Container lines

Carriers are suspending feeder services between Hong Kong and Shenzhen and second-tier ports in southern China from mid-January due to COVID-19 quarantine rules for barge crews heading home for the Lunar New Year holidays.

The cap-and-trade emissions cutting system being implemented in Europe will have a “positive influence” on decarbonization agreements at an international level, according to the European Shippers’ Council.

At the core of the concerns expressed by carriers and terminal operators are what they say are the limits the FMC’s proposed rule on detention and demurrage would place on their ability to bill truckers and consignees.

HMM’s north–south inland solution in India ties in with an evolving industry strategy to aggregate cargo with a single port call, allowing carriers to maximize capacity utilization and save on port charges.

Long-term rates on major trade lanes out of Asia have fallen steadily through Q4 as shippers sign fewer contracts and instead ride the collapsing spot markets.

Shippers locked into long-term contracts at elevated rate levels on trades out of Asia are feeling “burnt” as the spot market collapses, according to the Global Shippers’ Forum.

How the new vessel carbon intensity rating measure will be applied from January continues to rile the global shipping community, with BIMCO facing the latest maritime industry broadside.

THE Alliance member Hapag-Lloyd says shippers can expect a “simplified” network in 2023, but that could mean larger ships, fewer services, and less transshipment.

Danish power company Ørsted says policymakers must provide a regulatory environment that allows companies to commit to the huge investment required in developing shipping’s fuel of the future.

Carriers, forwarders, and shippers say there will be no pre-Lunar Year bump in rates because they expect US demand to remain weak while exports from China decline further.

China’s exports fell almost 9 percent in November, while carriers continue to pull significant levels of capacity on trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe services.

Capacity cuts and service realignments could be looming on trades out of India as carriers face an acceleration of recent rate declines.

The decline in US imports from Asia is expected to accelerate in the coming months as earlier-than-usual Lunar New Year factory shutdowns in China cause production to plummet.

Shipping’s transition to zero-carbon energy sources will be costly, but shippers are showing a growing willingness to pay to decarbonize their ocean transport supply chains.

The anti-retaliation provision was included in US shipping reform because some shippers have been hesitant to lodge complaints against carriers for fear of being blacklisted.

The trans-Atlantic is the “last trade standing” with rate levels still elevated, but that may soon change as carriers move ships from the rapidly weakening trades out of Asia to Europe-US routes.

The US Federal Maritime Commission is poring over feedback about detention and demurrage billing practices from more than 100 industry stakeholders as the agency seeks to implement a key provision of OSRA-22.

MEPC79 delegates will also be considering a basket of measures that can integrate both technical and carbon pricing elements as the maritime industry transitions to more renewable fuels.

There are fires that will demand the immediate attention of new Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc, including quickly finding a way to meet long-term decarbonization targets.

MSC has put a heavier focus on the Indian market lately, which industry observers expect to remain resilient despite the demand challenges posed by ongoing recessionary conditions in Western economies.

CMA CGM said its acquisition of terminal assets in the key New York–New Jersey container gateway was designed around flexibility for shippers, not a bet on permanent shifts in US coastal market share.

US retailers are forecasting a significant decline in import volumes at least through April as much of the holiday and winter merchandise was shipped earlier than usual this year.

New York–New Jersey is CMA CGM’s largest gateway on the US East Coast, and the carrier intends to further develop calls in the New York area for which the newly acquired terminals will provide future capacity.

Sources say all major liners are facing challenges finding enough cargo to fill export space allocations for India and, as such, freight rates are already at near pre-pandemic levels.

Declining freight volumes and spot rates at pre-pandemic levels indicate the trans-Pacific will experience a “hard landing” in the coming months, an industry analyst said.

Ocean Alliance members are shifting post-Panamax ships away from the trans-Pacific and Asia–Europe trades to the trans-Atlantic amid buoyant demand and rates.

An economic partnership agreement signed earlier this year between India and the United Arab Emirates is driving new trade opportunities, prompting ocean carriers to boost service between the two countries.

Freight rates in many eastbound trans-Pacific service contracts have been renegotiated lower as carriers seek to prevent customers from bailing on them to take advantage of plunging spot rates.

Months of negotiations by Europe Union executive bodies over how shipping will be included in the Emissions Trading System have ended in agreement, with member states to have the final say in mid-December.

All supply chains converge at the marine terminal, so facilitating and protecting fluidity through the terminal is the key to unlocking broader supply chain effectiveness, writes JOC’s Peter Tirschwell.

OneRail has channeled the need for shippers to access final-mile capacity and service level consistency into a large venture capital funding round.

Sharply falling rates and demand signal an end to the extreme profitability enjoyed by carriers over the last two years, according to analysts.

Vessel on-time performance to US ports continued to improve in October, although carriers in the eastbound trans-Pacific underperformed global schedule reliability.

The ability of ocean carriers to manage their growing supply of excess capacity is becoming weaker by the week as supply chain bottlenecks ease and global economic headwinds strengthen.

CMA CGM continued its run of extreme profitability in the third quarter, strengthening its already solid balance sheet and slashing debt levels, but it warned that economic headwinds are strengthening.

Retailers that have seen final-mile costs more than double during the pandemic are increasingly making investments in their last-leg delivery networks.

If there’s one lesson from the pandemic, it’s that working to ensure efficient container flow through US ports during sustained cargo surges must be the highest priority, whether it’s achievable or not, writes JOC’s Peter Tirschwell.

The expanding platform provided by shippers seeking green transport has allowed Maersk to ramp up its ocean sustainability efforts, with greening landside logistics the next target.

The resumed service at India’s VOC comes as the port has embarked on a raft of new infrastructure projects to position itself as an alternative transshipment hub to Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port.

The highs for the container shipping industry, as measured by profits and pricing power, hit atmospheric levels, raising questions of just how steep a fall is in store.