#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.
Ports: Europe to benchmark ports - The European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) last week confirmed the launch of the PORTOPIA (Ports Observatory for Performance Indicators Analysis) project –the largest European research project on ports since the 1996 European Port Policy was launched.
Container: Cascading threatens North-South services - Excess capacity on main trade lanes threatens to depress freight levels on North-South container services if carriers continue cascading excess tonnage, according to Drewry's Container Freight Rate Insight. In the year -to-date, 25 vessels of more than 10,000 teu have been delivered on the main East-West routes, with the pressure-release being provided by shifting excess tonnage onto North-South routes –mainly Asia to South Africa, Australia and the East and West coasts of South America.
Tanker: Rates rally on demolition news - The onset of the largest demolition program in a decade will see a rallying of rates in the tanker market, according to E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers. Twenty-three very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are set to be demolished in the current calendar year, with similar scrappings expected up to 2016. Presently, rates are at a record low; figures from Clarkson's show average earnings this year for VLCCs hauling 2mn barrels of crude oil are at their lowest since records began in 1997.
For more of the above and other stories click the downloadable PDF IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 41). In addition to Afloat.ie's dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.
