Thread: Ghost fleet anchored just East of Singapore

That marinetraffic site *is* neat. However, the area 50 miles east of Singapore mentioned in the article isn't covered... basically grayed out.. I'll give the vesseltracker a try...

Well, I tried that vesseltracker on Google Earth and the area is still grayed out. I also tried to track those two ships from APL named California and Florida at the APL website, but thanks to the world we live in today, they want me to sign up and start an account. No thanks.

This kind of thing interests me. My Uncle used to take us fishing when we were younger to a ship boneyard in Lake Ontario where ships would be stripped. It was quite a sight to be so up close to those ghost ships and they were mainly lake freighters.

This is an alleged recent video off the coast dated 9/3/09. Not sure what it looked like during the boom times and not sure how many are loaded/idle/waiting to get loaded.



This one was dated 10/3/08.

I tried locating those two container ships via marinetraffic after isolating the area off the coast, and came up empty... However...

Vessel Name\Year Built\Capacity -DWT\TEU
APL California (CAF)\2009\72,300\6,350
APL Florida (FLR)\2008\72,700\6,350http://www.nol.com.sg/about/fleet.html

It does appear that they are, or rather were, used for the CEX (China Europe Express) service...

APL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines, a global transportation and logistics company engaged in shipping and related businesses. http://www.apl.com/

NOL Posts First Half Net Loss of US$391 million
Singapore, 6 Aug, 2009: Global container shipping, terminals and logistics group Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) today announced a net loss for the first half of 2009 (1H09) of US$391 million, compared with a net profit of US$196 million for the same period of 2008 (1H08).

For the second quarter of 2009 (2Q09), NOL recorded a net loss of US$146 million.
At the Core EBIT level NOL posted a loss of US$353 million for 1H09. Revenue for 1H09 was down year-on-year by 37% to US$2.931 billion.
http://www.apl.com/press_releases/ht..._20090806.html

NOL results show impact of adverse operating conditions
Singapore, 12 May 2009: OUTLOOK: For the rest of the year, NOL anticipates a continuation of adverse business operating conditions. NOL reiterates that it expects to post a significant full year loss.
http://www.apl.com/press_releases/html/press_release_20090512.html

21.10.2008 Container shipping leader APL has today announced a reduction in capacity and significant changes to its global service network in response to increasingly challenging conditions in the major container trades.

Asia-Europe: APL will reduce capacity in the Asia-Europe trade by close to 25%.
From 2 November 2008, APL’s CEX (China Europe Express) Service will be suspended until further notice.

Transpacific: APL will reduce capacity in the Transpacific trade by around 20%.

Intra-Asia: The SSX (Singapore Subcontinent Express) service has been suspended.
http://www.transportweekly.com/pages...rticles/55195/

I guess it's time to invest in alternative uses for shipping containers... like shelters for the homeless... or these nifty jungle medical clinics:
http://www.apl.com/press_releases/ht..._20090616.html

Originally Posted by Clyrinc

I guess it's time to invest in alternative uses for shipping containers... like shelters for the homeless... or these nifty jungle medical clinics:
http://www.apl.com/press_releases/ht..._20090616.html

If we continue outsourcing all our manufacturing, then we may end up needing those shipping containers here to provide shelter for the people who used to be America's middle class.


That giant sucking sound continues...and this is what will become of cities and towns across America:

The three-story house in America's suburbs are going to look like this in the years ahead.

Go ahead. Keep buying those Wal-mart low cost Chinese imports. We'll make sure eveyone ends up a Wal-mart greeter in retirement.

I noticed all the parked ships in the Baltic Sea in April-May this year while tracking a cruise. I thought about posting it but never got around to it.

Try http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ and click on the area of interest. The broad view may not show all that is being tracked.

I have been wanting to buy a couple of those containers for storage shed. It does warm my heart to see them not being used. Love that free trade and NAFTA.

Should be more containers available...

Carloads originated, yoy, & Intermodal Units originated, yoy.
U.S: -18.4% & -16.9%
Canada: -23.1% & -16.5%
Mexico: -14.4% & -19.4%

Weekly Traffic of U.S., Canadian and Mexican Major Railroads, for the week ending September 12, 2009:
http://www.aar.org/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases/2009/09_WTR/~/media/AAR/Weekly_Traffic_Reports/Week%2036.ashx

http://www.aar.org/NewsAndEvents/Pre...ilTraffic.aspx

"As of September 1, 2009, freight cars in storage fell to 478,046, or 30.4% of the North American fleet."

"U.S. freight railroads originated 1,116,182 carloads in August 2009, down 16.4% (218,593

carloads) from August 2008 and the 10th straight double-digit monthly carload decline."

From, " Rail Time Indicators, A Review of Key Economic Trends Shaping the Demand for Rail Transportation."

http://www.aar.org/NewsAndEvents/~/m...er%202009.ashx

Our economy is 70% based on consumers who are cutting household expenses madly and longterm. How is the economy going to recover? How will the market sustain, much less continue to rise-hot air balloons? 40 trains a day used to roll through my town. Now? Not even.

At least as of now, the numbers above tell us to work under the "jobless recovery" scenario when anticipating both economic and financial market themes and outcomes ahead. I’ll leave you with one last tangential comment to ponder that is really fodder for another discussion. I’ve seen many a Street “seer” these days become convinced a “jobless recovery” does indeed lie ahead. But what seems striking is the complacency with which this conclusion is being drawn and used to support investment conclusions. As I see it, the “jobless recovery” post the 2001 recession had one key characteristic – an incredible expansion in household leverage. It was this almost maniacal leverage explosion that both compensated for lack of job growth and drove the economic recovery itself. So if we look ahead and assume a jobless outcome in current post recession experience, will households lever up again to compensate for lack of jobs and wage growth? Not a chance. Not this time. It’s just a good thing the government will do it for them, right? That is a good thing, isn’t it?

Forgot to reference the source of quote above. If anyone wants to read and look at charts, here it is.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/daily/friday.htm

Durable Goods Orders in U.S. Unexpectedly Decreased (Update2)
By Timothy R. Homan

"Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Demand for U.S. durable goods unexpectedly fell in August, signaling companies are planning to curb spending on concern gains in sales will not be sustained.

Orders for goods meant to least several years dropped 2.4 percent, the worst performance since January, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Excluding transportation equipment, orders were little changed. ...

Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, dropped 0.4 percent after a 1.3 percent decrease the prior month that was more than four times as large of previously estimated.

Shipments of these items, a measure used in calculating gross domestic product, dropped 1.9 percent, the worst performance since April.

Companies cut inventories of durable goods by 1.3 percent, according to today’s report, and total shipments dropped 1.4 percent, the most since May."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aL4tvXK0GHCU