Container Shipping News

While the preferred approach by carriers is to calculate exposure to the ETS and recover costs per container in a separate surcharge, that will not be possible for Chinese exports to Europe under Shanghai Shipping Exchange regulations.

The Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) program offers a free view of supply-demand data across several metrics to help make transportation management decisions easier for US supply chain stakeholders.

The world’s largest food and beverage company is the latest shipper to sign on to emissions-cutting services, committing half its global shipping volume to premium green products offered by Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and CMA CGM.

There has been no sign of a slowdown in the carrier’s acquisition activities as it uses its cash-rich position to expand its footprint in key port and logistics markets.

The Blue Ridge Connector will have 18,000 feet of working track and an annual lift capacity of up to 200,000 containers while providing shippers with an all-rail service from Savannah.

Shippers who have built East and Gulf coast routings into their supply chains are taking no chances, raising the need for contingency plans in discussions with carriers and NVOs ahead of 2024 contract renewals.

The spending program will target the company’s logistics and services arm with a “substantial amount of investment” earmarked for its ocean and terminals infrastructure in the region.

The IMO’s global market-based emissions-cutting measure will be introduced in 2027 when it will clash with Europe’s ETS and could force shippers to comply — and pay for — two CO2-reducing systems at the same time, classification societies believe.

Three commercial ships were hit by rockets fired from Yemen over the weekend in a deteriorating security situation that has seen at least two ocean carriers introduce war risk surcharges on routes to and from Israel.

Given shipping’s relatively poor track record on implementing anything not rigorously enforced, and a preference to delay action to the last possible minute, there seems to be a high risk that decarbonization milestones will not be met, writes analyst Lars Jensen.

The company, which caters to shippers like Uniqlo and Michelin, will use the new round of funding to spur a global expansion of its multimodal freight visibility product.

Liner operators in THE Alliance will switch transits on three services as low water levels on the Panama Canal reduce the number of ships that can use the main artery for container trade between the US East Coast and Asia.

The rare joint statement reiterates earlier comments by container lines that a greenhouse gas pricing mechanism is needed to make green fuel competitive with traditional bunkers during the phase when both fuels will be in use.

US importers have finally cleared out most of the inventory overhang that kept their warehouses at capacity and created bottlenecks in their supply chains.

While container volumes have largely returned to normal historical levels, ocean carriers still have not been able to restore performance to pre-pandemic levels.

Getting the most out of global logistics software sometimes involves using a forwarder as a co-pilot until a shipper is ready to run processes similarly to procurement and order management internally.

Although the incoming capacity will outstrip demand on the major trades over the next two years, the capacity overhang that has been touted in many corners of the shipping sector is being overstated, says an industry analyst.

The expansion of the three companies, all representing different modes across the US-Canadian border, underscores the depth of the relationship between the two economies.

The fresh funding is part of recent federal efforts to increase economic opportunities for farmers and reduce food costs for US residents.

The westbound trades out of Asia are heading into tender season with carriers attempting to lift rate levels before locking in long-term contracts being eroded by surplus capacity.

The move complements a flurry of Asia-India service additions by niche regional carriers and newer feeder operators in recent months.

Despite initially failing to meet capacity commitments, the carrier extended the contract for three months at the original rate, saving the shipper $180,000.

The intra-Asian region is expected to be a hotbed of mergers and acquisitions in container shipping because that is where the growth in container demand is centered, writes analyst Lars Jensen.

Given the persistent downward pressure on demand, it remains to be seen if India-US carriers will be able to push through a new round of modest rate hikes planned for December.

The carrier is looking to expand beyond its two current services jointly offered with other liners with a standalone service meant to take advantage of the growing shift in sourcing from India.

The project, in coordination with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, is due to be completed in late 2024 and will help move cargo faster through Western Canada.

The Norfolk expansion plans from resin logistics specialist Katoen Natie come as more plastics production is going onstream in the Northeast US.

On its own, the growth in container volumes on Asia to Europe trade lanes in the third quarter was impressive, but it compares with the steep slowdown in imports last year by overstocked retailers.

With peak season at hand for ag exports, shippers say weak US import volumes have constrained the supply of repositioned containers they need to send goods overseas, risking disruption to their supply chains.

The carrier’s largest alternative fuel deal to date will be enough to drive half the methanol-powered ships on its orderbook.

The soonest the Panama Canal Authority says it could see significant relief is 2028, raising the possibility of persistent drought restrictions and reduced container capacity and transits until then, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

Despite some pockets of progress, exactly how container shipping achieves decarbonization will likely remain an unanswered question until new zero-emission fuel standards are adopted, writes Peter Tirschwell.

Draft legislation would also seek to codify that rail demurrage fees be billed to the ocean carrier, which would then pass along the charge to the responsible shipper or BCO. .

Just a month after the European Commission announced that the block exemption regulation for carriers would not be renewed next April, the UK competition authority has also called for it to lapse upon expiry.

CMA CGM is moving beyond funding and supporting startups with a hefty investment into a non-profit lab designed to improve data models that feed into artificial intelligence products.

Still, the latest Indian trade data presents some hopeful signs for supply chain stakeholders, as the country's merchandise exports grew 6.3% by value year over year in October, the fastest rate of expansion in a year.

Carriers, shippers and logistics executives may have to get accustomed to drought-related restrictions along the critically important waterway, with costly water-saving infrastructure improvements years away.

While October is typically one of the busiest months of the year for West Coast ports, the region’s market share of imports from Asia slipped markedly from September, but carrier executives said that was an anomaly linked to capacity cuts in the eastbound trans-Pacific.

The carrier is expecting next year to be dominated by significant overcapacity and weak demand, and with its balance sheet awash with expensive time charter capacity, it decided to factor in expected losses early.

Carriers are reporting some successes in convincing shippers to use their emissions-reduction services, but acceptance of premium — and costly — green products remains a hard sell in a market where rate levels are at record lows.