Breakbulk News

Breakbulk industry executives warn new rules aimed at reducing vessel emissions could incentivize vessel operators to implement measures that increase emissions in other areas of the supply chain.

The MPV sector’s market correction appears to have bottomed at rates still healthy for owners and carriers, even as the sector feels pressure from minor bulk carriers hunting for cargo.

While market indicators such as relatively high charter rates and a strong demand outlook are promising, the Netherlands-based maritime consultancy says the stability of the breakbulk market is by no means guaranteed.

EPC projects drive much of the global demand for project and breakbulk logistics services from carriers, forwarders, and other suppliers.

Demand for flatbed tractor-trailers is rising along the Gulf Coast and Southeast, buoyed by project cargo, shifting freight patterns, and a warmer-than-normal winter, DAT Freight & Analytics says.

Short-term uncertainty and longer-term confidence are the multipurpose sector’s new normal, analysts say, after the extreme volatility of the COVID-driven market.

A long-time ro/ro executive with Wallenius Wilhelmsen will shift his focus to container BCOs in a new position with the Georgia Ports Authority.

Even as breakbulk volumes ebb from their pandemic highs, several mega-projects planned for South Louisiana are expected to keep project cargo moving at the Port of New Orleans.

The acquisition of Avondale by the port comes just as the state of Louisiana readies to auction its first round of offshore wind leases.

Zeebrugge’s ro/ro traffic rose 6.5 percent in 2022, even as congestion and tight capacity constrained potential growth.

Despite a decline in daily charter rates, the longer-term MPV outlook remains strong due to increased investments in oil and gas and renewables projects.

Project and breakbulk carriers and logistics service providers have a healthy to-do list of energy-related cargo projects ahead of them; now the question is whether rates and availability will return to pre-pandemic levels.

Danish power company Ørsted says policymakers must provide a regulatory environment that allows companies to commit to the huge investment required in developing shipping’s fuel of the future.

Longer voyages, high demand, and tight capacity are boosting earnings and charter rates in the global car carrier segment.

Ambitious plans to build offshore wind off the coast of the United States has run up against permitting bottlenecks and a lack of investment.

Peak supply chain congestion prompted major US retailers to charter their own ships, but Costco is now unwinding that bet.

The multipurpose/heavy-lift vessel sector is proving to be less volatile than the container and bulk sectors as the pandemic market normalizes, analysts say.

The Ocean Terminal project is part of a larger strategy by the GPA to expand the footprint in Savannah to handle bigger vessels and more containers.

Moving a significant share of Europe’s inland cargo from road to rail will be costly and challenging, but it is achievable through better utilization of door-to-door combined transport, a new report has found.

US-based MPV operator Intermarine is expanding into Asia and Europe via a partnership with Thailand’s WeShip.

Drought is keeping the Mississippi River at historically low water levels, tying up barge capacity and extending the southbound grain season.

As evidenced over the past chaotic 24 months, dry cargo demand and the supply of reefer equipment are more intimately linked than it might first appear.

Engineered transport providers are gearing up for heavy demand as an energy buildout in both renewable and oil and gas sectors gains strength.

Two years of pandemic-related oil and gas project delays and cutbacks in global supply due to the Russia-Ukraine war are driving demand for project logistics services in the short and long term.

Bottlenecks and a lack of needed infrastructure may put the “aspirational” global offshore wind installation schedule out of reach, an analyst says.

Confident of project demand ahead, the multipurpose vessel sector sees November’s softening rates as a move toward stability, analysts say.

Sanctions against Russia have sharply reduced available heavy-lift air tonnage even as energy sector demand escalates.

The new ships ordered by the Grimaldi Group, designed for carrying electric vehicles, will burn 50 percent less fuel than earlier car carriers.

A funding round into Shippeo shows that demand for visibility and fragmentation of the market continue to grow despite a slowing venture capital environment.

Union workers at Mobile’s breakbulk and general cargo docks are the only ones working for a maritime employer without a ratified contract during the ILA’s current 2018-2024 master contract term.

The ILA’s local union at Mobile’s general cargo and breakbulk docks may walk off the job this week if a deal can’t be reached with breakbulk stevedore CSA Equipment.

Multipurpose and heavy-lift carrier AAL is aiming to increase tonnage despite market volatility as it pursues “long-term sustainable expansion.”

Despite softening daily charter rates, the multipurpose and heavy-lift (MPV/HL) sector remains optimistic thanks to a growing renewable energy market and near-static fleet capacity.

Recovering automobile exports and demand for high and heavy cargo are driving a ro/ro resurgence and a spate of new ship orders.

US auto imports slid 8 percent during the first seven months of 2022, reflecting supply chain snarls, even as high and heavy imports gained steam.

MPV/HL ships could be harder to find in coming years as carriers have difficulty finding funding for new ship orders, despite strong demand and higher rates than they have been able to command for years.

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.

The MPV sector’s long-term outlook remains strong, but shippers are holding off booking in the hope that rates will continue to slide, analysts say.

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.

Container carriers are adding incremental capacity to their regional and feeder liner services with MPV and other non-container ships, maritime analyst Alphaliner says.