Container Shipping News

The ink was hardly dry on Hapag-Lloyd’s merger deal with Chilean carrier CSAV when departing chief executive Michael Behrendt raised the prospect of acquiring an Asian container line.

A major Tokyo-based research firm has painted a grim picture of Japanese container trade in the current fiscal year that started on April 1, citing weaker exports and imports than previously thought.

Ocean container carriers must prioritize cost reductions this year to counter lower contract freight rates and volatile spot markets, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioners yesterday unanimously voted to allow CKYH partners and Evergreen Line to discuss cooperating in the trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trades.

Global sea and air freight rates could decline by as much as 2.5 percent by the end of 2014, experts at Drewry Maritime Research say.

Beneficial cargo owners and harbor trucking companies that consistently experience long turn times at container terminals may want to fire their ocean carriers.

Forwarders and non-vessel-operating common carriers will learn by the end of the year just how far the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has mitigated many of their concerns with a proposed overhaul of ocean transportation intermediary rules.

Former Damco head Rolf Habben Jansen takes over as CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, effective today.

An Israeli court is due to rule on the state’s “golden share” in Zim after the ocean carrier failed to reach agreement with the Israeli government over the controversial issue.

Israel Corp. shareholders approved a radical financial restructuring of Zim Integrated Shipping Services over the weekend.

New numbers released by the World Shipping Council suggest that, on average, more than 1,500 containers have been lost at sea each year since 2008.

Overweight shipping containers can cause accidents at sea and on the roads, but difficulties clamping down on false declarations of the weight and context of the boxes, potential slowdowns caused by weighing all containers and possibly billions of dollars in extra costs are also concerning, according to a panel of experts at the WISTA-UK Liverpool Forum.

Thieves increasingly are using computer data to steal high-value cargo by generating cargo-release codes for containers, according to transportation insurance and risk specialist TT Club.

Retailers are making new pleas for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association to agree on a contract and avoid a West Coast port shutdown after the ILWU-PMA contract expires next week.

The UK’s competition regulator today ordered Groupe Eurotunnel, the operator of the subsea rail link between Britain and France, to cease operation of its roll-on, roll-off shipping service within six months.

Several container lines have planned general rate increases in multiple trade routes to take effect in July, although any gains achieved could be temporary as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

CMA CGM’s new container ship, the 9,400-TEU CMA CGM Danube, is slated to begin its maiden voyage next week

The Panama Canal Authority is already thinking beyond the limits of the current expansion project.

New Zealand freight and logistics company Kotahi has pledged to provide Maersk Line with 2.5 million 20-foot containers of exports over the next 10 years.

Damco, Maersk Group’s logistics unit, has started operations at the first international container freight station in Myanmar.

Nautilus Holdings Ltd., which charters 16 container ships to ocean carriers, filed for bankruptcy protection, citing a “depressed” charter market.

The worst is over for the Asia-Europe container trade as slow-steaming and scrapping of old vessels begin to address excess capacity, according to a recent report from HSBC’s transport analysts.

Container lines will continue to look to vessel-sharing agreements to reduce their operational costs, but new alliances will likely be less ambitious following the Chinese rejection of the P3 Network, SeaIntel Maritime Analysis CEO Lars Jensen says.

U.S. private equity fund KKR is reportedly mulling the sale of UN Ro-Ro to its previous owners.

The European Union today extended by five years an antitrust exemption for liner shipping consortia, in the face of opposition from shippers.

Kongsberg Norcontrol IT will lead a new three-year research project, SESAME Straits, that it hopes will improve ship traffic management in the straits of Malacca and Singapore and lay groundwork for the International Maritime Organization’s e-navigation implementation strategy.

After 13 years of working closely with container lines to develop their electronic cargo booking and tracking capabilities through INTTRA, its former CEO Ken Bloom is moving on to solve a different problem: how to change the way the shipping industry operates.

European shipowners have asked the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers to endorse a maritime security plan aimed at safeguarding ships around the globe.

Several container lines have planned general rate increases in multiple trade routes to take effect in July...

Japan’s exports to the United States fell for the first time in 17 months in May on a year-on-year basis.

Overcapacity problems in both maritime and air freight markets will continue to hurt the industry in the coming months, according to a new Stifel survey.

At the end of this month, four ocean carriers will launch a new joint service connecting China, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Hamburg Süd said it will focus on further cost cuts and expansion of its core routes to and from South America through 2014.

Hapag-Lloyd has plans to restructure its West Africa service network, including its West Africa Service and West Africa Mediterranean Express, in June and July.

China’s rejection of the P3 Network is a blow to Maersk Line, which had expected the global container ship alliance to produce large savings, analysts say.

A shortage of seafarers in the officer corps is expected to worsen, threatening carriers’ bottom lines, according to Drewry’s recently published Manning 2014 Annual Report.

Cheaper ship charter rates and growth in cargo volumes are bringing gains to the bottom lines of ocean carriers operating in services between Asian countries, Drewry says.

Multiple container lines have planned general rate increases in various trade routes to take effect in July...

Happy days are here again, at least for non-vessel-operating common carriers.