<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Hub Group, one of the leading intermodal service middleman firms and a truck brokerage provider, said traffic and pricing have weakened its earnings outlook for the near term.
 
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Hub Group, one of the leading intermodal service middleman firms and a truck brokerage provider, said traffic and pricing have weakened its earnings outlook for the near term.

<div>Hub Group, one of the leading intermodal service middleman firms and a truck brokerage provider, said traffic and pricing have weakened its earnings outlook for the near term.It estimated first-quarter earnings of 15 to 20 cents per diluted share, lower than analysts had been predicting.The company said intermodal volume for the entire 2009 first quarter should be down 5-7 percent from the same period in 2008. It projects revenue from truck brokerage to be 22-28 below year-earlier levels, &amp;ldquo;due to declines in price, volume and fuel.&amp;rdquo; However, Hub said, &amp;ldquo;we believe our volume decline is in line with recent market...

Hub Group, one of the leading intermodal service middleman firms and a truck brokerage provider, said traffic and pricing have weakened its earnings outlook for the near term. It estimated first-quarter earnings of 15 to 20 cents per diluted share, lower than analysts had been predicting. The company said intermodal volume for the entire 2009 first quarter should be down 5-7 percent from the same period in 2008. It projects revenue from truck brokerage to be 22-28 below year-earlier levels, &ldquo;due to declines in price, volume and fuel.&rdquo; However, Hub said, &ldquo;we believe our volume decline is in line with recent market trends and does not represent a loss of market share.&rdquo; A bright spot was its logistics business, where it looks for revenue growth of 18-22 percent in the quarter. CEO David Yeager said that even with the traffic and price declines, &ldquo;each business line remains profitable&rdquo; and Hub is &ldquo;focused on protecting our market share and servicing our customers.&rdquo; He said the company is already cutting costs in line with earlier plans, and since it has no debt and over $100 million in cash, &ldquo;we will emerge from this downturn in a position of strength.&rdquo; Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com .

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Hub Cites Recession Impact

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">With the flow of waterborne oil suspended in the Strait of Hormuz, reports out of China say suppliers are rationing fuel in anticipation of growing shortages, while bunkering centers such as Salalah in Oman are no longer able to fulfil orders. </div>

With the flow of waterborne oil suspended in the Strait of Hormuz, reports out of China say suppliers are rationing fuel in anticipation of growing shortages, while bunkering centers such as Salalah in Oman are no longer able to fulfil orders.

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<div class="phx-topic">The disruption to oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz is forcing Maersk to take the unprecedented step of filling ships with fuel in the US and Europe and transferring the bunkers to vessels in Asia, the carrier’s chief commercial officer said Wednesday. Karsten Kildahl told the Journal of Commerce in an interview that in the past two days, several of Maersk’s bunker suppliers in key areas in the Middle East and Asia have been unable to refuel the carrier’s vessels. “We've had to start moving oil around ourselves because we don’t have enough supplies where we need them,” Kildahl said. “In Asia, nearly half of their supplies come from the Gulf area, so some of the vessels leaving the US and Europe are filled with as much oil as we possibly can, and then we transport the fuel to other vessels we connect with in Asia.” Around one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and refined products — 20 million barrels per day — is exported via the Strait of Hormuz, but that slowed to a trickle after the US and Israel began air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. More than 10 ships have been attacked since the war started, and soaring war risk insurance is keeping most commercial shipping out of the region, including oil tankers. With the flow of waterborne oil suspended, reports out of China say suppliers are rationing fuel in anticipation of growing shortages, while bunkering centers such as Salalah in Oman are no longer able to fulfil fuel orders, Kildahl said. “Salalah is one of our main bunker ports in the Gulf, but we've not been able to bunker there for the past two days, so we need to transfer bunkers from one place to another,” he said. “The main concern right now is how do we safeguard the supply of oil?” <h3>Tanker chartering not an option </h3>Chartering a tanker to transport oil to where it is needed was not an option, Kildahl said, with available vessels in short supply. “In the short term, we have started bunkering in less efficient locations with a higher cost and more difficult logistics behind it, and over time we will have to significantly beef this up if (the war drags on),” he warned. “That is where you will have the risk of a larger impact, much more than the 7% of world cargo flow that goes in and out of Gulf.” Oil prices, meanwhile, have rocketed higher. S&amp;P Global Energy, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce, on Wednesday assessed the price of 0.5% sulfur marine bunker fuel in Singapore at $1,050 per metric ton, up from $519/mt the day before the war began. Carriers have responded by rolling out “emergency” surcharges. Maersk on Tuesday announced a global emergency bunker surcharge of $400 per FEU, joining Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) in implementing similar fuel surcharges. Kildahl said the ship-to-ship transfers, moving oil from the US and Europe to Asia, and changing fuel supply patterns was creating additional expenses for the carrier, on top of rising bunker prices. With the Persian Gulf out of bounds, congestion is growing at other ports in the region with carriers looking to discharge cargo that had already departed Asia when booking suspensions were announced on March 1. Most of the carriers are prioritizing urgent cargo, such as food and pharmaceuticals, but Kildahl said at some point “other cargo will become urgent,” such as aluminum and petrochemicals and polyethylene that are raw materials for plastics production. ”Those products can’t float out right now realistically, and so is that a problem tomorrow? No, it’s not,” he said. “It’s not a problem next week either, but at some point, it will be.” <h3>’End-of-voyage’ disruptions </h3>For general and non-urgent cargo, MSC, CMA CGM and Yang Ming are among the carriers that have declared “end-of-voyage" for Persian Gulf-bound containers already on board vessels. That cargo status means the carriers are unable to fulfill obligations on a bill of lading, and when the containers are offloaded at a port, they become the responsibility of the cargo owner. Kildahl said Maersk has around 40,000 TEUs that are shipped in and out of the Persian Gulf every week, and that bookings have been suspended to avoid diverted volume collapsing terminals in the region. But instead of declaring end-of-voyage, Maersk has taken a different approach, offering shippers three options: Keeping the cargo in temporary storage, having it returned to the port of departure, or delivering it to another destination for onward transport by another mode. "We are using Salalah and Khor Fakkan for cargo that comes from the east and are securing trucking capacity to take it into the Gulf,” Kildahl said. “For cargo that comes from Europe, we focus mainly on Jeddah and are deploying trucks to take the cargo across the Arabian Peninsula through the desert. ”We don’t think it is a fantastic solution for any customer to get an end-of-voyage declaration,” he added. “If the customer doesn’t want any of the options, we may be forced into an end-of-voyage declaration, but I doubt we will come to that.” Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The disruption to oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz is forcing Maersk to take the unprecedented step of filling ships with fuel in the US and Europe and transferring the bunkers to vessels in Asia, the carrier’s chief commercial officer said Wednesday. Karsten Kildahl told the Journal of Commerce in an interview that in the past two days, several of Maersk’s bunker suppliers in key areas in the Middle East and Asia have been unable to refuel the carrier’s vessels. “We've had to start moving oil around ourselves because we don’t have enough supplies where we need them,” Kildahl said. “In Asia, nearly half of their supplies come from the Gulf area, so some of the vessels leaving the US and Europe are filled with as much oil as we possibly can, and then we transport the fuel to other vessels we connect with in Asia.” Around one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and refined products — 20 million barrels per day — is exported via the Strait of Hormuz, but that slowed to a trickle after the US and Israel began air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. More than 10 ships have been attacked since the war started, and soaring war risk insurance is keeping most commercial shipping out of the region, including oil tankers. With the flow of waterborne oil suspended, reports out of China say suppliers are rationing fuel in anticipation of growing shortages, while bunkering centers such as Salalah in Oman are no longer able to fulfil fuel orders, Kildahl said. “Salalah is one of our main bunker ports in the Gulf, but we've not been able to bunker there for the past two days, so we need to transfer bunkers from one place to another,” he said. “The main concern right now is how do we safeguard the supply of oil?” Tanker chartering not an option Chartering a tanker to transport oil to where it is needed was not an option, Kildahl said, with available vessels in short supply. “In the short term, we have started bunkering in less efficient locations with a higher cost and more difficult logistics behind it, and over time we will have to significantly beef this up if (the war drags on),” he warned. “That is where you will have the risk of a larger impact, much more than the 7% of world cargo flow that goes in and out of Gulf.” Oil prices, meanwhile, have rocketed higher. S&P Global Energy, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce, on Wednesday assessed the price of 0.5% sulfur marine bunker fuel in Singapore at $1,050 per metric ton, up from $519/mt the day before the war began. Carriers have responded by rolling out “emergency” surcharges. Maersk on Tuesday announced a global emergency bunker surcharge of $400 per FEU, joining Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) in implementing similar fuel surcharges. Kildahl said the ship-to-ship transfers, moving oil from the US and Europe to Asia, and changing fuel supply patterns was creating additional expenses for the carrier, on top of rising bunker prices. With the Persian Gulf out of bounds, congestion is growing at other ports in the region with carriers looking to discharge cargo that had already departed Asia when booking suspensions were announced on March 1. Most of the carriers are prioritizing urgent cargo, such as food and pharmaceuticals, but Kildahl said at some point “other cargo will become urgent,” such as aluminum and petrochemicals and polyethylene that are raw materials for plastics production. ”Those products can’t float out right now realistically, and so is that a problem tomorrow? No, it’s not,” he said. “It’s not a problem next week either, but at some point, it will be.” ’End-of-voyage’ disruptions For general and non-urgent cargo, MSC, CMA CGM and Yang Ming are among the carriers that have declared “end-of-voyage" for Persian Gulf-bound containers already on board vessels. That cargo status means the carriers are unable to fulfill obligations on a bill of lading, and when the containers are offloaded at a port, they become the responsibility of the cargo owner. Kildahl said Maersk has around 40,000 TEUs that are shipped in and out of the Persian Gulf every week, and that bookings have been suspended to avoid diverted volume collapsing terminals in the region. But instead of declaring end-of-voyage, Maersk has taken a different approach, offering shippers three options: Keeping the cargo in temporary storage, having it returned to the port of departure, or delivering it to another destination for onward transport by another mode. "We are using Salalah and Khor Fakkan for cargo that comes from the east and are securing trucking capacity to take it into the Gulf,” Kildahl said. “For cargo that comes from Europe, we focus mainly on Jeddah and are deploying trucks to take the cargo across the Arabian Peninsula through the desert. ”We don’t think it is a fantastic solution for any customer to get an end-of-voyage declaration,” he added. “If the customer doesn’t want any of the options, we may be forced into an end-of-voyage declaration, but I doubt we will come to that.” Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Container lines

Container Shipping News

Maritime

Maersk forced to ship fuel from US, Europe as Asia bunkers start to run dry

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">CEO Jeremy Nixon said the investment, which could be valued at close to $1 billion, is part of ONE’s plan to reach 3 million TEUs in capacity by 2030. </div>

CEO Jeremy Nixon said the investment, which could be valued at close to $1 billion, is part of ONE’s plan to reach 3 million TEUs in capacity by 2030.

<div class="phx-topic">Ocean Network Express (ONE) has increased its ownership stake in its largest provider of chartered tonnage, becoming the largest external shareholder of Poseidon Corp. in a transaction potentially valued at close to $1 billion. ONE said in a statement Tuesday it signed an agreement to acquire an additional stake in Poseidon, the parent company of Singapore-based container shipowner Seaspan, from existing shareholders. ONE said the purchase brings its stake in Poseidon to 48.9%. ONE did not say how much it paid for the additional stake. But Canadian insurance company Fairfax Financial said separately Tuesday that it sold about half of its stake in Poseidon for $1.91 billion, with half of that stake going to an existing Poseidon shareholder who will increase their ownership stake. The other half of Fairfax’s stake was sold to unidentified strategic investors. ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon said in the statement that the investment in Poseidon is part of the carrier’s growth strategy through 2030. ONE currently has a fleet of 281 ships amounting to 2.2 million TEUs. Of that, Seaspan has chartered some 43 container ships to ONE, amounting to about 417,000 TEUs in capacity. “Since our initial investment in 2023, Seaspan has achieved remarkable growth as the world’s leading tonnage platform,” Nixon said. “We are pleased to acquire this additional stake in Poseidon, which fully aligns with our ONE 2030 strategic growth plan.” <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/strategic-investment-underpins-ones-sustainable-profitability-target-nixon-5241768">Poseidon took a nearly one-third ownership stake in Seaspan in 2023 for $1.4 billion</a>. The group included Fairfax, investor David Sokol, and the Washington family, which originally owned Seaspan. Sokol and the Washington family pooled their existing shares to take Seaspan private that year. <h3>Tight supply-demand balance </h3>Speaking at the Journal of Commerce’s TPM26 conference in Long Beach last week, Nixon said it’s important for ONE to continue investing in new vessels because the global supply and demand balance remains tight. ONE’s 2030 strategy includes reaching 3 million TEU in carrier capacity. The trans-Pacific market is only expected to see slight growth this year, Nixon said. But north-south trade and intra-regional trades are growing at double-digit rates, keeping further pressure on ship supply. “The charter market is so tight. There are really no ships available,” Nixon said at TPM26. “Carriers have to be thinking all the time four, five, six years ahead.” Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has increased its ownership stake in its largest provider of chartered tonnage, becoming the largest external shareholder of Poseidon Corp. in a transaction potentially valued at close to $1 billion. ONE said in a statement Tuesday it signed an agreement to acquire an additional stake in Poseidon, the parent company of Singapore-based container shipowner Seaspan, from existing shareholders. ONE said the purchase brings its stake in Poseidon to 48.9%. ONE did not say how much it paid for the additional stake. But Canadian insurance company Fairfax Financial said separately Tuesday that it sold about half of its stake in Poseidon for $1.91 billion, with half of that stake going to an existing Poseidon shareholder who will increase their ownership stake. The other half of Fairfax’s stake was sold to unidentified strategic investors. ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon said in the statement that the investment in Poseidon is part of the carrier’s growth strategy through 2030. ONE currently has a fleet of 281 ships amounting to 2.2 million TEUs. Of that, Seaspan has chartered some 43 container ships to ONE, amounting to about 417,000 TEUs in capacity. “Since our initial investment in 2023, Seaspan has achieved remarkable growth as the world’s leading tonnage platform,” Nixon said. “We are pleased to acquire this additional stake in Poseidon, which fully aligns with our ONE 2030 strategic growth plan.” Poseidon took a nearly one-third ownership stake in Seaspan in 2023 for $1.4 billion . The group included Fairfax, investor David Sokol, and the Washington family, which originally owned Seaspan. Sokol and the Washington family pooled their existing shares to take Seaspan private that year. Tight supply-demand balance Speaking at the Journal of Commerce’s TPM26 conference in Long Beach last week, Nixon said it’s important for ONE to continue investing in new vessels because the global supply and demand balance remains tight. ONE’s 2030 strategy includes reaching 3 million TEU in carrier capacity. The trans-Pacific market is only expected to see slight growth this year, Nixon said. But north-south trade and intra-regional trades are growing at double-digit rates, keeping further pressure on ship supply. “The charter market is so tight. There are really no ships available,” Nixon said at TPM26. “Carriers have to be thinking all the time four, five, six years ahead.” Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Trans-Pacific

ONE boosts ownership stake in Seaspan parent Poseidon

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Ports closest to the Persian Gulf are under mounting pressure with a second round of containers inbound as carriers start to offload cargo that was already on the water last week when Middle East bookings were canceled.</div>

Ports closest to the Persian Gulf are under mounting pressure with a second round of containers inbound as carriers start to offload cargo that was already on the water last week when Middle East bookings were canceled.

<div class="phx-topic">Congestion from unexpected volumes is building at container ports outside the war-torn Persian Gulf as cargo that was en route to ports located on the west side of the narrow Strait of Hormuz is discharged early. Ports across the Persian Gulf — including regional transhipment powerhouse Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait — were shut down after the US launched air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Some of the ports have since resumed operations, but vessel arrivals remain limited as the war rages on. Bottlenecks are growing at ports closest to the Persian Gulf with mounting congestion at Khor Fakkan on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, Sohar in Oman, Karachi in Pakistan and Mundra and Nhava Sheva in India, according to Destine Ozuygur, senior market analyst at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. “Essentially, it’s still a matter of ‘how close can we get to our original destination without putting our crews at risk and what does our insurance coverage allow?’” she told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday. Another wave of containers is inbound as carriers look for ports to discharge cargo that had already departed Asia when booking suspensions were announced for the ports in the UAE, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. “[The containers] will be split with some discharging at major transshipment hubs like Singapore, Colombo [Sri Lanka] and Tanjung Pelepas [Malaysia] and others trying to get closer to Indian ports or even to the east coast of the UAE,” she said. “But at this stage the closer you get to the conflict, the more you can expect to face delays.” According to a Xeneta analysis of AIS vessel positioning data and the number of services at each port, Karachi is currently 80% congested, with average wait times of 2.5 days; Sohar is 100% congested, with average waits of 5.9 days; and Khor Fakkan is at 100%. Nhava Sheva is currently at 57%, with average wait times of 2.8 days, well above the norm for this port, while Mundra is currently at 55%, with vessels waiting two days on average. Aden has gone from being relatively uncongested to between 77% and 100% since March 3 and is currently at 88%, with average wait times of nine days. <h3>Containers trapped inside Persian Gulf </h3>The US launched an intense wave of air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 with Tehran retaliating, swiftly plunging the region into a no-go area for air and ocean transport. Container terminals and airports across the Persian Gulf shut down as Iran targeted US bases in the UAE, Oman and Bahrain. While the regional hub of Jebel Ali in the UAE is now operational, an advisory from Crane Worldwide Logistics notes that vessel arrivals remain limited due to network disruption and the high cost of war risk insurance for any vessel attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis noted that 47 regular deep-sea services call at ports within the Persian Gulf, generating a combined 336 individual port calls in January that represented a total nominal capacity of 1.32 million TEUs entering the region. Half of all the port calls were made at Jebel Ali. Based on that data, the analyst estimated that 204,159 TEUs of capacity remains trapped inside the Persian Gulf, and with no safe routes into or out of the region, this will inevitably lead to equipment shortages in Asia. “The Persian Gulf is structurally a net-import region for containerized cargo,” Sea-Intelligence wrote in its Sunday Spotlight newsletter, with deep-sea services discharging laden imports and loading empty boxes to reposition back to Asian manufacturing hubs. “By trapping over 200,000 TEUs of capacity — and the physical boxes sitting on those vessels and in Gulf terminals — the closure simultaneously starves Asian export hubs of vital equipment, potentially causing container shortages in the Far East,” Sea-Intelligence CEO Alan Murphy warned. The Asia-Europe trades are already facing a growing equipment imbalance from persistent congestion at European hub ports, and Container Trades Statistics (CTS) CEO Nigel Pusey warned that the US-Iran war will worsen the situation. “The Middle East and India are interwoven into many schedules of many carriers, so there is going to be a massive impact,” Pusey told the Journal of Commerce’s TPM26 conference in Long Beach. “It’s probably far too early to say what’s going to happen, but the imbalance is going to get far worse.” <h3>Rates, volatility on the rise </h3>Meanwhile, rate increases into India, Egypt and East Mediterranean ports are reflecting the conflict-driven disruption in the Middle East. Since Feb. 28, rates from Asia to India are up almost 30% and Asia-East Mediterranean are up 11%, according to Xeneta. Carriers are also hitting shippers with significant surcharges that range between $2,500 and $3,500 per TEU. “Due to the volatility of the ongoing situation, there is a need for alternative solutions to bringing your cargo to final destination, including finding alternative routing and storage in transit,” Maersk noted in an update Monday. The Maersk emergency freight rate of $3,000 per FEU will be charged on cargo to or from ports in Iraq, Kuwait, Damman and Jubai in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman, except Salalah, and covers 14 days of storage in transit. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint for global energy and trade flows, has triggered volatility in oil and LNG markets and halted shipping through a route responsible for a significant share of global energy exports. Ben Farrell, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), said disruption in such a critical region was rippling rapidly across industries, markets and continents. “This is not just about shipping routes; it is about energy security, global manufacturing and the cost of moving goods around the world,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “Supply chains are more resilient than they were five years ago, but prolonged disruption in such a critical corridor will inevitably create cost pressures and operational challenges across the global economy.” Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Congestion from unexpected volumes is building at container ports outside the war-torn Persian Gulf as cargo that was en route to ports located on the west side of the narrow Strait of Hormuz is discharged early. Ports across the Persian Gulf — including regional transhipment powerhouse Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait — were shut down after the US launched air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Some of the ports have since resumed operations, but vessel arrivals remain limited as the war rages on. Bottlenecks are growing at ports closest to the Persian Gulf with mounting congestion at Khor Fakkan on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, Sohar in Oman, Karachi in Pakistan and Mundra and Nhava Sheva in India, according to Destine Ozuygur, senior market analyst at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. “Essentially, it’s still a matter of ‘how close can we get to our original destination without putting our crews at risk and what does our insurance coverage allow?’” she told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday. Another wave of containers is inbound as carriers look for ports to discharge cargo that had already departed Asia when booking suspensions were announced for the ports in the UAE, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. “[The containers] will be split with some discharging at major transshipment hubs like Singapore, Colombo [Sri Lanka] and Tanjung Pelepas [Malaysia] and others trying to get closer to Indian ports or even to the east coast of the UAE,” she said. “But at this stage the closer you get to the conflict, the more you can expect to face delays.” According to a Xeneta analysis of AIS vessel positioning data and the number of services at each port, Karachi is currently 80% congested, with average wait times of 2.5 days; Sohar is 100% congested, with average waits of 5.9 days; and Khor Fakkan is at 100%. Nhava Sheva is currently at 57%, with average wait times of 2.8 days, well above the norm for this port, while Mundra is currently at 55%, with vessels waiting two days on average. Aden has gone from being relatively uncongested to between 77% and 100% since March 3 and is currently at 88%, with average wait times of nine days. Containers trapped inside Persian Gulf The US launched an intense wave of air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 with Tehran retaliating, swiftly plunging the region into a no-go area for air and ocean transport. Container terminals and airports across the Persian Gulf shut down as Iran targeted US bases in the UAE, Oman and Bahrain. While the regional hub of Jebel Ali in the UAE is now operational, an advisory from Crane Worldwide Logistics notes that vessel arrivals remain limited due to network disruption and the high cost of war risk insurance for any vessel attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis noted that 47 regular deep-sea services call at ports within the Persian Gulf, generating a combined 336 individual port calls in January that represented a total nominal capacity of 1.32 million TEUs entering the region. Half of all the port calls were made at Jebel Ali. Based on that data, the analyst estimated that 204,159 TEUs of capacity remains trapped inside the Persian Gulf, and with no safe routes into or out of the region, this will inevitably lead to equipment shortages in Asia. “The Persian Gulf is structurally a net-import region for containerized cargo,” Sea-Intelligence wrote in its Sunday Spotlight newsletter, with deep-sea services discharging laden imports and loading empty boxes to reposition back to Asian manufacturing hubs. “By trapping over 200,000 TEUs of capacity — and the physical boxes sitting on those vessels and in Gulf terminals — the closure simultaneously starves Asian export hubs of vital equipment, potentially causing container shortages in the Far East,” Sea-Intelligence CEO Alan Murphy warned. The Asia-Europe trades are already facing a growing equipment imbalance from persistent congestion at European hub ports, and Container Trades Statistics (CTS) CEO Nigel Pusey warned that the US-Iran war will worsen the situation. “The Middle East and India are interwoven into many schedules of many carriers, so there is going to be a massive impact,” Pusey told the Journal of Commerce’s TPM26 conference in Long Beach. “It’s probably far too early to say what’s going to happen, but the imbalance is going to get far worse.” Rates, volatility on the rise Meanwhile, rate increases into India, Egypt and East Mediterranean ports are reflecting the conflict-driven disruption in the Middle East. Since Feb. 28, rates from Asia to India are up almost 30% and Asia-East Mediterranean are up 11%, according to Xeneta. Carriers are also hitting shippers with significant surcharges that range between $2,500 and $3,500 per TEU. “Due to the volatility of the ongoing situation, there is a need for alternative solutions to bringing your cargo to final destination, including finding alternative routing and storage in transit,” Maersk noted in an update Monday. The Maersk emergency freight rate of $3,000 per FEU will be charged on cargo to or from ports in Iraq, Kuwait, Damman and Jubai in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman, except Salalah, and covers 14 days of storage in transit. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint for global energy and trade flows, has triggered volatility in oil and LNG markets and halted shipping through a route responsible for a significant share of global energy exports. Ben Farrell, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), said disruption in such a critical region was rippling rapidly across industries, markets and continents. “This is not just about shipping routes; it is about energy security, global manufacturing and the cost of moving goods around the world,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “Supply chains are more resilient than they were five years ago, but prolonged disruption in such a critical corridor will inevitably create cost pressures and operational challenges across the global economy.” Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Port News

Asia-Europe

International ports

Waves of diverted containers swamping Middle East ports

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Carriers have defended rate increases for shipments out of Asia and elsewhere, citing the higher cost of operating when tonnage and equipment are tied up in the Middle East due to the war. </div>

Carriers have defended rate increases for shipments out of Asia and elsewhere, citing the higher cost of operating when tonnage and equipment are tied up in the Middle East due to the war.

<div class="phx-topic">Indian and Chinese regulatory authorities are warning container lines against price gouging via surcharges tied to the war in the Middle East as ocean carriers levy additional fees in the thousands of dollars. China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) <a href="https://xxgk.mot.gov.cn/jigou/syj/202603/t20260309_4201600.html">said in a Tuesday statement</a> that it has spoken to representatives of Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co. “regarding international shipping operations.” The ministry expressed concerns about the suspension of service from China to the Middle East, along with additional charges and higher rates being sought by carriers, two people familiar with the matter <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2a6299a3-c25d-4b05-8f4b-9f745173cb1a">told The Financial Times</a>. Due to the war in the Middle East, the Gemini Cooperation of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd is suspending some Middle East services, including those to Europe and Asia as well as regional shuttles. The alliance is also adding a new Asia-Europe loop that would partially replace the suspended east-west services. Carriers have defended the rate increases for shipments out of Asia and elsewhere, citing the higher cost of operating given that port congestion in the Middle East has tied up 2% of total container tonnage and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/waves-of-diverted-containers-swamping-middle-east-ports-6183989">more than 200,000 TEUs of equipment are trapped</a> in the Persian Gulf. Maersk, for example, has imposed a $200-per-TEU surcharge for shipments from Asia to the Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, while surcharges from other lanes have been upward of $2,400 per TEU for shipments out of some parts of India. MSC on Tuesday announced it was seeking higher rates for shipments from the Far East to Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Effective March 29, MSC, the largest container line by fleet tonnage, is setting freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates from Asia to North Europe at $2,820 per TEU. In October, MSC set FAK rates for the same trade at $1,620 per TEU. Maersk’s APM Terminals and MSC subsidiary Terminal Investments Limited took over the temporary operation of Panama’s Balboa and Christobal ports after Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hoing Kong-listed subsidiary CK Hutchison Holdings had its 28-year concession nullified by Panama’s Supreme Court. <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/hutchison-seeks-2-billion-in-damages-from-panama-after-terminal-deal-canceled-6183273">China has been highly critical</a> of Panama's decision and has previously warned of severe consequences following the action. <h3>Protecting Indian interests </h3>Separately, Indian regulators on Tuesday warned ocean carriers not to engage in “predatory pricing” to the detriment of Indian importers and exporters. The Directorate General of Shipping specifically stressed the need to ensure transparency in freight charges to avoid potential disputes, adding that exporters and importers must know their logistics costs up front. The regulatory intervention follows complaints from shipper groups about carriers levying war risk surcharges, sometimes retroactively, in the range of $2,000 per TEU and $3,000 per FEU for dry boxes and up to $4,000 per refrigerated container. Sunil Vaswani, executive director of the CSLA, said carriers serving the India-Middle East trade imposed the surcharges to offset additional operating costs driven by the sudden closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “Despite the challenges, container lines are making every effort to assist the trade,” Vaswani explained. The subject of carrier surcharges and ancillary fees in container supply chains has been contentious for decades. And foreign carriers that typically enjoy a capacity fiefdom in the market <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/indias-surcharge-review-threatens-to-squeeze-container-lines-5207313">had resisted previous efforts by Indian logistics policymakers</a> to create a regulated pricing environment, with terminal handling charges at the heart of that acrimonious debate. The warnings from regulators echo <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/chinese-shipping-regulators-flex-muscles-to-protect-exporters-5197047">similar statements made by China’s MOT in September 2020</a>, when a pandemic-driven surge of imports from Asia soaked up all available outbound vessel space and sent container spot rates soaring. At the time, the ministry urged carriers to add capacity to trans-Pacific routes and refrain from aggressive rate hikes. Contact Mark Szakonyi at <a href="mailto:mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com">mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com</a> and Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>. </div>

Indian and Chinese regulatory authorities are warning container lines against price gouging via surcharges tied to the war in the Middle East as ocean carriers levy additional fees in the thousands of dollars. China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) said in a Tuesday statement that it has spoken to representatives of Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co. “regarding international shipping operations.” The ministry expressed concerns about the suspension of service from China to the Middle East, along with additional charges and higher rates being sought by carriers, two people familiar with the matter told The Financial Times. Due to the war in the Middle East, the Gemini Cooperation of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd is suspending some Middle East services, including those to Europe and Asia as well as regional shuttles. The alliance is also adding a new Asia-Europe loop that would partially replace the suspended east-west services. Carriers have defended the rate increases for shipments out of Asia and elsewhere, citing the higher cost of operating given that port congestion in the Middle East has tied up 2% of total container tonnage and more than 200,000 TEUs of equipment are trapped in the Persian Gulf. Maersk, for example, has imposed a $200-per-TEU surcharge for shipments from Asia to the Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, while surcharges from other lanes have been upward of $2,400 per TEU for shipments out of some parts of India. MSC on Tuesday announced it was seeking higher rates for shipments from the Far East to Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Effective March 29, MSC, the largest container line by fleet tonnage, is setting freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates from Asia to North Europe at $2,820 per TEU. In October, MSC set FAK rates for the same trade at $1,620 per TEU. Maersk’s APM Terminals and MSC subsidiary Terminal Investments Limited took over the temporary operation of Panama’s Balboa and Christobal ports after Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hoing Kong-listed subsidiary CK Hutchison Holdings had its 28-year concession nullified by Panama’s Supreme Court. China has been highly critical of Panama's decision and has previously warned of severe consequences following the action. Protecting Indian interests Separately, Indian regulators on Tuesday warned ocean carriers not to engage in “predatory pricing” to the detriment of Indian importers and exporters. The Directorate General of Shipping specifically stressed the need to ensure transparency in freight charges to avoid potential disputes, adding that exporters and importers must know their logistics costs up front. The regulatory intervention follows complaints from shipper groups about carriers levying war risk surcharges, sometimes retroactively, in the range of $2,000 per TEU and $3,000 per FEU for dry boxes and up to $4,000 per refrigerated container. Sunil Vaswani, executive director of the CSLA, said carriers serving the India-Middle East trade imposed the surcharges to offset additional operating costs driven by the sudden closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “Despite the challenges, container lines are making every effort to assist the trade,” Vaswani explained. The subject of carrier surcharges and ancillary fees in container supply chains has been contentious for decades. And foreign carriers that typically enjoy a capacity fiefdom in the market had resisted previous efforts by Indian logistics policymakers to create a regulated pricing environment, with terminal handling charges at the heart of that acrimonious debate. The warnings from regulators echo similar statements made by China’s MOT in September 2020 , when a pandemic-driven surge of imports from Asia soaked up all available outbound vessel space and sent container spot rates soaring. At the time, the ministry urged carriers to add capacity to trans-Pacific routes and refrain from aggressive rate hikes. Contact Mark Szakonyi at mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com and Bency Mathew at  bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

China, India warn carriers on higher pricing tied to Middle East conflict

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Port stakeholders in Los Angeles acknowledge that redecking the Vincent Thomas Bridge will impact traffic over the next two years, but they say longer truck gates and a real-time communication system will minimize disruptions.</div>

Port stakeholders in Los Angeles acknowledge that redecking the Vincent Thomas Bridge will impact traffic over the next two years, but they say longer truck gates and a real-time communication system will minimize disruptions.

<div class="phx-topic">Long Beach, California — Port and marine terminal executives say they have a plan to minimize disruption during the two-year redecking of a key bridge at the entry of the Los Angeles harbor that includes keeping truck gates open longer and on weekends. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/redecking-project-on-los-angeles-harbor-bridge-to-begin-in-early-2026-6105309">will close the 63-year-old Vincent Thomas Bridge</a>, which handles about 53,000 vehicles a day, including 3,400 heavy-duty trucks, in one direction from March 23 to Nov. 1, followed by a complete closure through November 2028. “I’ll be very clear on this one: we will do what it takes to keep the trucks moving,” Alan McCorkle, president and CEO of Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles, said during the Journal of Commerce’s TPM26 conference last week. In addition to extra truck gates, port stakeholders in Los Angeles have been working with Caltrans for two years <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/la-port-stakeholders-warming-to-plan-to-mitigate-impact-of-bridge-project-6013847">to develop and improve a detour route</a> of surface streets that connect with major Southern California freeways. Local police agencies will provide continuous traffic control to respond to accidents and other events that disrupt traffic flow. A system of more than 40 Caltrans cameras — and more than 700 cameras throughout the ports’ six container terminals — will provide real-time information on traffic conditions, enabling terminal operators to respond immediately to delays, according to Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “We know that one trucker who has a problem — is delayed, misses an appointment — is a problem,” Seroka said. With 6,000 to 8,000 trucks operating in the harbor every day, an open line of communication among Caltrans, terminals and truckers will be crucial to ensuring minor disruptions don’t turn into prolonged congestion, said Matt Schrap, chief commercial officer of Forum Mobility and former CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association (HTA). “I don’t think there’s anyone in our industry who really knows exactly what’s going to happen, but we’re going to react appropriately,” Schrap told TPM26. The HTA must now impress upon ocean carriers the need for additional free time for container storage at the terminals if traffic disruptions related to the $1.5 billion redecking project delay pickups, he added. In the meantime, the port will continue to push its proposal to construct a new, taller bridge that would allow super-post Panamax vessels to call the Yusen Terminals, TraPac and West Basin terminals, Seroka said. “I want to make sure the 40% of our port’s capacity north of the bridge doesn’t go into obsolescence,” Seroka said. If the project moves forward, Caltrans will “help support it as much as we can,” Osama Megalla, assistant division chief-program/project manager and principal engineer for Caltrans District 7, said during the conference. “We’ll provide our expertise and oversight to make sure that the consultants are doing what they’re supposed to do, and construction is going well,” he said. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto: bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Long Beach, California — Port and marine terminal executives say they have a plan to minimize disruption during the two-year redecking of a key bridge at the entry of the Los Angeles harbor that includes keeping truck gates open longer and on weekends. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will close the 63-year-old Vincent Thomas Bridge , which handles about 53,000 vehicles a day, including 3,400 heavy-duty trucks, in one direction from March 23 to Nov. 1, followed by a complete closure through November 2028. “I’ll be very clear on this one: we will do what it takes to keep the trucks moving,” Alan McCorkle, president and CEO of Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles, said during the Journal of Commerce’s TPM26 conference last week. In addition to extra truck gates, port stakeholders in Los Angeles have been working with Caltrans for two years to develop and improve a detour route of surface streets that connect with major Southern California freeways. Local police agencies will provide continuous traffic control to respond to accidents and other events that disrupt traffic flow. A system of more than 40 Caltrans cameras — and more than 700 cameras throughout the ports’ six container terminals — will provide real-time information on traffic conditions, enabling terminal operators to respond immediately to delays, according to Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “We know that one trucker who has a problem — is delayed, misses an appointment — is a problem,” Seroka said. With 6,000 to 8,000 trucks operating in the harbor every day, an open line of communication among Caltrans, terminals and truckers will be crucial to ensuring minor disruptions don’t turn into prolonged congestion, said Matt Schrap, chief commercial officer of Forum Mobility and former CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association (HTA). “I don’t think there’s anyone in our industry who really knows exactly what’s going to happen, but we’re going to react appropriately,” Schrap told TPM26. The HTA must now impress upon ocean carriers the need for additional free time for container storage at the terminals if traffic disruptions related to the $1.5 billion redecking project delay pickups, he added. In the meantime, the port will continue to push its proposal to construct a new, taller bridge that would allow super-post Panamax vessels to call the Yusen Terminals, TraPac and West Basin terminals, Seroka said. “I want to make sure the 40% of our port’s capacity north of the bridge doesn’t go into obsolescence,” Seroka said. If the project moves forward, Caltrans will “help support it as much as we can,” Osama Megalla, assistant division chief-program/project manager and principal engineer for Caltrans District 7, said during the conference. “We’ll provide our expertise and oversight to make sure that the consultants are doing what they’re supposed to do, and construction is going well,” he said. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at  bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .

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