4% 

7 Xiamen 0.36 -7.2% 1.03 -8.4% 

8 Dalian 0.34 -4.5% 0.99 -2.0% 

9 Lianyungang 0.22 -4.3% 0.57 -9.8% 

10 Yingkou 0.20 14.7% 0.51 9.0% 

Total Top 10 Ports 7.91 -8.2% 21.43 -12.4% 

Coastal ports 8.90 -6.6% 23.78 -12.3% 

River ports 0.59 -19.2% 1.70 -19.4% 

Total All Ports excl Hkg 9.50 -7.5% 25.48 -12.8% 

For Comparison 

Singapore 2.19 -14.6% 6.02 -17.9% 

Hong Kong 1.63 -18.9% 4.55 -20.9% 

The only bright spot has been increased cross-Taiwan Strait container 

volumes which has increased by 4.6 times in Kaohsiung since the launch of 

direct shipping links between Taiwan and China last December. The volume 

of cross-strait containers handled by the port increased from 16,000 teu in 

December to 74,000 teu in March. Cross-strait voyages that included a stop 

at Kaohsiung rose from 38 in December 2008, to 118 in March. 

Although the direct cross-strait shipping links have cut transportation costs 

by 15% to 30%, it has not lead to a significant increase in volumes as ships 

which had to take detours through third country ports in the past can now 

trade directly. Most of these used to transit at Hong Kong but can now 

bypass the port. 

P a g e | 3 © Copyright Alphaliner 1999-2009



SERVICE UPDATES 

CNEU / AEX replaced by 

new AEN / AES 

CKYH re-arranges Asia-Europe service 

The CKYH Alliance (COSCON, K Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin Shipping) is to 

replace its Asia-Europe CNEU and AEX loops with two loops (AEN/AES). 

The CNEU loop resulted from the merger in December of the former AEN 

and AES service, which the alliance stated would last only for the 

traditional slack season from early December 2008 to end of March 2009. 

The new AEN/AES loops will be run with nine and eight ships respectively, 

with vessels of 8,400-10,000 teu, all provided by COSCO (some of which 

had spent 3 or 4 months at anchor in Chinese waters). 

Four of the 16 COSCO ships used will be however marketed under Hanjin 

names: 

> HANJIN FUZHOU ex COSCO ASIA, 

> HANJIN ALEXANDRIA ex COSCO AMERICA, 

> HANJIN CASABLANCA ex COSCO AFRICA 

> HANJIN BILBAO ex COSCO PACIFIC 

Meanwhile CKYH partners are to add a direct call at Ashdod in Israel on 

their Asia-Med Express service (AMS). 

CSCL reinstates ME-FE-US pendulum 

CSCL is revive its Middle East-Far East-USWC pendulum by grafting the 

transpacific AAS service to the FE-ME AMA service, thus reconstructing the 

pendulum pattern abandoned 18 months ago. 

The reconstructed AMA-AAS pendulum will be slightly different from its 

forerunner on its western end as it follows the rotation of the AMA, with a 

call at Dammam while it skips Mumbai-Nhava Sheva. 

IRIS Lines and CMA CGM, which used to slot on the AMA, will continue with 

their slot allocations on the FE-ME string of the pendulum. 

Maersk adds direct Halifax call on TA-3/TP-7 

Maersk Line is to add Halifax to its transpacific/transatlantic pendulum 

(TA-3 / TP-7). Halifax is added on the westbound leg of the pendulum and 

will be the first North America call out of Europe. The ECNA westbound 

range will thus cover successively Halifax, New York, Savannah and Miami 

before continuing to Balboa, the USWC and Asia. 

The move is possibly in answer to the inclusion of Halifax to the revised 

CKYH FE-USEC 'AWE 4' loop and the launch by CMA CGM of a new relay 

service connecting Halifax to its Kingston hub ('Black Pearl' service) 




Zim / GA slot arrangement 

expands to FE-Med 

Of note, Halifax is already served by two transpacific/transatlantic 

pendulums in both directions: on Zim's ZCS and the Grand Alliance PAX. 

The Grand Alliance Asia-Med-USEC AEX service also calls at Halifax. 

Niche carriers calling at Halifax, include ACL (transatlantic Conro service), 

Melfi Marine (Med-Canada-Cuba service), Hamburg Süd (Med-Canada- 

Mexico-Cuba service and Nirint Shipping (Europe-Canada-Cuba service). 

Zim slots on Grand Alliance FE-Med service 

Zim has opted to take slots on the Grand Alliance / New World Alliance 

Far East-Med loop (EU M), replacing slots on COSCO's Asia-Med Express 

(EUM - part of CKYH), thus ending two years of presence on this service. 

These two rival services share three West Med calls: Genoa, Barcelona and 

Valencia. 

The Zim move to the EU M loop follows the slot agreement reached a few 

weeks ago with GA partners, involving the Zim's East Med Express service 

(EMX) and the GA's FE-North Europe EU 3 and EU 4 loops. 

Meanwhile, Zim is to resume Piraeus calls on its Med-US-FE ZCS pendulum, 

effective May. The new Med rotation will be as follows: Tarragona, 

Piraeus, Haifa, Livorno, Genoa, Tarragona. 

CSCL takes slots on PNX from Zim 

CSCL offers a Pearl River-Vancouver service (branded ANW 2) through slots 

on the relevant leg of the Grand Alliance/Zim PNX service, in continuation 

of the slot allocation it had on the Zim's Asia-Pacific Express service (APX) 

that was closed last month as Zim teamed up with Grand Alliance on this 

run. The PNX is currently run with six 8,000 teu ships from OOCL. Zim is 

expected to bring VLCS newbuildings of between 8,000-10,000 teu on this 

service in July. 

CMA CGM adds Med-Japan direct service 

CMA CGM is to add Japan direct calls to its Asia-Med MEX loop, with the 

extension of the loop to Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe. It will make 

redundant its dedicated Busan-Japan feeder service. CMA CGM will 

therefore cover Japanese ports directly again, with an Asia-Europe loop, 

almost ten years after having dropped them from a previous service. 

Japan calls were included for the first time in December 1998 with the 

launch of the Med-North China-Japan service, extended in March 1999 to 

North Europe and integrated in May 1999 within the NCJ/TPX pendulum, 

according to Alphaliner archives. The Japan calls were dropped in 

December 1999 as the Asian market was severely affected by the Asian 

Crisis, and Japan was covered with a feeder service instead. 




The duration of the rotation of the MEX loop will remain 10 weeks as the 

Lianyungang and Qingdao calls are to be removed and covered with the 

Maersk Line / CMA CGM joint Asia-Med loop (AE-11), within the frame of 

the recently announced VSA with Maersk Line on the Asia-Med route. 

Besides, the Jeddah call is removed from the MEX and a Beirut call is 

added (Beirut is removed from the PHEX/LEVEX). 

Maersk Line swaps European ports on AE loops 

Maersk Line is to bring a few alterations to the European range covered by 

its Asia-Europe AE-1 loop, effective May 2009. Felixstowe will replace 

Southampton while Le Havre will be moved to the AE-10 loop, where it 

becomes the first import call (Le Havre is already served by the AE-1 as an 

export call). These two loops will continue to be served by a common set 

of 19 ships of 8,500 teu alternating on both loops. 

MOL to boost its intra-Asia JSS 1 loop 

MOL is to inject 4,600-,5,000 teu ships on its core intra-Asia Japan-Straits 

'Super Express' 1 service (JSS 1 / CHS-1), thus increasing its capacity by 

around 20% (from 4,000 teu to 4,800 teu). MOL is to assign to the JSS 1 the 

5,087 teu MOL EMERALD (newbuilding) and the 4,646 teu MOL ENCORE 

(transferred from the trimmed-down FE-Australia service run by NYK / 

MOL and K Line - 7256 and the 4,646 teu MOL EXPEDITOR (ex APL 

EXPEDITOR returned to MOL). They will replace the 4,180 teu MOL ELBE 

and MOL INGENUITY, and the 3,733 teu MOL THAMES. 

The previous JSS 1 capacity upgrade dates back to November 2007, when 

it was boosted from 2,790 teu to 3,840 teu. This service is also used by 

various slot buyers including Interasia Lines, Wan Hai and MISC. 

K Line launches Shanghai–Japan loop 

K Line is to launch its own Shanghai-Tokyo-Yokohama service, using the 

1,133 teu CHIANGMAI BRIDGE, with Shanghai Hai Hua (Hasco) taking slots. 

The Shanghai-Osaka-Kobe service launched last December is replaced by a 

slot allocation on the relevant Hasco loop. 

SCI/MSC team up on ISES – K Line/YML drop out 

S.C. India is to team up with MSC on a new Indian Subcontinent Europe 

Service (ISES), to be run with ships of 4,000-4,500 teu. For S.C. India, it 

will replace the current ISES service, operated in partnership with K Line 

and Yang Ming. This latter service was originally run with seven ships but 

was cut to only four ships after the departure of MISC Bhd and Zim. S.C. 

India had lately added a fifth ship, the recently chartered 3,359 teu E.R. 

SYDNEY, joining the two ships of 4,400 teu already deployed by the Indian 

carrier, and the two 2,878 teu / 3,266 teu ships provided by K Line and 

Yang Ming. These two latter carriers are probably to continue service the 




Indian subcontinent-Europe trade on the relevant CKYH Far East-Europe 

services with transhipment at Colombo. 

As for MSC, the new ISES will add a second two way loop on the Indian 

subcontinent-Europe sector. MSC already operates a two-way loop on the 

India-Europe run, the IPAK service, the capacity of which has just been 

doubled from approximately 2,500-3,000 weekly teu to some 6,000 weekly 

teu, a westbound only Colombo-Med-North Europe service as part of its 

wider Europe-Indian Ocean-Australia-Asia pendulum, and an eastbound 

only Med-Colombo service as part of its wider Med-Asia 'Phoenix' service, 

according to Alphaliner records. 

Hamburg Süd to drop Europe-ECSA loop 

In its annual report published last week, Hamburg Süd announced that it is 

to abandon its second North Europe-ECSA service (Brazil Express), 

operated jointly with Hapag-Lloyd with 2,500 teu ships. Hamburg Süd will 

then focus on its main loop (River Plate Express), using 5,500 teu ships 

with plans to upgrade to 5,900 teu ships shortly. Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk Line 

and CSAV have slot allocations on the latter loop. 

However, CSAV is expected to cease buying slots on the 'River Plate 

Express' next month to focus on its own Europe-ECSA service 

(EUROATLAN). The EUROATLAN is currently being upgraded from the 2,500 

teu size to the 4,000 teu scale, allowing CSAV to have a better use of its 

4,000+ teu fleet, especially as it is awaiting the delivery of newbuildings 

of this size in the coming weeks. One of them, the CSAV LONCOMILLA, is 

already scheduled in June on the EUROATLAN after a positioning trip on 

the Asia-ECSA (ASAX) run. The loss of the CSAV allocation on the main loop 

could be a factor behind Hamburg Süd's decision to drop the second 

service. 

Another reason for dropping the second loop is the launch by Maersk Line 

of a Med-ECSA relay service hubbing at Algeciras and Tangier, freeing up 

space on its L-class service, as well as on the Hamburg Süd service on 

which Maersk slots. 

This rationalisation follows the streamlining of the Med-ECSA services in 

March and the Far East-WCSA services in February. Hamburg Süd currently 

has six ships of 2,500 to 5,900 teu lying idle, according to Alphaliner 

records. Hamburg Süd is also expected to receive the first ship of its 7,100 

teu newbuilding program by the end of the year. 

As for Hapag-Lloyd, which operates three of the five ships deployed on the 

'Brazil Express' loop, it has not yet announced if it will continue to operate 

the service on a stand-alone basis. 




MSC launches Amazon 

relay service 

Oslo Fjord service 

launched 

Indian coastal service 

launched 

Other service updates 

As anticipated, MSC has launched a dedicated relay service covering the 

Amazon, connecting its Freeport hub (Bahamas) with Manaus and Vila do 

Conde. It also encompasses an existing feeder loop connecting Freeport to 

San Juan de Puerto Rico and Port of Spain. It turns in three weeks using 

three ships, the MSC PROSPECT (1,354 teu), MSC ACAPULCO (1,162 teu) 

and PAUL RICKMERS (1,162 teu). 

+++ 

Samskip Multimodal Container Logistics (Samskip), DFDS-Lys Line and 

Unifeeder are to team up on the Rotterdam-Oslo Fjord route 

This service has been ensured by DFDS-Lys Line and Samskip since January 

2006. Unifeeder will bring the recently chartered 803 teu JORK RULER 

alongside the LYS POINT. The JORK RULER replaces the 390 teu 

VANGUARD. 

The new joint service will include all present ports in the Oslo Fjord (Oslo, 

Moss, Brevik, Larvik, Kristiansand) and adds a call at Fredrikstad. 

+++ 

Caravel Lines, the NVOCC division of Chennai-based Caravel Logistics, is to 

launch its own Indian coastal service to connect Mundra, Cochin and 

Tuticorin. The service is to be ensured with the chartered 558 teu 

REGGEBORG, recently lying spot at Singapore. Of note, the REGGEBORG 

flies the Dutch flag and thus contravenes Indian regulations stipulating 

that cabotage services are reserved to Indian flag ships. However, this rule 

could be waived in case an adequate ship is not available under the Indian 

flag. 

Caravel adds to the half-dozen of carriers offering cabotage container 

services between Indian ports, including S.C. India, Shreyas Shipping, 

Seaways Shipping, Transport Corp. of India (TCI), Gati Ltd and Seabridge 

Maritime. Caravel Logistics was created in 1994. 




CORPORATE UPDATES 

Recent MSC Fixtures 

NRS 8,411 Series 

Vessel Expected Dely 

NORTHERN JAVELIN Jul-09 

NORTHERN JASPER 

NORTHERN JUBILEE Aug-09 

NORTHERN JAGUAR Sep-09 

NORTHERN JUVENILLE Dec-09 

NORTHERN JUPITER Jan-10 

NORTHERN JUSTICE Feb-10 

NORTHERN JAMBOREE Jun-10 

NRS 8,411 Series 

Vessel Expected Dely 

NORTHERN JAVELIN Jul-09 

NORTHERN JASPER 

NORTHERN JUBILEE Aug-09 

NORTHERN JAGUAR Sep-09 

NORTHERN JUVENILLE Dec-09 

NORTHERN JUPITER Jan-10 

NORTHERN JUSTICE Feb-10 

NORTHERN JAMBOREE Jun-10 

MSC continues fixture spree 

MSC has recently fixed several large containerships at bargain rates, 

including a series of eight 8,411 teu newbuildings and five existing units of 

5,000 teu. 

The eight 8,411 teu newbuildings are chartered from German shipowner 

Norddeutsche Reederei Schuldt (NRS) for the duration of one year, with an 

option for a further year, at a reported USD 10,000 (USD 12,000 for the 

optional year). 

The ships were ordered speculatively at DSME in two stages in May / August 

2007. The first of them, NORTHERN JAVELIN, presently lies alongside at the 

yard, almost completed, while the second one, NORTHERN JASPER, is also 

close to completion. The ships delivery is however expected to take place 

in July-August. 

They were to become the first VLCS delivered without commitment to any 

carrier. MSC thus emerges as the White Knight for these ships which 

otherwise would have lied at anchor as soon as delivered. 

One question which springs to mind is to which route MSC will assign these 

ships. One would think immediately of the Far East-North Europe or 

transpacific routes, but actually, MSC has a sufficient number of VLCS and 

ULCS, including those to be delivered in the next 12 months, to fulfil its 

needs on these routes. The additional ships would fit well on the Indian 

subcontinent-Europe route or on the Europe-South America route. Other 

remote possibilities include the enhancement of MSC’s Far East-Middle East 

service (Falcon) and the organisation of a direct India-Med-US service. 

MSC has recently strongly boosted its Indian subcontinent-Europe service, 

having replaced 2,500-3,000 teu ships by 5,000-6,700 teu ones, and is still 

to push the capacity one step up with the new service that it is to launch 

in co-operation with S.C. India (see page 6). Thus, the injection of 8,000 

teu ships on this route is only a matter of time. 

On the Europe-ECSA route, MSC is currently operating four loops employing 

23 ships offering a total weekly capacity of 19,000 teu (of which 10,400 teu 

dedicated to the Med-ECSA route, including volumes relayed to/from Asia 

and Africa). 14 of the 23 ships employed fall in the 5,500-6,000 teu range. 

The largest ships employed do not exceed 6,000 teu for the moment, but 

there is scope to inject 8,000 teu ships on this route, including the NRS 

ones, which are fitted with 700 reefer plugs. 

It has also to be borne in mind that MSC is to lose four 8,400 teu ships that 

it had on temporary charter from CMA CGM and CSCL (as sublets) 




> MSC XIAN – alias CMA CGM DON PASCUALE (24-30 m – Redelivered to CMA 

CGM around 05 April) 

> MSC BENGAL – alias CMA CGM FAUST (24-30 m – Redelivered to CMA CGM 

around 25 April) 

> MSC BALTIC – alias CSCL AMERICA (24 m – Expiring this summer) 

> MSC BELGIUM – alias CSCL OCEANIA (24 m – Expiring this summer) 

As for the reported $10,000 daily rate negotiated with MSC for the 8,400 

teu NRS ships, the owners will be taking a big hit as breakeven rates would 

need to be in excess of $35,000/day. As a comparison, similar ships 

ordered by Seaspan at HHI in May 2007 at a cost of $132.5 M per vessel 

were fixed on 12-year charters to COSCO at $42,900/day. 

Assuming that NRS can operate the ships on a running cost of $7,000 per 

day, the reported $10,000 rate leaves a differential of $3,000 to repay 

capital and financial costs. It is not much as these latter costs can be 

estimated at around $27,000-28,000 for these ships, but it is still a better 

option than sending them into lay-up, explaining perhaps why NRS 

accepted such a deal. 

So, MSC saves some $25,000 per day on total daily costs, had it ordered 

these ships itself. MSC profits of a 12-24 months opportunity window for 

these ships, and should it redeliver them at expiry of the charter, it will 

have benefitted during that time of ship costs 70% lower than the best 

costs its competitors could normally obtain (assuming the contract is a 

straight time charter contract with no other conditions attached). 

During the 12 months firm period, MSC will benefit of a daily cost of around 

$1.2 per teu slot instead of the $4 per teu slot expected for such ships 

(excluding fuel expenses, port dues, canal tolls and other voyage related 

expenses). 

Separately, MSC has also fixed five ships of 5,000 teu : 

>NYK PROCYON – 48 mths - delivered last week as MSC SOCOTRA 

>BELLAVIA – 12 mths – delivery early May 

>OCTAVIA – 12 mths – delivery early May 

>HS LIVINGSTON – 12 mths – delivery Q3 2009 (date unclear) 

>HS HUMBOLDT – 12 mths – delivery Q3 2009 (date unclear) 

MSC continues to build up market share while the entire industry is 

grappling with an overcapacity challenge. It has defied the trend and 

continues to add capacity at a time when most other carriers are trying to 




dispose of excess tonnage. Its fleet has passed in March the 1.5 Mteu mark, 

a 0.3 Mteu increase in 15 months. Its market share has grown from 10.4% at 

the start of 2008 to 11.5% as at 1 April 2009, according to Alphaliner 

figures (See our last issue). 

China Navigation gains full control of TOL 

Hong Kong based multi-purpose (mpp) liner operator China Navigation Co. 

(CNCo) has taken whole control of Tasman Orient Line (TOL) in acquiring 

the 33% stake of the Ahrenkiel Group, effective from 1st April 2009. CNCo 

is the deep sea shipping arm of the Swire Group. 

Following the acquisition, TOL’s container and breakbulk services 

connecting East Asia to New Zealand are expected to be combined with 

those of Swire Shipping.The Hamburg/Berne based Ahrenkiel Group will 

retain its partnership in Quadrant Pacific, which is one of New Zealand’s 

largest ship agency companies with eight branches in the country. 

TOL and Quadrant Pacific were established in July 1999 with the merger of 

Tasman Asia Line (TAL) and New Zealand Orient Line (NZOL). The resulting 

company was owned by Fletcher Challenge Paper (57%), Christian 

Ahrenkiel and CNCo. Following the acquisition of Fletcher Challenge by 

Norske Skog (a paper manufacturing company) in July 2000, the majority 

holding in TOL was disposed by the latter in January 2001, with CNCo 

taking two-thirds of the company and Ahrenkiel taking the remaining onethird 

share. 

Historically, the Tasman Asia Line was the direct successor of the 'Tasman 

Jebsen Line', set up in 1985 by Norwegian owner Kristian Gerhard Jebsen 

in partnership with the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company. Ahrenkiel had 

acquired NZOL in 1992 prior to the merger with TAL. With the disposal, it 

marks Ahrenkiel’s departure from direct liner operations. It retains its 

shipmanagement and logistics business as well as the ship finance business 

under Fondshaus Hamburg, which is suffering from the recent drop in asset 

values. 

Last week, Fondshaus was forced to close one of its KG ship funds, KG 

Fund No 38, after one of its three ships failed to find a charterer and was 

unable to fulfil its dividend payments to investors of the fund. The 3,388 

teu JOHANNESBURG, built in 2006, has not been able to find employment 

since it ended its 24-month-charter with MOL late last year. Ahrenkiel will 

take over ownership of the vessel from the fund and the €4 M of equity in 

the fund will be returned to its shareholders. 

COSCO 2008 liner profits slump 

China COSCO Holdings, the parent company of COSCON reported a 40.4% 

reduction in net profits in 2008 to RMB 11.6 Bn ($1.7 Bn) despite a 16.6% 

increase in total revenues to RMB 130.9 Bn. 


Liftings in M teu 

% Increase 



5.793 5.709 

1% 

COSCON 

Volume Growth 

2006-2008 

12% 

5.111 

13% 

2008 2007 2006 

Dely Teu Shipyard 

Jan-09 10,020 Nantong (NACKS) 

Jun-09 5,100 Jiangnan Changxing 


Sep-09 5,100 Jiangnan Changxing 


Jan-10 1,800 Dalian Shipyard 




Feb-10 5,100 Jiangnan Changxing 

Feb-10 5,100 Jiangnan Changxing 





Dec-10 5,100 Jiangnan Changxing 

Dec-10 5,100 Jiangnan Changxing 

Jul-11 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Aug-11 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Sep-11 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Oct-11 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Nov-11 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Dec-11 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Jan-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Jan-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Feb-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Mar-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Apr-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

May-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Jun-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 



Aug-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Sep-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Oct-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Nov-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

Dec-12 4,250 Jiangsu New YZJ 

2012 13,350 Nantong (NACKS) 








Operating profit for COSCO’s liner shipping business under COSCON 

dropped by 82.4% to RMB 292 M ($43 M) in 2008 compared to RMB 1,656 M 

($242 M) in 2007. Total liftings grew by only 1.5% to 5.79 Mteu despite a 

significant increase in vessel capacity which grew from 435,138 teu at the 

end of 2007 to 496,317 teu, an increase of 14%. Utilisation levels dropped 

across all the trade segments, with load factors on its three key 

international segments of Transpacific, Asia-Europe and Intra-Asia falling 

by 5% on the headhaul legs. Average rates were down by 6.4% overall with 

the Asia-Europe trade suffering the worst drop of 14.9% in 2008. 

The container shipping operations by COSCON contribute 33% of the 

group’s revenue and 2% of its operating profits. The liner shipping segment 

suffered the greatest slump of all of COSCO’s business units which also 

includes dry bulk shipping, logistics, terminals and container leasing. 

COSCO has a large orderbook of 59 container vessels due for delivery 

between 2009 and 2013. These ships have a total capacity of 445,000 teu. 

Deliveries this year would include nine new vessels, thereof four owned 

5,100 teu ships and one owned 10,020 teu vessel and furthermore one 

4,506 teu and three 8,495 teu chartered-in vessels. 

The company said that due to poor market conditions it “is negotiating 

with shipowners to postpone the delivery in 2010 of the three 8,495 teu 

vessels planned for 2009.” They are part of a series of eight 8,495 teu 

ships fixed for 12 years from Seaspan, which ordered them in 2007. 

Seaspan also has eight more ships of 13,092 teu fixed to COSCO for 

delivery between 2010 and 2011.The bulk of COSCO’s newbuildings are on 

its own account, with 37 ships due to be delivered by 2013. These include 

eight 13,350 ships ordered at Nantong Shipyard (NACKS) for delivery in 

2012-2013. 

The company said that it was able to “increase its market presence 

without sacrificing its service quality” by integrating routes and slot sales 

to cope with the slowdown in demand. It has also established a “CKYH 

Task Force to fully utilise the resources of the consortium for optimizing 

the allocation of shipping capacity for each route and reducing the 

operational risks through various measures, including early termination of 

charters, vessel repairs, service suspensions during off-seasons, and route 

capacity reduction.” 

The carrier has embarked on a cost savings program that had included 

slow steaming of vessels on 17 routes last year. It has also negotiated 

lower rates with its suppliers and reduced its stock of containers and 

chassis units, which it will continue to implement in 2009. 

The company offered some hope for a recovery “with the economic 

stimulus policies launched by various countries and the decrease in 

inventories of retail stores, the container shipping market will revive when 

the US and European economies and trades recover.” Despite this, COSCO 

estimates that its full year liftings will drop by 9.6% to 5.235 Mteu. 




CSAV 1Q loss to hit 

$265M 

CSCL 1Q loss hits $177M 

China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) has announced a RMB 1.21 Bn 

($177M) loss for the first quarter of 2009, a drastic reversal from the RMB 

488 M ($71 M) profit recorded a year before. 

The company had earlier issued a profit warning to the Hong Kong stock 

exchange on 22 April which cautioned that “transportation volume and 

freight rates of the Company have suffered a sharp decrease, which 

resulted in an expected loss for the Company for the first quarter of 

2009.” 

The loss was attributed to “the the impact of global economy and a 

substantial decrease in revenue from loaded container volume and freight 

rate per teu as compared with the corresponding period of last year.” 

CSCL added that, since the second half of 2008, “the major economies of 

the world were extensively and rapidly adversely affected by the outbreak 

of the financial crisis which also manifested the tendency of further 

deterioration. Along with the decline of both the import and export data 

of China, the depressed performances of various international trade lanes 

directly resulted in the Company’s losses.” 

CSAV facing $400M loss in 1H09 

CSAV had disclosed at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders 

on 21 April that it could be facing a loss of almost $400 M for the first six 

months of 2009, compared to a profit of $18 M in the same period last 

year. 

First quarter losses are expected to reach $265 M, a part of which is due 

to bunker hedging losses. Second quarter losses are expected to lessen to 

about $133 M. 

The company informed its shareholders that it is in discussions with banks 

and shipowners over a restructuring program that could see it raise $400 

M from shipowners through the capitalisation of future charter 

commitments on ships chartered by CSAV. However, the company said 

that the formula for such a capitalisation exercise has not yet been 

finalised. 

The company intends to raise $130M in a rights issue at a price of CL$250 

per share, a 30% discount to the market price. 

A second rights issue is planned to raise a further $220 M later in the year 

but no price has been fixed. 

Meanwhile the company confirmed that it has laid off about 660 staff 

worldwide including 60 in Chile. 


Liftings in M teu 

% Increase 



0.276 

Horizon Lines 

Volume Growth 

2006-2008 

-3% 

0.286 

0.297 

-4% -4% 

2008 2007 2006 

Carrier to suspend 

financial guidance due to 

“unprecedented 

uncertainties” 

APL 

Monthly Operating 

Performance 

2003-2009 

$/TEU & $/ton 

Horizon Lines books $10M loss for 1Q 

US Jones Act domestic liner operator, Horizon Lines has announced a first 

quarter net loss of $10 M compared with a $0.7 M net profit last year. The 

loss included a $4.4 M charge related to US Department of Justice antitrust 

investigations and a $0.8 M restructuring charge related to staff 

redundancies. 

The company provides container shipping and logistics services within the 

continental US, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. Last year, it 

reported profits of $3.06 M compared to $28.86 M in 2007, due largely to 

asset impairment and restructuring charges. Horizon Lines has seen its 

volumes dropping in recent years since its IPO in 2005. 

Despite the first quarter loss, the company said that its financial 

performance was “slightly above” expectations. However, it will stop 

providing financial forecasts as it believes that “too many unprecedented 

uncertainties remain in 2009 to resume our practice of providing specific 

annual financial guidance.” It also added that “while our first-quarter 

financial performance was somewhat ahead of our expectations, there can 

be no assurances that this can be sustained throughout the year.” 

APL rates and volumes continues to slip 

In its newly released first quarter operating performance announcement, 

APL’s parent company, Neptune Orient Lines reported a drastic 27% drop 

in liftings to 963,200 teu for the 14 week period from 27 December 2008 

to 3 April 2009. This represents the most drastic quarterly drop in volumes 

for the carrier since the merger of the NOL and APL fleet in 1997. 

The carrier also disclosed that average rates dropped by 16% to $1237/teu 

for the period compared to the same period last year. It attributed the 

1,800 

1,600 

1,400 

1,200 

1,000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

6 week reporting periods normalized for comparison 

TEU/month $/TEU 180cst bunker price 


500,000 

450,000 

400,000 

350,000 

300,000 

250,000 

200,000 

150,000 

100,000 

50,000 

0 

TEU/month



poor performance to “the decline in demand on all major trade lanes in 

view of the current global economic downturn. Lower average revenue 

was due to lower core freight rates and lower bunker recovery.”NOL will 

announce its first quarter financial results on 12 May but had earlier issued 

a profit warning that quarterly losses could reach $240 M. 




DELIVERY UPDATES 

Recent Deliveries 

April 2009 

Name Teu Operator 

BELUGA NATION 474 N/A 

CCL NINGBO 698 Centrans 

O.M. UNDARUM 704 N/A 

CSCL YOKOHAMA 907 CSCL 

ALASKABORG 964 N/A 

MARE 974 Contaz 

VEGA AQUILA 997 N/A 

EMPIRE 1,440 N/A 

WARNOW MASTER 1,496 N/A 

MAERSK WINDHOEK 1,708 Maersk 

CSCL CALLAO 2,544 CSCL 

CITY OF SHANGHAI 2,564 HMM 

FESCO DIOMID 3,108 MSC 

ZIM DALIAN 4,253 Zim 

CPO PHILADELPHIA 4,255 H. Sud 

RUDOLF SCHEPERS 4,256 K Line 

COSCO FUKUYAMA 4,506 COSCO 

ZIM ONTARIO 4,872 Zim 

NYK REMUS 4,922 NYK 

MOL EMERALD 5,087 MOL 

APL WASHINGTON 6,966 APL 

XIN DA YANG ZHOU 8,530 CSCL 

HAMMERSMITH BR. 9,040 K Line 

CMA CGM HYDRA 10,960 CMA CGM 

The MOL EMERALD (5,087 teu) is delivered 

Seaspan Corporation is to receive the 5,087 teu MOL EMERALD, first of four 

units ordered at Hyundai H.I. in August 2006 with a 12 year commitment 

with Japanese carrier MOL. 

The MOL EMERALD will start her career on the MOL's intra Asia Japan- 

Straits 'Super Express' 1 service (JSS 1 / CHS-1), on which she will become 

the largest ship (this service is to be enhanced with a new set of larger 

ships - See related news above). 

CONTI ONTARIO (4,872 teu) joins Zim 

German owner Conti Reederei has received the 4,872 teu CONTI ONTARIO 

from Korean shipyard DSME (Daewoo - Okpo). She is managed by 

Niederelbe Schiffahrt Buxtehude and is on long term charter to Zim as ZIM 

ONTARIO. She will join the Zim’s ZCS pendulum in a couple of weeks. The 

CONTI ONTARIO is the 12th unit of its type and the second of the series to 

trade for Zim. The first ten vessels all trade for MSC. Some of these ships 

were built in South Korea, whereas others originate from DMHI, DSME’s 

Romanian yard at Mangalia. The CONTI ONTARIO follows the CONTI SAN 

FRANCISCO, delivered in February. She will be followed by two more sister 

ships built at DMHI for Singapore-based Seacastle, the APL OMAN and APL 

QATAR. 

CPO PHILADELPHIA (4,255teu) joins Hamburg Süd 

German owner Reederei Claus Peter Offen (CPO) has received the CPO 

PHILADELPHIA, third of ten 4,255 teu ships ordered at Hyundai H.I. by this 

owner in April 2007. Six of them have been chartered by Hamburg Süd and 

four by UASC. The CPO PHILADELPHIA is one of the Hamburg Süd units and 

will sail as CAP HARRIETT. She is to perform a Far East-ECSA trip to join 

the Med-ECSA service operated by Hamburg Süd, CMA CGM, CSAV, Maruba, 

Zim and Niver Lines. The ship follows the CPO NEW YORK, delivered 

earlier in January. 

CITY OF SHANGHAI (2,564 teu) joins HMM 

German owner Manfred Lauterjung has received the CITY OF SHANGHAI, 

third of five ships of 2,564 teu ordered in September 2004 at the Xiamen 

shipyard ('Xiamen 2500' series). The CITY OF SHANGHAI has joined her 

charterer Hyundai M.M. for employment on the NYK / HMM service (New 

Horizon Express – NHX). 

The CITY OF SHANGHAI follows the CITY OF GUANGZHOU, delivered in 

July. Nine ships of this design have been ordered so far : five by Manfred 




Lauterjung, two by Zodiac Maritime and two by UK-based investing 

company Marine Capital Ltd (which acquired them from Zodiac). 

CSCL YOKOHAMA (907 teu) delivered 

CSCL is to take in charge the chartered 907 teu CSCL YOKOHAMA, last of a 

series of four feeders built at Nanjing by the Wujiazhui Shipyard for the 

account of Great Horse Shipping. She is assigned to a CSCL weekly shuttle 

connecting Ningbo and Shanghai to Osaka and Kobe. She follows the CSCL 

NAGOYA, delivered in October 2008.

AXS-Alphaliner Newsl..

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?