Somali coasts still a major piracy danger.

And it’s simply going to get worse as shipowners continue shelling out big bucks in ransom demands to the pirates – it’s a cash cow for criminals and I am sure they are laughing all the way to the bank.

Andrew Mwangura, Coordinator of the Mombasa-based Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said the Mariam Queen was released after the owners paid 100,000 U.S. dollar ransom.

“The Mariam Queen has been released and is sailing towards Mogadishu to offload the cargo. We are told the owners paid 100, 000 U.S. dollars to secure its release,” Mwangura said by telephone from Mombasa.

“The pirates had earlier demanded 150,000 dollars as a ransom before the cargo ship’s release but this was later reduced to 100, 000 dollars,” said Mwangura.

This will only embolden pirates even more, as they can be assured of huge payouts through cargo piracy. With the Somalian government in continual crisis and virtual civil war, I expect piracy problems in Somalia to continue.

2007 State of Logistics

Just finished reading an excellent article by Eric Joiner (FreightDawg) about his assessment of the logistics industry for the first half of 2007. Roger does an excellent job of breaking down the first 6 months of 2007 across a variety of logistics services including; air freight, LTL, FTL, parcel, ocean freight, rail, and airlines.

Click here to read the entire article.

U.S. share of global manufacturing output still strong

Via our friends over at ShopFloor.org:

In truth, the U.S.’s position in the global league table of manufacturers remains surprisingly strong, according to an authoritative economic study by Global Insight, a Washington-based economics consultancy. Global Insight forecasts that the U.S. will keep its share of global manufacturing output above 20 percent at least until 2024. The U.S. share of global manufacturing output is expected to fall to 22.2 percent by 2020 from 25.5 percent last year. By 2020, China’s share would overtake that of the U.S. for the first time. It will rise to 22.4 percent, from 12.1 percent in 2006.

Of course, as the folks at Global Insight acknowledge in the linked article from the Financial Times, manufacturing growth in China is expected to slow in the coming years. China will remain a manufacturing giant for years to come, but I expect other low-cost players in the world to also gain in prominence (i.e. Vietnam, Malaysia, etc.). A lot can happen between now and 2020.

NY Container Terminal pushed to increase acreage

…by purchasing a 500-acre property on Staten Island. Via CargoNewsAsia:

The property, owned by GATX, was formerly used for tank farms. But it’s now empty and will lkely will be used for other purposes such as condominium development if the port does not acquire the land, he said.
The port’s container terminals will reach maximum capacity in 12 to 18 months, Devine claimed.
Devine said NYCT is the only terminal in the port with contiguous land that could be used for expansion. Development of that 38-acre property could enable NYCT to handle an additional 350,000 containers a year, he said.

Still, as Jamie Simpson of GHK consultants said:

“Improving productivity is the way you make money, not by pouring concrete,”

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