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What to watch

DVB Bank has become the latest major European shipping bank to signal its definitive withdrawal from the industry. The Frankfurt-based transport finance specialist has already halted any new lending to shipowners and has told shipowner clients of its decision but has made no public announcement of the move. News of the decision to quit the industry will dismay shipowners, given DVB’s status as a Top 10 ship financier as recently as two years ago.

Mediterranean Shipping Co has been listed among the top 10 polluters in Europe, with carbon emissions above those of the only airline in the list and which put it in league with some of region’s largest coal-fired energy plants. The study took the wind out of the sails of an MSC announcement of its biofuel approach to emissions reductions and the line has hit back at criticism of its environmental performance. It argues that its ratio of CO2 emissions per tonne of cargo moved is among the lowest in the industry.

A 0.1% sulphur limit in the Mediterranean Sea is edging closer following a political agreement between countries in the region, but with the details far from complete any implementation is still several years away and their roadmap leaves the possibility open that they will ultimately not ask for one.

Analysis

Liquefaction experts are teaming up to try to stem losses from the phenomenon that has claimed more than 100 lives over the past decade. Part of the problem is that there is no single variable that causes the deadly phenomenon and the complex compliance standards and educational systems established to prevent further loss of life have struggled to filter through to the places where action is required.

Opinion

Why is the shipowner required to carry the financial burden of cleaning and greening the industry when the customer is under no obligation to pay extra? The basic flaw in the maritime business model, argues our chief correspondent Richard Clayton, is that the aim of the game is to control costs. That puts the onus on elements of the supply chain that can’t or won’t dig their heels in. The customer should instead pay more for a cleaner shipping industry, not expect shipowners to pay for it on their own.

Free trade agreements are supposed to be a two-way street. But opening a market for imports will not necessarily improve exports. India’s withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership comes on the back of weak results from previous FTAs, writes Antonella Teodoro.

Markets

With this year’s early Chinese New Year just six weeks away, container lines have begun reducing capacity to account for the slowdown in demand in the weeks surrounding the holiday period. According to James Baker, fears are growing of slew of late blankings as container lines react to this seasonal slowdown.

In other news

Greece-based Angelicoussis Shipping Group has ordered a brace of very large crude carriers and a liquefied natural gas carrier newbuilding with a combined value of about $380m. 

AET Tankers has won three long-term time charter contracts valued at $245m from a unit of Shell for newbuilding suezmax shuttle tankers with dynamic positioning capabilities. The charters will start from 2022 and operate in international and Brazilian waters.

Hong Kong-listed AVIC International has sold the rest of its shipbuilding business for about $23m to its state-owned peer. The deal has led to the withdrawal of AVIC from the market, where major Chinese shipbuilders in the public sector are merging under the government’s mandate.

Martin Ackermann has resigned as the chief executive of BW LPG, part of BW Group, after more than four years at the helm, citing family reasons. The announcement came after the Olso-listed gas shipping arm posted its highest-yet quarterly results in June-September and remained optimistic for the sector’s prospects.

Chevron Canada has said it intends to export up to 18m tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas from the proposed Kitimat LNG project to markets in the Pacific Rim, including China, Japan and South Korea.