China Shipping News

[hkskyline]

Nagasaki-Shanghai ferry service launched


Photo taken on March 2, 2012 shows the ferry Ocean Rose ported in east China's Shanghai Municipality. Japanese theme park operator HUIS TEN BOSCH launched a direct ferry service between southwestern Japanese city of Nagasaki and Chinese business city of Shanghai Wednesday. The service is operated by HTB Cruise Corporation, a subsidiary of the Dutch-themed resort park operator, with the aim to boost Chinese visitors to the local theme park in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan's Kyushu Island. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)

NAGASAKI, Japan, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Japanese theme park operator HUIS TEN BOSCH launched a direct ferry service between southwestern Japanese city of Nagasaki and Chinese business city of Shanghai Wednesday.

The service is operated by HTB Cruise Corporation, a subsidiary of the Dutch-themed resort park operator, with the aim to boost Chinese visitors to the local theme park in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan's Kyushu Island,

Prior to the evening departure, more than 100 people participated in a ceremony held in Nagasaki International Cruise Ship Terminal.

Houdou Nakamura, Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture stressed that the people living in Nagasaki naturally see Shanghai as one of its neighboring cities because of the history and geographic location and it is honorable for the people in Nagasaki to newly open the route in the year of the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China.

"The ship will be a bridge first between the two cities, second between the two countries, and then grow into such a stage that the younger people can keep daily communication each other in the future," Nakamura said.

Li Wenliang, consul general of the Chinese Consulate-General in Nagasaki said in his speech that the Shanghai-Nagasaki route would remind people the long history that people in former times, especially around in the 8th or the 9th century, made efforts to continue crossing the sea under the difficult sailing conditions.

So long as people in the both countries can keep "a belief" in their mind, the ship will become a larger friendship bridge between the neighboring countries, carrying "hope" and " expectation" to the future," Li said.

HTB Cruise Corporation said it would operate one round-trip per week until mid-March, and increase the service frequency to twice a week thereafter through the end of May.

It said the number of passengers would be limited to around 300 to 400 before renovation of guest rooms on the vessel in June to accommodate about 1,000.

On Wednesday, the first cruise carrying more than 200 passengers and 70 crew members set sail at 6:00 p.m. local time from Nagasaki International Cruise Ship Terminal. According to the latest timetable, it takes about 26 hours for the vessel to sail about 850 km, crossing the sea between Nagasaki and Shanghai. The ferry "OCEAN ROSE" has restaurants, a theater, some facilities for relaxation and entertainments such as body massage corner and table tennis room, as well as a duty free shop. The company offers one-way normal ticket for the route starting from 15,200 yen (,about 190 U.S. dollars) for passengers using comfort-seats. The service had been planned to commence last year but was delayed due to the earthquake-tsunami disaster and the ensuing nuclear crisis in northeastern Japan, causing a sharp drop in the number of Chinese visitors to Japan.

[big-dog]

4.25 Tianjin Port and Binhai CBD









by popoeye, gaoloumi.com

[hkskyline]

N China province opens direct cargo route to Taiwan

SHIJIAZHUANG, June 5 (Xinhua) -- North China's Hebei Province opened the first direct cargo route to Taiwan on Tuesday, with a ship loaded with 36,000 tonnes of coal leaving Qinghuadao Port for Taiwan.

The Wuxing 6 cargo ship left Qinghuadao Port, China's largest coal transfer port, for the Taitung and Kaohsiung ports in Taiwan at about 11 a.m., marking the first cargo shipment between Hebei and Taiwan.

The Wuxing 6 belongs to the Qinghuangdao Wuxing Shipping Company and received approval from the mainland's Transport Ministry in April to sail to Taiwan.

[brick84]

TRAFFIC
SHANGHAI +2.8%
IN THE MONTH OF MAY



Shanghai - The Shanghai port, which is currently the busiest airport in the world, recorded in May increased by 2.8 per cent of the movement, thus confirming the moderate growth in recent months.

Overall, Shanghai in May and then moved 2.8 million TEUs, the highest level in the last ten months. The growth rate is also slightly higher than in April (+2.5 percent). A signal, according to analysts, which shows that in May the Chinese economy has continued to travel well.

The level of Chinese exports, according to research published by Reuters, is expected to grow by 6.8 percent in May, down from 4.9 percent in April. Import growth is expected to rise even at 5 percent compared to 0.3 the previous month.

[CoCoMilk]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

N China province opens direct cargo route to Taiwan

SHIJIAZHUANG, June 5 (Xinhua) -- North China's Hebei Province opened the first direct cargo route to Taiwan on Tuesday, with a ship loaded with 36,000 tonnes of coal leaving Qinghuadao Port for Taiwan.

Coal supplies mount at transit hubs

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/715475.shtml

Thermal coal inventories at Qinghuangdao Port, Huanghua Port and Tangshan Port have exceeded a combined total of 16 million tons recently, a sharp increase compared with the same time last month, according to Hebei Port Group Co.

The three ports are the most important transportation hubs for China's north-to-south thermal coal supply, with a total annual coal throughput of more than 300 million tons, accounting for 69 percent of the country's total coal shipment.

Entering June, the ports saw a jump in their coal inventories, partly due to a slump in demand following a reduction in electricity consumption, say analysts.

[hkskyline]

Flood peaks strand 600 ships on Yangtze River

YICHANG, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Continuous flood peaks have left over 600 ships stranded on sections of the Yangtze River near the Three Gorges Dam in the city of Yichang in central China's Hubei Province.

Since early July, continuous flood peaks have hit a stretch of the Yangtze River located between the Three Gorges Dam and the Gezhouba Dam with powerful currents, according to the navigation bureau of the Three Gorges Dam.

To ensure the safety of the dam, navigation authorities have discharged large amounts of water and ordered smaller ships to anchor at locks located ahead of the dams.

The stranded ships are expected to pass the dams over the next three to four days.

The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, is located 38 km upstream from the Gezhouba Dam on the Yangtze River.

[hkskyline]

Kitten survives 6,500-mile trip in China-US container
July 18, 2012, 2:29 pm

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A three-month-old kitten is recovering in California after surviving a journey across the Pacific in a shipping container from China, without food or water, officials said.

The orange-and-white animal has been named Ni Hao, or Hello in Mandarin, after being found when the container was opened last week, following the two-week, 6,500-mile (10,450-kilometer) trip from Shanghai.

At first he was too weak to stand, but the shorthaired kitten is finally taking its first steps -- and officials are now seeking a local cat-lover to adopt him.

"Ni Hao greeted the medical team with his first meows this morning and is attempting to stand," said Marcia Mayeda, head of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control.

In theory he has to remain in quarantine for 60 days, but he "may be allowed to finish the quarantine period under the care and supervision of a foster family if his health continues to improve," said Mayeda.

It was not immediately clear how the kitten got into the container.

[hkskyline]

Photo taken on July 30, 2012 shows the scene of loading goods in Chongqing Lianglu/Cuntan Bonded Port, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. As China's first inland bonded port, Cuntan bonded area handled over 150,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers for import and export in the first six months this year, rising 10.6 percent year on year. Up to June, the investment for the bonded area reached 20 billion yuan (about 3.13 billion U.S. dollars) with the sales output value reaching 11.7 billion yuan (about 1.83 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Jian)

[hkskyline]

China consolidates shipping status

BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China has strengthened its leading position in the shipping industry, with freight transport capacity and loading volumes steadily rising, official figures showed Friday.

A report on the shipping industry released by the Ministry of Transport said freight turnover handled at China's ports exceeded 10 billion tonnes last year, an increase of 12.4 percent year on year, topping the global tally.

Shipping container turnover reached 164 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), up 11.4 percent from a year ago.

The number of berths for production at domestic ports increased 334 from a year earlier to 31,968, the report said.

Shipping fleets have also expanded. China had 179,200 transportation ships as of the end of last year, an increase of 0.5 percent year on year, the report said.

China's shipping industry is grappling with a recession caused by waning demand and higher costs, and many small businesses are facing bankruptcy, an official with the Ministry of Transport said at a press conference last week.

In the first six months, turnover at ports increased 7.2 percent year on year to 4.74 billion tonnes, 6.1 percentage points lower year on year.

A drop in domestic traffic was to blame, as China's economic growth dropped to a more than three-year low of 7.6 percent in the second quarter, said He Jianzhong, ministry spokesman.

[brick84]

Capacity of 16 million TEUs
Three maxi-terminal
to the port of Tianjin



Tianjin - The management company of the North Zone of the Chinese port of Tianjin has unveiled a plan for the construction of three major container terminal, for a total of 32 areas and berth capacity of 16 million TEUs per year.

The new ports will arise at the Test Eastern and Northern Europe, as well as the Free Trade Area: it is 7,8 square kilometers of land for a range of 10 km of quay. The container terminal at the head includes the Eastern Basin berths at the port number 4, and the North and South sides of the same head.

http://shippingonline.ilsecoloxix.it...terminal.shtml

[hkskyline]

The icebreaker Xuelong ships off a harbor in Guangzhou City, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 5, 2012. Chinese research vessel and icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon," left Guangzhou on Monday for the country's 29th scientific expedition to Antarctica. (Xinhua/Huang Guobao)

[hkskyline]

China Grand Canal seeks world heritage status

NANJING, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Grand Canal, the longest artificial waterway in the world, will bid for UNESCO World Heritage status, according to the cultural heritage bureau of east China's Jiangsu Province.

The bureau will aim for the canal to be entered on the World Heritage list in 2014. All the cultural heritage sites along the waterway will be inspected and assessed by UN experts by the end of June.

The Grand Canal, or the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, with a length of 1,794 kilo-meters and a history of more than 2,400 years, runs through eight provinces and municipalities and 35 cities.

It was once a major waterway linking Beijing and resource-rich Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

The Jiangsu section of the canal, which is still in use today, is 690 kilometers long.

The provincial government is promoting the protection and environmental enhancement of cultural relic sites along the canal.

Officials with the cultural heritage bureau of Jiangsu said preparation work for the bid was running smoothly but admitted there were problems with over-commercialization and a lack of protection and supervision at some cultural relic sites.

Officials said the standard for inclusion onto the World Heritage list has been raised during the past a few years. Local governments have to ensure conditions at every relic site is in order for the bid to be a success.

[hkskyline]

Massive sea ice spotted off east China coast

BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The National Marine Forecasting Station on Thursday reported large chunks of sea ice floating near Liaodong Bay in the Bohai Sea for the first time this winter, warning local fishery industries and port businesses to be wary of the ice.

The total area of the ice spans 10 nautical miles, the station said, adding that sea ice has also been spotted in the northern Yellow Sea.

The station said the size of the sea ice in both areas may expand over the next week, which may disrupt fishery, aquaculture and shipping operations.

[brick84]

December 2, 2012
Asia-Mediterranean
Maersk adds
stopover in Beirut

Genoa - The joint service of Maersk Line and CMA-CGM from Asia to the Mediterranean has introduced a new airport in Beirut. The line is called by Maersk Line Æ12 with five ships and 7,400 BEX2 by CMA-CGM with five ships of 6,500 TEUs. The combined service MEX3 / AE20 companies already climbed Beirut, but only in the westbound route.

The new rotation of services is as follows: BEX2/AE12 Port Said, Trieste, Koper, Rijeka, Trieste, Beirut, Port Said, Jeddah, Port Kelang, Singapore, Shanghai, Busan, Shenzhen (Chiwan), Hong Kong, Port Tanjung PELEPAS, Port Kelang Port Said and again. MEX3/AE20: Algeciras, Tangier, Marsaxlokk, Beirut, Port Said (SCCT), Port Kelang, Singapore, Xiamen, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen (Yantian), Guangzhou (Nansha), Tanjung PELEPAS, Port Kelang, Jeddah, Port Said, Malta, Genoa, La Spezia and again Algeciras.
http://shippingonline.ilsecoloxix.it...o_maersk.shtml

[hkskyline]

1,000 ships stuck in E China sea ice

JINAN, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- A cold snap has created a layer of thick sea ice on Laizhou Bay in east China's Shandong Province, leaving about 1,000 vessels stranded in the water.

Zheng Dong, chief meteorologist at the Yantai Marine Environment Monitoring Center under the State Oceanic Administration, said the ice expanded to 291 square km this week and is continuing to grow.

Zheng said the ice this year is the worst the area has experienced in three years.

Local aquafarmers said the ice is thicker than in years past, which may lead to heavy losses, as the farmers are unable to penetrate the ice to provide adequate ventilation for sea cucumbers and other aquatic organisms.

Coastal police warned that the ice may cause damage to vessels passing through deeper sea areas near the Bohai and Yellow seas.

[:jax:]

China starts commercial use of Northern Sea Route

With melting icecaps accelerating the opening of new shipping routes and the exploration of oil, gas and mineral deposits in the Arctic, China has been eager to gain a foothold in the region.

In 2012 the icebreaker “Xue Long” (Snow Dragon) became the first Chinese vessel to sail all along the Northern Sea Route into the Barents Sea and upon return sailing a straight line from Iceland to the Bering Strait via the North Pole.

This trip has “greatly encouraged” Chinese shipping companies, says Huigen Yang, director general of the Polar Research Institute of China, according to South China Morning Post.

For China, the world’s No 2 economy after the United States, the route would save time and money. The distance from Shanghai to Hamburg is 5,200 kilometers shorter via the Arctic than via the Suez Canal, Yang said.

China has been lobbying for permanent observer status on the eight-member Arctic Council in a bid to gain influence.

According to Chinese longer-term scenarios, 5 to 15 per cent of China’s international trade, mostly container traffic, would use the route by 2020. Ten per cent of China’s projected trade by 2020, for instance, would be worth €526 billion. “If the route is constructively prepared ... then the demand is there, it could be a huge number,” Huigen Yang said at a conference about the Arctic in Oslo, organized by The Economist magazine.

As BarentsObserver reported, in 2012 46 vessels sailed the Northern Sea Route, compared to 34 in 2011 and only four in 2010. The total cargo transported on the NSR in 2012 was 1 261 545 tons – a 53 percent increase from 2011, when 820 789 tons was shipped on the route.

[hkskyline]

COSCO calms fears despite 12% profits fall
Updated: 2013-03-27 07:41
China Daily

COSCO Pacific Ltd, the terminal and container unit of China's biggest shipping group, said support from its parent will be "consistent", despite recent hardship in the group.

Hong Kong-listed COSCO Pacific is one of the six public companies under the COSCO Group, which is struggling to swing back to profit in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Pacific on Tuesday reported a 12 percent drop in annual profits for 2012 to $342.19 million.

The group's three other major listed units, China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd, COSCO Shipping Co Ltd and China International Marine Containers (Group) Co Ltd, are all expected to report a loss or declined earnings this year.

Wang Xingru, Pacific's vice-chairman, admitted the group as a whole is mired in difficulty but insisted "worries the group's weakness will endanger COSCO Pacific were totally unnecessary".

He added: "The group's support to our company is strong as always."

Despite the fall in profits, Pacific's shares in Hong Kong dropped just 0.36 percent on Tuesday to HK$11.12, amid a 0.23 percent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index to 22303.18 points.

Wang's comments came amid market fears that more restructuring by the parent might affect Pacific's already teetering business.

Shanghai-listed China COSCO Holdings was forced to restructure its business this year after two straight years of losses, which some suggested might force it to delist.

COSCO calms fears despite 12% profits fall

The restructuring was part of the group's plan to return to profit this year.

Group General Manager Ma Zehua said earlier this month that he was confident it would return to the black in 2013.

In an effort to trim its losses, China COSCO Holdings said on March 11 that it planned to sell its logistics unit, COSCO Logistics Co Ltd, which has been one of its biggest loss-makers over the past two years.

Pacific's overall loss was blamed on a dramatic 47 percent fall in profits at China International Marine Containers, in which it has a 20 percent stake, which saw a slump in its marine engineering operations.

Setting aside profits from CIMC and non-recurring items, Pacific's business is still healthy, posting a 14.6 percent profit growth to $280.30 million, on total revenue which rose 22.8 percent.

Revenue from its terminal business jumped 24.4 percent to $402.16 million, and its container revenue grew 21.6 percent to $336.22 million.

Profit from company's terminal at the Greek port of Piraeus, operated by its Greece unit Piraeus Container Terminal SA, more than doubled in 2012 to $19.86 million.

Asked if COSCO Pacific plans to buy more terminals in Greece, Wang said the company is always looking, but is currently not in any negotiations with the local government or terminal operators.

The company expects capital expenditure of up to $1 billion this year, a year-on-year increase of more than 10 percent, half of which will be in its terminal business.

However, the company expects the growth of that business to slow this year, amid rising operating costs and tax expenses. It expects its total annual terminal handling capacity to grow by 4.6 percent in 2013 to 63.1 million twenty-foot equivalent unit.

[foxmulder]

China Shipping Container Lines Co ordered five triple-E class container ships from Hyundai, which are the largest ones, to compete with Maersk. Shipping costs will continue to decrease...

VEry nice read about the ships:

http://iliketowastemytime.com/maersk...-ship-in-world