International News : Middle East

Nearly half of all global containership capacity is engaged on services that are currently slow steaming, the maritime consultant Dynamar said Friday in its weekly Dynaliners newsletter. The newsletter said slow steaming has helped carriers integrate more than 2.2 million TEUs of new capacity this year, with 450,000 TEUs of that added capacity -- brought online through new vessel deliveri...

The U.S. Commerce Department will lead a trade mission to Baghdad, Iraq, in October. Francisco Sánchez, undersecretary of commerce for international trade, will lead the mission, which will include about 15 U.S. companies. This will be the first trade mission to Iraq since the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq. Some of the companies included in the mission will be America Cargo T...

CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping group, said it had net profit of $864 million in the first six months of 2010 compared to a loss of $518 million in the first half of 2009. The French carrier, reporting results in U.S. dollars, said revenue for the first half of the year was $6.8 billion, up 41 percent from the $4.8 billion over the first half of 2009. Freight volumes...

Mediterranean Shipping Co. said it will implement general rate increases in the transatlantic on Oct. 1. MSC said the rate for cargo moving from the United States, Mexico or Canada to Northwest Europe, including the United Kingdom, will increase $200 for 20-foot containers and $300 for 40-foot containers. For cargo moving to Scandinavia or the Baltic, the increase will be $300 for 20-foot...

Member lines of the Canada Transpacific Stabilization Agreement said Wednesday they are lowering the bunker surcharge they assess on shipments from Asia by 5 percent beginning Oct. 1. The lines last increased the surcharge in April. For East Coast ports, the fuel recovery charge will be $551 per 20-foot container, $689 per 40-foot container, $775 per 40-foot high-cube, and $872 per 45...

Maersk is introducing an intra-Europe service it calls Eurolev that will connect North Europe ports with ports in the Mediterranean. Via hubs at Algeciras and Port Said, the new service will combine containers moving within Europe with feeder volumes from around the world. The service will use five 2,500-TEU ships with high reefer capacity operated by Maersk. The rotation is Breme...

Maersk said its weekly Scanmed service, which connects North European and Mediterranean ports, will begin calling the port of Gemlik in Turkey. The first call is scheduled for October 7 with the vessel EM Athens. Additional information is available here. ...

The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided almost $2 million to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support the humanitarian logistics operation and the provision of emergency relief supplies for health, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs. This funding is in addition to the $2.5 million previously provided through the World Food Pr...

Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky has forwarded a wide-ranging set of recommendations for revising the Shipping Act of 1984 to the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. Lidinsky Included in the recommendations to committee Chairman Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, R-Md., are six proposals: • Bring container and chassis lessors within the ambit of...

China Merchant Holdings will partner with Sri Lanka conglomerate Aitken Spence to develop and operate a new terminal in the Port of Colombo, Reuters reported Tuesday. The deal, worth $450 million, will see China Merchants and Aitken Spence form a joint venture to build the first of three planned 2.5 million-TEU terminals in the key South Asian transshipment port. The terminal is planned t...

Emirates Shipping Line said Tuesday it will become a participant in the ASEAN–Gulf-Indian Subcontinent (AGI) service launched earlier this month by a consortium of Evergreen, Simatech and OOCL. The port rotation of the service is Laem Chabang, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Klang, Colombo, Jebel Ali, Karachi, Mundra, Colombo, Port Klang, Singapore and Laem Chabang. Emirates' partici...

Global container terminal operators had their "toughest year ever" in 2009, said Drewry Shipping Consultants. But in a few years terminals may once again face a capacity crunch, the London-based consultants said in a summary of its Annual Review of Global Container Terminal Operators 2010. "Global economic trends meant that container throughput at the world’s ports fell for the first ...

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded a $864,000 grant to Pakistan International Airlines to help it enter the growing aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul market. The grant will support a feasibility study designed to assist the airline developing a facility to service engines, landing gear, airframes and aircraft components for domestic and foreign carriers. USTDA said ...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow, under certain conditions, the commercial import of fresh mango fruit from Pakistan into the United States. Based on the findings of a pest risk analysis, APHIS has determined the application of one or more phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risk of introducing certain plant p...

The Georgia Ports Authority said the largest vessel ever to call on the Port of Savannah arrived Friday when the 8,500-TEU CMA CGM Figaro docked at Garden City Terminal. The port authority’s Executive Director Curtis J. Foltz said the ship's arrival was "a view into the future of shipping between Asia and the U.S. East Coast," once the new locks on the Panama Canal become operational in 2...

Container carrier Zim said it had second quarter net income of $3 million compared to a $186 million loss in the second quarter of 2009. The Israeli carrier said revenue for the quarter ending June 30 was $933 million, 72 percent higher than the $543 million in the comparable quarter of 2009. Average freight rates in the second quarter was $1,328 per TEU, 26 percent higher than the $1...

The International Association of Independent Tanker Owners said its council will be invited at its October meeting to appoint Joseph “Joe” Angelo as managing director, to succeed Peter Swift as managing director when he retires Dec. 31. In addition, Katharina “Kathi” Stanzel has been named deputy managing director. Intertanko membership is open to non-oil companies and non-state-contr...

Ocean carrier NYK Line said last week is has withdrawn from all trades involving Iran. The decision was made in consideration of “the current political and business difficulties related to Iran,” the line said in a customer notice. “All services to Iran have been suspended and cargo in-transit to Iran by NYK equipment is also not allowed.” On Thursday, the line also said it has formal...

The U.S. Defense Department on Wednesday that Maj. Gen. Kevin A. Leonard has been appointed to commanding general of the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC). Leonard replaces Maj. Gen. James L. Hodge, who will command the Sustainment Center of Excellence at Fort Lee, Va. Hodge took command of SDDC June 30, 2008. Leonard has served in a variety of joint and oper...

Containerships will continue to operate at slower speeds even as the economy improves, Maersk Line said in an article for its weekly newsletter. “Maersk Line will continue slow steaming even as market conditions turn to the better –-- slow steaming is here to stay,” says Morten Engelstoft, chief operational officer. Maersk said in 2007 it began slow steaming, a practice that "involves...

Chilean carrier CSAV said Tuesday it will commence a new service in mid-September connecting the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and key ports in China with Long Beach. The standalone service, offered by the line’s CSAV Norasia subsidiary, will operate with 11 3,500-TEUs vessels provided by CSAV. It is a unique service in that it will provide direct connection from four ports in the I...

Intermarine said it had taken delivery of the first in a series of multipurpose, heavy-lift ships. Industrial Freedom is the first of four “F Class” ships the company is having built in China. The 14,1000-deadweight-ton ships each have two 400-metric-ton cranes, combinable for 800-ton lifts, and one 80-ton standard crane. The have a "house forward" design to give greater flexibili...