Container lines

US maritime interests said the proposed fees on Chinese ships would hit a variety of low-value, niche trades that can’t absorb the costs.

Container lines serving the India-US trade appear to be taking a hard line in the first round of annual contract negotiations amid overcapacity putting downward pressure on spot rates.

The IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, which potentially puts the organization in the crosshairs of the new administration that is reassessing all its UN positions and policies.

A group of seven Asia-based regional carriers are collaborating to add a weekly long-haul service on the eastbound trans-Pacific despite bearish market signals.

The growing backlog of boxes awaiting a return to Asia has resulted in finger pointing among stakeholders over how best to address the problem.

Canada’s labor minister will take a direct hand after the mediated talks for a new longshore contract at the port failed to achieve a deal after 18 months of negotiations.

Montreal’s port chief says a successful outcome after nearly two years of talks between port employers and the longshore union will be critical to restoring shipper trust.

The long-term agreement calls for the ocean carrier to add seven services with 10 weekly calls to Brazil’s largest port over the next two years.

Running loops with fewer ships will not be the current priority for an oversupplied industry, but new entrants may be more inclined to look at a lean, efficient product that has a competitive service edge in the key hubs it serves, writes Jeremy Masters.

The port will berth vessels at its smaller Ocean Terminal two miles downriver from the main Garden City terminal in order to cut waiting times outside the port and reduce ship backlogs.

Ports across the continent are struggling to clear bottlenecks as containers stack up in terminals and delay inland and feeder connections.

Multiple sources who spoke with the Journal of Commerce have confirmed ongoing negotiations between the two liners covering India’s larger westbound trades to the US East Coast and North Europe.

Despite banking a collective operating profit of about $60 billion in 2024, a worsening supply-demand imbalance could make the next three years difficult for the container shipping industry.

The Federal Maritime Commission is looking at areas where ships are having transit troubles with an eye on how US maritime influence can fix those problems.

Fresh questions about the direction of the US economy after the tariff chaos unleashed by the Trump administration in recent weeks has container lines resetting their rate expectations for the 2025–26 service year.

The dizzying pace of the Trump administration’s moves against longtime US trading partners is putting shippers at risk of facing hefty new costs as a result of tariff “stacking.”

But Yang Ming said significant uncertainties continue to affect the global trade outlook, saying “key risk factors” include US tariff developments that could lead to inflationary pressures due to rising operational costs.

The Cosco Shipping subsidiary recorded another highly profitable year but pointed to growing geopolitical uncertainties and industry-specific challenges that will test container shipping in the year ahead.

While shippers might have expected ocean carriers to make application programming interfaces widely available by 2025, negative incentives have inhibited that progress.

Zim’s decision to keep more capacity available for spot rather than contract business on the trans-Pacific allowed it to capitalize on the expanded deployment of capacity on the trade.

While the 15-month-old Red Sea crisis is ever present, ocean carriers and their customers are also now navigating the vagaries of the trade policies and proposals of the Trump administration.

After raising rates in anticipation of higher volumes, several top carriers have now dropped spot booking rates from West India to North Europe by between $300 and $500 per container, according to freight forwarder sources in Mumbai.

As a top tier of mega carriers has emerged through consolidation and organic growth, so has the need of those carriers to align their dominance on the ocean with capacity at ports.

The threat underscores the fragility of the Red Sea security situation and the reluctance of ocean carriers to return to Suez Canal transits until the safety of crew, ships and cargo can be guaranteed. 

Having control over port operations has become a key element of container shipping that enables the fast turnaround of ships and improved schedule reliability.

The so-called Ocean Shipper Bill of Rights was distributed by the National Industrial Transportation League at the conclusion of the Journal of Commerce’s TPM25 conference.

The carrier’s investment, announced while its chief executive met at the White House with President Donald Trump, comes amid heightened political sensitivities in the US as far as the container shipping industry is concerned.

Major carriers on the India-US East Coast trade are reporting success on their March rate recovery efforts, thanks in large part to recent sailing cuts, prompting some of them to announce even higher increases for next month.

The new service that will start in April will enhance Vietnam’s connectivity with Brazil, which is already Vietnam’s largest trading partner in Latin America.

The bleak timeline from Europe’s busiest port is based on the chaos that resulted when the Ever Given was freed after six days of blocking the Suez Canal in 2021.

ONE’s chief executive took the opportunity of TPM’s silver anniversary to look back at how the industry has changed for the better over the years and call out some of the existing hurdles.

While the new network will need two cycles to be fully phased in through the next two or three months, the Hapag-Lloyd CEO said Gemini was “off to a good start” with 550 port calls made so far and 45 of 57 services already started.

Should the Trump administration’s proposal be implemented, capacity will have to be withdrawn from the US and redeployed to where it makes more economical sense, the CEO of the world’s largest ocean carrier said.

The carrier’s new investment push seems to be an attempt to catch up with its peers, particularly MSC, which has dedicated terminals at Mundra and Ennore/Chennai through joint venture arrangements with Adani.

The French liner joined the ranks of its profitable peers, announcing Friday that its net profit rose 2% to $5.7 billion last year on an 18% rise in revenue to $55.5 billion.

The measures are the latest in a series of support packages announced by South Korean trade organizations and government bodies to help the country’s small and medium-sized exporters weather capacity restrictions and volatile freight rates.

Container lines in the US’ busiest trade lane, determined to avoid a repeat of last year when they believe they significantly underpriced their services, are seeking rate gains of 20% to 30% for the upcoming service year.

The cost of the US Trade Representative’s proposal for levying fees on Chinese ships and ocean carriers would fall to US shippers, who would also face fewer service options, the analyst says.

While the US-based carrier experienced a strong 2024, growth this year is under threat due to tariffs and the unknowns involving when Red Sea transits will resume.

The carrier has replaced the huge vessels with smaller ships in a move to cut capacity and reduce pressure on rates that have plummeted since the start of the year, according to the analyst.