Container Shipping News

The regulation is designed to enhance security across global supply chains and brings the EU in line with other major exporting countries.

The union representing 45,000 longshore workers along the East and Gulf coasts is seeking to block technology that management says is critical for land-constrained ports to handle larger ships.

There is no guarantee we will see the same market shifts in early 2025 that we saw during the last big alliance shakeup in 2017, but the operational realities faced by carriers are essentially the same, writes Lars Jensen.

The ocean carrier looks to secure berth slots and yard space ahead of 2025 as container lines and new alliances plan to leverage terminal ownership stakes.

While India-USEC spot rates have steadily dropped from a late-July peak because of the demand downturn and increased capacity, co-loaders have been even more aggressive in adjusting rates downward to reach their slot targets.

A host of factors can raise transit times on the 11,000-plus-kilometer rail network, undermining the trust of cargo owners that is a crucial selling point of the Asia-Europe connection.

Rising regional trade along the old Silk Road between China and Europe is driving up containerized rail volume on the middle corridor and the logistics infrastructure is struggling to keep up.

Hapag-Lloyd has contracted with a Chinese energy producer for green methanol to power five 10,100-TEU chartered ships with methanol dual-fuel propulsion systems.

The news from Gemini came as MSC released the latest update to its standalone east-west network that will also launch in February.

The agreement was set in motion by Evergreen just weeks after Singapore experienced unprecedented congestion in May and June, with vessel delays of up to 10 days.

NYSHEX is making a renewed effort to solve the fundamental problem of ocean container supply chains, promoting the use of index-linked contracts to build contract integrity and certainty.

Carrier compliance with European regulations targeting the reduction of carbon emissions will increase in 2025, and the rising costs that result will be passed on to customers through higher surcharges, liners say.

Average spot rate levels on the Asia to Europe trade lanes have continued to increase through November as an early start to the Lunar New Year pushes up bookings, forwarders say.

The move effectively allows both sides to avoid having to agree to a deal brokered by Ottawa, as had been ordered by the country’s labor minister.

The use cases for sensor-enabled container fleets could expand if shipping lines see such hardware as a legitimate tool to combat the threat of illicit goods movement.

Major retailers such as Ralph Lauren and Target say they successfully mitigated disruptions from the early October port strike and are ready for the next labor threat and the fallout from likely higher tariffs on Chinese goods.

Converting an existing vessel to be able to operate on methanol requires major engineering work and could cost more than building a new ship with a shorter time to depreciate the investment, according to the carrier.

Frontloading and Red Sea diversions pushed volume and rates higher in the third quarter, and ongoing geopolitical disruption will allow carriers to extend their robust financial health into next year, according to the founder of the global equity firm.

A dearth of consolidation means there are still plenty of visibility vendors for shippers to choose from, but it also means the market as a whole is on somewhat unsteady ground.

While there is some frontloading of US imports from China to get ahead of expected tariffs in the coming Trump administration, most cargo owners appear to be holding their fire, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

The carrier’s CFO pointed to the rising ratio of US retail sales to inventories as a sign that retailers are still bringing in new inventory.

NVOs will enter 2025 hoping that their experience this year with carriers taking a get-tough approach to their business dealings was merely cyclical, a product of an unusual market following the Red Sea diversions and an early peak season.

The New York Shipping Exchange’s plan to introduce indexes to support long-term contracts adds to an already crowded field of providers.

The urgent creation of new e-fuel markets for the most scalable net-zero solutions is essential if global cargo owners are to achieve their 2030 and 2040 climate goals, according to ZEMBA.

A lack of action at the government level is now the number one bottleneck facing green corridor projects, according to a new report.

Forwarders and industry analysts forecast strong import volumes through the early Lunar New Year that begins Jan. 29 as importers of time-sensitive merchandise and manufacturing components route shipments through the country’s busiest gateway.

The move comes as the DP World-operated hub is making large investments in berths and supporting infrastructure with a plan to grow its throughput and attract volumes from other UK ports, including top rival Felixstowe.

Mounting congestion brought on by peak season volumes and port construction is making it difficult for exporters in Brazil to secure empty boxes.

The order for the 14,000-TEU ships continues the tussle between methanol and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the preferred fuel for the next generation of container ships.

The carrier, which reported $1 billion in net profit for the third quarter, says the potential boost in volumes could come as US importers seek to beat the possible implementation of new tariffs on Chinese goods by the incoming Trump administration.

While the presidential campaign is no longer a factor, the new Trump administration will likely be similarly disinterested in a strike of any significant length and, it can be assumed, will get directly involved in talks.

Dockworkers in British Columbia, as well as Montreal, say Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon’s order to accept binding arbitration goes against their rights under Canada’s constitution.

Developing an over-the-road network to handle containers carried on ships too large to traverse the waterway could increase the canal’s annual throughput by over 60%, officials say, although funding concerns exist.

The strong quarterly results mirror those of other carriers, including CMA CGM, Yang Ming Marine and Wan Hai Lines, which have also recently reported stellar third-quarter financials.

The union representing about 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports says employers want to eliminate jobs by implementing semi-automated technology at marine terminals.

Canada’s Labor Minister requires management and unions to submit to binding arbitration and orders that ports reopen after a series of strikes and lockouts effectively halted container operations across the country.

Both carriers generated more in net income between July and September than the first two quarters combined, filings to the Taiwan stock exchange showed.

While there was no official word as to what caused the flip-flop on the part of the carrier, sources believe the security situation in the Red Sea remains too volatile for carriers to consider returning to the Suez route.

CMA CGM’s group net profit rocketed to $2.7 billion in the third quarter, thanks to stronger pricing power and earlier peak seasons for North American and European importers.

US retailers plan to significantly increase imports in November and December compared with projections from just one month ago following Donald Trump’s election to a second term.