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Shipping 2016 - a year in review

Be it be in shipping, the economy or politics 2016 has been a tumultuous year. Seatrade Maritime News takes a look back at the year and top stories in the world of shipping and maritime.

Marcus Hand, Editor

December 22, 2016

4 Min Read
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January

2016 was not to start with much good cheer. The first week of the year saw oil prices drop to an 11 year low and what was to become a wave of restructurings in the offshore and marine industry were already underway.

On 11 January the crew of the Seaman Guard Ohio were sentenced to five years hard labour by Indian court despite having previously acquitted.

And on 20 January we reported the passing of Evergreen founder Chang Yung-fa at the age of 88 which was to spark a family battle for control of the Taiwanese shipping and aviation conglomerate.

February

Moving into February the dry bulk shipping market was in freefall dropping to unprecedented levels, falling below 300 points after Chinese New Year it finally hit an absolute low of 290 points, thankfully things did start to recover in the second half of the year.

In what was set to be a year of consolidation China Cosco Shipping was officially launched on 18 February bringing together Chinese state-owned giants Cosco and China Shipping.

March

With lifting of sanctions against Iran there now some serious investment opportunities starting to develop with the country expected to spend $25bn on oil and gas projects over the coming decade.

However, for those focused on Iran investments many issues remained due to bank's concerns over US regulations.

April

The first of two major re-alignments of major container shipping alliances – the Ocean Alliance comprising Cosco, CMA CGM, Evergreen and OOCL was unveiled on 20 April.

May

Following the announcement of the Ocean Alliance the second major realignment of container shipping alliances was unveiled comprising the Japanese big three NYK, Mitsui OSK Lines and K Line, Hapag-Lloyd (including UASC) and Yang Ming.

June

The 26 June saw the historic inauguration of the expanded Panama Canal with the transit by the containership Cosco Shipping China.

Meanwhile another major waterway the Suez Canal, which had already undergone expansion, was offering $70,000 discounts for VLCC transits.

And as container shipping consolidation continued Hapag-Lloyd and United Arab Shipping Co (UASC) announced they had reached merger terms.

The largest Greek shipowner Angelicoussis gives struggling Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering a welcome boost with a $1bn order.

July

Singapore-listed offshore marine provider Swiber Holdings stunned the market when it announced its senior management had quit and it was winding-up. Then confusing the market further with 48 hours reversed the decision to wind-up and opted for judicial management instead.

Consolidation was also be seen in the chemical tanker sector with Stolt-Nielsen announcing it was buying Jo Tankers chemical tanker operations for $575m.

Meanwhile with environment and emissions high on the agenda a new cross industry group was formed to promote LNG as fuel.

August

In the seismic event of the year for shipping – if not the decade – at the end of the August Hanjin Shipping announced it was filing for receivership. The bankruptcy of the world’s seventh largest container line was reverberate across the shipping and industry and the supply causing chaos for months to come – the full extent of which is revealed on the Seatrade Maritime News timeline.

If there was any complacency over piracy it was proved to be misplaced after merchant shipping was place on alert following a Red Sea attack.

September

After years of waiting the IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention was finally ratified with the date of 7 September 2017 set for implementation

Shareholders of the Baltic Exchange voted in favour of a $104m takeover bid by the Singapore Exchange of the London based shipping institution.

Anyone struggling to understand why much of shipping is suffering from overcapacity could find an easy answer when Clarksons revealed the global fleet had grown 50% since the 2008 economic crisis.

October

Showing bribery doesn’t pay coatings manufacturer Hempel fires four in a corruption scandal.

In our most read single story of the year Japan’s big three NYK, K Line and Mistui OSK Lines announce they are to merge their container shipping businesses into a joint venture, continuing the sector’s year of consolidation.

November

You’ve been Trumped – protectionist billionaire Donald Trump surprises many by winning the US presidential election and starts naming shipping related people to his team.

A new player announced its arrival in the container trades – Korea Line – buying out the Asia – US business of bankrupt Hanjin Shipping for $31.4m.

And welcome to the Hyperloop as DP World invests in this nascent technology with a view to high speed container handling in the UAE.

December

And container shipping’s year of consolidation just kept on going with Maersk Line announcing it was going to buy Hamburg Sud with the deal expected to complete by the end of 2017.

Meanwhile the world’s largest ship manager V.Group got new owners in the shape of the appropriately named for December private equity group Advent International.

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Container Terminals

About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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