#ShippingReview - Over the last fortnight Jehan Ashmore has reported from the shipping scene where ESPO awarded  the Port of Antwerp for its project 'Heritage: the breadcrumbs trail between city and port'.

Stena Line had to delay the launch of a freight-only service on the Belfast-Liverpool (Birkenhead) due bad weather and to technical issues with the Stena Hibernia.

Arklow Marine Services, the shipbuilding yard celebrates successful completion of a €2.3m order with the launch of Gardian 18 for UK offshore wind farms.

Irish Ferries to boost capacity with a third vessel the ro-pax Epsilon on Dublin-Holyhead route. The ferry is due to enter service next weekend in competition with Stena Line in the run up to the festive period.

#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Irish Economy: Increased Industrial Production - The Investec Irish Manufacturing PMI reached a 14-month high in September with a figure of 52.7. This figure was supported last week by the release of industrial output figures from the Central Statistics Office stating that production for manufacturing industries for September increased 3.0% from
August and was up by 11.9% when compared to the same month in 2012.

Ports: London Gateway Opens - London Gateway, the new £1.5bn DP World funded Thameside port, opened last week to receive its first ship, the MOL Caledon carrying wine and fruit from South Africa. The vessel is run by Southern Africa Europe Container Service (SAECS) who announced their intentions to move services from nearby Tilbury in August. Maersk Line will also move services to London Gateway which has the facilities to handle its large Triple E ships.

Container Market: General rate increases prove short-lived - After the surge in Asia-Europe box rates following the November 1st general rate increases, rates have begun to slide downwards again according to Lloyds List. The benchmark SCFI Shanghai-Europe index dropped 7.2% during last week, representing a $103 dollar rate reduction per teu. This fall came despite earlier resilience based on the discipline of carriers maintaining the increase of between $750 and $1,000 per TEU.

For more on each of the above and other stories click the downloadable PDF IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 45). In addition to Afloat.ie's dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.

#HeritagePORT- Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas yesterday handed out the fifth edition of the ESPO Award on Societal Integration to the Port of Antwerp for its project 'Heritage: the breadcrumbs trail between city and port'.

This year's edition of the ESPO Award as reported on Alfoat.ie in September, had 'heritage' as theme.

The ESPO Award jury was especially impressed by the way the project of the port of Antwerp celebrates the past, provides new civic amenities for the citizens of today, creates a new iconic building as the heritage of tomorrow, and sets out to educate its citizens about the importance of a thriving port for their lives.

In his word of thanks, Port of Antwerp Chief Operations Officer, Christiaan De Block said: "Antwerp Port Authority and the port community are particularly pleased about winning the 2013 ESPO Award. We see it as an appreciation for the sustainable development of our port, and for our efforts towards maximum symbiosis between city and port, an important precondition for creating social support. The ultimate aim is to bring citizens and visitors closer to the Port of Antwerp. Our motto 'Strong through collaboration' has once more proved its value."

As every year, the award ceremony was held in the Town Hall of Brussels. The event was followed by a walking dinner, which was attended by more than 200 representatives from the European port and transport sector and EU institutions. The event also marked the 20th anniversary of ESPO.

The 15 projects that participated in this year's competition have been brought together in a PDF format booklet which can be downloaded from the ESPO website LINK HERE.

#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Irish Economy: Exports down in Q3 - The Irish Exporters Association's latest quarterly review has indicated that merchandise exports fell in quarter 3 by 8.6% year-on-year, with total exports down 1.3% y-o-y. Underlying the overall decline, manufacturing exports were particularly weak, falling 7.8% y-o-y, while the services sector and agri-food proved the main export drivers, growing at 6.5% and 7.1% respectively.

Roll-On Roll-Off: Diversifying Cargoes - A shift has been noticed in RoRo markets as deep-sea car carriers look to attract not only vehicles but additional types of traffic such as construction equipment and project cargo. Japanese operator K Line recently ordered four new car carriers to replace existing tonnage, each with 7,500-unit capacity and "the widest beam ever built" enabling them to better accommodate a variety of RoRo cargoes.

Container: General Rate Increase - A general rate increase (GRI) for spot container rates came into force on 1 November causing the overall Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) to jump 26.5%, with far larger increases on specific routes. The success of this GRI is largely due to the discipline of the carriers, which did not occur last time in September according to HSH Nordbank.

For more on each of the above and other stories click the downloadable PDF IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 44). In addition to Afloat.ie dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.

#ShippingReview - Over the last fortnight Jehan Ashmore has reported from the shipping scene where the saga of the 'Ghost Ship' MV Lyubov Orlova may finally have come to an end in the Atlantic.

The European Parliament has finally adopted the new Ship Recycling Regulation by a large majority at a meeting in Strasbourg.

Preliminary figures released by the Central Statistics Office show Ireland's seasonally adjusted trade surplus rose 1% to €3.2bn in August.

A welcome boost to the Irish economy is the number of trips by overseas residents increased by 7.8% between July and September compared to the same period last year.

Ardmore Shipping acquired a 45,726 Dwt MR product tanker built in 2006 from a Japanese shipyard, for approximately $20.5 million. Her sister, Ardmore Seafarer successfully fought off an attack by pirates.

Fyffes, Europe's biggest banana importer headquartered in Dublin is through its Costa Rica base exporting fruit to growing markets in Russia and the Middle East using new high-tech containers.

#BananaBoxBoats –  Fyffes, Europe’s biggest banana importer headquartered in Dublin is through its Costa Rica base exporting fruit to growing markets in Russia and the Middle East.

New shipping containers will now allow Fyffes to export fruit from Central America into growing markets in Russia and the Middle East, according to the managing director of the Irish company's Costa Rican subsidiary.

Speaking on a visit by Minister of State for Trade and Development Joe Costello, Fyffes general manager for Central America Alasdair Macleod said the company had been exporting 120 atmosphere-controlled containers of bananas and pineapples a week to Scandinavian countries this year. The containers can keep the fruit fresh for 23 shipping days.

Advances in container technology that preserve fruit over 35 days of shipping could allow the company to export more produce into Europe, better quality food into Russia and more fruit into the Middle East.

For much more on this story, The Irish Times reports.

#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Irish Economy: Boost to Irish tourist numbers - The Irish economy has received a welcome boost as the number of trips by overseas residents increased by 7.8% between July and September compared to the same period last year. According to the Central Statistics Office, the figures which include tourists and people on business trips, increased by 164,300 trips in comparison to quarter three 2012 bringing the total to just over 2.2 million trips.

Container: P3 capacity on front-haul routes not set to change - Asia-Europe, Transatlantic and Transpacific capacity on the proposed P3 network will remain largely unchanged from the current service offers by Maersk, MSC & CMA CGM, according to Lloyd's List.

Based on analysis by Alphaliner, it is expected that while the frequency of most services will be marginally reduced, the deployment of lager -capacity vessels will result in average weekly TEU shipped on the three front-haul routes remaining the same.

Regulation: Ship recycling regulation passes EU Parliament -The European Parliament backed plans last week to end scrapping of EU-registered ships on third-country beaches, according to Fairplay. This measure will ensure vessels are recycled in EU-approved facilities worldwide, as opposed to the highly polluting practice of beaching.

For more on each of the above and other stories click the downloadable PDF IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 43). In addition to Afloat.ie dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.

#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Irish Economy: Trade surplus increases - Preliminary figures released by the Central Statistics Office last week show that Ireland's seasonally adjusted trade surplus rose 1% to €3.2bn in August as exports increased to €7.6bn (+4%) and imports increased to €4.4bn (+7%). Despite these increases, in comparison to last year, the value of exports has decreased by 17% to €6.96bn, with particular declines in organic chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Piracy: Attacks at 7-year low- Worldwide piracy incidents have fallen to their lowest year-to-date level since 2006, according to the International Maritime Bureau's latest piracy. The report records 188 piracy incidents for the first nine months of 2013, down from 233 for the same period in 2012, a drop of 19.3%. Hostage-taking has also fallen sharply, down 41.5% with 266 hostages taken this year as against 458 in the first three quarters of 2012.

Container:P3 may increase price competition and volatility- Investigation into the P3 alliance of Maersk Line, MSC and CMA CGM has concluded the alliance has the potential to increase rate volatility and induce higher price competition between carriers. Maritime consultants Alphaliner have highlighted that the P3 is only an operational alliance and that commercial competition remains.

For more on each of the above and other stories click the downloadable PDF IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 42). In addition to Afloat.ie dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.

#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.

#ShipRECYCLING - The European Parliament has adopted the new Ship Recycling Regulation by a large majority at a meeting in Strasbourg.

The final text is the result of a compromise reached last June between the Council under the Irish Presidency, the Parliament (Schlyter report) and the Commission.

The new EU Regulation will allow ships flying the flag of an EU member state to be scrapped outside the EU provided that strict standards are met. These standards effectively mean the end of "beaching" where ships are simply taken apart on a beach, with consequences for human health and the environment.

Regular inspections, Commission assessments and an increased role for NGOs will assist ensuring compliance with these standards. Finally, under the new Regulation, the Commission is required to come up with a proposal on the feasibility of an incentive mechanism 3 years after entry into force.

Isabelle Ryckbost, Secretary General of ESPO welcomed the balanced outcome of the political process on ship recycling. "Conscious ship recycling is an important issue with serious social and environmental impacts. In that respect, ESPO urges Member States to ratify soonest the 2009 Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, allowing its global application".

"Furthermore, we remain at the disposition of all parties involved in view of further discussing the appropriate application of the polluter pays principle in ship recycling".
The legislative text will be formally adopted by the Council in the near future.