Breakbulk News

Oslo-based offshore wind specialist Cadeler is investing $651 million in new turbine installation vessels as the global offshore wind industry gains traction.

Despite higher costs to move automobiles and high and heavy cargoes, and uncertainties related to the COVID‑19 pandemic that continue to challenge the recovery, demand is rebounding quickly.

Rising freight rates and prices for raw industrial materials have shippers scrambling to rework budgets and adjust procurement strategies and project schedules.

Just like the container segment, the MPV sector has been short on capacity in the last several months, but unlike on the container side, no major vessel reinvestment program has begun on the MPV side.

The Biden administration’s embrace of offshore wind energy generation in the United States means development on an opening round of offshore wind projects on the eastern seaboard will soon be getting underway.

The strength of the post-COVID-19 rebound in multipurpose vessel and heavy lift demand and rates has taken the industry somewhat by surprise, with demand driven by continued investment in wind energy, oil and gas recovery, and “spillover” cargoes from the container and bulk segments.

After a long slump, strengthening MPV freight rates could encourage reinvestment in the sector for the first time in a decade.

As the US economy reopens, more states are speeding up the permitting process for oversize/overweight flatbed loads, as cargo diversion complicates routing.

Worried forwarders are struggling to find transport solutions for their clients in a congested global shipping market, pushing formerly containerized cargoes out of boxes and into breakbulk modes.

Housing, energy, and manufacturing are generating intense demand for flatbed transportation at a time when a shortage of materials is disrupting supply chains.

As container vessels and freight clog major ports, oversized and overweight project cargo is being rerouted coast to coast, driving up ocean shipping and inland transportation costs.

Investments in hydrogen production and storage and other clean energy projects will keep project cargo carriers busy amid the push to decarbonize.

Demand for commodities that feed the green energy transition is expected to spike this decade, and that will have an impact on project logistics associated with mining and transporting those materials.

The former bulk carrier Eneti has contracted with a Korean ship builder for up to two wind turbine installation vessels and is in talks with US builders about a Jones Act-compliant WTIV to serve a budding US market.

The ripple effects of COVID-19 and plant-closing costs trigger a quarterly loss for wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa, but its work backlog provides a bright spot.

Project cargo shipper Fluor added a refinery project to its work backlog, but lost a chemicals project during a choppy first quarter as COVID-19-driven delays took a toll.

Though posting first-quarter losses, there's no sign of demand relaxing as wind turbine orders expand backlogs for Vestas and GE Renewables.

Breakbulk freight rates are climbing, but uncertainty about new fuels, ship designs, and the long-term strength of the market are holding back orders for new ships.

As cargo demand surges, multipurpose, container, and dry bulk carriers are all competing for tonnage and pushing up vessel charter rates.

A US trade court’s ruling that an expansion of tariffs to include finished steel products was invalid allows shippers to claw back import levies, but steel importers say they need a full rollback before shipments can grow.

Despite lower total revenues, KBR's green-focused energy strategy boosted earnings per share in the first quarter of 2021.

The first of a new, project-cargo and EV-friendly generation of green pure car and truck carriers is scheduled to arrive at Hoegh Autoliners by the end of 2023.

Energy cargo is recovering a year after the pandemic-fueled crash in oil prices, just as the breakbulk carrier market heats up.

German regulators approved an alliance between Jumbo and SAL that concentrates super-heavy-lift capacity in the hands of fewer players as the project market begins to recover from both long-term and pandemic-driven doldrums.

Drewry’s multipurpose index bounced 15 percent and the inaugural Market Sentiment Index has revealed a wary optimism as the MPV sector benefits from container chaos.

The MPV/HL market is on the upswing, but a lack of finance and lingering overcapacity will hold back investment in new ships.

Toepfer's multipurpose rate index tracks recovery as container-side chaos continues to benefit the breakbulk market

The Biden administration's push for offshore wind will jumpstart the industry, but may stymie breakbulk wind imports.

Voyager and GSA create “line of sight” visibility tool for managing ocean transport for project cargo shippers.

A chaotic container segment, rising bulk prices, and vigorous wind energy development on- and offshore are pushing volume toward the MPV/HL sector.

The breakbulk sector is likely heading into a new economic supercycle focused on renewables and metals instead of oil and created by a policy-driven energy transition, rather than by demand-driven commodities growth.

A new super-heavy-lift joint venture, if approved, will benefit from an offshore wind market poised to expand through 2050.

Container market woes and a booming bulk market are cutting competition and boosting freight rates for the multipurpose/heavy-lift sector.

Grimaldi and United European Car Carriers are pursuing lower emissions vessels, and Wallenius Wilhelmsen is taking three more ships out cold layup to serve a rebounding vehicle cargo market

Turbine components, including 216-foot-long wind blades, crossed Vancouver USA’s docks last year bound for a regional high, wide, and heavy transport corridor to Canada.

High and heavy shipper John Deere's earnings spiked 137 percent year over year in the first quarter of the company’s fiscal 2021 as strong crop prices and post-pandemic inventory restocking boosted sales.

The IMO's low-carbon standards and shippers eager to reduce their carbon footprints are pushing vessel operators toward lower-emission designs such as WW’s wind-powered ship.

Drewry's charter rate index is up 2.2 percent for February as COVID-19 lockdowns drive consumers to favor premium container cargoes.

MPV/HL carriers and breakbulk ports benefited last year from record US wind cargoes as expiring tax credits, improved technology, and increasing demand accelerated development

Wind energy cargoes boosted the Port of Longview’s breakbulk volumes, while high and heavy drove growth at the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) ports of Seattle and Tacoma.