Container lines

The volume of cargo handled by the container trade around the globe this year will increase by a relatively “decent” 4 to 5 percent, but this growth will not be nearly enough to make a dent in the enormous glut of vessel capacity that will continue to erode freight rates.

The Port of Liverpool has gained a new service, increasing shippers’ access to central and northern U.K., Ireland, Portugal, Morocco, Spain and the Canary Islands.

Russia’s imports may increase significantly this year because of further devaluation of the ruble, making Russian goods more competitive in the global market, according to recent statements from the Russian Association of Commercial Seaports and analysts of the Russian Ministry of Transport.

North American ports would most likely be dealing with congestion issues today even without the onslaught of mega-ships, because growing container volumes are taxing the port and intermodal infrastructure, the president and CEO of the Americas for Hyundai Merchant Marine said Tuesday.

When a container without a signed weight declaration shows up at a marine terminal as of July 1, when a new SOLAS rule takes effect, what happens next? Will the terminal allow the container in, hoping that the weight will arrive in time for the container to be handled and loaded without having to be pulled aside? Or does the terminal avoid the risk, telling the carrier and its customer that containers without the Verified Gross Mass won’t be allowed in under any circumstances?

Maersk Line had added a new service from Latin America to Europe and a new call on an existing service in the trade lane in an effort to tap one of the areas where container lines can still gain steadily profitable business: reefer cargo.

Could Amazon’s business of reselling goods produced by Chinese manufacturers allow it to create a profitable niche in transporting those goods into the U.S. and possibly other markets? Some believe that is the reason the giant online retailer is the newest NVOCC in the trans-Pacific.

Families of 10 crew members who died when the U.S.-flag cargo ship El Faro sank during Hurricane Joaquin last fall have agreed to accept $500,000 each to settle lawsuits against the ship’s owner, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico.

The announcement that Goldenport Holdings has suspended debt payments and is negotiating a restructuring of its loans highlights the deepening crisis in the container charter market.

A 50 percent drop in bunker prices in the past year is a welcome gift for container lines struggling in an oversupplied market, but even as cheaper fuel allows the carriers to cut operating costs, it will do nothing to address the surplus capacity that is severely undermining profitability.

The support of China’s state-owned energy companies is central to the success of plans by the central government to reduce the output of emissions from ships that pose a danger to public health in the vicinity of its major ports.

The Europe-Middle East-South Asia trade lane stands out as a positive “oasis” in a downcast global container shipping market, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Lackluster global trade will do air and ocean carriers out of Asia no favors this year as both sectors struggle to balance excess capacity with declining demand.

The Panama Canal Authority is shooting to open its third set of larger locks that can handle post-Panamax ships in May, but it doesn’t expect the larger locks to attract new services for several months.

A seemingly widespread lack of clarity in China surrounding the implementation of the new container weighing requirements does not bode well for the global regulations that will become law in just five months and apply to every container loaded on to a ship.

China Shipping Container Lines has warned investors that it will make a 2015 net loss of $430 million on the back of record low freight rates and vessel impairment losses.

A Mediterranean Shipping Company container vessel ran aground on the St. Lawrence River Saturday morning between Montreal and Quebec City, according to Canadian authorities.

Orient Overseas Container Line reported a sharp drop in container volume and plunging revenue on the Asia-Europe trade in 2015, with a particularly dismal fourth quarter dragging down figures on the oversupplied route.

Two weeks out from Chinese New Year and there is still no evidence of the traditional surge in cargo exports from China before the long holiday, with spot freight rates on Shanghai to North Europe and the Mediterranean declining sharply for the third week running.

Container lines are well known for making almost any concession to get or keep a customer, from dropping rates to offering extended free time on terminals, extended use of containers, or late cutoffs at gates. But they will have no room to budge on the requirement that a certified weight based on an actual measurement accompany every container tendered to the carrier as of July 1.

Global changes in container shipping are confronting the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission with some of the most difficult decisions in its 55-year history. How FMC Chairman Mario Cordero and his four fellow commissioners respond this year and next could determine how the industry deals with carrier consolidation, the increasing influence of vessel-sharing alliances and U.S. port congestion.

The number of idled container vessels over 500 twenty-foot equivalent units edged slightly higher in the first two weeks of the year and is set to increase as carriers axe sailings in the run-up to the Chinese New Year holiday, according to Alphaliner.

This year’s capacity growth will be the lowest ever recorded for the global container shipping fleet, according to Alphaliner, welcome news for an industry already buried under a deluge of excess vessels that cannot be filled.

Capt. David Humphreys, founder and owner of Gulf of Mexico container line Linea Peninsular, died Jan. 13 of a stroke. He was 82.

European cargo terminal operators today called on their national governments to clarify regulations requiring all containers to be weighed before they are loaded onto ships.

The opening of larger Panama Canal locks, already postponed several times by construction delays, has been pushed back again and now is expected early in the second quarter, a canal official said.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Wan Hai Lines, Interasia Lines and Pacific International Lines are expanding their current cooperation in trades to and from India by introducing a new intra-Asia loop, dubbed the China-West Coast India, or CIS, starting at the end of February.

On-time container line service reliability for 2015 on all trades was the highest ever recorded at 73 percent, according to Drewry’s Container Insight Weekly.

The Tecon Santos container terminal reopened Saturday night after firefighters put out a blaze at the largest South American port gateway that lasted more than 40 hours.

The Asia-Europe trade will continue to hog the headlines in 2016 with a return to the bear market of 2009 looking increasingly likely against a backdrop of slumping freight rates, stagnating traffic, surging surplus capacity and shrinking vessel utilization.

Spot freight rates in the eastbound Pacific drifted lower this week, though they remained in a narrow range that reflects a Jan. 1 general rate increase by carriers in the trade.

The market completely ignored the Jan. 15 general rate increases levied by carriers on the Asia-Europe trades, with spot rates plunging 21 percent this week, according the latest reading of the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index.

Maersk Line said it will appeal Russia’s ruling that the container line violated anti-competitive laws, saying that the publishing of general rate increases is legal and key to informing customers.

The world’s fifth-largest container line, Hapag-Lloyd, expects no major tonnage changes on all-water container services through the Panama Canal before the end of this year.

A new player in the shipping business is making a move to take a majority stake in Log-In Logistica, leaving the three largest global container lines that were interested in the Brazilian coastal carrier and terminal operator out in the cold.

Maersk Line is still the world’s largest ocean carrier by capacity but its closest rivals, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM, posted higher fleet growth rates during 2015, according to Alphaliner.

CMA CGM announced it is upgrading its Swahili Express, or SWAX, service between India and East Africa by adding a fortnightly call at Nacala, Mozambique.

Asia’s shippers are beginning to devote more time and energy to understanding the new global container weight rule that will be enforced from mid-year, but it is no easy task to assess what the regulation will mean to their supply chains.

The G6 Alliance has announced a series of withdrawn sailings on the Asia-North Europe and Mediterranean trades for the post-Chinese new Year period when it is expecting demand to be weak.

TOTE Maritime successfully bunkered the world’s first liquefied natural gas fueled container ship at the Port of Jacksonville.