Greek shipowners also dominate containerships

Her Anastasia Vamvaka

Strict coronavirus control rules applied in many parts of China have affected the industry at a time when freight owners and carriers are ready to start the main product shipping season, between April and July. Mediterranean Shipping Co. plans “Asia – Northern Europe” bypasses due to ongoing congestion and timetable delays throughout the supply chain.

“This time of year is critical for most companies as they begin to ship fresh produce in preparation for early peak season,” Container xChange said in a report. “Lockdowns in China will not only be a slowdown in production, but also a slowdown in the movement of goods, both of which will be detrimental to the supply chain.”

With factories being forced to close and travel restrictions in place, trucks and port services have already been shut down. Container carriers have already warned of longer waiting times in ports such as Yantian and Shenzhen Shekou. Strict precautions in some of China’s major port cities, such as Shenzhen, Shanghai and Ningbo, have led to the withdrawal of bookings and delays in the mooring of ships.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence data show that the level of congestion in the ports of Shenzhen and Hong Kong has risen sharply in recent days. As of March 23, 113 containers carrying vessels are anchored in the two ports, up from 88 located two days ago, while on March 15 it was 50. The queue of ships outside Shanghai-Ningbo and Qingdao has been reduced to 120 and 21 ships. respectively, from 130 ships to Shanghai and Ningbo and 24 to Qingdao.

If the lockdowns and the resulting congestion persist in China, the world’s factory, there will be an impact on US shipments.

“In the long run, this will add more chaos, as prices go up, capacity is limited and shipments are delayed,” said Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO of Container xChange.

In addition, negotiations on trade unions and ports on the West Coast of the United States, which are due to end in late June, could also prolong the congestion of the port and complicate Sino-US traffic. “The feedback from our North American colleagues, the port industry and many of our customers is that expectations are not so high that [το ζήτημα] “It could be easily resolved,” said Jeremy Nixon, chief executive of Ocean Network Express. [της Ένωσης] He added that his customers were already trying to get ahead of the curve by bringing more cargo to the East Coast, which is now a strong driver for booking demand. to plan their cargo much earlier this year because of the potential dangers on both sides.

“Following the ratio that containers from China will arrive in US ports at about the same time in July-August, they will face deteriorating congestion in the US West Coast ports as well as the East Coast ports, which are already difficult to handle. the movement “.

The Greek shipowners

According to the latest data on the Top-300 shipping companies of Greek interests, according to the number of ships they manage, 20 Greek shipping companies control more than 500 container vessels, which have fleets of state-of-the-art, fast and ecological ships.

Seventy-two ships are controlled by Kostamis Konstantakopoulos’ Costamare, 63 by Danaos Corp. of Giannis Koustas, 56th Technomar of George Giouroukos and 52nd Lomar of George Logothetis. With 46 ships follows the Navios Maritime Containers of the Navios group of Aggeliki Frangou and 40 the Contships of Nikolas Pateras. Pantelis Kollakis’s Chartworld has 24 ships, Costas Conte’s’s Ships 20, while Vangelis Marinakis’s Capital controls 19 containerships and Georgios Empirikos’s Aeolos 15.

The next ten consists of Aristides Pitta’s Eurobulk with 15 container vessels, Dimitris Dalakouras’s Conbulk with 14 containerships, Andreas Hatzigiannis’s Cyprus Sea Lines with 13, Nikolas Laimos Enesel with 10, D Golden with 10 . Also the Cape Shipping of Eugenia Andrianopoulou with 9 containerships, the Cosmoship of Nikos Savvas with also 9 ships, the Element Shipping of Dimitris Lemonidis with 7 ships, the Allseas of Michalis Bontouroglou with 4 and the Dioryx Maritime of Dimitris Papadimitoros with 4 ships .

At the same time, however, they are strengthening their fleets, as the first orders for new ships at Korean shipyards have already been closed. The order to build three more container vessels, with a capacity of 1,800 boxes each, was placed by Vangelis Marinakis through the company of Capital Maritime and Trading, with a total value of 96 million dollars. Just last week, Aristides Pittas and Euroseas signed a contract to build three feeders, with a capacity of 1,800 TEUs, which will be designed with eco specifications, at a total cost of about $ 102 million.