Daily Archives: October 2, 2022

Building in Chester, England

Sealand Road was the home stadium of Chester City Football Club (until 1983 known as Chester Football Club) from 1906 until 1990. Although officially known simply as The Stadium, it was more commonly referred to as Sealand Road. It was much-loved by supporters of Chester, who followed their team there for 84 years, and after its closure spent an hour making the journey across Cheshire to watch their team play games at Macclesfield Town's Moss Rose ground for two years before the completion of the Deva Stadium in 1992.

Chester moved to Sealand Road from Whipcord Lane in 1906, thanks to the help of local member of parliament Alfred Mond.[1] The first game was on 15 December 1906, when Chester beat Bangor City 40 in The Combination. Over the years The Stadium continued to take shape, with improved cover stands helping Chester win election to the Football League in 1931. The stadium was one of the first to have a public address system, with the matchday announcer regularly saying "Hello Spion Kop, Hello Albert". From 1990 to 2000, Chester had a fanzine called Hello Albert. Albert was believed to be a long-standing supporter.[2]

Floodlights were installed in 1960, with the towering 126ft (38m) lights being used for the first time in a 22 Football League Cup draw with Leyton Orient in October 1960.[2] They were officially opened later in the season with a prestigious friendly against Manchester United.

In 1979, the look of Sealand Road was significantly changed when a new grandstand was opened, replacing the previous small stand. Towering over the rest of the ground, the 2,874 capacity stand provided improved viewing facilities but was criticised for reducing atmosphere levels as it was detached from the rest of The Stadium.[2] The paddock area in front was not open to spectators. In the final years, the other three sides were taken up with the open Kop End (away) and covered Sealand End (home) and Popular Side (half for home fans, half for away fans).

Chester suffered a major blow in August 1989, when it was announced the club had been refused a safety certificate for its away standing areas. This reduced the capacity of The Stadium to below 6,000.[2]

This was to be Chester's last season at Sealand Road, as they were controversially moved out by their new owners and left homeless at Moss Rose, Macclesfield for the next two seasons. The decision to leave Sealand Road was taken at relatively short notice, on 20 March 1990, when an Edinburgh based consortium took the club over and announced its intention to redevelop Sealand Road as a supermarket, with a ground-share to take place elsewhere until a new stadium in the city was completed. The ground-sharing deal with Macclesfield Town was not completed until 12 July, ending fears that the club, then in the Third Division, could miss the deadline to find a stadium and end up being expelled from the Football League.[3]

They returned to the city at the Deva Stadium in August 1992. They played there until they went out of business in March 2010, after which the ground was taken over by a reformed Chester club.

Although Chester have never played in the top two divisions of the English system, Sealand Road housed several prestigious games. The most memorable were in the 197475 season, when they reached the League Cup semi-finals. League champions Leeds United were beaten 30 at Sealand Road in round four, with Newcastle United losing a replay on the same ground in the quarter-finals. This led to Sealand Road being the venue for a League Cup semi-final on 15 January 1975, when Chester drew 22 with Aston Villa in the first-leg in front of 19,000.

The record attendance at Sealand Road was set in an FA Cup third round replay tie against Chelsea on 16 January 1952. Watched by 20,378, Chelsea won 32 in extra-time.

The first Football League match at The Stadium saw Chester thrash Wigan Borough 40 on 29 August 1931, with Frank Cresswell scoring the first goal.[4] Unfortunately the result was later deleted from the records as Borough resigned from the league in October, meaning the first result to stand is a 31 win over Halifax Town the following month.

The final Football League match was a 20 home win over Rotherham United on 28 April 1990, with Graham Abel scoring the final goal in front of 3,827.[5] One of Rotherham's players that afternoon was Bobby Williamson, who later became Chester's manager. On 3 May 1990 Chester Reserves drew 33 with Tranmere Rovers in The Midland Senior League in The Stadium's final ever game.[2]

The Stadium hosted Welsh Cup finals, including when Chester beat Wrexham in 1933, and was also often used for local cup finals and minor internationals. In 1935, The Stadium famously staged an England amateur trial match involving two referees an experiment that was largely not considered to be a success.[6]

Chester's record Football League victory was registered at Sealand Road in February 1936, when Chester hammered York City 120.

The Stadium was the venue for the Football League debut of a 17-year-old Ian Rush, when Chester drew 22 with Sheffield Wednesday in April 1979.

During its final four seasons, Sealand Road continuously hosted Third Division football, which meant that Chester enjoyed league action against a number of traditionally bigger clubs who were more familiar with the First and Second Division. Big name opposition to visit Sealand Road included Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sunderland, Sheffield United and Birmingham City.

The Stadium remained in place for nearly three years after Chester moved out, much to the frustration of supporters who were being forced to travel across Cheshire to watch home games at Macclesfield until the Deva Stadium was opened in August 1992. Unfortunately it was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair during this period, with grass growing to a great height.

The Stadium was finally demolished in 1993 and the site now houses the Sealand Road shopping park which has nearly 740,000 square feet (69,000m2) of retail space. The stand roof was soon in use by Port Vale for their away enclosure. Chester's new Deva Stadium home is a short walk away along Bumpers Lane.[7]

Coordinates: 531147.08N 25435.28W / 53.1964111N 2.9098000W / 53.1964111; -2.9098000

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Sealand Road - Wikipedia

Fake modelling agency conmen, a man who smashed up a ticket machine and a dangerous driver were among criminals jailed in North Wales in September. Others included a Shell Island tourist and a drug dealer.

Judges felt their offences were so serious that they deserved terms of imprisonment. Some had already been given a chance by the courts, but reoffended and were sent down.

Here is a summary of these cases from last month.

Read more: Former Plas Glynllifon owner fails in bid to have speeding case re-opened

A man who rammed a police car during a dangerous high-speed chase told a judge he "didn't really care" about being jailed. Adam Ashley Challoner, of East Green in Sealand, "used his vehicle as a weapon" during the chase, Mold Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting, Karl Scholz, told the court how Challoner was spotted by police driving a silver VW Golf in the Chester area at around 1am on July 9 this year. It was said that the occupants were wanted for failing to stop after a crash.

The car was followed back to Flintshire, into Sealand and Garden City, by a police car which had requested back-up to help in detaining the people inside the vehicle. As the car approached Foxes Lane, they "must have" become aware of the police following them, said Mr Scholz, as the car sped up and drove away heading back in the direction of Chester.

A cyclist was left needing a hip replacement after an angry motorist crashed into him and then left the scene. Robert Hughes, of Ffordd Hiraethog in Mostyn, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving at Mold Crown Court. He was jailed for 16 months.

Prosecuting, Sarah Badrawy, told the court how Hughes, 52, was driving his silver Mercedes along the A494 between Denbighshire and Flintshire a week before Christmas - on December 19 last year. He encountered Keith and Jackie Godfrey - a husband and wife who set off from their home in Ruthin for a bike ride.

She said that there had been a "very quick verbal exchange" between the two men after Hughes passed the couple with "less than a foot" between them, before the incident took place.

A man smashed up a ticket machine with a piece of railway ballast because a "voice in his head told him to". Aldo Tamburrini had been trying to get the computer out of the vending machine at Prestatyn Station.

But while on bail for that offence, the 57-year-old defendant then burgled a priest's home and bought alcohol using his stolen bank cards. A judge at Mold Crown Court noted Tamburrini was vulnerable but said it was his public duty to deal with him and sent him to prison for 876 days.

Prosecutor Nicholas Williams said the defendant, of Caradoc Road, Prestatyn, was seen entering Prestatyn Station in the early hours of April 22 this year. CCTV footage showed him going onto the tracks and picking up a piece of ballast which he used to "smash the ticket vending machine" on the platform. He caused a total of 14,702.78 damage.

Two conmen were jailed over a scam involving getting intimate pictures of women for cash.

A number of women were "duped" by another woman supposedly called Gemma Wright, who supposedly ran a modelling agency called Shining Star. Prosecutor Rosemary Proctor told the judge at Mold Crown Court that Gemma Wright did not exist and was in fact the two defendants.

Oliver Pendleton, of Clwyd Avenue in Abergele, admitted to fraud as well as having a computer to perform function with intent to secure authorised access. Jason Maguire, of Caradoc Road in Prestatyn, faced the same charges alongside eleven breaches of his sexual harm prevention order and six charges of creating indecent images.

A member of a criminal gang who flooded North Wales with cannabis was jailed. Jake Kiernan, of Vicarage Lane in Rhuddlan, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class B drugs - cannabis, and got two years and eight months' imprisonment.

Prosecuting, Andrew Jones, told a judge at Mold Crown Court how a covert police operation had identified that the defendants were part of a wider organised crime group who were bringing cannabis into North Wales from across the border in Merseyside. He said that Kiernan, 30, was heading up the gang and had the responsibility for sourcing "multiple kilograms" of cannabis from an upstream supplier named Hadyn Pendleton in Liverpool.

The court heard how "security conscious" Kiernan used "at least" 10 different mobile phone numbers over the course of the conspiracy to avoid the detection of the police. Mr Jones said that Kiernan would send "couriers" he trusted over to Speke to collect the cannabis from a contact for onward distribution.

A 29-year-old man who claimed he struck a teenager after unpleasant comments were made by a group of lads was jailed. Michael Bowes, of Princes Street, Rhyl, had been under a suspended sentence.

District judge Gwyn Jones at Llandudno Magistrate Courts said his record and use of violence justified custody. "This was gratuitous use of violence upon a young person," said the judge.

Bowes admitted common assault on September 5 at Rhyl and having cocaine. Thirteen weeks of the suspended sentence were activated and twelve weeks imposed for the attack, making a total prison term of 25 weeks.

A holidaymaker breached a court order by going on a trip to North Wales with his partner. Stephen Rhodes, 47, went to the Shell Island campsite in Llanbedr despite there being a restraining order preventing him from contacting her.

While there, he also became drunk and disorderly and police had to be called but he obstructed an officer, Caernarfon Magistrates heard. Rhodes, of Western Way, Bradford, West Yorkshire, admitted breaching a restraining order and several other offences.

He was jailed for a total of 82 weeks. The court heard that a member of Shell Island's security team had told North Wales Police about a drunken man at the campsite just after midnight on September 2.

A sex offender was caught on camera peering through windows in the early hours of the morning. His actions were described as "unsettling" by a judge, who jailed him for two years.

Brandon Hughes, of no fixed abode, appeared before Mold Crown Court having breached a sexual harm prevention order that came into force after he was caught performing sexual acts upon himself whilst looking through the window of a home in Rhyl, said prosecutor Sarah Badwary.

She told the court how the ban was supposed to prevent Hughes from loitering outside residential properties without good reason or entering the boundaries of homes without express permission. Despite this, the 23-year-old went out into Denbigh on May 2 this year and ignored those conditions.

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Shell Island tourist and 'depraved' sex offender among those jailed last month - North Wales Live

RECYCLING centres across Cheshire West will be moving to a winter opening hours schedule from Saturday, October 1.

The waste sites, which are currently open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm during the weekend, will change to the shorter schedule of 8am to 4pm as the colder nights draw in.

These opening times will continue from the beginning of October until April 1, 2023.

For those in Chester, this will affect the Bumper's Lane site on Sealand Industrial Estate and those in Ellesmere Port will see a shortened timetable at the Garth Road facility.

Elsewhere in Cheshire West, Frodsham's Station Yard recycling centre near Church Street, Neston's facility on Clayhill Industrial Estate, Northwich's site on Marbury Lane and Tattenhall and Winsford's sites on Red Lane and Leslie Road respectively, will also be affected.

To locate your local site, or for further information on the recycling services each site can provide, including a list of accepted items and materials, visit the Council's website: https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/waste-and-recycling/find-a-recycling-centre.

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Recycling centres in Cheshire West to move to winter opening hours this weekend - Chester and District Standard

Here's a taster of what sort of properties you can get for under 170k in Blacon at the moment. This large suburb of Chester is renowned for its community spirit, with a community centre, library and a state-of-the-art business enterprise centre, as well as a host of shops.

Shops on your doorstep in Blacon include the thriving Ian's 5 A Day fruit and veg shop, which relocated from Chester Market back in May. Ian and Jane Hall haven't looked back since making the move to the suburb they call home, providing a bustling place to pop in for competitively-priced and super fresh fruit and veg served with a smile by the community-minded couple.

Blacon is also home to the popular King George V Community Sports Hub, opened by the Duke of Westminster in June this year. The sports hub is home to Chester FC Community Trust and features a full-size floodlit 3G artificial grass pitch and a new clubhouse featuring changing rooms, kitchen, office and community room.

READ MORE: A bird's eye view of Chester's Northgate development as opening day edges closer

This large suburb is also only a short drive or bus ride away from the Sealand retail park or the city centre, with its vast array of shops, restaurants and cafes and attractions like the Groves by the River Dee.

These are just some of the properties that 170k or under could buy you in Blacon right now

Elmuir in Blacon is a two-bed bungalow currently on the market, with offers of over 140k invited. This property, which is in a peaceful location, includes solar panels if you are looking at cutting energy costs. There's also a good-sized lounge and a garden which is described as perfect for entertaining, with a good choice of local shops close by.

The brochure on the Rightmove website states: "A fantastic two bedroom bungalow ready whenever you are! Tucked away on a popular residential area in Blacon, Chester is this impressive two bedroom home."

Meanwhile, Wyndham Road in Blacon is listed on Rightmove as accepting offers of 155k or over. For this price, you will get a newly-renovated home with two double bedrooms and front and rear gardens.

The brochure for this property reads: "This newly renovated, two double bedroom end of terrace property is an exciting addition to the market and is ready for someone to drop their bags and move in. The accommodation is generous and in brief, comprises an entrance hall, kitchen/diner, lounge, two double bedrooms with fitted wardrobes, a modern family bathroom and an additional W/C."

This three-bed property in Sumner Road in Blacon will set you back 160k. It includes "a generous, private rear garden which backs onto the school, ensuring privacy" along with parking for two vehicles.

The brochure on Rightmove says: "One of the key attractions to this property is the scope to modernise and really make it your own. The accommodation briefly comprises an entrance hall, lounge/diner, kitchen, lean-to, three bedrooms and a modern four-piece family bathroom."

This three-bed property on Pulford Road, Blacon is for sale for 140k. The brochure on Rightmove describes this property as an "ideal family home for first time buyers or investors". The brochures goes on to say: "Located on a quiet street only two miles to the centre of Chester, being less than a ten minute drive. A home looking for someone to modernise and make their own.

"This three bedroom property has a lounge, separate kitchen and a utility/store room, upstairs there are three bedrooms and a family bathroom."

Coming in close to the top end of our 170k budget at 169k, this spacious end terraced property on Lynwood Road, Blacon, boasts a private rear garden. It also boasts extended living downstairs and off-road parking.

The Rightmove brochure says: "Offered with no onward chain, this spacious property must be viewed to truly be appreciated. In brief the property comprises of: entrance porch, spacious lounge, kitchen, sitting room and to the first floor are two good sized bedrooms and a shower room.

"Benefits include: UPVC double glazing, gas central heating, enclosed rear garden and off road parking."

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Five Blacon properties that could be yours for less than 170,000 - Cheshire Live

When visitors signed up for the Dine with Shamu event at Seaworld, Orlando, they expected to enjoy a bite to eat and a choreographed killer whale show.

Instead, they were greeted by haunting scenes of a 'psychotic' orca mauling its trainer to death.

Dawn Brancheau was one of SeaWorld 's most experienced trainers, and onlookers could only stand-by in horror as Tilikum, the largest bull orca in captivity, took her long ponytail in his mouth and dragged her into the pool during a petting session in February 2010.

She tried to pull her hair free but at 126lbs, Dawn, 40, was no match for the 12,500lb, 22ft-long whale, who only yanked harder.

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Traumatised Dutch tourist Susanne De Wit, along with 50 others, witnessed the attack, having been told to go to the viewing window to take pictures with Tilikum after their lunch.

In a statement to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, she said: "We saw Shamu (Tillikum) at the window straight up.

"Suddenly I saw Shamu grabbing the trainer by the shoulder and pulling her down in the water near the window.

"It did not look normal. It was scary. He was very wild with the trainer still in the whale's mouth. The whale's tail was very wild in the water.

"The tour guide pulled us out and there was a full alarm. We then saw them throw a net into the water."

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Dawn's colleagues immediately initiated their emergency procedures, slapping the water in a signal to Tilikum to stop and dropping a weighted net to try and separate the whale from the woman.

But he refused to respond. At one point Dawn managed to break free and swim to the surface but Tilikum slammed into her, clamping his jaws around her middle and shaking her violently.

Spectator Victoria Biniak told WKMG-TV how the whale, "took off really fast in the tank and he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing her around, and one of her shoes flew off.

"He was thrashing her around pretty good - it was violent."

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Even when staff managed to guide him to the medical lift and raise the floor he refused to let Dawn go. Trainers were forced to pry his jaws open and pull their colleague free as her arm came off in his mouth.

She had been scalped and dismembered and had almost every bone in her body broken before being drowned.

And despite SeaWorld putting the incident down to 'trainer error', several former trainers claimed they believed Tilikum knew exactly what he was doing.

"He got her down and that was it - she wasn't getting out," former trainer Jonathan Smith told Outside magazine.

"I truly believe that they are smart enough to detect and know what they are doing. He's going to know she is trying to get to the surface."

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Former trainer Jeffrey Ventre agreed. "If they let you out, it's because they decide to," he added.

"We don't know for sure what motivated Tilikum. But there's no doubt that he knew exactly what he was doing. He killed her."

SeaWorld said in a statement: "That tragic situation happened more than 12 years ago.

"Trainers have not been in the water training with killer whales for many years.

"We have extensive protocols and training in place to protect the safety of our trainers and animals.

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But what many didn't know is that Tilikum had killed before.

He'd been involved in the 1991 death of 20-year-old trainer, Keltie Byrne, at Sealand in Victoria, Canada before being sold to SeaWorld.

And in 1999 Daniel Dukes, 27, was found splayed naked on Tilikum's back covered in bite marks and puncture wounds.

Out of four known fatalities involving killer whales in captivity, Tilikum had been involved in three.

Experts told 2013 documentary Blackfish they believed his capture and captivity had rendered the intelligent, sensitive animal 'psychotic' - claims SeaWorld has denied.

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He was just two years old when he was torn away from his family off the coast of Iceland and taken to a concrete holding tank at Hafnarfjrdur Marine Zoo near Reykjavk.

There, he reportedly spent close to a year either swimming in circles or floating still on the surface before being shipped to the rundown Sealand of the Pacific, a marine park just outside Victoria, on British Columbia's Vancouver Island in 1984.

The documentary heard how he was housed with two older female orcas named Haida II and Nootka IV who sought dominance, with females being at the top of the social structure in the wild.

For 14 hours a day, the incompatible trio were allegedly forced into a 26ft wide enclosed mental-sided pool known as the module where the females raked Tilikum with their teeth in the darkness.

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He is said to have started suffering from stomach ulcers and was eventually isolated in a medical pool to protect him from the bloody attacks.

And on February 20, 1991, the trio killed University of Victoria marine biology student and part-time trainer Keltie Byrne when she slipped and fell into the orca pool after a show.

According to witnesses, one whale grabbed her in its mouth and dragged her around the pool underwater.

Horrified witnesses described how the champion swimmer screamed, "I don't want to die," as she fought to escape and reach the side. But every time she managed to break free, the orcas pulled her back.

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"I just heard her scream my name," trainer Karen McGee recalled.

"I threw the life-ring out to her. She was trying to grab the ring, but the whale, basically, wouldn't let her. To them it was a play session, and she was in the water."

They tried to distract the trio by throwing fish and banging buckets but none of their usual commands worked. Keltie is said to have come up screaming one last time before she finally drowned.

It took employees two hours to get the orcas to release the Keltie's body, which the whales had stripped and covered in bruises from bite marks.

Al Bolz, Sealand's manager, told reporters at the time, "It was just a tragic accident. I just can't explain it."

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But Paul Spong, director of OrcaLab, in British Columbia who had done research at Sealand, saw it a different way.

"If you pen killer whales in a small steel tank, you are imposing an extreme level of sensory deprivation on them," he said.

"Humans who are subjected to those same conditions become mentally disturbed."

The park closed soon after and Tilikum was sold to SeaWorld Orlando where he sired 21 calves, making him the industry's most prolific breeder.

There, trainers told the documentary they were unaware of his past, but on the morning of July 6, 1999, SeaWorld physical trainer Michael Dougherty glanced in the underwater viewing area by his office and saw Tilikum looking back with two human feet hanging down his side.

The victim was Daniel Dukes, 27, who had attended the park the day before and evaded security to stay overnight, seemingly to take a moonlight swim with Tilikum.

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His clothes were found in a neat pile by the side of the pool and an autopsy discovered he'd suffered cuts and puncture wounds to his head, body and left leg with his testicles ripped open.

Without camera footage or witnesses, the coroner recorded a verdict of death by drowning and hypothermia.

Then came Dawn's killing.

A SeaWorld spokesman has denied that Tilikums killing of three people showed aggressive intent and in January 2017 he died from a bacterial infection aged 35.

Have you got a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email us at yourmirror@mirror.co.uk

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'Psychotic' killer whale scalped and dismembered trainer as horrified tourists looked on - The Mirror

This is a time of highly disrupted supply chains compounded by cascading issues. Yet ocean carriers are riding a high wave ofunprecedented record profits.

Maersk, now the worlds second largest shipping company, reported second quarter 2022 revenues of $21.7 billion, marking a 52% increase compared to the same period of 2021. Net profits were $8.6 billion, a new quarterly record, and $15.4 billion for the first half of the year.

For the first half of 2022, Hapag Lloyd, the worlds fifth biggest container line, reported revenues of $18.6 billion with a net profit of $9.5 billion more than three times a year earlier.

All container carriers are seeing high profits, said Nils Haupt, Hapag-Lloyd spokesman. Due to low capacity and high demand, all carriers have seen rates going up pretty much since the second half of 2020. Heavy congestions at ports lead to capacity reduction at Hapag-Lloyd of about 20%. This of course leads to higher rates due to much less capacity.

Based on the current business performance, Hapag-Lloyd officials believe the second half of 2022 will exceed previous expectations. In Germany, Hapag Lloyd is now regarded comparably to Volkswagen in terms of corporate profitability.

Liner carriers have never made so much money, says Stefan Verberckmoes, an analyst at ocean cargo database provider Alphaliner.

Drewry Supply Chain Advisors forecasts ocean carriers will make $270 billion in profits in 2022. Thats $70 billion more than what they amassed in 2021, and more than five times what they made in 2020. Drewry also sees the industrys profits declining to about $150 billion in 2023 as supply chain bottlenecks unwind and freight rates fall.

Source: Drewry Container Capacity Insight

Alphaliners Top 30 ocean carriers reflects further consolidation

Rank

Much of that profit comes from the high pricesmany hitting recordscarriers have been charging for containers. Simply put, its the result of supply and demand, which has not traditionally been the case for the ocean shipping industry.

Historically, the carriers have always operated with enough ships, says Verberckmoes. But with the pandemic, the industry faced its first shortage.

The industry is still caught in the wake of the pandemic and the subsequent string of unprecedented events: a sudden shortage of ships; port congestion exacerbated by Chinas zero-COVID policy lockdowns; labor shortages and union disputes at terminals; and inland transportation bottlenecks. By Drewry estimates, these disruptions removed about 10% of ocean capacity from the market, which escalated container shortages and high container rates.

In response, some carriers placed large orders for containers. For example, in April 2021 Hapag-Lloyd ordered 150,000 TEUs of new dry and reefer boxes plus 8,000 TEUs of special containers. At a cost of $550 million, it was the companys largest investment ever in boxes.

But now theres an oversupply of containers. Drewry recently reported that while the global pool of shipping containers increased by 13% to almost 50 million TEUs in 2021, the industry now has a global surplus of 6 million TEUs.

Rates are also coming down. Freightos reported that the cost to ship a container from China to the U.S. in June 2022 was $9,500, half the $20,000+ price tag 10 months earlieryet still four times higher than the $2,500 rate in June 2020.

We always knew that extreme freight rates and profits were unsustainable, says Philip Damas, managing director, Drewry Supply Chain Advisors. The only question was when will the market turn, and then, how quickly will it normalize? We still believe that the winding down of high rates and carrier profits will take some time.

World Container Index($ per 40 foot container)

Source: Drewry Container Capacity Insight

Investment strategies

Meanwhile, carriers are looking for investments. With hundreds of billions of windfall profits, carriers have paid back debts, bought thousands of new containers, ordered dozens of new ships, acquired port terminals (i.e., CMA CGMs acquisition of 90% of the Fenix Marine Services terminal in Los Angeles), and have invested in air cargo and logistics businesses.

In April, Maersk launched Maersk Air Cargo to meet the rising demand across the global integrated logistics market. A year earlier, CMA CGM launched CMA CGM Air Cargo, and in May 2022 signed a long-term partnership with Air France-KLM to jointly sell their air freight capacity.

Carriers worldwide have also been on a buying spree to add ships to their fleets. None has been more aggressive than MSC. In early January, its vessel acquisition policy resulted in its overtaking Maersk as the worlds largest container shipping company, thereby ending Maersks 25-year reign at the top.

As of August 18, 2022, the Alphaliner Top 100, which is updated daily, showed MSC owning 371 ships and 319 charters for a total of 690 vessels with 4,471,244 TEUs. And, MSC has 114 vessels on order with a capacity of 1,533,730, which, at current figures, increases its capacity to 6,004,974 TEUs.

By comparison, Maersk owns 343 ships and 388 charters, or 731 vessels with 4,262,161 TEUs, and has 28 vessels on order with 306,165 TEUs capacity. This brings its capacity to 4,568,326 TEUs. MSC will outpace Maersk by 1,436,648 TEUs.

MSCs appetite for second-hand ships has been described as insatiable. Maersk had achieved the No. 1 position through acquisitions: Sealand in 1999; P&O Nedlloyd in 2005; and Hamburg Sd in 2017. Today MSC and Maersk have two different strategies, says Verberckmoes. Maersk is investing more in logistics with a goal to become a logistics integrator in containers like UPS and DHL are integrators for parcels.

Other liners with a notable number of ships on order are CMA CGM, which is adding 68 ships (641,489 TEUs) and Evergreen Line, which is adding 55 ships (539,340 TEUs). Evergreen has overtaken ONE because of their new program for huge modern ships, Verberckmoes says.

Hapag-Lloyd has doubled its container ship order by ordering six mega-vessels with a capacity of more than 23,500 TEUs. Delivery is expected in December 2023. With so many ships on the orderbooks, 2024 will see a serious influx of new tonnage. Its very unlikely there will be enough cargo to fill all of these ships, Verberckmoes observes.

Meanwhile, smaller, non-alliance carriers such as Matson and Zim in the trans-Pacific trade, and new entrants like BAL and Sea Lead Shipping, are creating what Drewry sees as being a fillip of competition to the very large alliance ocean carriers who control 70%+ of the total ocean shipping capacity on the East-West routes.

In March, for example, Sea Lead launched a new service connecting East Asia to four strategic ports on the U.S. East Coast. But the smaller regional carriers are not making a big impact on overall major routes other than providing exporters and importers some alternative options when capacity is very tightand sometimes a higher level of service, Damas says. They play a big role in intra-regional markets like intra-Asia,not the major East-West routes.

Given looming changes in supply and demand whereby container lines may face excessive capacity, the next big issue will be cargo visibility.

Many are questioning what impact the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 will have on ocean carriers. In short, analysts say: Not much.

The Act essentially revises requirements governing ocean shipping to increase the authority of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to promote the growth and development of U.S. exports through an ocean transportation system thats competitive, efficient, and economical.

For example, the bill requires the FMC to investigate complaints about detention and demurrage charges (i.e., late fees) charged by common ocean carriers, determine whether those charges are reasonable, and orderrefunds for unreasonable charges.

It also prohibits common ocean carriers, marine terminal operators, or ocean transportation intermediaries from unreasonably refusing cargo space when available or resorting to other unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods.

The FMC concluded that the carriers are not doing something illegal, comments Stefan Verberckmoes at Alphaliner. But because the carriers are now so rich, some think they did.

The Act does reinforce FMC oversight powers. Carriers will have to revise their detention and demurrage tariffs and practices to ensure shippers have sufficient time and ample opportunities to act before they must pay the late fees.

Fines will be imposed on carriers who charge penalties the FMC regards unfair, explains Philip Damas, managing director at Drewry Supply Chain Advisors. Ocean carriers will also feel pressured to provide more empty containers to U.S. exporters instead of returning them empty to Asia..

Currently, however, environmental regulations, specifically IMO 2023, are prompting containership acquisitions. IMO 2023 requires that carriers reduce their carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 70% by 2050.

The regulations are challenging container lines because there are only three options: low sulfur fuel; alternate fuel such as LNG; or the installation of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS), or scrubbers. Low sulfur fuel is significantly more expensive than high sulfur fuel. High oil prices, the result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has particularly made ships installed with scrubbers less costly to operate.

Frankie Mossman, chief customer officer at supply chain visibility and risk management software company Overhaul explains: IMO 2023 regulatory initiatives for driving carbon compliance will require all vessels to be assessed by their efficiency, carbon index, and ship energy efficiency management plan. Based on the age of the fleet and these assessments, this could reduce vessel capacity and strain sailing options.

At the end of 2021, Evergreen had installed scrubbers on 108 ships, or some 50% of its fleet. In May 2022, ONE ordered 10 mega-ships designed to run on methanol and ammonia as part of its $20 billion plan to overhaul its fleet. Last year Maersk announced it was investing $1.4 billion in eight new vessels, each costing $175 million, that can be propelled by methanol. Delivery is expected in 2024.

In 2020, CMA CGM became the worlds first maritime shipping company to choose LNG to power its ultra-large containerships and announced its decision to acquire a new generation of 26 LNG-powered containerships.

Drewry finds evidence that the industry is trying to decarbonize the majority (54%) of vessel order contracts placed this year for alternative fuel types. Shipping analytics firm Clarksons Research reports that only around 5% of the worlds fleet currently can run on alternative fuels, with some 4% being LNG fueled. It adds that 40% of new ship orders have that option. However, the cheapest solution to decreasing emissions is to drastically reduce transport speeds.

Then theres the issue of older ships, some 40 years in service and running because carriers needed all the vessels they could deploy. The older ships, which are the most polluting, will be forced to slow down. If they were going 20 knots, they will be forced to sail at 10 knots, Verberckmoes says.

But this also creates a need to transport 5% to 15% more capacity to make them viable. There is a large difference between 5% and 15%, says Verberckmoes. Plus, mega container ships consume less fuel on a voyage than 16,000 TEU vessels, thereby saving money. This is why so many new and large ships are being delivered, he adds. They wont have to face speed reductions and offer huge capacity.

Given that most ships typically are commission for 25 years, and ships need to be carbon free by 2050, the time to go fuel-free is now. Apart from heavy and low-sulphur fuel oil, and to some extent LNG, theres currently still nothing available on a worldwide scale yet, Verberckmoes says.

Damas adds that many companies are just starting to look at decarbonization and sustainability strategies for their transportation activities. This will become an area of much stronger focus over the next 12 months, he says.

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