Daily Briefing October 2 2019
Free to read: Cosco parent begins marine insurance exit from London as sanctions bite | Veniamis: ‘It’s not too late to avoid anarchy on the oceans’ | Pacific Radiance’s revamp tests Singapore’s debt restructuring aims | Dover faces 60% drop in trade under no-deal Brexit
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What to watch | Analysis | Opinion | Markets | In other news
What to watch
Cosco Shipping Corp appears to be shifting most of its tanker fleet to Chinese-based marine insurers — even those vessels that are not directly owned by its two sanctioned entities — as the parent company attempts to manage fallout from last week’s dramatic US blacklisting.
In a rare interview, Union of Greek Shipowners’ president Theodore Veniamis lays bare his disappointment with the lack of responsibility in the rush to apply the global sulphur cap on marine fuels. With only a few weeks to go to enforcement, he tells Lloyd’s List of his hope there may still be a way to pause the process to allow time necessary to resolve critical issues.
Novatek, Russia’s leading private liquefied natural gas producer, says it is confident it can meet the export obligations of its Yamal LNG project despite uncertainty shrouding the fate of its chartered-in fleet from a Teekay LNG-China LNG Shipping joint venture that may now be one subject of the US sanctions on certain Cosco subsidiaries.
UK transport minister George Freeman has confirmed the government is assuming that disruption from a no-deal Brexit would lead to a 40%-60% drop in traffic at the port of Dover for three months.
Analysis
Two of Cyprus’ leading banks are cautiously building ship finance portfolios with a concentration on Greek shipowners.
Insurers enjoy the fact that the taxation system is friendly in Cyprus, but the authorities make it clear that the country is not a brass-plate jurisdiction. If marine insurance companies want to do business in Cyprus, they have to do proper business.
Opinion
Will lenders support or stand in the way of a proposal that seeks debt forgiveness to support the rehabilitation of an industry player still trying to tide itself over a protracted offshore downcycle? asks Hwee Hwee Tan.
Markets
A surge in spot rates for liquefied natural gas carriers after months of very little movement has raised expectation that the ground is being laid for a robust winter market.
Container terminal operators must face up to digitalisation if they are to prosper, no matter what strategic goal they are pursuing, according to Drewry analyst Neil Davidson.
In other news
The insurer MS Amlin is to bundle marine insurance in with its international property and casualty business as part of a major restructuring exercise that will see it ditch nine classes deemed no longer to fit its strategy.
German container line Hapag-Lloyd is to implement Portchain’s advance fleet planning software as part of its efforts to raise its service levels.
West Delta LNG has applied to the US Maritime Administration for construction of a fixed platform deepwater liquefied natural gas port offshore Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.
The US Department of Transportation has defended its secretary Elaine Chao against claims that she has used her position to benefit her family shipping business.
A vehicle carrier operated by NYK has successfully completed an autonomous voyage in Asian waters, in what could be an important precursor for the development of autonomous shipping in Japan.
Two seafarers from Bourbon Rhode are now known to have died and the fate of a further nine remains unclear, according to a statement from operator Groupe Bourbon.
Belfast-based shipbuilder and engineer Harland and Wolff has been bought by InfraStrata for £6m ($7.33m), less than two months after entering administration.