Logistics Management

Wallenius buys Höegh ship – Neptune and Hyundai Glovis place orders. A few days after the announcement of the sale, the new owner of the “Höegh Chiba” is now also known as Wallenius Lines. Meanwhile, Neptune Lines and Hyundai Glovis have drawn up options for further new buildings. Erik Nøklebye, the new head of the Swedish shipping and investment company Wallenius Lines, has now confirmed the purchase of the car carrier “Höegh Chiba” in a statement. The purchase is in line with the strategy of “actively engaging in this shipping segment through innovation, design, construction, management and investment in used and new tonnage”, according to a statement. Together with the Japanese shipping company NYK, Wallenius Lines operates the shortsea shipping company United European Car Carrier, UECC. Since April 2017, together with Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA, it has been the majority shareholder of Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. With Svenska Orient Linien (SOL), it also owns 50% of Wallenius SOL, which was launched in 2019. Last but not least, the company owns 50% of AlfaWall Oceanbird, a joint venture with Alfa Laval. The investment in the fleet is part of a series of similar activities throughout the market. There is great demand and a shortage of ship space, which is why further series of new buildings are expected. Wallenius Wilhelmsen, for example, sees great demand for newbuilds, as manager Carsten Wendt recently explained in detail on the HANSA PODCAST. Wallenius charters out “Auto Way” The “Höegh Chiba”, built in 2006 with space for 6,000 CEU, will be renamed “Auto Way” and managed by Wallenius Marine. A charter agreement – which is not explained in detail – has already been concluded. The car freighter is to be handed over in Asia at the end of August – “presumably debt-free”, as Höegh announced when the sale was announced. The shipping company is currently restructuring its fleet with purchases, sales and new buildings, among other things.

PIBS: Start-ups and superyachts The Palma International Boat Show takes place from 24 to 28 April. For the first time, it will be accompanied by a superyacht forum, and start-ups will also present themselves there. According to the organizers, the Balearic Superyacht Forum will be the first forum for large yachts in Spain. It will take place in Palma on 24 and 25 April. The event is presented by the Balearic Marine Cluster. It is the first international forum for the yachting sector, bringing together regional and international experts to discuss the most important aspects of the industry. According to the organizers, the date for the Balearic Superyacht Forum was not chosen by chance. It coincides with the first day of the Palma International Boat Show, and the choice of this date is intended to expand the boat show’s event calendar. The Balearic Superyacht Forum was created to strengthen the competitive position of the Balearic Islands and their nautical business network and to present the Balearic Islands as the most complete region for the yachting sector in all its areas. According to the information provided, this includes ship repair and maintenance, nautical tourism, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Start-ups present themselves for the first time at PIBS The Balearic Marine Cluster is also organizing the Blue Startup Pitching Competition during the Palma International Boat Show, which rewards innovation and sustainability in the Balearic Islands with €5,000. The competition will take place on 25 April at 15:00 in the Palma Auditorium, where the five finalists will have the opportunity to present their project and strategic plan to an audience of over 300 potential investors from the marine sector and a jury of ten experts with extensive experience in the world of innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Baltica 2”: Contract awarded for wind turbine installation. The Danish company Ørsted and the Polish energy group PGE are working together on the “Baltica” offshore wind farm project in the Baltic Sea. The project is divided into the “Baltica 2” and “Baltica 3” projects. The installation of the wind turbines for “Baltica 2” was put out to tender in two parts. The first phase was awarded at the beginning of the year. A second contractor has now been selected. For the first expansion phase, the two partners commissioned Fred. Olsen Wind carrier with the installation of the first turbine package. The second batch of turbines will be installed by Cadeler. With this agreement, PGE and Ørsted have finalized the contracts for the installation of the turbines. Cadeler wins the contract for “Baltica 2” Cadeler is one of the world’s leading contractors for the construction, maintenance and deinstallation of offshore wind farms. Originally from Denmark, the company has specialized in the installation of turbines for the offshore sector for more than 15 years. According to PGE and Ørsted, they have already ordered all the necessary components for the “Baltica 2” offshore wind farm and signed contracts for the installation of foundations, turbines and cables. The partners have also selected the general contractor for the onshore connection infrastructure. They have already received all the necessary building permits. The last step before the start of construction will be the final investment decision (FID), according to the two companies.

Vopak and Air Liquide plan ammonia cracker in Singapore The Singapore bunker hub is to receive a larger infrastructure for ammonia: Air Liquide and Vopak will work together to develop and operate the infrastructure for importing, cracking and distribution. Representatives of the tank terminal operator Vopak and the gas company Air Liquide have now signed a memorandum of understanding. This is not the first ammonia initiative in a port for the companies. There are also corresponding plans in Rotterdam, for example. Alongside methanol, ammonia is considered one of the low-carbon fuels for power generation and the maritime industry. Some shipping companies are already increasing their focus on this fuel, such as the Belgian shipping group CMB. As a hydrogen carrier, many experts believe that ammonia is one of the most efficient ways of storing and transporting hydrogen. Based on an established global supply chain and infrastructure for the production, transport and use of ammonia, it can be converted into hydrogen after transport, thus contributing to the decarbonization of industry and mobility. Vopak wants to use Banyan terminal. Vopak and Air Liquide now intend to investigate and explore the joint development of low-carbon ammonia supply chains in Singapore, including the potential development of ammonia cracking plants, associated infrastructure for storage and transportation at Vopak’s Banyan Terminal, and the distribution of low-carbon hydrogen via a hydrogen pipeline network. The Banyan Terminal With a storage capacity of almost 1.5 million m³, the Vopak Banyan Terminal is an integrated oil, chemical and gas hybrid storage terminal. The terminal is located on Jurong Island. Capacity: 1,452,163 m³ Tanks: 112 Tank size: From 2,600 to 25,000 m³ Access: barge, pipeline, truck, ship Berths for ships: 7 The collaboration aims to support Singapore’s national hydrogen strategy. Zhang Xi, Managing Director of Air Liquide Singapore, said: “We are committed to working with industry partners such as Vopak to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to support Singapore’s decarbonization efforts.” Air Liquide’s pilot plant for cracking ammonia (NH3) on an industrial scale is currently under construction in Belgium, he added. Rob Boudestijn, President of Vopak Singapore, said: “As Singapore prepares to receive and process ammonia for power generation and bunkering, cracking ammonia to hydrogen is an additional application that will help the industry transition to lower carbon feedstocks. We look forward to working with Air Liquide to accelerate the adoption and commercialization of industrial ammonia cracking in Singapore.”

BehneMar enters into partnership with TISG in Dubai During the recent Dubai International Boat Show, BehneMar and The Italian Sea Group (TISG) announced a partnership. BehneMar Yachting Consultancy now officially has the status of “Authorized Sales Agency”. The partnership is in line with the “Strategic Outlook 2024-2025”, which envisages the development of new major commercial partnerships, according to TISG. BehneMar has been selected to represent the brands in the important region of the Middle East and North Africa. This decision was supported by a sustained program of brand awareness activities to strengthen a comprehensive distribution structure in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), it added. BehneMar is an ambassador for the MENA region. “This partnership is of great strategic value to our Group, especially in light of recent market analyses forecasting a strong expansion of luxury yachts in the Middle East and North Africa until 2028. The MENA region is showing great interest and sensitivity towards our brands and I am confident that BehneMar will be the ideal ambassador for TISG in the context of a free market in any case,” commented Giovanni Costantino, founder and CEO of The Italian Sea Group. Tim Trenker, CEO and Partner of BenheMar, added: “With the growth of the MENA region in recent years, the demand for bespoke projects for yachts and superyachts has increased. Italian Sea Group has proven time and time again that it is a leading shipyard in Italy with its innovative and bespoke projects. Together, we look forward to delivering unparalleled bespoke yachts from the TISG brands to customers in the MENA region.”

Crisis in the Red Sea: China and US carriers expand transpacific capacity. Opportunistic and short-term? As rates in the transpacific business are rising due to the crisis in the Red Sea, carriers are expanding their capacity there, including the Chinese shortsea shipping company Hede Shipping and Matson from the USA. Hede Shipping, a subsidiary of the Hebei Port Group, is launching a service between Shanghai and Los Angeles using the 3,426 TEU vessel “Bfad Atlantic”, which was chartered by Bridgefort Maritime. Built by HDW in Kiel in 2010, the vessel is scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles’ West Basin Container Terminal on 3 April. The transpacific move marks Hede’s first entry into the long-haul sector. Founded in 2008, the company has focused on transporting containers on China’s inland waterways and between China, South Korea, and Japan. However, many regional operators ventured into long-haul transportation when container freight rates soared to historic highs during the Covid-19 pandemic, only to discontinue these services when rates gradually levelled off in 2022. Last year, Hede joined several opportunistic operators in launching a service linking China with Russia’s Far East, after the major liner operators largely suspended services to that country following the invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the American shipping company Matson Line has expanded the capacity of its service between Shanghai and Long Beach by another ship on the Matson Asia Express (MAX) line, which is currently served by five ships. The sixth ship has been added to the MAX service, and Dutch Harbor has been a new call since March 10. The revised rotation: Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach, Dutch Harbor and Ningbo. Six ships with capacities between 2,800 and 4,250 TEU will be deployed. The transit time from Shanghai to Long Beach is still 11 days. More ships in transpacific traffic 255 ships with 2.3 million TEU are currently operating between the Far East and the US West Coast on transpacific routes, 4% more than a year ago. On the Far East-US East Coast route, there are now 271 ships with 2.8 million TEU, almost 17% more than last year. However, the latest Baltic Exchange report points out that freight rates have fallen due to the seasonal lull after the Chinese New Year, although they are still higher than last year. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index showed that rates for the Shanghai US West Coast fell 5% from the previous week to USD 4,039/FEU on March 8, while rates for the Shanghai US East Coast fell 2% to USD 5,608/FEU. Record deliveries of newbuildings are expected to dampen expectations of further rate increases, even though the Red Sea crisis has absorbed a large amount of tonnage as many operators have diverted vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. Vespucci Maritime’s founding managing director, Lars Jensen, wrote in the Baltic Exchange report that no operators have had to pull ships from the transpacific to deploy them in Asia-Europe routes, proving that there are enough ships to go around. “The initial disruptions in vessel and equipment availability have now largely been resolved. Of course, the detour ties up a considerable amount of capacity, but not so much that there is a serious capacity shortage,” says Jensen