The slide in spot earnings on the transpacific has been dramatic over the past month, and lines are redeploying ships to more profitable tradelanes.

Alphaliner has crunched the numbers to work out the revenues per nautical mile on the main east-west tradelanes with the transatlantic coming out on top by some distance.

Shanghai to California spot rates have slumped below $3,500 per feu as of last Friday, which works out at 60 cents per nautical mile, a figure that has more than halved since July. For both the Shanghai to New York and Shanghai to Rotterdam routes, revenues are now at 73 cents per nautical mile according to Alphaliner, while for the transatlantic from Rotterdam to New York the figure stands at 217.9 cents per nautical mile.

“Shifting extra tonnage to the North Europe – USEC trade can therefore be very rewarding,” Alphaliner noted in its most recent weekly report, suggesting that this might explain COSCO’s decision to replace the 8,063 OOCL Shekou with the much larger 13,092 teu COSCO Harmony on the Ocean Alliance’s TAT2 loop, although extra capacity is also needed on this tradelane to cope with the effects of port congestion.

The crash in spot rates on the transpacific is a “major concern” for the newcomers on this trade, Alphaliner reported. The route had previously been the most lucrative during most of the pandemic.

While average revenue of 60 cents per nautical mile on the transpacific is still more than double compared to pre-pandemic levels, the rapidly falling spot rates will hurt newcomers and non-alliance carriers which have fixed very expensive tonnage on the charter market, Alphaliner warned. These carriers are typically very dependent on the spot market.

Alphaliner data looking at the top 30 carriers shows Unifeeder and Sea Lead Shipping rely on chartered in tonnage for 100% of their needs, while Emirates Shipping Line has a fleet made up of 96% chartered in vessels, ZIM stands at 94%, with China United Lines (CU Lines) on 87%.

“Several of the new entrants to the Asia-Europe and Transpacific markets have significant tonnage commitments that will not allow them to easily remove their vessels in the short term,” a report from Linerlytica pointed out earlier this week.

Alphaliner has previously suggested the industry will experience a widening two-tier market differentiated by those carriers who have signed long-term contracts at elevated rates, and those relying on the softening spot market.

New analysis released this week by BIMCO forecasts headhaul and regional volume growth dropping 1-2% in 2022 with 3-4% growth in 2023 as best case.

“The fleet supply/demand balance is predicted to worsen, and although carriers can maintain a tight cargo supply/demand balance by adjusting deployment, we predict that freight rates will continue to fall. At the very least, contract rates must be expected to again move below spot rates,” the BIMCO container analysis reported.

Source: https://splash247.com/transatlantic-becomes-most-lucrative-east-west-trade/

As part of its ambitious strategy for instant and frictionless transactions, SWIFT September 1 announces a new capability that uses its global intelligence on past cross-border flows to predict potential problems before new international payments are sent.

The new service analyses previous flows on the SWIFT network to identify accounts that have been credited successfully and uses this information to detect potential errors in payee information – the most common cause of cross-border delays.

This centralized verification, based on aggregated and anonymized data from nine billion transaction messages between four billion accounts each year, provides a level of insight no single financial institution has on its own. It also gives real-time confidence that a payment will go through, regardless of whether the parties or banks in a transaction have transacted with each other before.

“Think of it as the ultimate payment pre-check” said Thomas Zschach, Chief Innovation Officer, SWIFT. “When someone wants to make an international payment, we can instantly predict the likelihood of success based on whether the account has been credited successfully in the past, and then present this information directly to the customer so that they can fix any errors or typos before the payment even starts its processing.”

“We are able to do this because of the unique perspective SWIFT has at the heart of the financial community, and our strategic commitment to make international payments as seamless as the fastest domestic ones,” he added.

The new capability is an expanded feature of SWIFT’s Payment Pre-validation service and is available to banks via an API, meaning their customers can immediately benefit to send and receive international payments around the world even faster.

It marks another bold step forward as SWIFT evolves its platform to enable banks to drive a new era of instant, frictionless and interoperable cross-border transactions to create new value for their customers. As part of this commitment, SWIFT is also significantly expanding its capabilities in areas including low value payments through SWIFT Go and is partnering with industry players to explore the capabilities and potential use of CBDCs, tokenization and AI.

Source: https://maritimefairtrade.org/predictive-data-intelligence-removes-hurdles-to-instant-cross-border-transactions-over-swift/

Korean Register (KR) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) will be developing a new 40,000 m3 LCO2 carrier featuring a next generation cargo handling system. The two Korean firms signed an MOU at Gastech 2022 in Milan, Italy 7 September to help meet the growing demand for vessels capable of transporting carbon dioxide at scale from emissions sources to storage sites.

Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technologies are fast growing as the world seeks to achieve carbon neutrality and build an international carbon capture infrastructure.

However, carbon dioxide is a complex cargo to handle, having a triple point which is higher than atmospheric pressure, meaning that it can liquefy only at low temperatures and high pressures.

Even a small environmental change can see CO2 transform into a gas, liquid or solid state. The new design will feature a reliable Ship and Cargo Containment System (CCS) using its accumulated technologies in the field of liquefied gas carriers, such as LNG and LPG carriers.

DSME will also develop a Cargo Handling System (CHS) using the latest technology to prevent CO2 emissions and ensure navigational stability.

KR plans to verify compliance with its own Rules and The International Code of the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC Code) for the cargo containment and handling systems developed by DSME.

Jun-Lyoung Seo, CTO of DSME, said: “Responding to climate change will be a new opportunity for the shipbuilding industry. To further enhance our competitiveness in the future green shipbuilding market, we will develop an efficient and safe LCO2 carrier through this collaboration and hope to obtain an Approval in Principle from KR within this year.”

Kyu-jin Yeon, Head of KR’s Plan Approval Center, said: “This collaboration with DSME is significant at a time when the demand for safer LCO2 carrier technology is increasing. Through this joint development project, we will continue to support DSME’s CO2-related technology and decarbonization projects.”

According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2020, up to 40 million tons of CO2 is captured annually, and most of which is permanently stored in geological formations or re-injected into oil wells to promote oil recovery.

In particular, as CCUS technology is expected to contribute a significant portion of the global total carbon dioxide reduction, the demand for LCO2 carriers to transport CO2 to storage facilities is expected to increase.

Source: https://maritimefairtrade.org/korean-register-daewoo-shipbuilding-collaborate-on-large-scale-liquefied-co2-carrier-technology/

GF Piping Systems presented solutions to make the maritime industry more sustainable through the use of plastic piping systems at the SMM 2022 in Hamburg recently, according to a press release.

The company introduced metal alternatives such as the Butterfly Valve 565, HEAT-FIT, and COOL-FIT, all of which aim to make maritime piping applications more intelligent, efficient, and sustainable, under the motto “Future Horizons,” according to a statement.

“With more than 30 years of experience in this industry, we are very aware of the current challenges. We believe that complete piping solutions consisting of corrosion-free, long-lasting, and cost-effective plastic components can be part of a holistic strategy that makes the maritime sector more sustainable. Therefore, we will continue to focus on future horizons,” said Roberto Chiesa, head of business development marine, GF Piping Systems.

The Butterfly Valve 565 with digital functionality, which was recently certified by DNV and Bureau Veritas, is a new addition to the company’s portfolio. It includes a fiber-reinforced polyamide housing, a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) valve disc, and is pressure and temperature resistant, allowing it to easily replace metal alternatives.

HEAT-FIT, a fire-retardant pipe jacket system that introduces efficient plastic piping systems into L3 applications, was also displayed at the fair. It employs materials from the aerospace and building technology industries and can withstand fire with a temperature of up to 1000°C for 30 minutes at 3 bar. HEAT-FIT is certified by DNV, Bureau Veritas, ABS, and Lloyds Register, and it meets IMO Res, among other safety standards.

In addition, the company displayed COOL-FIT, a pre-insulated system designed to optimize commercial and industrial refrigeration applications. It is up to 60% lighter and 30% more efficient than metal due to its design, for less energy-intensive and more cost-effective operations.

Source: https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/28239-gf-piping-systems-introduces-plastic-piping-systems.html