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.: 23-Sep-2015 :. Search News
Displaying 1 to 4 of Records.
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Trial against alleged Somali pirate kingpin begins
The trial of an alleged Somali pirate kingpin has begun in the Belgian city of Bruges. Following his spectacular arrest, Mohamed Abdi Hassan was charged with hijacking a Belgian ship and leading a criminal organization.

Known as "Afweyne," or "Big Mouth," and allegedly the most influential leader of a Somali pirate network, Mohamed Abdi Hassan was missing from the benches behind the defense as the trial against him opened at the criminal court in Bruges, Belgium.

"We have decided not to appear because the prosecution has added 2,500 pages to the dossier and we were only notified of this two days ago," defense attorney Hans Rieder said. "But these new documents are very important because they challenge Mr. Hassan's alibi."

Rieder said his client would plead not guilty to the charges of hijacking the Belgian ship MS Pompei in 2009 and heading up a criminal organization.

Behind the defense lawyer's bench and next to a translator sat Hassan's alleged accomplice, Mohamed Moalin Aden, known as "Tiicey." According to a 2014 report to the UN Security Council by the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, Tiicey - the self-proclaimed president of a region in Somalia - aided the pirates' activities by facilitating communications and ransom payments.

Report sees responsibility for many hijackings
According to the UN report, Abdi Hassan "has been involved in the piracy business at least since 2005. He is considered to be responsible for at least 24 hijacking and abduction cases."

Among those is the case of the Belgian stone carrier Pompei, for which he is on trial in Bruges.

En route from South Africa to Dubai in the Indian Ocean, just north of the Seychelles, the MS Pompei and its crew of 10 were captured in April 2009, to be released only after two months and following the payment of a ransom that is said to have amounted to about 2 million euros.

On Thursday, prosecutor Marianne Cappelle sketched at length the terrifying experience the crew of the Pompei lived through, being held at gunpoint outside the ship's bridge for the first four days and nights.

Arrest following undercover operation

Both Abdi Hassan and alleged facilitator Moadil Aden were arrested following a sting operation by the Belgian police .
Pirat - Mohammed Abdi Hassan

Officials were able to trick Abdi Hassan into coming to Belgium - and then promptly arrested him

"We asked him if he would be prepared to act as an adviser on a film project on maritime piracy," federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle said following Abdi Hassan's October 2013 arrest.

Building up a relationship of trust with Moadil Aden over months, and through him with Abdi Hassan, the Belgian undercover agents managed to lure the two to Brussels, where they were arrested upon disembarking from their flight.

"I think that [the sting operation] proves that the Belgian authorities tried to do everything to prove international trustworthiness," said defense counsel Rieder, who said the entire undertaking amounts to "a show trial."

Show trial or not, a conviction would carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the defendants.

Abdi Hassan, however, could easily appeal that decision because Belgian law allows an appeal in cases in which the defendant is sentenced in absentia - even though the absence in this case was by choice.
The verdict against Abdi Hassan and Moadil Aden is not expected until a few months from now, as the court will likely adjourn on Friday for a few months to allow the defense to examine the documents added to the court file by the prosecution.

Posted On:23-Sep-2015



Credits: www.dw.com

Massive Box Fleet Growth
The world's container ship capacity has just broken through the 20 million TEU barrier after carriers set a new record for the shortest time to add one million TEUS to the fleet.

According to Alphaliner, it took just seven and a half months for the global box fleet to expand from 19 to 20 Million. A total of 152 new vessels with a combined capacity of 1.27 million TEU have been delivered this year. While only 59 were scrapped - the lowest level since 2011.

Posted On:23-Sep-2015



Credits: www.shiptalk.com

Nicaragua Could Privatize Ports
The Ortega administration may be taking up once again the port privatization project conceived of in 2000 and may be close to awarding a concession to an international operator.

In November 2000 an article in Laprensa.com.ni reported that "the privatization of the Port of Corinto which would serve as a model for a similar process in other ports in the country, was the center of discussion at a seminar in which the results of a preliminary study on the issue were announced, said Roberto Zelaya Blanco, chief executive of the National Port Company (EPN)."

Now Nicaraguahoy.info is reporting that "…The government of President Daniel Ortega is concluding negotiations to privatize the management of the ports of Corinto and Puerto Sandino … the study was prepared two years ago when approval was given to the General Law of Ports of Nicaragua, Law No. 838 published in the La Gaceta No. 92 of 21 May 2013, which opened the door to the privatization of ports and airports. "

".. The fourth recital in the law states that "mechanisms for self-management of an efficient state, must conform to the requirements of the new environment, based on publicity, transparency, healthy complementarity and equality, and the incorporation of all the means of modern technology, for the purpose of updating and providing reliability to the processes of transformation and development of the state. However, the government remained silent about this possibility in 2013 and today when there is nearly complete agreement to deliver the award to a Dutch company with extensive experience in port management. "

Posted On:23-Sep-2015



Credits: www.bunkerportsnews.com

Megaships are worsening overcapacity in the container market: Kemp
Container shipping lines are poised to take delivery of a new generation of "megaships" over the next two years, just as the growth of world trade is slowing down, contributing to massive overcapacity in the market.

Megaships, which can be up to 400 metres long, seem to be here to stay, not least because so many more are already on order, the product of high fuel costs and low interest rates.

But the trend towards larger vessels is not without problems especially for other businesses in the transport system and the trend could be nearing its limit as the economies of scale associated with megaships decline.

Container shipping capacity has doubled every seven years since the turn of the millennium and will reach nearly 20 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2015 up from 5 million TEUs in 2000.

But since the financial crisis, container capacity has continued to grow rapidly, even as the growth in freight volumes has slowed, creating a massive overhang in shipping capacity and pressuring freight rates.

Capacity growth is being driven by the trend towards larger vessels. The size of container ships has been growing faster than for any other ship type according to the OECD’s International Transport Forum.

Between 1996 and 2015, the average carrying capacity of container ships increased 90 percent, compared with a 55 percent increase for dry bulk carriers and 21 percent for tankers (“The impact of megaships” 2015).

The growth in container ship size has been accelerating. It took 30 years for the average container ship size to reach 1,500 TEU but just one decade to double from 1,500 to 3,000 TEU.

Between 2001 and 2008, the average size of newly built ships hovered around 3,400 TEU but then jumped to 5,800 TEU between 2009 and 2013, and hit 8,000 TEU in 2015.

MEGASHIPS

Both the average size of new container ships and the maximum size is set to continue growing over the next five years.

Shipping lines have already taken ownership of 20 megaships with a capacity of more than 18,000 TEU each and another 52 are on order, according to the OECD.

The largest ship so far delivered has a capacity of 19,200 TEU, but carriers with capacity up to 21,100 have been ordered and will be in service by 2017.

Megaships are being introduced into service between the Far East and North Europe, the world's largest route by volume, where potential economies of scale are greatest, but are having a cascade effect on other routes.

Large ships that formerly plied the Far East-North Europe route are being displaced into Trans-Pacific service, and former Trans-Pacific carriers are moving to the Trans-Atlantic route.

The new generation of ultra-efficient megaships is credited with cutting the cost of shipping even further and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

But researchers for the OECD question whether megaships are contributing to unsustainable overcapacity and imposing unintended costs on shippers, port operators, freight forwarders, logistics firms and insurers.

FUEL COSTS

The new generation of megaships is the lagged effect of the era of high oil prices between 2004 and 2014 and low interest rates since the financial crisis in 2008.

Costs in the shipping industry can be divided into the capital costs associated with the construction of new vessels, operating costs, and voyaging costs primarily related to fuel consumption.

Construction costs increase more slowly than ship size. Increasing a container ship from 16,000 TEU to 19,000 TEU cuts the annual capital cost per TEU-slot by around $69 according to the OECD.

Larger ships are slightly more operationally efficient than smaller ones, with an annual saving of perhaps $50 per slot on a 19,000 TEU ship compared with a 16,000 TEU vessel.

But the real savings are on the fuel bills. Megaships are "astonishingly fuel efficient" and actually consume less fuel on a voyage than 16,000 TEU carriers, according to the OECD.

With overwhelming cost advantages, especially on fuel, and cheap finance readily available, the upsizing decision appears to have been a straightforward one for shipping lines.

SLOW STEAMING

The new generation of megacarriers has been optimised to save fuel by voyaging much more slowly than previous container vessels.

Fuel consumption is related to the cube of speed. If a vessel travels twice as fast it will consume eight times as much fuel. The cube-rule has important implications for the economics of the shipping industry.

When fuel prices are high, it makes sense to voyage slowly to cut fuel bills, even if it means operating more ships to move the same amount of cargo. When fuel prices are low, it makes sense to travel faster and use fewer ships.

During the period of soaring oil prices, container lines instructed captains to cut speed in order to conserve fuel.

The new ships ordered were specifically designed to operate most efficiently at slower speeds to take advantage of slow steaming economies. In fact some carriers are so large they cannot operate at higher speeds.

Crucially, slow steaming has now been designed into the new generation of vessels entering container service, so it will not be easily reversed, even though fuel prices have plunged since 2014.

According to the OECD, most of the voyaging cost reductions in the new generation of megaships come from their optimisation for slow steaming rather than from increased size.

"Between 55 and 63 percent (at least) of the savings per TEU when upgrading the vessel size from an early 15,000 TEU design to a modern 19,000 TEU design are actually attributable to the layout for lower operation speeds," the OECD estimated.

"Cost savings are decreasing as ships become bigger," the OECD concluded. "A large share of the cost savings were achieved by ship upsizing to 5,000 TEU, which more than halved the unit costs per TEU, but the cost savings beyond that capacity are much smaller."

UNINTENDED COSTS

The consolidation of container volumes into fewer, larger megaships is creating challenges for other firms in the freight business.

Insurers are worried about the costs if a megaship sinks or develops mechanical problems. Insurer Allianz has warned the industry must prepare for losses of more than $1 billion, or even up to $2 billion in the event of a collision between two megaships ("Safety and shipping review 2015").

Economies of scale depend on megacarriers being loaded close to maximum capacity and spending as much time as possible at sea rather than in port.

The need to fill megaships is one reason that the industry is consolidating into an alliance network.

Shipping lines are also adopting the hub-and-spoke system employed by airlines to ensure their ultra-large container vessels sail nearly full.

Shipping schedules for the megacarriers have been consolidated into fewer sailings each week from fewer ports (about six in North Europe and eight in Asia).

Containers for other destinations must be transhipped, either on a smaller container vessel or by road, rail and barge.

Schedule consolidation is not necessarily favoured by shippers and freight forwarders who prefer regular and reliable service (fewer sailings can mean more concentrated risk).

Port operators, too, have been forced to invest heavily to attract and handle the new megacarriers. Port channels must be dredged to greater depths to handle the deeper drafts of the megaships. Quaysides must be raised and strengthened to handle the increased forces when a megaship is tied up.

The biggest problem comes from the scramble to unload a megacarrier quickly so it can put to sea again. The average turnaround time for a container ship is now just 1 day, and less in Asia.

The arrival of fewer vessels but with larger numbers of containers is creating intense peak time pressure on the ports.

Ports need more cranes, more highly skilled staff to operate them fast, more space in the yard, and the ability to handle more trucks, railcars and barges to move the containers inland.

The OECD estimates megaships are increasing landside costs by up to $400 million per year (one third for extra equipment, one third for dredging, and one third for port infrastructure and hinterland costs).
Source: Reuters (Editing by David Evans)

Posted On:23-Sep-2015



Credits: www.hellenicshippingnews.com
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