The Cargo Letter

Our Top Story: American Rises |
Section A: Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News |
Section B: FF World Air News |
Section C: FF World Ocean News | Section D: FF in Cyberspace |
Section E: The Forwarder Broker World

OUR "C" Section: FF World Ocean News

FF World Ocean Briefs

• Cho Yang Sinks ........ as it is awaiting receivership takeover & final liquidation notice after the Seoul District Court discontinued reorganization proceedings & canceled the 1st creditors' meeting, scheduled for Aug. 31. The Aug. 24 court notice stated: "It has been determined that the liquidation value of the company exceeds the potential future worth under reorganization. Pursuant to the Clause 271-3 of the Corp. Reorganization Act, the company's reorganization proceeding shall be discontinued with immediate effect & the 1st creditors' meeting shall also be canceled." After running up enormous debts the carrier applied for legal management on May 29. It suspended all services except its Korea-China service, and despite attempts to resume its intra-Asia & Japan-Korea service, its unmanageable liabilities led the court to rule for liquidation rather than permit the carrier to continue operations.
• Suitor For Capsized Cho Yang? ......... as Han Sung Shipping, a carrier on the South-North Korea trade, is ready to take over the services of almost-defunct Cho Yang. Marine net quotes Cho Yang shipping director NH Paik as saying that Han Sung is interested in Cho Yang's services on the Japan-Korea & Korea-China lanes. Han Sung operates 2 containerships on 3 to 4 monthly sailing between the two Korean states, handling 90% of all traffic on the intra-Koreas trade.
• Winners & Losers ........ as the main losers on the transpacific thus far in 2001 appear to have been Evergreen & APL. The main winners in the transpacific have been Hanjin, NYK & 'K' Line. This according to Schroder Salomon Smith Barney analyst Charles de Trenck to Lloyd's list, using statistics of Piers and talks with container lines management. The analyst concluded that expected further decline of rates would lead to another round of consolidation.
• Rent To Own .......... as COSCO Line is hoping that its plans to invest in cargo handling facilities at Taipei Port will benefit from a Taiwan advisory board's recommendation that the real estate sector be open to mainland investors. Although uncertainty still abounds both as to whether the recommendation will be adopted & whether port development can be classified as real estate development, COSCO has claimed that its interest in investing in Taiwan's port remains strong. The deal is widely seen as likely to go ahead, however, after Taiwan & the Chinese mainland's expected entry into the World Trade Organization later this year, as the deal would be beneficial for both parties. So far Taiwan has maintained a "go-slow" policy in relation to Taiwanese investment in the mainland but signs of an easing of these restrictions have encouraged COSCO and other companies from both sides to announce a desire for open cross-straits trade. Trade volumes between the mainland & Taiwan rose by 6.8% to US$14.99B during the 1st 6 months of this year.
• Lack of Enterprise ........ as a 2nd vessel controlled by Enterprises Shipholding Corp. was arrested in the Port of Fos, France, over an alleged default on a $175M bond issue. The M/V Canmar Supreme, a 2,200-TEU ship chartered to Canada Maritime, was arrested by a group of bondholders owning more than 60% of the senior notes issued to the Restis-family-owned Enterprises Shipholding Corp. in 1998. The company allegedly defaulted on payment of interest due on its bond issue, resulting in the acceleration of all principal & interest in June by the indenture trustee, Chase Manhattan Bank. The bondholders said the company has since failed to make any payment due the bondholders. The bondholders are trying to secure judgment against the company in a suit pending in New York. On Aug. 4, M/V Ocelotmax was arrested at Port of Pusan, Korea. The latest vessel arrest forced Canada Maritime, which has nothing to do with the bond dispute, to scramble to arrange for the movement of containers stranded with M/V Canmar Supreme.
• Sleeping At The Switch ........ as collisions at sea are on the increase. The Standard P&I Club says collisions now account for 17% of its losses. And, in the majority of collision cases, it is human error, not equipment failure, that is to blame. The CD-ROM-based training package includes a simulation section where users have to steer the ship though difficult traffic situations. It has been described as, "the next best thing to navigating a ship for real." This could replace video games. www.videotel.co.uk
• South Seas NVO ........ as NACA Logistics Group, which comprises non-vessel-operating common carriers Brennan Int'l Transport, Conterm Consolidation Services & Direct Container Line, has expanded its operations in the South Pacific, acquiring the business of Export Freight Services Pty. Ltd. Sydney-based EFS is an NVOCC, operating in the Australia/Pacific Islands trade. >>> NACA has undertaken internal restructuring undertaken under full consultation with the FMC. Essentially, the three licenses formally held by the 3 NVOs were allowed to lapse with the FMC.
• The Big Chill ......... as P&O Nedlloyd has ordered 14,500 refrigerated containers from Carrier Transport Refrigeration & Air Conditioning's Container Products Group (CPG), a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. Valued at approximately US$130M -- the single largest order in the history of the container refrigeration industry according to CPG.
• OTI Ticket Pull ........... as the U.S. FMC has revoked ocean transportation intermediary licenses held by 31 companies for failure to maintain a valid bond: AA Shipping LLC, Lawndale, Calif.; All-Connections Express (USA) Inc., San Francisco; American Gateway Inc., Miami; Brennan Int'l Transport Inc., Rancho Dominguez, Calif.; Bulk Connection Inc., Mystic, Conn.; Cargo Network Int'l Inc., Rosedale, N.Y.; Core Marine Carriers, Greensboro, N.C.; Crossbar Inc., Springfield, Mo.; Transtech Worldwide Line, Gardena, Calif.; Freight IFS Inc., Wood Dale, Ill; Freightex Marine, Houston; From2.com Inc., Miami Lakes, Fla.; Global Freight Inc., Jamaica N.Y.; Int'l Cargo Transporters Inc., Miami; Int'l Cargo Services Inc., San Francisco; Lift Forwarders Inc., Tualatin, Ore.; Universal Forwarders, El Segundo, Calif.; Flamingo Line, Miami; Neutral Line (USA) Inc., Miami; Overseas Mahanm Inc., Plainview, N.Y.; Pan Atlantic Carriers Services Inc., Miami; Relotrans Int'l Inc., Bedford, Mass.; Single Source Transportation Inc., Taylor, Mich.; TAT Int'l Inc., Flushing, N.Y.; Transtar Shipping Inc., San Francisco; Uniship Inc., Long Beach, Calif.; Westrans Air Express (USA) Inc., Inglewood, Calif.; & Xonex Int'l, New Castle, Del. >>> These OTIs surrendered their licenses voluntarily: Cargocare Logistics Ltd., Burlington, N.J.; Opus One USA, San Francisco; & Luxor Ocean Line, Jamaica, N.Y.