Japanese container shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has taken delivery of the MOL Triumph, the new 'world's biggest containership' and the first 'megaship' to pass the 20,000 TEU threshold. The MOL Triumph was delivered Monday by Samsung Heavy Industries in Geoje, South Korea, where the vessel has been under construction since January 2016 - just 15 months … [Read more...]
Megaship MSC Eloane Delivered to Ocean Yield
Norwegian ship owner Ocean Yield has taken delivery of the MSC Eloane, a 19,500 TEU megaship built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea. The vessel has commenced a 15-year bareboat charter with a "major European container line," who if we were to guess is MSC. The Eloane is the third vessel to be delivered in a series of six mega containerships that Ocean Yield … [Read more...]
Aboard Majestic Maersk, Megaship Dreams Obscure Cloudy Future for Shipping
By Brenda Goh SHANGHAI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - For Captain Dick S. Danielsen, the childhood dream has been to sail the world's biggest ships. The Danish seaman got his chance three years ago when he was asked to helm the Majestic Maersk, a mammoth, baby blue-painted vessel that at 400 meters (1,312 feet) is longer than a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The ship can hold up … [Read more...]
Megaships May Be Too Big Not to Fail -View
By Justin Fox (Bloomberg View) -- It was always going to be tough for the world's container shipping lines -- accustomed to decade after decade of growth in the volume of video-game consoles, auto parts, furniture, frozen seafood and all manner of other things transported in boxes across the sea -- to adjust to a slowdown in global trade. What has made it a whole lot … [Read more...]
Future Looks Bleak for Ultra Large Containerships -View
By Adam Minter (Bloomberg View) -- In December, the quarter-mile-long Benjamin Franklin became the largest cargo ship ever to dock at a U.S. port. Five more mega-vessels were supposed to follow, creating a trans-Pacific shipping juggernaut by the end of May. But thanks to a massive miscalculation on the part of the fleet's owner -- there's not enough demand for all that … [Read more...]
More Mega Ships Predicted to Call at Key Shenzhen Hub
By Kyunghee Park (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Li Ka-Shing’s Hutchison Port Holdings Trust predicts more mega ships will call at its Shenzhen port to move cargo from the key Chinese export manufacturing region. Its Shenzhen facility, in Yantian, opened a new berth this year and another will begin operating in the second half to handle these big ships, Gerry Yim, chief … [Read more...]
Drewry Questions Viability of ‘Megaships’ as Carriers Focus on Cost Cutting
By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) - If losses continue and ocean carriers persist in focusing only on reducing costs rather than improving revenue per teu, the container liner industry “could get very ugly” in the second half of the year, said Drewry today. Most carriers operated in the red in the final quarter of 2015, despite achieving satisfactory vessel load factors, as … [Read more...]