Hainan Maritime Safety Administration issued a compliance certificate to Hainan Laifushi Marine Engineering Management Co, meaning the enterprise became the first wholly foreign-owned shipping firm qualified for business in Hainan Free Trade Port.

This move marked that Hainan Free Trade Port has further released its policy dividend, Xinhua reported on Thursday, adding that Hainan would attract more global shipping companies to gather in the province in South China.

Hainan Laifushi Marine Engineering Management Co was registered in Hainan Yangpu Economic Development Zone in March, according to Xinhua, which was also the first wholly foreign-owned shipping company registered in Hainan after Chinese authorities released the master plan for the Hainan Free Trade Port in June 2020. The company is invested and established by Greenland Petroleum Operation Pte. Ltd from Singapore, according to the company information website Tianyancha.

Since the company needed a compliance certificate to manage an offshore ship from the Marshall Islands engaging in global marine engineering ship safety and pollution prevention management which will be transferred to Chinese nationality, the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration launched a green path for the company and quickly approved its application, Xinhua reported.

According to Xinhua, the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration will further explore measures to facilitate the review and issuance of certificates to help companies reduce operating costs and attract more shipping companies and ships to Hainan.

Source: hellenicshippingnews

The U.S. trade deficit hit a record in February as the country’s economic activity rebounds faster than its global rivals and could remain elevated this year as a massive fiscal stimulus is expected to spur the fastest growth in nearly four decades.

The economy is roaring ahead as a surge in COVID-19 vaccines and the White House’s $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue package boost domestic demand, some of which is being satiated by imports. President Joe Biden last week proposed a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which is expected to attract even more imports and trigger economic growth.

“The deficit could remain large this year and next due to fiscal stimulus and the potential infrastructure package that could be passed in the second half of this year,” said Ryan Sweet, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “As the economy continues to strengthen, this will keep the deficit broad-based.”

The trade deficit soared 4.8% to a record $71.1 billion in February, according to data from the Commerce Department. Economists had forecast a deficit of $70.5 billion. The goods trade gap was also the highest on record.

Exports fell 2.6% to $187.3 billion. Goods exports fell 3.5% to $131.1 billion, likely affected by unusually cold weather in much of the country. The decline was led by shipments of capital goods, which fell by $2.5 billion.

Exports of consumer goods fell, as did exports of motor vehicles, parts and engines. There were also fewer food exports. The pandemic continued to be a drag on services exports, especially travel.

Imports fell 0.7% to $258.3 billion. Imports of goods fell by 0.9% to $219.1 billion. This drop probably reflects supply chain constraints rather than weak domestic demand. In fact, imports of capital goods reached a record high, driven by civilian aircraft, medical equipment and electrical equipment, among others.

Imports of industrial supplies and materials were the highest since October 2018, thanks to $1 billion worth of crude oil imports. That caused the U.S. to post its first oil deficit since December 2019.

But imports of motor vehicles, parts and engines declined as did imports of consumer goods. The reduction in trade flows in February was due in part to inclement weather and logistical and transportation problems at ports.

“Congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together account for one-third of U.S. container imports, caused container ships to anchor offshore while waiting for available port space,” said Jay Bryson, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Even when ships are docked and unloaded, port executives report higher-than-normal container dwell time, or the time it takes importers to pick up their cargo from the port.”

Following the recent six-day blockade of the Suez Canal, economists expect trade flows to remain depressed in March.

Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury bond prices were mostly higher.

A Drag on Growth

Adjusted for inflation, the goods trade deficit soared to a record $99.1 billion in February, up from $96.1 billion in January. The so-called real trade deficit is well above the average for the October-December period.

JPMorgan economists estimate that trade could subtract a percentage point from GDP growth in the first quarter, which would be the third consecutive quarterly drag.

But that is unlikely to dent first-quarter GDP growth estimates, which currently stand at an annualized rate of 10%. The economy grew at a 4.3% pace in the fourth quarter.

Economists forecast that growth this year could exceed 7%, which would be the fastest since 1984. The economy contracted 3.5% in 2020, the worst performance in 74 years. The International Monetary Fund expects the global economy to expand by 6% this year, driven mainly by the U.S. economy, which the fund estimates will grow by 6.4%.

From the labor market to the hard-hit manufacturing and service sectors, activity accelerated sharply in March.

But the housing market, one of the stars of the pandemic, is showing signs of fatigue.

A separate report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday showed applications for loans to buy a home fell 4.6% last week, dropping for a second straight week.

According to the MBA, the 30-year mortgage fixed rate has risen to 3.36%, a 10-month high. That, combined with higher house prices due to an acute shortage of properties, is making home-ownership more expensive for some first-time buyers.

“With inventory at record lows and affordability increasingly stretched thanks to rapid house price gains, we expect home purchase demand will trend down this year,” said Matthew Pointon, senior property economist at Capital Economics in New York.

Source: fullavantenews

Stena Line today announced the latest addition to their Baltic Sea fleet. The 186 metre long Visentini RoPax vessel Stena Livia will initially join sister vessel Stena Flavia on the Nynäshamn-Ventspils route from mid-April. Later this year the pair will replace the existing tonnage on the ferry route between Travemünde and Liepaja, adding 40 per cent freight capacity and shorten the crossing time substantially.

During 2021 Stena Line is expanding their Baltic Sea operations with modern and large RoPax vessels being added to the two ferry routes from Latvia to Sweden and Germany. The routes, Nynäshamn-Ventspils and Travemünde-Liepaja, was acquired by Stena Line in 2012, and is today an important part of the European logistics network, connecting the Baltics, Russia and CIS countries with Germany and Sweden as well as the rest of Europe.

“We have seen an increase in demand from our customers across the Baltic Sea region. We are now strengthening our position and customer offer further with new modern vessels, more capacity and an attractive onboard experience on both our routes to and from Latvia during 2021. I am happy to welcome Stena Livia to the Baltic Sea fleet, says Johan Edelman, Trade Director Baltic Sea North.

Stena Livia was built in 2008 at the Cantieri Navale Visentini shipyard in Italy and is a modern large RoPax vessel with capacity of 750 passengers, 200 cars and/or 115 trailers. The vessel has earlier sailed under the names of Étretat and Norman Voyager.

Stena Livia will initially join sister vessel Stena Flavia on the Nynäshamn-Ventspils route from mid-April, replacing the chartered vessel Scottish Viking that is being returned to its owner. Later during the year the two large and modern RoPax vessels Stena Scandica and Stena Baltica will start operating on the Nynäshamn-Ventspils route, adding 30 % freight capacity to the route.

Adding 40 % capacity on Travemünde-Liepaja

Stena Line earlier announced that the ferry company will replace the existing vessels Stena Gothica and Urd on the Travemünde-Liepaja route in 2021. The ferry company can now confirm that it is the two vessels Stena Livia and Stena Flavia that will move to the Travemünde-Liepaja route during the year. The new modern vessel will increase the freight capacity on the route by 40 % and shorten the crossing time from 27 to 20 hours. This will enable a reliable transport service with a fixed timetable with 12 weekly departures, six in each direction. The new vessels will also offer improved onboard facilities and increase the number of cabins, making the route an attractive choice for transport and travel between the Baltic countries and Germany.

Stena Line has not yet announced the exact timing for the tonnage changes on the two Baltic Sea routes or disclosed any further plans for the two vessels Stena Gothica and Urd.

Source: seanews

LAUNCESTON, Australia, April 9 (Reuters) – China is paying a high price for its unofficial ban on coal imports from Australia, with the cost of domestic and alternative foreign supplies rising for both thermal and coking grades of the fuel.

China, the world’s biggest importer, producer and consumer of coal, has effectively ended imports from Australia, the biggest shipper of coking coal used to make steel and number two in thermal coal used to produce electricity, as part of an ongoing political dispute between the two nations.

The restrictions on imports from Australia came into effect in the second half of last year, resulting in China’s imports dropping to virtually zero in the first two months of this year from a 2020 high of 9.46 million tonnes in June, according to Refinitiv vessel-tracking and port data.

However, China’s consumers of imported coal have been facing higher costs, with prices for alternatives to supplies from Australia, both local and foreign, rising as the market adjusts to the unofficial ban.

In coking coal, the price of free-on-board Australian cargoes has been weakening since the ban was imposed, apart from the usual seasonal gain for the northern hemisphere winter.

The Singapore Exchange contract for Australian coking coal ended at $113.71 a tonne on Thursday, down 18.8% from the $140 that it reached at the start of October, just as the Chinese ban was coming into effect.

If a Chinese importer switched from Australian cargoes to those from the United States, the price difference has entirely reversed since the ban started to affect flows.

Coking coal free-on-board at the U.S. east coast port of Hampton Roads, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, has surged to $152.75 on Thursday from $114 a tonne at the start of October last year, a gain of 34%.

This means that U.S. coking coal is currently about $39 a tonne more expensive that supplies from Australia, and this doesn’t account for the higher shipping costs given the longer distance from the U.S. east coast to China.

China’s domestic coking coal price has also been gaining since the restrictions on imports from Australia, with Dalian Commodity Exchange futures rising 16% from 1,353 yuan ($206.56) a tonne at the start of October to end at 1,573 yuan on Thursday.

This price isn’t directly comparable to the free-on-board prices in Australia and the United States, as it includes freight and other costs as well as import taxes and duties.

However, it does show that Chinese domestic prices have been pushed higher, partially reflecting the higher cost of imports from sources other than Australia.

China’s neighbour Mongolia has become its biggest supplier of coking coal, meeting 61.7% of imports in the first two months of this year, up from just 17.7% in the same period in 2020, according to official data.

Australia’s share of imports came down to zero from 68.4% in January-February 2020, according to the data, while the United States boosted its share to 9.1% from under 2%, and Canada went to 12.1% from 6.1%.

While coking coal supplies from Mongolia are cheaper than those from seaborne alternatives, it’s believed that they tend to track Chinese domestic prices, meaning it’s likely that they have risen sharply as well, especially once transportation and washing costs are factored in.

Source: gcaptain

The Philippine Coast Guard responded to the scene of a collision between a product tanker and a dry bulk carrier in Manila Bay overnight. Both vessels sustained damage but remained seaworthy and are now being detained while an investigation is ongoing into the circumstances of the accident.

According to the reports from the PCG, the two vessels made contact approximately three nautical miles from Cavite City in Manila Bay at approximately 9:50 p.m. local time on Wednesday, April 7. Weather and sea conditions appeared to be calm at the time. The Coast Guard responded deploying personnel from the Coast Guard Station Manila, as well as the Special Operations Group, and Marine Environmental Protection Unit to ensure the safety of the crew and to gather additional information regarding the collision.

Source: maritime-executive

The Fijian shipping company that’s under investigation over the alleged mistreatment of foreign workers claims it has had to cancelled ferry routes because of new manning requirements.

Goundar Shipping announced on its Facebook page this week that it has cancelled two ferry routes because the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji had issued new manning rules.

But in its first public comments on the issues surrounding Goundar, MSAF said it “had not issued any new manning requirements as claimed by Goundar Shipping”.

“The Fijian maritime law is clear and it states that it is the ship owner and master’s responsibility to ensure that ships are properly manned at all times,” MSAF said in a statement.

“The Authority is only requiring the minimum safe manning requirements that needs to be met by operators”.

The cancellations come while Fijian police, immigration and human rights authorities investigate allegations Goundar sacked Filipino crew members and left them stranded in the country without the means to return home after they raised concerns over their pay and working conditions.

Source: abc

Nasdaq-listed Greek owner Castor Maritime has entered into an agreement to purchase 2011 Japanese-built panamax dry bulk carrier Xi Jiang Yue from Hong Kong’s Ocean Broaden Shipping for a purchase price of $18.48m.

Delivery of the 74,900 dwt vessel should take place in Q2 2021.

Petros Panagiotidis, CEO of Castor, said: “We are pleased to announce our ninth vessel acquisition in 2021 with the addition of another Panamax dry bulk vessel to Castor’s fleet. Our focus remains on deploying our capital and growing our fleet through timely acquisitions of vessels across shipping segments.”

On a fully delivered basis, Castor Maritime will have a fleet of 15 vessels consisting of 1 capesize, 5 kamsarmax and 7 panamax dry bulk vessels and 2 aframax LR2 tankers.

Source: splash247