Container lines

Congestion on the West Coast, which has led to delays of one to three weeks on nearly all trans-Pacific services, has led carriers to inject significant additional tonnage into the trans-Pacific to maintain a semblance of schedule reliability, Alphaliner said.

China is the main battleground for the world’s four mega shipping alliances, that collectively depart from 10 mainland ports every week to North Europe in 74 weekly voyages, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

As the service contracting season in the eastbound trans-Pacific gears up, internal tensions within many large shipper organizations between a procurement and a logistics mentality will once again play out as contracts totaling billions of dollars are negotiated and signed between now and May 1. But procurement is slowly losing out.

The U.S. formally accepted a landmark World Trade Organization agreement that could cut the cost of trade by up to 15 percent and inject up to $1 trillion into the global economy, providing a much-needed boost to sluggish international trade growth.

The new carrier mega-alliances are set to shake up market share on the key Asia-North Europe liner trade while shippers will benefit from a greater choice of services, and probably lower freight rates, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants.

After five years of strength in the southbound leg, the weakening value of the real is generating strong demand for Brazilian exports.

Maersk’s chief executive warned global trade will never return to the heady growth rates experienced before the global financial crisis of 2008, partly due to moves by western firms to repatriate manufacturing closer to home.

Spot rates on the Asia-North Europe trade surged to $1,256 per 20-foot container as carriers levied January general rates increases and volumes grew in the build up to Chinese New Year, according to the latest reading of the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI).

The global container ship fleet this year is set to increase 7.8 percent in terms of capacity, outpacing last year’s 6.3 percent growth, according to Alphaliner.

Australian wine exports to China have almost recovered to levels recorded before Beijing’s austerity measures severely dented volumes, according to data released by the Australian Grape and Wine Authority.

Rising foreign trade that drove up throughput at China’s container ports in 2014 is expected to continue this year on the back of strengthening demand from the U.S. and Europe, and despite a slowdown in the mainland economy.

A free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia and Japan came into effect on Jan. 15, granting virtually all Australian exports preferential or duty free access to the giant Japanese market.

Sea Star Line and Crowley Maritime are adding container-on-barge capacity to the U.S. mainland-Puerto Rico service after Jones Act competitor Horizon Lines exited the trade lane in December.

Among the world’s largest trade lanes, the trans-Atlantic rarely grabs the headlines, but it can still spring a surprise. Final figures aren’t in yet, but the route grew faster than its larger east-west rivals and the much-hyped north-south trades through most of 2014.

Allcargo Logistics has kicked off a coastal container feeder service between West India and South India, expanding its core multimodal transportation portfolio.

Sea Star Line will expand its U.S. mainland-Puerto Rico service on Jan. 29 by launching a weekly container-on-barge service in addition to the carrier’s roll-on, roll-off ships.

Hapag-Lloyd today became the latest carrier to implement a general rate increase — of $850 per TEU — in the Far East-Europe trade just days after rivals were due to hike rates on the world’s biggest liner route. However, rates could fall to levels not seen since 2011 when carriers cut their bunker adjustment factors in February, a London-based derivatives broker says.

Low bunker fuel prices are helping container shipping line balance sheets, but another impact will be improved schedule reliability as carriers can afford to speed up vessels to make up time lost to rising congestion at many ports around the world.

The U.S. economic engine is powering cross-border sales and truck freight traffic with Canada, sending spot-market cross-border loads to record highs, TransCore Link Logistics says.

Hapag-Lloyd will concentrate on integrating CSAV, the Chilean carrier it merged with in December, and returning to profitability, before proceeding with an initial public offering, the chief executive of Germany’s biggest container shipping line said.

Spot rates on the Asia-U.S. East Coast rose to their highest level in more than a year, suggesting that the rapidly deteriorating labor talks on the West Coast are driving cargo owners in search of alternative gateways.

U.S. footwear import data have revealed the extent of the shift in sourcing that last year saw manufacturers steadily expanding production in Vietnam at the direct expense of China’s market share.

A veteran shipping executive says U.S. West Coast port problems are structural and “will not go away” and that as a result beneficial cargo owners should add three weeks to trans-Pacific import lead times to accommodate what will become chronic congestion.

Container ships on major east-west routes arrived off-schedule 42 percent of the time and were late more than half the time on trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic routes, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has filed an amendment to repeal the Jones Act, which requires U.S. domestic waterborne cargo to be shipped in U.S.-flag ships owned and operated by Americans.

Companies and governments have spent or committed nearly US$7 billion since 2009 to investment in ships, ports and terminals, and waterways infrastructure on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, a new survey reports.

Eurotunnel unveiled plans for a 20 percent increase in freight capacity through the sub-sea rail tunnel linking the UK and France to keep pace with growing cross-Channel traffic.

China’s exports in 2014 recorded the second slowest growth since the country joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, rising just 6.1percent as overall trade growth for the year slumped to 3.4 percent.

Yang Ming Line has become the fourth carrier to offer a Richmond, Virginia, bill of lading for service on the James River container-on-barge service linking Richmond with Hampton Roads marine terminals.

The YM Enlightenment, the third in a series of five identical 4,662-TEU container ships, was recently christened by Yang Ming Line at CSBC Corp. Taiwan’s Kaohsiung shipyard in China.

The St. Lawrence Seaway handled 40 million metric tons of cargo in 2014, its highest volume since 2008, as rail congestion caused grain exporters to ship more cargo by water

The 2M alliance between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. began in Dalian at the weekend when the brand new Triple-E vessel, Munkebo Maersk, left the northern Chinese port for Busan in South Korea, its second stop on the Asia-Europe rotation.

Investors in container shipping are underestimating how much carriers stand to gain through lower fuel prices, a Jefferies equity analyst said this week.

Iceland-based niche carrier Eimskip has continued its expansion into refrigerated logistics services by acquiring Rotterdam-based forwarder Jac. Meisner.

Matson said higher rates for its China express service, growth in its domestic Hawaii and Guam markets, and improved logistics profitability are expected to produce a sharp increase in the company’s fourth-quarter operating income.

David J. Arsenault has been promoted to president and CEO of Hyundai Merchant Marine America and Hyundai America Shipping Agency, responsible for North, Central and South America.

Asia-Europe is sure to be the most exciting liner route in 2015 as it faces an influx of the world’s largest container vessels, head-to-head battles between new and expanding carrier alliances, volatile freight rates and an accelerating shift from long-term contracts to spot market deals.

China Cosco Holdings continued its aggressive scrapping programme, disposing 17 vessels in the last quarter of 2014 for $50 million.

The world’s largest container ship, the 19,100 TEU CSCL Globe, sailed into the British gateway Port of Felixstowe this week to make its maiden European call in a loop that will include Rotterdam, Hamburg and Zeebrugge.