Big players removes routes and forming new vessel agreements - to cope with slowing demand

Source: The Star, 24 Nov 2008

(Newspaper) Shippers avoid Suez Canal due to piracy

Source: The Star, 24 Nov 2008

(Newspaper) Geek Shipping Industry Hit by Global Financial Crisis

Greece controls nearly 20% if the world's merchant fleet.
Greece shipping makes up about 7.6% of GDP, and 4% of the Greek workforce.

Source: The Star, 24 Nov 2008

Somali Islamists 'hunt pirates' - 9

Somali Islamist insurgents have begun searching for the pirates who hijacked a giant Saudi-owned oil tanker last Saturday, reports say.

A spokesman for the al-Shabab group, Abdelghafar Musa, said hijacking a Muslim-owned ship was a major crime and they would pursue those responsible.

The pirates are thought to be trying to obtain a multi-million dollar ransom.

The ship, the Sirius Star, is believed to be be anchored off the Somali port of Haradheere.

It has an international crew of 25 people and is carrying $100m (£67m) worth of crude oil.

'Show of force'

"We are really sorry to hear that the Saudi ship has been held in Somalia," Mr Musa told the Associated Press.



"We will fight them."

Reports said Islamist fighters had descended on Haradheere in an apparent show of force, saying they were looking for the pirates.

"The Islamists arrived searching for the pirates and the whereabouts of the Saudi ship," an unnamed elder in the port told Reuters news agency.

"I saw four cars full of Islamists driving in the town from corner to corner. The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship."

Another report suggested local militia and Shebab fighters had arrived in Harardhere in a move to position themselves for a share of any spoils.

"There are many militiamen who have arrived in the town and they want to get a share from the pirates if the ransom is paid," Ahmed Abdullahi, a local elder, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

Meanwhile, Kenya reported on Friday that Somali pirates had been paid more than $150m (£101m) in ransoms in the past 12 months.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7743204.stm, 22 Nov 2008

Somali pirates demand 25 million dollars for Saudi oil tanker - 8

Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil super-tanker demanded a 25 million dollar ransom Thursday amid calls for tougher action to end threats to one of the world's key maritime routes.

As global frustration built and a major shipping company ordered some of its vessels to avoid the Gulf of Aden, the pirates set a 10-day deadline for the ransom payment for the ship they easily seized in 16 minutes.

"We are demanding 25 million dollars (20 million euros) from the Saudi owners of the tanker. We do not want long-term discussions to resolve the matter," a pirate who identified himself as Mohamed Said said from the ship.

"The Saudis have 10 days to comply, otherwise we will take action that could be disastrous," Said told AFP from the ship now anchored at the Somali pirate lair of Harardhere, without elaborating.

Seized at the weekend in the Indian Ocean some 500 miles (800 kilometres) off the coast of Kenya, the Sirius Star tanker was loaded to capacity with two million barrels of oil and the biggest vessel to be seized by pirates so far.

Two speedboats with pirates armed with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-launchers seized the ship in 16 minutes on Saturday, according to a military report obtained by AFP.

The report also described the Sirius Star -- with woeful defences, restricted manoeuvrability and speed capacities owing to its 319,000-tonne oil cargo -- as a lumbering prey for two speedboats carrying well-armed pirates.

The US, meanwhile, said it would be seeking support in the United Nations for a resolution to tighten international measures against Somali pirates.

Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo said the new text would "extend the authorities" set out in an earlier resolution adopted in June.

The previous text called on nations possessing warships in the Gulf of Aden to help hunt down pirates with the agreement of the Somali government.

After the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) described the situation as "out of control," Arab Red Sea states meeting in Cairo Thursday pledged cooperation to end the threat -- but offered few specifics.

Russia announced it would send more warships to combat piracy in the treacherous waters.

Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, the top commander of the Russian navy, said: "After the Neustrashimy (Fearless), ships from other fleets of the Russian navy will head to the region," referring to a frigate sent to the area in September.

Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, meanwhile called for an international ground military operation in the region to crush piracy, to boost sea patrols that are yielding thin results.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged the world to firmly fight the "scourge of hostage taking."

In a sign of the havoc being wreaked by the pirates, one of the world's largest shipping companies, Danish group A.P. Moller-Maersk, ordered some of its vessels to avoid the Gulf of Aden. Other companies are weighing similar options.

"Vessels without adequate speed or freeboard will for the time being avoid the Gulf of Aden and seek alternative routing south of the Cape of Good Hope and east of Madagascar," the company said.

Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein warned that piracy will rage unless the world helps restore a functional government in Somalia, which collapsed after the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Wednesday that the super-tanker's owners were in talks with the pirates, but the company that operates the vessel has remained tight-lipped about the claims of negotiations.

At the Cairo talks, foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said Egypt would consider all possibilities. Egypt's economy heavily relies on revenue from tourism and maritime traffic through the Suez Canal, which links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

The Indian stealth frigate INS Tabar, one of dozens of warships from several countries protecting commercial shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden, sank a Somali pirate ship Tuesday after coming under fire, navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said.

Pirates use mother ships, generally hijacked trawlers or deep-sea dhows, to tow speedboats from which they launch their attacks.

The incident came as shipping groups reported a new surge in hijackings off Somalia, with three captured since the Sirius Star was taken.

Noel Choong, head of the piracy reporting centre at the IMB in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, said "the situation is already out of control," but praised the Indian navy for striking the mother ship.

Source: http://news.my.msn.com/topstories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1795779, 21 Nov 2008

"We hope more navies will follow suit and stop suspected pirate boats," he added.

Choong however said that destroying pirate ships or confiscating equipment "is not the whole answer, as it is not a deterrent... it is just to disrupt their operations. What is needed is firm action and a firm deterrent ..."

India 'sinks Somali pirate ship' - 7

The Indian navy has said that one of its warships in the Gulf of Aden has destroyed a ship belonging to pirates operating off the coast of Somalia.

The INS Tabar opened fire on a pirate "mother ship" after it came under attack, a government statement said.

There has been a surge in piracy incidents off Somalia.

The Saudi-owned Sirius Star supertanker is currently anchored off the Somali coast after the vessel and its 25 crew were seized by pirates.

Vela International, operators of the Sirius Star, told the BBC no demands had yet been received from the pirates. The company also said all the crew were safe.

The biggest tanker ever hijacked, Sirius Star is carrying a cargo of two million barrels - a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily output - worth more than $100m (£67m).

Explosions

India is among several countries are already patrolling the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored in the vessel

Indian naval statement

The Indian navy said the Tabar spotted a pirate vessel while patrolling 285 nautical miles (528km) south-west of Salalah in Oman, on Tuesday evening.

When it demanded the vessel stop for investigation, the pirate ship responded by threatening to "blow up the naval warship if it closed on her", the statement said.

The navy said the pirates on board were armed with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers. They threatened to blow up the INS Tabar and then fired on it.

The Indians say they retaliated by opening fire and that there was an explosion on the pirate vessel, which sank.

"Fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored in the vessel," the Indian navy said.

Some of the pirates tried to escape on two speedboats - the Indian sailors gave chase but one boat was later found abandoned, while a second boat escaped.

The Tabar has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden since 23 October, and has escorted 35 ships safely during the "pirate-infested waters", the statement said.

Last week, an helicopter-borne Indian marine commandos stopped pirates from boarding and hijacking an Indian merchant vessel.

Ransoms

On Tuesday, a cargo ship and a fishing vessel became the latest to join more than 90 civilian vessels attacked by the pirates this year. THE SIRIUS STAR

Carrying 2m barrels of oil
Biggest vessel to be hijacked


'I thought pirates would kill me'
Somali piracy: Your stories
UK hands over pirate suspects
Pirates pass open water test

A 25-crew cargo vessel transporting wheat to Iran was attacked in the Gulf of Aden while contact was lost with the crew of 12 on the fishing boat.

Piracy in the area is estimated to have cost up to $30m in ransoms so far this year, according to a recent report by a UK think-tank.

The pirates who seized the Sirius Star are a sophisticated group with contacts in Dubai and neighbouring countries, says the BBC Somali Service's Yusuf Garaad.

Much of their ransom money from previous hijackings has been used to buy new boats and weapons as well as develop a network across the Horn of Africa, he adds.

The hijackings off the coast of East Africa and the Gulf of Aden - an area of more than 1m sq miles (2.6m sq km) - make up one-third of all global piracy incidents this year, according the International Maritime Board.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991 and has suffered continuing civil strife.

Shipping companies are now weighing up the risks of using the short-cut route to Europe via the Suez canal.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7736885.stm, 19 Nov 2008

Hijacked oil tanker nears Somalia - 5

A giant Saudi oil tanker seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean is nearing the coast of Somalia, the US Navy says.

The Sirius Star is the biggest tanker ever to be hijacked, with a cargo of 2m barrels - a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily output - worth more than $100m.

The vessel was captured in what the navy called an "unprecedented" attack 450 nautical miles (830km) off the Kenyan coast on Saturday.

Its international crew of 25, including two Britons, is said to be safe.

The ship's operator, Vela International, said a response team had been mobilised to work towards ensuring the safe release of vessel and crew.


The hijacking was highly unusual both in terms of the size of the ship and the fact it was attacked so far south of Somalia, says BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner.

The seizure points to the inability of a multi-national naval task force sent to the region earlier this year to stop Somali piracy, he says.

The US Fifth Fleet said the supertanker was "nearing an anchorage point" at Eyl, a port often used by pirates based in Somalia's Puntland region.

Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the pirates involved were well trained.

"Once they get to a point where they can board, it becomes very difficult to get them off, because, clearly, now they hold hostages," he told a Pentagon briefing in Washington.

Oil price rises

Hijackings off the coast of East Africa and the Gulf of Aden - an area of more than 1m sq miles - make up one-third of all global piracy incidents this year, according the International Maritime Bureau.

THE SIRIUS STAR

Length of a US aircraft carrier
Can carry 2m barrels of oil
Biggest vessel to be hijacked


Life in Somalia's pirate town
From cutlass to AK-47

They are usually resolved peacefully through negotiations for ransom but, given the value of the cargo in this instance, a military response has not been ruled out, our correspondent says.

At least 12 vessels - including the Ukrainian freighter MV Faina carrying 33 tanks and other military hardware, which was seized in September - remain captive and under negotiation with around 250 crew being held hostage.

This month alone, pirates have seized a Japanese cargo ship off Somalia, a Chinese fishing boat off Kenya and a Turkish ship transporting chemicals off Yemen.

War-torn Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 and the anarchy on land has spread to the high seas in recent years.

The South Korean-built Sirius Star was seized as it headed for the US via the southern tip of Africa, prompting a rise in crude oil prices on global markets.

The route around the Cape of Good Hope is a main thoroughfare for fully-laden supertankers from the Gulf.

With a capacity of 318,000 dead weight tonnes, the ship is 330m (1,080ft) long - about the length of a US aircraft carrier.

Owned by the Saudi company Aramco, it made its maiden voyage in March.

As well as the two Britons, the ship's crew members are said to be from Croatia, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7734733.stm, 18 Nov 2008

Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP)

The Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP) is a set of rules on the issuance and use of letters of credit. The UCP is utilised by bankers and commercial parties in more than 175 countries in trade finance. Historically, the commercial parties, particularly banks, have developed the techniques and methods for handling letters of credit in international trade finance. This practice has been standardized by the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) by publishing the UCP in 1933 and subsequently updating it throughout the years. The ICC has developed and moulded the UCP by regular revisions, the current version being the UCP600.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Customs_and_Practice_for_Documentary_Credits

(Newspaper) MISC - 2

Source: The Star, 17 Nov 2008

(Newspaper) MISC - 1

Source: The Star, 17 Nov 2008

(Newspaper) Volume at Westports Slowing

Source: The Star, 17 Nov 2008

(Newspaper) Frontline Ltd - largerst supertankers owner, Royal Dutch Shell - Europe's largest oil company

Source: The Star, 17 Nov 2008

Somali pirates 'seize cargo ship' - 4

South Korean officials say gunmen have hijacked a Japanese cargo ship off the coast of Somalia carrying 23 crew including five South Koreans.

The ship was seized in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, officials said.

The condition of the crew is not known and it is not clear if the pirates are demanding a ransom.

So far this year, Somali pirates have seized more than 30 vessels, making the shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden the most dangerous in the world.

A South Korean foreign ministry official said the 23 abducted sailors included Filipinos as well as the five South Koreans.

Last Wednesday, the Russian navy said Russian and British ships had repelled a pirate attack on a Danish ship in waters off Somalia.

Tanker seized

Hours earlier, pirates had seized a Turkish chemical tanker off the coast of Yemen, along with its 14-member Turkish crew.

And last Monday Somali pirates hijacked another chemical tanker with 21 Filipino crew on board.

Pirates are still holding the Ukrainian ship MV Faina off the Somali coast for a ransom of $20m (£12m).

In October, 22 sailors - eight South Koreans and 14 Burmese - were freed after a month of captivity when their South Korean shipping company paid a ransom to Somali pirates.

South Korea has said it is considering sending navy vessels to waters off Somalia to protect its shipping.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7731920.stm

Container Terminal Handling Charges

Charges from ports - payable by BOX OWNWERS



Source : Northport http://www.northport.com.my/container_tariff.asp#am, Westport http://www.westportsmalaysia.com/our_services/ourservc_container_tariff.html

Charges by box owners - payable by CONSIGNEES/SHIPPERS/FORWARDING AGENTS

THC
20'GP - RM335
40'GP - RM500
20'RF - RM495
40'RF - Rm735

How an empty container handler lifts up an empty 40' container?

Empty container handler have a side-pick attachment which attaches to both side of the 40' empty container.

How a fork lift lifts up an empty 20' container?

Fork lifts uses it's 2 "forks" to enter into the 2 rectangular holes below the 20' empty container.

Somali's Prirates - 3

Filipinos held by Somali pirates

A chemical tanker with at least 21 Filipino crew members on board has been hijacked by Somali pirates, according to maritime officials.

The ship was in the Gulf of Aden, en route to Asia, when it was seized on Monday afternoon.

There have been dozens of attacks and hijackings in the region this year, making it one of the most dangerous sea lanes in the world.

The EU is launching an anti-piracy security operation in the area.


Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7721445.stm, 11 Nov 2008

(Newspaper) Schenker Aeroparts

Very creative advertisment!

Source : The Star, 10 Nov 2008

(Newspaper) Air Cargo Outlook still Upbeat

Source : The Star, 10 Nov 2008

Why container ships may downsize

The Box is a year-long project for BBC News to tell the story of international trade and globalisation by tracking a standard shipping container as it travels the world.

Having carried a load of fine Scotch whisky to Shanghai, the BBC's box is on its way to the US laden with clothing made in China.

When it gets there, it's as likely as not to end up in a traffic jam.

The humble shipping container, as the BBC's Box project demonstrates so imaginatively, made the modern world economy possible.

If gangs of dockers were still stuffing loose cargo into the holds of ships, as they did as late as the 1970s, many of those whiskey bottles would have been broken or stolen somewhere between the bottling plant in Paisley and the bonded warehouse near Shanghai.

And those Chinese garments would be impossibly expensive by the time they reach US store shelves.

More costly?

The container didn't cause globalization, but globalization could hardly have occurred without the decline in transport costs that containerization made possible.

There are some big questions, though, about whether freight transport will continue to get cheaper in the years ahead.

Quite aside from the cost of oil, there are reasons to think that shipping goods around the world will start to become more costly, relative to the value of the goods themselves.

If this occurs, globalization may lose much of its allure.

Bigger still better?

The transport industry is suffering from too much of a good thing.


Unloading the biggest ships already can take quite some time

Much of the benefit of containerization has come from what economists call "economies of scale".

What that means, in the case of freight, is that a big ship can carry each container at a much lower cost than a small ship. Until now, bigger has been better.

But bigger doesn't always mean cheaper.

The next generation of containerships, not yet under construction, may be able to carry 8,000 containers the size of the 40-foot BBC Box.

These ships will be enormously efficient at sea.

But they will be too large to call at many ports without projects to deepen harbours and lengthen piers, the costs of which will have to be borne by shippers?

Even at the few places where harbours are deep enough to welcome them, these giant new vessels will tax port capacity.

Today, a major port might work a big ship with five modern container cranes, each able to move 30 containers per hour.

Do the maths and you'll see that under the best conditions, these five cranes could unload only 3,600 boxes in a 24-hour period.

Clearing all 8,000 containers from the ship will take more than two 24-hour days under ideal conditions, and three or four days if allowance is made for crew changes and equipment breakdowns.

All the while, the vessel will be sitting at the dock, not earning revenue. Time is money, and for a ship-owner, time at the dock is money not earned.

Road congestion

And when the containers are finally off the ship, where will they go?


Ever more containers will only increase pressure on roads and rail systems

Simply moving one shipload out of the port will require 30 trains, each one-mile long, each hauling nothing but containers stacked two-high.

In the US and in much of Europe, railway systems will be unable to accommodate this added traffic.

Road transport might offer an alternative, were it not for the fact that road congestion is mounting almost everywhere.

The area around Los Angeles and Long Beach, the biggest US port complex, has some of the most delay-prone highways in the world.

Massive tailbacks are routine on the M1, through the English Midlands, and the E35, between Frankfurt and Switzerland.

Wherever these lorries travel, they are unlikely to proceed at full speed.

Delays in port handling and ground transport mean that international shipments are likely to face longer and more uncertain transit times - and the demand for more security inspections of cargo only increases the chance of delay.

Environmental costs

There are only two ways for companies to respond to these risks.


Mr Levinson says ever larger ships may not be economically viable

One is to keep more inventory in their warehouses, at considerable cost, so they can fill customers' orders even if imports fail to show up as scheduled.

The other alternative is for companies to shrink their supply chains, so that more products are made close to where they will be sold rather than halfway around the world.

In both North America and Europe, there is some evidence that this is starting to occur.

Environmental costs are likely to be a further burden on international transport.

Ports and transportation companies are just starting to face public pressure to reduce noise and air pollution and to curb emissions of greenhouse gases.

Addressing these problems will be expensive, and importers will have to pay most of the bill.

These factors are not likely to bring an end to the growth of international trade.

But as transport eats up a greater share of the total cost of a product, and as delivery becomes more uncertain, globalization will be a less attractive option for many companies.

Distance may start to matter much more than it does today.

This article was adapted from a recent essay in Foreign Affairs magazine.

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7707901.stm, 11 Nov 2008, By Marc Levinson
Author of The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger

Letter of Credit (LC)

A letter of credit is a document issued mostly by a financial institution, used primarily in trade finance, which usually provides an irrevocable payment undertaking (it can also be revocable, confirmed, unconfirmed, transferable or others e.g. back to back: revolving but is most commonly irrevocable/confirmed) to a beneficiary against complying documents as stated in the Letter of Credit. Letter of Credit is abbreviated as an LC or L/C, and often is referred to as a documentary credit, abbreviated as DC or D/C, documentary letter of credit, or simply as credit (as in the UCP 500 and UCP 600).


After a contract is concluded between buyer and seller, buyer's bank supplies a letter of credit to seller.

Seller consigns the goods to a carrier in exchange for a bill of lading.

Seller provides bill of lading to bank in exchange for payment. Seller's bank exchanges bill of lading for payment from buyer's bank. Buyer's bank exchanges bill of lading for payment from buyer.

Buyer provides bill of lading to carrier and takes delivery of goods.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_credit

KCT, KPM, KMT

Northport
KCT - Klang Container Terminal
KPM - Klang Port Management

Westport
KMT - Klang Multi Terminal

Forwardings call shipping agents for?

Procedure when a forwarding agent call a shipping agent]

- Request for import department / FCL
- Check for: ETA,Vessel ID, voyage number, Ship Call Number (SCN), vessel comes in to which port (KCT, KPM, KMT, charges for delivery order (DO) collection, Bill of Lading (BL) is under original or telex, when would the DO be ready

Container Inspection at Westport - "Satin"

1) Container inspection have to be witness by 2 parties.
a) The consignee (cargo owner) - could be represented by forwarder or freight forwarder
b) The shipping agent - box owner

2) Of course the inspection will be conducted by customs officers - break seal and examine the cargo inside the container

3) Cargo of "Satin" - cloth

4) The inspection is about the end

5) Close and seal the container again with a new seal

(Newspaper) Biggest China-made vessel delivered

Vessel Name: Hua San
Weight: 318000 dwt
Long: 333 metre
Wide: 60 metre

Source : The Star, 03 November 2008

(Newspaper) Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA)

15 TSA members - APL, CSCL, CMA, COSCO, Evergreen, Hanjin, Hapag-Llyod, Hyundai, K Line, MSC, Mitsui, NYK, OOCL, Yang Ming, Zim



TSA Website: http://www.tsacarriers.org/
Source : The Star, 03 November 2008

(Newspaper) IMO Combating Air Pollution

Source : The Star, 03 November 2008

20' Containers lifted by forklift from the staking position on to a trailer

40' reefer (refrigerated) container