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What to watch

Key Singapore government agencies have come out in support of the bunkering sector which has been rocked by the troubles of major bunker player Hin Leong Trading over the past week.

Qatar Petroleum and China State Shipbuilding Corp have signed a landmark agreement to build up to $2.8bn worth of liquefied natural gas carriers as the energy giant presses ahead with its ambitious gas expansion projects.

Forward freight contracts for very large crude oil tankers have jumped in value by as much as 65% in just over a week, signalling that shipping freight costs are becoming a considerable part of the price of trading oil.

Ship recycling activities in India — home to some of the biggest shipbreaking yards in the world — have resumed after almost a month, following a complete standstill when India announced a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Analysis

From the News Desk: Singapore looks beyond coronavirus with its forward planning starting to pay dividends, while its investment in digital technology and infrastructure should mean it is well-positioned to weather the health crisis.

The grounding of Pasha Bulker led to revisions and innovation in the Newcastle coal chain. The coronavirus pandemic has similar ramifications for ports, which should encourage a review of relationships and a search for innovation.

Shipping should use the coronavirus pandemic to hasten its transition to smarter, greener technologies, Martin Stopford, the president of Clarkson Research, has said.

Opinion

The coronavirus outbreak is among the biggest challenges our transport industry has ever faced, writes UK Shipping Minister Kelly Tolhurst. While it’s essential that the vast majority of the population stays at home, I recognise that it’s not possible for many maritime and supply chain workers.

Shipping is already emerging from the sudden shock phase of the coronavirus pandemic, and now has to restructure contractual and supply chain arrangements in readiness for a new post-coronavirus reality, writes Sebastiaan Moolenaar, a lawyer and partner at AKD.

The decision to go digital, even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, was at first not universally accepted, Capital Link organiser Nicolas Bornozis tells Lloyd’s List.

Markets

The collapse in the price of oil has not stopped container lines’ efforts to retrofit exhaust scrubbers to their vessels, but it is giving them an incentive to save on canal costs by rerouting many of their services.

Barely a week after they got a slight reprieve from anti-coronavirus measures, Singapore’s yards look like they will have to practically stop operations in practice, if not in theory.

A shortage of storage capacity for ocean freight imports into Europe is proving a major headache for forwarders and the onus is on finding a mix of different solutions to avoid unnecessary costs and delays in transit for shippers, according to a senior freight forwarding industry executive.

In other news

Seaborne trade could shrink by as much as 5% this year, which would be the biggest annual decline for more than 35 years, according to Clarksons Research.

Norway’s shipowners have already seen a 25% drop in revenue and expect the number of vessel layups to triple and ship recycling to double in 2020, because of the coronavirus pandemic.