签约不慎,船只被扣
2014.11.01
一：本期头条 墨西哥政府为切断非法份子参与之矿砂石出口从今年五月份以来共扣留四艘中国货轮和95名中国船员, 理由是出口商无法证明船上的货是来自正当的矿产公司, 船东们因此遭受损失,据BIMCO指出这是船东缺乏经验和危机意识所付出之代价.
4 Chinese Ships Stuck in Mexico since May over Iron Ore Dispute
30/10/2014
Authorities in Mexico have been holding four Chinese ships and their crews since May as they try to end drug cartels’ involvement in iron ore sales.
Some 95 Chinese crew members are on the ships, sources with knowledge of the matter say, and they are encountering health problems related to being stuck on board for months.
Mexico started cracking down on drug cartels’ involvement in the iron ore business in March, reports The Financial Times, a British newspaper. The illegal organizations earn about US$ 15 for each ton of exported ore. One group, called the Knights Templar, smuggled some 272,000 tons of ore in 2013, about 44 percent of Mexico’s output.
Best Vision, a ship owned by Fuzhou Ocean Faith Shipping Ltd., was detained in the Pacific Ocean port of Manzanillo after customs officers examined the iron ore it had on board on May 6. Mexican customs officials said that since the ore sellers involved could not prove their product came from a legitimate source, the ship could not depart. Fuzhou Ocean Faith is based in the eastern province of Fujian.
The Luyang Eagle, owned by Luyang Group, from the eastern province of Shandong, finished loading ore at Lazaro Cardenas on May 17, and was not permitted to set sail for the same reason.
Mexican authorities told Ocean Faith and Luyang Group that their ships could not leave unless they unload their ore, a manager at Ocean Faith said.
One ship each from Ningbo Economic Technology Development Zone Longsheng Shipping Co. Ltd. and Fujian Huarong Marine Shipping Group Corp. are in similar situations.
A lack of both experience and risk awareness explains why Chinese shipping companies are running into such problems, said a source from the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the largest international shipping association representing ship owners.
Mexico has many shell companies involved in the iron ore business, which allows the drug cartels into the industry, the BIMCO source said. Ship owners and ore buyers should be aware of the risks or pay for their mistake.
Ship owners did not do anything illegal, but because Mexican authorities could not root out all the shell companies, they detain vessels, the source said.
Ocean Faith and Luyang Group have lost a combined US$ 6 million related to ship rentals, crew salaries and other expenses, the manager at Ocean Faith said. Unloading the iron ore would cost a further US$ 1 million per ship.
The manager said Chinese shipping companies expected Mexican authorities and the companies that sold the ore to handle the problem.
Ocean Faith and Luyang Group have asked China’s embassy in Mexico for help, said a source with knowledge of the matter. The ships would suffer maintenance problems related to their lack of use, the source said.
Source: Caixin
鉴于上面所述情况 P & I Club发出通告船东们在签约前应采取之步骤:
Members planning to carry cargoes of iron ore from Mexico, and in particular Lazaro Cardenas and Manzanillo, are advised to confirm the cargo is legitimate prior to fixing the vessel. In order to verify whether a particular shipment is permitted, the local agent and/or local P&I correspondent should be asked to:
-Check that an export permit has been issued by the Mexican Ministry of Economy
-Confirm that the shipper is registered in the “Sectorial Exports Census”
-Ensure that the seller, be it the shipper, or the mining company where the shipper is not the company that extracted the ore, is listed in the Titles of Mining Concessions published by the Ministry of Economy, and is included in the Directory of Mining Sector Companies published by the Mexican Government.
Members requiring further assistance should contact the Loss Prevention department.
- See more at: http://www.westpandi.com/Publications/News/Mexico---Iron-Ore-Cargoes/#sthash.Uy8iGZqv.dpuf
Chinese Shipping Operators Swing to Profit on Subsidies, Cost Control 中远和中海今年第三季业务己转亏为盈.
31/10/2014
Two of China’s top shipping operators swung to a third-quarter net profit largely thanks to government subsidies and stringent cost control.
China Cosco Holdings Co. said it swung to a net profit of 1.62 billion yuan ($264 million) for the three months ended September according to Chinese accounting standards, compared with a net loss of CNY1.04 billion in the year-earlier period.
China’s biggest state-run shipping conglomerate said it received government subsidies of CNY1.52 billion in the third quarter, following policies unveiled last year to subsidize shipping operators which replace older cargo ships with new ones. Under the plan, Chinese shipowners will receive half of a cash subsidy of 1,500 yuan ($247) per gross ton—a measure of a ship’s internal volume—to replace old ships and get the remainder if a new ship is built.
Improved freight rates and lower operating cost were also reasons for the company’s return to profitability, China Cosco added.
The Hong Kong-and-Shanghai-listed company, whose businesses include container and dry-bulk shipping as well as port operations, said its third-quarter revenue rose 10% to CNY17.49 billion from CNY15.88 billion a year earlier on increased shipping volumes. In the third quarter, the company’s container shipping division handled shipping volumes of 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, up 8.2% from a year earlier.
In a separate statement, China Shipping Container Lines Co. said it swung to a third-quarter net profit of CNY203.3 million, compared with a net loss of CNY404 million a year earlier, on improved shipping volumes and freight rates. The company received government subsidies of CNY49 million during the period, it added.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Capesize rates double, more expected as Brazil iron ore exports surge 因巴西矿砂石出口遽增海岬型货船运费也跟着加倍上升.
Capesize spot rates have more than doubled in just over a week after an expected surge in Brazilian iron exports in the fourth quarter, and more gains are forecast.
“Last week, capesize rates rose an impressive 94%. Yesterday saw an additional increase of 17%, and near-term prospects are extremely promising,” Commodore Research & Consultancy managing director Jeffrey Landsberg said in a note.
The Baltic Capesize Index climbed 430 points on Monday to hit 2,852 points with average spot TC rates at $20,988 per day.
Chinese iron ore imports have been strong this year with the country importing a record 699.5m tonnes of iron ore in the first nine months of 2014, up 16% on the same period in 2013.
Brazil iron ore production in Q3 was a record 85.7m tonnes, up 3% on Q3 2013 and the fourth quarter production figures are expected to be even higher.
“This is very significant, as capesize rates are already at high levels while demand for capesize vessels to ship Brazilian iron ore will become even stronger during the next two months,” Landsberg said.
“With capesize rates already finding great support, the prospects for the next two months are extremely promising.”
Tuesday, 28 October 2014 04:34
Asian buyers line up for Mozambican LNG with new deals 亚洲买家蜂拥莫三鼻购买天然气.
31/10/2014
Countries across Asia are quietly reaching deals to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Mozambique, which could transform its economy and give it a front-row seat in tapping rising global gas demand.
The unannounced agreements, five in total, show how war-scarred Mozambique is elbowing past rivals from the United States to Australia by offering flexible contract terms on 20-year deals.
U.S. oil major Anadarko Petroleum is building the first two of up to 10 plants in Mozambique to liquefy gas for export.
Its gas finds in Area 1 of the country’s Rovuma Basin will feed the initial 10 million tonne per annum (mtpa), $23 billion export project, which is due to start by 2021.
Preliminary deals have been reached to sell its LNG to China National Offshore Oil Corp, Japan, Indonesia’s state-run Pertamina, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand’s PTT and companies in India, according to company and industry sources close to the talks.
Sinotrans buys two capsizes 中外运以9,850万美元向德国之ER.Schiffahrt公司买进二条海岬型货轮.
Sinotrans Shipping will buy two capesize bulkers at a total price of $98.5m, and at the same time terminated a vessel lease agreement due to payment default by the charterer.
Sinotrans has agreed to purchase sister vessels ER Beilun and ER Brazil from Germany’s ER Schiffahrt. The ships are of 178,978 dwt in capacity each and were built in 2010 by Hyundai Heavy Industries. They will be delivered to Sinotrans by November this year.
“The acquisitions will enable the company to expand its self-owned fleet of dry bulk vessels,” Hong Kong-listed Sinotrans said.
Meanwhile, Sinotrans said it has exercised its rights to terminal the finance lease agreement and withdraw a vessel from the service of a charterer on 30 October as the charterer had failed to pay the hire fees.
“The company is in the process of negotiating a resolution with the charterer and the shareholders of the charterer in order to resolve the matter amicably,” Sinotrans said.
It added that the charterer is facing financial difficulties as a result of the current market conditions.
Friday, 31 October 2014 02:54
Former STX chief Kang jailed for six years 韩国STX前总裁(2003-2014)姜德寿因渎职被法院判刑6年.
The former head of STX Group Kang Duk-soo has been sentence to six years jail for fraud and embezzlement by a Seoul court.
Kang was a leading figure in shipping and maritime industries helming the rapid rise of the STX Group but was hit hard by the global financial crisis.
The court found he had rigged the company’s books and embezzled funds the Korean Herald reported.
The former STX chief was seen as behind some KRW584.1bn ($556.2m) in irregular bookkeeping and embezzlement worth KRW67.9bn.
The verdict said Kang, “dealt a critical blow to financial firms by committing fraudulent accounting, which undermines trust and transparency in the capital market.”
It added that, “small investors of STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, who had trusted the rigged financial statements, failed to recoup their investments as the company was delisted from the stock market due to capital erosion.”
The prosecution had been seeking a 10 year jail sentence for Kang.
Friday, 31 October 2014 02:50
二：海难(Casualty) 韩国沉船惨剧控方要求法院判岁月号船长死刑.
1.
环球时报记者 王麒】韩联社27日称，光州地方法院对今年4月发生沉船事故的“岁月”号客轮的15名船员进行最后一次庭审，检方要求法院判处“岁月”号船长李某死刑，判处大副姜某、二副金某、轮机长朴某无期徒刑，判处其余船员15年至30年有期徒刑。
检方表示，作为“岁月”号负责人，李某间接制造这起事故，且违反《船员法》规定的船长应最后一个离开船舶的相关规定。另外，在进行“要求乘客待 在船舱内”的广播后，李某没有采取任何救援措施或进行相关努力，离开船舶后也没有进行任何救援。检方还说，船员违反了《海运法》和《水难救护法》的相关规 定。
今年4月16日，“岁月”号客轮在韩国全罗南道珍岛郡近海发生沉船事故，造成304人遇难(包括10名失踪者)、142人受伤。
2.
本月28日货箱船 ‘Al Riffa’ (2012) 13,100-teu 和 ‘San Felipe’ (2014) 8,700-teu 于马来西亚巴生港 (Port Klang) 相撞后, 二轮均发生大火, 详情尚在调查中.
三：买卖租贷(S/P & Chartering)
1. SALE AND PURCHASE
Name Size Built Buyer Price (Mln$)
Camilla Bulker 170362 2009 Carval 41.00
Blue McKinley 179276 2011 Alpha Tankers 44.50
FD Jacques Graubart 76588 2007 Undisclosed 18.50
Ravnanger 46300 2000 -do- 10.50
Risenger 46300 2000 -do- 10.50
2. SOLD FOR DEMOLITION
Name Dwt Ldt Built Buyer Price (usd per ldt)
Jolly Marrone 27267 13273 1982 Turkish 465
Tiger Pearl 24136 7024 1994 Turkish 477
Kota Berkat 17339 7170 1992 Bangladesh 490
3. CHARTERING- Dry bulk (week #44-2014)
Handy
The Atlantic market has been flat this week. Rates are up abt Usd 200 from last week on the TA's, but the volumes are about the same. In the Feast it remains quiet and flat due to an oversupply of tonnage. NoPac rounds are being fixed in region of Usd 8,500 9k bss North China delivery. SE Asia rounds are being traded in the mid 7k's. Short period marked is quiet but some Ultramaxes with good specs are being fixed in the 12k rge.
Panamax
The long anticipated uptick in rates towards the end of the year is continuing. The activity has picked up dramatically in both hemispheres. We see a lot more coal being shipped, both trans-Atlantic into the continent and in the pacific the increase is mainly into India. A steady flow of grains out of US West Coast and the US Gulf is topping it off to ensure a healthy rate increase over the last week. In the Atlantic a panamax now gets around USD 10000 daily, and the Pacific is even stronger where nopac rounds are fixed as high as USD 13000. Fronthaul now pay around 18000 with delivery Gibraltar. A few period fixtures has been reported, we now see ships fix for 1 yr at around usd 10000 per day.
Capesize
Toppish or just taking a breather after a period of extreme improvement? Daily spot returns for the standard 180000-tonners have more than doubled in 2 weeks, and the last 7 days alone have added some 60% to value, now standing at an average of usd 26k/day. With coal being a minor factor only, the rally has been driven almost entirely by major miners' need to carry iron ore from Brazil and West Australia. As the number of spot ships available is now dramatically reduced, continued hip spot demand may result in rate curves turning exponential - verdict will be given in the next few days. Clouding this picture somewhat is the fact that FFA levels have improved modestly in comparison, resulting in substantial gaps between period levels bid vs offered and nothing concluded.
4. CHARTERING-Tankers
Crude-VLCC
The firming trend for the Vlcc's during the last week with continuous high activity into November has pushed rates up and earnings for Meg/East well into $40.000 's per day. The expectations for the winter market run high among owners who have set their sights to push rates further. Tonnage is getting tighter both for Meg .and also West Africa sustaining the generally firm trend. With present earnings, waiting days are getting more expensive and owners may elect to lock in their preferred voyages on their dates which may flatten the forward rate-curve to some extent. Optimism is however strong for the Vlcc's in general. After a dip in rates for Suezmaxes particularly from West Africa (down to ws 65) beginning of the week, interest from charterers picked up again and owners bullishness increased. There are several charterers working in the same_ laycan window in West Africa and we expect this market to improve even further. The stem program from Bsea/Med seems lighter than last month, however with firmer rates in the major route for Suezmaxes Wafr/West we expect rates to follow in this area as well. The Aframax market in the West saw continuous high activity this week and the trend is very firm in all the three major trade regions; Baltic/Nsea, Bsea/Med and the Caribs. Owners optimism haven't been curbed despite an expected maintenance period in Primorsk/Ust Luga from 10-15th November. The Nsea/Baltic and Bsea/Med market has got more of an upside to it as Russian stem programs for remaining of November looks quite extensive. We do expect this firm trend to be sustained as with a more uncertain weather situation expected now as winter market approaching quickly giving more weather delays.
CHARTERING-GAS
The Baltic VLGC index seemed to have stabilized around the 100 mark after a couple of months where it was moderately fluctuating above/below this number. The index took a substantial dive yesterday - 10 dollars/10 percent - as a result of one single fixture concluded for mid November loading out of the MEG. However, the freight market was already suffering under pressure from a bearish cargo market, rather full inventories everywhere and generally very little appetite for spot trading/chartering - i.e. we saw a softening coming, but not to that extent and that quickly. Saudi Aramco November posted prices are out and in line with expectations, and in the event Asian LPG prices finally stop falling there is a good chance of a swift recovery of trading/chartering activity. We have seen more than once in recent months that it takes very few fixtures to change the freight market either way. But, in the short term we do not see much upside in spot rates, there is too much freight capacity offered by relets from various traders/ majors.
四： 2014(week #42) 远东2004年造二手船平均价值:
种类 油轮 干散货轮 集装箱轮 (teu)
船型 VLCC Suezmax Aframax Cape Pmax Supramax Handy P/Pax Pmax Handy
吨位(万) 31 16 11 18 7.5 5 3 6500 4000 1400
价值(万美元) +0.2% +2.8% -2.8% -0.0% -10.4% -3.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
七：2014/10/31船用燃油价格(每吨/usd)
来源: Bunkerworld
IFO 380 __IFO 180 MDO MGO
新加坡 473 492 723 733
鹿特丹 455 477 ----- 725
休士顿 470 570 ----- 845
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备注: tbn = to be named ldt = light d/weight ton
usd = u.s.dollar mtpa = million ton per annum
cbm =cubic meter tpa =million metric ton per annu
