Container Shipping News

The long-standing spread, typically about $1,000, is now half that as volume growth returns to West Coast ports and shippers increasingly tap into Southeast Asia manufacturing.

The International Maritime Organization voted in May 2022 to implement the so-called Maritime Single Window from the start of 2024 in a bid to accelerate digitalization in shipping.

The expedited less-than-truckload provider has asked a Delaware court to let it kill the controversial deal that has caused its share price to plummet and raised the ire of activist investors.

Yang Ming said the imbalance between vessel supply and cargo demand, high inflation and geopolitical risks will be among the factors pressuring the ocean market into 2024.

The direct service that kicks off at the end of the month will add further options to transport apparel, textiles, poultry, pork and agricultural products between Central America and the US East Coast.

The incident comes as dockworkers announced a further series of strikes this week at DP World's four Australian terminals in an ongoing row over new rostering arrangements.

The move holds considerable significance as it comes amid accelerated efforts by India and the US to boost bilateral ties at multiple levels.

The carrier remains profitable, but rate levels maintained their downward trend as the global economic slowdown continued to weigh on the container shipping industry.

Despite public commitments by some 4,000 companies globally to reduce Scope 3 emissions, ocean shippers have thus far been unwilling to pay higher-than-market freight rates to achieve those goals.

The South Korean carrier ‘s financial results followed the industry’s downward trend and although HMM remains profitable, it is not far above the loss-making line.

DP World Australia plans to hike terminal access charges by up to 50% at its four terminals in the country from Jan. 1.

Alongside broader talks on wages for its members, the International Longshoremen’s Association said individual ports need to use more union supervisors and foremen, particularly throughout the South.

Carriers and shippers, however, believe there is little room left to fall for spot rates that are already below pre-pandemic levels.

The carrier has followed its peers with a sharp decline in earnings, and although still highly profitable, its CEO warned that rates on the east-west trade lanes are at unsustainable levels.

The cracks in the gateway’s attractiveness to importers and exporters out of the US Midwest were showing before this July’s work stoppage and the decline in import demand across North America.

The ILA president says further progress on a new master contract, as well as port-specific local deals, can’t happen until the two sides agree on coastwide pay hikes.

US e-commerce imports are filling much of the available air cargo capacity out of China, spurring the ocean carrier to bring back an expedited service it was forced to mothball eight months ago.

On top of the sailing cuts, some recent vessel arrivals at India have been behind schedule by up to a week, resulting in cargo rollovers, according to forwarder sources.

Shipper associations that struggled to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic because there was no extra capacity to sell are now trying to convince shippers of the benefits of rate stability.

While the carrier will not hold the controlling share, expanding its presence in Hamburg will cement MSC’s terminal operating position in Europe’s third-largest container shipping port.

The Singapore-based carrier has now expanded its access to capacity in the strategic locations of the US West Coast, North Europe and Southeast Asia.

Ahead of an International Longshoremen’s Association conference, president Harold Daggett has warned union rank-and-file to be prepared for the “possibility of a coast-wide strike.”

Along with the grant for the Port of Wilmington’s proposed container terminal, Tacoma and Long Beach received grants for improving truck and rail access, respectively.

With weak demand for European imports in Asia and ample vessel capacity, spot rate levels on the backhaul trade are in freefall.

Ryan Petersen tells the Journal of Commerce that the first order of business after this week’s acquisition of Convoy’s tech stack is getting the Convoy app running again and reaching out to the shuttered company’s customers.

The carrier expects no short-term improvement in the container shipping market as large numbers of new vessels are delivered and capacity management measures appear unable to stem falling rate levels.

Given the current growth rate, Morrocco’s Tanger Med could reach its nominal annual container capacity of 9 million TEUs as early as next year.

A raft of recent service additions and enhancements has cemented the carrier’s intra-Asia reach for Indian customers.

Forecasts are important for the container shipping industry, but it comes down to identifying and categorizing risk and then using that approach to develop a robust plan in the face of “known uncertainties,” writes analyst Lars Jensen.

Six amicus briefs have been filed to the US Supreme Court supporting the South Carolina Ports Authority’s position that the ILA is illegally forcing carriers to boycott Charleston’s Hugh Leatherman Terminal as a means to acquire jobs that belong to state employees.

On-time performance to the West Coast improved during the busiest month of 2023 for Asian imports to date, but East Coast reliability took a dip.

Freight forwarder Omni isn’t giving up on a merger with Forward and is moving to force completion of the deal despite Forward’s cold feet. 

The two partners will collaborate on pilot projects aimed at accurately measuring and tracking emissions reduction data across the supply chain.

Carriers are already beginning to adjust schedules ahead of Europe’s new shipping carbon tax, something forwarders say could reduce direct port connections and boost transshipment activity.

Pacific-focused Matson has already enjoyed the return of some cargoes that had been diverted to the East and Gulf coasts but are now returning to the West Coast after the ILWU ratified its contract in September.

The wide imbalance between vessel supply and demand is doing carriers no favors as earnings continue to tumble massively off the record highs of last year.

Developers of the Sparrows Point Container Terminal are starting the permitting process with the US Army Corps of Engineers that will allow construction to begin in 2025.

DP World said it is currently experiencing a seven- to eight-day turnaround in vessels being worked at four major ports in the country, a significant delay compared with the usual two-day turnaround.

Still, sharply rising vessel operating costs could limit any exploitation of the supply-demand imbalance with carriers unwilling to accept loss-making contracts.

A month ago, no one was predicting a peak season for air cargo on the trans-Pacific, but finding space from China to the US has become difficult as e-commerce demand heats up.