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Jumat, 26 Maret 2021

Thailand to reopen Phuket to tourists vaccinated against Covid-19 from July 1 - The Straits Times

BANGKOK (BLOOMBERG) - Thailand will waive quarantine requirements for vaccinated visitors arriving on the resort island of Phuket from July 1, the first key reopening for the tourism-reliant nation.

On Friday (March 26), an economic panel chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha approved the proposal by Phuket's private sector and business groups to inoculate at least 70 per cent of the island's residents to prepare for the reopening for vaccinated tourists, according to Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.

The government plans to test the reopening plan in Phuket before expanding to other key tourist hot spots, like another resort island, Koh Samui, to help restart the tourism industry battered by a year without its millions of tourists who contributed to one-fifth of the economy before the pandemic.

The approval means that Phuket will reopen three months earlier than the rest of the country, which is expected to reopen for those who are fully vaccinated only in October.

Phuket residents will also be prioritised in the vaccine roll-out, with more than 930,000 doses expected to be administered before the reopening, Mr Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the island's tourist association said separately earlier this week.

An early reopening could add more than 30 billion baht (S$1.3 billion) to the economy, but a successful reopening also hinges on the international vaccine passport agreement and negotiations with other countries to allow free travel, Mr Bhummikitti said.

Kamis, 25 Maret 2021

Shipping rates surge with Suez Canal set to be blocked for weeks by stranded ship - The Straits Times

ISMAILIA, Egypt (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) - Shipping rates are surging as the blockage of the Suez Canal is wreaking havoc in the global seaborne trade and making the long trip around Africa the only short-term alternative.

A huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a "beached whale" may take weeks to free, the salvage company said, as officials stopped all ships entering the channel on Thursday (March 25) in a new setback for global trade.

The 400-m Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest shipping channels for oil and refined fuels, grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.

Late on Thursday, dredgers were still working to remove thousands of tonnes of sand from around the ship's bow.

Meanwhile a super suction dredger is the new tool being used in the efforts to dislodge the giant container ship that went aground in the key waterway on Tuesday.

The blocking of the waterway is creating another setback for global supply chains already strained by the e-commerce boom linked to the pandemic. About 12% of global trade goes through the canal that's so strategic world powers have fought over it.

On Thursday, 238 vessels were queued up, up from 186 Wednesday, according to Bloomberg data. Ever Given has not moved and operations to re-float were still ongoing earlier in the afternoon, according to Inchcape Shipping Services.

It's going to be tough to come up with a single figure for how much the epic traffic jam in the canal is costing, but shipping rates are already skyrocketing.

The cost to ship a 40-foot container from China to Europe has climbed to about US$8,000 (S$10,870), almost quadruple the figure a year ago. Suezmax vessels, which typically carry 1 million barrels of oil, are now getting about US$17,000 a day, the most since June 2020.

The crisis in the Suez Canal is also curbing shipments of robusta coffee - the type used to make Nescafe. All of the beans from East Africa and Asia - which houses two of the world's top robusta producers - flow to Europe via the Suez.

Coffee roasters on the continent had already been struggling to get robusta coffee from Vietnam, the world's largest producer, due to a shortage of shipping containers that has upended the global food trade. Just when the availability of boxes started improving, the canal blockage brought another headache.

Two liquefied natural gas tankers loaded in the US and bound for Asian markets appear to have changed course in the mid-Atlantic and are now heading around Africa to avoid gridlock in the Suez waterway.

A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and Hapag-Lloyd AG are considering sending ships along the same route, moves that would follow a Synergy Marine-managed ship that is being sent around the Cape of Good Hope. Torm A/S, a Danish owner of tankers, said its customers have asked about the cost of options to divert.

Eight of more than 375 ships managed by Synergy Marine are caught up in the Suez Canal traffic jam. That includes a 20,000 TEU Ultra Large Container Vessel, or ULCV, three other large container ships, one Very Large Gas carrier, one chemical tanker and two bulk carriers.

"The longer the Canal is closed, the larger the queue of vessels that will be caught up in jams and the bigger the losses for shipping and, ultimately, consumers of the goods which we transport," Unni siad.

Several dozen vessels have backed up at either end of the canal to create one of the worst shipping jams seen for years. PHOTO: AFP

Russia natural gas supplies via pipeline could provide Europe with some flexibility as LNG imports from the Middle East are affected by the blockage at the Suez Canal, consulting firm Rystad said in a note.

The US could also benefit as shipments from its LNG export terminals could reach Europe much quicker than vessel going around Africa from the Middle East.

"It could be a perfect opportunity for US producers to secure some orders at a time of such a transport route crisis," Rystad said.

The blockage highlights a major risk faced by the shipping industry as more and more vessels, which are getting bigger and bigger, transit maritime choke points including the Suez, Panama Canal and the Strait of Hormuz.

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2021-03-25 22:46:25Z
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After H&M, Nike feels Chinese social media heat over Xinjiang - CNA

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After H&M, Nike feels Chinese social media heat over Xinjiang CNA
China puts pressure on global fashion brands to reverse boycott on Xinjiang cotton Yahoo Singapore News
After H&M, Nike, more foreign retail brands under fire in China over Xinjiang The Straits Times
After H&M, more brands criticised on Chinese social media over Xinjiang CNA
Nike sees social media storm in China over Xinjiang statement TODAYonline
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2021-03-25 11:17:05Z
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Suez Canal suspends traffic amid 'extreme difficulty' in freeing grounded container ship - CNA

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Suez Canal suspends traffic amid 'extreme difficulty' in freeing grounded container ship CNA
Low tide slows work to clear Suez Canal ship blockage; traffic jam builds The Straits Times
Suez Canal blockage leaves at least US$400 million of crude oil stranded South China Morning Post
Megaship blocks Suez Canal: What we know so far CNA
Japanese owner of container ship stuck in Suez Canal apologises The Straits Times
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2021-03-25 14:03:45Z
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After H&M, Nike feels Chinese social media heat over Xinjiang - CNA

BEIJING: Nike and Adidas came under fire on Chinese social media on Thursday after Beijing's propaganda offensive against Swedish fashion brand H&M sparked by the company's expression of concern about labour conditions in Xinjiang.

The sportswear companies were the latest to be caught up in a backlash prompted by a government call to stop foreign brands from tainting China's name as internet users found statements they had made in the past on Xinjiang.

Chinese state media had singled out H&M on Wednesday over a statement that was reported last year in which the Swedish retailer said it was deeply concerned by reports of accusations of forced labour in Xinjiang, and that it did not source products from the Chinese region.

It was unclear why the H&M statement was back in the public eye but diplomatic tensions between China and the West have been rising.

Earlier this week, China denied allegations of human rights abuses by its officials in the western region of Xinjiang after the European Union, United States, Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on the officials.

Beijing hit back with retaliatory sanctions on European lawmakers, scholars and institutions.

Some internet users said they would stop buying Nike and will support local brands such as Li Ning and Anta, while others told Adidas to leave China.

Shares of Anta Sports Products Ltd and Li Ning Co surged, while shares in Adidas, Inditex and H&M fell when European markets opened on Thursday.

State tabloid Global Times said Spain's Inditex, owner of Zara, had "quietly removed" a statement on Xinjiang from its English and Spanish-language websites.

Inditex did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

BOYCOTT

Internet users also targeted the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a group that promotes sustainable cotton production which said in October it was suspending its approval of cotton sourced from Xinjiang for the 2020-2021 season, citing human rights concerns.

BCI members include Nike, Adidas, H&M and Japan's Fast Retailing.

"If you boycott Xinjiang cotton, we'll boycott you. Either Adidas quits BCI, or get out of China," one internet user wrote.

Nike, Adidas and the BCI did not respond to requests for comment.

H&M said on Wednesday it respected Chinese consumers and that it was committed to long-term investment and development in China.

But by Thursday morning, H&M did not exist on some Chinese store locator maps. Searches for H&M stores on Baidu Maps yielded no results. The retailer's official store on Alibaba's Tmall, an e-commerce platform, was inaccessible.

At a daily media briefing at China's foreign ministry, spokeswoman Hua Chunying, when asked about H&M, held up a photograph of Black Americans picking cotton.

"This was in the U.S. when Black slaves were forced to pick cotton in the fields," she said.

Hua then held up a second photograph of cotton fields in Xinjiang.

"More than 40per cent of the cotton in Xinjiang is harvested by machinery, so the alleged forced labour is non-existent."

People's Daily, the main newspaper of the Communist Party, rolled out a social media campaign in support of cotton sourced from Xinjiang.

The graphic "I support Xinjiang cotton" posted by the newspaper on the Twitter-like microblog Weibo has since attracted about 2.2 million likes.

Japanese retailer Muji, owned by Ryohin Keikaku Co, told the Global Times that it uses Xinjiang cotton, winning praise from Chinese internet users, who lauded the firm's "survival instincts".

Ryohin Keikaku recently conducted due diligence for Xinjiang factories, with which it has an indirect relationship via its supply chain, and also commissioned an independent audit group to make onsite audits, but found no significant issues, the company told Reuters on Thursday.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo, Cate Cadell and Beijing newsroom; Additional reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; editing by Christopher Cushing, Jason Neely and Jane Merriman)

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'Extreme difficulty' freeing ship stuck in Suez Canal, says Japanese owner of vessel - CNA

SINGAPORE: Japanese ship-leasing firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha, which owns the giant container vessel stuck in the Suez Canal, said it is facing "extreme difficulty" trying to refloat it.

"In co-operation with local authorities and Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, a vessel management company, we are trying to refloat (the ship), but we are facing extreme difficulty," Shoei Kisen Kaisha said on Thursday (Mar 25) in a statement on its website.

"We sincerely apologise for causing a great deal of worry to ships in the Suez Canal and those planning to go through the canal."

Ever Given vessel stuck in Suez Canal — Stranded container ship Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, is seen after it ran aground, in Suez Canal, Egypt on Mar 25, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Ahmed Fahmy)

Egyptian tug boats trying to free Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given — Egyptian tug boats work to free Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given (Evergreen) in this photo released on Mar 25, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Suez Canal Authority/Handout)

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said it is "temporarily suspending navigation" through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes until the 400m-long Ever Given vessel is freed.

Egyptian authorities have deployed eight large vessels to drag the stricken container ship off the canal bed.

The vessel ran aground diagonally across the single-lane stretch of the southern canal on Tuesday morning after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.

It is now blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest shipping channels for goods, oil, grain and other products linking Asia and Europe.

[embedded content]

Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, which is trying to free the ship, said it was too early to say how long the job might take.

"We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation," Berdowski told the Dutch television programme Nieuwsuur.

He said the ship's bow and stern had been lifted up against either side of the canal.

READ: Tugs work to free giant container ship stranded in Suez Canal

Container ship runs aground in Suez Canal, blocks traffic — Workers are seen next to a container ship which was hit by strong wind and ran aground in Suez Canal, Egypt, on Mar 24, 2021. (Photo: Suez Canal Authority/Handout via REUTERS)

"It is like an enormous beached whale. It's an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand."

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the technical manager of Ever Given, said dredgers were working to clear sand and mud from around the vessel to free her while tugboats in conjunction with Ever Given's winches are working to shift it.

According to the Japanese ship owner, there were 25 crew on board, all of them of Indian nationality. The ship was fully laden with consumer goods bound for European markets in 20,000 standard shipping containers.

READ: Stranded Suez ship's owner, insurers face millions in claims

Marine services firm GAC issued a note to clients overnight saying efforts to free the vessel using tug boats continued, but that wind conditions and the sheer size of the vessel "were hindering the operation".

Ship-tracking software shows five tugs surrounding the Ever Given and three more heading towards it. The ship's GPS signal shows only minor changes to its position over the past 24 hours, however.

A handout picture released by the Suez Canal Authority on Mar 25, 2021 shows an Egyptian officials checking the operation trying to free Taiwan-owned cargo MV Ever Given (Evergreen) at Egypt's Suez Canal.

A closer view of the 400-meter, 224,000-tonne Ever Given container ship, leased by Taiwan's Ev — A closer view of the Ever Given container ship seen blocking the Suez Canal in this European Space Agency Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite image. (Photo: Reuters)

Several dozen vessels, including other large container ships, tankers carrying oil and gas, and bulk vessels hauling grain have backed up at either end of the canal to create one of the worst shipping jams seen for years.

Roughly 30 per cent of the world's shipping container volume transits through the 193km Suez Canal daily, and about 12 per cent of total global trade of all goods.

Shipping experts say that if the blockage is not likely to be cleared within the next 24 to 48 hours, some shipping firms may be forced to re-route vessels around the southern tip of Africa, which would add roughly a week to the journey.

READ: Egypt's Suez Canal - A history of the key route

But the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority told media that despite the blockage some cargo was able to move south and that efforts to dislodge Ever Given would continue.

Consultancy Wood Mackenzie said the biggest impact was on container shipping, but there were also a total of 16 laden crude and product oil tankers due to sail through the canal and now delayed by the incident, amounting to 870,000 tonnes of crude and 670,000 tonnes of clean oil products such as gasoline, naphtha and diesel.

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'Extreme difficulty' freeing ship stuck in Suez Canal, says Japanese owner of vessel - CNA

SINGAPORE: Japanese ship-leasing firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha, which owns the giant container vessel stuck in the Suez Canal, said it is facing "extreme difficulty" trying to refloat it.

"We sincerely apologise for causing a great deal of worry to ships in the Suez Canal and those planning to go through the canal."

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said it is "temporarily suspending navigation" through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes until the 400m-long Ever Given vessel is freed.

Egyptian authorities have deployed eight large vessels to drag the stricken container ship off the canal bed.

It is now blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest shipping channels for goods, oil, grain and other products linking Asia and Europe.

[embedded content]

Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, which is trying to free the ship, said it was too early to say how long the job might take.

"We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation," Berdowski told the Dutch television programme Nieuwsuur.

He said the ship's bow and stern had been lifted up against either side of the canal.

READ: Tugs work to free giant container ship stranded in Suez Canal

READ: Stranded Suez ship's owner, insurers face millions in claims

Ship-tracking software shows five tugs surrounding the Ever Given and three more heading towards it. The ship's GPS signal shows only minor changes to its position over the past 24 hours, however.

Roughly 30 per cent of the world's shipping container volume transits through the 193km Suez Canal daily, and about 12 per cent of total global trade of all goods.

READ: Egypt's Suez Canal - A history of the key route

But the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority told media that despite the blockage some cargo was able to move south and that efforts to dislodge Ever Given would continue.

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2021-03-25 10:18:45Z
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Jumat, 26 Maret 2021

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Kamis, 25 Maret 2021