Shipping is a big UK earner

British shipping’s turnover grew from £9.5billion in 2007 to £11.9 billion in 2008, an increase of over 25% according to new figures produced for the UK Chamber of Shipping by the Office for National Statistics. Shipping now earns £1.35 million every hour of every day for the UK economy. The Chamber points out that the maritime sector has fared better in the face of recession than aviation.

It says: “Sea transport outstripped air transport, which lagged £7bn behind in terms of net contribution to balance of payments in 2008, and is third in the services sector in terms of export earnings at £10.6 billion – up by 13% since 2005. As a result, sea transport has regained its position in third place in the services sector behind financial services and travel.”

The figures come from the newly published Pink Book on the UK Balance of Payments from the Office for National Statistics. Shipping’s net direct contribution to the balance of payments was £4 billion, an increase of over 40% on the previous year, even after the very negative and substantial burden of fuel cost increases during the period. The industry’s overall contribution – taking import savings into account – was £5.7 billion – an increase of 23%.

“These results are a clear indication of the shipping sector’s continued value to the British economy,” said David Asprey, head of shipping policy at the Chamber of Shipping.

He added: “UK shipping has been making a consistently solid contribution to the economy since the revival of the industry in 2000. As we weather uncertain times in the shipping markets it is even more essential that the industry and Government work closely to ensure a positive and stable commercial environment. Shipping transports over 90% of UK trade, and remains the most carbon efficient method of freight transport. We are sure, therefore, that Government will take notice of these figures and recognise the outstanding contribution the industry is making to the country’s economic recovery.”

Lloyd's of London

Lloyd's of London has warned that the industry should not be distracted by the Arctic Sea alleged hijacking.

A feature on the insurance market's website says: “Recent reports of a ship being hijacked in the Baltic Sea briefly drew attention from the real piracy hotspot—Somalia. But the problem there hasn’t gone away.”

Lloyd's refers to recent figures from the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre which show piracy attacks around the world more than doubled to 240 from 114 during the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2008.

The rise in overall numbers was due almost entirely to increased Somali pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia, with 86 and 44 incidents reported respectively, the report said. Lloyd's warns against thinking that a current lull in attacks means the problem has gone away.

Attacks off the eastern coast of Somalia had decreased in recent months after peaking in March and April, with no attacks reported in June but the IMB attributed the decline to heavy weather associated with the monsoons that continue into August.

The website feature quotes Clive Stoddart, executive director of Aon’s kidnap & ransom team, as saying that EU’s NAVFOR task force is helping to curb piracy but with limited success.

Mr Stoddart says: “Pirates have responded by picking their targets more carefully and/or abandoning their efforts when the navy appears, but this is a vast area of sea and evidently very difficult to police effectively.”

He believes the anticipated resumption of pirate activity will concentrate shipowners’ minds on their insurance arrangements. He says: “The marine market continues to cover traditional marine risks and is now charging for the increased war exposure in the region. Even though forms of piracy have been in existence for ever, the cost and complexity of the negotiation and delivery of ransoms to Somalia is new to the traditional marine insurance market.”

Mr Stoddart concludes: “The Lloyd’s kidnap & ransom market is responding to the situation by offering cover and access to advice not offered by the marine market. This has already helped to avoid waiting for the outcome of general average which can be costly in terms of both time and money.”

Maritime London member Braemar Shipping Services says it has launched a new subsidiary, Braemar Marine, to provide “diverse marine surveying and adjusting services to the global maritime, transportation risk and insurance markets”.

Braemar Marine commenced operations on 1 August from its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, US, and has established offices in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Seattle and London which it says will enhance existing Braemar group marine surveying and adjusting capabilities in Latin America, Australasia and the Far Fast.

The operation is led by John Tirel, executive vice president, with the assistance of Chris Lunda, vice president, global development. Both men are based in Atlanta. John Cole is director of the London office.

Braemar Marine's core services will be: marine cargo surveys and adjustment, project cargo pre-shipment surveys, loss control management, H & M surveys and adjustment, P & I representation, third party claims administration services and subrogation and recovery.

Golden Ocean noted in is Q2 results last week that the dry bulk sector continued its relatively strong performance during Q2 with earnings well above most analysts’ expectations.

But the John Fredriksen-linked bulk carrier owner also said it was taking a cautious approach to market going ahead by attempting top secure charter cover for an increased proportion of its fleet.

That policy appears to be justified by the latest data from the Baltic Exchange. The Baltic Dry Index today (24 Aug) stood at 2437 points, down over 40% from its 2009 peak of 4291 points in early June.

According to Golden Ocean. on average a panamax vessel earned USD18,000 per day during Q2 of 2009, while a capesize earned USD 46,000 per day for the similar period. Golden Ocean said however that capesize earnings, ranging USD17,000 per day and USD90,000 per day, underlined the “extreme volatility” for dry bulk owners.

Four of the maritime sector's most senior journalists have been made redundant in a shake-up at Lloyd's List. Former deputy editor Chris Mayer along with Tony Gray, Sandra Speares and Hong Kong-based Mike Grinter are among several editorial and production staff leaving the paper.

However Lloyd's List's new editor Tom Leander says in a leader published last week: “Lloyd’s List today has embraced changes that will alter the way we deliver information and analysis to the global shipping community. It is doing so to help the shipping industry enter its next era, and to help shipping businesses prosper. The focus will be three-fold, all aimed at providing quicker, easier access to information that will assist every corner of the shipping community to make better decisions.”

From late November Lloyd’s List Intelligence (formerly called Lloyd’s Maritime Intelligence Unit) will merge onto the lloydslist.com website with an offering of information and in-depth analysis in two channels: tankers and dry bulk, “followed shortly after” by containers.

Mr Leander says: “With new access to this information, Lloyd’s List’s global coverage of shipping will have greater resources for analysis at its command. Increasingly, stories that reflect on changes in the shipping world have been gleaned first from LLI’s wealth of information. In the future, we will draw upon this information to continue our drive to provide analytical pieces that uncover the truth at the heart of the news.”

He adds: “Our drive to bring essential information to readers everywhere has been enhanced by going web first. We have introduced a new system that allows editors to post stories online around the world. The focus will no longer be our daily 1800 hrs London print deadline, but will be to serve the maritime community with information in any time zone, around the clock.”

Lloyd’s List is also introducing “new analysis vehicles”. The first of these will be the Future of Shipping, a six-part series beginning in October, published as special editions alongside the daily Lloyd’s List, which will “examine the primary issues that face the industry as it moves into its new era”.

Thirdly Lloyd’s List will run monthly four-page sections on shipping in Asia, the Middle East, the US and Latin America in separate weeks every month.

IMEC- the International Maritime Employers’ Committee Limited - has moved to new offices looking over St Katharine’s Docks next to Tower Bridge. London-based IMEC represents over 130 companies located all over the world that operate almost 6,500 ships flying the flags of open register countries and employ over 157,000 seafarers.

The ships they operate are registered in more than 40 different countries. For many years, IMEC was housed within the Chamber of Shipping building on Carthusian Street in London, sharing office space with the International Chamber of Shipping and International Shipping Federation, however, the membership of IMEC has increased significantly and it became apparent that increased space and facilities were required to support this growth.

This reflects the much more prominent roles now undertaken by IMEC in representing shipowners at the International Bargaining Forum where pay packages for open register ships are negotiated.

Giles Heimann, the incoming secretary general commented: “The opportunity to move IMEC into our own dedicated offices and continue growing the organisation as true service to our Members has been a huge step forward. Working from our new office will give IMEC the ability to properly function as a stand-alone organisation focussed on the needs of the members and the international shipping industry.”

Long-term prospects for the shipping industry will top the agenda at the International Marine Purchasing Association’s annual exhibition and conference in London on September 16-17.

The impact of turbulent political and economic events will be assessed in a keynote address by Rohit Talwar - ranked among the world’s top ten ‘global futurists’ – who advises governments and industry on scenario planning and change strategy.

Three Knowledge Exchange workshops will then focus on sector-specific issues and innovations featuring supply chain management, key performance indicators and a case study by Germany’s Oldendorff Carriers. Meanwhile all three floors at Kensington Town Hall will host a sell-out trade show with exhibitors representing shipchandlers, equipment manufacturers and service providers.

They include last year’s Best Stand winner Wärtsilä, who plan to announce a major fleet supply contract for their Senitec oily water separator during the show.