Container lines

Matson said its trans-Pacific volume outlook for 2024 is roughly flat with last year owing to modest growth in its Jones Act business and little impact yet from other supply chain crises.

The fourth consecutive month of year-over-year growth in US imports from Asia might be a sign the world’s busiest trade lane has turned the corner after a lackluster 2023 in which imports declined about 13%.

The decision to not hear the appeal leaves intact a ruling that allows the International Longshoremen’s Association to sue ocean carriers that use the Leatherman terminal, an apparent blow to the so-called “hybrid” labor model used in Charleston.

High inflation, the rising cost of living and geopolitical tensions suppressed demand from European consumers and industry in 2023, with few signs of a turnaround apparent for this year.

By the time the IMO measure is introduced, the European carbon tax will have already been in place for three years, raising concerns that lengthy EU scrutiny of the global mechanism could see shippers hit with a double tax.

The new partnership with Wan Hai comes as ONE — along with Yang Ming and HMM — faces the loss of THE Alliance partner Hapag-Lloyd, which is leaving the vessel-sharing agreement for a new partnership with Maersk.

When carriers, and more importantly their insurers, regain confidence in transiting the Suez Canal via the Red Sea, a massive — but not insurmountable — oversupply will await them.

A core challenge facing container shipping is how to craft a global greenhouse gas pricing regulation that can bridge the price gap between green and fossil fuels while spurring investment in alternative fuels.

Container shipping networks from Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean are being reshaped as carriers redeploy capacity to compensate for the additional transit time needed to sail around southern Africa.

The South Korean carrier warned of rising uncertainty and a volatile container shipping market through 2024 but said the breakdown in takeover negotiations with the Harim Group earlier this month would have no impact on its operations this year.

The vessel diversions around southern Africa driven by the Red Sea security situation will turn out to be merely a brief distraction from an overall picture of overcapacity that has been building since 2022, writes Peter Tirschwell.

Stephen Hennessey joined PMA in 2004 after holding management positions in the shipping and trucking industries, including with Sea-Land Service, Roadway Express and Horizon Lines.

The shipping industry still deems southbound voyages through the Suez Canal as far as Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia as beyond the reach of the militant attacks that have forced the majority of large container ship traffic to divert around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa.

Whenever container shipping experiences an upheaval in the alliance structure, the wind-down period from announcement to departure and then to the reforming of new alliances can be bumpy, writes industry veteran Patrick Burgoyne.

Terminals in Europe say ocean carrier schedules have been disrupted by the ship diversions around southern Africa, but there is still no sign of the port bottlenecks that were expected when the rerouting began.

Given the capacity pressures, a potential higher incidence of gated cargo being left behind or rolled over in March could spark serious trade concerns, Indian sources say.

Maersk’s integrator strategy has encompassed more access to air freight capacity, including a new tool for shippers in India to digitally price and book specific flights.

The carrier is looking to take part in the trade growth the US Gulf is enjoying with South America’s largest economies that consume heavy quantities of US petrochemicals.

Highlighting how things have improved to some extent, Hapag-Lloyd said THE Alliance has restored transits through the canal on some of its trans-Pacific to US East Coast EC2 services.

The huge order book due to be delivered through 2024 is helping ocean supply chains withstand the Red Sea crisis, experts say, but another shock would cause a “pandemic-type crisis.”

The Global Port Tracker calls for a year-over-year gain of 5.3% in US imports over the first six months of the year despite the uncertain security situation in the Red Sea.

While current elevated rates would normally give ocean carriers leverage in annual service contract negotiations, spot rates will likely come down after the pre-Lunar New Year rush and the market is still uncertain about how strong demand will be in the second half of the year.

The profitability of global forwarders since the pandemic has piqued Maersk’s interest in the sector and it would be “irresponsible” to ignore DB Schenker’s availability, according to the carrier’s CEO.

Higher rates and surcharges driven by the diversions around southern Africa will provide only a temporary respite from the severe supply-demand imbalance that dragged rates down in 2023, according to the carrier’s CEO.

While higher operating costs are inevitable due to longer voyages around the Cape of Good Hope, shippers want more transparency as to what those costs are.

A price correction was not entirely unexpected, but carrier sources believe that rates could move up again next month due to the fiscal year-end shipping rush.

There were also concerns whether the joint venture between bulk shipper Pan Ocean and private equity firm JKL had sufficient financial resources for the deal.

The South Korean port is the latest to establish its credentials as a sustainable fuel hub as competition between global gateways intensifies.

While shippers are using terms in their contracts to push back against the higher costs linked to the Red Sea and Panama Canal disruptions, carriers are also looking to void those terms altogether.

While the union said industrial action has ended, the disruption caused by work stoppages that lasted hours and days at a time will take weeks to wind down.

The green methanol feeder service will initially cover Baltic and Scandinavian ports operating out of the Port of Rotterdam.

US retailers and others will reduce their exposure to China as they can, chasing cheaper labor while also hedging the risk associated with relying on one origin for key goods and items.

Ocean carriers are not able to honor roughly 25% of their planned loads on available US East Coast weekly sailings out of Nhava Sheva and Mundra ports, local sources say.

Longer voyages around southern Africa have created an instant tonnage shortage and will make it difficult for carriers to maintain weekly sailing schedules, says Jeremy Nixon.

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s public commitment to 90% schedule reliability is a direct acknowledgment of the heightened risk and uncertainty associated with modern supply chain operations, writes Peter Tirschwell.

An executive for the carrier said he expects liners and shippers will eventually adjust to the lengthier transits around southern Africa but acknowledged it will take time before rate volatility subsides.

While off-schedule ships are periodically crowding marine terminals, the port is not seeing any major impact from the longer transits as vessels reroute around southern Africa, Bethann Rooney said.

The oversupplied container shipping industry, falling rate levels and the need to divert around southern Africa for much of December contributed to a sharp drop in the carrier’s revenue and profitability.

The carrier is the latest to partner with an alternative fuel supplier as the fast-growing dual-fuel order book puts producers of green energy under pressure to rapidly scale up supply.

China commanded 47% of the inbound container volumes to the US as recently as 2018, but rising geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington and a post-COVID shift in manufacturing momentum to Southeast Asia have cut into China’s dominance.