Ocean Carriers

A recent hearing of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation suggests that the U.S. Merchant Marine industry may be poised for a major comeback.

The current shortage of officer corps seafarers is forecast to worsen and risks impacting ocean cargo carrier profitability, according to Drewry’s recently published Manning 2014 Annual Report.

Earlier in the year, Executive Editor Patrick Burnson issued the forecast that 2014 would be the year ocean cargo carriers finally return to profitability.

While U.S. shippers may have been surprised by China’s decision to oppose the P3 Network, there had been rumblings of discontent voiced by their counterparts in Hong Kong for some time.

With the Panama canal expansion meeting its deadline in late 2015, shippers are busy determining which gateways would best serve their future needs. But even more strategic complexity has been introduced this year with consolidation of ocean carrier services. Rather than whistling in the dark, the leading ocean cargo gateways are keeping their guard up.

According to analysts with Drewry Maritime Resarch, ocean cargo container lines are still being squeezed out of providing “home-grown” integrated logistics services. This is evidenced by Maersk’s news last month that it has entered into an agreement to sell the assets of its U.S. trucking subsidiary Bridge Terminal Transport, analysts add.

As executive Editor Patrick Burnson documents in this month’s Special Report, the business dynamics of ocean shipping continue to change for carriers as global supply chain practices become more strategic—putting pressure on those shippers looking to coordinate more modes in new regions around the world.

Unlike their brethren on the highways, ocean carriers will not be reporting capacity restraint issues from their unique position on the high seas over the next 12 months. As Executive Editor Patrick Burnson reported last month in our expansive State of Logistics Report, nearly 60 new vessels of at least 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) are being staged for deployment.

As the economy continues to show moderate signs of growth, the monthly Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates expects import cargo volumes at U.S. ports to post a 3.2 percent annual gain in April.

Following a projected 6.8 percent annual decline in import cargo volume for February, the monthly Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates is calling for a 10 percent annual gain for March.

As was the case in its previous edition, the Global Port Tracker Report from Hackett Associates and the Bremen Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics, is calling for continued worsening of economic conditions in Europe.

Total January volume was 474,960 TEU, which was down 3.9 percent annually.

Big shippers and the world’s top carriers vow to work collectively towards leveraging technology to improve business processes and relationships. Will they make good on the promise or slip back to business as usual?