AP Moller-Maersk profits plummeted as the bottom dropped out of the container shipping market. The Danish liner giant logged an underlying profit of $2.6bn for the first quarter, down from $7.5bn in the same period last year. Chief executive Vincent Clerc blamed lower freight rates and volumes, as container shipping demand softened.
The risk to shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz ramped up this week following the second Iranian detention of a commercial ship in days. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy seized the Smart Tankers-managed Niovi over what it described as “a legal dispute”. But the Greek manager said the owners, managers and crew of the tanker “have done nothing that would in any way justify the seizure”.
Retail investors were able to invest in wet freight derivatives from Wednesday when the first ever tanker-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF is managed by Breakwave Advisors and focuses on the VLCC segment. John Kartsonas, managing partner of Breakwave, told TradeWinds that the ETF is an opportunity for investors to make gains from increases in tanker rates via the freight futures market.
Scorpio Tankers is on the verge of sealing up to $1bn in bank lending that would enable it to accelerate buyouts of expensive lease financing for its fleet of product carriers. The New York-listed owner announced talks with “a group of financial institutions” after beating Wall Street analysts’ consensus earnings estimates for the first quarter.
Lomar Shipping, one of the shrewdest players in the secondhand market, has bought its first bulkers since early 2022, pouncing on a trio of supramaxes. The total spend of just above $40m is relatively modest, but provides further evidence of the positive sentiment that is building in the bulker market around expectations of a rebound in the Chinese economy.
Odfjell has hit fuel-saving targets for its chemical tanker fleet seven years ahead of schedule after $50m in investments. The Norwegian shipowner said on Thursday that it had set a target of 2030 to halve carbon intensity, based on 2008 levels, but had reached the goal for the first time in the first quarter of this year.
This week’s Green Seas environment newsletter looks at a debate over whether US courts can review the detention of seafarer witnesses in pollution cases. And the latest episode of the Green Seas podcast explains why wait-and-see mode is over for shipping’s inclusion in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System. It’s time to prepare.
And finally, Australia’s disdain for the brown marmorated stink bug hampered Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s shipping operations in the first quarter but boosted its logistics business en route to another strong result. Shipping volumes dipped by 3%, in part due to congestion at Australian ports amid efforts to keep out invasive bugs and seeds.
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