Port News

Cargo tracking shows no clear advantage for Chinese-based ocean carriers transiting the critical waterway, throwing doubt on the US president’s claims of China’s influence, according to a report from the visibility data provider.

The provincial government is looking to reignite the long-delayed Contrecoeur project, saying Montreal needs more capacity and new trade partners.

Robust automobile, steel and wind power equipment movements in 2024 put US ports on a strong footing, but tariffs and a shift in government priorities could temper progress this year.

The port’s recently approved five-year strategic plan details infrastructure, transloading and maritime support activities that it hopes will spur cargo growth by making the Northern California gateway more attractive to importers.

As the new US administration looks to strengthen its regional sphere of influence, bipartisan political support is building to boost US shipbuilding, and thus, the country’s ability to project power in the Arctic and reduce dependence on foreign carriers.

SeaLead is offering a new service from Turkey after Hapag-Lloyd ended one of its standalone loops following the launch of the Gemini alliance with Maersk.

The congestion is making it difficult for truckers to return empty containers and puts shippers at risk for late fees on empty returns and import retrievals.

But with a large drop in imports forecast for the second half of February, terminal operators say they will get dwell times and cargo fluidity back to normal by the end of the month.

But Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said US port cargo “could be badly hit” if tariffs on Asian and European countries increase prices and prompt US consumers to buy less.

The proposed Edgemoor container terminal was slated for groundbreaking in January, but the project timeline is now uncertain after a federal judge ruled its permit was unlawful in a case brought by the nearby Port of Philadelphia.

Forwarders say shippers are booking space to the US for low-value commodities such as plywood, tile and paper, which prior to the rate drop had been limited to less-expensive routes.

Sources at Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in India have confirmed that feeder services for the Bangladesh trade have not been included in the new network structure.

A new report from software vendor Kaleris has found that terminal operators around the globe believe they are providing better visibility data than shippers say are they receiving.

The ocean carrier is diving into domestic intermodal logistics for shippers sending freight from inland markets to the West Coast.

The latest move by the port involves a proposal by intermodal logistics provider IntermodeX to develop a transload facility near Prince Rupert’s Fairview Container Terminal that is designed to primarily attract import containers.

Sources tell the Journal of Commerce the union will convene a midweek meeting in Florida of its local wage scale committees across the 14 ports under its jurisdiction.

The breakbulk sector can lean on the progress of key US ports in facilitating the safe bunkering of next generation alternative shipping fuels

The planned development in Eastern Canada marks the latest stage in a nearly two-year-old partnership between the company and the Class I railroad.

Ports in the UK are already seeing rising operational delays as a string of storms moves in from the Atlantic and major ports in Europe issue high wind warnings.

The comments by Louis Sola during a Senate hearing come amid rising US scrutiny of Chinese influence over the crucial waterway.

The former Wisconsin congressman and Fox Business host was confirmed by a 77-22 vote on Tuesday.

The arrangement allows international carriers to transship domestic import and export cargoes at Shanghai’s Yangshan deepwater port from selected ports in northern China.

Each month of last year saw reliability degrade compared with the corresponding month in 2023, although 2024 carried the burden of vessel diversions around southern Africa as carriers avoided the Suez Canal and Red Sea.

The Belgian port has restored the throughput that was lost following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, filling the gap in part by capturing market share from its northern range rivals.

While a bit softer since the start of the year, rates are not falling at the same pace they were in the second half of 2024 when prices plummeted from almost $11,000 per FEU in early August.

President Donald Trump injecting himself into longshore labor talks and his recent threat to take over the Panama Canal are a precursor to the unpredictability container shipping will face over the next four years, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

Officials at Los Angeles and Long Beach say they are prepared to do what is necessary should the new administration target green policies at the ports.

The ocean carrier made the changes ahead of the launch of its partnership with Hapag-Lloyd, referring shippers to the new alliance’s services as an alternative.

New services entered the trade last year amid elevated rates and high demand, but a seasonal lull is putting pressure on prices with plentiful space now on the lane.

Just ahead of November’s election, then-Commissioner Sola laid out “America First” initiatives during an October speech, highlighting the further development of LNG export facilities and the fuel’s impact on ship bunkering.

A new report from the Biden administration alleges that Beijing has a poor compliance record with the WTO, practices duplicitous trade policies that give the country unfair advantages, and operates with an overall lack of transparency.

The moves by Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM come amid uncertainty about the outlook for the intra-Asia trade, with one analyst suggesting a possible rate war could see prices in the region tumble if there is no summer peak season.

With the president-elect looking to unwind some Biden administration policies, US port operators want to ensure that maritime transportation funding will not be unduly affected.

Shipper-paid spot truck pricing from major US ports rose faster than the average US rate in late 2024 as importers prepared for a potential longshore strike.

A confluence of factors, including vessel bunching at Asian load ports and a pre-Lunar New Year cargo surge, have combined to cause congestion at the port and reduce its railcar availability.

While the draft language of the tentative agreement was not disclosed, the two sides said the deal includes language that covers the contentious issue of port automation and new technologies.

Shippers have long outsourced drayage to third parties, but farming out allocation decisions to managed transportation providers threads the needle between access to capacity and neutrality.

Local freight forwarders believe any extra capacity entering the Indian market from smaller ship operators working around an “opportunistic approach” has the potential to spoil rate recovery efforts by large carriers.

Whereas 2024 was a banner year for US West Coast ports, the pendulum could swing back to East and Gulf coast ports in 2025.

Shippers must weigh the merits of a single-source relationship on drayage through key ports over splitting volume among regional and national carriers, or even brokers.