Container lines

Shippers in the trans-Pacific should brace for a confusing fourth quarter as carriers in October file low-sulfur fuel surcharges customers will have to pay in November and December. Those interim fees will be replaced by permanent floating surcharges effective Jan. 1.

The larger container ships global carriers are starting to deploy in intra-Asia trades are putting pressure on specialist feeder lines already dealing with bad weather, port congestion, and shifting trade patterns.

With capacity plentiful and spot rates softening, NVOs’ share of US imports from Asia in the first half of 2019 edged lower after having increased steadily the previous five years.

The adoption of blockchain-based container shipping software may depend on the efficacy of associated identity management and data security components.

The recent sharp drop in high-sulfur fuel oil prices and supplies is a sign the market has begun to shift ahead of IMO 2020.

Retailers prepare for a projected 8.8 percent increase in imports in November as they ship early to get ahead of 15 percent tariffs scheduled to take effect Dec. 15 on remaining merchandise from China not already under tariff.

The government of Panama has approved reduced toll rates for container ships transiting the Panama Canal, mindful of the need to stay competitive with the Suez Canal and with carriers ready to see fuel costs jump due to the IMO 2020 low-sulfur mandate.

On the back of a deal with Bangladesh, India looks to expand its coastal shipping links with other countries in the region.

India’s Concor takes another step to keep pace with the global push for one-stop logistics shopping.

The failure of Sept. 1 general rate increase to hold may indicate that earlier predictions of a weak peak season were correct.

The world’s fourth-largest ocean carrier says its integration of recently purchased third-party provider CEVA Logistics is “proceeding according to plan” despite mounting losses and debt.

The Federal Maritime Commission agreed to the recommendations stemming from a year-and-half effort led by Commissioner Rebecca Dye to address complaints from cargo owners and drayage drivers over what they considered unfair fees for failing to pick up cargo and return equipment in a timely manner.

INTTRA and CargoSphere vet seeks to provide container lines and freight forwarders with a new crowd-sourced path to innovating solutions for systemic container shipping problems.

A new index designed to help shippers optimize their supply chains in the face of poor vessel schedule reliability is under development by shipping software provider CargoSphere and the publisher of the China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) and Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI).

Maersk makes another move to source IMO 2020-compliant fuels ahead of the Jan. 1 mandate as the global availability of very low sulfur fuel oil remains an open question.

While some liner shipping parties questions the wisdom of container lines alone developing data standards, the speed with which the DCSA unveiled its first set of standardized process maps suggests maybe fewer parties are better suited for such sweeping initiatives.

The 2M Alliance has added the Port of New Orleans to a route linking China with the Gulf of Mexico, giving the Gulf Coast port its second service from the Far East and adding to its rapidly growing volume of import cargo.

For the second consecutive year, Maersk and MSC have withdrawn the AE2/Swan Asia-Europe service in a bid to match capacity with slack demand.

Amid signs of newfound and relative stability, the container shipping industry faces two imminent challenges.

Carriers are beginning to notify customers of low-sulfur fuel surcharges effective Oct. 1, but customers look at them only as preliminary estimates and expect adjustments this fall.

A container shipping consortium of nine carriers designed to create common data standards in the industry released its first set of digital process guidelines governing the journey of shipments, containers, and vessels.

This week’s double-digit surge in spot rates is more tariff-driven than anything else because there is little cargo rolling in Asia to generate a bidding war among BCOs for vessel space leaving Asia.

Wide-ranging software development — from in-house teams to fostering startups — in Bangalore shows Maersk is putting resources toward its stated intent to become a global logistics integrator.

A forwarder that has just launched a new index to document price changes on freight moving from Asia to Mexico says the peak season will be weak this year, as consumers shy away from spending due to the country’s ailing economy.

JOC Senior Technology Editor Eric Johnson talks about what the introduction of three new carrier-developed digital entities — TradeLens, the Global Business Shipping Network, and the Digital Container Shipping Association — means to the liner shipping industry.

The parent company of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) said it had turned a profit in the first half of 2019, and that the strategy of keeping the two carriers as separate entities was “bearing fruit.”

China announced its own round of new tariffs, prompting President Donald Trump late Friday to raise US tariffs on Chinese imports and instruct US companies to begin looking for alternatives to doing business with Beijing.

Announcing what it said was a “socially responsible choice” to protect the Arctic and the planet, CMA CGM will not allow its ships to sail along the Northern Sea Route from Europe to Asia, and will protect the environment by prioritizing the use of LNG fuel.

Spot rates in the westbound Pacific took a sizable drop this month due to declining US exports to Asia, which are resulting in especially low vessel utilization rates. The normal strong rebound, which should begin in November, could be muted as a result.

A 10-week peak-season-only service launched Aug. 5 by Cosco and OOCL amid weakening spot rates adds a new level of confusion in the eastbound trans-Pacific, which is only being heightened by single-voyage extra-loader services by other carriers.

The strong quarter for Maersk will strengthen its resolve in making what amounts to an existential bet that the integrator path is the best response to the commodification of ocean shipping.

Carriers could react to the continuing decline in spot rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific by canceling more sailings during Oct. 2-7 Golden Week and beyond.

Monetization of TradeLens would give the largest global container line another revenue stream not tied to ocean shipping, furthering its effort to become an integrator.

Carrier market share in the trans-Pacific is not expected to change much in the next few months, in part because carriers will manage capacity by blanking individual sailings and deploying extra-loader vessels to handle import surges.

Declining eastbound trans-Pacific container spot rates this week indicate that predictions of a weak peak season could be accurate.

Container carriers have already begun voluntarily reducing their carbon footprints, but shippers need to be prepared for the disruptive — and expensive — changes that must take place for the wider industry to reach IMO-mandated emissions reduction targets.

The initial growth in volume booked via Maersk Line’s new online tool gives carriers further impetus to provide similar products that offer guaranteed contract reliability.

It was a modest second quarter result, but Maersk Line continues to improve its profitability by improving reliability and resisting any temptation to chase market share.

Evergreen Marine has plunged deeper into the mega-ship operating space, ordering another 11 ships in addition to the 11 that are already being built and delivered.

Yang Ming improved its revenue and volume in the first half of the year, but the Taiwanese carrier raised concerns over growing capacity and weaker demand.