Hawaii-based carrier Matson posted exceptional earnings in the second quarter, driven in large part by the growing popularity of its transpacific services. From April through June it brought in just over one billion dollars in revenue and posted an operating income of $470 million. In percentage terms, this is a better operating income margin than many blue-chip European carriers.

Matson is the last operator using U.S.-built (not just U.S.-flagged) container ships in an overseas liner trade, and it has had considerable success. For more than 15 years, its Jones Act vessels have been making voyages to China and back, providing a premium service for shippers who need fast transit times to Southern California. The higher freight rate comes with excellent performance for on-time arrival and cargo availability – both of which are hard to come by in the post-pandemic era.

With its coastwise-qualified fleet, Matson can also deliver Californian cargo to Honolulu on the backhaul run. This extra revenue-generating voyage is closed to foreign-built ships. But it is the transpacific service that really boosts Matson’s earnings. In the second quarter the company added more eastbound voyages to handle a container volume increase of 12 percent, driven by e?commerce shipments, clothing and other goods for the U.S. market. Its transpacific service commanded a “significant” premium over the SCFI, and rates were considerably higher than during the same time last year. One contributing factor: Matson has added a seasonal expedited run from Shanghai to Oakland, where it operates its own terminal. The transit takes less than two weeks, and it skips the port congestion in Southern California.

The popularity of the service is reflected in the numbers. Revenue increased by more than 50 percent and operating income rose by more than 130 percent year-on-year during the quarter. Rates softened slightly in July, but Matson expects that the rest of the year will still be quite good for business.

“We are seeing solid demand for our China service as China’s factory production continues to recover from the COVID-19-related supply chain challenges,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Matt Cox in an earnings statement. “We expect an orderly marketplace for the remainder of the year with our vessels continuing to operate at or near capacity and earning a significant rate premium to the market.”

Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/matson-s-transpacific-service-is-booming

With a merchant fleet of over 4.901 vessels Greek shipowners’ control 19,4% of the world tonnage and 58% of the EU tonnage capacity. On the occasion of the Pytheas Space Maritime Forum EUSPA, in collaboration with the Greek authorities, organized a demonstration that showcases the importance of space technologies in Search and Rescue (SAR) Operations. The exercise involved the activation of a Galileo-enabled EPIRB equipped with the innovative Return Link Service.

Relying on space data and services by the EU Space Programme, such as Galileo and Copernicus, is beneficial for the Greek shipping community as they bring extra safety and efficiency in maritime operations’’ says Deputy Minister for Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Kostas Katsafados. “The Maritime sector is sailing towards a digital and more green and safer future. The European Union is investing in the EU Space Programme components such as Galileo and Copernicus, and soon in secure connectivity, to enable the companies in the maritime ecosystem to become more innovative and more competitive. Space and Ocean stand together for the EU Blue Economy, for the Green and Digital transition,’’ says Catherine Kavvada, Director for Outreach and Innovation at the Directorate General for Defense Industry and Space, European Commission.

What happens when disaster strikes?

Safety at sea and protecting the oceanic ecosystem have long been two of the European maritime sector’s top priorities. Today, the EU is developing space services to better answer these priorities. Take for example the scenario of a ship grounding or colliding with another vessel. Search and Rescue crews must fight rough seas and/or freezing temperatures to quickly reach the ship and evacuate passengers and crew.

But this is just one of the many challenges that SAR teams and other stakeholders face. Relevant authorities must also mitigate a range of environmental risks, such as oil spills. Because time is of essence for both safety and environmental challenges, having ready access to precise location information is absolutely crucial. “Greece is implementing its space strategy in a step-by-step approach, investing in space infrastructure to achieve national and European targets with the aim of promoting the digitization of the economy, improving the resilience of the country’s infrastructure and optimizing the response to situations emergency or natural disasters’’, says Athanassios Staveris-Polykalas, Secretary General of Telecommunications & Posts, Greek Ministry of Digital Governance.

Localise with Galileo

The launch of the Galileo constellation has meant an exponential increase in accurate navigation. The system was designed with protecting EU citizens as a core objective – an objective it achieves through various services. One of those services is the Galileo SAR service, which, in January 2020, announced the launch of its ground-breaking Galileo Return Link Service (RLS) feature. Thanks to the RLS, sailors in distress, when equipped with the appropriate beacon, will see a light verifying that their distress signal has been received by emergency first responders and that their location has been established.

Galileo is the only GNSS constellation to offer such a service to its end-users. The RLS is proven to increase survival rates by giving an important psychological boost to people in distress. Experts of Cospas-Sarsat estimated that the international SAR system, with the contribution of the Galileo Search and Rescue service, saves more than 2,000 lives a year.

“Sailors received the notification that their distress signal has been received in 1.08’, it is another proof of the performance of the Galileo Search and Rescue service. And it is saving lives. Thus, it is essential that Europeans are aware of the performance of the Galileo. It is part of our mission in EUSPA. I am pleased to have participated to this demonstration’’, adds EUSPA Executive Director, Rodrigo da Costa.

Visualise with Copernicus

Accidents often occur in poor weather conditions, where it is difficult or dangerous to deploy manned assets (e.g., helicopters). When an accident happens in a remote area, there may not be the option to send vessels or aircraft to verify the situation. In both contexts, the Copernicus Maritime Surveillance (implemented by EMSA) service can provide valuable additional data to help detect, track and potentially identify the vessels in distress. By doing so, the CMS helps support SAR efforts. Specifically, Copernicus utilises synthetic aperture radar images, which can be used to help search for vessels over large areas, during the night and even in poor weather conditions. This capability is especially useful when a vessel loses communication and goes adrift (e.g., following a fire or tracking storm damage). Identifying the location of a vessel helps optimise the use of search and rescue assets and allows authorities to direct resources to where they are of most use. Optical images can also provide a wealth of additional information, including positively identifying the vessel, characterising the damage caused or detecting any deployed lifeboats in the water.

Communicate with GOVSATCOM

When disaster strikes, communication, information and location are key. With the addition of GOVSATCOM, the EU Space Programme offers all three. GOVSATCOM will provide secure, cost-efficient communication capabilities to security and safety-critical missions, operations, and infrastructure. EUSPA has been entrusted with the procurement of the secure operational ground segment (GOVSATCOM Hubs), its operations and the coordination of the user-related aspects of GOVSATCOM, all in close collaboration with the Member States and other involved entities.

Source: EUSPA

The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre (ISC) has released its Half Yearly Report 2022 for the period of January to June. The key highlights of the report are as follows:

Overall situation

• No incident of piracy (occurred on high seas) was reported.
• A total of 42 incidents (comprising 40 actual and 2 attempted) of armed robbery against ships (occurred in internal waters, archipelagic waters and territorial seas) were reported in Asia during January to June 2022.
• This represents an 11% increase compared to 38 incidents reported during the same period in 2021.
• The severity level of the actual incidents are as follows:
  • One Category 2 incident (same as in 2021)
  • 10 Category 3 incidents (same as in 2021)
  • 29 Category 4 incidents (25 incidents during same period in 2021)

Increase of incidents

• Singapore Strait (SS) and Bangladesh Anchorages
  • 27 incidents were reported in SS (20 incidents were reported during the period of January to June 2021). The SS remains an area of concern.
• Three incidents were reported at Chattogram Anchorages, Bangladesh (no incident was reported during the same period in 2021).

Areas of improvement

• Anchorages in Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
  • No incidents were reported in Malaysia (one incident was reported during the same period in 2021).
• Three incidents were reported in the Philippines (six incidents were reported for the same period in 2021).
• No incidents were reported in Vietnam (two incidents were reported for the same period in 2021).

Situation in Sulu-Celebes Seas and Waters Off Eastern Sabah

• There was no incident of abduction of crew for ransom in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah since the last incident reported on 17 Jan 20. However, the threat of abduction of crew for ransom remains potentially high, particularly in the area of Sulu and nearby waters off Tawi-Tawi as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) commanders responsible for past incidents of abduction in Sulu are still at large and the presence of remnants of the group in the sea.

Source: https://maritimefairtrade.org/42-armed-robberies-against-ships-in-asia-during-first-half-of-2022-says-recaap-isc/