Showing posts sorted by date for query LNG. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Report: Greek Prime Minster Says “Time Has Come” to Restrict Cruise Ships

Cruise ships anchored off Santorini (Patano - CC BY-SA 3.0)

Greece is reported to be the latest popular tourist destination considering limits or restrictions on the number of cruise visitors to its popular destinations. In an interview with Bloomberg, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said they are thinking the restrictions could start next year causing shockwaves in the cruise industry and sending the price of cruise stocks tumbling after a Wall Street analyst also reported the pricing for cruises had soften in June.

Tourism is a major part of the Greek economy and Greek Island cruising started in the 1950s and has become one of the most popular destinations. Truist Securities writes that Greece saw cruise ship passenger arrivals jump 50 percent in 2023 mostly centered on the popular ports of Santorini and Mykonos. Cruises generally originate in Piraeus or outside Greece, stopping at the popular ports on trips ranging from a few days to a week or more. There is also a strong interisland ferry trade.

Bloomberg cites data from the Hellenic Ports Association reporting that 800 vessels called at Santorini in 2023 carrying 1.3 million visitors. They report that was up 17 percent over 2022. Many visitors to Santorini, where cruise ships must anchor and tender passengers to the volcanic island, report long waits. One of the most popular attractions requires taking a cable car up to the top of the crater with long lines to board the cable car. Santorini nearly a decade ago began to seek controls on cruise ships due to overcrowding and the ships have only gotten larger since then.

The second most popular destination is Mykonos, which is a frequent tourist destination in general. Bloomberg cites 749 cruise ship visits in 2023. They report that was up 23 percent.

Speaking to Bloomberg the Prime Minister speculated that the time has come to place restrictions on cruise ship visits to the most popular islands. He suggested it would start in 2025 and might take the form of restricting the number of berths or establishing a bidding process for cruise lines to gain slots. Bidding already takes place in other destinations such as Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska which restricts the number of cruise ships permitted to enter the park each day.

“While somewhat vague, the news from Greece is clearly not a positive,” writes analyst Patrick Scholes of Truist to their clients. However, he warns that it is “much too early to precisely financially quantify.” The team at Truist estimates that the major cruise lines have an exposure of between 5 and 14 percent to the Eastern Mediterranean.

The price of cruise line stocks however was off as much as 7.5 percent today after the Bloomberg story. Cruise lines have argued that they can stagger their ships’ arrival times and coordinate schedules not to bunch larger ships at individual ports. The lines have in the past due to geopolitical issues at times been forced to cancel cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean and move ships to other destinations. Also contributing to today's declines in stock prices was a report from Bank of America that found "cruise prices appearing modestly softer in June," raising fears that the industry can not maintain its strong advances in prices and bookings.

Greece joins a growing list of tourist destinations struggling with overtourism and problems ranging from crowded streets to complaints that the ports are overrun with cruise passengers attracting fewer people for the hotels and guesthouses. In Europe, Venice has shifted cruise ships away from the lagoon because of an outcry over damage to the historic buildings blamed on the large ships while cities from Amsterdam to Barcelona have taken steps to move the ships out of the city center. In the U.S., Juneau, Alaska just reached a voluntary agreement with the cruise industry to regulate the number of daily passengers starting in 2026, while destinations ranging from Bar Harbor, Maine to Key West, Florida have also sought to ban large cruise ships.

Top photo by Patano - CC BY-SA 3.0

Prosecutors Detain "Dirty" Cruise Ship Chartered to House Italian Police

A police union alleges that the vessel had "terrible sanitary conditions"

A cruise ship that was chartered to house thousands of security officers for this week's G7 summit has been detained by police over allegations of poor onboard hygiene.

The vessel Goddess of the Night (ex name Mykonos Magic) was scheduled to provide temporary lodging for about 2,000 police officers near Borgo Egnazia, a resort where G7 leaders will gather for a summit beginning Thursday. Officers and their union representatives complained that the conditions on board were unlivable, including broken heads, inoperable HVAC and leaking pipes. The secretary of the police union, Domenico Pianese, told local media that the ship "was in terrible sanitary conditions, with dirty and damaged accommodation, unusable toilets, dilapidated showers, flooded cabins."

The personnel who were stationed on board have been moved to other lodging locations.

While onboard deficiencies might be treated as a matter for port state control inspection in other circumstances, this vessel was chartered to a government agency, and the conditions affected law enforcement personnel. Local prosecutors in Brindisi are looking at the conditions of the lodging service provided, and they have issued an order for the vessel's detention.

According to La Stampa, the Central Operational Police Service and the Brindisi police station are investigating. The Brindisi police told Italian media that their investigative units found hygiene, health and accommodations shortcomings on board, and that the conditions are serious enough to hypothesize "the crime of fraud in public supplies."

Goddess of the Night (ex names Mykonos Magic, Costa Magica) is a 2004-built cruise ship with a capacity of 2,700 passengers. According to cruise industry media, the vessel's beneficial owner is Seajets, a Greek-Cypriot ferry operator based in Piraeus. The firm began acquiring and trading used cruise ships during the pandemic-era industry downturn, and reportedly purchased Goddess of the Night last year. As is standard in the industry, the registered owner is a holding company with a mailing address matching a third-party shipmanager.

The Goddess of the Night was reported to be in drydock in Turkey last month, preparing to enter service for adults-only startup line Neonyx Cruises. Travel-industry media have identified Neonyx as a Seajets-related enterprise.

Neonyx has advertised a series of cruises headlined by well-known DJ entertainers, with departures starting in July. The effects of the detention on the ship's schedule are not clear, and Seajets and Neonyx have not yet commented on the police unions' allegations.

Mein Schiff 7 Delivered as First Methanol-Ready Cruise Ship

The first cruise ship designed for operations on methanol and eventually green methanol was delivered on June 10 to Germany’s TUI Cruises. Named Mein Schiff 7 she also marks the first new ship since 2019 for the cruise line and the seventh ship in the Mein Schiff fleet to be built in Finland at what is today the Meyer Turku yard.

As the company explains it, for the commissioning of the Mein Schiff 7, all the currently possible technical equipment, such as tanks and pipe systems for methanol or green methanol propulsion, have been installed. However, a technical component for the methanol drive of four-stroke engines is not yet available and is not expected to be delivered until sometime in 2025. The cruise line currently plans for the Mein Schiff 7 to be equipped and commissioned in 2026 so that it can be one of the first cruise ships to run on methanol.

Initially, the 115,000 gt cruise ship will be operated exclusively with low-emission marine diesel (sulfur content max. 0.1%). The line notes it is the first ship in their fleet to exclusively use this low-emission fuel and its environmental impact will be further enhanced with catalytic converters that will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by approximately 75 percent. The ship is also equipped to use shore power connections.

"It is a special moment for us to receive this ship," said Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises. “Ten years ago, we picked up our first Blu Motion class ship here in Turku. The Mein Schiff 3 was the first new build for TUI Cruises and by 2019 we had built a total of six ships.”

The Mein Schiff concept was launched as a partnership between German tour company TUI (Touristik Union International) and Royal Caribbean Group in 2009. It is marketed exclusively to German-speaking tourists. The brand was launched with cruise ships from Celebrity Cruises and started its newbuild program in 2011 with the Blu Motion concept, 97,000 gt cruise ships. They built four of the ships with STX Finland (later Meyer Turku) and then three enlarged ships, the last on order is Mein Schiff 7.

The company highlights several design changes to the ship versus her earlier sisters. This includes new stateroom categories including single occupancy staterooms. They are also introducing new specialty restaurants and other amenities for the passengers. Double occupancy is 2,896 passengers with approximately 1,000 crew. Registered in Malta, Mein Shiff 7 is 1.036 feet in length (315 meters).

The new ship is scheduled to enter service tomorrow, June 12, with a 2-night preview cruise, which is exactly two years to the day since construction began with the first steel cut. It will be cruising in Northern Europe and Scandinavia before moving to the Mediterranean for the winter months.

TUI looks to learn about methanol operations with Mein Schiff 7 but notes that a conversion is also an option for the future of its existing fleet. The company is also exploring other options as it is due to launch in 2025 its next new cruise ship Mein Schiff Relax (approximately 161,000 gt). Being built at Fincantieri in Italy the next ship will be LNG-fueled and the first of two on order for the cruise line.

Several other cruise lines have indicated interest in following the broader shipping industry into methanol. Meyer Group is also working with Disney Cruise Line which is completing the Global Dream cruise ship started at MV Werften for Genting Hong Kong. While Disney has not released details, they said the ship would be converted to methanol. Celebrity Cruises is also building a new ship in France and Wartsila is converting the engine to be tri-fuel including able to handle methanol. Norwegian Cruise Line working with Fincantieri also announced that the fifth and sixth ships of its Prima class would be designed for methanol, while the cruise line is also working with MAN to explore methanol conversions for its existing cruise ships.

Project Explores Retrofit for LNG Cargo Ship to Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cells

Samskip cargo ship — Kvitnos transports cargo from Rotterdam north along the Norwegian coast (Samskip)

Norway is funding another project to explore the potential of converting an LNG-fueled multipurpose cargo ship to operate with fuel cells and hydrogen fuel. ENOVA, the Norwegian government fund designed to support initiatives to accelerate decarbonization will provide funding to logistic provider Samskip along with partners TECO 2030 and Blom Maritime to develop the plans for the conversion.

The project will be working with Samskip’s 2015-built vessel Samskip Kvitnos, a 4,900 dwt RoRo cargo vessel. The Kvitnos operates from Rotterdam north along the Norwegian coast as far north as Hammerfest. The project is the latest in a series of efforts sponsored by ENOVA that look to employ hydrogen to decarbonize operations along the Norwegian coast.

“With the delivery of our LNG-propelled multipurpose vessels back in 2015, Samskip already offered one of the world’s most environmentally friendly cargo ships,” said Are Grathen, Samskip Regional Director Norway and Sweden. “With this grant from Enova, and in close cooperation with fuel cell provider TECO 2030, we will continue our endeavor to enable full zero-emission propulsion which in turn will further pave the way for our H2-propelled newbuilds coming out next year and bring us closer to our net-zero targets for 2040.”

The goal of the project is to prepare the designs and explore the feasibility of converting the 394-foot (120-meter) vessel to hydrogen operations. The information will be used for an investment decision to retrofit Kvitnos. The project also aims to facilitate long-term hydrogen fuel supply contracts based on the vessel’s fixed route along the Norwegian coast.

Blom Maritime will support the project with naval architects, piping engineers, and structural engineers to produce the documentation needed to obtain preliminary approval for the fuel cell and hydrogen solution. Blom Maritime has its main expertise in engineering for retrofitting solutions, a great strength for this project.

TECO 2030 would supply the fuel cells and hydrogen fuel. They will contribute their knowledge of hydrogen propulsion to the design project.

Samskip highlights that it already has one hydrogen-powered container vessel under construction in the SeaShuttle project. This new retrofit project with Kvitnos may become Samskip’s second hydrogen project.

The SeaShuttle project was launched in 2023 with an order from India’s Cochin Shipyard to build two vessels which are being called the world’s first zero-emission feeder container vessels. The contract calls for ships with a nominal capacity of approximately 500 TEU (365 45-foot containers reports the shipyard). They will be hydrogen-powered and designed for remotely controlled, and autonomous-ready operations between the Oslo Fjord and Rotterdam. Construction began in March 2024 on these vessels.

Samsung Says Russia’s Zvezda Illegally Terminated $4B Shipbuilding Deal

Samsung shipbuilding — Samsung says Russia's Zvezda illegally terminated two contracts for block production for Arctic tankers (SHI file photo)

U.S. sanctions against Russian interests and specifically the listing of the Zvezda shipbuilding complex in 2024 are being cited as the reason behind the cancelation of a roughly $4 billion shipbuilding deal between Zvezda and Samsung Heavy Industries. The Russians' unilateral decision to pull out of the deal came after nearly two years of increasing sanctions by the U.S. and South Korea and the U.S. move earlier this week that included further targeting of the Arctic oil operations.

"The Russian client unilaterally claimed that the contract was not fulfilled during a negotiation process,” Samsung Heavy Industries wrote in a stock exchange filing. “Since the contract termination notice is illegal, we plan to file a complaint with the Singapore Arbitration Court to dispute the illegality of the contract termination and scope of return, while continuing negotiations.”

Samsung Heavy Industries has a long history of working with Zvezda and between 2019 and 2021 celebrated a series of high-profile shipbuilding agreements for the Koreans to design and deliver blocks for tankers that would be completed at Zvezda. The total contracts called for 22 vessels with a combined value of approximately $5.7 billion.

Five vessels under the 2019 contract were delivered, but the 2020 and 2021 agreements were hampered by the increasing sanctions. Samsung was designing the vessels when the first sanctions were imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. Competitor Daewoo Shipbuilding canceled three contracts with the Russians in 2022 citing failure to make installment payments while initially, Samsung Heavy Industries sought to continue its projects.

Samsung Heavy Industries reports in 2022 it invoked Force Majeure, suspending the design work for 10 LNG carriers and seven shuttle tankers. That portion of the contract is reported to be valued between $3.7 billion and $4.2 billion. Samsung reports it discussed future implementation plans for the contract with Zvezda.

When Zvezda was designated by the U.S. in February 2024, Samsung notes it was blocked from working with Zvezda. They said further negotiations were ongoing with the Russian shipowner.

Zvezda filed a notice demanding termination of the contract on June 11. Further, the Russians are demanding the return of $800 million in installment payments already advanced to Samsung Heavy Industries along with interest.

The notice came as the U.S. earlier this week targeted Russia’s planned LNG projects with new sanctions. They included Zevzda, expanding the listing on three Arctic LNG tankers, and in total targeting seven vessels all tied to the LNG operations.

Samsung Heavy Industries in its stock exchange filing said it plans to dispute the termination notice. They will seek arbitration.

Newbuilding Prices Reach Highest Level in 16 Years Driven by Strong Orders

After years of downturn and a soft decade through most of the 2010s, the industry trade group BIMCO reports shipbuilding prices are reaching new highs. Overall order prices are up to the highest point since 2008 having increased a further three percent in 2024. The resurgence comes as some sectors have begun to react to emerging environmental regulations while segments such as tankers returned to newbuild after a long drought.

Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO Niels Rasmussen points to the resurgence in orders as helping to drive up prices. The global orderbook he highlights has grown by 72 percent since 2020, reaching its highest level since early 2012. It is up a further two percent year-to-date, which Rasmussen highlights as contributing to a 53 percent increase in prices versus the most recent low in late 2020. Shipyards’ global order book currently stands at 133 million Compensated Gross Tonnage (CGT), an increase of 56 million compared to the order book’s most recent low in late 2020.

“So far this year, the tanker and LNG segments combined have been the main drivers of growth in the global order book,” says Rasmussen. “In addition, the LPG tanker, cruise ship, chemical tanker, and RoRo ship orderbooks have seen double-digit growth. Segments such as cruise began rebounding after the pandemic while LNG is being driven by strong demand and the expansion in Qatar. Tankers had been at a low point due to the prolonged slump in oil markets.

BIMCO highlights that LNG and containerships have accounted for respectively 35 percent and 30 percent of the increase while bulk carriers, tankers, and LPG have accounted for the rest. The orderbook for containerships, however, BIMCO points out peaked during the first quarter of 2023 and has fallen since then although there are expectations that another wave of orders may be coming. Year-to-date, the containership orderbook has fallen 16 percent, as the segment works to absorb its record orders in the past few years. Currently, containerships are deviating from the overall growth trend in shipbuilding orders but the bulk carrier orderbook is also down three percent in 2024.

BIMCO also highlights that the shipbuilding industry was plagued by overcapacity in the last decade between 2010 and 2020. Prices during the 2010s they report only varied +/- 10 percent from the period’s median price. Significant capacity came out of the shipbuilding during the decade which in part has contributed to the longer lead time for deliveries for new orders.

Between 2010 and 2020, Rasmussen calculates that the median order book vs capacity ratio was 2.2, declining to 1.7 during the second half of 2017. Since then, the ratio has climbed from 2.1 in late 2020 to 3.7 currently, the highest since 2010.

This improvement has helped fuel the price increases. The 53 percent price increase in just 3.5 years may seem dramatic says Rasmussen but “it is worth remembering that the average annual price increase between 2010 and 2024 has only been 2.3 percent,” even though manufacturing wages in China have more than tripled.

“Looking ahead, the need to start replacing the large generations of ships built in the 2000s, as well as the need to decarbonize, appear to bode well for future contracting,” says Rasmussen. “Avoiding a massive build-up of shipyard capacity like in the 2000s will be critical if shipyards are to avoid a rise in overcapacity and a scenario where prices fall back to the levels seen in the 2010s.”

This year’s orders have exceeded the forecasts from many analysts who expected a slower pace versus the past few. The South Korean shipyards, however, have reported strong orders while focusing mostly on higher-priced ships and avoiding commoditized segments. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering for example reported today that it has received orders for a total of 111 ships and one offshore unit, worth $12.11 billion, achieving 89.7 percent of its annual order target of $13.5 billion for 2024.

Suez Canal Authority Extends Discounts as Traffic and Revenues Plummet

A sight no longer seen: a Maersk boxship on an Asia-Europe rotation, transiting the Suez Canal (SCA file image)

It is now over six months since the Red Sea crisis began and as expected, Egypt’s Suez Canal has taken a hit with the economic impact now becoming clear. Data released this week for last month shows that revenues of the Suez Canal dropped by 64.3 percent to approximately $337.8 million, compared to $648 million recorded in May 2023, according to Egypt’s business newspaper Al-Mal news.

The number of vessels transiting the canal in May also dropped to 1,111, which is lower than 2,396 ships that crossed during a similar period last year. As a result of reduced ship traffic, the cargo volume passing through the Suez Canal dropped by 68.5 percent last month to about 44.9 million tons. In May 2023, the total cargo tonnage was 142.9 million tons.

As the Houthi onslaught on merchant shipping in the Red Sea escalates, major ocean carriers have been forced to avoid the Suez Canal, instead preferring the longer route around Africa.

In February, Egypt’s Finance Minister Mohamed Maait projected that the Suez Canal revenue loss could be absorbed by last year’s stellar performance. The returns during the fiscal year 2022/2023 hit a record-breaking $9.4 billion, representing almost two percent of Egypt’s GDP. However, Maait has cautioned that prolonged tension in the Red Sea could see further revenue loss. This will burden the state treasury, specifically due to rising fluctuations in the exchange rate against the dollar.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to bolster the competiveness of the canal, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) last week extended fee discounts for a range of vessels on selected long-distance trades. Initially, SCA had introduced the fee reductions back in January, with some discounts as high as 75 percent for product tankers and crude carriers on voyages between Americas and Asia.

The new extension of discount rates will be valid until end of the year, covering 12 categories of ships including bulk carriers, containerships and LNG carriers.

In addition, yachts will also be entitled to a special discount initiative as SCA moves to boost marine tourism in the Red Sea region. This will see introduction of a 50 percent reduction on transit fees for yachts under 300 tons. The promotional measure will effect from July to October and will coincide with the sixth edition of the Egypt International Yacht Show.

Cargo Volumes Dip at Southern California Ports Despite Strong Outlook

Container volumes declined at California's two large port in May (Port of Los Angeles)

Container volumes moving at the Southern California ports dipped in May despite an overall positive trend and positive outlook. While many U.S. ports reported strong growth in volumes both Los Angeles and Long Beach reported monthly declines after a string of monthly year-over-year gains and bucking the trend which saw the overall U.S. trade gap widening in May.

Announcing a decline of over eight percent for total container volumes in May, the Port of Long Beach said “shifting trade routes and canceled voyages led to a decline in cargo.” Imports slid 4.5 percent to 345,271 TEUs while exports decreased 21.1 percent to 100,885 TEUs, for a total of 695,937 TEU in May. The port has been under 700,000 TEU for four of the first five months of 2024 but it came after a strong 750,424 TEU in April.

“I am confident we will see additional cargo as we work with industry partners to rebuild our market share in this increasingly competitive environment,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero.

The neighboring Port of Long Beach similarly reported an approximately three percent decline in total volumes versus May 2023 to just under 753,000 TEU. Imports were off five percent in May 2023 while the port’s executive director Gene Seroka said the results were “in line with projections,” and emphasized the consistent performance of the past few months.

The one strong spot was in exports at the Port of Los Angeles which reached a new milestone of 12 consecutive months of year-over-year gains. Exports were up 24 percent in May to nearly 126,000 loaded TEU with Seroka emphasizing they were working with the agricultural community and others to continue the growth.

While forecasts including the National Retail Federation are calling for continued cargo volume growth, the Port of Los Angeles projected June would be consistent with volume “in the mid to upper 700s TEUs.” While they see it as consistent, they expect unlike 2023 when volumes peaked in June 2023, the outlook is for continued growth.

“As we gear up for the second half of the year, our forecast indicates more robust activity on our docks throughout the summer,” said Seroka.

The Port of Long Beach’s CEO Cordero said “I anticipate a moderate increase in cargo as we move into summer.”

For the first five months of 2024, the Port of Los Angeles’ volume is up 18 percent to 3.9 million TEU. It is below the peak levels when the port surpassed 10 million TEU. Similarly, the Port of Long Beach is up 10 percent so far in 2024 having moved more than 3.4 million TEU.

The West Coast ports continue to work to recover volume as the markets softened after the pandemic and experienced labor uncertainties. A year after settling its longshore contracts the Socal ports highlight that they are well positioned. After volumes shifted to the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast during the labor uncertainty, the ports may see a reversal after the International Longshoremen’s Association suspended talks on a U.S. East Coast labor contract. They have threatened a strike if there is no agreement by the expiration of the contract on September 30. 2024.

Port of Seattle Requires All Homeported Cruise Ships to Use Shore Power

Port of seattle shore power — Courtesy Port of Seattle

The Port of Seattle has become the first port in the United States to require that every homeported cruise ship must use shore power. It follows after a similar rule imposed by the state of California, but is the first time that a port has imposed such a requirement independently.

The port's commission passed the new rule on Tuesday, and it will take effect in the 2027 season. This is three years earlier than anticipated by the port's climate plan.

“In passing this order, the commission turns the port’s 2030 goal of universal shore power use into a 2027 requirement, which is only possible due to the significant investments made by the cruise industry and the port," said Port Commissioner Fred Felleman. "Marketing such investments should also appeal to the environmental interests of travelers who have chosen to cruise to Alaska."

When cruise ships use shore power, they cut their emissions at berth by about 80 percent, according to the port. This saved emissions equaling about 2,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the 2023 season, the port said.

To make this possible, the port is extending shore power service to Pier 66, and it should be available to cruise ships there as of this summer. With the completion of this project, all of the port's cruise berths will be shore power-capable, six years ahead of schedule.

The shore power initiative is one aspect of Seattle's "Green Corridor" project with its partner seaports in British Columbia and Alaska. All Seattle-based cruise ships depart for the Inside Passage and Southeast Alaska, calling in either Vancouver or Victoria, and the recurrent port calls make the route amenable for installing and using sustainable fuel infrastructure.

"We appreciate the leadership shown by the Port of Seattle to move ocean going ships off of fossil fuels by committing to transition 100% of homeported cruise vessels to shore power. And, we call on other ports to follow the leadership of the Port of Seattle to move ports and shipping to a zero-emissions future," said Fern Uennatornwaranggoon, Climate Campaign Director for Ports at Pacific Environment.

Red Sea Diversions Are Causing Port Congestion in Singapore

As shipping lines divert traffic away from the Red Sea to avoid the persistent menace of Houthi rebel attacks, new routes are reshaping the patterns of marine traffic and port calls around the world. Vessels normally assigned to other trades have been diverted to the core Asia-Europe service lane, which is now thousands of miles longer than before because of the need to circumnavigate Africa.

One unexpected outcome has been extra demand for bunkering and transshipment at the already-busy port of Singapore, as ships fuel up for a longer haul and offload the cargo that they would previously have delivered to the Mideast on the way to Suez.

As demand for transshipment rose, Singapore's container volume in the first five months of the year climbed nearly eight percent over the same period in 2023. According to Drewry, Singapore's container terminal utilization rate nearly hit 90 percent in May, a level where productivity often begins to decline because of excess crowding. Drewry director Jayendu Krishna told Bloomberg that boxships are "bunching up" in Singapore and other hubs beause of route and schedule changes, leading to congestion.

According to tracking service Portcast, delays at Singapore have extended up to seven days, and up to 450,000 TEU worth of containerized vessel capacity was waiting to berth at the port as of the end of May. Terminal operator PSA Singapore is reactivating some of the facilities at its older Keppel Terminal in response to the extra demand, and some container carriers are skipping the port altogether in order to keep their schedules on time.

"This year, congestion at Singapore Port is primarily caused by ships returning to Asia off-schedule after longer voyages around the African Cape due to the Red Sea crisis and missed weekly sailings," explained Portcast. "The diversions have caused ships to arrive in Asia unpredictably, exacerbating congestion at Singapore’s port."

The disruption in Asian hub ports is helping to support higher container rates, according to Maersk Group. The number-two ocean carrier recently raised its profit outlook for the year, largely because of the effects of congestion and diversion on the supply of container ships.

The Cape of Good Hope diversions have affected about 90 percent of the container ship traffic that once passed through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Each diversion adds about $1 million in fuel costs and 1-2 weeks of voyage time, but saves the shipowner up to one percent of the vessel's value in war risk insurance costs. In a new report released Thursday, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said that the Houthi campaign of anti-ship missile strikes has affected the interests of at least 65 nations, according to DIA, and at least 29 major energy and maritime companies have diverted away from the Red Sea because of the risks. The list of affected countries includes Houthi allies and sympathizers, like Iran, Russia and China.

Pembina nears investment decision for US$4 billion LNG project

Ruth Liao and Chunzi Xu, Bloomberg News Jun 12, 2024

Pembina Pipeline Corp. plans to make its final investment decision for the proposed Cedar LNG floating gas-export project in British Columbia within two weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.

The US$4 billion project is expected to be financed 60 per cent from debt and 40 per cent from equity, with partners Haisla Nation and Pembina each contributing 20 per cent of equity, Cedar LNG said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News.

The financing will also include a $1.5 billion (US$1.09 billion) five-year term loan for a pipeline connecting the Cedar terminal with the nearby Shell-led Kitimat project, according to the people.

Cedar LNG would be the second Canadian fuel-export project to be financially sanctioned after the Shell-led backers of the $40 billion LNG Canada made their investment decision in 2018.

At least 15 banks will likely participate in financing the project, the people said. Cedar LNG did not comment on the number of banks involved or the timing of a final investment in response to questions from Bloomberg News.

The developers of the project, which also includes the Haisla First Nation, had previously said they were aiming for a final investment decision by mid-2024. Future liquefied natural gas offtake from the proposed 3-million-metric-ton-a-year facility is split between Pembina and Canadian exploration firm ARC Resources Ltd.

The most recent LNG export facility to reach a final investment decision was Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s Ruwais LNG project, announced Wednesday.

Saturday, June 15, 2024

‘Brazen corruption’: Donald Trump is selling policies for a second term to the highest bidders

Richard Hall and Andrew Feinberg
Thu, June 13, 2024

Donald Trump is increasingly shaping and reversing his policies to match the desires of donors (The Independent/Getty)

Donald Trump is no stranger to a quid pro quo — he was impeached for one, after all. But while campaigning for a second term in the White House, he has gone further than perhaps any other candidate in recent history to shape his policies in return for cash.

Trump is not making these bargains behind closed doors or in smoky back rooms, but at fundraisers and events attended by dozens of influential and extremely wealthy people.

On several occasions he has made explicit offers to reward donors by enacting or dismantling policy on their behalf should he win in November, often reversing his own previously held positions.

Democrat Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House committee on oversight and accountability, accused Trump of treating the presidency “as a for-profit business enterprise and money-making venture”.

He told The Independent that the former president was “brazenly offering to sell out US policy to any corporate and billionaire campaign donors ready to make a deal, including telling Big Oil he will sign their executive orders in exchange for a cool one billion dollars”.

“Donald Trump will literally sell out the future of humanity for another billion dollars,” he added.

Donald and Melania Trump arrive at the Florida home of billionaire investor John Paulson (Getty)

The Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit watchdog that focuses on campaign finance laws, called Trump’s actions “brazen, quid pro quo corruption”.

"It is deeply concerning and problematic to see a presidential candidate solicit millions of dollars from wealthy donors in exchange for promised policies or actions that cater to the donors’ wishes,” said Saurav Ghosh, the group’s director of federal campaign finance reform.

Ghosh told The Independent that “years of deregulatory court decisions” have fostered a culture of big money in US elections that allows Trump “to act with impunity, pushing legal boundaries or even breaking them outright”.

Trump’s bargaining began almost the moment he left office, and has continued to this day.

Here are the policies he is selling to donors.
$1bn from oil companies

At a lavish dinner at Mar-a-Lago in April, the former president gathered with around two dozen executives from the biggest oil companies in the country. His campaign was facing a sizeable cash shortfall against his opponent, President Joe Biden, and he was desperate to make up the difference.

As the executives complained about how the Biden administration’s environmental regulations were hurting their business, Trump made a starkly transactional pitch: raise $1bn to send me back to the White House.

If he won, he said he would immediately reverse dozens of Biden’s environmental rules and policies. The $1bn would be a “deal” for the companies, he added, because of the money they would save from deregulation.

The account of the meeting, first reported by the Washington Post, came from several people who attended. Among them were 20 executives from ExxonMobil, EQT Corporation and the American Petroleum Institute, which lobbies for the oil industry. It was reportedly organized by oil billionaire Harold Hamm.

Trump speaks to city officials and employees of Double Eagle Energy on the site of an oil rig in Midland, Texas (Getty)

Specifically, Trump vowed to undo a Biden administration freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports “on the first day” of entering office, one attendee told the Post.

The meeting prompted a furious response from Democrats in the House and Senate.

Representative Raskin wrote to the CEOs of nine of the oil companies that attended the meeting to demand answers, calling it an “unvarnished quid pro quo”.

He said that reports that oil companies are working on potential executive orders for Trump “suggest that certain oil and gas companies, which have a track record of using deceitful tactics to undermine effective climate policy, may have already accepted or facilitated Mr Trump’s explicit corrupt bargain”.
The crypto president

Trump once called Bitcoin “a scam" and argued that it threatened the supremacy of the US dollar. A few years later, in desperate need of campaign cash, he is pitching himself to Silicon Valley as “the crypto president”.

Trump used the term to describe himself at a fundraiser hosted by tech investors David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya at the former’s home in San Francisco this month.

Both Sacks and Palihapitiya have spoken publicly about their investments in crypto, and the event was attended by a number of other notable crypto investors, including executives from Coinbase and twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who own the crypto company Gemini.

Trump has not always been popular in Silicon Valley. In 2020, the tech industry spent big to make him a one-term president. But this time around, there has been a slight yet notable shift among a certain set of crypto-loving tech billionaires.

Trump once called Bitcoin a scam but is pitching himself to Silicon Valley as a crypto champion (Associated Press)

The crypto industry has spent tens of millions of dollars in an effort to influence the 2024 elections, funneling money to help elect lawmakers who will undo regulatory moves by the Biden administration. The industry hopes that deregulation will lead to huge profits for crypto investors.

Trump’s message appeared to land: He came away with $12m in donations from that fundraiser in San Francisco, and the promise of much more.
TikTok flip-flop

As president, Trump spearheaded efforts to ban TikTok.

“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” the then-president declared to reporters aboard Air Force One in July 2020.

Indeed, he signed an executive order in his last year in office that would have effectively prohibited the video app, which is majority-owned by a Chinese company. But just this month he joined TikTok himself. And more recently he has spoken out against efforts from both the Biden administration and his own party to regulate it.

On March 7, a House committee advanced a bill that would ban the app if it didn’t divest, even as TikTok users flooded congressional lines with thousands of calls urging lawmakers to back off.

That same day, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “if you get rid of TikTok, (then) Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

TikTok supporters protest at the hush-money trial of Donald Trump in New York in April (Associated Press)

“I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last election, doing better,” wrote Trump, echoing a baseless conspiracy theory that social media platforms rigged elections against him. “They are a true Enemy of the People!”

What prompted this dramatic change?

Some clues may be derived from the fact that his words came swiftly after a very public rapprochement with Republican mega-donor Jeff Yass. Yass has a $20bn stake in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and is the largest donor in this election campaign cycle.

At the request of Yass, Trump spoke at a conference of the influential right-wing Club for Growth, which the former president previously blasted as “Club for No Growth”.

Yass has given $61m to the group since 2010 but it backed Florida’s Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary against Trump.

At the conference, Trump told donors that he and the organization’s president, David McIntosh, are now “back in love”.
West Bank-rolling

Perhaps the most brazen quid pro quo of Trump’s first term came with a giant donation from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, the Republican Party’s biggest funder over the past decade.

According to New York Times writer Maggie Haberman in her book ‘Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,’ Adelson made a $20m donation to a political action committee to pressure then-president Trump to adopt the highly controversial decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

For his second term, Trump may be poised to sell another controversial policy to the Adelson family.

Sheldon died in 2021, but his wife Miriam has continued his cause and may even surpass Yass to become Trump’s biggest patron in this election cycle.

A New York Magazine profile of Miriam, published last month, suggested that Trump’s support for the Israeli annexation of the West Bank was top of her wish list for a second term.

Miriam Adelson listens as Trump addresses an Israeli American Council summit in Hollywood in 2019 (Associated Press)

The West Bank is considered Palestinian territory and would form the basis of a future Palestinian state. Annexing it would be against international law.

By March, Mrs Adelson had not yet opened her checkbook to fund Trump’s campaign. That month, after he won the Republican primary, he invited her to a Shabbat dinner at Mar-a-Lago, according to the magazine, during which his courting of the donor appears to have begun in earnest. He gave an interview to the Adelson-owned newspaper Israel Hayom in which he described himself as “a very loyal person”.

“I’ve been the best president in history to Israel by a factor of ten because of all the things I do. The embassy, Jerusalem being the capital. Then you have Golan Heights … Nobody even thought that was going to be possible. I did that,” he said.

Ten days after the publication of the New York Magazine profile, Politico reported that Adelson would fund a massive political action committee for Trump’s re-election.
Trickle-up tax cuts

During his presidency, Trump implemented sweeping tax cuts for the top 1 per cent of earners and cut the maximum corporation tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent. His cuts were “one factor helping the fortunes of US billionaires grow by a collective $1 trillion during the pandemic, from March 18 to December 7, 2020,” according to the non-partisan group, Americans for Tax Fairness.

The group said that an analysis of donations to Trump found that he was “enabled with a total of almost a quarter billion dollars in campaign contributions from 134 of America’s billionaires during his short, violent political career”.

Trump is looking to replicate that windfall by promising even more tax cuts for the wealthy, should he win a second term. Several billionaire donors backed off following the riot on January 6, 2021 — they are now finding their way back to Trump, largely thanks to that promise.

Speaking at a donor event at the luxury Pierre Hotel in New York last month, Trump warned the wealthy attendees that taxes would go up unless he wins in November because Biden has vowed to let his tax cuts expire at the end of 2025.

“You’re going to have the biggest tax increase in history,” he said. “So whatever you guys can do, I appreciate it.”

The comments are part of a pattern of offers to wealthy donors from Trump. Donate to me, he says, and I’ll make you richer.

Speaking at Mar-a-Lago in December last year, Trump drew laughs as he described the audience as “rich as hell” before declaring: “We’re gonna give you tax cuts!”

Money has always played a role in presidential campaigns, but the scale and brazenness of Trump’s policy firesale could have a dramatic impact on future elections. If it works, the US government could become even more in thrall to the billionaire class.

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

IRONY

South Africa Commisions Solar Array for Continent's Largest Coal Port

Port of Richards Bay coal and petroleum terminals (Transnet file image)

In a bid to decarbonize South Africa’s major ports, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has appointed Amulet Group Consortium to construct and operate its first 20 MW solar photovoltaic plant at the Port of Richards Bay. This project is part of the agency’s plans to install about 100 MW of renewable energy across South Africa’s eight commercial seaports.

The appointment of Amulet Group follows an RFP process that TNPA launched in May 2023. The consortium will be responsible for building and operating the 20 MW solar power and battery energy system at the Port of Richards Bay for seven years. TNPA expects that the design and construction of the plant will begin this month and will be operational by May 2026.

“The introduction of a renewable energy solution in the port system will enable the reduction of carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions from coal-generated electricity,” said Moshe Motlohi, TNPA Managing Executive for the Eastern Region ports.

Besides renewable energy, TNPA’s energy mix plans include the use of LNG, micro grids and battery energy storage systems (BESS). The operator is also exploring future use of green fuels such as ammonia or hydrogen in its marine fleet.

Last year, TNPA issued a Request for Information (RFI) for the development of a hydrogen fuel terminal and other related facilities at South African ports. The RFI is intended to assess the feasibility of operating and maintaining an import and export terminal for hydrogen at major South African ports.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment