Container lines

Log-In Logistica Intermodal will spend $5.2 million to upgrade and expand the fleet of containers used in South America's coastal trade and to carry goods to Manaus on the Amazon River.

SeaLand has said that it will no longer accept any form of the chemical compound calcium hypochlorite and any shipments currently loaded or awaiting transshipment would be offered alternative solutions.

The government of India wants the country to begin manufacturing shipping containers itself as India tries to reform its transportation sector to make it more alluring for manufacturers.

Less than a week after announcing an August general rate increase for shipments from Far East Asia, excluding Japan, to Middle Eastern Gulf ports, Hapag-Lloyd is increasing its rate $300 for shipments from the same area to the Red Sea as modest container volume growth in the Middle East makes itself felt in the market.

OOCL’s revenue on the Asia-Europe route crashed by 28 percent in the second quarter, more than double the near 12 percent slide in traffic, in the latest indication of the depth of the bear market on the world’s biggest container trade.

The 2M shipping alliance between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. can expand its vessel-sharing agreement on U.S. trade lanes connecting to Israel, Russia and Saudi Arabia after a 45-day review expired Thursday without U.S. Federal Maritime Commission action.

Maersk, the most reliable carrier in the industry, seems to be rubbing off on Mediterranean Shipping Co., which has seen its reliability improve since joining the 2M Alliance.

Maersk Line has signed an agreement with the Vladivostok Sea Port, one of Russia’s largest seaports, for regular container transport of fish and fish products from the Far East port to the central regions of the country.

Ocean carriers are spending heavily on new ships but are less keen to invest in new containers, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Greek shipowner Costamare and U.S. hedge fund York Capital Management have extended the investment period of a joint venture that has spent $1.1 billion on new and secondhand container ships since it was established two years ago.

The number of idle container ships of more than 500-TEU capacity increased in July for the second consecutive month, totaling 112 units of 342,900 TEUs on July 13, according to Alphaliner.

Russian and Chinese authorities are investigating whether container lines plying the trade lane between Russia and China set prices together, according to Alexander Kinyov, deputy head of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service.

Japan will extend its Self-Defense Forces six-year-old anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden for another year despite a sharp decline in the number of pirate attacks there.

Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM have implemented general rate increases on cargo bound for the Middle East from East Asia, as trade is forecast to build modestly.

The curtain went up in July on a peak season that is about as different from last year’s as can be imagined. Most trans-Pacific supply chains are almost back to normal after months of severe West Coast port congestion during contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association.

Shreyas Shipping and Logistics last week said it took delivery of two more container ships that make it the largest Indian short-sea ship operator in terms of fleet size

The nuclear deal reached with Iran has placed container trade back on the radar of carriers, but with all the hoops for the country still to jump through, it could be a year before its Persian Gulf gateway again begins receiving the world’s liners, according to Drewry.

A notice to the Singapore Exchange by Neptune Orient Lines stating that it had not decided to sell has hardly closed the door on the topic.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines’ Spring Zephyr pulled three people from the seas off the coast of the Philippine island of Mindanao.

Australia’s wine industry has reported a 32 percent increase in the value of its wine exports to China in the past year, a trade that was worth more than $200 million in the 2014-15 financial year that ended on June 30.

China’s government has never been slow to pile into its markets and even as improving June exports halted a three-month decline, Beijing this week issued a package of support measures for the industry.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. is testing the waters in Iran as it appears more likely United Nations sanctions will be lifted as part of a new nuclear agreement between the West and the pariah state.

CMA CGM is beefing its Mediterranean to West Africa service less than a week after announcing a general rate increase from East Asia to West Africa, suggesting that container volumes in the region are growing.

Reports in the past twenty four hours that Hapag-Lloyd has hired investment banks to advise on an initial public offering and the Singapore government is selling its majority stake in Neptune Orient Lines have refuelled speculation of a merger between the two ocean carriers.

The three largest Taiwanese carriers, Wan Hai, Yang Ming and Evergreen Line saw their January to June revenues increase year-over-year, largely due to growing intra-Asia trade.

The Panama Canal has recaptured the majority of traffic on the all-water shipping route between the Far East and the U.S. East Coast that it ceded to the Suez Canal in late 2014, according to Alphaliner.

After losing power and nearly running aground, the Hanjin San Diego has arrived at its destination.

Manufacturing changes in the next 15 years will keep intra-Asia as the world’s largest ocean container trade, representing 35 percent of global volumes, according to a study by the Shanghai International Shipping Institute.

The government of India is considering changes to its cabotage law to temporarily allow foreign-owned and operated ships to move domestic cargo between ports on the country’s east coast in an effort to drive up the region’s container volumes and reduce congestion plaguing its west coast ports.

Average east-west load factors of 86 percent should not automatically be considered a disaster, yet it has had the effect of making container lines completely forget about any rational pricing strategies and chase rates down in a vicious spiral.

The South Australian potato industry has embarked on a state-funded waste-reduction project that could save growers millions of dollars while boosting exports to China, India and Indonesia.

The summer lull has gripped the box ship time charter market, with rate levels in most size classes edging down week over week.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has issued an order forcing ocean carriers to provide critical data and information needed to monitor a FMC-authorized agreement formed to fight West Coast port congestion. The agency is also putting on hold an attempt to expand the discussion agreement, known as the Pacific Ports Operational Improvement Agreement.

The U.S.-Oceania ocean container trade is providing a textbook example of the ramifications a strong currency has on trade flow. U.S. imports from Oceania increased 11 percent year-over-year in the first six months of 2015, while exports dropped 11 percent.

CMA CGM has announced a general rate increase for shipments from Asia to West Africa, as trade between Japan and Nigeria, West Africa’s largest economy, has exploded in the past few years.

Spot freight rates on the dismal Asia-Europe and Mediterranean trades predictably began to give up the gains made over the past two weeks as weak demand and surplus capacity continued to undermine all attempts to raise prices.

A mechanical problem that caused a Matson Navigation Co. vessel to lose power en route to Honolulu on Wednesday was corrected that evening and the ship has resumed its voyage.

The grouping of the world’s largest container lines into four large alliances covering all east-west trades has had an unexpected result: Shippers no longer view alliances as potential vehicles for rate collusion, and, in fact, have come to appreciate their ability to prop up smaller lines that are finding it increasingly difficult to compete against the three largest carriers.

A container ship sunk off the coast of Phuket, Thailand in stormy weather roughly three miles from shore.

T.S. Lines has placed an order with CSBC for two ships with capacities of 1,800 TEUs to capitalize on its position as a niche carrier in the profitable and fast-growing intra-Asia trade.