Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison reached a blockbuster mega deal with BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) to sell 80% of its giant ports division for $22.8bn in a record-breaking ports transaction that covers 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries. The deal has been viewed very poorly in Beijing.
CMB.TECH, the shipowning vehicle controlled by the Saverys family, bought a 40.8% stake in Golden Ocean, one of Europe’s largest dry bulk owners, from John Fredriksen’s Hemen Holding for close to $1.2bn. Shortly after his exit, Fredriksen flagged a fresh play in the bulkers arena at Greece-based giant Star Bulk Carriers with a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission showing that Fredriksen-affiliated companies own 11.8m shares in the Nasdaq-listed comany, corresponding to a 10.7% ownership stake.
Shipping is closely watching a public hearing in Washington DC this week as the US deliberates hitting owners of Chinese-built tonnage with hefty extra charges for any call to American ports, a ruling president Donald Trump will decide on in the coming days, and one which could redraw the global seaborne trading map.
The majority of the global merchant fleet is expected to keep away from the Red Sea for the foreseeable future as the security situation in the region worsens. The Israeli military has carried out extensive strikes along the Gaza Stripafter talks to extend the ceasefire failed to reach an agreement. It was the largest wave of strikes to hit Gaza since the ceasefire began on 19 January. The Houthis are expected to head back on to more of a war footing at sea following Israel’s decision to end the ceasefire in Gaza, and renewed strikes hitting Yemen from the American military. Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said his militants will target US and Israeli ships in the Red Sea again.
Peace talks brokered by the US between Russia and Ukraine occupied headlines for much of the month. The two warring nations continued their three-year war however with Barbados-flagged bulk carrier MJ Pinar hit by Russian missiles at the port of Odesa on March 11 with four crew killed, and another injured. As we went to press, a tentative Black Sea ceasefire appeared to have been agreed upon.
Japanese finance and trading house Orix Corporation bought 70% of Sojitz Shipping from parent Sojitz with the shipping subsidiary set to change name to Somec Corporation. Shoei Kisen, a member of the Imabari Shipbuilding Group that handles ship leasing, will also invest in Somec, and Sojitz will continue to hold a small portion of the shares and participate in its management.
South Korea’s Hanwha Group took a 9.9% stake in Australian shipbuilder Austal almost a year after it proposed a full takeover. Both companies are keen to expand US operations at a time when new president Donald Trump is looking to resuscitate American shipbuilding.
Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is buying LBC Tank Terminals, one of the world’s largest independent tank terminal operators primarily handling and storing chemicals in Europe and the US. The acquisition of the Dutch firm will cost $1.72bn.
Container leasing giant Triton agreed to acquire Global Container International (GCI) in a deal valued at more than $1bn, including outstanding debt. The transaction, expected to close during the first half of 2025, will add about 500,000 teu to Triton’s world’s largest fleet of 7m containers.
The 140 m long Solong containership, owned by Hamburg-based Ernst Russ, hit the 183m long Stena Immaculate tanker while anchored near Hull on the east coast of the UK, rupturing at least one of its cargo tanks containing jet fuel and triggering a huge fire with one seafarer reported dead.
Wily, shady entrepreneurs are scanning world maps to seek ever more distant outposts to establish ship registers to help grease the flows of the dark fleet. France and The Netherlands have submitted a paper to the International Maritime Organization’s legal committee about the emergence of two new shipping flags with questionable credentials, one in the Caribbean and the other, a disputed, uninhabited volcanic island in the South Pacific. The submission hits out at what is described as the “fraudulent” registers of Sint Maarten and Matthew Island.
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