A handful of reefer carriers, having received an unexpected shot in the arm during the pandemic, are adding vessel capacity despite the long-term decline of this niche fleet.
Breakbulk General Cargo
Breakbulk General Cargo
Forest products, palletized and bagged goods, metals such as sheet copper and aluminum and zinc, and other cargoes often ship in breakbulk form.
Webcasts
Nov 10, 2022 2:00PM EST
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Dec 1, 2022 2:00PM EST
News & Analysis
02 Sep 2022
The specialized reefer fleet has been shrinking for years as perishables shippers have migrated away from breakbulk shipping to refrigerated containers carried on global liner services, but “the mode keeps rescuing itself,” says one observer.
16 Aug 2022
Carrier53, a joint venture of a breakbulk vessel operator and container manufacturer, said it will offer trans-Pacific sailings from China to the US West Coast with a special emphasis on domestic intermodal containers.
03 Aug 2022
Congestion and unreliable service from liner carriers is driving some cold chain shippers back to the conventional reefer fleet
29 Jun 2022
Old-fashioned breakbulk and supply chain skills have served shippers well in the “spillover” market, and some practices may linger after the container market normalizes.
03 May 2022
Breakbulk importers must navigate complex sanctions rules and a CBP crackdown on goods made with forced labor, attendees at JOC’s 2022 Breakbulk and Project Cargo conference were told.
02 May 2022
Severely limited warehousing capacity at North American ports is adding to the challenges facing breakbulk shippers in 2022, attendees at JOC’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo conference were told.
02 Mar 2022
While Antonov's smaller AN-124s continue to operate, restoring the behemoth AN-225 will take five years and cost more than $3 billion, according to the Ukrainian government's news outlet.
08 Dec 2021
"Spillover" demand in the MPV/HL carrier segment is not yet slowing, thanks to ongoing port congestion and shippers willing to use alternatives to traditional container shipping.
30 Nov 2021
While the urgency of containers being carried on multipurpose/heavy-lift vessels is easing, the spillover market will continue to affect the MPV sector into 2023, analysts say.
16 Nov 2021
Consolidation and a looming capacity shortage will shape the MPV sector once the spillover market has calmed.
01 Nov 2021
A strong short-term market is pushing MPV/HL demand, but carriers sense the market frenzy is abating.
07 Oct 2021
The spillover market will not dissipate until box rates dip below five figures, according to Geodis' senior VP for global ocean freight.
19 Aug 2021
Shippers eager to move computer components, semiconductor chips, and auto production parts are eating up super-heavy air capacity even as demand for traditional OOG cargo improves.
06 Aug 2021
Spillover container cargo is driving the strongest breakbulk market in more than a decade, MPV/HL carriers say.
21 Jul 2021
As desperate shippers search for cargo solutions and sop up breakbulk capacity, the new MPV/HL sentiment index reveals strong short-term confidence but longer-term wariness in the breakbulk sector.
19 Jul 2021
After a COVID-19 pandemic lull, violations of ISPM 15 regulations around dangerous insects are increasing in Houston and elsewhere, triggering costly remedies and intense frustration in the breakbulk and project cargo community.
11 Feb 2021
Drewry's charter rate index is up 2.2 percent for February as COVID-19 lockdowns drive consumers to favor premium container cargoes.
09 Feb 2021
MPV/HL carriers and breakbulk ports benefited last year from record US wind cargoes as expiring tax credits, improved technology, and increasing demand accelerated development
21 Dec 2020
US-based project forwarders say they’re struggling to secure capacity as rebound demand and multipurpose and heavy-lift capacity is tapped by container lines in reaction to even stronger container demand.
03 Dec 2020
Indices forecast rising rates for MPPs through the end of the year as breakbulk demand improves and container shippers searching for alternatives underpin a strengthening market.
04 Sep 2020
Wind energy cargoes imported through the Port of Lake Charles are driving a significant increase in overall breakbulk tonnage at the Louisiana port during the first seven months of 2020.
25 Aug 2020
Breakbulk shipper John Deere is signaling mild optimism for the balance of the year even as construction and agriculture machinery sales falter due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
12 Aug 2020
While the oil and gas sector has pulled back dramatically from early 2020 capital spending plans, the low bunker fuel prices that have also come with global oil demand destruction have helped to control costs.
30 Mar 2020
With information on ISPM 15 violations still difficult to come by, shippers are investigating and educating wood packaging materials (WPM) makers, increasing requirements for heat treatments, and turning to non-WPM materials for dunnage.
12 Feb 2020
The Journal of Commerce's 2020 Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference will continue to build on the spirit of the original event as a content-led, high-level information sharing and networking gathering for the industry.
27 Dec 2019
A busy renewable energy sector and stable oil and gas markets have collided with persistent overcapacity in the multipurpose/heavy-lift (MPV/HL) sector, causing rate growth to sputter and stall.
24 Sep 2019
MPP sales and purchases are unfreezing as faith in the market builds and capacity remains tight, according to Toepfer Transport.
Commentary
Addressing the widening logistics ‘talent gap’