Despite Asia-Europe rates going south, idle tonnage on the decline

THE idle containership fleet continues to shrink, according to the latest data from Alphaliner, even as rates on the Asia-Europe trade slide.

In its recently published weekly newsletter, the maritime consultancy group revealed that laid up capacity, which stands at 483,000 TEUs, now represents just three per cent of the global containership fleet. This is down from 723,000 TEUs at the beginning of the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the trade most sensitive to changes in the supply and demand dynamic, Asia-Europe, has seen rates stumble to their lowest levels since March 24, when they were just $ 1,371 per TEU.

According to the latest Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI), rates on the trade last week fell 2.9 per cent to $ 1,587 per TEU.

This represents a slide of 4.3 per cent since the end of the first quarter. Rates on the trade have fallen 12.7 per cent in a little over one month from their peak of $ 1,818 per TEU.

Alphaliner last week featured an interesting analysis that tracked the shipping industry’s revenues over a given period of time, and measured these results against the trends in the China Containerised Freight Index (CCFI).

It found that rates, based on the CCFI data, peaked in mid-May when the index hit 1,336 points—the highest the index has reached since it was launched in January 1998.

JET AIRWAYS

JET AIRWAYS

DIRECT FLIGHT FROM MUMBAI TO

DUBAI

MUSCAT

SINGAPORE

HONGKONG

BRUSSELLES

LONDON

ETC........



The Cargo Committee agreed to the following:
•Inviting the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) to future Committee meetings to discuss issues of mutual concern
•Endorsement of the Cargo Agency modernization project recognizing the key role played by freight forwarders
•Making the Cargo 2000 Master Operating Plan an open-source global quality benchmark
•Investigate ...a data exchange programme for members to record dangerous goods incidents, to encourage greater safety vigilance
•Achieving the 100% e-Air Waybill (e-AWB) adoption target by 2014
•Urge civil aviation authorities to establish stakeholder programs similar to those established in Singapore, Hong Kong and Amsterdam, to accelerate e-freight adoption
•Pursue with regulators a harmonized security framework that is mutually recognized

JN Port handles record 65.75 million tonnes, 4.32 million TEUs in 2011-12



In the customary meeting with Port customers and other stakeholders/agencies after the completion of the financial year, Mr L. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), announced that the Port handled 65.75 million tonnes of total cargo during the financial year 2011-12, an all-time record. Of this..., containerised cargo was 58.25 million tonnes and liquid cargo 6.66 million tonnes, with the remaining 0.84 million tonnes made up of dry bulk and break-bulk.



The Port handled 4.32 million TEUs of container traffic during 2011-12, surpassing the previous highest of 4.27 million TEUs in 2010-11. Of this, the share of JNPCT was 1.03 million TEUs, DP World Nhava Sheva (NSICT) 1.40 million TEUs and APM Terminals Mumbai (GTI) 1.89 million TEUs. JN Port remains the largest among the Major Ports in India in container handling, with a market share of 55.63 per cent.



Some of the highlights of fiscal 2011-12:


•
JNPT’s own terminal, JNPCT, increased its throughput by 19.72 per cent over last year in terms of tonnage and 17.3 per cent in terms of TEUs. NSICT's throughput fell by 8.8 per cent in terms of TEUs compared to last year.

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The total traffic of 65.75 million tonnes and container traffic of 4.32 million TEUs are the highest since the inception of the Port.

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JNP Container Terminal crossed more than 1 million TEUs/14.53 million tonnes—a growth of 19.72 per cent year-on-year.

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The container traffic of 1.89 million TEUs handled at APM Terminals Mumbai is also the highest since the inception of the terminal. The previous highest was 1.86 million TEUs in 2010-11.




Addressing the gathering, Mr Radhakrishnan said that the Port management was taking steps to develop additional capacity to match the demand from the trade, by developing the 4th container terminal of 4.8 million TEUs capacity as well as the 330-m quay extension of 0.8 million TEUs capacity. The second phase dredging project for deepening the channel up to 17 m, to accommodate new generation vessels, was being prepared jointly by TCE and Ernst & Young; an SEZ spread over 267 ha was being developed for first phase of land development; the proposal for the 5th mega container terminal at Nhava, of additional 10 million TEUs capacity, was being designed by Scott Wilson; and additional liquid handling capacity of around four times was being designed by L&T Ramboll, he added.



Additional bulk/break-bulk berths with modern facilities, captive berths, logistics parks and green initiatives for non-conventional energy and water conservation were some of the other projects in the pipeline, he said.



The Chairman expressed his gratitude for the support from Port customers, terminal operators, employees, the trade and other stakeholders towards the success of JN Port.



The Deputy Chairman, Mr N. N. Kumar, in his concluding remarks, specially thanked the CISF for providing excellent security and credited the record achievement to the dynamic leadership of Mr Radhakrishnan. Among those present on the occasion were Capt. Alpesh Sharma, CEO, DP World Nhava Sheva and Mr Pradeep Agarwal, CEO, APM Terminals Mumbai.