<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">In a market where east-west ocean service is becoming a port-to-port commodity, Maersk Line is taking steps to stand out from the rest of the pack by branding its service beyond the ocean voyage.</div>

In a market where east-west ocean service is becoming a port-to-port commodity, Maersk Line is taking steps to stand out from the rest of the pack by branding its service beyond the ocean voyage.

<div>In a market where east-west ocean service is becoming a port-to-port commodity, Maersk Line is taking steps to stand out from the rest of the pack by branding its service beyond the ocean voyage.It kicked off its branding campaign a year ago with a customer charter that set eight key goals of customer service that it would measure against a set of benchmarks. Now, having made substantial progress toward those goals, it is starting to integrate its customer care program across all regions around the globe so it can measure the customer service it provides by shipper and by shipping...

In a market where east-west ocean service is becoming a port-to-port commodity, Maersk Line is taking steps to stand out from the rest of the pack by branding its service beyond the ocean voyage. It kicked off its branding campaign a year ago with a customer charter that set eight key goals of customer service that it would measure against a set of benchmarks. Now, having made substantial progress toward those goals, it is starting to integrate its customer care program across all regions around the globe so it can measure the customer service it provides by shipper and by shipping segment, such as apparel, paper or reefer, for example. “We use benchmarking as a way of keeping score of how we are doing as to whether a customer is on care or not on care in that program,” said Stephen Schueler in an interview with the JOC. He was hired as Maersk Line’s chief marketing officer in June 2013 after a 20-year career with Procter & Gamble. Maersk’s benchmarking shows it met its 2013 target of answering all calls by North America customers within 30 seconds a full 100 percent of the time. “When you call, we pick up the phone within three rings. We enter a customer code and all their information comes up on screen,” Schueler said. “That enables us to be proactive in solving your problems. This is how we want customer service to be a differentiator going forward.” Schueler has an unusual assignment within Maersk: As the Copenhagen-based executive overseeing customer service, sales, brand operations and customer intelligence, he is charged with turning Maersk’s name, now known for ocean transportation, into a brand that stands for global transport services, including inland delivery and reliability. Although most of his experience at P&G was with retail branding, he will be applying that experience in the business-to-business market. His new responsibilities reflect a growing trend among B2B marketers to use branding in crowded business markets as a way to establish a reputation for quality, according to the CEB Marketing Leadership Council. Business customers who see a supplier’s value are four times more likely to consider that brand in the future, but the problem is that buyers perceive little difference amongst the business value that various suppliers can offer, according to a CEB survey. “We are becoming more and more customer-centric,” Schueler said. To that end, Maersk is in a continuous dialogue with its shipper customers on how it can improve its service. “We talked to a couple of hundred customers to get their definition of what good customer service is,” Schueler said. “That’s how we came up with the eight goals. We have made progress on these goals.” In addition to the phone accessibility he cited above, the goals included booking cargo within a two-hour turn time, where it met its goal in North America 91.7 percent of the time; resolving disputes within seven days, where it met its goal 91.6 percent of the time; documentation accuracy within eight hours (99.4 percent); turnaround time for documentation (98.4 percent); pre-arrival notification within 24 hours (99.9 percent); invoicing accuracy (94.8 percent); and resolving service issues within 12 hours (74.5 percent). Having largely met these initial goals, Maersk is changing its marketing program. “We changed our marketing to promises delivered,” Schueler said. Now it is trying to integrate its customer care service across all regions by segments, based on such criteria as the size of the shipper’s volume and the type of commodity being shipped. Large shippers will get a dedicated customer service contact in each region, which will be aligned with other customer service contacts in other regions. It also plans to provide customers in each of these segments a record of how it met its eight goals with regard to that individual customer. “Originally we brought our customer charter goals out by country,” Schueler said. “Now we are breaking it out by customer so we will be able to give individual customers their charter numbers.” Contact Peter Leach at pleach@joc.com and follow him on Twitter: @petertleach .

Container lines

Maersk to Brand Service Beyond Seven Seas

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the latest disruption to global shipping, highlighting once again that the market would rather ride out the problem than pay for the resilience that could bring relief, analyst Lars Jensen writes.</div>

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the latest disruption to global shipping, highlighting once again that the market would rather ride out the problem than pay for the resilience that could bring relief, analyst Lars Jensen writes.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">The turmoil caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has brought the notion of resilience in shipping back to the forefront. In part by people asking, seemingly rhetorical, why the industry did not prepare to be more resilient, and in part why the governments in the region did not prepare for more resilience. Add to this the somewhat fanciful, and quite impractical, notion of digging a canal from the Arabian Sea straight through UAE and Oman into the Persian Gulf itself. On the surface, the matter of resilience appears to be a reasonable question, but upon closer inspection it turns out to be anything but. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6191694_0.1.jpg"></img></div>When it comes to resilience in the supply chain, this is not a new discussion at all. I wrote about this very topic <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/global-supply-chain-must-weigh-balance-between-efficiency-resilience-5250599">in the Journal of Commerce in March 2021</a>. At the time, the context was the disruptions stemming from the pandemic, which had given rise to calls for more resilience in the supply chain. At the time, I pointed out that supply chains had evolved this way because efficiency is the core driver behind everything. Efficiency in terms of lower costs, leaner inventories, higher utilization of assets such as vessels, terminals, trucks etc. Still, within these confines, the supply chain was typically quite resilient on a day-to-day basis, with the main vulnerability being more systemic risks. As I pointed out at the time, there are plenty of known systemic risks for which there is no willingness to pay for added resilience. To underscore this point, I listed a range of examples of such systemic risks where there is no willingness to pay for added resilience, including: a major earthquake devastating key port and inland infrastructure in a major port location, the outbreak of war closing critical transit corridors for shipping, a pandemic, tensions between the US and China in the South China Sea, and a cyber-attack. In the five years since that was written, we saw the grounding of the Ever Given in 2021, the Red Sea vessel attacks that began impacting Suez Canal transits in late 2023, drought restrictions along the Panama Canal in 2023-24, and now the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The risks still stand. And it appears that not a lot is being done to bolster the industry’s resilience against these. <h3>The cost hesitancy of resilience </h3>During the height of the pandemic freight rate spikes, I came across plenty of shippers willing to focus more on long term resilience and tone down short-term cost savings. As the market then normalized during 2023, I also experienced most of this willingness to disappear entirely. It briefly reawakened in the early part of the Red Sea crisis in 2024, but as supply chains normalized on the longer route around southern Africa, this once more abated. In such an environment, there is no business case for offering more resilient supply chains. Container lines were ridiculed in late 2023 for having, once again, created significant overcapacity. No one wanted to pay for this as resilience, and carriers became loss-making – only to see this overcapacity be sorely needed due to the Red Sea crisis. If we look at Hormuz as an example, how should we have made the supply chains more resilient? Sure, pipelines could be built for oil products, but how about the container shipping sector? This would require massive overland capacity to be built in terms of trucks and rail, a solution that under normal circumstances would be much too expensive compared to the shipping option, and hence would remain idle. I see critics focus on the governments in the Gulf states for not creating such resilience. And sure, in theory, they could have built and paid for this additional infrastructure to stand idle just in case. But if that is the argument, we can also ask why the US government does not build a large new container terminal to stand empty just in case we get an earthquake that incapacitates the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex. Of course, that is a rhetorical question. No one will be building a second LA/LB port complex to stand empty just in case. And that is why the resilience many ask for in a time of crisis will often not be available. Lars Jensen is CEO and partner at Vespucci Maritime. Contact him at <a href="mailto:lars.jensen@vespucci-maritime.com">lars.jensen@vespucci-maritime.com.</a></div>

The turmoil caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has brought the notion of resilience in shipping back to the forefront. In part by people asking, seemingly rhetorical, why the industry did not prepare to be more resilient, and in part why the governments in the region did not prepare for more resilience. Add to this the somewhat fanciful, and quite impractical, notion of digging a canal from the Arabian Sea straight through UAE and Oman into the Persian Gulf itself. On the surface, the matter of resilience appears to be a reasonable question, but upon closer inspection it turns out to be anything but. When it comes to resilience in the supply chain, this is not a new discussion at all. I wrote about this very topic in the Journal of Commerce in March 2021 . At the time, the context was the disruptions stemming from the pandemic, which had given rise to calls for more resilience in the supply chain. At the time, I pointed out that supply chains had evolved this way because efficiency is the core driver behind everything. Efficiency in terms of lower costs, leaner inventories, higher utilization of assets such as vessels, terminals, trucks etc. Still, within these confines, the supply chain was typically quite resilient on a day-to-day basis, with the main vulnerability being more systemic risks. As I pointed out at the time, there are plenty of known systemic risks for which there is no willingness to pay for added resilience. To underscore this point, I listed a range of examples of such systemic risks where there is no willingness to pay for added resilience, including: a major earthquake devastating key port and inland infrastructure in a major port location, the outbreak of war closing critical transit corridors for shipping, a pandemic, tensions between the US and China in the South China Sea, and a cyber-attack. In the five years since that was written, we saw the grounding of the Ever Given in 2021, the Red Sea vessel attacks that began impacting Suez Canal transits in late 2023, drought restrictions along the Panama Canal in 2023-24, and now the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The risks still stand. And it appears that not a lot is being done to bolster the industry’s resilience against these. The cost hesitancy of resilience During the height of the pandemic freight rate spikes, I came across plenty of shippers willing to focus more on long term resilience and tone down short-term cost savings. As the market then normalized during 2023, I also experienced most of this willingness to disappear entirely. It briefly reawakened in the early part of the Red Sea crisis in 2024, but as supply chains normalized on the longer route around southern Africa, this once more abated. In such an environment, there is no business case for offering more resilient supply chains. Container lines were ridiculed in late 2023 for having, once again, created significant overcapacity. No one wanted to pay for this as resilience, and carriers became loss-making – only to see this overcapacity be sorely needed due to the Red Sea crisis. If we look at Hormuz as an example, how should we have made the supply chains more resilient? Sure, pipelines could be built for oil products, but how about the container shipping sector? This would require massive overland capacity to be built in terms of trucks and rail, a solution that under normal circumstances would be much too expensive compared to the shipping option, and hence would remain idle. I see critics focus on the governments in the Gulf states for not creating such resilience. And sure, in theory, they could have built and paid for this additional infrastructure to stand idle just in case. But if that is the argument, we can also ask why the US government does not build a large new container terminal to stand empty just in case we get an earthquake that incapacitates the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex. Of course, that is a rhetorical question. No one will be building a second LA/LB port complex to stand empty just in case. And that is why the resilience many ask for in a time of crisis will often not be available. Lars Jensen is CEO and partner at Vespucci Maritime. Contact him at lars.jensen@vespucci-maritime.com.

Supply chain

Maritime

New shipping crisis brings ‘resilience’ question to the fore again

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut off a major source of global resin supply, teeing up US production to fill in some of the gap.</div>

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut off a major source of global resin supply, teeing up US production to fill in some of the gap.

<div class="phx-topic">US resin exports have ticked higher as the war in the Middle East shuts off the largest source of global plastics supply. The sustainability of the export demand, though, hinges largely on the war’s duration and the capacity of North American producers to make more resin.Export container bookings for resins hit 6,191 on March 16, according to maritime visibility provider Vizion. That compares with the nearly 3,500 to 4,500 daily bookings typically made throughout all of 2026. The first week of March saw the highest number of export resin bookings, 22,653, since the last week of January. Most bookings occur during weekdays.The bookings come as Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have cut off the Middle East’s resin producers from world markets. The Middle East accounts for 15% of global polyethylene supply, the most widely traded type of resin, according to S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence. The disruption in the Gulf has already sent US polyethylene prices higher. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, said Thursday that US prices have tripled since Feb. 25, now hovering between $1,268 and $1,290 per metric ton, depending on the grade. “The sharp price increases reflected a fundamental shift in global supply dynamics, as the US emerged as the primary supplier of polyethylene ... following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” Platts said. Asia and Europe are the most affected by the disruption in Middle East resin exports, Shruthi Vangipuram, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie, told the Journal of Commerce. While both regions have their own resin production, they depend on crude oil feedstocks that have also become more expensive. “Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have been impacted the most,” she said. “Producers in the region are struggling to secure feedstock and operating rates in these countries have been severely curtailed.” Vangipuram estimates that resin plants in Asia and Europe are running at only about 70% of their production capacity due to higher prices for feedstock crude oil. In contrast, US producers are running at about 90% utilization. She said US producers can delay maintenance to keep production levels high through the second quarter, but that would still not fill the gap in global demand. “We can flex to 95%, 98% utilization, but it depends on which markets it makes sense to sell to,” Vangipuram said. <h3>Pricing arbitrage favors trans-Atlantic</h3>Export capacity from the US to Asia is ample, according to an executive of a third-party logistics provider, who estimated that backhaul utilization for most ocean carriers hovers near 50%. Spot rates for dry freight to Asia from the US Gulf, which dominates resin exports, are currently running between $500 and $700 for a standard-sized container, while shipping a 20-foot container used primarily for resins runs about 80% of that rate. Trans-Atlantic rates have also been stable, hovering near $1,100 for a 20-foot container from the US Gulf to Northern Europe, according to Xeneta. The rate for shipping a 20-foot container out of the Southeast Atlantic ports has moved higher since the start of the year, going from just over $700 to $757 this week, Xeneta said. <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ocean-alliance-one-rework-trans-atlantic-services-remove-ships-6169751">Carriers are removing ships and port calls from trans-Atlantic services</a>, tightening up some of the capacity in that market. Outbound US cargo does not face any significant delays with bookings available about two weeks out. The real risk for shippers will be in fuel surcharges that are being applied on global trades due to the Middle East war, as well as a potential general rate increase in April. Outside of freight rates and vessel space, Vangipuram said the real driver for US exports will be the direction of local pricing. Asian prices will still need to move higher to attract more US imports. With a four- to six-week lead time for imports, Asian buyers will need to see the conflict drag out before buying from the US. Europe, which is the second-biggest market for US resins after South America, has seen its benchmark polyethylene prices rise by one-third since the end of February. Vangipuram said Europe would likely be the first market to see additional US imports thanks to the much shorter voyage time and the sharper price move. “The arbitrage works out better in the Atlantic than to Asia because of freight rates and shorter shipping times,” Vangipuram said. “We may not see the volume from the US make it into those markets that would appear to need it most.” Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto: michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

US resin exports have ticked higher as the war in the Middle East shuts off the largest source of global plastics supply. The sustainability of the export demand, though, hinges largely on the war’s duration and the capacity of North American producers to make more resin. Export container bookings for resins hit 6,191 on March 16, according to maritime visibility provider Vizion. That compares with the nearly 3,500 to 4,500 daily bookings typically made throughout all of 2026. The first week of March saw the highest number of export resin bookings, 22,653, since the last week of January. Most bookings occur during weekdays. The bookings come as Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have cut off the Middle East’s resin producers from world markets. The Middle East accounts for 15% of global polyethylene supply, the most widely traded type of resin, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The disruption in the Gulf has already sent US polyethylene prices higher. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, said Thursday that US prices have tripled since Feb. 25, now hovering between $1,268 and $1,290 per metric ton, depending on the grade. “The sharp price increases reflected a fundamental shift in global supply dynamics, as the US emerged as the primary supplier of polyethylene ... following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” Platts said. Asia and Europe are the most affected by the disruption in Middle East resin exports, Shruthi Vangipuram, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie, told the Journal of Commerce. While both regions have their own resin production, they depend on crude oil feedstocks that have also become more expensive. “Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have been impacted the most,” she said. “Producers in the region are struggling to secure feedstock and operating rates in these countries have been severely curtailed.” Vangipuram estimates that resin plants in Asia and Europe are running at only about 70% of their production capacity due to higher prices for feedstock crude oil. In contrast, US producers are running at about 90% utilization. She said US producers can delay maintenance to keep production levels high through the second quarter, but that would still not fill the gap in global demand. “We can flex to 95%, 98% utilization, but it depends on which markets it makes sense to sell to,” Vangipuram said. Pricing arbitrage favors trans-Atlantic Export capacity from the US to Asia is ample, according to an executive of a third-party logistics provider, who estimated that backhaul utilization for most ocean carriers hovers near 50%. Spot rates for dry freight to Asia from the US Gulf, which dominates resin exports, are currently running between $500 and $700 for a standard-sized container, while shipping a 20-foot container used primarily for resins runs about 80% of that rate. Trans-Atlantic rates have also been stable, hovering near $1,100 for a 20-foot container from the US Gulf to Northern Europe, according to Xeneta. The rate for shipping a 20-foot container out of the Southeast Atlantic ports has moved higher since the start of the year, going from just over $700 to $757 this week, Xeneta said. Carriers are removing ships and port calls from trans-Atlantic services , tightening up some of the capacity in that market. Outbound US cargo does not face any significant delays with bookings available about two weeks out. The real risk for shippers will be in fuel surcharges that are being applied on global trades due to the Middle East war, as well as a potential general rate increase in April. Outside of freight rates and vessel space, Vangipuram said the real driver for US exports will be the direction of local pricing. Asian prices will still need to move higher to attract more US imports. With a four- to six-week lead time for imports, Asian buyers will need to see the conflict drag out before buying from the US. Europe, which is the second-biggest market for US resins after South America, has seen its benchmark polyethylene prices rise by one-third since the end of February. Vangipuram said Europe would likely be the first market to see additional US imports thanks to the much shorter voyage time and the sharper price move. “The arbitrage works out better in the Atlantic than to Asia because of freight rates and shorter shipping times,” Vangipuram said. “We may not see the volume from the US make it into those markets that would appear to need it most.” Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Trans-Atlantic

US resin shippers look to tap new customers amid Iran war

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The latest quarterly results show that FedEx’s less-than-truckload division is struggling with lackluster industrial demand, but a change in strategy after a planned June spinoff could provide different results.</div>

The latest quarterly results show that FedEx’s less-than-truckload division is struggling with lackluster industrial demand, but a change in strategy after a planned June spinoff could provide different results.

<div class="phx-topic">Revenue and shipments in FedEx’s less-than-truckload (LTL) division fell during its fiscal third quarter amid the ongoing sluggish US industrial economy as the parent company prepares for a planned spinoff in June of the LTL business. Revenue for FedEx Freight dropped 5% year over year to $1.99 billion between December and February, the company’s fiscal third quarter, while shipments were down 6%. Revenue per shipment, however, increased 1% year over year. “It’s a broader LTL market that we’re in, and there’s nothing necessarily unique about our volumes,” Marshall Witt, CFO of FedEx Freight, said on an earnings call late Thursday. “We need to continue to improve our yield growth ... we will expect to continue to improve our customer experience ... we expect to continue to be disciplined in our pricing contract renewals.” Fourth-quarter and full fiscal-year revenue for LTL will likely be down by low-single-digit percentages year over year, according to the company. More attention on the call, however, was paid to the FedEx Freight spinoff and an investor day on April 8, during which the company will outline a new strategy for LTL focused on yield over volume. As a standalone company, FedEx Freight might reject low-margin or unprofitable freight from shippers who previously used LTL as part of a larger commercial relationship with FedEx’s parcel, logistics, and airfreight divisions. The freight division has hired its sales and operation teams, created new computer systems and secured a $3.7 billion debt offering in January. “We look at those as good cost incurrences primarily because they’re related to building our IT infrastructure,” Witt said. “Also building out our talent, and that represents both folks that are coming on board externally and folks that are transitioning over from FedEx Corporation. Having those folks and platforms being built now and being ready to address the spin off and the standalone of FedEx Freight is a positive outcome for us.” FedEx also pointed to the possibility that the growth in data centers will generate freight volumes. “We know that as data centers expand, that yes, there will be some LTL business for my friends over at [FedEx] Freight, but in addition, there is going to be some parcel business,” Brie Carere, FedEx’s chief commercial officer, said on Thursday’s call. <h3>Small encouraging signs </h3>There are some small encouraging signs for the LTL industry overall. The Institute for Supply Chain Management reports that the Purchasing Managers’ Index for manufacturing was in expansion territory in February, at 52.4, for a second consecutive month after spending most of 2025 in contraction territory. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="ccfbe9dd-30e0-4ab0-b6bd-a4eed3591ca5"></dynamic-object></div>In an intra-quarter update, ArcBest, parent of LTL provider ABF Freight System, reported that revenue per day was up 1% and shipments were up 2% year over year in January and February combined. XPO reported shipments per day grew 3% year over year in February, although it did not disclose revenue. But Old Dominion Freight Line reported revenue per day declined 3.3% and shipments fell 7% in February. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Revenue and shipments in FedEx’s less-than-truckload (LTL) division fell during its fiscal third quarter amid the ongoing sluggish US industrial economy as the parent company prepares for a planned spinoff in June of the LTL business. Revenue for FedEx Freight dropped 5% year over year to $1.99 billion between December and February, the company’s fiscal third quarter, while shipments were down 6%. Revenue per shipment, however, increased 1% year over year. “It’s a broader LTL market that we’re in, and there’s nothing necessarily unique about our volumes,” Marshall Witt, CFO of FedEx Freight, said on an earnings call late Thursday. “We need to continue to improve our yield growth ... we will expect to continue to improve our customer experience ... we expect to continue to be disciplined in our pricing contract renewals.” Fourth-quarter and full fiscal-year revenue for LTL will likely be down by low-single-digit percentages year over year, according to the company. More attention on the call, however, was paid to the FedEx Freight spinoff and an investor day on April 8, during which the company will outline a new strategy for LTL focused on yield over volume. As a standalone company, FedEx Freight might reject low-margin or unprofitable freight from shippers who previously used LTL as part of a larger commercial relationship with FedEx’s parcel, logistics, and airfreight divisions. The freight division has hired its sales and operation teams, created new computer systems and secured a $3.7 billion debt offering in January. “We look at those as good cost incurrences primarily because they’re related to building our IT infrastructure,” Witt said. “Also building out our talent, and that represents both folks that are coming on board externally and folks that are transitioning over from FedEx Corporation. Having those folks and platforms being built now and being ready to address the spin off and the standalone of FedEx Freight is a positive outcome for us.” FedEx also pointed to the possibility that the growth in data centers will generate freight volumes. “We know that as data centers expand, that yes, there will be some LTL business for my friends over at [FedEx] Freight, but in addition, there is going to be some parcel business,” Brie Carere, FedEx’s chief commercial officer, said on Thursday’s call. Small encouraging signs There are some small encouraging signs for the LTL industry overall. The Institute for Supply Chain Management reports that the Purchasing Managers’ Index for manufacturing was in expansion territory in February, at 52.4, for a second consecutive month after spending most of 2025 in contraction territory. In an intra-quarter update, ArcBest, parent of LTL provider ABF Freight System, reported that revenue per day was up 1% and shipments were up 2% year over year in January and February combined. XPO reported shipments per day grew 3% year over year in February, although it did not disclose revenue. But Old Dominion Freight Line reported revenue per day declined 3.3% and shipments fell 7% in February. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

Trucking News

Surface

FedEx Freight battles weak US industrial sector ahead of spinoff

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The move comes just days after a joint venture between the two companies was selected as the preferred bidder to develop a $1.8 billion container terminal in Da Nang.</div>

The move comes just days after a joint venture between the two companies was selected as the preferred bidder to develop a $1.8 billion container terminal in Da Nang.

<div class="phx-topic">APM Terminals has taken a 49% stake in Hateco Haiphong International Container Terminal (HHIT) in northern Vietnam, Maersk’s port affiliate said Friday, cementing its partnership with Vietnam’s Hateco Group after helping to develop the $450 million facility. Financial terms were not disclosed. The move comes <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/apm-terminals-to-build-18-billion-terminal-in-da-nang-6187751">days after a joint venture between the two companies was selected</a> as the preferred bidder to develop a $1.8 billion container terminal in Da Nang, about 350 miles south of Haiphong, and 13 months after the 2.2 million-TEU capacity HHIT became operational. HHIT said the two-berth facility, covering berths 5 and 6 at Haiphong’s Lach Huyen port, has already exceeded initial throughput targets after handling 808,000 TEUs in the 11 months after it became operational last year. APM Terminals said its involvement in developing HHIT included shared best practices on safety, port automation, the use of artificial intelligence and process optimization, and decarbonization. That has helped the terminal achieve an average of 30 container moves per hour and cut truck turnaround times to 16 minutes compared with a market average of 35 minutes, HHIT said. “Since we started operating, we can already see that we are delivering on the highest berth productivities in the Port of Haiphong and have set new records for the automated gate operations as well,” Hateco Group Chairman Tran Van Ky said in a statement announcing APM Terminals’ minority stake. “We are looking forward to working closely with APM Terminals in the years to come to further optimize the terminal operations to the benefit of our customers.” Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

APM Terminals has taken a 49% stake in Hateco Haiphong International Container Terminal (HHIT) in northern Vietnam, Maersk’s port affiliate said Friday, cementing its partnership with Vietnam’s Hateco Group after helping to develop the $450 million facility. Financial terms were not disclosed. The move comes days after a joint venture between the two companies was selected as the preferred bidder to develop a $1.8 billion container terminal in Da Nang, about 350 miles south of Haiphong, and 13 months after the 2.2 million-TEU capacity HHIT became operational. HHIT said the two-berth facility, covering berths 5 and 6 at Haiphong’s Lach Huyen port, has already exceeded initial throughput targets after handling 808,000 TEUs in the 11 months after it became operational last year. APM Terminals said its involvement in developing HHIT included shared best practices on safety, port automation, the use of artificial intelligence and process optimization, and decarbonization. That has helped the terminal achieve an average of 30 container moves per hour and cut truck turnaround times to 16 minutes compared with a market average of 35 minutes, HHIT said. “Since we started operating, we can already see that we are delivering on the highest berth productivities in the Port of Haiphong and have set new records for the automated gate operations as well,” Hateco Group Chairman Tran Van Ky said in a statement announcing APM Terminals’ minority stake. “We are looking forward to working closely with APM Terminals in the years to come to further optimize the terminal operations to the benefit of our customers.” Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Port News

International ports

Container Shipping News

APMT takes 49% stake in Haiphong’s HHIT terminal in northern Vietnam

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Market sources say an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 TEUs have landed at Indian ports thus far, with Nhava Sheva (JNPA) terminals alone accounting for 25,000 TEUs of discharges.</div>

Market sources say an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 TEUs have landed at Indian ports thus far, with Nhava Sheva (JNPA) terminals alone accounting for 25,000 TEUs of discharges.

<div class="phx-topic">As Middle East-bound containers sourced from Asia continue to make their way into Indian ports for temporary shelter, container lines are concurrently trying to evacuate them on available shuttle capacity for the final leg of their connection. But carriers are being hobbled by multiple operational and systematic challenges at alternative Persian Gulf gateways, according to industry insights. Market sources say an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 TEUs <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joc.com%2Farticle%2Fcarriers-seek-to-offload-stranded-asia-middle-east-containers-at-indian-ports-6185263&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ckevin.saville2%40spglobal.com%7C972081c3ba2f499979eb08de8671235c%7C8f3e36ea80394b4081a77dc0599e8645%7C1%7C0%7C639096017679329220%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=YDeZjDrpaLFB3%2Fkl5wZnogGsDaNv7ZkjIuMMmkD74Pk%3D&amp;reserved=0">have landed at Indian ports thus far</a>, with Nhava Sheva (JNPA) terminals alone accounting for 25,000 TEUs of discharges. Sohar in Oman and Fujairah and Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates have become the contingency lifeline for supply chain stakeholders following <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joc.com%2Farticle%2Fcarriers-pause-india-middle-east-cargo-bookings-amid-persian-gulf-port-chaos-6179223&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ckevin.saville2%40spglobal.com%7C972081c3ba2f499979eb08de8671235c%7C8f3e36ea80394b4081a77dc0599e8645%7C1%7C0%7C639096017679373330%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Tmtv68DMGAWGS5a2%2BTCY46RYQCq7O%2F3%2FryQQLFbWW1k%3D&amp;reserved=0">widespread port suspensions and disruptions</a> across the Middle East in the aftermath of hostilities between the US/Israel and Iran. A 5 million-TEU capacity terminal makes Gulftainer's Khor Fakkan facility the favorite carrier transit option, but limited availability of reefer handling capacity across all three alternative ports, particularly Fujairah, is a major concern for carriers. “There are only about 120 reefer plug points at Fujairah,” a carrier executive who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “This severely constrains perishable cargo movements.” Compounding the pain, UAE authorities have directed ocean carriers seeking access at Khor Fakkan to keep the scale of cargo loads meant for cross-border transits significantly low as onward road dispatches massively struggle. According to industry sources, the Khor Fakkan port authority has either turned away some vessels carrying large transshipment volumes or declined offloading permission for those containers. Given that context, vessel operators out of India are understood to have generally been advised to plan or manifest no more than 30% of loads for transshipment discharges. Khor Fakkan is facing severe port congestion and berthing delays, with several vessels forced to wait more than a week — up to 12 days in some cases — to secure discharge windows. Some ad-hoc callers have finally diverted away with waits extending indefinitely, sources said. Additionally, consignees have been given a firm two-day window to clear goods from the UAE docks amid the import rush, with cargo interests facing the risk of hefty port charges on overstaying boxes. Another concern reported by carrier sources is the scramble at terminal gates when importers not holding pre-customs registration status show up to receive goods at the alternative ports. “Unregistered customers turning up for cargo pickups is adding to the chaos,” said another carrier executive. <h3>CMA CGM ‘inland’ fuel fee </h3>CMA CGM is said to have finalized plans to operate three Middle East shuttle sailings out of West India (Nhava Sheva/Mundra) to call at Sohar and Fujairah over the next week in order to clear up its rerouted containers. To that end, JNPA officials at a stakeholder review meeting Thursday reiterated that the port is working proactively with stakeholders to support unexpected transshipment volumes. JNPA officials said the port currently has adequate storage capacity available, with only about 50% of its container holding space presently occupied. At the same time, some congestion signals are emerging. Container truckers serving Nhava Sheva’s PSA terminal (BMCT) on Friday complained to authorities about vehicles experiencing lengthening turn times over the past week, making drivers refuse trips for BMCT, which has handled most of the vessels rerouted to the port. Sunil Vaswani, executive director at the Container Shipping Lines’ Association (India), told the Journal of Commerce carriers are now deploying capacity over the Red Sea in a contingency approach to handle import deliveries into the Middle East, with multimodal solutions for onward movements. That effort is also triggering more cost add-ons for shippers. After raising emergency fuel surcharges previously rolled into the ocean freight side, CMA CGM has announced an “inland” emergency fuel fee for the Middle East beginning March 23, without specifying the amount. “These [fuel cost] increases are impacting not only sea transportation but also inland operations across all modes, affecting the overall cost of moving containers throughout the supply chain,” the Marseille-based liner noted. Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen, speaking to media in Mumbai this week, said the Middle East crisis has left six Hapag-Lloyd container ships stranded and about 25,000 shipments impacted. He also noted that the carrier continues a pause on acceptance of bookings to and from the Middle East as it remains wary of landside pressures in a war zone. Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>.</div>

As Middle East-bound containers sourced from Asia continue to make their way into Indian ports for temporary shelter, container lines are concurrently trying to evacuate them on available shuttle capacity for the final leg of their connection. But carriers are being hobbled by multiple operational and systematic challenges at alternative Persian Gulf gateways, according to industry insights. Market sources say an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 TEUs have landed at Indian ports thus far , with Nhava Sheva (JNPA) terminals alone accounting for 25,000 TEUs of discharges. Sohar in Oman and Fujairah and Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates have become the contingency lifeline for supply chain stakeholders following widespread port suspensions and disruptions across the Middle East in the aftermath of hostilities between the US/Israel and Iran. A 5 million-TEU capacity terminal makes Gulftainer's Khor Fakkan facility the favorite carrier transit option, but limited availability of reefer handling capacity across all three alternative ports, particularly Fujairah, is a major concern for carriers. “There are only about 120 reefer plug points at Fujairah,” a carrier executive who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “This severely constrains perishable cargo movements.” Compounding the pain, UAE authorities have directed ocean carriers seeking access at Khor Fakkan to keep the scale of cargo loads meant for cross-border transits significantly low as onward road dispatches massively struggle. According to industry sources, the Khor Fakkan port authority has either turned away some vessels carrying large transshipment volumes or declined offloading permission for those containers. Given that context, vessel operators out of India are understood to have generally been advised to plan or manifest no more than 30% of loads for transshipment discharges. Khor Fakkan is facing severe port congestion and berthing delays, with several vessels forced to wait more than a week — up to 12 days in some cases — to secure discharge windows. Some ad-hoc callers have finally diverted away with waits extending indefinitely, sources said. Additionally, consignees have been given a firm two-day window to clear goods from the UAE docks amid the import rush, with cargo interests facing the risk of hefty port charges on overstaying boxes. Another concern reported by carrier sources is the scramble at terminal gates when importers not holding pre-customs registration status show up to receive goods at the alternative ports. “Unregistered customers turning up for cargo pickups is adding to the chaos,” said another carrier executive. CMA CGM ‘inland’ fuel fee CMA CGM is said to have finalized plans to operate three Middle East shuttle sailings out of West India (Nhava Sheva/Mundra) to call at Sohar and Fujairah over the next week in order to clear up its rerouted containers. To that end, JNPA officials at a stakeholder review meeting Thursday reiterated that the port is working proactively with stakeholders to support unexpected transshipment volumes. JNPA officials said the port currently has adequate storage capacity available, with only about 50% of its container holding space presently occupied. At the same time, some congestion signals are emerging. Container truckers serving Nhava Sheva’s PSA terminal (BMCT) on Friday complained to authorities about vehicles experiencing lengthening turn times over the past week, making drivers refuse trips for BMCT, which has handled most of the vessels rerouted to the port. Sunil Vaswani, executive director at the Container Shipping Lines’ Association (India), told the Journal of Commerce carriers are now deploying capacity over the Red Sea in a contingency approach to handle import deliveries into the Middle East, with multimodal solutions for onward movements. That effort is also triggering more cost add-ons for shippers. After raising emergency fuel surcharges previously rolled into the ocean freight side, CMA CGM has announced an “inland” emergency fuel fee for the Middle East beginning March 23, without specifying the amount. “These [fuel cost] increases are impacting not only sea transportation but also inland operations across all modes, affecting the overall cost of moving containers throughout the supply chain,” the Marseille-based liner noted. Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen, speaking to media in Mumbai this week, said the Middle East crisis has left six Hapag-Lloyd container ships stranded and about 25,000 shipments impacted. He also noted that the carrier continues a pause on acceptance of bookings to and from the Middle East as it remains wary of landside pressures in a war zone. Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

Hurdles in Persian Gulf test carriers moving stranded Asian cargo from India

Use code GTT26W at checkout and save $900 on first year of an annual Gold subscription!

Upgrade Subscription - Gold Trials

Become a Gold Subscriber and Save!

Arm your team with the most trusted information portal for the international container shipping industry.

Group Subscriptions - Wide Box

Get into a group subscription today

Use code FTW25 at checkout to save 25% on a Silver or Silver Plus annual subscription! 

Subscribe Now - FT to S/SP - Wide Box

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 25%

Use code GW595 and upgrade to Gold for just $595! Valid for first year of subscription.

Upgrade Subscription - S/SP to Gold - Wide Box

SAVE $900 ON A GOLD SUBSCRIPTION

Choose a subscription plan that works best for you!

Subscribe Now - Anonymous to S/SP - Wide Box

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Access Journal of Commerce content for 30 days

Free Trial - Wide Box

START A FREE TRIAL TODAY

Use code GW995 at checkout to save $500 on first year of a Gold subscription!

Subscribe Now - FT to Gold - Wide Box

SAVE $500 ON A GOLD SUBSCRIPTION

Subscribe Now - Anonymous to Gold - Wide Box

START A FREE TRIAL: Access Journal of Commerce content for 30 days

Free Trial - Offer Box

Free Trial

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 25%: Use code FTW25 to save 25% on first year of a Silver or Silver Plus annual subscription!


Subscribe Now - FT to S/SP - Offer Box

Subscribe and Save

GET INTO A GROUP SUBSCRIPTION: Arm your team with unlimited Journal of Commerce content

Group Subscriptions - Offer Box

Group Subscriptions

SUBSCRIBE TODAY: Choose a subscription plan that works best for you!

Subscribe Now - Anonymous to S/SP - Offer Box

UPGRADE TO GOLD AND SAVE: Use code GTT26W at checkout and save $900 on first year of a Gold subscription!

Upgrade Subscription

Subscribe Now - Anonymous to Gold - Offer Box

SAVE $900 ON A GOLD SUBSCRIPTION: Use code GW595 and upgrade to Gold for just $595! Valid on first year of subscription.

Upgrade Subscription - S/SP to Gold - Offer Box

SAVE $500 ON A GOLD SUBSCRIPTION: Use code GW995 and save $500 on the first year of a Gold subscription!

Subscribe Now - FT to Gold - Offer Box

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE

Monthly publication providing an editorial deep dive into global supply chain news

Journal of Commerce Magazine - Rectangle Box

Journal of Commerce Magazine

A premium access index of savings using domestic intermodal vs. OTR 

ISI Report - Rectangle Box

Intermodal Savings Index

An in-depth analysis of transport trends in the multipurpose and heavy-lift fleet segment

Breakbulk Report - Rectangle Box

Breakbulk Quarterly

An extensive dashboard of charts organized by trade lane, mode, and topic

Gateway - Rectangle Box

Gateway

Customers scoring their intermodal partners to identify the best service providers

Intermodal Service Scorecard - Rectangle Box

Intermodal Service Scorecard

A premium access outlook critical to shippers and transportation providers

QI Report - Rectangle Box

Quarterly Intelligence

The only editorially independent conference for the breakbulk & project cargo industry

Breakbulk Conference - Rectangle Box

Attend Breakbulk26

The latest container shipping news and analysis of ocean container shipping, logistics, supply chains, technology solutions and end-to-end connectivity. Coverage includes the movement of containerized cargo handled by marine terminals and container ports, depots, container lines, drayage, consignees, importers and shippers, forwarders, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOs) and off-dock warehousing providers. The Journal of Commerce's container shipping news includes news from the trans-Pacific, Asia–Europe, North America–Caribbean, Central and South America trades, and intra-Asia trades.

Forwarding

Asia-Europe

Trans-Pacific

Container shipping news and analysis of ocean container shipping, logistics, supply chains, technology and end-to-end connectivity.

Container Shipping News | Journal of Commerce

The Journal of Commerce is the industry’s source for maritime news and analysis about ocean container shipping, logistics, supply chains, global shipping ports, shipping technology solutions and end-to-end connectivity. Coverage tracks the movement of containerized cargo — from origin to destination — handled by marine terminals in the US and abroad, depots, container ports, container lines, drayage, consignees and shippers, forwarders, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOs) and off-dock warehousing providers, as well as pricing, capacity, volume and reliability on the trans-Pacific, Asia–Europe, North America–Caribbean, Central and South American and intra-Asia trades.

Discover comprehensive trucking news and trends with Journal of Commerce - from trucking LTL to regulation and trucking supply and demand.

Breakbulk News shipping | Journal of Commerce

Breakbulk News

Stay informed on port news worldwide with Journal of Commerce. From decarbonization to labor updates, get insights on global developments.

Port News | Journal of Commerce

News and analysis of ocean containerized cargo movement, logistics, supply chains, technology, and end-to-end connectivity. Maritime news and analysis of containerized ocean cargo movement, breakbulk and roll-on and roll-off shipping from origin to destination.

Latest News

More News & Analysis

New shipping crisis brings ‘resilience’ question to the fore again

US resin shippers look to tap new customers amid Iran war

FedEx Freight battles weak US industrial sector ahead of spinoff