Container Shipping News

With no improvement in the Red Sea security situation and shippers preparing for 2025 contracts, Gemini has jettisoned the traditional shorter route in favor of the longer transit around southern Africa.

Rates were driven by an early peak season as shippers consigned cargo ahead of the longshore strike along the US East and Gulf coasts last week and a capacity crunch as vessels continued to divert around southern Africa.

MSC’s departure from the 2M Alliance gives the world’s biggest shipping line the chance to be more operationally flexible to cater to changing supply chain demands, Soren Toft told the International Association of Ports and Harbors’ conference in Hamburg.

Last week’s three-day longshore strike on the East and Gulf coasts is not expected to disrupt transportation supply chains ahead of the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season, the National Retail Federation said.

The union’s refusal to work overtime has prompted Montreal’s employer group in turn to decline to pay longshore crews that do not have a full complement of workers.

Market participants yearning for a market where adverse events never lead to major supply chain hiccups are essentially asking for a reality that has never existed, writes Lars Jensen.

With the 62% wage increase being an unprecedented offer to the union, the USMX will be hard-pressed to give in on other key demands the ILA is making, sources tell the Journal of Commerce.

Strong demand on the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trade lanes through a volatile third quarter has left the Chinese carrier on course for another highly profitable year.

Shippers on the trans-Atlantic will find space in short supply by the end of October with bottlenecks on both ends of the trade lane reducing capacity.

Ports on the US East and Gulf coasts say they have spare capacity and expect minor disruptions as they process more than 60 ships backlogged by a three-day strike

New provisional guidelines from Indian regulators will allow the major shipping alliances to operate at national ports as long as homegrown carriers get guaranteed access to a 5% share of the massive vessel-sharing agreements.

Maritime employers and the union representing some 45,000 East and Gulf coast dockworkers have reportedly closed the gap in wage expectations to just $1 per hour per year.

Refrigerated container shippers using US East and Gulf coast ports are tapping some non-unionized terminals, but they fear produce stuck on ships and in ports will spoil, and equipment will become scarcer if the strike lasts longer than a week.

Ocean carriers appear to be banking on a short port strike, allowing ships to remain on scheduled calls or sit at anchorage, but those plans could change if East and Gulf ports remain closed through the end of the week.

The Biden administration’s message of support for striking longshore workers — and inferring of carrier price gouging — shuts down any hopes for a federal government intervention in the short term, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

If the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike continues past next week, shippers say they will likely book more freight through West Coast ports, rather than risk being caught up in logjams at East and Gulf coast ports.

Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board approved DSV’s $16 billion acquisition of rival forwarder DB Schenker despite opposition from union members on the board.

In container shipping, size still matters, evidenced by carriers continuing to expand their fleets, consolidate and form vessel-sharing alliances, writes Shipping Masters Managing Director Jeremy Masters.

Several groups are calling on the White House to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to stop the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike that began on Tuesday at midnight.

A nationwide rail strike this year in Canada and the shutdown on British Columbia ports in 2023 give Montreal stakeholders little confidence that the Trudeau government will act swiftly to end wider strikes at the Port of Montreal if port workers pursue more.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) rejected a last-minute offer from maritime employers that included higher wages and retirement contributions, as the first strike by East and Gulf coast port workers since 1977 got underway.

Nearly five decades of labor peace on the US East and Gulf Coast are coming to an end, with carriers loathe to see high US operating costs high, labor aware of a historic opportunity, and the Biden admiration reluctant to intervene.

The strike will affect about 40% of Montreal’s container capacity and comes as port employers remain in protracted talks with the longshore union over a new contract.

The White House may finally be looking to take a firmer hand in stalled talks between the ILA and maritime employers with an expected strike just days away.

Israel-based Zim said its new alliance with MSC will offer customers extensive port reach and enhanced service levels.

The global bank also said in a report that West Coast ports would only be able to handle less than 20% of cargo diverted from the East and Gulf coasts, while Mexico and Canada would offer almost no relief.

Pacific Northwest ports and their terminal operators say they are positioned to handle an extended period of discretionary cargo diversions if a strike by ILA dockworkers begins next week.

Ocean carriers and marine terminals allege the International Longshoremen’s Association is violating US labor law by refusing to return to contract negotiations that haven’t been held since June.

The lobby group representing ocean carriers in issues involving containers failed in its bid to further delay new rules covering how per diem bills are handled.

The $1 billion facility at the Port of Charleston has sat largely idle since its opening in 2021 amid a protracted dispute with the ILA over control of crane operator jobs.

The new network designs recently rolled out by ocean carriers will present shippers with quite an element of choice, and in turn ensure strong competitive pressure among the liners, writes Lars Jensen.

The plans come amid the increasing likelihood that the International Longshoremen’s Association will not reach an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance on a new master contract covering East and Gulf coast dockworkers.

The next 12 months are critical for the maritime industry to accelerate its decarbonization efforts to avoid shipping falling irreparably behind its climate goals, according to an annual progress report from industry groups.

The integration of two large companies in similar industries is “particularly challenging,” according to Tobias Meyer, who withdrew DHL’s interest in DB Schenker earlier this year.

Because carriers don’t assess terminal handling charges in the US, any wage increase maritime employers agree to in longshore contract negotiations comes directly out of their pockets.

The Biden administration may have no choice but to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to stop a US port strike even as broader support for Democrats among transportation unions falters ahead of the presidential election.

The union representing Montreal’s longshore workers is looking to ratchet up pressure on the port’s employers as the two sides are set to meet after a strike vote takes place.

Front-loaded cargo has dried up ahead of potential labor disruption on the East and Gulf coasts, putting heavy pressure on container spot rates from Asia.

The acquisition will significantly expand CMA CGM’s port reach into a region that is seeing robust demand.

Nearly 30 ships are bound for the Port of New York and New Jersey as marine terminals and ocean carriers prepare for a possible dockworker strike.