Daily Briefing December 10 2020
Free to read: Shell linked to LNG-fuelled VLCC orders at DSME | UK logistics industry calls for government help on port congestion | Irish Sea deal could see most goods exempt from EU tariffs
Good morning. Here’s our quick view of everything you need to know today.
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What to watch | Analysis | Opinion | Markets | In other news
What to watch
Shell has emerged as the interest behind the letter of intent signed with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering for 10 dual-fuelled very large crude carriers.
The UK logistics industry has called on the government to help resolve port congestion as volatile container trades continue to roil supply chains.
Britain needs more time to put post-Brexit arrangements in place on the island of Ireland and in the Irish Sea and should ask Brussels for phased implementation rather than attempt to meet a hard deadline on January 1, the biggest Irish Sea ro-ro operator said.
Commodities trading giant Trafigura expects pressure on the tanker market to continue.
Analysis
A newly developed ‘health of earnings’ index for the global bulk carrier fleet shows the sector’s profitability dropped in November to the lowest since June.
Weekly briefing: A substantial loss of containers on board ONE Apus has again brought the issue of containership safety into focus. Meanwhile, the recent unloading of Australian coal cargoes at Chinese ports is not yet an indication of a cooling of tensions between the two countries.
The new, more mature box shipping sector that has emerged since 2016 appears to have learned from its previous mistakes.
Opinion
A Lloyd’s List/Inmarsat webinar heard that shipping has used the experience of the pandemic to explore the benefits of digitalisation. The results of a survey of attitudes to digital have been encouraging.
A year with lay-offs and furloughs, coupled with disruptions to surveys and inspections, made for one of the more challenging periods for classification societies in recent times.
Markets
The recent discharging of Australian coal at Chinese ports is not seen as a sign of a policy U-turn by Beijing, according to dry bulk analysts.
In other news
The US has sanctioned two UK-registered companies and four others for involvement in North Korean coal transportation.
The US Federal Maritime Commission is examining all potential responses it can take following reports that ocean carriers are not supplying containers to the country’s agricultural exporters at inland locations.
Scorpio Bulkers, a US-listed dry bulk shipowner looking to exit the sector, has announced two more vessel sales this week.
Shipping will be among the most difficult transport modes to decarbonise, the European Commission has said.
CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping has agreed on a sale and leaseback deal for a suezmax tanker linked to Greece’s Restis group.
Trading giant Gunvor has entered into a joint venture that will trade and ship liquefied natural gas for the developer of a gas-fired power project in Vietnam’s southern Binh Thuan province.