Container lines

Virginia continues to add infrastructure to its marine terminals as part of the port’s plan to handle mega-max vessels once dredging is finished late in 2025.

Some ships are leaving China just half-full as the Trump administration’s rush of tariffs sends shippers into contortions about what to do with their freight.

Although an agreement was reached on a greenhouse gas pricing measure, the Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting in London exposed deep divisions among member states on the way forward.

From an international supply chain perspective, the plan that could hit Chinese-made and -operated ships with fees in excess of $1 million per US port call could have impacts as profound as the current tariff controversy.

First-quarter carrier earnings are likely to be buoyed by high rates and strong demand that has spilled over from 2024, but tariffs, slowing volume and excess capacity are darkening the outlook for the rest of the year.

A full evaluation of on-time performance will not be possible until July once the transition to the new deep-sea services has been completed, but data for February and March is positive for the Maersk/Hapag-Lloyd alliance.

And the chilling effect of the tariffs is extending further down the calendar, with forwarders in the trans-Pacific saying US retailers are holding off making purchase orders with factories in Asia for fall and holiday merchandise for 30 to 60 days.

The latest Global Port Tracker demonstrates the uncertainty that has overtaken global supply chains since the White House’s announcement on tariffs a week ago.

Member states voiced determination to continue work this week on essential decarbonization measures despite a strongly worded missive from Washington urging governments to reconsider their support for emissions-cutting regulations.

The ad hoc call was a precursor to the Gemini Cooperation carriers preparing to position two regular services out of the Colombo West International Terminal beginning next month, sources in Colombo told the Journal of Commerce.

Risks in the containerized supply chain are only growing, and futures provide a potentially viable risk mitigation tool, writes Peter Tirschwell.

The parent company of Cosco Shipping and OOCL expects a 72% increase in first-quarter net profits, but the rapidly escalating trade war between the US and China is clouding its outlook for the rest of the year.

The rush appears to be linked to shippers scrambling to sidestep a new 26% US import tariff on Indian goods due to kick in April 9, industry sources say.

The carrier will enter long-term charters for 10 ships of 11,500-TEU capacity that will be deployed across various global trades and be capable of running on both regular bunkers and LNG.

The group’s secretary-general said there was “no Plan B” to fall back on, but is confident any disagreements between member states over the proposed midterm measures to reduce carbon emissions from shipping will be resolved during this week’s meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee.

While strong volume and congestion at both ends of the trade lane are filling the available capacity, the canceled sailings suggest carriers expect demand to falter.

A general rate increase implemented by carriers in the eastbound trans-Pacific on April 1 has largely stuck, giving shippers less leverage in attempting to lower contract rates for 2025–26 service year.

The deal will merge “K” Lines’ traditional logistics activities in ocean and air freight with Kamigumi’s niche business in project cargo logistics.

While the Gemini Cooperation is hitting its schedule reliability goals, Hapag-Lloyd’s chief executive said fully unwinding its former carrier alliance and dealing with terminal congestion in some locations are providing challenges.

There is a seasonal element to the second quarter increase in capacity deployed on the trade, but the reluctance by ocean carriers to withdraw capacity comes amid increasing signs of a price war.

The change to a more freight-all-kinds strategy comes as ongoing contracts for the 2024–25 service year bundled with penalty clauses have proved to be problematic for keeping customer relationships intact.

A total of 68 sailings globally are expected to be canceled during April, according to maritime consultancy Drewry, with about half of the cancellations in trans-Pacific services.

Forwarders say they are seeing utilization only near 50% on the Asia-Mexico lane amid seasonally low demand and tariff uncertainties.

The carrier is deriving an increasing share of its revenue from long-haul trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe services while the contribution from the intra-Asia trade declined last year.

In creating the threat of a clearly significant penalty, the US Trade Representative essentially forced observers to not merely give a thumbs up or down to the proposal, but to offer alternative solutions.

The carrier wants the tax imposed on CO2 emissions to raise the price of conventional bunkers high enough to force increased demand for low- and zero-emission fuels and narrow the yawning price gap between green and fossil energy.

Shippers, carriers and forwarders say uncertainty around consumer demand, tariffs and geopolitical disruptions has produced a wider range of service contract rates this year.

Consolidation in container shipping over the last two decades and better capacity management in recent years show that the old ways of looking at vessel capacity are outdated, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

Major carriers had lined up rate increases with the intention of strengthening their bargaining power during service contract negotiations, but overcapacity seems to have kept that tactic in check.

An alliance of global shippers is calling on the IMO to use the April gathering of its Marine Environment Protection Committee to meet the “urgency of the moment” when it comes to lowering emissions from shipping.

The top 10 carriers for imports collectively hauled 2.43 million TEUs into the Gulf Coast last year and had a market share of almost 94%, according to the latest Journal of Commerce rankings.

Why the impact is so potentially profound is the way carriers would likely respond to a scenario in which a fuel standard is imposed on them, but no automatically higher cost is imposed on shippers to pay, writes Peter Tirschwell.

Cosco said changes in the shipping alliances this year will trigger competition in digitization and decarbonization.

US maritime interests said the proposed fees on Chinese ships would hit a variety of low-value, niche trades that can’t absorb the costs.

Container lines serving the India-US trade appear to be taking a hard line in the first round of annual contract negotiations amid overcapacity putting downward pressure on spot rates.

The IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, which potentially puts the organization in the crosshairs of the new administration that is reassessing all its UN positions and policies.

A group of seven Asia-based regional carriers are collaborating to add a weekly long-haul service on the eastbound trans-Pacific despite bearish market signals.

The growing backlog of boxes awaiting a return to Asia has resulted in finger pointing among stakeholders over how best to address the problem.

Canada’s labor minister will take a direct hand after the mediated talks for a new longshore contract at the port failed to achieve a deal after 18 months of negotiations.

Montreal’s port chief says a successful outcome after nearly two years of talks between port employers and the longshore union will be critical to restoring shipper trust.