Daily Briefing February 12 2020
Free to read: Gabon deflags Iranian tanker | Chinese ports bunged up due to lack of trucks | TT Club warns of potential for claims linked to outbreak | LNG-fuelled fleet almost tripled last year
Good morning. Here’s our quick view of everything you need to know today.
The Lloyd’s List Daily Briefing is brought to you by the Lloyd’s List News Desk.
What to watch | Analysis | Opinion | Markets | In other news
What to watch
The Emirates-based Gabon registry has deflagged the aframax tanker Nadezhda for shipping sanctioned Iranian oil, saying its owners had failed to fully answer questions about the vessel’s suspicious movements.
Carriers have reported slow pickups of reefer boxes at ports in Shanghai, Ningbo and Tianjin amid the impact of coronavirus. A serious shortage of container truck drivers is said to be one of the main reasons, according to sources from port and truck firms.
Coronavirus may leave forwarders exposed to claims arising from delivery delays and cargo deterioration, the TT Club has warned.
Analysis
Newbuild orders for LNG-fuelled vessels reached 100 last year, nearly tripling the average seen for 2016-2018. But concerns prevail over the availability of infrastructure given LNG bunker vessels in operation number just above a dozen today.
Opinion
From the News Desk: Quarantine activities and the extended Chinese New Year holidays are expected to take a big toll on the economic growth of China and even beyond the giant Asian economy, in 2020.
Compliance will become increasingly crucial in the 2020s, not just from an environmental standpoint but in relation to sanctions and areas of safety. How to stay compliant is a question our analysts are frequently asked — and there are several ways to ensure your organisation is better prepared, writes Sebastian Villyn.
Markets
The long-term outlook for the containership sector remains solid and a bounce in demand can be expected after the coronavirus outbreak is brought under control, New York-listed containership owner Danaos says.
North Korea exported about 3.7m tonnes of coal last year, with most of those deliveries headed for China, despite UN sanctions. Out of these, an estimated 2.8m tonnes were conducted via ship-to-ship transfers to Chinese barges.
In other news
Bernhard Schulte’s Singapore-based unit has admitted legal violations related to dumping bilge waste in the United States. The vessels it operates in US ports will have to follow an environmental compliance plan and the firm is under a four-year probation period.
Grindrod Shipping has sold a small product tanker as it neared finalisation of its control of its IVS Bulk venture.
Hutchison Ports Holdings Trust reported a drop in cargoes through its Hong Kong ports in 2019 and said uncertainty from the US-China trade war, the coronavirus outbreak and sulphur cap uptake could hit trade flows this year.
The US government has allocated $93m to continue deepening of the main shipping channel at the port of Jacksonville, Florida, to 47 ft from its current depth of 40 ft.
Bergen-based chemical tanker and terminals company Odfjell is adding to its fleet as newbuildings deliver through to October. The additions come at a time of recovering markets.
The UK’s departure from the European Union will inevitably ramp up red tape and overheads for the ports and logistics sector after the transitional period expires at the end of the year, according to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove.
The US government has outlined plans to boost exports of coal through Canadian and Mexican ports even as it seeks to accelerate global demand through the development of new technologies aimed at cleansing emissions from coal-burning power plants through carbon capture, utilisation and storage.