‘Shipshape 10 List’, a list of news and articles published in the current week that a senior executive in shipping, shipping finance, commodities, energy, supply chain and infrastructure should had noticed; news and articles that are shaping the agenda and the course of the maritime industry.

Sometimes seemingly tangential, sometimes humorous, occasionally sarcastic, but always insightful and topical.

And, this week’s ‘Shipshape 10’:                                                                                              
One cannot talk about shipping these days without bringing up the topic of bankruptcy, liquidation, Chapter 11, etc but also consolidation, M&A, etc

Rather surprising news that Toisa Ltd and Brokerage and Management Ltd of Gregory Callimanopulos opted to file for bankruptcy protection in New York; the numbers are of the billion-order magnitude, with or without the two Gulfstream private airplanes seeking protection from the creditors:

1. Shipping Fleet Operator Toisa Files for Bankruptcy (from Wall Street Journal)

Just a formality, but after several months through the court system, Hanjin Shipping no more:

2. South Korean Court to Liquidate Hanjin Shipping (from the Maritime Executive)

Eike Batista, the man who allegedly made more money from the PowerPoint than Bill Gates himself, having filed for bankruptcy in Brazil recently, had to take a quick flight back from New York to appear in court in Rio de Janeiro. Mr Batista is the man who was raising tens of billions of dollars on oil fields to be mapped to be explored to be developed to be drilled to produce oil offshore of Brazil in the good days of the $100+/bbl;

3. Eike Batista Says He Will Turn Himself In to Police (from the Wall Street Journal)

A weak market forces shipbuilders too to re-think their business model:

4. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plans to spin off shipyards (Splash 24/7)

And, on the other aspect of the spectrum, Norwegian shipping tycoon John Fredriksen did what John Fredriksen does best, making an un-solicited all-paper offer to take over a competitor in the VLCC market in the desperate market when prices are cheap and no much of a premium is needed:

5. Frontline launches takeover offer for Double Hull Tankers (from the Financial Times)

Speaking of supertankers and VLCCs, one has to always cognizant of OPEC and their present balance equilibrium of oil production:

6. OPEC Convinces Investors That Its Oil Output Cuts Are Real (from Bloomberg)

7. U.S. Senators Should Learn to Love OPEC (from Bloomberg)

and

Traders Rush to Ship U.S. Oil as Window to Asia Opens (from Reuters via gCaptain)

More on commodities:
8. Iron Ore’s Party Is Just Getting Started (from Bloomberg)

Fascinating detail of Nedlloyd three-island-arrangement vessel from painting ‘Sydney, December, Midday’ by Craig McPherson, 1990. Oil on linen. In the lobby of the American Express Building (Three World Financial Center) in Downtown Manhattan. Part of our daily commuting to Karatzas Marine Advisors offices at One World Financial Center next door. Image credit: Karatzas Images.

Shipping is about the waves and the open sea and the people who live by the sea, too:

9. New Indonesia tsunami network could add crucial minutes (from the AP)

And if one believes that shipping is uncorrelated to politics, that’s a clear misconception. The most innocent of political stories that we could put on our blog these days!

10. Norway Salmon, Anyone? Stocks to Watch If Russian Sanctions Ease
(from Bloomberg)

And, a nice story about the Chinese New Year; one may wonder why such a story appears on a shipping blog, but again, please bear in mind that China is responsible for 15% of worldwide imports and 20% of worldwide exports. They matter for shipping and knowing a bit about Chinese culture and history and tradition is good for culture and good for business, we would opine. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Everything you need to know about Chinese New Year (The British Museum)

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