Overseas news:Mauritius, 54th country in the worldThe World Economic Forum has just published its Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012.Mauritius ranks overall at the 54th place out of a total of 142 countries. Concerning the quality of its port infrastructure, our island occupies the 49th position among the list of all countries. However, Mauritius has been ranked 55th when evaluated about the quality of its air transport infrastructure. Furthermore, on the criteria relating to the efficiency of the goods market, Mauritius is well rated, 39th in the world concerning the prevalence of trade barriers, 31st about trade tariffs or percentage of duties and at the 41st place concerning the burden of customs procedures. The report of the World Economic Forum stresses the fact that an efficient infrastructure is critical for ensuring the effective functioning of the economy of a country, as it is an important factor determining the location of economic activities and the kinds of sectors that can be developed. In addition, a properly developed infrastructure reduces the effect of distance between regions, helping to connect Mauritius at low cost with markets of other countries and regions. For this year, the report shows that Switzerland tops the overall rankings while Singapore has overtaken Sweden for the second position. Moreover, Northern and Western European countries dominate the top 10 states. Maersk Line rationalises its servicesMaersk Line rationalises its services from the Far East and Indian Subcontinent to North EuropeTo strike a better balance between demand and supply on the routes between the Far East and Indian Subcontinent to North Europe, shipping company Maersk Line will merge its ICON service with the ‘Daily Maersk’ network between Asia and Europe. According to freight analysts, there is currently an overcapacity of space on board ships on these routes due to relatively lower exports from China which suffers from high inflation and increasing labour costs. Today, the ICON service consists of seven vessels of Panmax generation. The changes will occur after the Chinese New Year in early February 2012. Furthermore, there will be a dedicated feeder link between Chittagong and Tanjung Pelelas, to enable access to the ‘Daily Maersk’ network. Moreover, exports from North Europe to the Indian Subcontinent, including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, will be covered by Maersk Line AE1 service which will feature a direct call at Colombo. Customers exporting from the Indian Subcontinent will benefit from as the transit time between Colombo and North Europe will improve by two to three days. The fight against piracy takes a new turnThe United Kingdom government has expressed its intention not to oppose the recourse of ship owners to have private armed guards on board their cargo vessels and ships, finally lifting any threat of prosecution.“We are planning for the arming of ships to be a temporary measure only. It is a response to the extraordinary circumstances in which we now find ourselves”, said to the press the UK Foreign Office minister Henry Bellingham. He also announced that the Seychelles will host a new maritime intelligence and information co-ordination centre, which will be financed partly by the United Kingdom. The British government also plans to spend £ 2 million to promote economic development in Somalia. On his part, the Defence Ministry of Italy has stated that it will provide armed forces on the ships of his country that move through the Gulf of Aden. Furthermore, the Italian ship owners’ association, Confitarma, said that 10 teams composed of 6 soldiers will be at the service of vessels registered in Italy. The association has been able to secure the agreement of ports and governments in the piracy-prone region, to enable these soldiers to fly with their arms from Italia by air to ports near Somalia, join the vessels and leave them later at another transit port. Safmarine's Safari 3 service will boost tradeShipping company Safmarine has added since the middle of this month, a direct call at the Mozambican port of Beira and an eastbound Toamasina call on its Safari 3 service between Southern Africa and Asia. This service operated by six vessels, also calls at Port Louis each week.According to Safmarine’s Manager for Far East – South Africa Trade, Alan Mileham, “until now the majority of eastbound cargo shipped from central and northern Mozambique and neighbouring countries (Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi) via Beira has had to move via feeder vessel to Durban, from where it was shipped on the Safari 1 service to the Far East." The new Safari 3 service will enable containers from these regions to be shipped directly through local ports to the Far East and will especially benefit to the mining and agricultural sectors of these countries. During the last years, the volume of cargo via the port of Beira, has grown by more than 30% per year, mainly due to the increased demand in the Far East for agricultural products and minerals from Southern Africa, but also, infrastructural developments in several African countries such as Zambia. The upgraded Safari 3 service has the following port rotation: Tanjung Pelepas - Port Louis - Port of Reunion Island– Toamasina - Maputo - Beira- Toamasina - Tanjung Pelepas. Evergreen in slot-charter agreement with MOLRepresentatives of Evergreen had several meetings with the top management of the Mauritius Ports Authority and of the Cargo Handling Corporation at the beginning of this year.The Mauritian port operators were expecting Evergreen to come back. However, the shipping line whose headquarters are located in Taiwan has preferred not to call at Port Louis directly. It has entered since last month in a slot-charter agreement with another carrier which already calls at Port Louis, Japanese Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), on one of its services between Asia and south-east Africa. Evergreen has joined the weekly Mozambique Zuid Africa Express (MZX) service. Five ships cater for the MZX service, covering the route in 35 days. The vessels call at the following ports: Tanjung Pelepas–Singapore–Port Louis–Durban–Maputo–Tanjung Pelepas. In a statement to the press, Evergreen said that by joining the MZX service, it “would enhance the shipping network around the Indian Ocean islands by extending service to the markets in south-east African landlocked countries.” It is worth pointing out that Evergreen Line operates the fourth largest container fleet in the world, with over 180 ships with a capacity totalling approximately 650 000 TEU. Negotiations between CMA CGM, MSC and CSAVThe world of shipping may change a lot if the current negotiations between the shipping lines CMA CGM, MSC and CSAV are finalized.Agreements to operate jointly several routes or the creation of a consortium to provide certain services are under study. The Chilean carrier CSAV said in a letter to its shareholders that the move is “in line with the strategy to raise profitability and reduce the volatility of results”. CSAV added that it had already reached a memorandum of understanding “which sets out the steps for the signing of definitive agreements”. At the beginning of this month of July, the French shipping company CMA CGM and CSAV have started to offer a joint service between the Far East and the east coast of South America. Furthermore, MSC and CSAV have already entered into bilateral agreements on a number of trades such as between the east coast of the United States and South America, North Europe and the east coast of South America as well as on a series of feeder services from Brazilian ports. Analysts say that on other routes, CMA CGM and MSC may operate jointly to obtain the benefits of economies of scale. |