Maersk fleet extension

Danish shipping giant Maersk Line confirmed it's fleet adjunction with thirteen newbuildings that will be manufactured at three separate shipyards.

The company explained that, as part of the ongoing optimization and renovation of its feeder fleet portfolio, Maersk has committed to charter the 2,200 TEU feeders, which are owned and fully financed by third-party vessel leasing companies.

After delivery, the units will operate in Sealand’s Intra Asia-network and replace older vessels that are less efficient in the company’s fleet, as well as vessels reaching the end of a lifetime in the next years.

Five feeders will be manufactured by China’s Jiangnan Yard, another five would be built by Japanese Imabari Yard, and the remaining three would be constructed by China-based Zhoushan Changhong Yard.

Delivery is expected in the first half of 2021.

Maersk Will Not Sell Maersk Supply Service

A. P. Møller – Mærsk (APMM ) has stopped looking for a buyer for its offshore marine services business, Maersk Supply Service.

Maersk Supply Service will thus be reclassified from discontinued operations to continuing operations. In 2016, APMM decided to relinquish their oil related operations, so Maersk Supply Service was classified as a discontinued operation and held as an asset for sale since Q4 2017. The move was part of Maersk’s transformation from a conglomerate to an integrated container logistics company.

The company statement reads: “Despite continuous efforts, no attractive separation solution has been identified for Maersk Supply Service, primarily due to the challenging market conditions with overcapacity within the offshore support vessel industry.”

Maersk Supply Service operates almost independently and will continue to do so.

French container transporter keep growing

It was announced that a new agreement between French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping was signed recently. It was agreed that China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) should build new vessels for CMA company for Asia-Mediterranean routing.

These vessels should be delivered by 2021 and should replace 10 other old vessels. Company claims that new vessels should be around 366 meters in length, they should use LNG power (Liquefied natural gas). CMA was the first shipping company to use this energy source for vessels of this size and it shows company’s desire to make its fleet more up-to-date and environmentally friendly.

Dynagas Partners Booked until 2021

Monaco-based natural gas carrier owner and operator Dynagas Partners has secured work for all of its six vessels until at least 2021.

Their entire fleet has been employed on long-term contracts with an average duration of ten years.   

Despite a strong LNG carrier market, the company reported weaker results. Net income for 2018 was USD 3.6 million, compared to USD 17.3 million in 2017. The reasons were extended charter contracts with lower rates, dry-docking and the increase in LIBOR.

According to CEO Tony Lauritzen: “Our reported earnings for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018 were in line with our expectations. We believe that our revenue backlog estimate of approximately USD 1.4 billion is driven in part by our dominant market share in the ownership and operation of ice class LNG carriers.”

COSCO Shipping launches ultra large container vessel

China’s COSCO Shipping Lines launched its latest 19,000 TEU newbuilding on March 1 with a width of almost 60 meters and a length of 400 meters, the ultra-large container vessel is scheduled to join the fleet in June 2019.

Ordered in September 2015, the unit has a nominal capacity of 19,273 TEUs.

The COSCO Shipping Aquarius, valued more than 128 million dollars.
It's the fourth company’s unit that was built by China’s Nantong COSCO KHI.
The three previous vessels from the batch, namely COSCO Shipping Aries, COSCO Shipping Leo and COSCO Shipping Capricorn, were delivered from NACKS in January, April and July of 2018, respectively.