<div>The U.S. Navy freed an American ship captain held captive by pirates off the coast of Somalia late Sunday when snipers killed three of the four men holding him, ending a standoff that began with the attack last week of a Maersk Line container ship.The snipers fired from the nearby USS Bainbridge as pirates pointed AK-47 weapons at Capt. Richard Phillips, according to an account released by the Navy. The commmander of the U.S. warship ordered the men to open fire and Phillips was freed unharmed. The Navy said in a statement that Phillips was freed early in the evening...

The U.S. Navy freed an American ship captain held captive by pirates off the coast of Somalia late Sunday when snipers killed three of the four men holding him, ending a standoff that began with the attack last week of a Maersk Line container ship. The snipers fired from the nearby USS Bainbridge as pirates pointed AK-47 weapons at Capt. Richard Phillips, according to an account released by the Navy. The commmander of the U.S. warship ordered the men to open fire and Phillips was freed unharmed. The Navy said in a statement that Phillips was freed early in the evening local time and taken first first to the Bainbridge, a Naval destroyer that led a group of ships from the U.S. Navy&rsquo;s Fifth Fleet that converged on the scene in the Indian Ocean where Pirates had attacked and briefly captured the Maersk Alabama last week. Phillips as then taken to the USS Boxer for a medical exam and officials said he was resting comfortably. The Navy said the surviving pirate surrendered and was taken alive. Phillips&rsquo; rescue ended a nearly week-long drama in the lawless waters off the coast of Somalia that highlighted a new wave of piracy on a maritime thoroughfare that has become a treachorous path for ships. After being relatively quiet in recent months, pirates based in Somalia, which has been effectively without a government for some 15 years, mounted a series of attacks on ships in the Indian Ocean over the last three weeks. They failed in a hijacking attempt on a Zim container ship but captured an itinerant German owned vessel before attacking the Maersk Alabama. The pirates seized the 1998-built, 1,092-TEU vessel for a time before the crew turned the tables and took it back. But Phillips gave himself up as a hostage, freed crewmembers said, in exchange for the crewmembers&rsquo; safety and pirates held him aboard an enclosed lifeboard for five days as warships circled the scene.

Maritime

Container lines

U.S. Navy Frees Ship Captain

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">But it will take several months of sustained peace before liners are confident enough of safe passage to redirect mainline services through the Suez Canal, according to an HSBC report.</div>

But it will take several months of sustained peace before liners are confident enough of safe passage to redirect mainline services through the Suez Canal, according to an HSBC report.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">Two ocean carriers have expanded services in the Red Sea just days after a ceasefire was declared in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, but most liners will not be in a hurry to return to the at-times perilous route, according to one global bank. The expanded services of both CMA CGM and SeaLead pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea that is controlled by Houthi militants who have been attacking commercial shipping in support of Palestinians in Gaza since late 2023. A new routing structure by SeaLead’s revamped Five Seas Express (5CX) service will be launched on Oct. 27 offering weekly sailings via the Suez Canal connecting China, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. The port rotation covers Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Alexandria, Aliaga, Istanbul, Mersin, Jeddah and Port Klang before returning to Qingdao. ”With weekly sailings and a time-saving route, the revamped service offers faster, more reliable, and efficient shipping solutions,” Kadir Oruc, regional managing director for Europe and the Mediterranean at SeaLead, said in a statement. CMA CGM told customers in an advisory Tuesday it was upgrading its REX2 service this month to offer expanded direct coverage between China and the Red Sea that would provide weekly sailings and faster transit times. New direct calls will be added at Qingdao and Aqaba in Jordan, with the double calls at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea hub of Jeddah. The port rotation will be Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, Singapore, Djibouti, Jeddah, Sokhna, Aqaba, Jeddah and Qingdao. The revamped service does not pass through the Suez. <h3>Carriers to practice caution </h3>The first phase of the Gaza truce took effect Oct. 9, and while a return to the Red Sea was expected at some point, carriers will remain cautious over whether the ceasefire will hold before they redirect mainline services through the Suez, HSBC said in a research report Monday. “In our view, liners will require a period of up to several months to feel confident that safe passage is fully restored before returning to the route,” HSBC said. “We think the ceasefire remains a key risk. A potential breakdown in the truce could lead to a resurgence of Red Sea attacks and further delay the return to the Red Sea.” The threat of attacks by the Houthis have forced carriers to divert around southern Africa since late 2023, adding significant time to journeys and pulling an estimated 7% of global capacity from the market. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Two ocean carriers have expanded services in the Red Sea just days after a ceasefire was declared in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, but most liners will not be in a hurry to return to the at-times perilous route, according to one global bank. The expanded services of both CMA CGM and SeaLead pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea that is controlled by Houthi militants who have been attacking commercial shipping in support of Palestinians in Gaza since late 2023. A new routing structure by SeaLead’s revamped Five Seas Express (5CX) service will be launched on Oct. 27 offering weekly sailings via the Suez Canal connecting China, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. The port rotation covers Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Alexandria, Aliaga, Istanbul, Mersin, Jeddah and Port Klang before returning to Qingdao. ”With weekly sailings and a time-saving route, the revamped service offers faster, more reliable, and efficient shipping solutions,” Kadir Oruc, regional managing director for Europe and the Mediterranean at SeaLead, said in a statement. CMA CGM told customers in an advisory Tuesday it was upgrading its REX2 service this month to offer expanded direct coverage between China and the Red Sea that would provide weekly sailings and faster transit times. New direct calls will be added at Qingdao and Aqaba in Jordan, with the double calls at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea hub of Jeddah. The port rotation will be Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, Singapore, Djibouti, Jeddah, Sokhna, Aqaba, Jeddah and Qingdao. The revamped service does not pass through the Suez. Carriers to practice caution The first phase of the Gaza truce took effect Oct. 9, and while a return to the Red Sea was expected at some point, carriers will remain cautious over whether the ceasefire will hold before they redirect mainline services through the Suez, HSBC said in a research report Monday. “In our view, liners will require a period of up to several months to feel confident that safe passage is fully restored before returning to the route,” HSBC said. “We think the ceasefire remains a key risk. A potential breakdown in the truce could lead to a resurgence of Red Sea attacks and further delay the return to the Red Sea.” The threat of attacks by the Houthis have forced carriers to divert around southern Africa since late 2023, adding significant time to journeys and pulling an estimated 7% of global capacity from the market. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Asia-Europe

Container Shipping News

CMA CGM, SeaLead revamp Red Sea sailings after Gaza truce

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">IMO member states should focus on the substance of the proposed net-zero framework and not on opposition to the measures, was Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez’s message as the four-day session got underway.</div>

IMO member states should focus on the substance of the proposed net-zero framework and not on opposition to the measures, was Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez’s message as the four-day session got underway.

<div class="phx-topic">Member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) gathered in London Tuesday to begin four days of meetings meant to finalize the adoption of far-reaching decarbonization plans that have sharply divided nations and sectors within the shipping industry. While Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez acknowledged the “high stakes” nature of this week’s session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), he refused to be drawn on <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/white-house-sanctions-threat-ups-ante-ahead-of-pivotal-imo-meeting-6096646">Washington’s increasingly aggressive opposition to the “net-zero framework”</a> of measures that include a pricing mechanism and a fuel standard. “We are here to finalize the adoption of the net-zero framework,” Dominguez told reporters at IMO’s London headquarters. “Every country has the right to express their opinion, and the IMO will always engage with them.” Asked what the next step would be should the net-zero framework fail to be adopted this week, Dominguez declined to speculate, emphasizing the IMO’s commitment to engaging all 176 member states and organizations despite differing opinions. “The IMO is working on behalf of the member states to reach adoption,” he said. “We understand the magnitude of the work we are doing, but my message is that we have had these discussions for many years, and I would encourage member states to focus on what we have in front of us.” Among US threats made last week were the imposition of sanctions on officials “sponsoring activist-driven climate policies that would burden American consumers.” The Trump administration has also threatened to impose visa restrictions and revise maritime crew visas quotas, and impose additional port fees on ships owned, operated or flagged by countries supporting the net-zero framework. The White House also said flag states supporting the IMO measures may have their registered vessels blocked from calling US ports, with the US also evaluating the imposition of financial penalties on the flag states. <h3>A path toward net-zero emissions </h3>The net-zero framework includes a package of technical and economic elements that puts the sector on a transition path to net-zero emissions by 2050. They include a global fuel standard that sets greenhouse gas intensity reduction targets for each year through 2035 and penalties for failing to meet them. It also establishes a credit trading scheme through which vessels with lower emissions can generate credits to sell to owners of higher-emissions vessels. Revenues generated by the penalties will fund a reward mechanism for zero- and near-zero emission fuels and support “a just and equitable transition.” IMO’s plenary session on Tuesday featured member states reiterating their positions, with support led by the European Union and Pacific Islands and opposition led by the US delegation that stated the net-zero framework was a thinly disguised carbon tax and an environmental “slush fund.” “There will be a lot of theatrics this week, but there is real optimism in the room that we will still be able to adopt the measures by the end of the week,” one delegate said. <h3>US threats are ‘unjust’ </h3>Not everyone shared the delegate’s sunny viewpoint. Rico Luman, senior economist for transport, logistics and automotive at global bank ING, said the US threat of retaliatory tariffs on countries supporting the IMO measure cast “significant uncertainty” over the outcome of the MEPC session. “The US is clearly pressuring other member states to reject the agreement and is threatening retaliatory tariffs,” Luman told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday. “This essentially amounts to coercing countries into aligning with its position, which is unjust.” Luman noted that in April there was a clear majority in favor of the net-zero framework among IMO member nations, as well as from container carriers, major ports and shipping associations such as BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the World Shipping Council (WSC). “It would be a major setback if [US threats] derail the adoption and implementation of the new climate strategy, which was intended to be a global breakthrough and a replacement for fragmented regional initiatives,” he said. Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime and a Journal of Commerce contributor, questioned the wisdom behind the retaliatory measures outlined by Washington that he said would penalize US supply chains. “Similar to the continuing wrongful claim that foreign countries are paying [US] tariffs, the [threats] from the US State Department promote the view that these penalties on shipping will be paid by the countries voting ‘yes,’” Jensen <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/larsjensenvespuccimaritime/recent-activity/all/">wrote in a LinkedIn post</a>. “But imposing fees or restrictions on ships or shipping will merely increase the cost of shipping to and from the US and hence place the financial cost on the US exporters and importers,” he added. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) gathered in London Tuesday to begin four days of meetings meant to finalize the adoption of far-reaching decarbonization plans that have sharply divided nations and sectors within the shipping industry. While Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez acknowledged the “high stakes” nature of this week’s session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), he refused to be drawn on Washington’s increasingly aggressive opposition to the “net-zero framework” of measures that include a pricing mechanism and a fuel standard. “We are here to finalize the adoption of the net-zero framework,” Dominguez told reporters at IMO’s London headquarters. “Every country has the right to express their opinion, and the IMO will always engage with them.” Asked what the next step would be should the net-zero framework fail to be adopted this week, Dominguez declined to speculate, emphasizing the IMO’s commitment to engaging all 176 member states and organizations despite differing opinions. “The IMO is working on behalf of the member states to reach adoption,” he said. “We understand the magnitude of the work we are doing, but my message is that we have had these discussions for many years, and I would encourage member states to focus on what we have in front of us.” Among US threats made last week were the imposition of sanctions on officials “sponsoring activist-driven climate policies that would burden American consumers.” The Trump administration has also threatened to impose visa restrictions and revise maritime crew visas quotas, and impose additional port fees on ships owned, operated or flagged by countries supporting the net-zero framework. The White House also said flag states supporting the IMO measures may have their registered vessels blocked from calling US ports, with the US also evaluating the imposition of financial penalties on the flag states. A path toward net-zero emissions The net-zero framework includes a package of technical and economic elements that puts the sector on a transition path to net-zero emissions by 2050. They include a global fuel standard that sets greenhouse gas intensity reduction targets for each year through 2035 and penalties for failing to meet them. It also establishes a credit trading scheme through which vessels with lower emissions can generate credits to sell to owners of higher-emissions vessels. Revenues generated by the penalties will fund a reward mechanism for zero- and near-zero emission fuels and support “a just and equitable transition.” IMO’s plenary session on Tuesday featured member states reiterating their positions, with support led by the European Union and Pacific Islands and opposition led by the US delegation that stated the net-zero framework was a thinly disguised carbon tax and an environmental “slush fund.” “There will be a lot of theatrics this week, but there is real optimism in the room that we will still be able to adopt the measures by the end of the week,” one delegate said. US threats are ‘unjust’ Not everyone shared the delegate’s sunny viewpoint. Rico Luman, senior economist for transport, logistics and automotive at global bank ING, said the US threat of retaliatory tariffs on countries supporting the IMO measure cast “significant uncertainty” over the outcome of the MEPC session. “The US is clearly pressuring other member states to reject the agreement and is threatening retaliatory tariffs,” Luman told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday. “This essentially amounts to coercing countries into aligning with its position, which is unjust.” Luman noted that in April there was a clear majority in favor of the net-zero framework among IMO member nations, as well as from container carriers, major ports and shipping associations such as BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the World Shipping Council (WSC). “It would be a major setback if [US threats] derail the adoption and implementation of the new climate strategy, which was intended to be a global breakthrough and a replacement for fragmented regional initiatives,” he said. Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime and a Journal of Commerce contributor, questioned the wisdom behind the retaliatory measures outlined by Washington that he said would penalize US supply chains. “Similar to the continuing wrongful claim that foreign countries are paying [US] tariffs, the [threats] from the US State Department promote the view that these penalties on shipping will be paid by the countries voting ‘yes,’” Jensen wrote in a LinkedIn post . “But imposing fees or restrictions on ships or shipping will merely increase the cost of shipping to and from the US and hence place the financial cost on the US exporters and importers,” he added. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

‘High stakes’ IMO decarbonization meeting begins in London

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The persistent pressure on India-Europe rates comes despite sporadic capacity cuts implemented by major carriers. </div>

The persistent pressure on India-Europe rates comes despite sporadic capacity cuts implemented by major carriers.

<div class="phx-topic">Ocean freight yields are rapidly eroding for container lines working on the India-Europe trade lane due to volatile market conditions, industry sources say, with freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates nearly halving since early September. Local freight forwarder sources who spoke with the Journal of Commerce put average FAK quotes from major carriers for bookings from Nhava Sheva to Felixstowe/Rotterdam at $900 to $1,000 per TEU and $1,000 to $1,100 per FEU. That’s down from <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/india-europe-liners-lower-rates-as-capacity-normalizes-amid-little-peak-demand-signs-6076154">$1,600 to $1,800 per TEU/FEU six weeks ago</a>. Sources also said carriers are constantly adjusting spot booking rates to push cargo lifts as close as possible to their westbound space allocations. “Cargo bookings are tight, so pricing has become a sales tool for carriers,” said an executive at a Mumbai forwarding house who didn’t want to be identified. “Asian carriers, such as Cosco Shipping and Ocean Network Express (ONE), have been even more aggressive in attempting to fill their slot space.” <h3>Capacity overhang worsens </h3>The persistent pressure on India-Europe rates comes despite sporadic capacity cuts implemented by major carriers. A week 41 West India call voided by CMA CGM’s “Epic” service was one recent example. Still, the capacity overhang plaguing the market seems to have worsened in October with fewer sailing disruptions reported relative to the past months, on top of extra space positioned by some India-US East Coast networks via transshipment. In addition to CMA CGM expanding its “Indamex” rotation with a stop at Tangier in Morocco for such cargo relays, Mediterranean Shipping Co. has also been using its India-USEC sailings to connect shipments destined for the Europe/Mediterranean region via ad hoc calls at Lome in Togo. MSC has developed the West African hub on the back of container terminal rights held there by its Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) subsidiary. “The last Indamex voyage [the Belita] lifted about 1,300 TEUs of cargo for North Europe,” a terminal executive in Nhava Sheva told the Journal of Commerce. “This US tariff-linked strategy is also weighing on the market.” Forwarders generally do not expect any sort of volume gains on the India-Europe/Mediterranean trades in the near term for carriers to prop up rates. “Indian exporters have almost finished holiday season shipments, so the westbound trade is moving into the traditional slack period,” a second forwarder source said. Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>. </div>

Ocean freight yields are rapidly eroding for container lines working on the India-Europe trade lane due to volatile market conditions, industry sources say, with freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates nearly halving since early September. Local freight forwarder sources who spoke with the Journal of Commerce put average FAK quotes from major carriers for bookings from Nhava Sheva to Felixstowe/Rotterdam at $900 to $1,000 per TEU and $1,000 to $1,100 per FEU. That’s down from $1,600 to $1,800 per TEU/FEU six weeks ago . Sources also said carriers are constantly adjusting spot booking rates to push cargo lifts as close as possible to their westbound space allocations. “Cargo bookings are tight, so pricing has become a sales tool for carriers,” said an executive at a Mumbai forwarding house who didn’t want to be identified. “Asian carriers, such as Cosco Shipping and Ocean Network Express (ONE), have been even more aggressive in attempting to fill their slot space.” Capacity overhang worsens The persistent pressure on India-Europe rates comes despite sporadic capacity cuts implemented by major carriers. A week 41 West India call voided by CMA CGM’s “Epic” service was one recent example. Still, the capacity overhang plaguing the market seems to have worsened in October with fewer sailing disruptions reported relative to the past months, on top of extra space positioned by some India-US East Coast networks via transshipment. In addition to CMA CGM expanding its “Indamex” rotation with a stop at Tangier in Morocco for such cargo relays, Mediterranean Shipping Co. has also been using its India-USEC sailings to connect shipments destined for the Europe/Mediterranean region via ad hoc calls at Lome in Togo. MSC has developed the West African hub on the back of container terminal rights held there by its Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) subsidiary. “The last Indamex voyage [the Belita] lifted about 1,300 TEUs of cargo for North Europe,” a terminal executive in Nhava Sheva told the Journal of Commerce. “This US tariff-linked strategy is also weighing on the market.” Forwarders generally do not expect any sort of volume gains on the India-Europe/Mediterranean trades in the near term for carriers to prop up rates. “Indian exporters have almost finished holiday season shipments, so the westbound trade is moving into the traditional slack period,” a second forwarder source said. Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

Downward shift in India-Europe ocean rates intensifies amid market volatility

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The maker of wind energy components has invested in its first heavy cargo deck carrier, one of four such vessels built by Dajin’s own shipbuilding division that the company will take delivery of this year. </div>

The maker of wind energy components has invested in its first heavy cargo deck carrier, one of four such vessels built by Dajin’s own shipbuilding division that the company will take delivery of this year.

<div class="phx-topic">Dajin Heavy Industry, a Chinese maker of wind energy components, has moved into ship ownership with the launch of the first of what could be a fleet of 20 heavy deck carriers to deliver wind farm equipment to sites globally.   The 40,000-deadweight metric ton (dwt) King One has started sea trials and will make its first commercial voyage early next year, Dajin said last week. The ship is the first of four deck carriers built by Dajin’s own shipbuilding division that the company will take delivery of this year. Building wind farm components and transporting them on its own fleet of ships rather than on chartered vessels mirrors the business developed by Chinese port crane maker Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, which controls a fleet of specially converted ships. Longer term, Dajin said it envisions a fleet of between 10 and 20 super-large heavy deck carriers of varying tonnage. It has not confirmed whether all those ships will be dedicated to transporting Dajin’s own cargo or put onto the commercial charter market. With free deck space of 130,000 square feet, King One has been specifically designed and developed to transport oversized equipment for the offshore wind, oil and gas sectors, including multiple large-diameter monopolies for offshore wind farms. The ship has also been designed with a strengthened deck to transport wind farm towers in an upright position rather than horizontally, a concept that could significantly reduce transportation costs, Dajin said. Dajin has already supplied wind farm components to developments in Europe, including the delivery of 36 monopiles for RWE’s Thor offshore wind farm in Denmark. It is also scheduled to complete the delivery at the end of this year of monopiles for the 1.1-gigawatt Inch Cape offshore wind farm about 10 miles off the east coast of Scotland. Dajin has also agreed to lease 25 acres at Denmark’s Odense port as a lay-down and marshalling area for monopiles and other components for offshore wind projects in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Dajin Heavy Industry, a Chinese maker of wind energy components, has moved into ship ownership with the launch of the first of what could be a fleet of 20 heavy deck carriers to deliver wind farm equipment to sites globally.   The 40,000-deadweight metric ton (dwt) King One has started sea trials and will make its first commercial voyage early next year, Dajin said last week. The ship is the first of four deck carriers built by Dajin’s own shipbuilding division that the company will take delivery of this year. Building wind farm components and transporting them on its own fleet of ships rather than on chartered vessels mirrors the business developed by Chinese port crane maker Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, which controls a fleet of specially converted ships. Longer term, Dajin said it envisions a fleet of between 10 and 20 super-large heavy deck carriers of varying tonnage. It has not confirmed whether all those ships will be dedicated to transporting Dajin’s own cargo or put onto the commercial charter market. With free deck space of 130,000 square feet, King One has been specifically designed and developed to transport oversized equipment for the offshore wind, oil and gas sectors, including multiple large-diameter monopolies for offshore wind farms. The ship has also been designed with a strengthened deck to transport wind farm towers in an upright position rather than horizontally, a concept that could significantly reduce transportation costs, Dajin said. Dajin has already supplied wind farm components to developments in Europe, including the delivery of 36 monopiles for RWE’s Thor offshore wind farm in Denmark. It is also scheduled to complete the delivery at the end of this year of monopiles for the 1.1-gigawatt Inch Cape offshore wind farm about 10 miles off the east coast of Scotland. Dajin has also agreed to lease 25 acres at Denmark’s Odense port as a lay-down and marshalling area for monopiles and other components for offshore wind projects in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Breakbulk carriers

Energy projects

Breakbulk News

China’s Dajin Heavy dips toe into MPV ownership for wind farm cargoes

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Breakbulk and project carriers continue to be upbeat for cargo prospects through the end of the year and into 2026. </div>

Breakbulk and project carriers continue to be upbeat for cargo prospects through the end of the year and into 2026.

<div class="phx-topic">A slip in multipurpose vessel (MPV) charter rates is being viewed by specialist brokers as a “minor correction” rather than an indication of a market downturn, given that carriers are reporting robust cargo demand. The Toepfer Multipurpose Index dropped 0.5% in October, down to $12,690 per day, the third consecutive monthly decline. In its October report, shipbroker Toepfer Transport said the slide was due to “subdued activity in both the time charter and freight markets.” It added, however, that the “very slight downward movement” should be seen “more as a minor correction than a general trend.” Susan Oatway, senior research analyst for breakbulk and project cargo for S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence, said that optimism is high among breakbulk and project cargo carriers, but “some shippers remain cautious about the start of 2026.” Uncertainty around what comes next, for the US in particular, has stalled some projects. However, globally there is an expectation that 2026 will see “growing demand in renewables, oil and gas and power generation,” according to Oatway.   Oatway’s outlook for MPV freight rates is that they will remain steady for the first quarter of 2026, but as demand starts to pick up after Chinese New Year, an uptick in rates is expected. “Much depends on whether the ceasefire in the Middle East holds, allowing Red Sea transits to restart,” she said. “This would have a significant effect on capacity, keeping rates at current levels.”   S&amp;P Global is the parent company of the Journal of Commerce. <h3>Carriers channel optimism </h3>Breakbulk and project carriers continue to be upbeat for cargo prospects through the end of the year and into 2026. Speaking at the recent Breakbulk Americas conference, Dea Chincuanco, president of MPV operator dship Carriers Americas, said the carrier had seen “steady cargo movements” in the second and third quarters. “We are cautiously optimistic,” she said. Chincuanco noted an increase in trade route shifts, with more sourcing from India, Thailand and Vietnam, tempered by delays for some shipments. “It would be phenomenal if some of the delays from this year project into next year,” she said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="a5da87bf-3ea9-46e4-992a-eda35b2c7a8c"></dynamic-object></div>Ben Collins, global project cargo manager at Mediterranean Shipping Co., said the carrier is “pretty positive for the next 12-18 months,” although he conceded carriers “have to be bullish.” “If we talk [the market] down, then it becomes the reality,” he said. Henrik Hansen, general manager for the Americas at MPV operator AAL Shipping, saw project positivity even further out: “When we look at our three-year outlook, the feedback from clients is that the projects are coming,” he said. Vedran Muratbegovic, senior vice president/industrial at carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen, agreed that approved projects are now moving. “We have to trust those closest to the cargo and what they are telling us,” he said. Contact Carly Fields at <a href="mailto:carly.fields@spglobal.com">carly.fields@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

A slip in multipurpose vessel (MPV) charter rates is being viewed by specialist brokers as a “minor correction” rather than an indication of a market downturn, given that carriers are reporting robust cargo demand. The Toepfer Multipurpose Index dropped 0.5% in October, down to $12,690 per day, the third consecutive monthly decline. In its October report, shipbroker Toepfer Transport said the slide was due to “subdued activity in both the time charter and freight markets.” It added, however, that the “very slight downward movement” should be seen “more as a minor correction than a general trend.” Susan Oatway, senior research analyst for breakbulk and project cargo for S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that optimism is high among breakbulk and project cargo carriers, but “some shippers remain cautious about the start of 2026.” Uncertainty around what comes next, for the US in particular, has stalled some projects. However, globally there is an expectation that 2026 will see “growing demand in renewables, oil and gas and power generation,” according to Oatway.   Oatway’s outlook for MPV freight rates is that they will remain steady for the first quarter of 2026, but as demand starts to pick up after Chinese New Year, an uptick in rates is expected. “Much depends on whether the ceasefire in the Middle East holds, allowing Red Sea transits to restart,” she said. “This would have a significant effect on capacity, keeping rates at current levels.”   S&P Global is the parent company of the Journal of Commerce. Carriers channel optimism Breakbulk and project carriers continue to be upbeat for cargo prospects through the end of the year and into 2026. Speaking at the recent Breakbulk Americas conference, Dea Chincuanco, president of MPV operator dship Carriers Americas, said the carrier had seen “steady cargo movements” in the second and third quarters. “We are cautiously optimistic,” she said. Chincuanco noted an increase in trade route shifts, with more sourcing from India, Thailand and Vietnam, tempered by delays for some shipments. “It would be phenomenal if some of the delays from this year project into next year,” she said. Ben Collins, global project cargo manager at Mediterranean Shipping Co., said the carrier is “pretty positive for the next 12-18 months,” although he conceded carriers “have to be bullish.” “If we talk [the market] down, then it becomes the reality,” he said. Henrik Hansen, general manager for the Americas at MPV operator AAL Shipping, saw project positivity even further out: “When we look at our three-year outlook, the feedback from clients is that the projects are coming,” he said. Vedran Muratbegovic, senior vice president/industrial at carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen, agreed that approved projects are now moving. “We have to trust those closest to the cargo and what they are telling us,” he said. Contact Carly Fields at carly.fields@spglobal.com .

Project cargo

Slide in MPV rates seen as a blip, not a breakdown, as projects keep flowing

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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