South Korea's finance minister has announced the government plans to support orders of 250 or more vessels by 2020 to help local shipbuilders. The government plans to establish a state-backed ship financing company with an initial capital of 1 trillion won ($871.73m) to help improve the financial health of Korean shipping companies.
The Stifel Logistics Confidence Index - which measure logistics industry outlook - remained below the neutral mark in October at 49.4, but once more noted a slight improvement against the previous month, according to global logistics researcher Transport Intelligence. In a sign that the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping has had little overall effect upon the container shipping industry, the October Sea Freight Confidence Index remained unchanged from September, at 49.0 points.
The current downturn in the offshore industry has put offshore supply vessels into layup, operators into receivership and shipbuilders into a tailspin, industry professionals say. It has meant layoffs for thousands of mariners, but it's also having an impact on officers in a different way: a shortage of sea time.
In hopes of offering shippers a more comprehensive service on Asia-Australia trade, Evergreen Line has announced a new joint North East Asia-Australia Express (NEAX) service. The Taiwanese container transportation and shipping company is teaming up with Orient Overseas Container Line, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, "K" Line and YangMing Marine Transport Corp.
Hanjin Shipping's European routes services have completely halted, the company said last week, and a Seoul court overseeing its receivership process has approved winding down four of its European units.
A new deepwater port is planned for Arkhangelsk in the north of European Russia, according to Northern Shipping Company Arkhangelsk, a Russian shipping company. The new deepwater hub will be suitable for year-round handling of large capacity vessels and will be situated 55 kilometers (34 miles) north from Arkhangelsk near Mudyug Island, in the northern part of the Sukhoye Morje Bay, says NSC Arkhangelsk.
Gearbulk and Grieg Star have announced that they will be combining their efforts to form a single dry bulk shipping company. They say the joint venture will operate the parties' combined fleet of open hatch, semi open hatch and conventional bulk vessels.
South Korea's Hyundai Merchant Marine said this week it may submit a preliminary bid for Hanjin Shipping assets used in Asia-to-U.S. routes - a sale that could be key to Hanjin's prospects for paying off creditors. Hanjin, which filed for court receivership on August 31 after its creditors cut off financial support for the firm, put up manpower and logistics systems, five container ships and 10 overseas businesses for sale last week.
Container volumes at India's major ports increased by 6.32 percent over last year in the first half of this financial year through September, according to the Journal of Commerce. The 12 ports together handled 4.35 million TEUs in the first half, up from 4.09 million TEUs over the same time last year.
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