Zim agrees to restructuring

Financial Times and others report that Zim (the Israeli container shipping line) has agreed to
debt restructuring.  It's owner (Israel Corp), will hand over 2/3's of Zim to creditors.

The Load Star has an interesting article questioning the future of the carrier.

click here for link

Will Hapag Lloyd find a partner?

Hapag Lloyd has been looking for a partner for a few years.  The latest is a deal with CSAV.
Some say Hapag Lloyd will buy CSAV.  Others say...

The current deal on the table is for a 70/30 split, with CSAV taking a 30% stake in the resultant company, but according to a WSJ source some Hapag-Lloyd shareholders are pushing for 73%.
It also remains uncertain whether the Chileans' 54 vessels will be part of the deal, or just leased to Hapag-Lloyd. If an agreement is reached, the merged entity will be the fourth largest container line in the world.

From Seatrade Global

Logistics IS Important

Part of shipping involves shipments going to the wrong place.  For instance, Portland, Maine, USA, instead
of Portland, Oregon, USA.   (3200 Miles, 5150 KG,  apart)

But when the drug smugglers make a mistake, and the crates of bananas with cocaine end
up in the grocery store, prior to the cocaine being removed....well, heads will probably roll
(literally)

From FOX News

BERLIN –  Police in Germany say they have seized a large haul of cocaine after smugglers apparently made a mistake that sent the drug to supermarkets.
Workers at five stores in and around Berlin were surprised to find cocaine packed into crates of bananas on Monday — a total of 140 kilograms (309 pounds).
The head of Berlin's anti-drugs squad said Tuesday that the crates had come from Colombia via the German port of Hamburg and the discovery was "pure chance."
German news agency dpa quoted Olaf Schremm as saying that the smugglers had probably made "a logistical mistake."
It's estimated that the drugs would have had a street value of about 6 million euros ($8.2 million).

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Ship to Cuba from the U.S.

I didn't realize Crowley has offered service from the U.S. to Cuba for several years.

This from their web-site

Crowley was the first U.S. carrier to obtain a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C., to provide regularly scheduled common carrier services for licensed cargo from the United States to the Republic of Cuba. Crowley launched its Cuba service in December 2001, becoming the first U.S. carrier to re-enter Cuba in nearly 40 years, and has maintained a regularly scheduled service ever since.

The opportunity to participate in the trade was made possible by the "Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000" signed into law on October 28, 2000 by William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America. The "Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000," authorizes OFAC to license the transport of agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices or other products directly from the United States to the Republic of Cuba.

click here for link

Chinese Blocks U.S. GMO Corn

I guess I missed this when it was reported by Bloomberg in mid-December, 2013.


 Dec 18, 2013 6:36 PM ET    Bloomberg News  click here

Who’s afraid of a little genetically engineered American corn?
Chinese quarantine officers apparently. They’ve recently blocked at least six batches (more than 180,000 tons) of American corn from entering China, citing the presence of genetically-modified strain of the grain that the Chinese government hasn’t (yet) approved for import. The impact has been notable: In recent days U.S. corn futures fell, in part out of fear of further Chinese enforcement action.

Mexican port contolled by drug cartel

We have all heard of the problems in Mexico with the drug cartels.  Now it appears they
are branching into iron ore production and transportation.

According to a report by Reuters, the pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas is now controlled
by a drug cartel..

The Knights Templar cartel, steadily diversifying into other businesses, became so successful at exporting iron ore to China that the Mexican Navy in November had to move in and take over the port in Lazaro Cardenas, a city that has become one of the gang's main cash generators.
This steelmaking center, drug smuggling hot spot and home of a rapidly growing container port in the western state of Michoacan occupies a strategic position on the Pacific coast, making it a natural gateway for burgeoning trade with China.
Lazaro Cardenas opened to container traffic just a decade ago, and with a harbor deep enough to berth the world's largest ships, it already aims to compete with Los Angeles to handle Asian goods bound for the U.S. market.
But that future is in doubt unless the government can restore order and win its struggle with the Knights Templar, who took their name from a medieval military order that
protected Christian pilgrims during the Crusades.
Mexico's biggest producer of iron ore, Michoacan state is a magnet for Chinese traders feeding demand for steel in their homeland. But the mines also created an opportunity for criminal gangs, such as the Knights Templar, looking to broaden their revenue base into more legitimate businesses.
"The mines were mercilessly exploited, and the ore was leaving. But not in rafts or launches - it was going via the port, through customs, on ships," said Michoachan's governor, Fausto Vallejo, soon after the Navy occupied the port on November 4.
Already a thriving criminal enterprise adept at corrupting local officials and squeezing payments from businesses, developers and farmers, the Knights took to mining with aplomb, according to entrepreneurs and miners working around the port.

click here for link to complete article