Container lines

Trades most impacted by the Red Sea diversions and closure of the Strait of Hormuz are getting more new ships, offsetting longer and delayed voyages, data shows.

With vessel space increasingly scarce, cargo rollovers on certain premier westbound services out of India’s key gateway ports of Nhava Sheva and Mundra have been as high as 2,000 to 3,000 TEUs per sailing in recent weeks, industry sources say.

Hapag-Lloyd said there’s a 72-hour wait at Shanghai’s Yangshan deepwater port for vessels operating Gemini services, while ships operating non-Gemini services are having to wait six days before being able to berth.

The rebound offset a sluggish first quarter for Evergreen Marine, Yang Ming and Wan Hai, with a Yang Ming executive saying he expects the buoyant rate outlook to continue into the third quarter.

The revision follows a similar move by Gemini Cooperation partner Maersk as frontloading on the trans-Pacific and Asia–Europe trades fills ships and drives up rates.

The strong second-quarter performance is a clear indication of the financial rewards carriers are reaping from frontloading on the two main trades out of Asia.

Ocean carriers are increasing penalties for canceling orders and not delivering containers for services connecting India to Europe and North America.

Despite the current absorption effects of geopolitics and network disruption, the volume of tonnage coming online over the next two years is likely to overwhelm the market, a Journal of Commerce webinar was told.

But as the US-Iran ceasefire collapses, ocean carriers are on alert for any hostile response from the Tehran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.

Sources in India told the Journal of Commerce ONE has agreed to charter about 500 TEUs of slot space per week on Hapag-operated ships working the trade lane.

With a recent investment commitment from current majority owner China Merchants Port Holdings, Hambantota’s annual box-handling capacity is expected to double to 2 million TEUs by the end of the year.

Spot prices have more than doubled on Asia–Mediterranean routes and almost tripled from Asia to North Europe since the beginning of May.

The carrier called the move ‘a structural change’ but said contingency plans included a return to Africa transits should the security situation deteriorate.

The carrier announced a month ago it was pulling its Indus Express loop, but new demand and sharply higher rates have caused a change of heart.

The takeover means CMA CGM subsidiary CEVA Logistics will become one of the top contract logistics providers in North America.

Container freight rates across all the major east–west trades have soared since February as a result of higher bunker fuel prices driven by the war with Iran and cargo frontloading in the trans-Pacific.

The planned addition is part of the carrier’s “Strategy 2030” expansion plan outlined in April 2024 that aims to add between 10 and 15 terminals to its portfolio by the end of the decade.

The Agriculture Transportation Coalition said its members have not received timely notice of new surcharges on ocean freight, and that the online tariffs posted by carriers are too difficult to navigate.

The UP routing was initially noticed by freight forwarders and drayage providers in the Chicago area who are increasingly going to UP’s Global IV terminal in Joliet instead of BNSF’s Logistics Park Chicago to retrieve Maersk containers.

The VSA shakeup follows the French carrier implementing Suez Canal transits for its Epic service sailings, a switchover Cosco continues to remain wary of, sources say, amid the persistent volatile operational environment.

Just three days after vessels began exiting the Strait of Hormuz, the International Maritime Organization has paused the initiative and is demanding further clarity from the US and Iran over safety guarantees.

But the terminal’s COO says that continued extreme temperatures forecast for the coming days would keep landside operations under pressure.

The US retail inventories-to-sales ratio in April fell to its lowest in more than three years as the market ponders just how much steam the current frontloading push has left.

With most upcoming vessels overbooked, major India-Europe services have closed spot window bookings until early-July sailings, according to forwarder sources.

The North American terminal operator and stevedore is starting work on a long-delayed big-ship terminal along the Delaware River that would serve mid-Atlantic shippers.

Groupings of midsize ocean carriers linking strong regional networks with innovative services is one way those carriers can stay competitive in the deep-sea business, writes Jeremy Masters.

Capacity on the trade lane fell when US tariffs were imposed last year, and now Brazilian shippers are trying to beat the clock ahead of a new round of duties scheduled to be implemented next month.

When tight capacity meets unexpected volumes, price elasticity goes wild as container lines have learned from the pandemic to go fast and hard on seeking rate increases.

Sources believe a potential vessel-sharing deal between the two could pave the way for a more balanced and resilient supply-demand environment for all participating carriers in India-North America trades.

While freight demand isn’t booming despite growth in imports and manufacturing activity, it’s enough to push transportation pricing higher.

Space availability on the trade lane has tightened as a result of MSC withdrawing its Indus Express service, while other competing networks reported schedule disruptions in the form of six blank sailings.

The Marseille-based carrier has ended a 14,000-TEU per week service that called Asia and both US Coasts, deploying bigger ships on an existing East Coast service and a new West Coast express service.

Encouraged by the stickiness of early June rate hikes, carriers are capitalizing on robust demand as an early start to peak season keeps ships full on North Europe and Mediterranean trades.

Empty containers trapped on the wrong side of the Strait of Hormuz are impacting export markets, forcing ocean carriers to seek out lessors for more equipment.

Forwarders have linked the sudden boost in rates to lower vessel capacity rather than an indication of resurgent demand, with liners shifting vessels to the more lucrative eastbound trans-Pac trade out of China.

Spot rates from North Asia to Brazil are pushing near two-year highs after blanks on the trade lane last month jumped to their highest in at least three years.

While there is no widespread drying up of fuel in the worst-hit ports, availability is steadily tightening in specific regions, particularly around low-sulfur blends.

Carriers and their affiliates now own about 50% of worldwide terminal capacity, coming close to double what it was 10 years ago, according to various industry estimates.

The ocean carrier halted the Pearl service about a year ago due to weak market fundamentals, but said current demand merits its return.

The end of the Indus Express service comes as Indian exports to the US East Coast in April were down 25% year over year.