29 Container Vessels
October 16, 2008 by Paula ·
A banking syndicate led by Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG and HSH Nordbank AG together with another four banks today signed a USD 750 million loan for Hapag-Lloyd AG for the financing of a fleet of 29 container vessels.
Acting as coordinators, Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank (Markets & Investment Banking division) and HSH Nordbank AG brought together a syndicate for the financing, in which DekaBank Girozentrale, Dresdner Bank AG, KfW IPEX Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland are represented as further bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers.
The financing has a term of 5 years and will be used by Hapag-Lloyd AG to buy back a fleet of 29 container ships from its parent company TUI. This transaction is used to dissolve HAPAG-Lloyd AG out of TUI group in line with the recent sale of HAPAG-Lloyd AG.
The vessels financed have a container loading capacity of between 2,000 and 7,500 standard container (TEU) each and a combined capacity of 118,000 TEU. The vessels mostly sail under a German flag.
Hapag-Lloyd AG focuses on global container traffic. With the takeover of CP Ships in 2005, the company is one of the top 5 shipping lines with global operations. The Hamburg-based shipping company is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 320 sales offices. The organization extends over five regions: Northern Europe, Southern Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia.
In the first half of 2008 Hapag-Lloyd AG generated sales totaling around € 3 billion. The global transportation volume came to some 2.8 million TEU during the same period, up 2 percent on the corresponding period in 2007.
Hapag-Lloyd AG sets the standard in terms of customer-friendliness, service and productivity within the sector. The fleet consists of 133 container vessels with a capacity of some 500,000 TEU.
Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten is one of the leading operators offering premium and luxury cruises in the German-speaking world.
HSH Nordbank is the world’s leading provider of ship finance with total business amounting to approximately € 30 billion in 2007 in its Shipping unit and around 3,000 ships in its portfolio. Its range of products for shipping companies operating on an international scale includes, in particular, long-term ship-mortgage loans, finance during construction as well as structured ship finance.
The Bank assists its customers both in carrying out projects to build new vessels and in purchasing ships from other sources. In so doing, HSH Nordbank focuses its operations particularly on the three markets of container vessels, tankers and bulk cargo freighters. Yet HSH Nordbank also provides tailor-made solutions for a large variety of specialized ships. Alongside the pure credit business, HSH Nordbank is increasingly active in the provision of comprehensive advice to shipping companies.
A large number of structured and innovative finance deals serve to cover all potential financial service requirements. Innovative instruments for hedging interest, currency and oil-price risks (e.g. trend of bunker costs) round off the range of products. Here, HSH Nordbank provides solutions aimed at hedging risk, which are tailored to specific circumstances.
The Markets & Investment Banking division is the competence center for all investment-banking activities of the companies that form part of the UniCredit Group. The pooling of the investment-banking activities of Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG, Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG and former Capitalio S.A. has led to the creation of an international investment-banking platform that acts as a regional specialist, providing investment-banking services in 22 core markets. HypoVereinsbank’s Global Shipping with headquarters in Hamburg and representative offices in Piraeus, Oslo and Singapore is the competence center of HypoVereinsbank/ UniCredit Group for the maritime industry, both domestic and foreign. At the end of 2007 HypoVereinsbank’s ship financing volume for around 1,000 vessels came to EUR 8 billion; including the UniCredit Group figures, the financing volume totaled EUR 9.5 billion at the end of 2007. This means that HypoVereinsbank now numbers among the world’s top ten largest providers of ship finance. In sector-specific terms, Global Shipping is active in traditional merchant shipping, plus one team each for offshore and maritime logistics (mainly container box financing).
Official Press Release Hapag-Lloyd dated 16th October 2008.
Accident Onboard Chicago Express
September 25, 2008 by Paula ·
We regret to report a tragic accident that occurred on the bridge of the containership “Chicago Express” while off Hong Kong in the early morning hours of September 24th (local time).
The authorities of Hong Kong had previously closed the port as usual with an approaching typhoon and instructed all vessels to leave the port. The captain of the 8749 TEU ship and a Philippine seaman were involved in an accident at sea caused by the serious typhoon with wind speeds of over 90 knots (over wind speed 12 beaufort).
The seaman died from his severe injuries. The captain could be taken by helicopter to a hospital, where he is currently undergoing treatment. The executive board and staff of Hapag-Lloyd express their condolences to the family of the seaman who lost his life as a result of the accident.
Official Press Release Hapag-Lloyd dated 24th September 2008.
Hapag Direct to Australia
September 15, 2008 by Paula ·
Hapag-Lloyd is starting along with a partner shipping line a direct service with weekly departures from Europe to Australia at the end of November 2008. 12 modern vessels with adequate reefer capacity will be deployed in this service offering short transit times to ensure an enhanced coverage of the Australian market.
Subject to regulatory approvals, this will be the only direct service from Europe to Australia via Suez. It will replace the previous ANS service. Northbound the service will continue to call at Singapore and Colombo. Ports in Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka will be added to the rotation.
The vessels to be deployed in this service will be capable of carrying 2,800 standard containers each on this route with a round voyage time of 84 days. The port rotation will be Tilbury, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, La Spezia, Damietta, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Singapore, Port Kelang, Chennai, Colombo, Damietta, Malta, La Spezia and back to Tilbury.
New Zealand is to be called at with an independent service in future improving our presence in this market.
The Australia/New Zealand transport market is continuously expanding. Container volume between Europe and “Down Under” came to approx. 550,000 standard containers (TEU) last year. According to Global Insight, this total will exceed 600,000 TEU by 2009 with annual growth rates of 4-5%. Southbound cargo is chiefly paper, cardboard, cellulose, chemicals and machinery, while mainly food (particularly meat) and beverages (wine) are shipped to Europe.
Official Press Release Hapag-Lloyd dated 15th September 2008.
Enhanced Mediterranean Service
August 29, 2008 by Paula ·
Grand Alliance has announced that they are to enhance their service between the Mediterranean and Asia. They will be adding Valencia as a port of call so that they can cater for customers needs.
The new service will begin in the second full week of August 2008 and will call at a variety of ports in the following order: Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Klang, Jeddah, Damietta, Genoa, Fos, Barcelona, Valencia, Damietta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Busan.
The Grand Alliance was formed in 1998 and is a consortium in global container shipping. Hapag-Lloyd is a member of this consortium.
Hapag-Lloyd Awarded New AEO Certificate
July 25, 2008 by Paula ·
Hapag-Lloyd AG is the first German liner shipping company to be awarded the AEO Certificate introduced by the EU at the beginning of 2008. Thanks to this status, which stands for special reliability and trustworthiness, in Germany Hapag-Lloyd will in future enjoy more rapid Customs clearance in the ports. In addition, the process of AEO certification is intended to ensure increased security in the transport chain.
The AEO (Authorised Economic Operator) Certificate has been available for companies based in the EU and with Customs-relevant business since the beginning of 2008. The EU is also negotiating for recognition of AEO status with third countries such as the USA, China and Switzerland.
Official Press Release Hapag-Lloyd dated 25th July 2008.
Berlitz Guide to Cruising, by Doug Ward, has named its top ships for 2007
March 2, 2007 by admin ·
1. Europa
2. Silver Cloud
3. SeaDream II
4. Silver Wind
5. SeaDream I
6. Queen Mary 2 (Grill Class)
7. Seabourn Legend
8. Sea Cloud II
9. Seabourn Pride
10. Sea Cloud
11. Seabourn Spirit
12. Crystal Serenity
13. Silver Shadow
14. Crystal Symphony
15. Silver Whisper
16. Seven Seas Mariner
17. Hanseatic
18. Seven Seas Voyager
