The Kingdom is expected to spend $2 billion on ships from a Bremen-based dockyard. Saudi Arabia is looking into buying patrol boats worth 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) from a German firm, and appears to have won the Berlin government’s approval despite widespread public criticism of arms deals, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Arab kingdom was exploring a deal to buy the ships, each costing between 10 and 25 million euros, from Bremen-based dockyard Luerssen, Bild am Sonntag newspaper said. Arms exports are a sensitive issue in Germany given the country’s Nazi past and the role arms makers like Krupp played in fuelling numerous 19th and 20th century wars. Germany’s national security council, which includes Chancellor Angela Merkel and the ministers of defence, development, economy and foreign affairs, had already given the deal a preliminary nod, according to the newspaper.

The new joint service, starting February 15 2013, offers a wide port coverage, additional direct links between North West Continent and East Med and enhanced schedule reliability, and will operate 5х5 500-6000TEUs vessels with a roundtrip of 35 days, according to press release. The new service will commence operation on the following rotation: Felixstowe-Ronnerdam-Hamburg-Antwerpen-Le Havre-Ashdod-Alexandria-Haifa-Ashdod-Valencia- Felixstowe.

Ocean carrier United Arab Shipping Co. will implement a general rate increase on all U.S. export cargo to the Middle East and Mediterranean, effective March 1. It will apply to all tariff ocean freight rates and service contracts. The rate hike will be $150 per 20-foot container and $200 per 40-foot container for shipments from the U.S. to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. UASC said that on shipments to Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey, the increase will be $50 per 20-foot container and $75 per 40-foot container.

K Line moved back into the black with $108.6m profit for the nine-month period ended 31 December 2012.

Ocean carrier Evergreen Line will launch a feeder service linking Greece, Turkey and Malta at the end of January. The GTM service will connect to Evergreen Line’s network via Greece's Port of Piraeus. The intra-Mediterranean route will be serviced by the 600 20-foot-equivalent unit vessel Kirsten. The first sailing is planned to depart Piraeus on Jan. 28. The port rotation for the 10-day voyage includes Thessaloniki, Greece; Gebze, Turkey; and Marsaxlokk, Malta, before returning to Piraeus.

STX Dalian Shipbuilding, the Chinese unit of South Korean STX Group, won a KRW200bn ($187m) deal to build four 181,000 dwt dry bulk carriers for Frontline. The Dalian yard in China will deliver the ships in the first half of 2015. The contract comes with an option to construct four similar type vessels.

Hong Kong: Riding to the rescue of financially strapped French line CMA CGM comes China Merchants Holdings (International). China Merchants today announced it will pay the Marseille container line $537m to take a 49% stake in its ports division, Terminal Link. Terminal Link has a global network of 15 terminals around the world making it the 12th largest terminal operator worldwide based on throughput handled with a volume of 8.1m teu handled in 2011. CMA CGM chairman and chief xecutive officer, Mr. Jacques R. Saadé commented, "CMA CGM is very confident about this partnership with CMHI, which represents a unique opportunity to accelerate the goup development into terminals investments internationally.” CMHI chairman Dr Fu Yuning (pictured) said the transaction was consistent with his company’s plans to expand its international footprint. “Terminal Link's exposure to terminals in emerging markets and its potential pipeline of new projects present another driver for its volume growth and financial returns in the future,” Fu noted. [SinoShipNews 25/01/13]

Currently, Hapag-Lloyd has a fleet of about 150 container ships, for a total capacity of 675 thousand teu, while Hamburg Süd’s fleet consists in over 100 container ships with the total capacity of more than 400 thousand teu. With the merging, the fleet would become of about 250 ships, for a total capacity of more than a million teu, making the new company the fourth most important shipping Company offering line services, a rank that currently sees Maersk Line in first place, considering its fleet that has a capacity of over 2.5 millions of teu, followed by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) with 2.2 millions of teu, by CMA CGM with 1.4 millions of teu, by Evergreen Line and COSCON (both with a capacity of over 700 thousand teu), and, in sixth place, Hapag-Lloyd. Hapag-Lloyd is owned for 77.6% by the Albert Ballin consortium, whose members are the administration of the city of Hamburg, Kühne Maritime, Signal Iduna, HSH Nordbank, M.M. Warburg Bank and HanseMerkur, while the remaining 22.04% is owned by the German Group TUI which, however, showed its intention to sell its quota. Hamburg Süd is part of the German group Oetker, property of the Oetker family, that counts 26.000 employers and operates mainly in the food sector, in the bank sector and in the shipping one through Hamburd Süd, the Company that deals with the line services of the group, the Rudolf A. Oetsker (RAO) which operates tramp services (with over 50 ships), and the Brazilian branch Aliança Navegação e Logìstica. Source: Informare

Currently, Hapag-Lloyd has a fleet of about 150 container ships, for a total capacity of 675 thousand teu, while Hamburg Süd’s fleet consists in over 100 container ships with the total capacity of more than 400 thousand teu. With the merging, the fleet would become of about 250 ships, for a total capacity of more than a million teu, making the new company the fourth most important shipping Company offering line services, a rank that currently sees Maersk Line in first place, considering its fleet that has a capacity of over 2.5 millions of teu, followed by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) with 2.2 millions of teu, by CMA CGM with 1.4 millions of teu, by Evergreen Line and COSCON (both with a capacity of over 700 thousand teu), and, in sixth place, Hapag-Lloyd. Hapag-Lloyd is owned for 77.6% by the Albert Ballin consortium, whose members are the administration of the city of Hamburg, Kühne Maritime, Signal Iduna, HSH Nordbank, M.M. Warburg Bank and HanseMerkur, while the remaining 22.04% is owned by the German Group TUI which, however, showed its intention to sell its quota. Hamburg Süd is part of the German group Oetker, property of the Oetker family, that counts 26.000 employers and operates mainly in the food sector, in the bank sector and in the shipping one through Hamburd Süd, the Company that deals with the line services of the group, the Rudolf A. Oetsker (RAO) which operates tramp services (with over 50 ships), and the Brazilian branch Aliança Navegação e Logìstica. Source: Informare

German carrier Hapag-Lloyd has announced a change in its Europe-Asia Loop 5 service. It will now call Southampton, England, instead of London’s Thamesport. The change will take effect westbound starting with the Hyundai Global, voyage 021W06, departing Gwangyang, South Korea. The remaining port rotation and the transit times will remain unchanged. Hapag-Lloyd is a member of the G6 Alliance, which recently announced that it will maintain the current five-loop product structure for Asia-North Europe service in 2013 and will not reinstate Loop 3.