New joint venture in Ningbo

Yang Ming has declared General Average for YM Mobility following an explosion at Ningbo Port, requiring all stakeholders to share the costs of the incident.

The fire on board YM Mobility seems to be under control with ‘no visible flames on board’ as cooling efforts continue following Friday’s explosion, according to Yang Ming.

A powerful explosion struck a container ship docked at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port.

Hamburg-headquartered Hapag-Lloyd and Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) are to start a new service connecting Europe and ports on the Atlantic seaboard of South America in September. Nine ships with the capacity to load up to 9,000 TEU, and with the ability to carry 1,325 reefer containers, will be deployed in the operation. Hapag-Lloyd will contribute four of the vessels.

In the West African port sector, Ghana is on the rise, while terminal development in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, has stalled.

A consortium led by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has signed a 35-year concession to expand and operate the container terminal at the Port of San Pedro in Côte d’Ivoire. San Pedro is the second most important port in the country, but is currently much smaller than Abidjan. However, it handles most of the exports for the world’s biggest producer of cocoa. Total investment is put at CFA300B (US$500M), of which MSC will invest CFA130B.