Container Shipping News

The Shenzhen government could pay nearly all of the extra costs associated with switching to low-sulfur fuel while at berth in the city’s port as a result of a new government-sanctioned program.

“If it bleeds, it leads,” is a saying in the news industry that means bad news gets higher ratings than good news, and that rang true on JOC.com this past week.

U.S. imports of wooden bedroom furniture by dollar value have increased for four consecutive quarters, driven by an ongoing recovery in the real estate market and falling national unemployment numbers...

A coalition of soybean exporters urged the U.S. freight transportation industry Friday to invest in infrastructure, equipment and process improvements to maintain the role of the American farmer as the world’s preeminent supplier of soybeans.

In an effort to ease congestion at the Lagos Port Complex, Nigeria is looking into ways to encourage shippers to use the country's underutilized eastern ports more.

Multiple container lines have planned general rate increases in numerous trade lanes in October and November, although any gains achieved could be temporary as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

CMA CGM has teamed up with Sri Lankan logistics group Hayleys Advantis to set up a shared service center in Colombo.

Germany’s Federal Court again delayed a final ruling on plans to deepen the navigation channels in the river Elbe to allow the port of Hamburg to handle the latest generation of mega-container ships.

Low ocean carrier rates are to blame for much of the congestion afflicting U.S. container ports, several ocean carriers and terminal operators said at a Federal MaritimeCommission hearing this week.

Spot rates from Asia to northern Europe in 2014 are nearly half of what they were a year ago, according to the World Container Index.

Mediterranean Shipping Co today announced the appointment of Diego Aponte, son of founder Gianluigi Aponte, as President and CEO of the world’s second largest ocean carrier.

Carriers on the trans-Pacific have unveiled a bold new pricing approach to the 2015-16 contract season that will establish minimum rate levels and improve the bunker fuel cost recovery mechanism.

A preliminary vessel design has been unveiled for a proposed domestic short sea container service connecting New York City and Portland, Maine.

Two indices show Chinese manufacturing production rose in September at a time that factories would normally be powering down as demand to fill Western holiday orders wanes.

Some bad news for shippers: Switching to low-sulfur fuel on a global basis in 2020 could cost the container shipping industry up to $100 billion per year, which will likely cause container freight rates to rise as carriers attempt to pass the costs onto beneficial cargo owners.

While congestion continues to plague ports in North America and northern Europe, a number of other incidents are popping up that are also likely to negatively impact the global schedule reliability of ocean carriers.

The benchmark spot rate from Hong Kong to the U.S. West Coast remained unchanged this week, despite the potential for weakness tied to China’s week-long Golden Week holiday in early October.

The pilots who guide ships through the Panama Canal fear that the navigation methods chosen to guide post-Panamax vessels into the new expanded locks and through the enlarged canal channels run higher risks of accidents than existing practices.

A Zim Integrated Shipping Services ship forced to abandon its scheduled call at the Port of Oakland over the weekend is now docked at the Port of Long Beach and unloading.

The Middle East-based short sea shipping line Admiral Feeders has introduced a direct feeder link between India and Iran.

Carriers operating in the Asia-Europe and trans-Pacific trades could fall victims to their own tactics, as Alphaliner predicts their refusal to trim capacity and the delivery of big ships could cause major spot rate erosion.

Nearly $300 million in subsidies were given to four Chinese ship lines today, as the Chinese government begins to roll out parts of a six-year plan to update its shipping industry.

Maersk Line has announced low-sulfur surcharges of up to $160 per 20-foot container on the North Atlantic and lesser amounts on other trade routes to offset the cost of complying with regulations requiring ships to switch to cleaner fuels in 2015.

The idle container ship fleet has shrunk to a three-year low, driven by rising carrier demand for Panamax vessels of 3,000 TEUs to 5,100 TEUs capacity, according to Alphaliner.

Bunker fuel prices in Rotterdam, a global indicator, held steady this week though the charge per metric ton is historically lower than in previous years.

Iran and Oman plan to launch a shipping line to boost maritime trade between the two countries by the end of the year.

The number of container ships passing through the Suez Canal is on an upward trend, after nearly three years of declining transit numbers because of rapidly increasing ship sizes.

Maersk is facing aggressive competition on its most lucrative north-south routes, which are being targeted by rival carriers seeking to offset losses from the overtonnaged Asia-Europe trade lane.

Trans-Atlantic spot container rates have been relatively stable in recent months on both eastbound and westbound shipping routes between northern Europe and North America, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

A Hapag-Lloyd vessel dropped three containers into the Suez Canal on Monday morning after colliding with a Maersk Line vessel, interrupting a southbound convoy through the Egyptian waterway.

Heavy investment in India by global car companies in the hope that the fast-growing market would soon rival China are faltering as car sales fall and the depreciating rupee pushes up costs, but the big brand carmakers such as Volkswagen, Ford and Renault-Nissan are now looking outwards.

Maersk Line-related stories dominated on JOC.com this past week. The No. 1 container carrier again made news with more 2M developments, plans for new ship orders and comments from its CEO.

“K” Line has pled guilty to U.S. price fixing charges in the roll-on, roll-off market and will pay a $67.7 million criminal fine and take an extraordinary loss of roughly the same amount in its fiscal second quarter

Hamburg Sud subsidiary Alianca Navegacao e Logistica has expanded its coverage of the east coast of South America by adding two new vessels into its Brazilian cabotage and Mercosur Gran Cabotage services.

United Arab Shipping Co. expects that as mega-alliances increasingly consolidate the container shipping market, freight rates will stabilize, which could be bad news for shippers.

Japan’s ClassNK plans to share findings of its investigation of last year’s sinking of the container ship MOL Comfort, which an official of rival classification society DNV GL criticized as having a “non-robust design.”

Multiple container lines have planned general rate increases in numerous trade lanes in October, although any gains achieved could be temporary as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.