<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The true extent of port congestion on the schedules of Asia-North Europe container carriers has been tallied by Alphaliner, with one in four calls on the main loops being omitted through the second half of the year. </div>

The true extent of port congestion on the schedules of Asia-North Europe container carriers has been tallied by Alphaliner, with one in four calls on the main loops being omitted through the second half of the year.

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<div>Container shipping lines cut a quarter of all Asia-North Europe port calls on the 18 main loops over the past five months to mitigate operations heavily disrupted by persistent port congestion, according to data from analyst Alphaliner. The port omissions came as the volume of European imports from China began to grow sharply in October, lifting the 10-month volume well above the year-ago period and 10 percent higher than the number of containers transported from January through October 2019. China’s containerized exports to Europe rose 17 percent year over year in October to 757,367 TEU and were up 25 percent...

Container shipping lines cut a quarter of all Asia-North Europe port calls on the 18 main loops over the past five months to mitigate operations heavily disrupted by persistent port congestion, according to data from analyst Alphaliner. The port omissions came as the volume of European imports from China began to grow sharply in October, lifting the 10-month volume well above the year-ago period and 10 percent higher than the number of containers transported from January through October 2019. China’s containerized exports to Europe rose 17 percent year over year in October to 757,367 TEU and were up 25 percent compared with the same month in 2019, according to Container Trades Statistics. For the 10 months through October, China-Europe volume at 6.91 million TEU was up 12.6 percent year over year and up 10 percent on 2019. Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson Tim Seifert told JOC.com Wednesday that volume on Asia-North Europe has been solid all year, and “so far, we assume that demand remains strong at least until Chinese New Year” at the end of January. Click to enlarge . But even as demand increased, the high level of port omissions pushed schedule reliability to a record low 20.5 percent on the Asia-North Europe trade lane, data from Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis shows. That severely affected the onward shipment of containers from the hubs via barge or feeder services and created ongoing and lengthy delays across manufacturing supply chains in the region. “Poor schedule reliability by deep-sea vessels and port congestion has the largest impact on our barge schedules,” Michel van Meurs, regional sales manager for western ports at European intermodal operator Contargo, told a University of Antwerp department of transport and regional economics webinar on containerized inland shipping on the Rhine this week. “At Antwerp in the past year, the congestion for barges fluctuated between 24 and 71 hours, and at Rotterdam up to 140 hours,” van Meurs said. “We operate with 40 barges on the River Rhine, so every barge must wait between 24 and 140 hours. It hugely impacts the capacity of containers we can carry.” Big difference between planned, actual calls The significant reduction in actual calls made by vessels at North Europe’s largest hubs when compared with their published pro forma plans was outlined by Alphaliner in its latest newsletter. The analyst outlined three reasons for the huge cut in planned calls, with the first being ad hoc omission of certain ports on specific voyages made by the carriers to limit delays. Second was the removal or transfer of calls for a certain number of weeks to restore schedule reliability, with many of the temporary adjustments extended to March 2022 because of the ongoing port congestion. The third explanation for missed calls was the high number of blank sailings, according to Alphaliner. At Rotterdam, carriers made 311 actual calls between July 1 and Dec. 2, versus 418 pro forma calls, a drop of 25.6 percent. Antwerp saw 138 actual calls versus 198 planned calls over the same period, down 30.3 percent; Hamburg had 193 actual calls versus 242 that were planned, a decline of 20.2 percent; and at Felixstowe, 104 actual calls were made compared with 154 planned calls, down 32.5 percent. Although the three biggest European ports all reported volume growth in the first nine months of the year, the reduction in port calls and deployment of extra loaders saw some market share of the hubs being lost to smaller ports, Alphaliner found. Rotterdam managed to shrug off the 25.6 percent decline in Asia-North Europe calls since early July, growing its nine-month container volume by 7.8 percent to 11.5 million TEU. But Europe’s second-busiest port of Antwerp lost market share as container traffic growth was limited to 2.8 percent at 9.1 million TEU. Hamburg remains by far the largest North German port — and third-busiest in North Europe — with the 6.5 million TEU in the first nine months, up 2.4 percent year over year. But it ceded market share to the smaller ports of Bremerhaven, which grew volume 10 percent to 3.8 million TEU; and Wilhelmshaven, whose throughput of 484,700 TEU in the first nine months of the year was up 49 percent. Alphaliner found the biggest winner in the market share-snatching through the second half of 2021 was the French hub of Le Havre, part of the Haropa group of ports. Volume at the port has risen 40 percent to 1.5 million TEU since the first half of the year. With all the major Antwerp container terminals operating at maximum capacity, Mediterranean Shipping Co. shifted some transshipment traffic to Le Havre, which posted a strong increase compared with last year when port strikes heavily affected total container throughput, according to Alphaliner. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter: @greg_knowler .

Maritime

Congestion driving huge cuts in Asia-Europe port calls

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The war in the Middle East is the latest example of geopolitical conflicts that will mark the shipping landscape for at least the rest of the decade, attendees at Breakbulk26 were told.</div>

The war in the Middle East is the latest example of geopolitical conflicts that will mark the shipping landscape for at least the rest of the decade, attendees at Breakbulk26 were told.

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<div class="phx-topic">New Orleans — The ongoing war in the Middle East is the latest example that geopolitical conflicts disrupting shipping will be the norm for the rest of the decade, a geopolitical analyst said Tuesday. José Enrique Sevilla-Macip, an S&amp;P Global senior research analyst, said that while Iran and the US both want to decelerate tensions, boding well for the renewal of a two week-ceasefire by the Wednesday night deadline, there’s little chance of normalization in the Middle East this year. S&amp;P Global expects crude oil prices – which were trading over $98 per barrel Tuesday afternoon – to fall to about $70/barrel by the end of the year after peaking in the second quarter. “But we are going to have the permanent threat of disruption over there,” Sevilla-Macip told roughly 900 attendees of the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026. “Iran will maintain the capacity to, at any point in time, resume its attacks on shipping or against critical infrastructure in the Gulf space, which we all know what that means.” The Middle East is hardly the only region ripe for continued conflict, with S&amp;P Global expecting the Ukraine-Russia war to last at least another year, Sevilla-Macip said. “’What does that mean for (the project cargo) sector? Well, potential large projects for the reconstruction of the Ukraine are probably going to remain on hold at least for the next year,” he said. Sevilla-Macip, who is part of S&amp;P’s Latin America risk team, pointed to increased tension in recent months between the US and Cuba, and between China and Taiwan. In the meantime, the rerouting of LNG tankers due to the war is creating bottlenecks at the Panama Canal, with overall transits up 16% in March compared to February, said Sevilla-Macip. Worryingly, meteorological forecasts for a <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/el-nino-forecast-suggests-risk-of-low-water-levels-along-panama-canal-6202618">strong El Niño/La Niña weather phenomenon</a> this year threaten renewed drought conditions for the canal. Such conditions would force the waterway to again limit the number of transits and the size of vessels, and that, in turn, would drive up the auction price for ad-hoc transits of the waterway Still, despite geopolitical conflicts and the resulting shipping disruptions, and President Donald Trump’s continued efforts to impose tariffs on US trading partners, global economic growth continues. S&amp;P Global expects global GDP growth of 2.4% in 2026. ”Probably we’re going to see some adjustments in the next couple of months if the situation in the Middle East continues, but it’s still going to be growth,” Sevilla-Macip said. S&amp;P Global is the parent company of the Journal of Commerce. Contact Mark Szakonyi at <a href="mailto:mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com">mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

New Orleans — The ongoing war in the Middle East is the latest example that geopolitical conflicts disrupting shipping will be the norm for the rest of the decade, a geopolitical analyst said Tuesday. José Enrique Sevilla-Macip, an S&P Global senior research analyst, said that while Iran and the US both want to decelerate tensions, boding well for the renewal of a two week-ceasefire by the Wednesday night deadline, there’s little chance of normalization in the Middle East this year. S&P Global expects crude oil prices – which were trading over $98 per barrel Tuesday afternoon – to fall to about $70/barrel by the end of the year after peaking in the second quarter. “But we are going to have the permanent threat of disruption over there,” Sevilla-Macip told roughly 900 attendees of the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026. “Iran will maintain the capacity to, at any point in time, resume its attacks on shipping or against critical infrastructure in the Gulf space, which we all know what that means.” The Middle East is hardly the only region ripe for continued conflict, with S&P Global expecting the Ukraine-Russia war to last at least another year, Sevilla-Macip said. “’What does that mean for (the project cargo) sector? Well, potential large projects for the reconstruction of the Ukraine are probably going to remain on hold at least for the next year,” he said. Sevilla-Macip, who is part of S&P’s Latin America risk team, pointed to increased tension in recent months between the US and Cuba, and between China and Taiwan. In the meantime, the rerouting of LNG tankers due to the war is creating bottlenecks at the Panama Canal, with overall transits up 16% in March compared to February, said Sevilla-Macip. Worryingly, meteorological forecasts for a strong El Niño/La Niña weather phenomenon this year threaten renewed drought conditions for the canal. Such conditions would force the waterway to again limit the number of transits and the size of vessels, and that, in turn, would drive up the auction price for ad-hoc transits of the waterway Still, despite geopolitical conflicts and the resulting shipping disruptions, and President Donald Trump’s continued efforts to impose tariffs on US trading partners, global economic growth continues. S&P Global expects global GDP growth of 2.4% in 2026. ”Probably we’re going to see some adjustments in the next couple of months if the situation in the Middle East continues, but it’s still going to be growth,” Sevilla-Macip said. S&P Global is the parent company of the Journal of Commerce. Contact Mark Szakonyi at mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com .

Container Shipping News

Breakbulk News

Breakbulk26: Geopolitical disruption to shipping the new norm: analyst

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Assessing maritime choke points and leveraging partnerships in regions around the globe will serve as important strategies for EPC companies and forwarders in developing contingency plans for their projects.</div>

Assessing maritime choke points and leveraging partnerships in regions around the globe will serve as important strategies for EPC companies and forwarders in developing contingency plans for their projects.

<div class="phx-topic">New Orleans — With war in the Middle East wreaking havoc on global trade, relationships and awareness will be key for logistics providers, carriers and shippers as they navigate an ever-evolving geopolitical landscape, a panel of experts told attendees Tuesday at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026. “You need to strive to be the vendor of choice for your client, and to be the client of choice for your vendor,” John Hark, director at Bertling Logistics and an adjunct professor at Texas A&amp;M Galveston, said Assessing maritime choke points and leveraging partnerships in regions around the globe will serve as important strategies for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and forwarders in developing contingency plans for their projects, Hark said. “If you’ve got those strong relationships, now is when that’s paying off,” he said. Hark cited the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has resulted in shipments being diverted to nearby safe ports. “When the (shipment) gets dropped off in Sri Lanka or India, you still have a contact you can talk to at that steamship line to work through the problem and get information,” he said. <h3>Expanding energy sources </h3>José Enrique Sevilla-Macip, senior research analyst for Latin America Country Risk at S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence, said the war in the Middle East underlined the urgency to expand global energy sources, regardless of how long fighting continues. “There’s a longer-term incentive to develop these alternatives to secure energy supplies for any potential conflict, which most certainly at some point will erupt because the core of the conflict in the Middle East won’t be resolved,” he said. Sevilla-Macip said shutting down the Strait of Hormuz has empowered Iran to look to that capability as leverage in the future while they also work to establish a tolling system to effectively control the waterway. “That threat is going to remain permanent,” he said. With the US pushing to expand its energy production, Sevilla-Macip said the conflict in the Middle East could reshape trade deals the US is seeking with partners in Asia and Europe. In those deals, the US has sought to have its partners purchase more of its energy. “The current landscape is a driver that could actually push all these partners,” he said. “If they weren’t actually planning on increasing their purchases, now it makes more sense for them to look for this additional source of energy.” In evaluating geopolitical tensions in other parts of the world, Sevilla-Macip said that while the potential exists for a future conflict between China and Taiwan, it’s an “unlikely scenario,” even as tensions are expected to remain without escalating to military force at least through the end of President Xi Jinping‘s term in 2027. “At most, what we would see would be sporadic interruptions due to maritime blockades if China were trying to escalate its pressure on Taiwan,” he said. Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at <a href="mailto:autumn@autumngiusti.com">autumn@autumngiusti.com</a>. </div>

New Orleans — With war in the Middle East wreaking havoc on global trade, relationships and awareness will be key for logistics providers, carriers and shippers as they navigate an ever-evolving geopolitical landscape, a panel of experts told attendees Tuesday at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026. “You need to strive to be the vendor of choice for your client, and to be the client of choice for your vendor,” John Hark, director at Bertling Logistics and an adjunct professor at Texas A&M Galveston, said Assessing maritime choke points and leveraging partnerships in regions around the globe will serve as important strategies for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and forwarders in developing contingency plans for their projects, Hark said. “If you’ve got those strong relationships, now is when that’s paying off,” he said. Hark cited the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has resulted in shipments being diverted to nearby safe ports. “When the (shipment) gets dropped off in Sri Lanka or India, you still have a contact you can talk to at that steamship line to work through the problem and get information,” he said. Expanding energy sources José Enrique Sevilla-Macip, senior research analyst for Latin America Country Risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the war in the Middle East underlined the urgency to expand global energy sources, regardless of how long fighting continues. “There’s a longer-term incentive to develop these alternatives to secure energy supplies for any potential conflict, which most certainly at some point will erupt because the core of the conflict in the Middle East won’t be resolved,” he said. Sevilla-Macip said shutting down the Strait of Hormuz has empowered Iran to look to that capability as leverage in the future while they also work to establish a tolling system to effectively control the waterway. “That threat is going to remain permanent,” he said. With the US pushing to expand its energy production, Sevilla-Macip said the conflict in the Middle East could reshape trade deals the US is seeking with partners in Asia and Europe. In those deals, the US has sought to have its partners purchase more of its energy. “The current landscape is a driver that could actually push all these partners,” he said. “If they weren’t actually planning on increasing their purchases, now it makes more sense for them to look for this additional source of energy.” In evaluating geopolitical tensions in other parts of the world, Sevilla-Macip said that while the potential exists for a future conflict between China and Taiwan, it’s an “unlikely scenario,” even as tensions are expected to remain without escalating to military force at least through the end of President Xi Jinping‘s term in 2027. “At most, what we would see would be sporadic interruptions due to maritime blockades if China were trying to escalate its pressure on Taiwan,” he said. Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at autumn@autumngiusti.com .

Breakbulk carriers

Energy projects

Heavy-haul transport

Project cargo

Breakbulk26: Maritime partnerships transcend uncertainty amid Middle East war

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">But the conflict in the Middle East and resultant increase in fuel prices could weigh on nearer-term prospects, participants heard Tuesday at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026.</div>

But the conflict in the Middle East and resultant increase in fuel prices could weigh on nearer-term prospects, participants heard Tuesday at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026.

<div class="phx-topic">New Orleans — Long-term demand for project cargo and breakbulk capacity is largely healthy and mostly driven by data center construction and electricity projects. But the conflict in the Middle East and resultant increase in fuel prices could weigh on nearer-term prospects, participants heard Tuesday at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026. “The world is hungry for energy, especially electricity,” Felix Schoeller, chief commercial officer at AAL Shipping, told the conference. “Demand for power generating capability and oil and gas exploration have remained strong. Industries that were written off may come back, like renewables. The biggest challenge for forwarding and shipping companies is, can we execute.” Long-term prospects for large projects remain robust, due, in part, to the artificial intelligence boom and the need to build data centers to support that trend. But the global volatility caused by the war in the Middle East, layered on top of continued trade policy uncertainty in North America, could have a chilling effect on capacity demand this year. “I feel good about ’27 and beyond, but late summer this year is going to be ugly,” Michael Ruediger, director of projects/North America at Austria-based logistics company Gebrüder Weiss, said at the conference. “Companies with an abundance of staff will do some bloodletting to get through the summer.” Robert Drew, vice president/North American trade development at German logistics services company Menzell Döhle Logistics Gmbh, said the current market volatility makes it nearly impossible to assemble an accurate project cost assessment. “The challenges of tariffs are a huge one,” Drew said, noting the particular impact US tariffs have had on imported steel products used for projects. “Geopolitical issues, the increase in fuel rates. The process of putting a project together and determining whether it’s viable includes logistics costs and those are a moving target. How do you price on that basis with the increased costs and volatility?” That uncertainty has manifested itself in project deferments and delays, Drew said, adding that the signs of import volume declines for project shipments started showing in late 2025. Still, “Demand has not disappeared for steel,” he said. “It’s been deferred.” Drew said domestic steel manufacturers have stepped in to serve that demand, emboldened by the US’ chilly stance toward imports. “There doesn’t seem to be a lifting of barriers with tariffs,” he said. “Domestics jump in with anti-dumping action as soon as you get a good [import] program going. It’s all about the political aspect and the revenues it’s generating. The demand hasn’t disappeared.” <h3>Data center ‘fad’ </h3>Ruediger echoed those thoughts around broader near-term delays in project demand. He said the data center phenomenon, while powerful, is likely to be a “fad” that will lose steam in two years. But he expects demand to come from industrial gases by 2028. He also pointed to strong demand from equipment manufacturers in Europe serving US customers and structural steel produced in Vietnam and Thailand. He encouraged the breakbulk and project cargo market to not be overly fixated on one sector. “We don’t discriminate,” he said. “We move freight.” Meanwhile, Drew said the industry would benefit from any sort of resolution to the war in Iran and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “I’ve been around this industry a long time, and I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been to the precipice and thankfully the world hasn’t yet come to an end,” he said. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

New Orleans — Long-term demand for project cargo and breakbulk capacity is largely healthy and mostly driven by data center construction and electricity projects. But the conflict in the Middle East and resultant increase in fuel prices could weigh on nearer-term prospects, participants heard Tuesday at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026. “The world is hungry for energy, especially electricity,” Felix Schoeller, chief commercial officer at AAL Shipping, told the conference. “Demand for power generating capability and oil and gas exploration have remained strong. Industries that were written off may come back, like renewables. The biggest challenge for forwarding and shipping companies is, can we execute.” Long-term prospects for large projects remain robust, due, in part, to the artificial intelligence boom and the need to build data centers to support that trend. But the global volatility caused by the war in the Middle East, layered on top of continued trade policy uncertainty in North America, could have a chilling effect on capacity demand this year. “I feel good about ’27 and beyond, but late summer this year is going to be ugly,” Michael Ruediger, director of projects/North America at Austria-based logistics company Gebrüder Weiss, said at the conference. “Companies with an abundance of staff will do some bloodletting to get through the summer.” Robert Drew, vice president/North American trade development at German logistics services company Menzell Döhle Logistics Gmbh, said the current market volatility makes it nearly impossible to assemble an accurate project cost assessment. “The challenges of tariffs are a huge one,” Drew said, noting the particular impact US tariffs have had on imported steel products used for projects. “Geopolitical issues, the increase in fuel rates. The process of putting a project together and determining whether it’s viable includes logistics costs and those are a moving target. How do you price on that basis with the increased costs and volatility?” That uncertainty has manifested itself in project deferments and delays, Drew said, adding that the signs of import volume declines for project shipments started showing in late 2025. Still, “Demand has not disappeared for steel,” he said. “It’s been deferred.” Drew said domestic steel manufacturers have stepped in to serve that demand, emboldened by the US’ chilly stance toward imports. “There doesn’t seem to be a lifting of barriers with tariffs,” he said. “Domestics jump in with anti-dumping action as soon as you get a good [import] program going. It’s all about the political aspect and the revenues it’s generating. The demand hasn’t disappeared.” Data center ‘fad’ Ruediger echoed those thoughts around broader near-term delays in project demand. He said the data center phenomenon, while powerful, is likely to be a “fad” that will lose steam in two years. But he expects demand to come from industrial gases by 2028. He also pointed to strong demand from equipment manufacturers in Europe serving US customers and structural steel produced in Vietnam and Thailand. He encouraged the breakbulk and project cargo market to not be overly fixated on one sector. “We don’t discriminate,” he said. “We move freight.” Meanwhile, Drew said the industry would benefit from any sort of resolution to the war in Iran and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “I’ve been around this industry a long time, and I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been to the precipice and thankfully the world hasn’t yet come to an end,” he said. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Breakbulk26: Data center, electricity demand buoy project cargo industry

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Unveiled at Breakbulk26 in New Orleans this week, the Journal of Commerce’s new Breakbulk Shipper Index tracks a range of indicators including changes in volumes carried by different vessel types, lead time for chartering vessels, and load and discharge regions.</div>

Unveiled at Breakbulk26 in New Orleans this week, the Journal of Commerce’s new Breakbulk Shipper Index tracks a range of indicators including changes in volumes carried by different vessel types, lead time for chartering vessels, and load and discharge regions.

<div class="phx-topic">New Orleans — The Journal of Commerce has launched an exclusive benchmark for the breakbulk and project cargo sector designed to improve transparency in ship capacity projections and contract negotiations. Unveiled at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026 taking place this week, the Breakbulk Shipper Index tracks a range of indicators including changes in volumes carried by different vessel types, lead time for chartering vessels and load and discharge regions. The index is based on cargo owner activity rather than data from cargo carriers. Input comes from a range of cargo owner types, including engineering, procurement and construction companies (EPCs), manufacturers of breakbulk and project cargo, project owners, and project freight forwarders. All the data providers are members of the Journal of Commerce Breakbulk Shipper Group (BSG), shippers who control the transportation of breakbulk and project cargo. Susan Oatway, the Journal of Commerce’s senior research analyst for breakbulk and project cargo, has been building the index since July 2024 after requests from EPCs and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for an index that they could use to track future freight contract pricing. Although there are freight rate indexes available for the sector, Oatway said they are very specific or based on assessments from carriers. “The Journal of Commerce’s index does not incorporate data from carriers or information on rates, making it unique in its assessment,” Oatway said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="dd8e14c5-769e-4133-a9f2-f81a491f47aa"></dynamic-object></div>The Journal of Commerce Breakbulk Shipper Index covers five vessel types: a general cargo ship with single-lift capacity of under 250 tons, project cargo carriers with single-lift capacity of over 250 tons, container carriers, deck cargo carriers, and roll-on/roll-off vessels. The published index is a consolidated figure, weighted against the five ship types. The index is now active and available for use by the industry. “This is a unique index that is shipper-led and shipper-driven,” Oatway said. “We anticipate that its main use will be in contract negotiations for seaborne capacity. Shippers trying to fix freight rates a year out will be able to add in an index escalation clause. We hope that this index will quickly become a bellwether of capacity in the MPV trades.” Members of the BSG already use the index to benchmark themselves, she added. In the future, the Journal of Commerce will use this index to forecast the direction of the MPV market. <h3>‘Growing’ the index </h3>Oatway said the Breakbulk Shipper Group has been actively involved at every step in the formulation of the index. “Launching the index is only the first step,” she said. “We will be growing and developing the index over time and are extending the invite to the BSG to all shippers who want to join us on this vital journey towards improving transparency in this sector.” Members of the BSG receive a regular monthly report with all data related to the index and access to the proprietary index report. The Breakbulk Shipper Index is not a financial benchmark index, nor is it designed or intended to be used as a reference rate for financial instruments or investment products, such as those produced by S&amp;P Dow Jones Indexes (SPDJI). Contact Carly Fields at <a href="mailto:carly.fields@spglobal.com">carly.fields@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

New Orleans — The Journal of Commerce has launched an exclusive benchmark for the breakbulk and project cargo sector designed to improve transparency in ship capacity projections and contract negotiations. Unveiled at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference 2026 taking place this week, the Breakbulk Shipper Index tracks a range of indicators including changes in volumes carried by different vessel types, lead time for chartering vessels and load and discharge regions. The index is based on cargo owner activity rather than data from cargo carriers. Input comes from a range of cargo owner types, including engineering, procurement and construction companies (EPCs), manufacturers of breakbulk and project cargo, project owners, and project freight forwarders. All the data providers are members of the Journal of Commerce Breakbulk Shipper Group (BSG), shippers who control the transportation of breakbulk and project cargo. Susan Oatway, the Journal of Commerce’s senior research analyst for breakbulk and project cargo, has been building the index since July 2024 after requests from EPCs and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for an index that they could use to track future freight contract pricing. Although there are freight rate indexes available for the sector, Oatway said they are very specific or based on assessments from carriers. “The Journal of Commerce’s index does not incorporate data from carriers or information on rates, making it unique in its assessment,” Oatway said. The Journal of Commerce Breakbulk Shipper Index covers five vessel types: a general cargo ship with single-lift capacity of under 250 tons, project cargo carriers with single-lift capacity of over 250 tons, container carriers, deck cargo carriers, and roll-on/roll-off vessels. The published index is a consolidated figure, weighted against the five ship types. The index is now active and available for use by the industry. “This is a unique index that is shipper-led and shipper-driven,” Oatway said. “We anticipate that its main use will be in contract negotiations for seaborne capacity. Shippers trying to fix freight rates a year out will be able to add in an index escalation clause. We hope that this index will quickly become a bellwether of capacity in the MPV trades.” Members of the BSG already use the index to benchmark themselves, she added. In the future, the Journal of Commerce will use this index to forecast the direction of the MPV market. ‘Growing’ the index Oatway said the Breakbulk Shipper Group has been actively involved at every step in the formulation of the index. “Launching the index is only the first step,” she said. “We will be growing and developing the index over time and are extending the invite to the BSG to all shippers who want to join us on this vital journey towards improving transparency in this sector.” Members of the BSG receive a regular monthly report with all data related to the index and access to the proprietary index report. The Breakbulk Shipper Index is not a financial benchmark index, nor is it designed or intended to be used as a reference rate for financial instruments or investment products, such as those produced by S&P Dow Jones Indexes (SPDJI). Contact Carly Fields at carly.fields@spglobal.com .

Slight uptick in Breakbulk Shipper Index signals increase in capacity

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Hapag-Lloyd said the changes “reflect the consolidation of capacity into alternative services to ensure continued reliable coverage in the region.”</div>

Hapag-Lloyd said the changes “reflect the consolidation of capacity into alternative services to ensure continued reliable coverage in the region.”

<div class="phx-topic">Gemini Cooperation is suspending two Mediterranean-Saudi Arabia shuttle services beginning in mid-May, adding to the tally of mainline and regional services the alliance halted last month due to the war in the Middle East. The latest move was confirmed by Gemini partners Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk in separate advisories Tuesday. The affected loops are the JED2/JD2 service calling at Tangier, Port Said East and Jeddah; and the JED3/JD3 that calls at Port Said East, Aqaba and Jeddah. “This change reflects the consolidation of capacity into alternative services to ensure continued reliable coverage in the region,” Hapag-Lloyd said in its notice. Maersk said cargo previously shipped on these shuttle connections would shift to the mainline AE19/SE4 service that was inaugurated on March 13 to largely replace the services that were stopped around the same time. The service connects Jeddah with Gemini’s West Med hub at Damietta in Egypt and the East Med hub at the Tanger Med port complex in Morocco, where it continues to Asia with calls at major ports including Tanjung Pelepas, Shanghai, Ningbo and Busan. The suspension of the two shuttle services was being done to “optimize coverage and enhance overall service efficiency,” Maersk said in its advisory. The last sailings from Jeddah will be the 3,800-TEU Merkur Ocean on May 10 as part of the JED3/JD3 shuttle, and the 5,470-TEU GSL Tinos on the JED2/JD2 service on May 11, the Gemini carriers said. The loops halted last month include the Asia-Middle East FM1/AGX service, the Europe-Middle East ME11/IMX service, plus India-Gulf and regional shuttles. Other services stopped calling at Dubai's Jebel Ali port after rocket and drone attacks made it risky for shipping. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keith.wallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Gemini Cooperation is suspending two Mediterranean-Saudi Arabia shuttle services beginning in mid-May, adding to the tally of mainline and regional services the alliance halted last month due to the war in the Middle East. The latest move was confirmed by Gemini partners Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk in separate advisories Tuesday. The affected loops are the JED2/JD2 service calling at Tangier, Port Said East and Jeddah; and the JED3/JD3 that calls at Port Said East, Aqaba and Jeddah. “This change reflects the consolidation of capacity into alternative services to ensure continued reliable coverage in the region,” Hapag-Lloyd said in its notice. Maersk said cargo previously shipped on these shuttle connections would shift to the mainline AE19/SE4 service that was inaugurated on March 13 to largely replace the services that were stopped around the same time. The service connects Jeddah with Gemini’s West Med hub at Damietta in Egypt and the East Med hub at the Tanger Med port complex in Morocco, where it continues to Asia with calls at major ports including Tanjung Pelepas, Shanghai, Ningbo and Busan. The suspension of the two shuttle services was being done to “optimize coverage and enhance overall service efficiency,” Maersk said in its advisory. The last sailings from Jeddah will be the 3,800-TEU Merkur Ocean on May 10 as part of the JED3/JD3 shuttle, and the 5,470-TEU GSL Tinos on the JED2/JD2 service on May 11, the Gemini carriers said. The loops halted last month include the Asia-Middle East FM1/AGX service, the Europe-Middle East ME11/IMX service, plus India-Gulf and regional shuttles. Other services stopped calling at Dubai's Jebel Ali port after rocket and drone attacks made it risky for shipping. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

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Gemini to suspend two more Middle East shuttles in May due to war

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